Disclaimer: AU to X3! Not making any money from this. Corrinth owns Stifle and Vixen, Blaze and Shockwave are mine, Marvel retains all rights to all other characters, all knowledge of US military comes from watching Stargate SG1!
A/N: Posting: Just to warn everyone, my posting is liable to be erratic over the next few weeks and months, and my reviewing will be down to nil. I've had some bad new health-wise, so I've got big things going on in my own life right now. I will still be writing, coz it gives me great strength and relief, and I will keep posting, but please be patient with me if I am not particularily predictable.
Above and Beyond: Scene 12In Kincaid's office Blaze was engrossed in the files. She'd found so much more than just prisoner and personnel listings for the different detention centres. She had obtained documents on political and legal wrangling going back years. Kincaid had not decided on this plan overnight. There were years of brainwashing by a core of names high up in Government intelligence communities and the military. With a little time and skill, Blaze reckoned the right person could have a whole host of well-known figures in public office hung, drawn and quartered for the paper trail she had in front of her.
So engrossed in the files was Blaze that she didn't notice the office door opening slowly. Kincaid moved with the silence of a python through the branches of a rainforest tree. He had the same controlled, muscular locomotion, the same intent and unblinking bulbous stare. He dropped on his prey just the same, as the doe-eyed redhead remained utterly riveted by what she was doing. Only when Kincaid spoke did Blaze freeze.
"So we have a sneak thief on board," Kincaid spat. "What the Hell do you think you are doing, you mutie scum-ball?"
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: CRH
"What does CRH mean?" Shockwave asked Studd as the three letters appeared in the message window.
"Caught red-handed," Studd answered, turning round to look at the screen. Sure enough, all the data transfers had ceased. Blaze had actually slammed closed the laptop and instantly severed the connection by throwing the device across the room and against the wall. As Kincaid scowled down on her, Blaze concentrated and the computer burst into flames.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Studd announced, though he didn't sound certain. "She's had close calls with the police before."
"What about the military? Specifically the GRSO anti-mutant troops?" Matthew asked gravely. "These files are Kincaid's personal documents. There is enough information on the corruption he's part of here to… Well let's just say he won't be happy we've got our hands on it."
"Can we use it?" Sam demanded.
"Maybe. If we could get it to the President and his lawyers, they might be able to get the charges thrown out. But we can't get in contact with them," Matthew replied, meeting Sam's hazel eyes. For some reason the sparkle there worried him.
"The President is in Court every day with my dad," Sam pointed out. "All we have to do is walk in and give it to them."
"There's a warrant out for your arrest Sam, and for me too. You'll never get past all the police guards they have there, not without things getting violent," Matthew lectured.
"Won't I?" asked Sam wickedly. "Leave that to me, you just sort out what information we need to pass on from those files."
"Sam," Matthew argued, placing a hand lightly on Shockwave's arm. The more excited she got, the more he could feel her bones thrumming as her mutation bubbled under her surface. "Even if we could get the information through, the judge might still rule that as we can't release details of where it has come from, that it's not admissible as evidence. We might just end up arrested for no good reason."
"I want to try," Sam announced decisively, "I have to try, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't."
"Okay," Matthew shook his head slowly and gave Shockwave a thin smile. "We'll do it. Man, I just hope Blaze is alright…"
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After sweeping the laptop from the desk violently and setting it on fire, Blaze looked up at Kincaid. In her opinion, he was the definition of a charmless man, just being in his sights made her skin crawl. Placing her hands on the desk, she pushed herself up to stand. Her firepower lapped over her splayed fingers and filled the air with the smell of burning wood as the desk charred. Kincaid waited until Blaze was stood up and squaring off bravely against him. He had his hands behind his back and his feet braced apart. Quickly he brought one arm around in a snap motion. The metal baton he swung hit Blaze across the temple, and her world went black.
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Blaze awoke freezing cold and dripping wet. The wind whipped around her frantically, rain stung her face and her teeth chattered frantically. Her head swam and the colours she could see somehow didn't seem right. Held up by two GRSO soldiers, one on either side, a third masked man tipped a bucket of ice-cold water over her head. It whooshed in her ears and ran down the back of her neck between uniform and skin. Blaze cried out in pain and discomfort, though judging from the sodden mess of her long hair and how cold she was, it wasn't the first bucketful she had received.
The third soldier pulled away, and the other two dragged Blaze across the slippery deck. She made no effort to support her own weight, letting her feet drag as the two men frogmarched her to Kincaid. With the rushing sound of the wind and waves filling her ears, Blaze struggled against the dizziness that his earlier blow had left her with. Kincaid looked Blaze over coolly, taking a long last drag on a cigarette. Pointedly he dropped the stub to the deck, and then put his big military boot over it, grinding it out until it no longer burned. Blaze shuddered, knowing the analogy could not have been made clearer. Kincaid exhaled delightedly, and a malicious enmity crossed his face.
"Blaze," he began, drawing her name out like a poultice draws poison from a wound. "I have a few simple questions for you. How did you get here? Are you alone, or are Wolverine and Gambit with you? Answer me, or mark my words you'll suffer the consequences." Blaze drew a deep breath, and spat in Kincaid's face. He slapped her across the cheek with a vicious backhand, making her already scrambled head ring like a bell.
"Alright mutie bitch, lets see how long it will take you to die of exposure," Kincaid challenged. "I had my scientists so some tests while you were out cold. Their theory is, with your accelerated metabolism, it won't take long. And if you use your powers, the end will only come quicker."
The two men holding Blaze by the elbows and forearms turned her around and marched her back across the deck. Kincaid followed, as they tied her to an aerial mast with her hands above her head. Someone had already removed her gloves, now the two men also removed her boots. Her bare feet sloshed in the puddles on the water-strewn deck, ankle deep in freezing cold rainwater. Lightning snaked across the sky, reflecting off the barrels of the guns more of Kincaid's troops had aimed at her, like a firing squad.
Kincaid himself dismissed the two men who had strung Blaze up. He took a scalpel blade from a pocket of his uniform. With one hand he held Blaze's chin up, whilst the other caressed the blade professionally like a surgeon. Starting at her throat, he carefully slit her uniform's collar, working down her front. Blaze held her breath as he cut, not wanting to impale herself. He cut an eight-inch incision in her uniform, and then put the scalpel between his teeth. With both hands he pried open Blaze's collar, exposing more of her pale skin to the rain, wind and spray.
"Don't I at least get dinner first?" Blaze snarled maliciously. Kincaid ignored her, taking a ringlet curl of her hair and slicing it cleanly with the scalpel. Blaze recoiled as he took a lock as long as his thumb as a trophy. This man was as sane as a serial killer.
"One last time Blaze," Kincaid demanded, "Are you unaccompanied?" He didn't seem surprised that Blaze again refused to acknowledge the question. He turned his back on her and spoke to his lieutenants. "Search the ship," he told one of them, "Leave no room unsecured. Use caution, you know what happened in the desert in New Mexico?" The man nodded, saluted and left. Kincaid turned to his second minion, "Keep dousing her with ice water. Don't leave her unsupervised even for a second. That should help keep her powers at bay. With any luck we can draw Wolverine and Gambit out like mice with cheese." The second man saluted and turned to reposition his troops. As a parting shot, Kincaid called back over the howling wind to Blaze, "Enjoy your death, witch, I would have liked to go the whole way and burn you at the stake, but I suppose this'll be more effective."