Chapter 12 - Animal Magnetism
The group of would-be rescuers landed back on the grounds of the mansion to meet up with Lorna so they could find their missing members and get those adamantium bands off. The rubble hadn't really been cleared at all because those that cared to start rebuilding were occupied with the invasion, and it was a depressing sight to trudge through the rubble.
But they went from tired dejection to outright shock when they saw a figure standing where the front door used to be that they simply weren't expecting.
He was instantly recognizable, even to the members of the group that weren't X-Men, and the lot of them were on edge, reaching for weapons and ready for a fight. All of them recognized the distinct look, complete with the long cape, that gave away the fact that it was none other than Magneto standing on their demolished front porch.
"What are you doing here?" Scott asked, clearly shocked, but the tall old man simply turned to the assembled group with his palms out and open and his body language entirely relaxed, though there was clear rage in his expression — even if it wasn't directed at them at the moment.
"There's no need for your weapons," he told them simply. "I didn't come here for a fight — I came here because my daughter asked me to help."
That set Scott back a step for a moment as he blinked at him, and it was clear from the expressions on the faces of the rest of the group that they were just as shocked. "Lorna called you?"
"She's currently indisposed and cannot come to render aid — though she seemed to think some haste was in order," Magneto replied with that same very calm tone, though this time a new sort of anger flashed as he added, "When we're done, I will be speaking to that brother of yours on how she found herself indisposed in the first place."
At that, Kurt and Logan shared a quick look and stepped up next to Scott, an old plan in place if it was needed.
When he saw it, Erik chuckled the slightest bit. "I told you, I'm not here to fight," he said. "In truth, I have no desire to fight you at all — even after we find your misplaced friends." He let out a long and weary sigh. "I'm tired, and I am old. There's no reason to reopen old wounds here."
After a long while in which the group of them seemed not to have lost one bit of their wariness, Scott asked at last, "What did Lorna tell you?"
"That your friends have been captive for far too long, and that they have lost their free will for a time," Magneto said, and the anger was back in his gaze. "She also mentioned that you believe she — or I — could find them and liberate them from their bonds."
"Vrag moyego vraga..." Natasha whispered quietly for only Logan to hear. He nodded, though he didn't take his eyes off of Erik, and she could see he was a bit more on edge than usual even if he was putting in an inhuman effort to keep from growling.
"I'm only too happy to help you find the ones you lost," Erik said. "And when we return, please, allow me to help to rebuild your home as well." He swept one hand out to indicate the rubble all around them, looking honestly crestfallen. "To see it in this state…" He shook his head and trailed off.
"There's got to be a catch," Scott said, clearly suspicious. "What do you want?"
For a second, Erik's gaze took on a faraway quality before he let out a sigh. "Not long ago, I would have told you my only desire was peace in our time, but I see now that it won't happen in my lifetime." He looked between the heroes for a moment. "Perhaps I can help to expedite it in yours, if you'll allow me to remain with you once you rebuild your home."
"You want to join the X-Men?" Scott wasn't even bothering to hide the tone of sheer disbelief.
"I would like to help see Charles' dream to fruition," Erik replied.
That took a bit of the wind out of Scott's sails for a moment, and when he replied, it was with a bit less bite. "After we rebuild," he said carefully, "we'll see what kind of place we can find for you." He got back a bit of his bite, though, when he looked back up at Erik with narrowed eyes. "After we rebuild. With all of our friends back and in one piece."
Erik was smiling the slightest bit. "I wouldn't ask to take your place as leader. You're doing a fine job, Scott. A far better job than I think you ever believed you'd be able to do. As I said, I only want to help," he said in a soothing tone.
Scott frowned at that for a second before he tipped his head at Logan and then Kurt. "Well?"
The two old friends shared a look, but Kurt was the one to answer first with a very subdued nod. Logan took a lot longer than Scott thought he would before he very slowly nodded in agreement too. "He's our best shot," Logan said evenly.
Scott nodded once, sharply, before he turned back to Erik. "Alright. If you can help us, with finding our friends and with… moving forward…" He paused. "We accept."
"There's no need to sound so resigned," Erik said with a hint of amusement as he strode forward. "I do hope we can mend bridges — but for the moment, let's focus on finding those that are lost to you."
The three X-Men shared another look between themselves before they headed back, this time for the ship as Scott very quickly and quietly filled Erik in on the finer details — the adamantium bands, the note from an 'inside source', all of it that he considered relevant to the mission at hand. And while he was filling in Erik, Kurt called his bamfs so that they could have access to a quick 'port for their friends if need be.
"Our source said he'd send us coordinates when he could, but you might be able to find them faster," Scott said once they were settled into the jet — with Kurt and Logan on either side of Magneto and still clearly watching him. "K has an adamantium skeleton like Logan's — and Lorna was able to find the two of them for us once by searching for the metal in their bones."
Magneto looked exceedingly pleased to hear that his daughter had been able to do that, and he nodded to everything Scott said with a smile. "Yes, I can find her for you," he mused quietly, though he looked to Logan for a moment and had to chuckle. "Had I known earlier there was a second one running around with adamantium inside them… it would explain a few times when you were difficult to find, Wolverine. Pointed the wrong way entirely."
"You've found her before, then?" Logan asked with a little frown.
"Without realizing it, yes," he said, nodding thoughtfully. "And without knowing what I had found." He leaned back easily in his chair for a moment as he thought it over. "So now — knowing what I am looking for, the matter should be much simpler."
With that, he leaned forward, hands outstretched, and Logan could feel the magnetic pull from where he was sitting intensify as Magneto began his search. Logan half held his breath and looked exceedingly uncomfortable as he gripped the armrest a bit tighter than before.
"S toboy vse vporyadke?" Natasha asked softly, leaning forward with concern in her gaze.
"Nyet," Logan replied through gritted teeth.
She frowned at his answer and reached over to rest a hand on his arm, now watching him more carefully than she had been watching Magneto and half ready to hit the cape-clad mutant if Logan got any worse. One of Kurt's bamfs was hovering at her shoulder doing the exact same thing — though he had earlier been watching her with concern because she seemed so frustrated with Clint missing.
But Logan's discomfort didn't last long — and Magneto found a direction quickly. "They're west of our position," he told Scott simply before he simply shifted the direction the jet was facing in lieu of a bearing to get him started. "At least, the girl is. If they are together, that's where we will find them."
Natasha looked to Logan, who looked slightly less like he was going to tear the armrests off of his seat, but he still didn't look entirely comfortable, and she decided to keep her hand on his arm for the rest of the flight out. A couple of the bamfs crawled up to sit on Logan and keep an eye on him as well, though one of them was wearing what was unmistakably a 1920's reporter hat, complete with ID card in the edge, and was holding Kurt's phone, sizing Erik up from a distance like he was trying to decide if Erik was record-worthy.
They were very nearly to Colorado, still following Magneto's directions, when Erik leaned forward with a sparkle of laughter. "I meant to say earlier," he said, a proud sort of smile washing over his expression. "I never did congratulate you, Mr. Summers. It seems you've learned control of your powers at last."
Scott bristled the slightest bit and didn't take his gaze off the instruments. "It's a recent thing."
"Yes, clearly," Erik said, still smiling as he leaned back again. He was silent for a moment before he said, "They're just beyond Pike's Peak, if memory of this area serves. This close, I can feel a few sources of adamantium as well — that must be Norman Osborn's doing."
"Yeah, well, he won't be doing it much longer," Peter said with a shrug, though that was belied by the glare he had on.
Scott set the jet down a bit further out from where the old MRD base was situated so that they wouldn't be detected. Even with a plan in place to get the control devices off of their friends, they didn't want to give Hill and Osborn a heads up that they were coming and risk losing their friends again after being so close way too many times.
The group of them were seasoned at sneaking into places, and even Peter was entirely quiet as they made their approach, half watching Natasha, who was clearly ready to just grab her hawk and go once they got inside… Either that or straight up start wrecking the days of everyone inside; it seemed to be a toss-up.
She didn't have to take much time to consider her options, though, as she, Logan, and Kurt led the charge inside, with Logan leading the way and checking scents as he padded through the halls, sticking to the shadows. They'd go a little ways and then Kurt would radio back to Scott to tell them to move forward so that they all could be relatively close together as they entered the place.
The rocky walls were mostly smooth, like a large, bored-out tunnel in the mountain, but there were several rooms on either side of the massive hallway that were large enough to hide their numbers as they went from one pathway to the next, avoiding patrols and little packs of soldiers as they went.
By the time they found where the common area was where the teenagers were nervously awaiting instruction from their keepers, Erik had seen quite enough. He looked outraged when he saw them there — and after Scott had detailed what the bands around their wrists were used for, he simply wasn't going to wait for any prompting before he raised his hand and stretched the bands out widely enough for them to take off themselves. As the metal stretched, the circuitry inside popped and snapped and floated alongside the stretched-out, almost molten-looking adamantium.
"The children should be free to go," he said quietly to Scott, who found he didn't need to catch their attention when Kurt's little blue friends had already teleported their way to the teens and removed them from the compound entirely.
"So now we've just gotta find the adults," Pete said quietly.
"I'm not sneaking around for Norman Osborn's ego," Erik said in a dismissive tone before he simply levitated off the ground until he seemed to be centered in the room. With a glance to the others, Erik then began to move forward. "This way," he called out.
"Okay, so we're following the floating super villain," Peter said quietly, looking at the other four with a wide-eyed look of alarm. "Should I be worried?"
"Not yet," Scott said just as quietly. "But I wouldn't want to be Hill or Osborn right now."
Erik was now leading the way with fury etched in his features as he simply peeled back the walls. In front of him, a magnetic shield stopped any bullets that Hill and Osborn's men tried to send their way. Any soldiers who were stupid enough to shoot at Magneto found themselves with their guns crushed in their hands, if they were lucky. And the whole time, Erik simply levitated through with that same magnanimous expression on his face.
"Definitely easier on this side of the wall," Logan muttered to Kurt, who had to smirk the slightest bit and nod his agreement.
When Clint woke up after the hit from the bands, Noh was already up and watching him. "Oh man. That — that was almost worth it for the show. You missed it, Noh," he muttered as he sat up and shook his head.
"What did I miss? More of our captors trying to flaunt their fragile superiority?" Noh asked with a small smirk that had Clint grinning outright.
"Nah." He grinned at Noh. "Norman pissed K off when he hit you, and she stuck her claws in his side, and… you should've seen the look on his face." He was trying to make the expression but failing because he kept laughing. "And then she dared him to do it again, just stuck her claws right up in his face… you missed it, man."
Noh couldn't help but laugh at Clint's attempt to get Norman's expression across as he shook his head. "It certainly seems that way," he agreed.
"I missed the finale," Clint admitted. "But seeing as Hill put us all down, and Daken and Norm were attached at the time?" He grinned broadly. "I'm picturing those cartoons, you know, where it's practically an X-Ray and you can see their skeletons? Gerry loves those things. Yeah, that's what I'm sticking with for what happened."
Noh laughed again, shaking his head at Clint. "I'm sure that's not what happened, but the mental image is entertaining."
"Yeah, well, pretty sure they're gonna have Daken sticking to her like glue after that," Clint admitted. "But man, was that a show for the ages."
"When we get out of our current predicament, I'm sure your little one will enjoy hearing you tell it," Noh said, though his smile was a little less bright at that.
"Yeah." Clint rubbed the back of his neck as he nodded. "Hope he wasn't watching when we made our TV debut, no matter what I told Ronan."
"I doubt Jess would have allowed that," Noh assured him quietly.
Clint let out a breath and fell silent for a moment before he leaned his head back against the wall. The two of them sat there in the silence for some time, a bit of the good mood gone — when the alarms split the air, and both men were on their feet in a second.
Clint swore quietly under his breath as he looked around the room. "Don't know where the kids are in this new layout," he grumbled. "If something's going down, I'd rather know where they are."
Noh pursed his lips and moved to the edge of the room as they both heard and watched the flurry of activity outside when the door flung open. There were Hill and Osborn — the latter with a pronounced hitch in his step and a very recently-bandaged side.
"We're leaving," Hill said sharply, and when she stepped back to motion the men out of the room, they could see beyond her that Daken was simply carrying K.
"We just got here," Clint pointed out with a smirk.
"Then you haven't had time to get comfortable or attached. Let's go," she shot back.
K glanced over to Clint and Noh with a little smirk before Hill saw it and got angrier. "When we get re-settled," Hill said coolly, "you and I are going to have another chat about just what was in that message you left."
"Don't worry," K promised. "I'll leave messages in your cell for you."
Hill glared at her openly. "Clearly, we'll have to keep better tabs on you. Leave another message like that, and we'll put you down so fast you won't have time to think."
"You know sign language?" K asked before she flipped her off. "You're not fast enough to stop my messages."
"Before you're tempted, let me warn you," Daken half snarled over his shoulder to Hill. "Hit that button while she's in my arms, and I promise you won't like what I do to you."
"Then do your job so I won't have to," Hill retorted.
"It's not my job you should worry about," Daken replied. "It's what I'll do in my spare time."
"As entertaining as that would be," Osborn said with a smirk, "can we have this soiree after we leave?" He illustrated his point by grabbing hold of Clint's arm to pull him forward faster as they headed for the exit.
"Woah, hey, no fresh stuff," Clint said with an expression of distaste that was almost as intense as the one Osborn shot him at that.
The six of them pressed through the halls toward the hangar as the alarms blared around them, and they were nearly to the plane when the whole plane just… crumpled like an old soda can.
Before they had time to process the crunched-up jet in front of them, Daken and K both let out surprised shouts when K simply flew out of his arms. Very shortly after that, Noh and Clint followed, pulled by the arms that had the bands, though by the time they came to a stop, none of them were wearing those overgrown bracelets.
"What… just happened?" Clint managed to get out before there was a hand in the fabric of his shirt. He didn't have much time to react before Natasha had simply pulled him over and very quickly kissed him for everyone to see before she turned back to Hill and Osborn with a look of murder that he recognized. So, he stepped back to let her get to work, startling the slightest bit on seeing the rest of the rescue crew — including the floating supervillain in their midst.
Erik still had his hand outstretched as he crushed the plane down further — and then simply tore apart the weapons that their captors had been wearing.
"Why is it that I'm not surprised that you're trying to win over the world on the backs of children?" Erik half snarled at them, directing most of his ire toward Osborn. "You certainly couldn't do it while running about as the Green Goblin."
Osborn sneered right back at him. "Like you can talk to me about using children for your crusades."
"I've never used shock collars to keep anyone to my cause," he countered with his eyes narrowed. "Those that followed my lead did so of their own will."
"Well that would explain your fall from power," Osborn sneered. "Is this a good deed for your parole?" he asked, gesturing to the X-Men.
"Are you under the false impression that you have some say in that?" Erik replied. He crushed the doors and the backup jet without a second glance. "I believe Wolverine and Miss Romanoff have a few questions for you."
"Cyclops, why don't you get our friends back to the plane?" Natasha suggested, her tone suddenly silky smooth as an almost predatory light lit up her gaze. "We'll catch up when we've secured the prisoners."
"Or what's left of 'em," Logan agreed, then gave K another quick kiss. "Accidents happen."
Scott frowned hard and looked like he might try to argue the point, but the little bamfs made the decision for him, each grabbing one of the former prisoners as well as Scott and Erik and taking everybody back to the blackbird in a blink. When they returned, one of them caught Logan's attention and held up two hands to indicate ten minutes.
"That's more than we need," he said with a nod.
The little guy nodded — "accidentally" not noticing when Daken very quietly slipped out of the hangar while Natasha and Logan let out several weeks' worth of frustration on the two villains in their grip.
Ten minutes later, the bamfs returned to get the four of them to the jet. The didn't look at all surprised to find Hill and Osborn fairly bloodied, bruised, and very well-restrained — and both Natasha and Logan looked a bit more relaxed after letting out some of their feelings.
They teleported into the jet moments later, making sure that Hill and Osborn had a corner to themselves where they could glare silently at their former prisoners and their new captors. A couple of the bamfs stationed themselves nearby with little glares, and one of them pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at them to indicate he would be watching them.
Natasha wiped her hands off on her uniform and went straight to Clint, but when Logan went to do the same with K, he was a bit surprised to find that Erik was chatting quietly with her and Noh as well, since he didn't know either of them and seemed to be very interested in getting to know them. He was glad to see, though, that there seemed to be no danger of K adopting Erik into her protective circle from the way she was watching him. Her body language was a lot more blocked off than she did with those she was comfortable with, but that shifted too as soon as she saw Logan - warming up considerably.
But, as anyone could predict, Logan found a way to move the focus from her and Noh to something a bit more entertaining. "So, how long did you say Lorna and Alex have been married?" Logan asked, not really directing the question to anyone in particular as he took the seat next to K and pulled her closer. "Haven't really seen much of them since he was helpin' Slim out."
"I haven't actually talked to them in person since a year ago," Scott admitted. "Just called them up for the twins' birthday, really. I don't know when they got married." He glanced over at Erik for a second. "It might have been a while. We don't talk all that often."
"We're meeting up with them later, though?" K asked, shifting to settle in leaning against Logan, obviously soaking up the contact. "Erik mentioned something about that."
"Well, they were supposed to meet us at the mansion?" Peter put in. "And that's where we're headed now, I think. Unless you want to… let Magneto… see Tony's place… which… no." He was speaking slowly as if he was trying to figure out how to word it without giving anything away.
"I'm pretty sure he could find it on his own if he wanted to," Logan replied. "Especially for as easy as it was to find K."
"And that … is the first time anyone has said that in the history of ever," K said as she kept her gaze on Erik.
"We won't hold it against your record," Clint assured her with a crooked smirk from where he was clearly enjoying the fact that Natasha seemed content to let him curl up with his arm across her shoulders.
"Only because I provided entertainment," K teased.
"Oh so much," Clint agreed, the smirk widening. "Never gonna forget that show as long as I live."
"Is there something someone needs to die over?" Logan asked.
"Minimal nudity," K promised before she leaned over to kiss him.
"And she made sure to stab him and get him electrocuted, so…" Clint shrugged and grinned. "The look on his face. Beautiful."
"Now … the show before that ... " K said, letting the comment fall.
"Yeah, well…" Clint shrugged again. "There were shows all around. We're TV stars now."
"I think that's overstating things," K replied as she snuggled into Logan.
"And besides, let's not focus on the things that have happened," Noh suggested, sounding a bit tired. "Let's instead find the rest of our loved ones. I've not seen Jubilee for weeks."
"Oh, Noh," K said turning his way. "I think … I can't be your defense lawyer on Hala anymore. Maybe."
Noh let out a laugh at that. "No, I think they would not let you anywhere near a court of law except to try you." He was still chuckling as he shook his head. "I shall have to endure the loss of my lawyer, I suppose."
"I mean, I can come out of retirement if you want me to scare the stuff out of them," she said with a shrug.
"I have no plans to face Kree justice systems ever again," he assured her.
"Good," Logan said. "You better not — or it won't be your lawyer you need to worry about."
"No, it will be my wife," Noh said without hesitation.
"You have no idea," K muttered.
"Is she still with the little ones?" Noh asked curiously. "I'm surprised she isn't here with you now. Or has she been fighting the invasion elsewhere? I cannot imagine she was pleased at… anything that has happened in the past few weeks. I'd hate to be a Kree soldier facing her."
Kurt had to smirk the slightest bit. "She's hardly left Kate's side," he said.
"And she's been on babysitting duty," Logan supplied. "Elin."
Noh brightened at that. "Oh, I miss that little one," he said earnestly. "When she has had her fill of snuggling her mother — I'd love to hold my baby sister again."
"Good luck with that," Logan told him. "I had to sneak out while she was asleep. She's not letting go of her mother for a good, long time once she sees her."
"Well, I can be patient. I have Jubilee to return to, and I doubt I will let her go for some time either," Noh said with a quiet smile.
"You'll forget all about Elin when we get there," K said with a chuckle, then looked toward the confused expression on Erik's face. "I can explain later, if you like."
"I think you may have to," Erik said mildly, though he couldn't help but shake his head at the dynamic of easy camaraderie between the X-Men in the jet. "Things have certainly changed while I have been gone."
"Consider it my thanks for scaring the crap out of me back there," K said with a little smile.
He returned the smile for a moment. "My intention was to get you from your captors and from your bonds quickly, not to alarm you."
"Oh, I understand — but I've never been lifted like that before."
"Turns out there's still new things to discover even at your age," Clint said with a smirk before he let out a bit of a yelp when Natasha pinched him for it.
"Apparently so," she agreed. "What else did we miss?"
"Well, if we're headed to the mansion and not the bitties?" Peter shifted a bit and looked nervously over at the three of them. "Well ... you'll see for yourself, but it's pretty much leveled. Same with Avengers Tower, actually."
Noh and Clint shared a significant look between them, and Clint leaned forward and covered his face with both hands with a muttered, "Crap."
"Don't start or I'll hit both of you," K said with a bit of a sharp tone.
Clint shot her a look. "Don't start what?"
She gestured to all of him. "That … the beating yourself up garbage. Stop."
"I got Avengers Tower leveled!" he shot back, lifting his head and looking more mad at himself than her. "That's gotta be… that's rare levels of stupid right there. Typical."
She gave him a dry look before she turned to Natasha, who was already shaking her head at Clint. "Did anyone die?"
"No. The codes only let them in — but they also set off the alarms. Like they were supposed to," Natasha said, giving Clint a significant look and even going so far as to slide her arm around his waist a little tighter. "Everyone got out. Miles was even giving me his version of a play-by-play."
"See?" K said. "No one died, and you gave Stark a project."
"Where did everybody get to after I gave 'em the codes?" Clint asked Natasha, ignoring K.
Natasha gave him a long and lingering look before she shook her head at him again. "Some of them are with SHIELD. Steve has a few of them in places of his own. Everyone is spread out, but safe," she promised. She looked over her shoulder at Noh. "And the same is true of the X-Men. No one died; no one was hurt. We're all spread out right now, but… we were spread out anyway fighting the Kree."
"How's that going, by the way?" Clint asked, trying to change the subject when it was clear both Natasha and K were determined not to let him mope as much as he wanted to about his screw-up. "I mean, after K took out Ronan and me and Marvel Kid over here took out Zarek… can't be much to the leadership."
"They're splintered," Scott said. "Some of them are still interested in trying to make Earth pay or something along those lines, but… they're fighting among themselves."
"Which makes it easier for us to push them out," Kurt said with a nod. "And that's precisely what the others have been doing while we have been searching for you. What little resistance we're meeting with their expulsion is negligible at best."
"Well I hope they just take their losses as a casualty of war so I don't have to stab another one in the face like that," K said as she closed her eyes. "That stuff stinks."
"It depends entirely on who is next to lead them," Noh said quietly. "But that, my friend, is venturing into the land of what could be and not what is. And as you know, that is not how temporal physics works," he added with a soft smile.
K smiled slightly. "Yes, but a girl needs to know her options. Especially if it comes with flighty things like 'war criminal' charges."
"You know. The little details," Clint agreed with a smirk.
"Charges like that fade with time," Erk said with a little wave that had more than a few eyebrows raised, though no one was going to touch it with a ten-foot pole.
From the very back of the plane, one of the kids spoke up quietly. "Well, if Mr. Osborn's files are right? The Kree are massing to retreat," Brye said.
"You had access to their files while you were there?" Erik asked, sounding surprised as he turned to face her with a far more interested look.
Brye grinned and shook her head. "No, I had eyes on the inside," she explained as she gently opened her hand to show the two-inch long spider. "We didn't actually know very much except where they wanted us to go, but Parker here was super helpful."
Peter looked like he had the creeps at the little spider just chilling out in Brye's hand. "You named it Parker?"
"She said it felt more like home that way," Hisako said with a quiet laugh.
"You have an honest-to-God arachnid fanclub," Logan chuckled.
Peter shuddered. "I'll be honest — I'm not actually a big fan of spiders," he said. "So I don't really want an arachnid fanclub."
"Too damn bad; you got one," Logan said, smiling a bit wider.
"Actually, Parker likes me best," Brye laughed. "But he's pretty fond of Rico too. Sorry, Spiderman."
"I'm not disappointed, trust me," Peter assured her, shaking his head.
The kids laughed at that, though the always quiet Tammy looked a bit nervous as she looked around the plane. "Um… are we the only ones who got caught?" she asked softly. "I mean — is everybody else okay?"
"Everyone else is fine, as far as we know," Kurt assured her, though he couldn't quite help the quiet smile, knowing that she must have been thinking about Tyler. "There have been no calls for help or reports of trouble. They seem to have learned to go underground when trouble hits."
"Oh good," Tammy said, looking absolutely relieved. "So ... are we going back home, then? I mean, if the school is destroyed…"
"You should call home and see how your parents are doing," Kurt said. "If they're overwhelmed, you can come with us."
Tammy nodded shyly. "Can I borrow your phone?" she asked, and Kurt simply nodded and handed her the phone as the other kids joined in trying to figure out what their next move would be.
….
Translation from Russian:
Vrag moyego vraga - The enemy of my enemy
S toboy vse vporyadke? - Are you all right?