"More news coming out of Colorado: one of the men who had been apprehended in connection to the Jessica Sullivan's murder has died in police custody. Unconfirmed reports have claimed that the man, Timothy Baker, had managed to swallow a pill of cyanide. A full investigation has been launched against the prison and the guards - it is alleged that the officers had not done a thorough job searching for contraband when Mr Baker was brought in. It is also rumored that Mr Baker was suppose to have been under a 24-hour suicide watch...
"The surviving suspect, Kenneth Quintin, is being transported back to Arizona today. He is being escorted by U.S. marshals out of both Arizona and Colorado, in addition to the uniformed police officers assigned to Mr Quintin. Needless to say, security surrounding the prisoner is extremely tight in light of the recent death of Mr Quintin's accomplice...
"Mystery unfolds tonight as the five car convoy that had been transporting prisoner Kenneth Quintin has disappeared while on its way to the courthouse. Mr Quintin was suppose to have been arraigned this morning but the defendant and none of his escorts arrived…
"The convoy has been found, parked on the side of the road with all the officers inside, heavily drugged but alive. It is believed that Mr Quintin must have had outside accomplices to help him escape although it is still unresolved how these unidentified accomplices managed to incapacitate the officers...
"A search team has found Kenneth Quintin not ten miles from where the convoy had been found. Police have not released any details but sources say that Mr Quintin is dead from two gunshots to the head..."
--
John had been in Phoenix for five days.
First day, he had arrived at the airport and the District Attorney had someone meet him there. They took him downtown to look at mugshots and go over his statement. They had him ready for all the legal procedures, what the defense might throw their way. He kept going over and over in his head what they told him; answer their questions, don't hesitate, be truthful, don't fidget, make eye contact...
Second day, he found out all that prep work was for nothing. The D.A. sat him down and told him there was nothing more to be done, the case was closed with the two known suspects dead. John barely heard him talking about closure - how could he have closure when he still didn't know why they had come? why they had killed his wife? He thought they told him that maybe it was about money, maybe it was a ransom kidnapping that had gone wrong.
Maybe this, maybe that. The one definitive thing was that Jess was still dead.
Third day, he pulled himself together. The unanswered questions, the bitterness, the anger will have to wait for another day.
He had to sell the house. There was no way they were coming back there to live. He had to pack things up, maybe give the furniture to Goodwill... He had to sell the cars too. Christ, there was so much still to do.
Fourth day, he stopped at the firehouse. They greeted him with big bear hugs and outpouring of emotion. Well, as much emotion as firemen were allowed to show in public.
He had gone there mostly to see the Captain. He needed to sign some papers and, hopefully, see if he could transfer to a desk job someplace. As much as he didn't want to give up fire-fighting, he needed to think about his children now. Risking his life on a daily and constant basis wasn't going to be an option anymore.
The Captain looked up from the paperwork, an eyebrow arched. "Uh...John Allerdyce?"
"It's a long story. It's being cleared it up with the department - their lawyers are having to have a field day with that."
"All right..." The Captain paused, reading over the papers again. "I think everything's filled out. I'll try to get you a transfer as soon as I can."
"Thanks, Cap."
Fifth day, he completely forgot about his meeting with Jim Barclay, their family lawyer, until his secretary called.
Jess's will was read - she had left most of her trust fund to her children, some to charities. John already knew what was in it since they had wrote the wills together. It was one of the first things they did after they got married.
Most newlyweds went out maybe to get a new TV, they went out to write their wills. He never figured that it would be this soon that they would be reading it again.
"There is one more thing Jessica had added to her will."
John looked up, surprised. "She did?"
"She had it added a few months ago." He slid an unlabeled videotape toward John.
"What is it?"
"She was very adamant that you were the only to view it."
"I don't understand."
Jim gave him a warm smile. "Some of my other clients leave video-taped messages for their loved ones after they've passed."
"Oh." John took the tape from the desk, slipping it into the bag he had brought with him. "Thank you, again, for everything. I'm sorry it took so long..."
"No, no, it's all right. I completely understand." They shook hands. "You let me know if there's anything else, okay?"
"Thanks."
Jim walked him to the door, they shook hands again and John made his way to his rental car.
"Mr Sullivan?"
At first, John didn't realize the person was talking to him.
"Mr Sullivan? Do you have a minute?"
He turned around, half expecting maybe a reporter, but instead he was confronted by two men in matching black suits, complete with sunglasses and slicked-back hair. The only difference between the two was that one was wearing a red tie, one a blue tie. He thought people only dressed like that in the movies – he wondered briefly if these guys had watched The Matrix one too many times.
"Do I know you?" John asked.
They both pulled out badges to show to him. "We're with the FBI, sir. We have some questions regarding your wife's case."
"I thought the case was closed."
"We just have some loose ends to clear up. Would you mind coming with us to answer a few questions?"
"Uh...all right. Sure."
They stood on either side of him, walking him toward a black SUV. They had him sit in the backseat while they got into the front of the car, blue tie man was in the driver's seat.
They pulled out of the parking lot, driving in complete silence. John was starting to feel uneasy.
They had been driving for about ten minutes when red tie man turned around. "Could you hold out your arm, sir?"
"What? Why?"
Red tie man just looked at him, waiting. John stared back at him.
"Please, Mr Allerdyce, we just need to confirm something."
John was about to hold out his arm when he realized it and froze. "Wha...what did you call me?"
Red tie man faltered for a moment but pulled himself together just as quickly. His whole demeanor hardened as he demanded, "Give me your arm."
"No!" John scrambled away, pressing himself against the door. He struggled to open the door and trying to keep the red tie man at bay.
"Just give him the shot!" blue tie man yelled out, trying to keep the doors locked, the windows closed, and the car on the road. Their struggles inside the car were drawing some curious glances from the other motorists on the road.
"We have to get this right!" Red tie man was struggling to keep his hold onto John's arm, trying to pull him forward so he could administer the needle. John thought he was trying to aim for his heart. "Goddamnit, hold still!"
"Just give him the shot! We'll worry about what to tell the doctor later!" Blue tie man was so busy eyeing what his partner was doing, he never realized that the traffic in front of him had stopped for a red light until it was too late.
John would remember later hearing the screeching the tires made on the pavement, the loud curses the two men yelled in the car, the crunch of metal against metal. He could see the cars behind them, trying to stop in time also. It became a massive chain reaction, they bounced against one car to another. Somehow, the SUV went sliding into the center divider of the road, flipping over and over before skidding to a stop.
John smelt the smoke before he saw it. He tried opening the door again but it was now jammed shut. He kicked at the window, shattering the glass. He crawled out, clutching his bag. He was coughing from the smoke, distancing himself from the battered SUV when he heard him.
"You should really be more careful who you go off with, Mr Allerdyce. It's a good thing Cypher here knew how to manipulate those pesky little traffic signals..."
John knew that voice. "Magneto."
--
Rogue watched as Maggie shifted in her seat, unconsciously tearing her paper into tiny little bits. It was obvious that the girl was nervous about something. She had been for the past two days.
The first couple of days John had been gone, she was totally fine - playing with the other children, eating regularly, participating in class. Even Jack seemed to be getting used to having different people feed and change him - although he seemed to particularly enjoy giving Scott a hard time especially if the talcum powder bottle was within his reach. And where Jack was, the dogs were usually close by.
But then gradually, Rogue could sense a change in Maggie. She kept looking out the windows, waiting by the front door as if she was expecting someone. She picked at her food, became listless and detached from everything and everyone around her.
"Something wrong, Rogue?" Jubilee asked, nudging her friend out of her reverie.
"I think there's something wrong with Maggie."
Jubilee turned her attention to where Maggie was sitting between Sam who was busy trying to connect the dots in his activity book and Georgia who was eating paste again. Maggie was now tearing the little bits she had already torn into even smaller bits. "Well, she still hasn't eaten any paste yet, if that's what you mean."
"Jubilee..."
"Rogue, I'm not an idiot. I know what you really meant." She paused for a moment, just watching and wondering how much smaller Maggie wanted her paper torn. "How long has she been doing that?"
"All day. Look under her chair...she has a whole pile of torn paper there."
"Holy crap..."
"We should talk to her."
Before Jubilee could agree, a car door could heard slamming shut outside and with that, Maggie jumped out of her seat and out the door as fast as her little feet could take her.
"Maggie! Wait!" Rogue called out, running after the girl.
She followed Maggie to the front door. Maggie was standing near the door when it flew open to reveal Peter carrying yet another TV to add to his collection.
"Uhh...what's going on?" he asked, clearly confused as to why Maggie and Rogue were there to greet him.
The hopeful look that had been on Maggie's face rapidly dissolved to disappointment, her lower lip trembling. She slumped against a wall, looking defeated. Rogue didn't think she had ever seen a child look so depressed.
"What's wrong?" Rogue asked, kneeling in front of Maggie. She swept away Maggie's hair from her face to see tears trickling down her cheeks.
"He's not coming back, is he? He's gone away like Mommy..."
"What? Who's not coming back?"
"Daddy! My Daddy! He's gone!" Maggie slid down to the floor, hugging her knees to her little body.
"Maggie…Maggie…your father's coming back. I promise you, he's coming back. He didn't go away like your mommy."
Maggie looked up at her, trying to decide if she could believe her or not. "Is he coming today? I want him to come today."
"Oh, sweetie…" Rogue didn't know what to tell her. John had called a few days ago but never mentioned when he was suppose to be coming back. She thought he had sounded distracted, keeping his answers to her questions brief.
"Uh…Rogue…" Peter nodded toward the still open door. She could see outside another car pulling up to the driveway. Maggie could see it too.
"Daddy!" she yelled out, running toward the newly arrived car. She stopped short when a green sickly looking man came out of the driver side then a blonde man came out of the passenger's side. They all looked at each other, Rogue trying to figure out where she had seen the driver before. He looked so familiar to her...
"Maggie? What are you doing out here?" They had been so preoccupied with having a staring contest with the strangers, Rogue and Maggie hadn't noticed that John had stepped out from the back seat of the car.
"Daddy!" Maggie cried out, throwing herself into his arms. "You came back!"
"Of course I came back... What's going on? Did something happen?" He was looking at Rogue when he asked that question and she wanted to ask him the same thing.
He had big white bandage taped above his right eye, a dark ugly black and blue bruise could be seen on his wrist - like somebody had grabbed him and held onto him tightly. What the hell happened to him?
"John! You're back!" the Professor greeted, wheeling through the opened front door. He was followed shortly by the rest of the X-Men - it was starting to look a lot like that first reunion John had when he came back, only without Logan laughing about dog names. "And you've brought friends. Welcome, gentlemen."
"Toad," Storm gasped when she saw the green sickly looking man still standing by the driver side door. Toad grinned and gave her a mock salute.
"Wait a minute...if he's here then..." Scott began, only to be interrupted when someone emerged from the other side of the car.
"Hello, Charles. It's been too long."
"Erik."
Magneto chuckled. "Now don't tell me you weren't expecting us."