Miami Florida
base of operations
I pulled the car into the garage of a closed mechanic shop that we were using as a base of operations while we are operating in Florida. I go out of the car and was approached by the rest of the team.
"Bullet where did you get this car?" Storm asked eyeying the 67 Impala.
"Where were you at?" Beast asked.
"Where is Logan?" Charles asked.
"Here Hank, you wanna do the honors?" I asked tossing the keys to Beast and getting to a safe distance. I know Logan is more than a little agitated at the moment.
Hank unlocked the trunk and as soon as he opened it Logan leapt from the trunk with a growl, claws at the ready. He made a beeline straight for me.
"Calm down Logan. It will do you no good getting worked up, you gotta get back into the trunk tomorrow." I said putting my hands up as a sign of surrender.
"Like hell I am." He roared and took a fighting stance. "Give me one good reason I shouldnt spill your guts all over the floor."
"You can try but I would hate to have to kill you in self defense, you are our ticket to get aboard the ship." I answered and reached my hand to my side for my gun.
"Would you mind explaining what happened tonight?" Charles asked as he rolled between us in an attempt to ease the tension.
"He stabbed me and Locked me in a trunk for 3 hours." Logan rumbled low and angrily.
"You got out of your zip ties, you could have gotten out of the trunk at any time. You had a part to play and you did an amazing job." I responded and moved my hand away from my gun.
"Details please." Charles then said.
"Alright well we tracked two of the security guards from the ship to a bar. After they left the bar we staged a fight in which the men could notice Logan is a mutant. I zip tied him and threw him in their trunk while they took me to meet their boss. I made up a back story and I am the new head of their security and Logan is their newest test subject. A mutant with a healing factor has got to be good for them. They will call me tomorrow and I will deliver Logan and their car to them and will board the ship with them. As head of security I will have access to personnel files security systems and heir weapons cache. I can tear them apart from the inside out, rescue Logan and bring them to justice." I explained.
"Good work bullet, you are very thorough and your plan seems very solid." Charles said.
"Good work my boy, but it seems like you have everything under control. What do you need me and storm there for?" Hank asked.
"Back up once shit hits the fan. You saw how many employees left the ship at the dock. Sure they are not all armed security but the ones that are pose a risk and I ned you to help minimalize the risk and of course go through any files I pull from their records with a fine tooth comb. You will understand more of the medical mumbo jumbo than I do." I answered.
"I see, well keep a communicator on and inform us as events unfold." Hank said.
"Very well, perhaps we should retire for the evening. The two of you have a very busy day tomorrow." Charles said and began rolling for his rental car with Storm and beast behind him.
"You want a ride back to the hotel?" I asked Logan who had finally sheathed his claws.
"Depends do I have to ride in the trunk again?" Logan asked angrily.
"I would be able to avoid that look if you were in the trunk." I joked and he growled as we walked to the Impala.
I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing. I groaned and sat up before grabbing the phone from the night stand.
"When and where?" I asked groggily.
"Port of Miami Harbor in two hours." The Woman from last night asked.
"Ill be there." I answered and slid my thumb to the hang up button.
"I never got your name." She said quickly.
"Thats because I didnt give one." I said and hit the button to end the call.
I walked out into the hall of the hotel room and knocked on Charles door.
"Ahh bullet good morning. Am I safe in assuming that you recieved the call this morning?" Charles asked.
"I did, Logan and I will be leaving for the Port of Miami in an hour and a half. Could you inform him of that? He is still not very happy with me." I answered.
"Of course is there anything you need of me?" Charles asked.
"No just make sure to let him know to wear the same clothing from ysterday so that the lack of blood stains doesnt give anything away." I said and walked back to my room.
After a shower I walked down to the lobby for breakfast and ate while I waited for Logan. He showed up halfway through my meal wearing the blood stained wife beater from the night before.
"You ready to go bub?" Logan asked loking a little annoyed.
"I am eating Logan, dont be rude. Sit and eat who knows when you will get another good meal." I said and pulled out the seat next to me.
"We are on the clock." He replied and growled getting the attention of other people in the lobby.
"We have time, so relax." I said and cut into my french toast.
"Dont tell me to relax. I have to be shoved into a trunk cuffed and loaded on a ship heading to international waters to get experimented and tested on. So when I say we are leaving you will get your ass up and we are going to go." He yelled and I placed my fork down.
"Sir I am going to ask that you calm down... Oh my god are you ok, you need a doctor." The hotel clerk said as he approached us.
"I'm fine we were just leaving." Logan growled and headed for the door.
"The food was excellent give my compliments to the chef." I said to the hotel clerk before wiping my mouth placing my napkin down and following Logan from the hotel.
We walked out to the parking lot and to the impala. I pulled the keys out and opened the trunk.
"Alright hands behind your back." I said and Logan groaned before turning around and placing his hands behind his back. I zip tied his hands and helped him into the trunk before shutting it and getting in the car receiving an odd look from an elderly couple in the parking lot.
I pulled up at the Port of Miami half an hour later and met with the woman from last night.
"He still in there?" She asked.
"Of course. I could open and show you if you would like." I answered.
"Not here. Give me the keys." She said and I handed her the keys. "Jeremy was a little upset about you taking his car."
"He has it back." I replied.
"Not necessarily. You see now we must put it onto the shipping manifest. It can not be put on the shipping manifest going out and then come right back in, that would raise too many suspicions. It would have to be suggled back in and it is not easy to smuggle in a car. It will be rather expensive." She said.
"You can afford it." I replied and she got into the car and drove it into an open shipping container.
"I didnt have a name to add to the the personnel list so as far as customs is concerned your name is Ben Kingston." She said and I chuckled.
"Whatever you say but I thought you would have been a little more creative. Here is your I.D. Social security card and birth certificate. The will not hold up should a thoroug background check be performed but you shouldnt have to do anything more than flash the I.D." She explained and I placed the documents in my jacket pocket.
"Lets do this then. I would prefer to familiarize myself with the ship before we leave the dock." I said and began walking toward the ship.
We boarded and i walked the upper deck mapping out strategic positions for when the fighting happens, places I could set explosives and placed to avoid gunfire and things that would deflect small arms fire. After taking in every small detail I walked below deck and began mapping out all th entrances into the different areas of the ship from the crew quarters to the kitchen to the engine room and everything in between. I mapped out exit strategies and locations that could be used to an offensive or defensive advantages. The woman from last night kept talking and my brain was taking in all of the information but I really was not listening.
"So I still dont know your real name." She stated.
"Your right, you dont." I replied and kept walking.
"Is working with you always going to be this difficult?" She asked annoyed.
"Difficult yes but I am extremely effective." I responded with a confident grin. "To be fair you never told me your name either."
"Linda Eastgate." She responded.
"Thats a fake name." I responded noticing her hesitation as she tried to think on her feet. "You were too slow on the draw. In a line of business like this you should already have a back story made up."
"Ok well as far as you are concerned you will call me Linda." She responded.
"Fair enough. So what makes you think I can help you here?" I asked.
"Your expertise. We have plenty of ex military in our ranks but none that have achieved what you have." She said.
"Ok well I have a few changes to make. First your cameras are outdated and there are two blind spots in the kitchen alone. I will need to see the control room and I will need codes for-" I began.
"Slow down cowboy. Can we exit the dock before we get down to business?" She asked.
"Sure thing, the lack of proper security for every extra minute is on you. I am here to improve things but if you dont wish for me to do that then the extra drugs that get stolen in that time are not my concern." I responded.
"How do you know drugs have gone missing?" She asked.
"While docking and departing are when security is compromised the most. Prescription drugs these days bring high dollar and you have alot of employees who are not employed in the most legit business. I was only assuming that drugs have gone missing." I responded and began walking back to the crew quarters.
"So what will you be doing before we depart?" She asked.
"Resting and coming up with improvement plans. I will see you in a few hours and we will begin." I responded and walked ino my room and shut the door behind me.
The boat soon departed and we made our way out to sea. I tapped into the P.A. system from my room and bugged it so that all incoming or outgoing transmissions from it would be sent to my cell. Time passed and I made my way to the control room and tapped into the security system. I downloaded personnel files and discovered that some very well educated doctors scientists and geneticists were all employed here. I still found myself blocked out of the past recorded sessions of the experimentation that went on.
"Ben, it is nice to see you hard at work." Linda said as she entered the control room.
"I work much better when I am not being disturbed." I responded. "While you are here I put an order for top of the line security cameras. They will be delivered directly to the ship by helicopter, a tad expensive but it will ultimately save you money and hopefully add some peace of mind."
"You can not just go spending a bunch of money and making unauthorized changes. You need to fill out a requisition form and run it by me first." She said and I sighed.
"Why did you bring me on here. You cant one minute tell me you offered me the job because of my expertise and tie my hands the next minute. This will not work if am not alloted my freedom, now are we going to have a problem?" I asked.
"Just please run any major changes by me in the future." She said and walked toward the exit.
"I cant promise anything. Oh and before you go I notice there are a few areas of the ship that have restricted access to only authorized personnel. I need full access and top level clearance to all areas of the ship." I demanded and she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Thats asking a little much this is your first day." She said.
"I am doing this because I believe in what you are doing. If I am not able to perform my duties to my fullest abilities then there is not much of a point of me being here." I ground out frustratingly.
"Geez you are such a perfectionist." She responded.
"In this line of business is that such a bad thing?" I said.
"Guess not give me an hour and you will have your access." She said and walked out of the room.
This is going easier than I thought. I never expected she would give me full access that easily. Either she really believes in me or she really wants a mutant with a healing factor such as Logan's. It would be extremely benefial to medical purposes to experiment with such a mutation and they could possibly stand to make a ton of money. It seems to me she does not want to risk losing that opportunity.
An hour later and I recieved a keycard allowing me access to all areas of the ship. I then began to check into other areas I was previously denied. I checked the cargo hold where they kept the prisoners and I was shocked to learn that they had 6 other mutants held prisoner. Thankfully Logan pretended not to know me. I then checked out the medical facility and inspected the exam tables and brain scanners. It began to grow late and I returned to my room for the evening.
"Charles, can you hear me?" I asked into my com.
"Bullet, yes I hear you. What have you come up with?" Charles asked in return.
"Security is armed with fully automatic AK 47's cheap but extremely effective. Their security system is a joke but guards are staioned at every corner. I have pulled recordings and files from past experiments, they are into some pretty sick shit. Eight mutants have been killed so far. They have six locked up as we speak. This is more than just an information extraction mission this is also a rescue mission. I need another day to gather more evidence and I will creat a distraction to draw the security out. Tell Storm and beast to approach the ship from the port side in 45 hours. We wont have long I will steer the boat back into american jurisdiction I will send you the coordinates and I will need for you to arrange an escape boat for us." I explained.
"I can arrange that. Is there anything else I can assist with?" Charles asked.
"When the moment come call the coast guard with an anonymous tip." I said.
"No problem, be careful Bullet." He said and I closed off the link.
I snuck to the upper deck to arrange a few things for our escape and then snuck back down to the cargo hold keeping in the blind spots. I entered the cargo hold and walked to the cell Logan was being held in.
"We will make our escape in 42 hours. All of the arrangements have been made. I will be digging up as much information as I can." I said after I knelt down in front of his cell.
"I am going to kill you when you get out of here." He growled.
"Excuse m' oui but de two of you know each oter." A thick cajun accent said from the next cell.
"No time to talk I gotta go I will be back to free you in 41 hours." I explained.
"Free us? you must be outta your mind mon ami." The man replied.
"Trust me, you will be out of here and you can go on with your life after that." I told the man.
"You couldnt possibly do it sooner no?" The man asked. "Tommorow be Remy's day for de testing."
"Remy huh? Sorry but no, tough it out and I promise to make it right." I assured him.
"Sure thing but Remy has a request." He said.
"Ill do what I can." I informed him.
"Get remy a deck of playing cards when you come for us?" He asked.
"I dont think that will be a problem. See you later Remy." I said as I stood up and began to walk out.
"Bonjour."
I spent the next day going over video and familiarizing myself with any alternate routes and playing out different escape scenarios in my head. As I searched my way through more files I kept coming up with more and more of the same sick experiments until I stumbled on some files I still didnt have access too. The files were extremly well encrypted and it took me nearly 2 hours to break through and what I discovered next surprised the hell out of me.
"Charles we have a problem." I said over my communicator.
"What is it Bullet?" Charles replied in a hurry.
"These experiments, these tests, they are funded by the FDA the government is in on this." I explained.
"How is that possible?" He asked nearly as shocked as I was.
"Its not official they are doing it off the books but funding is coming from an offshore account that I tracked back to government officials. I am afraid the coast guard will not be much help." I replied.
"What do you propose we do?" He asked.
"Get the mutants free and sink the ship." I answered.
"I can understand why you would want that but I dont think that would be a very good idea. Strictly rescue mission. Get any information you can and we will do what we can with the information at a later date." He said.
"They will just find more mutants and continue their work you and I both know that." I said trying to contain my anger.
"There is nothing more we can do at the moment." He said.
"Alright then change of plans. I have all of the information I need. Can you have Storm and Beast ready to go in 4 hours?" I asked.
"Shouldnt be a problem, I will make arangements with the escape boat." Charles said.
"Thanks, I gotta go for now before I am discovered." I said and shut off the link.
Three hours and fourty five minutes later I sat in the control room armed to the teeth with a deck of cards in my pocket. I watched the security cameras and noticed the guards going about business as usual, completely unexpecting anything to happen. As I watched the cameras expectantly I began to notice a growing cloud of fog slightly appearing on the port side of the ship. I pulled a detonator from my pocket and set of a chain of small explosions on the starboard side of the ship.
"All personnel to starboard position. We are under attack." I said over the radio's the security guards carried. "All personnel to your quarters now. I will inform you when it is safe to emerge." I then said over the P.A. system.
I pulled my pistol from its holster and left the Security room. I crept down the corridor and toward the testing facility.
"Ben what is happening?" Linda asked frantically.
"We are under attack. Go to your room. I am going to secure the prisoners." I demanded and she shook her head and turned in the opposite direction and walked away.
I swiped my key card and walked into the testing facility.
"Didnt you hear me? I said return to your quarters." I said to the doctors and scientists.
"We are working right now." One of the doctors said smugly.
"I dont give a damn what you are doing get the hell out of here now." I said and rushed the crew from the room.
"Damn it is good to see you mon ami." Remy said as I began undoing his restraints. "Can you get this collar off Remy's neck?"
"Yea no problem, but how?" I asked.
"Key on de table over dere." He said pointing to a table on the other side of the room. I grabbed the key and took the collar off of his neck.
"What is this thing?" I asked looking at it.
"It is what stops Remy from blasting his way out of here. Do yah have de cards?" He said and I pulld the deck from my pocket and handed them to him.
"Follow my lead." I said before grabbing him and twisting his arm behind his back. I led him into the hallway and down to the cargo hold. I swiped my keycard and walked inside.
"Get to the deck I will secure the prisoners." I said to the inside of the room.
"Its policy that the prisoners are under constant watch in the event of an attack." He replied.
"We need all hands on deck right now. The prisoners are on lockdown and are all contained." I yelled and he immediately jumped up and exited the room. I immediately unlocked all of the cells and the mutants slowly stepped out.
"I need all of you to stay behind me and keep your heads down." I said and walked back to the door. We crept back through the halls and up the stairs to the upper deck. when a message came across my com.
"Bullet, where are you we have been discovered and are under fire as we speak." Hank said over the com.
"On our way just hold them off, non lethal methods. This is a government operation." I replied as we reached the door to the deck.
"Things are about to get very loud and very dangerous. Stay low and keep together." I said to the group.
"Remy can help." Remy said.
"I cant risk your safety." I replied. "Me and Logan will handle this."
I opened the door and creppt out slowly checking my corners. The sound of gunfie filled the air. I looked around the wall and noticed a few guards nearly 20 yards away holding a defensive position. I pulled a stun grenade from my belt and tossed it in their direction.
"Stay here." I said as the grenade blew. Me and Logan ran out toward the stunned guards and remy ran directly behind us. I hit one guard with the butt of my pistol before kicking the back of the knee in of another. Logan headbutted one knocking him unconcious and Remy delivered a swift kick to the chin of the fourth.
"You have some skills." I said as we returned to the group.
"Remy been fightin his whole life." He replied.
Storm clouds darkened the sky providing more cover for us to sneak around. We crept past container after container avoiding guards.
"Storm, can we get some rain?" I asked over the com and suddenly a downpour started causing the guards to become more disoriented.
"Ben what are you doing with the prisoners?" Jeremy asked as we ran into him.
"Jeremy, lower your gun." I said as I noticed a card appear in Remy's hand.
"Cant do that Ben. You are coming with me." He shouted.
Just then a purple card flew directly at jeremy and he fired two shots before the card hit him and the blast sent him flying against the wall knocking him out.
"Is everyone ok?" I asked and Logan growled as two bullets dug their way out of his skin, one out of his head an the other from his shoulder. After receiving some extremely frightened looks it was time to get moving. I see why you wanted the cards. Cool power." I said to Remy.
We continued moving toward the rest of the X-men the wind picked up and it became harder to push forward. We crept past shipping container after container staying out of sight. We got within 30 yards of the X-men when I heard foot steps behind me. I turned, pulled one of the mutants out of the way, and drew my pistol. I found myself staring down the barrel of 10 other rifles and a pistol held by none other than Linda herself.
"So Bullet how did you think this was going to turn out?" Linda asked unshaking as I held my pistol pointed directly at the center of her forehead.
"Honestly? I expected to rescue these mutants and have you and every member of your crew arrested but you know as well as I do that is not going to happen. So Linda you have me at a disadvantage you know who I am but I still don't know you." I responded just as calmly.
"I did not know you until I ran your image through some facial recognition software. It took a while and some contacts in high places but even the highest paid most secret assassin in the world can not keep himself completely hidden. Whether all I have to go on is your codename or not. I have been offered quite a bit of money to capture you alive. You and your friend there." She said turning her gaze to Logan.
"You will never take us alive." Logan growled.
"So it seems we have ourselves a bit of a standoff." I smirked. Remy readied a card and Logan extended his claws. The rest of the mutants cowered behind us as they don't experience situations like this on a normal basis.
"I wont get paid if you are dead but the praise that I will receive will be more than worth putting a bullet in you." Linda replied.
"So what are you waiting for?" I asked with a smirk.
"I have a clear shot mam." One of the security guards responded.
"Of course you do your 12 feet away from me with a gun that fires a projectile at more than 700 feet per second. If you fired I wouldn't have a chance to avoid it. But you see the thing is your boss here is scared. She knows she has me dead to rights and by all means that should scare me but she can see it in my eyes that I wont hesitate to kill her either and that's where she has the disadvantage, she is scared to die. You could always fire and hope I don't get a round off myself. But then you have this man to my left to worry about, bullets will not kill him and he will close a gap of 12 feet in a split second and shred every last one of you." I said to the guard.
"Ill tell you what Linda go ahead and shoot, see what good it does for you." I said and holstered my pistol and smirked at the woman who had no idea how to handle a situation like this. "Everyone go, Remy lead them in the direction that the wind is coming from."
"Don't go anywhere." Linda shouted.
"Or what?" I asked. "You are not going to shoot, you know the consequences. That's it, your stalling for time. Everyone we have to go now."
I turned my back to Linda and began walking away when I heard a gunshot. I stopped in my tracks and realized I was not hit. I turned back around thinking she had fired a warning shot and saw a bullet suspended in mid air where my head was at.
"Bullet it has been too long you seem to be doing well for yourself." A familiar voice said. I looked up and wasn't exactly excited to see the man but I guess I owe him one now.
"Metal head, I must say it is good to see you surprisingly." I said as Erik floated down to the ship's deck. Logan growled and Erik smirked at him.
"It seems you could use a ride." He said.
"I wouldn't be against it but it is not just us." I said gesturing back to where the X-men were a moment ago before realizing that the wind had stopped along with the rest of the commotion.
"They are already secured. Shall we?" He asked.
"Lets go." I said and he lowered a shipping container to the side of the ship.
"Stop right there." Linda shouted.
"Go ahead fire all you want." I said as I climbed over the side onto the top of the container. Just then another shipping container slid off the stack it was on and landed directly on top of Linda and the guards.
"Erik what the hell did you do that for? They posed no danger to us." I said angrily.
"They would not have hesitated to kill you if they had the opportunity. They would have taken your life for the simple fact that you are different from them." He responded.
"So we become them? It shouldn't work like that." I shouted as we began floating away from the ship which then lifted into the air itself and turned upside down before crashing back into the water. "There is a better way."
"Yes but none as effective. A year ago you would not have blinked an eye at what I have just done. You have gone soft Bullet." Erik replied.
"Why are you here Magneto?" Logan growled.
"It would seem I received the same intel that you did. The only difference is our plan off attack. You should be more excited to see me seeing as how Bullet here would be dead without me." He answered.
"This changes nothing Magneto, I am not joining your brotherhood." I said.
"We will discuss this more at a later date what do you say we get back to land?" He asked.
We floated back to land and the container hit solid ground back at the shipping port. We climbed down off of the container and I sent a message out over my communicator.
"Storm beast where are you?" I asked.
"Unlock the door and find out." I heard back before a banging sound was made from the inside of the container. I opened the door and Storm and beast stumbled out on uneasy footing.
"Well Bullet my offer stands should you change your mind." Erik said and reached his hand out to me.
"I owe you for saving me and I am sure you will call in that favor sooner or later, but we are on opposite sides of the fence here Erik, I am no longer a hired gun." I said and shook his hand. "I am glad we could handle things more civilized this time around."
"It took quite a while for my broken cheekbone to heal last time along with the deflated lung and 14 stitches. Lets say it was a lesson hard learned that you would not be forced to do anything you did not want to do." He said and lifted off the ground. "Until next time."