It took a couple days to get everything in order. Marcos was able to snag a Winnebago from the First Episcopal Church of Atlanta.
Gemma, Lauren, and Marcos were loading up snacks, other supplies, and overnight bags. It was only an 8 hour drive, but they thought it better to break it up over two days. Not only with careful driving, but a lot of bathroom breaks as the Pastor of the Church that owned the van told them it was best not to use the bathroom in the van, mostly for the comfort of everyone on board.
They also did not want to be too tired for the mission itself.
The Winnebago was an older model from the early aughts, but it was spacious and comfortable. It had a queen sized bed, a lofted bed, and the dining set could be converted into another bed.
Lauren and Gemma would share the queen, Reed and Andy would share the loft, and Marcos would get the convert.
"The air conditioning doesn't work, so we'll have to live with an open window," Marcos warned, hoping the teens wouldn't complain if it were too hot.
Gemma wasn't one to sweat to death, so she just smiled and suddenly the temperature in the Winnebago dropped several degrees.
Lauren sighed in relief because she too was not keen on driving for several hours to steam in a hotbox with her brother and two other men.
Gemma hung back while Caitlin spoke with her children and Reed. They looked to be having a family moment, although it was clear the mother was not happy her children were going on this mission.
Gemma was just glad that Andy and Lauren were coming with her, it felt a little insane to be jumping right into a Mutant Underground mission when she hadn't been there a full week.
When preparing for their trip, she had taken Lauren aside,
"I'll get straight to it. The woman who promised me this wasn't a sex trafficking ring has up and left under what I call suspicious circumstances. And suddenly, men I just met want to take me across state lines…so can you just promise me out loud that you guys aren't sex traffickers? That you're not using Andy with his beautiful smile and his mesmerizing green eyes to lure me into a false sense of security? Because if that's the case, I'm going to be very upset."
To perhaps drive the point home, Gemma's hands had burst into flames and Lauren had no doubt that if Andy ever broke her heart then the headquarters to the Mutant Underground would go up in flames.
Lauren swallowed hard and nervously looked from Gemma's eyes to her hands and back.
"I promise we're not a sex trafficking ring."
Gemma's hands went out and she had a relieved smile,
"Great! I'll so grow us some snacks," and off she went like she didn't just seem totally unhinged.
Lauren went back to packing her things and she almost felt sorry for her brother.
At least Gemma kept her promise to grow snacks, not just for their trip but John had picked up many of the seeds that Gemma had asked for. Overnight, they had an abundance of celery, rhubarb, carrots, and zucchini along with all the peaches she had already grown. She promised to grow potatoes and beans when she got back, as well as the rose hedge to help protect the compound.
Caitlin had spoken to Reed and he knew of her worries and displeasure. She told Andy to be careful and while annoyed he did at least seem to know her warnings were coming from a place of love.
"You don't have to go," she told Lauren. She felt like her whole family was being taken away and it gave her several sleepless nights. She had hoped at least one of her children would be safely behind the walls of the compound and within her sight.
"Mom, come on. Gem doesn't know Marcos and dad that well…and she's worried this whole thing is a sex trafficking operation," she was hoping her mom would give Gemma a break.
"What?" she was a bit insulted on Reed and Andy's behalf.
"Mom," her tone was in disbelief, "A month ago we all thought the Underground was a terrorist organization."
Caitlin deflated a bit and could begrudgingly admit that they all had their own preconceived biases and notions to what the Mutant Underground was. She guessed she shouldn't be too surprised that all sorts of misinformation was flying about, where parents used the Mutant Underground as a fear mongering tactic.
In any other situation, as a mother, she wouldn't want Lauren to go alone with three men who were unrelated to her, so perhaps she could give some grace to a nervous 15-year-old girl.
"Please be careful," although Caitlin didn't need to say it, she couldn't help herself. She also pulled Lauren into a hug. There was something special about the bond between a mother and their first born. She didn't know if this could be the last time she would see any of them. Their lives were so dangerous, and she felt so helpless in the face of everything.
"You should give Gemma a chance…Andy's actually eating pretty healthy these days," she tried to lighten the mood a bit, but she had a few tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Who knew what danger they could be in, all just to get some files.
Caitlin couldn't deny that, her son was steadily eating whatever Gemma grew and the teen didn't seem to mind that Andy inhaled the food almost faster than she could grow it.
He was even enjoying a peach as they were speaking.
Lauren looked up to the entrance of the bank and saw that Wes was hanging back. She had already said goodbye to him, both kind of wishing he could come with them. Certainly, his ability to cast illusions could be useful, but leadership hoped it'd be a quick in and out with Andy's ability to get them through a wall and Gem's ability to get the files back to HQ as quickly as possible.
Lauren was only going to be a back up to Andy and to keep Gemma company.
She only hoped that Andy and Gemma didn't make their disgusting puppy eyes at each other the whole trip.
Andy and Gemma thankfully didn't make eyes or even really overtly flirt with each other on the trip, but he was obviously territorial about being the one who got to sit next to her.
To help conserve petrol, they didn't use the on-board fridge or any of the electronics other than the television. Gemma could easily cool down drinks and water if needed. To help pass the time, they were allowed to watch some of the family-friendly movies the Church provided.
They passed more time with a few games of Uno.
None of the teens could drive, so it was up to Marcos and Reed to switch out.
Reed could almost pretend they were on a family vacation, how easy-going his children were on the long drive. Lauren and Andy would randomly bicker about something inconsequential as siblings were wont to do, mostly having to do with Andy hoarding all the snacks.
He well remembered his own teenage years and how he'd eat everything that didn't put up too much of a struggle. Andy also looked to be on track to be even taller than he was. With all the refugees coming into the compound, they would desperately need Gemma's help in feeding them all.
Caitlin wasn't a fan of how casually Gemma used her powers, but at the moment he could see how useful they were for everyday conveniences. She cooled down the car to a comfortable level. She was able to regrow food to replace what Andy ate, and she also kept them entertained with displays of her power.
Thankfully neither Andy nor Lauren attempted to do the same. They seemed to realize that using their specific powers in a vehicle going 60 miles an hour on a four-lane highway was not smart. Gemma kept to making ice sculptures rather than use her fire.
He couldn't help wondering what his children could do if they were allowed to practice.
It was Marcos' turn to drive, and Reed took advantage to spend some time with his children instead of keeping him company. He thought he also should get to know Gemma better, as he could tell just how enamored his son was of the girl.
The teens were sitting at the dinette table and Reed slid next to Lauren while Gemma and Andy were on the other side. He refrained from his natural urge to tease them both on how unnecessarily close they were sitting together.
Gemma had just finished an ice sculpture of a rearing unicorn. The water was clear as crystal and she had made it in such a way that it sparkled in the midday sun.
"Wow, that's really beautiful…how did you get so good at this?" Reed had to ask.
She shrugged,
"I spent a lot of time alone and bored. I filled most of the time with learning how to fine tune my powers after getting the hang of the basics."
Andy desperately hoped his dad wouldn't press for more, as he thought it might be too soon for Gemma to share something that might have been traumatic. Not all mutants were lucky to have their parents on their side, and from bits and pieces of what Gemma had told him, she was definitely not one of the lucky ones.
Her practice was evident in how easily she wielded her powers. Lauren and Andy always looked to be putting in a lot of effort and strain when using theirs. Now that they needed Andy to break through a wall, Reed kind of wished they allowed him more practice.
He also knew his son, once Andy got a taste of being part of a mission, he wasn't going to be happy going back to laundry and the everyday chores.
He would have to have a talk with his wife about letting their children more independence and decisions on what they wanted to do within the Mutant Underground.
There was kind of an awkward lull in the conversation, as Reed was trying to be tactful.
He wasn't even sure what topics were safe. He could possibly ask about favorite movies or television shows, but neither were available to them anymore while they were on the run. So much of their normal everyday life could potentially be a sore subject.
"What's your favorite thing to grow?" he thought perhaps her favorite food was a safe topic.
"Probably a tie between potatoes, chard, and watercress."
"Really?" those things seemed so random to him.
"Yeah, for a while I was living in the woods in the Appalachian Mountains. I was able to liberate some tomatoes and zucchini from some campers. I tried living off of that for a while, but I was still losing a lot of weight and just not feeling great. Eventually I had to jump to civilization to try to figure out what was wrong with me, and I found an abandoned library and stayed there for a while. The books said I was basically calorie and nutrient deficient because I didn't have any variety. So, with potatoes I have carbs and starch, watercress and chard I have more nutrient density and the watercress is kind of peppery, so that was flavor. When I had to go back to hiding in the woods, I was more prepared. I learned how to forage and then I learned my powers could sense what was poisonous and what wasn't."
"You had to live alone in the woods, twice?" Lauren asked gently, she thought living in the bank was rough, but Gemma had to survive like actual wilderness.
"I guess I didn't have to, but they had told us that the Mutant Underground and the Brotherhood," which was an actual mutant gang organization, "were terrorists and sex traffickers who kidnapped mutant and human girls alike. Then there were all these rumors of what happened to mutants who went through the court system. They showed us videos of them in collars…"
Marcos was listening in, and no one saw how white his knuckles got as he heard what Gemma was saying. He wondered how many other young mutants were lost to them because they had been taught to fear their own kind.
"I kind of thought I could go to Empower…"
"What's Empower?" Andy had never heard of it.
"Empower Academy, it's a mutant conversion camp pretending to be a school," Marcos spit out, and Gemma kind of put her eyes downcast.
"Yeah, now I can see how the commercials were kind of messed up."
"They have commercials?" Andy wondered why he had never heard of it, he would have thought it would be something Sentinel Services would have promoted.
"They told us it was a school for mutants, so that they'd be safe from other kids and their powers…but really they kind of touted it as a way for rich parents with mutants children to not be…mutants. Their whole philosophy was 'I am more than my power.' At school they told us if we had any suspicion or showed any signs of abilities, that it was safe to come to them and we'd just go to Empower. The commercials showed us this state-of-the-art school, and all the mutant kids had these bright yellow polos for uniforms and they played basketball and had meditation circles…"
"And they basically brainwash mutant teens into believing their powers are something that needs to be hidden at all cost, and anyone who fought back was put on sedatives. The mutants with physical mutations are given cosmetic surgery to 'fix' whatever they can, and anyone who can't suppress their powers enough is kicked out of their family…several former students have passed through the Underground. Most parents who send their kids there were trying to help and took their kids out once it became apparent they were being tortured. Other kids haven't been so lucky."
Marcos clearly hated Empower Academy with ever fibre of his being, and Gemma didn't blame him as she didn't know it was as bad as that.
Lauren leaned against her dad, glad that they decided to run rather than throw themselves at the mercy of Sentinel Services or her father suggesting a place like Empower Academy.
Reed didn't want to mention that if Lauren or Andy had shown powers without breaking the law, then they very well may have gone to Empower. He had heard of it through his work, and at the time he agreed that such a school was needed.
"With everything that's going on, I had heard rumors that they were expanding…and Atlanta was one of those locations. So, you're from Virginia?" Reed asked Gemma, as he knew that's where Empower was based and why it was pushed at her school.
"NoVa…Northern Virginia, it's kind of it's own area since it's so close to DC…anyway, my parents didn't exactly give me the option to go to Empower and because I had already been reported as using my powers in public, the school doesn't accept anyone Sentinel Services wanted or has a record. The Appalachian woods seemed to be my safest option. Even Sentinel Services don't fu…" she coughed to cover up the fact she had meant to curse and didn't want to in front of Mr. Strucker, "mess with Appalachian hillbillies."
Reed nodded as his work included networking with other prosecutors across the country. The local DC-MD-VA prosecutors had trouble not only traversing the Appalachian mountains, but the residents, human and mutant alike, were not big on the government on their lands. He was told that once a mutant had disappeared into the mountain system, it was protocol to leave them be unless they resurfaced.
"On one hand," Gemma went on, "I was able to practice my powers without hurting anyone because I was out in the middle of the woods with no one for miles and miles. On the other, I had to learn of some of my abilities the hard way. Fire was the first to manifest, jumping the second. I didn't think I would have any others, so I mostly practiced those two at first. I learned I could control water and plants because I nearly died of thirst and hunger. Air I figured on my own because I thought, why wouldn't I have all four elements?"
Learning because she was desperate and near death was certainly the hard way, and her experience was opening Reed's eyes to how he and Caitlin were policing their children's abilities.
What would have happened if they had run away?
He would never kick his children out or allow them to be taken by Sentinel Services, but what if Andy or Lauren had discovered their powers on their own in secret, and then felt that they couldn't trust him because of his position? How often had he told them that mutants were dangerous and he was putting them away for the safety of others? Would they have made it on their own?
He inwardly shuddered at the thought of Andy alone with such destructive powers, desperate and without anyone to help him.
"What do you guys want to do for dinner?" Marcos asked from the front, he thought maybe they needed a distraction from such a heavy topic. "It'll be our last stop before we settle in for the night at the campground."
To keep a good pace and not garner too much attention, they only drove four hours to a camp site outside of Mobile, Alabama. They picked up some fast food which the Struckers took advantage of since they hadn't had such food for a month.
Gemma wasn't one for something so heavy and greasy, having survived off of fresh food for so long, so she only had the fries.
Reed found himself grateful for Gemma's mutant grown food as Andy ate two combo meals with no hesitation. One of the perks of going on missions was that they could eat out with what little money the Underground had.
Marcos had found the camping spot that was the most out of the way and isolated. They were right next to a muddy river near Dead Lake. It was the off season, and they looked to be the only campers there for the night.
Despite the isolation, Gemma and the others agreed not to use any powers out in the open.
When Lauren and Gemma tried to figure out how to start a campfire without powers, Reed took the opportunity to speak with his son.
"I want to have a chat with you…alone," he motioned towards Lauren and Gemma, hoping Andy understood he wanted one on one time. He did and allowed his father to take him into the camper and sit down.
"We never got a chance to talk about what was going on for you at school," he started. "You know, I tried to help. I went to see your guidance counselor…that day," he didn't have to specify what day.
"Yeah, I know," Andy revealed, "You know that's the whole reason those guys came after me, that night in the gym, right?" he knew his parents didn't know exactly what went down, and this this was the first time either of his parents even asked. He tried to be fair that so much had happened that night and every night since, their whole world was snatched away from them, but he had to wonder if they just assumed he lost control because he was just much of a screw up and not because he was attacked, and his powers activated to protect himself.
From the growing horrified look his Reed's face, Andy had his answer. Anger started to build up in the pit of his stomach, furious that his parents thought he had randomly ruined their lives for no reason other than he was just some sensitive emotional kid.
"I wish you would have talked to me about it…how much trouble you were having," perhaps together they could have come up with a better solution. "Before it got that bad."
"Like when?" Andy snapped back, "At midnight when you got home?" which happened more often than not, his cases always took priority over time with his family. Reed always used the excuse that he was protecting the family by putting bad mutants away. "When mom fell asleep right away after doing a 12-hour shift? On weekends when you both would still be working?"
Reed could admit that Andy had a fair point. Both he and Caitlin had time demanding jobs, and once the kids had gotten old enough to watch themselves, they only threw themselves more into their work.
"Maybe there's a chance we can talk about it now?"
"What is there to talk about? I'm never going back to that school and probably never going back to a regular high school ever again. We're on the run, we can't even get our GED," reminding Reed that both of his children were fugitives. "All the troubles I was having, I'm not having anymore. It feels stupid and trivial, really," and all he could do was shrug.
Highschool bullies were nothing compared to Sentinel Services.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Marcos was in the lofted bed, getting some supplies they had stored there. He rather admired Reed's dedication to his children and realized that the family had lost everything in their life, and they didn't necessarily have to. The way he understood the situation, Reed and Caitlin could have very well-turned Andy in and saved Lauren as she hadn't revealed she had powers yet. Or they could have tried to send both their kids to Empower Academy. Given his position and network, he probably could have pulled some strings for his kids to get a better deal. Marcos thought that Empower Academy would have jumped on the opportunity to take in the Strucker kids. Powerful mutants that look fully human, if they could have "turned" them "human" then the country would go wild for such "rehabilitation" programs.
Reed and Caitlin chose their children. However annoying he might find them sometimes because they didn't agree with how the Underground was run, he could admit he admired them. How differently would his life have turned out if his father hadn't run him off? He certainly wouldn't have had to turn to the Cartels.
Whatever further heart to heart Reed wanted to have with his son, was interrupted when they heard twin feminine screams, a "Oh shit!", and the distinctive whoosh of a large flame coming from outside.
Reed and Andy were surprised when Marcos jumped down from the loft bed, and all three quickly made their way outside.
They saw that the fire pit was roaring with a high flame, Lauren looked like her life had just flashed before her eyes, and Gemma had a wide smile and told them proudly,
"We got the fire going…oooo are those marshmallows?" she noticed the bag of confections in Marcos' hands.
They spent the rest of the night relaxing by the fire and listening to the calming sounds of the nearby river. The night was filled with the sounds of nature, and they might have enjoyed sleeping outdoors if they had brought more supplies. However, the camper was comfortable as Gemma controlled how humid and cool it was, and each was able to sleep in a bed.
The next day they were fully rested and staked out the Federal Building. There were no tours or anything to give Gemma eyes within and a chance to jump into the building after hours, and no one wanted to risk any of them being caught. All of them were not only fugitives, but they were specifically on Sentinel Service's radar. So far there didn't seem to be a BOLO or APB for Gemma which Marcos thought was odd, but then again if Trask Industries had wanted her specifically, then maybe they didn't want too much of a trail.
As they scoped out the Federal Building, it was just as Reed remembered it. There was tight security as several mutants under the "special federal program" were prosecuted. There were strict protocols so that only the people who should be in the building, were granted access to the building.
Their plan to use Andy to break down the wall with Lauren as his back up, was still their best bet.
After they got the lay of the land, they drove to the nearest Mutant Underground safehouse in the area. The house was abandoned on six acres in the historic Oaks district on Highland Ave, just south of LSU.
It was far away from the main road, the gravel lined driveway had a lot of overgrowth and was lined with tall oaks.
"I know we're staying in an abandoned bank…but this place looks way more haunted," Gemma whispered as they approached the house. Lauren thought that was a bit rude, but Andy laughed and agreed.
The Mutant Underground way station was manned by one mutant, Stan, who had the ability to shape shift into inanimate objects. If police or Sentinel Services ever came knocking, he would simply turn into a chair or lamp. All they would find otherwise was an abandoned house that had no chance of selling in the near future.
Stan showed them around and said they were more than welcome for the night.
"No, we plan to hit up the Federal Building after hours and then head right back to Atlanta," Marcos explained. "It'll turn up the heat on mutants in the area for a while, so I would suggest all safehouses and other way stations to keep as low a profile as you can. We're going to start sending caravans of refugees north through Houston, rather than through Louisiana for the foreseeable future."
Stan nodded as he was aware of how things were changing. The humans were more aggressive than ever against mutants, and he didn't like the rumors going around of Sentinel Services using mutants against mutants. Those rumors were only confirmed when of the top leadership of the Mutant Underground was personally spearheading an out of state mission.
"It'll be tight around here with supplies, but we'll make do," he promised Marcos.
"We have help with that," Marcos was glad to say, and they presented Stan with several boxes of MREs and other supplies they could spare because Gemma could grow them their own food. They gave one box of the peaches and tomatoes, but those would have to be kept refrigerated, which the house had and ran on a generator, for them to last longer.
They were only going to be there for a few hours to be out of the way, so with the time to kill, Gemma and Andy decided they would walk the grounds.
Reed wanted to stop them, but Lauren had stared at him too hard for him to really argue.
"Just stay within the property line," he gave a soft smile and allowed his son to go on a walk with a girl he liked.
The property was six acres, so there was plenty of space to walk without being seen by a neighbor.
As soon as Gemma was confident they were out of sight of anyone peeking from the house, she boldly took Andy's hand and laced her fingers with his. She rather liked how he smiled and blushed.
If they had somehow met when their lives were normal, their first date would look a lot like this. At 15, they would need their parents to drive them someplace. If Andy didn't get an allowance, then their parents would give them some money to eat somewhere casual. They'd probably see a movie, maybe with a group of friends, and then go for a nice walk around the local park. Or perhaps they would have seen each other every day at school and taken each other to Homecoming and the dance.
Since it was nearly winter, the Louisiana weather was tolerable and they could just enjoy each other's company.
As always, Gemma kept an eye out for good landing places for jumps. She never knew when she may need to come back to this safehouse or just needed to be someplace she wasn't currently. She really hoped that with practice, she could jump with people. Now that she was part of the Mutant Underground, she had people she didn't want to leave behind.
"Are you nervous?" she asked him after a few minutes of enjoying the silence and just being together. "We're just a few hours away from our first mission. It's gettin' real."
"Yeah," he felt he could be honest with her, and he was rewarded with her squeezing his hand and burrowing closer into his side. He moved his arm so that he could hug her as close as he could, her arm wrapping around his back. "It's just one wall, but it'll be so public…and the last time I was on a mission, I kind of choked."
"What happened?"
He explained how the few times he had practiced in order to prepare for a mission to save his dad, he had only worked on stationary targets. When it came to trying to blow up the tire of a moving bus, he had a hard time focusing on it and his sister had to swoop in to get his head in order.
"Well, I'm glad she came along, but I think this wall will definitely be stationary."
He rolled his eyes good naturedly at her and gave her a soft pinch to her side for her cheek. She tried to sidestep him and yelped, but he held on tight because he didn't want to let her go.
"What about you? Nervous? You actually have the important job."
"Pretty sure if we can't get in, then there is no job," she didn't want him to downplay the part he had. "But I'm not nervous about jumping back to Atlanta. I've jumped further with no issue…I'm mostly worried if there some power nullifying device or if Sentinel Services have another mutant that can dampen our powers. I don't think I have ever been more terrified than when I realized my powers weren't working at all when Sentinel Services came to the Claremont. Thank God Clarice had come to warn me and kept a cool head. I think I might have panicked and gotten caught if she wasn't there."
Those were fears he hadn't really thought of. He had worried that he'd fail at the task, he didn't think of what would happen if outside forces caused his powers to fail. He had only had his abilities for a month, but he felt protective of them. They were his, and no one had the right to take them away.
"And I feel like this plan was so rushed. I get that Sentinel Services isn't exactly going to wait for us to catch up and have plans A-Z, but we have no real plan if things go sideways. I'm not going to just leave you guys."
"We're going to do our best," he had stopped and faced her, determined to keep hopeful. She let him pull her close so that their arms we around each other's waist, flush against each other. "We're two badass mutants with badass powers. I'm going to blow through that wall and you're going to jump with all the files we need. We'll be in and out."
He made it seem so easy and simple, and she couldn't help but be swayed by his beautiful, green eyes that were filled with hope and determination.
"We are badass mutants," and she needed that reminder.
While she was particularly petite and didn't think she'd get any taller due to the other women in her family also being short, and he was growing like a weed, that didn't deter her once she made up her mind. She willed the earth beneath her feet to give her some leverage, and while he was a little surprised that she had suddenly become taller, all his thoughts ceased when she leaned in to kiss him.
As the sunlight started to fade into twilight under the Louisiana sky, Andy had his first kiss.
Despite her height, he thought she fit perfectly in his arms and the world fell away. They weren't on a mission, and they weren't being hunted. All he knew was her warm soft lips on his, and how right it felt to have his arms around her.
She broke the kiss and laid her head in the crook of his neck and they enjoyed being close to each other.
"I wanted to do that before the mission, not to be all dramatic," she told him without moving from their hug. "But maybe it could be good motivation to get the job done, so we can do more of that when we get back to Atlanta."
Andy thought all he could do was smile when he was around her, and he agreed it was good motivation.
It was well into getting dark and they decided to head back to the house, lest they send someone to come get them. He didn't say anything when she blushed and they realized that the ground beneath them had become flush with green and wildflowers, her powers inadvertently activated.
He couldn't help feeling a little proud of himself that she had lost control while they kissed.
He was happy when she didn't let go of his hand as they walked into the safehouse, and his dad saw them. It was the first time he had seen her look a bit nervous, probably worried about what his parents thought. To prove a point, he had squeezed her closer and didn't shy from his dad's stare.
Reed had softened as he fully realized that they were just two teens, and he saw that even Marcos looked a little less crotchety than usual. He gave a soft smile and didn't say anything, although in another life he would have done a little teasing of his son.
The spell was broken when Stan had told them that food was ready, their meal before they broke into a federal building, and hopefully one step closer to figuring out what Sentinel Services and Trask Industries were up to.
It was almost midnight when they decided to finally start the mission. The night was silent as most of the night life for Baton Rouge was further south at LSU. Even the night guards were scant at that time of night.
They had parked a few blocks away and made their way to the Federal Building.
Marcos had spoken with Sage before they stepped out of the Winnebago, and all security cameras were currently on loops, so no one would be able to tell they were moving about within several blocks.
The Matthew Nix Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse for the Middle District of Louisiana was made during the public buildings construction boom of the 1920s. It was limestone in the Art Deco style, with roman columns which were found in many other federal buildings.
It was built at a time when quality was considered over choosing the lowest bidder and using plywood and cardboard. It meant that the walls were all solid limestone, marble, or granite and reinforced concrete. The Federal Building could stand the test of time and had been standing strong for almost a hundred years, and probably would continue to stand for another hundred.
It meant that breaking in would need a mutant of Andy's caliber. They walked through the adjoining garage which housed vehicles for those who needed to go to court, tourists, and employees of the local government and courthouse.
The government building itself could not be accessed through the garage, which was unfortunate since breaking down a door was much simpler than breaking through a couple feet of solid concrete and iron rebar. There were a few vehicles still in the garage, so if anyone stopped them then they would pretend to be tourists looking for their car.
Marcos had brought the building plans of the Federal Building and the garage and knew which wall they would need to break through. They had come to a wall that looked like every other wall, but behind it was their access to a basement storage area, that would then connect them to a staircase that would lead them to Judge Kresge's office.
"Most of the building is sealed off as its older and by design to protect from outside attack such as protestors, so if the police or Sentinel Services does come it'll take 'em longer to get to us," Marcos explained as they traveled. "It'll still be tight on time though," he warned, so they could not be leisurely.
"You break that wall, and we're in. OK, kid, you're up," he clapped his hand on Andy's back.
It was Andy's time to shine, and he looked to Gemma who had smiled at him and gave him an encouraging thumbs up. The others had looked like they were as nervous as he was, he wondered if they had less confidence about his abilities.
Lauren, he didn't blame as she had witnessed his last attempts, but the others he thought should be more understanding. Part of his lack of practice was his parents' fault, and Marcos had gone along with it.
"Lets do this," he said mostly to himself to psych himself up.
He braced himself, raised his hands, took a deep breath, and concentrated on the wall in front of him. He felt the energy build within him, he could best describe it as attempting to yell. The power that flowed through him felt good to release, with the wall in front of him resisting. The wall was solid and had iron bars throughout, so it was more challenging than anything he had faced so far besides the moving bus. His body was tense and felt a little winded from trying to build the power to break through.
Gemma's encouraging smile and eyes flitted across his mind and it was the push he needed to power through.
The concrete crumbled and the iron bent to his will, the ground of the entire garage started to shake and in mere moments, there was a big enough hole in the wall to let them pass.
Gemma had to control herself not to yell in victory, but she did a little jump in her excitement and had thrown herself to Andy's side to give him a congratulatory hug.
"That was awesome," she always enjoyed a little destruction.
Despite everyone commenting on her own powers, she thought it was an impressive display. She was more impressed because he had said that he had little to no practice, she wondered what he could do when he finally did.
He could probably turn mountains into dust, and suddenly Sentinel Services didn't seem so scary anymore.
They took a moment to revel in their small victory, Marcos could only roll his eyes and didn't have time for their puppy love.
He tapped on Gemma's shoulder so that they could get a move on, and Reed had started to follow them into the Federal Building.
He stopped Lauren and Andy when it became obvious that they were trying to come with them.
"Andy, Lauren, what are you doing?" and he had to physically stop them from going into the building. "You both have to get back to the truck," he reminded them of the plan and that their part was over.
"Did you see that?" Andy referred to him literally breaking down a wall, "I can rock this," and he didn't want to leave Gemma.
"We do not have time for this. We have to get in there now," Marcos almost growled from the other side of the hole.
"Stick to the plan," Reed ordered his children, and Andy looked like he wanted to fight.
Gemma had already been halfway to the staircase when she saw no one was following her. She could hear Reed and Andy arguing despite the car alarms. She jumped back to where they were, and she pulled Andy down for a quick kiss.
"Don't worry," she assured him with a wink, "I got this."
He still didn't like having to bail on the mission, but the fight had left him and he and Lauren had started to run out of the garage.
Reed was a little annoyed that Andy would listen to his new girlfriend rather than his father, but he would be grateful for the end result. Gemma jumped back to where she was in the building, while Reed and Marcos caught up.
The building was old and had a lot of stairs. Thankfully it wasn't an especially tall building, but it was still a hard climb.
Except for Gemma.
Her powers allowed her to jump where she could see directly within her line of sight. That included to the top of stairs, and she was leaving the two men in the dust.
The plans that Marcos had showed them and brought with them did not have office assignments. Reed had been there enough times to know that the Judge's office was on the top floor. Gemma could easily get there within seconds but didn't know where to go from there.
She waited at the top floor as they went as fast as they could up the stairs. She had a smirk on her face that was mocking them for being slow and if Marcos wasn't so out of breath, he'd smack it off her.
When they finally got to their floor, they were greeted with white marble, dark mahogany doors, and the Seal of the United States of America on the wall. It was a bit confusing because every door looked the same and there was no way to tell which way was what.
Reed had to orient himself to remember where Judge Kresge's office was. He was a senior judge and knew it was one of the corner offices that was larger than the rest. Reed found the elevators and recalled that the office was near the windows.
"It's this one," he whispered as loud as he dared to the others when he found the door with Judge Kresge's placard.
It was locked and Marcos' first instinct was to use his photon ability to burn the door handle off.
"No," Gemma stopped him, she pointed to the sprinkler above and the smoke detector beside it. "You're going to set off the smoke alarm and possibly the sprinklers."
He let her take control and she conjured up some water to invade the lock mechanism, then froze it. The expanding ice broke the door and let them in.
They didn't hear any commotion otherwise and they hoped that meant they were still working under the radar, with Sage's security camera loops still covering their tracks.
They hurried into the office and closed the door behind them.
It was the typical office of a government employee, although a high ranking one in the judicial system. The walls were always free from scuffs and decorated with photos of important people the Judge has worked with over the years, his law degree, and even a few awards for exemplary work in the federal government. The desk was heavy and ornate, and probably had been bought when they first erected the courthouse. Even the lamps were vintage as they had green glass covers, metal stands, and metal chains. The abandoned bank even had a few of them.
Reed got busy with the standing filing cabinet that was almost the length of the wall. The Judge never thought anyone would break in, so it wasn't locked even though technically everything ought to have been.
"What are you doing?" Gemma couldn't believe that Marcos was again trying to use heat to break upon a computer tower.
"I'm trying to get the hard drives, leave me alone so I can concentrate and not melt them."
"Why didn't you bring an electric screwdriver? They're like $20 at Harbor Freight."
"We don't just have electric screw drivers laying around," what did she think, they were made of money to have such luxuries?
"We had like three days to plan for this," Gemma couldn't believe how ill prepared they were.
She then smacked away his hand when he tried to burn the tower open. She knelt to unplug the tower and was going to take the whole thing.
"We can't take the whole thing, they'll notice the entire tower missing."
Gemma rolled her eyes as obviously she knew that. Instead of answering him, she disappeared with it,
"Damnit, Gemma."
She had appeared in the computer center of the compound. She was thankful that Polaris was there with Sage, both hoping to hear from the team that everything was fine.
"Hey, can you unscrew the sides quickly?" Gemma asked Polaris who was still not used to seeing someone just appear out of thin air. She was also thankful she was not one to ask unnecessary questions and did as she asked. With the aura of green emanating from her hands, Polaris made quick work of all the tiny screws and slid the side panel of the tower off, all the while being careful not to exude too much electromagnetic energy to accidently wipe the hard drives.
Sage was the computer expert and knew exactly what they needed and pulled out the two internal hard drives. Polaris then put the tower back together and in under a minute, Gemma was back in Baton Rouge.
"I got Polaris and Sage to take the hard drives out and now no one will be the wiser and no fire alarms are going off. You're welcome."
Marcos rolled his eyes and would never admit it, but Gemma's plan was better.
Reed had a stack of files ready for her to take and within two blinks, she was gone and back again.
She started rifling through the judge's desk and helped herself to all the nice pens and notepads.
"What are you doing?" Marcos asked, as they were certain they got most of the files.
"This guy is a boomer, there's no way he knows all the passwords the government IT protocols dictate they have…aha!" she wielded a green notebook with the word "Record" on the front. She opened it for them to see and sure enough, it was a list of every password the judge used for all the programs and files certainly on the hard drives they just stole.
"And I bet that's his law clerk and paralegal's office," she pointed to a side door. "That means they have a ton more files as they do most of the heavy lifting for his briefs and cases."
Marcos turned to Reed who kind of winced and nodded in agreement. He also made good use of competent law clerks and paralegals as a prosecutor. He wondered about her life before she found her powers that she would know that.
The door wasn't locked as none of them would think to lock their judge out of their office. Reed and Marcos went to rifle through their things as well. Gemma stayed back to look for anything else that might be useful.
She came across a safe that was hidden in a credenza next to his desk. It was the only thing that was properly locked, and it intrigued her. Again, she used water and ice to break the lock and her jaw dropped when she found stacks and stacks of cash.
She picked one up and the bands were in dark yellow and noted that they were $100 bills in stacks of 1,000. The one stack alone was $10k, and there were about fifty of them.
"What the hell is a judge doing with all this cash?" she whispered to herself, "Kickbacks from Trask Industries for the Hound Program, that piece of shit," the answer came to her quickly when she thought about it, and she was disgusted with the justice system. She noted that Marcos and Reed were still busy, and she grabbed the stacks and did several quick jumps in succession to her sealed off room at the compound.
No one was the wiser that she probably had just taken $500k from a crooked judge.
Reed had found a lot more files and she took those to the compound. She also took the two towers, and again Sage and Polaris made short work of getting the hard drives.
Again, she placed the towers back where they found them.
When all was said and done, besides a few things moved in the scuffle, most would not notice anything missing until they went looking for those items.
The judge was certain to notice the missing money, however, and eventually they would notice pretty quickly their computers wouldn't work.
Marcos did a quick look out the windows and noticed there wasn't any police or any indication that someone thought something was amiss. He did a silent prayer, thankful that so much was automated those days. The garage wasn't manned, and it didn't seem like the security guards felt Andy's powers from so many floors down.
They very well may make a totally clean break.
They peeked out into the hallway and there was no one there, they left the judge's office the way they came in.
Marcos turned and raised his hand as he got ready to torch the offices.
"What are you doing?" Reed asked as he grabbed Marcos' hand before he could ignite the office.
"Covering our tracks," he had thought that was obvious.
"You can't," Reed couldn't fathom doing any more damage than they had already done.
"I can't what? These people are trying to kill us, man," he didn't know what Reed's problem was, but he couldn't let it stop them from doing what needed to be done. "You want to leave 'em a thank-you note?"
"There are guards and night crew here, we can't endanger them."
"The building is mostly stone, the alarms will go off before it even gets close to burning anyone," Gemma pointed out. "Although, point towards the wall sockets. Point of origin, come on," she berated Marcos who looked like he was aiming right for the desk.
"What are you talking about?"
"Haven't you seen Chicago Fire? Point of origin, they can tell where a fire started. If we want to cover our tracks, we should make them think it was an electrical issue or something. If the fire originates from the desk, they'll know its arson."
Marcos rolled his eyes, he was tired of getting lectured by a 15-year-old who got her ideas from television. Still, it made enough sense that he did aim for the sockets.
Gemma jumped back into the law clerk's office as she didn't think the fire would spread enough to theirs as well, the building was solid stone after all. She aimed for the sockets and reveled in everything going up in flame. She had always been mesmerized by the dancing flames and the feel of the heat from fire.
Marcos and Reed shared a concerned look when they saw how much fun Gemma was having.
Soon enough, the alarms went off once the fires got hot enough to trigger the sprinklers.
They rushed out and before she got to the staircase, Gemma caught sight of a sliding glass window with a ledge that had an open binder. She jumped to look at the book better, and saw that it was the supply office with a book to sign out office supplies.
Her jaw dropped in excitement but jumped back to the staircase. She was happy to see that Reed and Marcos were too busy trying to escape to notice she had been elsewhere for a few seconds.
Before they got to the basement and were about to escape the same way they came in, Marcos turned to Gemma who he was glad was not trying to leave them in the dust,
"Go back to Atlanta. We're going to drive straight through the night and there's no reason to have more people on board than necessary," Marcos wouldn't speed, but if they were just heading home then he would want to get there as soon as they could. He would like it if he had one less teenager to worry about.
"OK," he thought maybe he ought to find it suspicious she didn't argue at all, thinking she would have so she could spend time with Andy, but he was too relieved to have the files and hard drives safely in Atlanta and the mission done without any real hiccup.
Andy and Gemma actually made good additions to the team, and he would speak with Reed and Caitlin about expanding Andy's role in the Underground.
Gemma jumped immediately to the supply office instead of Atlanta, able to see inside through the window before. She guessed most people would flee the building once they heard the fire alarm, and it would still take a few minutes for first responders to get to the federal building.
She took one look at all the beautiful boxes of supplies, which include pens, notepads, and even a side room filled with topline ergonomic office chairs.
She gave a feral smile and went to town.
"This book will save us a lot of time," Sage appreciated that Gemma thought to look for a list of passwords. Of course, she had her own program that could code break anything, but that still took time.
"She's definitely smart and capable," Polaris agreed, she started to think of the ways they could utilize her powers.
Shatter was also with them, going over the files and setting up the hard drives to integrate into their system so they could review what was on them.
Suddenly, Gemma was back in the computer center with a couple of banker's box in her arms. She didn't waste time putting them down then disappearing again. She did this several times, each time with boxes of stuff she dropped off before disappearing again.
They found the computer center starting to fill with stuff, most too scared to move lest Gemma accidentally appear on top of them.
It wasn't until Gemma appeared with several office chairs that they tried to get her to stop,
"Gemma!" Polaris yelled, and the teen finally took notice of them,
"What's up?" as if what she was doing was totally normal.
"What is all of this?"
"Liberating office supplies. I got all I wanted, I just need to set fire to the office to cover my tracks."
"What?!"
But Gemma was already gone.
Sage helped herself to one of the office chairs and sighed when she felt how comfortable the seat was and the lumbar support.
"Ohhhh, this is nice," she spent so much time at the computers, she definitely would appreciate the chair.
Shatter took out one of the pens and saw that it was one of those nice, inky, click pens. He gave it a few clicks and was happy that it gave a satisfying snap.
There were also boxes of printer paper, notepads, printer ink and toner, basically everything a working office would need.
"Alright," Gemma said as she reappeared, grinning from ear to ear. "I'd say it's a successful mission, she stood proudly over her hoard as if she were a game hunter and the supplies her trophy kill.
Polaris didn't know what to say. Gemma took it upon herself to also try out one of the chairs and bounced a few times, her back to the entrance of the computer center.
"Hey, just got word from HQ in Alpharetta," John came in as he closed his flip phone. He stopped when he noticed all boxes, and chairs that definitely were not there an hour ago when he last visited the computer center.
"What?" he mouthed to himself, but Shatter decided to refocus the conversation.
"What happened, they get hit?" it was the most likely scenario since Sentinel Services was out for blood.
"Yeah," John got to the point at hand, "They managed to get about half of their people out. They're on their way here now."
"Here?" Sage asked in disbelief and rose up from her new chair. "We're already over capacity by at least 78%."
"Yeah, well, that number is about to get a lot worse…" he stopped and regretted that he had sounded so short. "Guys, I'm sorry," he knew they were trying their best, they all were, "We don't have a choice here. We need to do something. We got to find space for 'em."
"OK," Sage couldn't do anything but accept the reality.
"You got it," Shatter agreed, they'd find a way. Polaris remained silent, as they didn't have a choice as John said.
John sighed and sat down on an empty desk as they left, unsure of how they would make everything work.
Gemma decided it was time to turn around in one of the leather office chairs like she was some Bond villain, and even had her fingers together in a triangle shape.
If he didn't laugh, then he may have cried. So, he gave an exasperated chuckle and asked,
"Where did all of this come from?"
"I liberated it from the courthouse. I figured if we're already committing felonies, we ought to get things we need and don't think of. Comfortable chairs for Sage and Shatter, office supplies for Mrs. Strucker's school. We also set fire to cover our tracks, so I'm pretty sure they'll write off anything missing to the fires."
She obviously would not mention the money she stole. It wasn't like the judge could report his bribe money was missing to police.
He knew he should argue with her convoluted logic, but those chairs did look nice. He also agreed that everyday supplies such as pens and paper often went by the wayside, and they only used what they could scrounge up from fleeing families.
Gemma had stolen enough supplies to last them for a while.
If she had done this a few weeks ago, he would have berated her for doing something so reckless. He was too concerned with finding out what happened to his friend, and with her help, they had a smooth mission to get the files, and they would probably need her again. She had easily stolen the items and had covered her tracks. He was at the point that he had other pressing matters to worry about, and she stole things for the good of the Underground.
"So, a bunch of new refugees are coming…do you need help making space?"
It was nearing dawn and she had just gotten done with a mission, and she was volunteering to help out. He definitely wasn't going to lecture her.
"Actually, yeah. On the third floor, there are a bunch of offices with broken desks, chairs, and whatever else the bank had left behind. We're also not that confident in the integrity of the floorboards…"
"Gotcha. I'll reinforce the floors and get rid of the stuff. On it," she jumped up with the energy only a 15-year old could have and disappeared.
"Sounds like the mission went well," Dreamer said after Gemma left, coming into the computer center from the shadows.
"They got what they went there for…and then some," he motioned to all the boxes around them.
"Without Clarice? I guess not everything requires a portal," she couldn't help but snark, glad that it could be proven that they didn't necessarily need Blink and they could all stop blaming her for using her powers on her.
He was not impressed with her observation,
"I'm not proud or happy that I had to ask two 15-year-olds to risk their safety to get these files…and what you…what we did to her was wrong, even if the mission was successful."
Sometimes he thought he knew Dreamer, but this side of her that was totally disregarding Blink's bodily autonomy and free will had him questioning everything.
"Was it?" she was tired of defending herself. "Because it saved lives," and she'd do it again, especially if it was his life on the line.
"We kept the truth from her," even if at the moment it was something that needed to be done, keeping the truth from her after the fact was about their selfishness.
"If we told her earlier, she would have left earlier," Dreamer pointed out. "And people would have died," she could admit that the portals were lifesaving and they needed her at the time. Even with Gemma, they didn't know if the teen could transport people safely, so they could still use Blink's help.
As she spoke, she kept getting closer and closer, while John did not stop her,
"Johnny," she always used her affectionate pet name for him, and as in the past he found his resolve crumbling before her doe eyes, "It's ok that you made it out and Pulse didn't…You have to keep moving forward," they needed to get past what she had to do to Clarice.
"We can't do this," although he knew it sounded weak to his own ears. She kept moving close to him, her hand caressing his face.
"Why not?" they both obviously wanted to get back together. They shouldn't have broken up in the first place.
"Because…" even he had a hard time justifying it. With everything going on and everything to come, he desperately could use some comfort and someone to stand by his side.
"Because we're in a war? That just means all we have is here and now."
They just stared at each other for a few moments of eternity, and if his cell didn't ring, she probably would have leaned in to kiss him and he would have let her.
He didn't know if he was relieved or irritated by the interruption.
"Hey, it's Marcos, did all files and hard drives make it back ok?" was the first thing he wanted to know. "And I guess, did Gemma make it back ok?" he was pretty certain she was fine.
"Yeah," John laughed, "Sage and Shatter were able to easily get into the hard drives and we're making our way through the paper files. Gemma is fine…although she stole a ton of office supplies."
"I know, she kept rifling through the Judge's desk even after we got everything."
"No, I mean like she raided the courthouse office supply closet, and we have boxes and boxes of stuff…and…one, two…" he had to count the chairs, "Seven chairs, nice ones too. They have lumbar support."
"She what?!" Marcos growled, he couldn't believe she would be so impulsive. "She must have jumped back after I specifically told her to go back to HQ."
Reed was driving and Marcos ignored Andy who had perked up when he figured they must have been speaking of Gemma.
"Yeah, well, she was able to get an Office Depot amount of stuff without a scratch on her or getting caught."
Marcos swore his blood pressure was never going to recover from Gemma.
Before he could complain some more, he heard the sounds of crashing from the phone.
"What was that?"
"I'm not sure, hold on," John placed the phone speaker against his chest as he went to the nearest window to see what the ruckus was.
It took a moment to realize what he was looking at, but it seemed that instead of carrying stuff down from the 3rd floor, Gemma opted to create a slide from her vines from the window to the ground floor outside. She then proceeded to slide whatever junk she had out the window.
It was loud and it broke the items even further, but John had to admit was more efficient.
"Ummm, Gemma is helping clear out the third floor. Alpharetta HQ got hit and about half got away. They should be here any minute," John filled him in.
Marcos sighed, he knew they were already bursting at the seams, and he guessed as long as Gemma was helping, then he couldn't be too mad.
"We're driving straight on through back to Atlanta. We should be there in about five hours."
"Alright, brother. Drive safely…this was a successful mission," he reminded Marcos. They had to focus on their wins, they had so few of them lately.
"Yeah, it was," and he gave a rare smile, but then remembered, "Don't let Gemma tear the place or burn it down…she was a little too good at setting the offices ablaze and covering our tracks."
With eerily perfect timing, a desk had crashed down from the 3rd floor and John with his keen hearing heard her maniacal laughter.
"Honestly, I think if we let her loose in Sentinel Services HQ, this war would be over within an hour."
Marcus barked out a laugh so loud that had the whole Winnebago wondering if he was alright.