Author's note: Sorry for the late update. Here is the next chapter. I also slipped a DC reference into the chapter just for the fun of it.
Silence
Chapter 32: Medic Roulette
Seattle, Washington
The tantalizing scent of freshly ground, roasted coffee beans wafted through the air. Coffee cups clinked while the barista poured an espresso shot for a waiting customer. Outside, a cold rain pattered against the windows of the small coffee shop while several men and women huddled inside. A female student studied vigorously in one corner while a trio of older men reminisced about the olden days and past battles of glory.
Thor Odinson enjoyed the atmosphere while he sipped on his own coffee, which was, of course, black with no sugar. His slim companion also drank black coffee. Lifeline looked more relaxed than when the Asgardian had first arrived in Seattle. Thor had asked the man to show him around his home town, hoping that it would put the man more at ease. It seemed to have worked, for which he was grateful. The medic seemed honorable enough, despite his quirks.
The Asgardian hid a smile. As much as he enjoyed this mortal establishment, his mutant companion intrigued him even more.
"I'm surprised that no one has recognized you," Edwin Steen said quietly. "All you're wearing is glasses, a flannel shirt, and jeans. Why didn't you change into Blake?"
Thor shrugged. He wanted to be himself, not the mortal doctor. The Asgardian wondered briefly if Lifeline preferred Donald Blake to Thor, but mentally shook it off. Whether the other man did or not didn't matter, as Lifeline was too honorable a man to show favoritism. Besides….Thor really wanted the visit with the man as "Thor", not "Blake."
"Perhaps the mortals here do not expect a god to be dressed like them?" he suggested quietly. Lifeline rolled his eyes briefly and the Asgardian did his best not to feel insulted. The medic was hardly the first to doubt his claim to godhood. However, the man had been very respectful to him so far….despite being unhappy about having to spar with the god. Thor wasn't going to get angry over a little thing. Being forced to live as a crippled doctor had done worlds to cooling down his temper and ego.
"I suppose that's true," the medic sighed after a moment. He paused a moment before continuing. "My sister is fine with you coming over for dinner, by the way. In fact, she's happy to meet one of my…friends." Lifeline had hesitated ever so slightly before using the word 'friend.' Thor was pleased by the use of the word. At the moment, they were merely acquaintances and brothers in arms, no matter how much the man claimed to hate fighting. The word 'friend' sat well with the Asgardian.
"I thank thee," Thor replied, trying to keep his normally booming voice down. "I look forward to meeting thine family." The smaller man nodded before telling the Asgardian a bit about his sister. Thor listened with interest. Lifeline was a puzzle and even though the Asgardian admittedly was no genius, he knew that understanding the man's background would help explain his questions.
Thor respected the fact that the other man was a healer and a combat medic. He was perplexed, however, by the fact that a man who hated violence would choose to live in a violent environment and heal warriors, in order that they might return to battle. The Asgardian couldn't understand how the mortal rationalized it.
"If I may ask," Thor interrupted politely. Lifeline was telling him about his sister's children. "Will either of your parents be there?" It was possible that they weren't alive, as mortals didn't live long. However, the Asgardian was curious to meet the man's parents, if possible.
The medic stiffened and Thor didn't fail to notice the cautious, wary look on the man's face, or the flash of anger in his eyes. It appeared that he'd asked a sensitive subject then. Thor immediately rushed to apologize for possibly having offended his companion. Lifeline, however, relaxed slightly and tried to brush it off.
"It's fine…you wouldn't know," the medic told him. "My mother died when I was a kid, I don't really remember her. As for my father…." Lifeline trailed off before adding reluctantly, "we're not exactly on good terms. I've only spoken with him twice in the last thirty or so years."
Oh. It was that kind of situation then. Thor felt himself grow slightly embarrassed. It didn't help that rather than raging about it, the medic had replied with resigned humility. It was a character trait that the Norse god struggled with, which was why his father had temporarily banished him into the form of a crippled, mortal healer in the first place.
"I….apologize," Thor replied. He did feel bad about having brought the subject up. "I did not realize that things were thus." The Asgardian stared down at his coffee for a moment as he pondered a response. Finally, even if only to put the other man more at ease, he admitted that his family situation was less than desirable as well.
"I too have family problems," the Asgardian admitted. "I've had problems with my father as well, although those are resolved now. As for my brother…" he trailed off slightly. Where to even begin about Loki? That was a mess in itself, one that still tore at his heart. Thor wanted a brother, not an enemy.
"Loki?" Lifeline guessed quietly. Thor nodded. The medic contemplated that quietly for a moment.
"I've read a bit on Norse mythology recently," the medic finally said. "I'm not sure how much of it is true…"
"I never dressed as a woman to retrieve Mjolnir," Thor quickly denied. The medic raised an eyebrow and his lips quirked up slightly. The Asgardian silently damned himself. However, the mortal chose to go along with the obvious lie to save Thor additional embarrassment.
"Of course not," Lifeline said dryly. "Anyway, Loki is actually a Frost Giant, right?"
"Well yes," Thor replied. "But he was never treated any differently from any other Asgardian or son of Odin."
"Are you sure?" Lifeline asked carefully. Thor felt a flash of anger. He opened his mouth to chastise the healer, who dared to insinuate that the god of thunder was a liar. However, the medic calmly held up a hand to stay his anger.
"Please hear me out first, before you rip into me," Lifeline told him evenly. "Okay, I don't know the whole story….but I know what it's like to be both a minority and not the favored child."
Thor calmed himself and nodded graciously to the man to continue. The word "minority" stung him a bit, as Loki was hardly…
"He grew up in an area where Frost Giants were hated and feared, rightly or wrongly, correct?" Lifeline asked. Thor nodded his head, which seemed to affirm whatever point the healer was trying to make. "Loki would have felt like he was an outsider for that reason alone," the mortal continued. "…regardless of how he was or wasn't treated. And…" he added tentatively, "would you have noticed if others treated him differently?"
"Of course I would have," Thor snorted. As if he wouldn't notice someone dishonoring a son of Odin. "And that doesn't excuse…" The medic had the audacity to interrupt him before he was finished.
"From what I understand….you were the favored child and were more arrogant then," Lifeline told him with polite bluntness. "Could you have understood what your brother was feeling? Discrimination can be and often is subtle…and if you aren't the target of it, you may not even be aware that it exists. I'm not saying that this excuses Loki's actions," the medic quickly added. "But it could have been what originally set him off."
Thor didn't reply to that right away. He was too busy sifting through his memories, wondering if the medic was right. Perhaps he had failed as an elder brother. Perhaps he should have…
No. Even gods couldn't change the past…at least not the Thunder god.
An unfortunate memory rose of Odin banishing a young Hela to the underworld for the sole reason that her physical imperfections had disgusted the god. Thor cringed again. Had his own father, the Almighty All Father, acted any differently from the mortals who acted hatefully towards one another for physical and genetic differences? Hela had just been a mere child then. She hadn't even done anything at that point, other than to have the misfortune of being Loki's daughter and of being born with rotting flesh.
Hela should have been pitied and cared for, not thrown away like trash to be hidden from view. Deep shame filled Thor for the first time when he recalled the treatment of his niece. He had been in entire agreement with his father then, as had many Asgardians. They had mocked Loki for having such a child and had viewed her as a threat. But what kind of threat had a mere child honestly been at the time?
Thor stared down at his coffee, which was starting to grow cold. He couldn't look up at the medic. Perhaps the mortals were right to roll their eyes at the term "gods." Now that he'd pushed enough of his arrogance away to consider Lifeline's words, Thor realized that the Asgardians often hadn't acted much better than Midgard's inhabitants.
"You speak with wisdom," Thor admitted quietly. "For one so young." Lifeline gave a start at his statement. The Asgardian wondered briefly how long this mortal might live. Would his mutations give him an extended life? If so, then his abilities and potential longevity put him nearly on par with an Asgardian.
"I…" Lifeline looked extremely embarrassed. The medic awkwardly searched for a response. "I'm not really….that is…." Thor nearly smiled again. The smaller man didn't seem to take flattery or praise well….or at least know how to accept it. Humility was often a rare trait, regardless of where one was in the nine realms.
"Your father," Thor said, changing subjects quickly since the healer was still struggling to deny that he was "wise." "I understand that it is a sensitive subject for thee and I ask forgiveness if I am overstepping my boundaries….but why dost thou not speak with him?"
"He's a monster," Lifeline replied bluntly. The harshness of the reply took Thor by surprise, as this was the first time that he'd heard such a statement from the healer. In his admittedly few interactions with the man, never once had the medic expressed anything that bordered on hate.
"He was abusive," the medic added, noticing the Asgardian's reaction. "Both physically and verbally…and this was before he found out that I was a mutant." There was a long pause before Edwin Steenson added quietly, "As you can probably tell….I'm still struggling to deal with it. My 'father' is why I hate violence."
Thor listened silently while the medic quietly and slowly began to open up about his childhood. The internal wounds were obviously still deep and hadn't completely healed yet. The Asgardian knew he wasn't half as clever as his brother or even the medic, but he could tell that much. The barely hidden pain was obvious.
Rage began to fill the Thunder god, which he struggled to reign in. Losing his temper would not only endanger the other mortals in the coffee shop, but it would disrespect the violence hating healer. Thor had half a mind to pay the elder Steen a visit. Such a waste of dishonorable flesh. How could such a man sire a child like the healer? Thor felt his anger deepen when the mortal told the Asgardian that his father had ties to the Friends of Humanity. As an Avenger, the Norse god was all too familiar with the hate group. They were constantly up to no good.
"If it wasn't for Namor helping me that day," Lifeline said, having now moved to the subject of his mutant powers and getting kicked out of his father's house, "I'm not sure what I would have done. He saved my life, managed to calm me down, and helped me get some control over my powers." Thor blinked suddenly at the mention of Namor. His mouth hung open slightly while the medic related the incident. A deep chuckle rose in his belly while the god struggled with the image of the snooty, arrogant Namor deigning to help a struggling twelve year old surface boy.
Thor couldn't hold it in anymore. The image was so surprising and hilarious that he couldn't help it. Booming laughter shook the coffee shop, causing surprised mortals to stare at him. Lifeline shifted in his seat, uneasy with the sudden attention.
"That seems to be the reaction I always get when I tell people that story," Lifeline noted wryly. "I haven't told it to many people, but everyone who knows Namor even slightly have reacted like you. He must really be something."
The Asgardian blinked tears out of his eyes while he nodded. Oh Namor. Thor wasn't going to let the half Atlantean mutant hear the end of this. It wasn't unusual for the man to balk and refuse to help the Avengers with anything that threatened the "surface dwellers," unless Atlantis or Namor's personal interests were somehow threatened. Perhaps reminding the volatile man about his past assistance of a young mutant boy would embarrass him into shutting up.
"Do you…." Lifeline hesitated slightly. "Do you think he even remembers me? I've….always wanted to thank him. I know it sounds strange, but he was more of a father to me on that day then my real father was to me for my entire life….even now." Thor found himself contemplating that. Now that he thought about it, he supposed that even Namor would make a good impression on a young, abused and frightened boy that he had unexpectedly helped.
"I do not know," the Asgardian admitted. "I should hope so. If not, I will make him remember." Lifeline groaned slightly at the threat, but the god of Thunder meant it. Thor silently vowed that if the two men ever met again, he would make sure that Namor wasn't his usual, rude self to the medic.
The two men continued to chat for a little while longer. They both gradually grew more relaxed and opened up more. This was the first time that they had simply talked. Previous associations had been on the battle field or in hand to hand training.
Thor frowned slightly at the thought of combat. The medic's fighting ability needed work. Snake Eyes and Scarlett had been correct. Lifeline had appeared to them to have been adequately skilled in self-defense because of his speed. Once they'd discovered the medic's mutation, they had correctly deduced that against someone of comparable strength and speed…that his self-defense was actually lacking.
It wasn't surprising, really. The medic couldn't be expected to fight well…sorry, defend well….against a superpowered foe without any practice.
"What?" Lifeline asked, noticing his expression. Thor shrugged it off. The medic already knew his defense needed work, so there was no reason to make him think that the Asgardian was upset with him. The mortal already got defensive enough about people deriding his pacifistic beliefs. Thor didn't want to unnecessarily get him riled up, especially after he'd put so much effort into getting the man to relax around him.
"Nothing, just thinking," the Asgardian replied. He was still thinking about the medic's combat ability. The healer certainly knew the fighting forms of his "aikido" and whatever other techniques that the ninja and the red headed, mortal Valkyrie had managed to shove into the stubborn medic's skull. However, adapting these to be effective in superpowered combat was another matter.
To Lifeline's credit, he was quickly adapting to the different level of battle from his spars with Thor and some of the X-Men. In fact, the speed to which he was adjusting made the Asgardian want to grind his teeth in frustration. It was all too evident that the healer had a natural sense of combat. Even compared to an Asgardian, he had excellent hand-eye coordination and learned quickly, at least once he was convinced that it didn't contradict his principles. The man's lack of desire to build on his inner potential was frustrating.
"Perhaps it's time for training," Thor finally suggested. That was, after all, the main reason he had come to Seattle. The other reason had simply been that he, and Dr. Donald Blake, liked the man well enough that they wanted to get to know him better.
Lifeline gave a sigh, but nodded his head. The medic had at least stopped balking in his training and seemed to have accepted it with resignation. It was completely alien to Thor that someone could hate combat and find no joy in battle. The old Thor would have scoffed at Edwin Steenson and derided him as a coward. The new Thor, however, understood how much courage it took to stand by one's principles in the face of adversity and to face an enemy head on with no intention of inflicting violence (and the healer certainly didn't run from a fight, even though he'd rather avoid one).
Thor still enjoyed combat, but he also now understood the attractiveness of peace. He respected Lifeline's beliefs to a point. The Asgardian didn't find them entirely realistic, but he respected someone who tried to reign in participation in violence. After centuries of viewing and participating in mortal and godly warfare and of dealing with a brother who enjoyed inciting chaos and carnage….Thor respected the simple honesty of a warrior healer who took no joy in warfare.
And deny it though he did, Lifeline WAS a warrior. A pacifist warrior, as odd as that sounded, but a warrior nonetheless. Thor had known Asgardians with less courage and who fought with less tenacity, at least if he was judging the medic correctly.
"Okay," Lifeline said, agreeing to the spar. "Perhaps we should spar in the mountains. That way we wouldn't potentially endanger anyone here. Plus…" he added, "it's very beautiful there. I…often go there to meditate when I need peace and quiet."
Thor nodded his head at the suggestion and agreed to it. Excitement coursed through his veins and he happily looked forward to the spar. As much as the medic hated battle, Thor still loved and craved it…especially if it was a friendly spar with a brother in arms.
The Pit
Lady Jaye stared down at the roster of names in front of her. She had been given the task of assigning roommates for the new Pit. The Joes had decided to downsize back to two people per living quarter. Normally, it wasn't as easy as it sounded anyway, as you had to take personality differences, plus day and night shifts into account. However, it hadn't taken long for her to realize that the mutant equation was making the task even more difficult.
Should she assign the mutants together? But then that would be segregation. Assign them to room with non-mutants who were fine with them? But then wouldn't that be empowering those people that didn't like mutants? Was it any different than allowing someone not to sit next to someone else because that person was black?
The female Joe frowned down at the list of names. She could room people wary of mutants with mutants, but then both parties would be miserable. It was also true that mutants tended to lose control of their powers from time to time. Short Fuze wouldn't be a problem, but what if Lifeline or Beach Head had a nightmare? What was to prevent them from accidentally hurting a roommate?
Even she had to admit that there were legitimate reasons for people to not want to room with a mutant, at least one that had a potentially dangerous ability. It didn't matter that Lifeline was a pacifist and wouldn't hurt a fly if he was awake. If he was having a nightmare and lashed out, even to flail out an arm…that could have deadly consequences. A normal person….that is, she corrected herself, a non-mutant, would break a lamp or a glass at the most. The Joes' medic could flatten a tank with the same movement.
For the next hour, she scribbled down potential roommates and then scribbled them out. No matter how she looked at it, Lady Jaye kept coming back to the same dilemma. Who should she room with the mutants?
After staring at the list some more, she finally came to a decision. Lady Jaye picked up her notes and went off in search of the Pit's current resident mutant. After looking outside and not finding him, she picked an entrance into the underground portion of the base and ducked in. Lady Jaye climbed down a temporary ladder until her feet hit solid ground.
Machines and shovels clanked away as Joes continued to dig out what was to be the hidden GI Joe base. More Joes had since trickled in, mixed with a few SHIELD agents, to help with the construction. After looking around, she eventually spotted Forge on the northeast corner of the Pit. The Native American had stripped off his shirt from the heat and was currently teaching Gung Ho and Tunnel Rat how to operate a drill that he had recently built.
"So how deep are we digging yet, boss man?" she heard Tunnel Rat ask as she approached. Forge raised an amused eyebrow at being called 'boss man', but answered the smaller man's question. Tunnel Rat cheerfully listened to the mutant before giving a thumbs up sign. Unlike some of the others, the Joe was taking great delight in "playing" under ground.
Lady Jaye waited a moment until Forge was done with his explanation. She cleared her throat, causing the men to pause and look at her. Gung Ho flashed her wide grin before returning his attention to studying the new drills. The other Joe, on the other hand, immediately engaged her in conversation.
"Hey Jaye," Tunnel Rat greeted cheerfully, his face and arms completely covered with dirt. "Want to join in the fun? Forge is letting me test drive one of his babies."
"Just don't scratch it," Forge replied stoically. There was a glint of humor in his eyes as he added dryly, "I'll make you do one hundred pushups for every scratch."
"You're killing me, Forge," the small Joe replied, shaking his head. "It's digging through dirt and rock…of course there're going to be scratches." Forge repeated his warning, but between the half smirk twitching at his lips and the glint in his eyes, Lady Jaye wasn't quite certain if the man was joking or not. He was about as hard to read as Spirit.
"Actually, I need to speak with Forge about something," Lady Jaye said, steering the conversation back to why she was there in the first place. The Cheyenne mutant raised his eyebrow slightly and followed her away from the others. Once they were out of earshot, Lady Jaye explained the rooming situation to him and asked his opinion on it.
"Let everyone choose," Forge replied when she was done. "That way they can room with who they want and it's not on you if any of the mutants decide or don't decide to room together."
"But," Lady Jaye debated briefly on how to bring up the next question. "If they room with a non-mutant…what about potential dangers if they lose control of their powers in their sleep? I'm not concerned about Short Fuze, it's the other two." She silently hoped that Forge wouldn't be offended by what she'd said, considering that he was a mutant. To her relief, he seemed to be seriously considering her question.
"Let me know which room that Lifeline will be in," the mutant said after a moment of thought. "I can reinforce his room to withstand his powers. The same with Beach Head. I could perhaps give the roommate, if not a mutant, the option of activating a force field between their beds at night for protection." After a moment, Forge added, "I suppose you could give them private rooms, but everyone else might think they were being given special treatment."
"What about Beach Head's telepathy?" Lady Jaye added. "Even if the force field and reinforced walls prevent other damage, the others may not like accidental telepathic intrusions."
"That's their problem," Forge replied bluntly. "I could give the roommate a telepathic blocker, but there's a potential for that to be misused somehow. Also, what if Beach Head needed to alert someone or wake his roommate, but couldn't?" Lady Jaye blinked a moment, before nodding her head at him. Forge thought another moment before continuing.
"There's another thing to consider," the mutant added. "What about the ninja? Is it fair to give the roommates of the mutants special protection, but not any roommates of the ninja? Who's to say that Storm Shadow or Snake Eyes wouldn't have a bad dream and lash out? They could easily cause just as much damage as Beach Head or Lifeline. Also, once Spirit starts training in magic, he could just as easily lose control in his sleep as well."
Lady Jaye sighed to herself. She hadn't even considered the ninjas or Spirit. This was all turning into a bigger, more complicated mess than she'd thought. As for Storm Shadow, there were likely many Joes who wouldn't want to room with him based on their past history, regardless if he'd been brainwashed for much of it. Some might even be concerned that there were still remnants of the Cobra programming in the ninja's mind.
"There's one more thing to consider," Forge added quietly, looking at her. "Many people don't necessarily distinguish between powers that are of mutant origin or a non-mutant origin, such as magic or an accidental, non-genetic mutation like Spiderman or Miss Marvel. You may have soldiers that are uncomfortable with Spirit, even though he's not a mutant, just because he has an ability to learn and use magic."
She thought about that for a long moment. That was something else that she hadn't considered. Lady Jaye wondered for a moment if Forge was starting to change his mind regarding teaching Spirit. After all, he seemed pretty certain that Spirit would learn magic. She hesitated a moment and considered asking the man about it, but decided against it. Magic seemed to be a touchy subject for the mutant, so there was no point bringing it up if she didn't have to. It was possible that Forge had just recognized Spirit's desire to learn and figured that the other man would find a different teacher to study under.
"Thank you," Lady Jaye told him. "I hadn't thought about some of those things. I'm still not sure what I'll do yet, but letting them all choose their roommates is an option. I suppose I could stick the ninja in with Beach Head, Lifeline, and Spirit as possible roommates."
Forge shrugged at that.
"Your choice," he said. "I'm just here to help with the Pit. I'm willing to give suggestions about other things if asked, but I can't make the decisions for you." Forge then gave her a polite nod of his head before returning back to the others. Lady Jaye stood there for a few minutes and watched as he went back to supervising the others.
Rather than feeling helped by Forge, she actually felt a little more uncertain about what to do. Perhaps letting them choose would be the best option. She resolved to talk to Flint about it a little bit later to get his input.
There was a reduction in sound as an engine was cut, followed by Tunnel Rat suddenly shouting. A clearly irritated Forge pointed to the side of one of the drills and said something. Tunnel Rat looked positively chagrined as the other man continued to quietly chastise him. Finally, Lady Jaye heard the smaller man's wail from where she was standing.
"Three HUNDRED pushups?" Tunnel Rat yelled. "I thought you were joking before! Come on Forge, it's a drill, it's GOING to get scratched up!"
The Joe's argument apparently fell on deaf ears. Within a few seconds, Forge had the smaller man pumping out pushups on the floor of the unfinished Pit. Lady Jaye chuckled to herself as she watched the display with some amusement. She forced herself to climb back up to the top, as she had her own work to do.
"Stupid rangers!" Tunnel Rat hollered. "Are you TRYING to make up for Beach not being here to punish us? It was just three LITTLE scratches!"
Tunnel Rat found himself doing two hundred more pushups as Lady Jaye finished climbing up the ladder. She figured that it was going to be an interesting day when Forge and Beach Head finally met, especially since the latter had a penchant for destroying anything mechanical in nature.
Lady Jaye wondered if she should make popcorn for the event.
Florida Everglades
Scarlett crouched as she studied the ground. What remained of the Dreadnok compound lay in tattered, burnt ruins. The surrounding swamp was also similarly damaged, with tree and machine fragments littering the area, which looked as if it had been scorched by a fire.
Or a bomb. Judging from the depressions in the earth, that might be more likely.
"Wolverine?" she asked quietly. Both the red haired Joe and the Canadian mutant were in joint command of the mission. It was supposed to be a simple retrieval task. Now, it was evident that it had become a search and rescue mission.
The Canadian sniffed the air a few times. He was currently circling around a piece of ground while Storm Shadow and Psylocke searched the area for survivors. Low Light was perched up on top of the Dreadnok compound with his sniper rifle, keeping an eye out for trouble.
"Cajun's scent ends here," Wolverine finally answered. "So does Sneeden's…at least I think it's Sneeden. Where's that balaclava?"
Scarlett fished a balaclava out and tossed it to the mutant. She'd had the foresight of bringing items along that belonged to both Beach Head and Short Fuze, since Wolverine wasn't likely to know what the men smelled like. She watched as the Canadian sniffed the balaclava, crinkling his nose slightly.
"Yep, Sneeden," the Canadian grunted. He tossed the face mask back at Scarlett. "I swear…he's just as much a swamp rat as Gumbo," the mutant added sourly, apparently not liking the ranger's strong scent. "I'm introducing that kid to a bar of soap when we get them back."
"When we get them back." Scarlett forced herself to consider the implications of that. According to Kitty Pryde, the machine debris belonged to sentinels. So far, there was no sign of either the Dreadnoks or the four mutants who had come to Florida. Scarlett closed her eyes and mentally called to Psylocke, asking for a report.
"I found the jet," the woman answered telepathically. "It's still in running condition and it's not damaged." So they had abandoned the jet then. Scarlett couldn't see any reason for Beach Head and the others to abandon their only form of transportation, unless something had happened.
"What about Short Fuze and Bishop?" she asked instead, both verbally and mentally. Psylocke reported that she hadn't found them. Wolverine, on the other hand, sniffed the air again and began to follow another trail. Scarlett and Kitty Pryde followed after him. They soon found themselves in the middle of the abandoned Dreadnok compound.
"Their scent leaves the compound again, mixed with the scent of gas," Wolverine explained, sitting on his heels as he studied the ground. "But the strongest scent is here." Scarlett sat on her heels as well while she looked where Logan was pointing. According to the tire marks, a vehicle had left the compound. There were also spots of oil and dried blood on the floor.
"We should take samples of the blood to see who it belongs to," Scarlett suggested. "We don't know if it belongs to one of ours, or to a Dreadnok." Wolverine nodded his head, having come to the same conclusion. While he and Scarlett wiped up the blood for samples, Storm Shadow came strolling in with two prisoners in hand. There was a large smirk on his face when he presented a dirty and nearly nude Ripper and Thrasher. Both men sported old and recent bruises and scratches, the latter probably having been inflicted by a ninja.
"I brought you both a present," Storm Shadow smirked. "They were hiding in the brush." The ninja shoved the Dreadnoks towards Wolverine. The two men trembled when they found themselves encircled by the Canadian, the ninja, and Scarlett.
"We hasn't done nothin'…" Thrasher stuttered. "We was just mindin' our own business when…"
"Shut up," Scarlett ordered them. Thrasher fell silent. The red head debated briefly what to do. They could interrogate the pair, as it would be more fun. However, since they had a telepath on the team, there was no need, unless Cobra had put telepathic blockers into the Dreadnoks as well. The female Joe mentally called for Psylocke again, who immediately joined the small team in the Dreadnok compound. Scarlett was relieved when the mutant had no problems entering the men's minds. Thrasher and Ripper were probably too low on the Cobra totem pole to warrant a telepathic blocker.
After a bit of mental probing, they were disappointed to discover that the two men had been knocked unconscious before the battle. Psylocke, however, confirmed that she'd detected a trace of Beach Head's mental signature in the Dreadnok minds. The ranger had apparently used his powers to knock them unconscious.
Psylocke also smugly reported that the Dreadnoks had woken up in each other's arms, which was partially why the two men were unsettled. Scarlett allowed herself a smirk as well, figuring that Beach Head had been responsible for that.
"What now?" Kitty Pryde asked. Scarlett and Wolverine exchanged looks for a moment before they reached a silent agreement. The X-Men and the Joes had to be informed immediately. From the looks of things, their missing comrades were either in Cobra or sentinel hands. Either possibility was bad.
"Psylocke," Scarlett commanded, not caring if the X-Men were irked at her ordering them. "You take the abandoned jet back to the school. Take Low Light, Kitty, and the Dreadnoks with you. Low Light," the red head added, now addressing the sniper. "Make sure the Dreadnoks get taken into custody at the Helicarrier." She finally glanced back at Wolverine, who only nodded at her.
"As for the rest of us," the Canadian grunted. "We'll track Bishop and Short Fuze's scent as far as we can. However…" Here, Logan corrected Scarlett's previous order slightly. However, he phrased it as a recommendation to Scarlett, rather than simply countering it. "We should have Kitty gather up some of the sentinel pieces to bring back for Hank to look over. She's good with tech."
Scarlett nodded her head and agreed to the change in plans. Logan knew the specialties of the X-Men better than she did. Shana handed over the blood samples to Low Light to take back to GI Joe for testing. When everyone was clear on their orders, the two groups split up. Low Light helped Shadowcat gather debris while Psylocke herded the Dreadnoks towards the other jet.
Meanwhile, Scarlett, Wolverine, and Storm Shadow began tracking the missing Dreadnok vehicle.
Seattle, Washington
Cold rain hit him while gusts of thin, mountain air stirred his hair. Water dripped down Edwin Steen's face as the unexpected storm grew. The weather forecasters had predicted a light rain. However, they hadn't accounted for the "god" of thunder. He looked up for a moment and watched as the sky gradually darkened. Heavy winds began to lash across the mountain range, hitting his body. Lightning crashed from the sky.
It thundered.
Lifeline forced himself to stop looking at the sky. He didn't have the luxury to marvel at the change in weather, or even to curse at it. He couldn't, as the very cause of the storm was happily trying to smash him into the side of a mountain.
Thor flew at him with same intensity as the storm brewing in the sky. The very air seemed to vibrate as the two superhumans clashed. Lifeline focused all of his attention on self-defense. When a hammer wielding arm lashed down at him, the medic rolled his body with the movement, not letting the weapon touch him. The mutant wrapped a hand around Thor's wrist and pressed a pressure point. As he did so, and feeling fortunate that Asgardians had the same pressure points, the medic redirected Mjolnir away from himself. Lightning lashed out of the weapon and struck the top of a snow covered mountain. Rock exploded, causing boulders and pulverized dust to thunder down the side of the mountain and into the valley below.
Damn, that had been lucky. Thor didn't seem to be holding as much back as the last time they had sparred. This was the first time he was even using Mjolnir to attack the medic, for which Lifeline was distinctly displeased. Even so, he was sure that Thor was still holding back since he had no intention of killing or seriously injuring the medic.
Thor tried to twist his arm out of the smaller man's grasp, but Lifeline locked the wrist in place and held the man's arm up. The medic brought his other hand up to defend himself when Thor attempted to elbow him in the face with his other arm. Lifeline spun them around and used the momentum to send the Asgardian flying harmlessly away.
It was difficult to apply aikido training to an aerial, superhuman situation and Lifeline had been forced to adapt and even improvise on the spot. He was gradually getting a better feel for it, but still….
The air rushed out of his lungs when Thor got him in the chest. The Asgardian struck him in the jaw next, causing Lifeline to taste his own blood. Thor's "sparring" was definitely rougher than what Snake Eyes would have done in his place. The fact that it was rougher made him put more focus into defending himself. The medic ignored the pain and concentrating on closing any gaps in his defense.
The Avenger hooked a beefy arm around his neck and kneed him in the back. Stars danced in Lifeline's eyes. He struggled to escape, but Thor easily ignored his attempts and hurled the medic through the top of a far off mountain.
Thunder again. Lightning struck rock while bits of mountain crumbled from the impact of a slim medic. Lifeline groaned from the pain and got to his feet. He hated this. The mutant rubbed the back of his neck and tried to ignore the fact that he was actually bleeding slightly.
Thor laughed in the distance, obviously enjoying the spar. Edwin sighed heavily. He hated this, but he wasn't going to back down. The medic knew that he needed the training. Besides, Thor obviously loved it and Edwin didn't want to do anything to disappoint the almost childlike man. Lifeline didn't like to back down from anything anyway and he knew Thor would look down on him if he tried to weasel his way out of the fight.
If Edwin internally felt that he had to make up for not being able to give one hundred percent for Beach Head's physical training, he didn't acknowledge it.
"Have at thee!"
The shouted warning instantly put him on alert. There was a whir of an arm when the other man threw Mjolnir at him again. Lifeline blanched slightly, but made himself move. Even the slightest bit of hesitation on his part could be deadly. The medic zipped around the weapon to safety. He half expected to hear another mountain crumble (he really should have suggested some place like a desert), but the magical weapon merely returned to Thor's hand before it could inflict any more damage.
Lifeline's mind raced while he tried to figure out his next plan of action. He couldn't go on the offensive, as that would betray his principles. However, he needed to find a way to put up a better defense against the Asgardian. There was no way that Ed was even going to attempt to catch or block Mjolnir. He had no idea if he could lift it or not, but he wasn't about to take a gamble.
To be fair, Thor had offered the hammer to the medic at the start of the spar to test his strength or "worthiness", but the medic had politely refused. He'd gone all these years without touching a weapon. Lifeline wasn't about to betray his pacifistic beliefs by touching a weapon now. He didn't care if it was a legendary weapon or not. If it had been King Arthur offering him Excalibur, the medic still would have refused.
Thor attacked him again. This time, they were on the "ground", or rather the side of a mountain. Regardless, Lifeline was more prepared to defend against a ground attack than an aerial one. He used the Asgardian's momentum to flip him onto his back. Rock crumbled from the force of the impact while Mjolnir tumbled out of the Thunder god's hands. It fell several hundred feet before striking the ground and creating a massive crater.
The Avenger blinked up at him, clearly surprised by the result of his attack. His face lit up an instant later with a huge smile. He then wrapped his hands around the medic's ankles and threw the smaller man over his head. Thor rolled to his feet and tilted his body downward, finishing his throw. The medic cursed as he was hurled off the mountain, but was unable to stop himself in midair.
Lifeline landed near Mjolnir, creating a second crater. He groaned, as every part of his body now ached. However, he forced himself to stand back up and look up at Thor. It had been years since the medic had been able to feel anything approaching physical pain because of his invulnerability. His spar sessions with the X-Men and Thor were quickly making up for that.
Mjolnir rose into the air and back into its owner's hand. Lifeline cautiously watched the grinning Asgardian. Thor raised his arm to attack again, but the medic was already on the move. Even though the Avenger was stronger than him, Ed knew he was the faster of the two men. If he made himself a moving target, the chances of the Thunder god hitting him were slimmer than if he stayed still.
The mutant felt his skin heat up from the friction as he raced around the mountains, trying to evade a now somewhat agitated Thor. Lifeline ignored the heat, as his body was immune to it and since he was wearing an X-Men uniform, he didn't have to worry about his clothes disintegrating. However, Lifeline suddenly noted with dismay that the same friction that didn't bother him was melting rock and creating deep fissures in his beloved mountains.
He immediately stopped, but was knocked to the ground by Thor the instant he did so. Mud flew into his face and Lifeline unintentionally bit down on his lip, drawing more blood. Lifeline picked his face out of the mud. He vibrated his body slightly and the mud disintegrated from the friction.
"You shouldn't have hesitated," Thor told him. "That was foolish."
Lifeline sighed. He knew he had every right to be chastised, but that still didn't make him feel any better. The medic hated his powers and how destructive they were. Without even intending to, he was destroying a rock formation in seconds what had taken millions of years to form.
"Excuse me for not wanting to be responsible for destroying the Olympic Mountains," the medic snapped, referring to the name of the mountain range. "I happen to like this place."
Thor stared at him for a moment, apparently stunned by the show of anger. The man's lips twitched slightly before full smirk formed. The Asgardian crossed his arms, still holding Mjolnir. Lifeline felt himself grow more irritated by the man's amusement.
"So you can become angry," Thor noted, having the audacity to grin cheerfully. "That is good to know, I was beginning to think that…." Sound vibrations cut the Asgardian off, making him turn his head. Lifeline looked in the direction of the sound, having recognized the familiar rotation of whirring blades cutting through the air. A small squadron of military assault helicopters were flying towards Seattle.
"What?" Lifeline asked. What was the military doing in Seattle that they needed that kind of armament? He flew up into the sky for a better look, followed closely behind by Thor. The two men stared into the distance. Several armored vehicles and three heavy trucks carrying troops were following behind the helicopters. Two sophisticated looking tanks, ones that Cover Girl would kill to have, also rolled along in the deadly caravan. Lifeline felt his stomach tense up.
"That looks like a Hulkbuster Unit," Thor observed, his former humor gone. "However, I know that Hulk is with Black Panther and Wasp at the moment." The feeling of dread in Lifeline's stomach deepened. Why the hell was there a Hulkbuster unit heading into his hometown? People were going to get hurt. Whatever crisis had called for it, was all of that really necessary in the middle of a heavily populated, urban area? His eyes followed the helicopters, which were flying towards the northeast section of town.
No….
"If they're not after Hulk…" Thor muttered, still thinking aloud. "Then what are they…."
"They're heading towards Mutant Town," Lifeline replied. An icy chill settled over his entire body. Maybe he could be wrong, maybe….
"There is a mutant ghetto on the northeast outskirts," he added. "Maybe they're attacking because of Registration…." Either the government had decided to use the Registration Act as an excuse to forcibly round up and register mutants or the inhabitants of Mutant Town had decided to riot. Perhaps both were correct.
"Come," The god of Thunder intoned gravely. "There are innocents who will require our aid then. I will call the Avengers; however, the two of us should be more than enough to deal with the situation."
"I may need my medic pack," Lifeline said, his throat now completely dry. He'd known that things would get worse with registration. However, he wasn't quite prepared to go against his fellow soldiers, men and women he had sworn to protect and heal. But if they were harming innocents…"It's at my sister's…."
"Then retrieve it," the Avenger told him. "After you have thine supplies, Healer, we shall do battle together." Thor pointed his mighty hammer towards the helicopters. Lightning flashed as he sped towards the scene of the growing conflict. Lifeline turned around and headed towards his sister's house, praying that she and her family wouldn't somehow get caught in the middle.
In reality, it took him a few seconds to reach Stephanie's house, even though it felt longer to him. Lifeline quickly located his medic pack, which by habit, he took with him everywhere. He slipped the full pack over his shoulders, noting how this one settled differently on his shoulders. Tony Stark had designed a new combat medic pack for him, one that utilized the same material that went into the X-Men's uniforms. It was also more aerodynamic than the standard issue pack.
He caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror on his way out of the house. Ed stopped to stare at his reflection for a moment, though it was a microsecond in reality. His face was completely exposed. Did he really need to have his face visible to the media, who was sure to be around, and to the government….especially when he was a member of a highly secret, elite military unit?
Lifeline felt his inner turmoil grow. He was going to go against American troops who had most likely been ordered to round up mutant civilians under false pretenses. Even though he had no intention of actually fighting, the very act of defending mutant targets against the military could earn him a court martial, at the very least, if his identity was known.
The medic looked down at himself. His borrowed X-Men uniform would surely give away his identity as well, since he was known to be associated with them. It would be difficult to hide his involvement, seeing as it was his hometown that the Hulkbuster unit was invading. His mutant abilities were well known at this point.
Maybe he shouldn't…
The image of assault helicopters and tanks headed towards the mutant ghetto burned in his mind. If his hunch was correct, then they were going to attack civilians. There was going to be fighting, which meant people were going to get hurt. Many mutants didn't even have powers or powers with defensive capabilities.
Decision made, as he didn't have the time to keep debating it, Lifeline pulled a pair of jeans and a nondescript sweatshirt over his X-Men uniform. He stared at his face a split second as he wondered how to cover it. Ed knew he had no time to find or make a mask, however. Every second counted…wait….
The medic zipped up to the attic, remembering that his sister kept the Halloween costumes up there. Within seconds, the formerly pristine storage space looked as if a tornado had blown through it. Lifeline would apologize to his sister later and clean it up. For now, he didn't have the luxury to be neat. He needed something to hide his identity…however ridiculous it might look.
"Ed?" Stephanie's voice floated up the attic. "Is that you? What the hell…."
Lifeline's eyes fell on a plain, black party mask that would at least cover the upper portion of his face. It wasn't much, but it was the least ridiculous mask in the box. It might not even last long with his abilities, but it was better than nothing. The medic carefully secured it to his face and was out of the house in a flash.
When his sister stepped up into the attic, she stared around at the disaster area. Several objects in the room were still whirling about by the sudden gust of wind left by a departing mutant.
Northern Seattle had descended into panicked chaos by the time that Lifeline finally arrived. Mutants attempted to break past erected barriers and the growing ranks of heavily armed soldiers and into the rest of Seattle. Just beyond the segregated area, "normal" men and women were also in a panic. Many were running in fear, not really understand what was going on. Others were gathered with signs, cheering on the soldiers or throwing trash at the mutants. Several of the signs were clearly the work of the Friends of Humanity.
Ed wondered briefly if his father was in the crowd. He pushed that thought away, as he couldn't worry about that at the moment. The medic watched as a pair of soldiers aimed their weapons at a trio of escaping mutant teenagers. An old man stepped between them and the children. He spat some sort of orange goo at the soldiers, who Lifeline guessed were probably Army like him. A nonlethal tranq struck the old man, causing him to crumble to the ground.
Disgust filled his chest. This wasn't right. As his eyes swept over the scene, trying to figure out what to do, he heard distant shouts. From somewhere outside the mutant zone, a man bellowed for assistance.
"She's a mutant! The blonde in the blue blouse and khakis, get her!" the unknown man shouted. A woman screamed. High heels clattered against the pavement, followed by the thud of a body hitting the ground. Lifeline's sensitive ears followed the sound of a woman weeping and crowds jeering as he tried to locate the source. He flew over the top of several high rise buildings before the medic located a small crowd gathered outside of a department store. The inner portion of the crowd consisted of two heavily armed soldiers while a third tried to keep back a gathering crowd of gawking civilians. One of the soldiers cuffed and placed a mutant inhibitor collar around the neck of a cowering, "normal" looking woman.
So there weren't just the soldiers in Mutant Town then. The government seemed to have sent armed people in to track down mutants with "normal" appearances living in the rest of Seattle.
Lightning struck in the near distance, followed by a crack of thunder. Lifeline felt his rage build to match that of the god of thunder, who was currently battling against the main arsenal of the Hulkbuster Unit.
"P….please…." the woman pleaded. "I didn't even know I was a mutant." People cheered while the two soldiers ignored her pleas. One of them scanned her face and took fingerprints, before digging through her purse to locate her driver's license. Lifeline threw away whatever misgivings he still had about going against the military. As a combat medic, he had taken an oath to defend the Constitution and to obey his Commander in Chief.
However, this was unconstitutional. The Commander in Chief be damned.
It was just a brief blur to the eyes of the onlookers. Lifeline snatched the weapons and mutant detectors from the soldiers and quickly crushed them. After breaking those, he picked up the woman and raced off. The soldiers gaped when an instant later, their target and armaments had either disappeared or been destroyed.
Lifeline ripped the mutant inhibitor collar off the woman as he ran, choosing not to take to the skies for the moment. He came to a brief pause in the middle of Cowen Park and quickly asked her where she lived. The woman stammered a reply and Lifeline quickly deposited the mutant in front of her apartment. Ed quickly instructed her to get out of town before leaving with a crack of speed.
He took to the skies and flew back to the edge of northern Seattle. It was a war zone. Tanks and assault helicopters circled as they tried to pen in escaping mutants and fired on anyone who attempted to attack. Two of the helicopters fired on Thor, who was shouting angrily in an unknown language. As Lifeline watched, the Asgardian was hit behind with a missile….a missile that had been designed with the Hulk in mind.
The weapon exploded, lighting up the sky with shrapnel and fire. Lifeline nearly went after Thor, who went tumbling from the force of the impact. Instead, he used the distraction to rip open the side of one of the helicopters. I'm not attacking, he mentally told himself, trying desperately to believe it. I'm just going to disable their weapons.
An energy discharge hit him in the chest, temporarily blinding him. Faint pain lanced through him, but it still paled in comparison to the friendly beating that Thor had given him earlier. The medic ignored it as he tore off the rotor blades of the aircraft. Lifeline did his best to evade the artillery that was being fired on him while he carried the disabled aircraft to the top of a building. The mutant deposited the helicopter's occupants safely on the building, making sure to keep any weapons inside of the aircraft. Ed flew up into the air and threw the helicopter into the mountains.
"Ignore the others, get THAT mutant!" Someone shouted, referring to the pacifist. Many of the soldiers concentrated their fire on the medic. Shrapnel pelted at him and exploded. Lifeline did his best to avoid them, but between the wear and tear of moving at superspeed and the deadly shells, his civilian disguise began to disintegrate. Lifeline gritted his teeth and spared a glance down at himself. The X-Men uniform was now peeping through the tattered remains of his sweatshirt and jeans. His medic pack was still in good shape, thanks to Tony Stark's new design.
Lifeline quickly touched his face and was relieved to find that his mask was still firmly in place. He wasn't sure how long that would last.
Tank guns boomed. A distinct whine as several projectiles cut through the air drew his attention. Lifeline turned his head to see three modified KEPs, or kinetic energy projectors, heading in his direction. The medic nearly avoided them, but then realized that the projectiles, which were used to pierce armored vehicles…and in this case, probably the thick skin of the Hulk, would fall into the civilian sector if he moved. Lifeline braced himself and prepared to take the brunt of the attacks. He held out his hands to catch one of the KEPs, but Thor's hammer intersected it first. There was an explosion as Mjolnir struck the armament.
Lifeline zipped out of the way and managed to catch one of the other KEPs while Thor caught the third. The medic discovered with dismay that all of the arrow shaped projectiles were armed with an explosive head. A high intensity heat burned up the rest of his disguise, taking his mask with it.
"Lifeline!" Thor shouted, trying to make his voice heard over the thunder of the battle. The medic winced slightly by the use of his code name. Ed turned his head to see that while the Asgardian's armor was scuffed up, he only seemed slightly worse for wear.
"I will handle the helicopters and tanks," the Avenger ordered. "Attend to the wounded and keep yon soldiers away from the defenseless." Lifeline nodded his head, accepting the man's instructions. Below them, mutants continued to battle against the US troops, who were still trying to round them up. Three of the mutants attempted to fight against the tanks. However, their abilities-which seemed to consist of moderate super strength, ice, and telekinesis, were having limited effect against the heavily armored tanks.
With a sinking feeling, Lifeline reluctantly realized that he and Thor probably possessed the most "firepower" of all the superhumans there.
No, don't think about it. Protect the civilians. Heal the wounded. Thor will do the fighting, concentrate on your own duties.
"Shit," he heard of the of mutants yell. "I can't use my telepathy! They're blocking it somehow!" Lifeline looked at the soldiers again and realized that their helmets were slightly different from the standard issue combat helmet. Had they been modified to block telepathic attacks?
Lifeline forced himself to ignore the man, as he didn't need to get distracted. Instead, he focused his attention on disarming the soldiers on the ground while Thor tackled the big guns. As he raced about the battle zone collecting weapons, he realized with dismay that mutants were instantly taking the advantage to brutally exact their revenge against the now unarmed soldiers. Several soldiers, fearing for their lives, broke rank and run. The others stayed and attempted to hold their ground.
He heard a scream. The combat medic turned his head and was horrified to discover that a female mutant with claws had just gutted a soldier. Blood and severed intestines rained out of the poor soul while the man's bloody dog tags seemed to float in midair to Lifeline's eyes. His enhanced vision stared in fixation on the dog tags.
Corporal Michael Carter.
Now deceased, or at least about to be. In his mind, Ed knew that even with all his mutant powers and medical knowledge, he couldn't fix the damage in the seconds that the man had left to live. Even rushing him to an emergency room couldn't possibly save him. That is, if the fragile man even survived the speed.
Only seconds left….thirty seconds, if the man was lucky.
Edwin caught the soldier as he collapsed to the ground in a rain of his own blood. He knelt to the ground and cradled the dying corporal in his arms. Even though he knew it was useless, Lifeline's hands flew quickly into his medic pack and pulled out items.
I can't fix this.
Try dammit. Fix it.
I can't fix dead.
He's not dead yet, he's still breathing…
He's not going to be breathing much longer. Don't you hear his lungs slowing down?
Lifeline hung his head as he finally accepted cold reason. The man was dead; the best he could do was to make him comfortable in his last moments. That wasn't easy, as soldiers and mutants alike gaped and shouted at the pacifist.
"Get away from him! He's got Carter!" A soldier shouted, pointing to the dying blonde in the medic's hands. Meanwhile, the woman who had killed the corporal angrily berated Lifeline for taking pity on the enemy.
"Don't help him!" She shouted. Those mutants who weren't currently clashing with the soldiers also shouted their agreement.
"Whose side are you even on?" Another mutant shouted. Lifeline didn't spare any of them a glance while he stared down the man, unwilling to let him go. He was a combat medic. He was Army. He'd sworn to protect and heal men like Corporal Carter.
He had failed. Even worse, his actions had indirectly led to this result. Something seemed to buzz in his ears. Motion and sound slowed down and crawled at a snail's pace. To Lifeline's enhanced perception, now at full throttle, the world seemed to stand at a blurred, confused, and hellish stand still.
A single heartbeat faded. The bluish lips of Corporal Carter barely moved. With great concentration, Lifeline realized that he was attempting to ask, "Mutant? Why?" His lungs stopped breathing. The heart stopped beating. Brain death would follow shortly. Lifeline was now cradling a corpse.
The world sped up again.
"Give 'im back! Give Michael back!"
"Skeets! We'll get you away from the dirty mutie!"
"Traitor! He's helping them! A bloody 'normal'!"
Lifeline felt numb as he placed the corporal's dog tags on his chest before handing the deceased soldier gently to one of his brothers in arms. The surprised soldier took his dead comrade from the medic. Bile rose in Ed's throat while he remembered the most sacred rule of the soldier: Leave no man or woman behind.
His stomach twisted and the medic came very close to throwing up. What the hell could he do? He had all the power in the world…too much power. He was a healer…yet….he felt completely powerless against the violence and hate whirling around him.
It was too much.
Something inside of him snapped. Even as the majority of his soul recoiled at the violence surging around him, a previously buried voice called out for blood. A savage need for violent retribution shocked Lifeline to his core, even more so that it wanted revenge from both parties.
He buried it again, shaking inwardly that the voice even existed. Lifeline gritted his teeth. He was going to stop all of this once and for all.
The medic dropped to his knees and plunged a single fist into the earth. The ground rippled away from the epicenter as a minor earthquake toppled nearly all combatants off their feet. Lifeline slammed his fist down again, this time unconsciously out of anger. Huge rips formed in the earth. Several buildings shattered. Horrified again by his loss of control, the medic quickly checked to make sure that he hadn't injured anyone.
End it, end it now!
Lifeline followed his inner thought, both out of a desire to truly end the conflict and out of fear that he might continue to slip and cross the line if things continued. A part of him tried to argue that he should reason with everyone. The realist in him reluctantly admitted that it was far too late for reasoning.
Concentrating his hands and massive strength, the medic began to quickly construct a deep trench between the opposing sides. He paused a microsecond every now and then to deposit a soldier onto the military side or to pull a captured mutant back into the mutant side. The battle rolled to a brief pause as men and women stared dumbstruck at the trench that was suddenly forming. Lifeline paused in his work long enough to shout angrily at both sides.
"Enough! What the hell are you doing? You're all Americans!" He then pointed a finger at the soldiers. "They are CIVILIANS! You swore an oath to protect them and to obey the Constitution! This isn't constitutional!" Lifeline then turned his head to similarly berate the mutant side for not treating unarmed soldiers with mercy. The medic ended his rant by ordering anyone with a moral backbone to either retreat or to help him build a wall.
To demonstrate his commitment, the medic sunk his fingers into the pavement and ripped out a chunk of rock and concrete. He deposited it on the mutant side of the trench as the cornerstone of a defensive wall. Several mutants quietly joined in the wall building, using their abilities to build up the earth or to add ice as reinforcements. Another filled the trench with acid.
The soldiers stood, somewhat dumbfounded. Some turned back, but most stood still as they waited for orders. A few fired uselessly at the quickly growing fortification. When a few mutants attempted to counter attack, Lifeline caught them in midair and deposited them back on the mutant side. He didn't know how long he could stop the fighting. The medic could already hear a few men, probably sergeants or officers, urging their men to breach the hastily erected wall.
Lifeline spared a glance back in Thor's direction. The Asgardian had nearly finished demolishing the Hulkbuster unit. Those vehicles that remained were now backing off and starting to retreat. Perhaps it was over then, at least for now. He let out a breath and shouted new orders, unconsciously channeling Beach Head as he did so.
"Gather all the wounded over there!" Ed shouted, pointing to a relatively safe looking area. "Anyone who isn't wounded or isn't gathering wounded, clear the area and gather as many medical supplies as you can! Also get blankets, rags, and water! Move it, you damned pogues!" He didn't have enough supplies for everyone and Lifeline knew that a hospital wouldn't take any of the mutants, not after this.
Men and women jumped to obey. Without having intended to, Lifeline realized that he was now "in charge". A few mutants asked his permission to act as guards on top of the wall. The medic reluctantly nodded his head.
Time blew by as Lifeline zipped among the gathering rows of injured men and women. A few people who had some medical knowledge helped him. He ran out of nitrile gloves after an hour and was forced to examine people with his bare hands. Lifeline routinely vibrated his hands enough so that the heat would sanitize his skin.
At some point, Thor clasped him on the shoulder. The two men locked eyes for a moment before turning to study their surroundings.
"This….is not a good situation," the Asgardian told him quietly. "It is probably not safe for these people to stay here."
"Where else can they go?" Lifeline murmured back quietly. "This is a large group and many are wounded." Thor patted him on the shoulder.
"Then attend to the wounded. I shall assist thee shortly," the larger man told him. "As for the fate of these mortals, we shall deal with that later. I have called the Avengers. Medical and food supplies should be arriving within the hour."
Thor left him and disappeared into an abandoned building. A short time later, a crippled doctor hobbled out to join the combat medic. Lifeline warily watched to make sure that no one harassed the unknown man. However, no one touched him. Ed didn't know if it was because no one realized he wasn't a mutant, that a cripple was deemed no threat, or if people were just grateful by another pair of helping hands. Perhaps it was all three.
While Dr. Donald Blake examined a small child, Dr. Edwin Steen turned his attention to his next patient. A young, green skinned woman lay quietly on a blanket. Sweat dripped down her forehead. Lifeline touched her forehead and was surprised to find that she had a fever. His eyes swept down her body. They paused on her neck and stared at her endocrine glands, which seemed to be swollen. Lifeline felt around the woman's neck and chest as he examined her. There was a nasty bruise on her face while an eye was swollen shut. The medic also discovered that several bones were cracked or broken. There seemed to be some skin growths under her clothing as well. Lifeline figured that they were either part of her mutation or were scabs from a previous injury. Either way, he would need to physically examine the rest of her to determine the extent of the damage.
Lifeline discreetly began to unbutton the woman's clothing. She was obviously ill with something and a soldier had taken advantage of it to beat the mutant. He opened up the shirt and was careful to not expose more than necessary.
Hmm, there were plenty of bruises. That wasn't surprising, considering…
His eyes fell on several purple lesions that crisscrossed her chest and abdomen. Ed's breath caught in his throat. No…
What he'd felt hadn't been a skin growth from a mutation or scabs at all. Ed forced himself to stay calm while he reevaluated the woman's condition.
Fever. Swollen glands. Purple skin lesions. Probable weakness…
The Legacy Virus.
Edwin slowly looked down at his bare hands, which had unknowingly touched the affected woman's skin. Legacy was passed both through bodily contact and through the air. Lifeline was close enough that he'd had both forms of exposure.
"Oh fuck…" he muttered. Lifeline unconsciously held a hand up to his mouth from the shock. He stopped himself at the last moment. Putting his hands on his mouth was potentially bad….but…did it really matter at this point? Bodily contact was bodily contact. He backed up a step, still staring at his hands.
"Ed?" Donald Blake's voice brought him back to his senses. The combat medic shuddered and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. He had patients to deal with. Lifeline looked down at the woman again. What if he had Legacy now? He would just pass the virus on to all the other mutants.
Oh fuck.
"What's the matter?" Blake asked, stepping nearer to the medic. "Ed?" Lifeline finally turned to look at him. The other doctor was leaning on his cane, giving him a concerned look. There was a hint of Thor in his eyes. Lifeline wordlessly pointed to the woman's chest before holding up his hands. Donald Blake looked at the woman's chest and stared at the lesions.
"What the hell do I do?" Lifeline asked him. "What if I…"
"You can't treat anyone else," Blake told him bluntly. "You know that. Even if for some miracle you don't have it, you can still potentially pass on the virus." The alter ego of Thor shook his head, clearly dismayed by the new revelation. "Who the hell put someone infected with the Legacy Virus among all the wounded? She should have been separated. Don't these people know what quarantine is?"
"Whoever did it may not have known," Lifeline replied, his voice sounding rough in his throat. "They probably just saw that she was wounded. The lesions were hidden."
Blake rubbed his face and swore under his breath. Some of the curses were in Asgardian. Finally, when the man was finished, he briefly squeezed Lifeline's arm.
"I'm sorry Ed," Blake apologized. He didn't speak for a moment. Finally, however, he continued. "She'll have to be moved, of course. I'll set her over…."
"I've already touched her," Lifeline replied numbly. "I've breathed the same air as her. I'll move her. You can't really carry people in that form, unless you change back to Thor."
"Ed…don't take any unnecessary chances just in case…."
"Just in case I'm not infected?" the medic finished quietly. Lifeline bit down on his lip while Donald Blake nodded his head. Ed silently fought over what he should do next. He couldn't go back to Xavier's school….but yet, he needed Beast to test him. He couldn't go to SHIELD or the Avengers, as there were mutants in both places. After a moment, Ed finally asked Blake for his opinion.
"The Fantastic Four," the crippled doctor advised quietly. Both men were trying to keep their voices down so as to not alarm anyone. "None of them are mutants and Reed has the equipment necessary to get a blood sample from you. A simple needle won't work on your skin. He can send a sample to Beast. Now…" Blake swatted gently at him with his cane. "Get out of here. I'll move her. I'll make sure the Avengers don't send any mutants to help."
Lifeline nodded his head and took to the air, leaving the rest of his medical supplies behind with Thor/Blake. He knew he couldn't stay, not if he was…..not if he had….
The medic forced himself to calm down. Panicking was not going to change things. He had to know if he even had Legacy first. He'd figure out what to do after that.
Lifeline took off towards the Fantastic Four as fast as he could. About ten seconds into his flight, his body suddenly contorted from pain. Heat rushed through him and Lifeline briefly lost control of his powers. The medic tumbled towards the earth before managing to stop himself about thirty feet from the ground. The sudden pain went away. Rattled now, Ed climbed back up into the air and forced himself to fly again.
Even though a cure hadn't been found yet, Dr. Hank McCoy and Dr. Moira MacTaggert had discovered this much: the Legacy Virus was almost always triggered after the victim first used his or her powers after the initial infection.
A cold chill settled over him. Lifeline did his best to ignore it on the flight back to New York City. He would have to call his sister, of course. Ed knew that he would probably be late for dinner, if he would even be able to make it back at all.
SHIELD Helicarrier
"In breaking news, reports are coming in of violent clashes between the military and mutants in six American cities. According to eye witnesses, the Pentagon launched a coordinated strike on mutant areas in Seattle, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, San Francisco, and Boston. Military officials are saying that this was a response to mutants rioting and refusing to peacefully register with the government."
A gathered group of Joes and SHIELD agents silently watched the television screen. In the background, footage played of mutants and American troops clashing in the streets. A tank rolled through the city of Boston while mutants attacked troops in Dallas.
"This is bad," Flint muttered. By all accounts, the media was portraying the mutants as the cause of the violence and that the military had simply been responding to it. The warrant officer, however, suspected that there was equally damning footage of troops firing on mutant civilians that was failing to make it into the news.
"Eyewitnesses from the mutant community are claiming that these were unprovoked attacks," the newswoman continued. "It is unclear at this time if these claims can be substantiated," Flint scowled at the remark, but said nothing as he continued to listen. "However, these incidents have provoked mutants and pro mutant protestors to riot elsewhere.
Pictures flashed across the screen of people marching and fighting in other cities. The images were then replaced by a few pictures of Thor tearing apart a helicopter.
"It is apparent, however, that the Avengers have clearly sided against the government in this crisis," the reporter continued. "It is confirmed that Thor and another man, who seems to be either a member of the mutant team known as the X-Men or a new Avenger…" A very clear image of Lifeline in an X-Men uniform was suddenly plastered across the screen. The clearly distressed medic was cradling the body of a soldier in his hands. The image of the medic was soon replaced by another one, this time of him standing between the opposing combatants, holding a chunk of rock above his head. Fury was written across Edwin Steen's face.
"The Avengers have also reportedly flown in supplies to the mutant camps in each of the cities. For more on this, we go to our senior correspondent on the ground in Boston. Steven?"
A stunned silence descended on the room. Joes watched with disbelief as reports began to trickle in. Flint finally left the television monitor to find Nick Fury. He knew for a fact that there was more to the attacks than what the Pentagon was telling the media. With Hawk still unconscious, Nick Fury and General Colton would be the ones with the rank to ferret out the truth.
"Aw fucking hell," Flint muttered to himself as he strode down the hall. The only result of the military's involvement was a surefire shitstorm. The warrant officer was certain that Magneto was probably already planning a counterattack.
The fact that Lifeline had ended up in the middle of the fight and had been caught on camera only made it worse. If the Pentagon had been snarling before to get him and the other two mutant Joes under control, they would be biting even harder at the chains now. Recent reports from Wolverine and Scarlett's teams had also deepened the shitstorm.
God fucking dammit. Why did things always have to go to hell in a hand basket at the same damn time? Flint furiously wished that Hawk would wake up soon. The warrant officer didn't know how the Joes could handle it all, even with their new allies in SHIELD, the Avengers, and the X-Men.
Flint scowled darkly. Three men under his command were now in danger, one at least from the government and media. The other two were either dead, in an internment camp, or in Cobra custody.
The warrant officer kicked a trashcan and sent it flying. SHIELD agents scattered as the Joe stormed past them, not bothering to clean up his mess.
Next time: What has become of our captured friends and what will happen with Lifeline? Stay tuned for the next episode of GI Joe!
I was originally going to show Beach Head and Co. this chapter, but I decided to push that to the next chapter.
The DC reference in this chapter, for those who didn't catch it, was Corporal Michael "Skeets" Carter, the soldier that died in Lifeline's arms. I killed Booster Gold. *ducks a bottle* Hey! I could have made him Ted Kord! (And yes, I actually do like Booster, so I didn't kill him out of spite.)