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Mission Briefing Room
Manhattan Heli-carrier
Noriko Ashida aka Surge's POV
"So what do you think she's like?" she asked as the rest of the team waited for Agent Moonstar to arrive with their 'passenger'.
"She is HOT!" Julian replied predictably focusing on the looks of their plus one rather than what was really important, "And her costume's not bad either."
"I'll admit she's pretty but have you heard what she did to Monet St. Croix at the Institute?" Sofia asked sounding concerned about what was heading their way.
"No. What happened?" she asked not having heard anything from David lately.
"The new girl was being given a tour and ended up in the gym when Monet was working out. Somehow a competition started up and it went down to the wire." Sofia replied sounding like she didn't think it should've gone that far, "Words were exchanged and one thing led to another…Monet's in the hospital. This Phoenix girl beat the crap out of her and I hear she's going to be stuck there for a while until someone with healing powers can fix her."
"And she's not behind bars?!" Quill asked in astonishment at the absence of the logical consequence of excessive force, "Why not?!"
"I don't know." Sofia replied with a shrug of ignorance, "Guess they figure she's valuable enough that putting someone in the hospital can be overlooked."
She didn't like the sound of that.
Like everyone else on the team they believed in S.H.I.E.L.D, in its purpose, so they trusted the people in the organization's chain of command to steer them in the right direction. That being said she had to wonder at the wisdom of giving a loose cannon so much free reign and overlooking things that would've landed any of them in the brig had they been guilty of it. Even if the mutant they'd been told was codenamed Phoenix did have the potential to be a great asset it would only work if the girl could be made to understand the value of control. That was the one thing their instructors at the Academy had stressed with them from the very beginning: control. Everything started there and without it you couldn't accomplish anything. A lack of control could also endanger the very people you were trying to protect as well as those fighting by your side.
Hopefully by seeing how a real team operated and how effective it could be Phoenix would be less inclined to cause trouble for herself.
Hearing the sound of the door opening she turned to see Agent Moonstar enter with a redhead about the same age as her following. Seeing their ride along pal she had to admit that the girl didn't look like a loose cannon or someone with violent impulse control problems. Honestly Phoenix looked like any other girl at the Academy with the only thing that stood out being the field of fiery energy surrounding her body. There wasn't any heat involved since the room was still at a comfortable temperature so she could only presume that the fire theme was mostly for show. Perhaps it was an appearance influenced by the redhead's own perception of her powers or maybe it was mere chance that it resembled fire.
"Listen up! This is Phoenix. By order of Director Shaw she'll be tagging along on our missions for the foreseeable future observing how we work and how effective we are." Dani said with an authority in her voice, "However let me make something clear: she will not be taking any direct or indirect action during any of the missions without my explicit permission. She is not a trained S.H.I.E.L.D agent and has no experience working alongside you. I trust you understand Phoenix?"
"Of course. No problem." Phoenix replied looking all too willing to stay on the bench, "I'm not looking to get in anyone's way or get into any more trouble."
Maybe this wouldn't turn out to be a bad day after all.
"Now so we can get the introductions out of the way this is Scion, my second in command. Then comes Surge, our speedster, Synch, who can take on the powers of any mutant within range, Quill, who is capable of launching his namesake like darts and Wind Dancer." Moonstar said pointing to each one of the team in turn, "As for you team this is Phoenix. She'll be riding along with us until Director Shaw decides otherwise."
Looking about she could tell that the rest of the team didn't mind this all that much since Phoenix didn't seem to have attitude problems and was willing to follow Agent Moonstar's orders. Julian of course was giving the redhead his best 'hey hot stuff' look but it wasn't having any affect whatsoever putting their ride along associate a few levels above a lot of the Academy girls. Most self-respecting girls would tell Julian to take a hike when he tried to put the moves on them but a fair number thought the TKer's confidence was attractive. Personally she thought that Scion MIGHT be handsome but his arrogance turned everything that could've been good into a pile of shit. The rest of the team looked to be taking the 'wait and see' approach before coming to any conclusions about their temporary guest.
BEEP! BEEP!
"Huh…looks like we're getting out first mission sooner than I thought." Dani said looking to the button connected to the com-system.
With that the team leader pressed the button causing the screen on the wall to change from a basic overview of the heli-carrier to Agent Northstar.
"What's up Jean-Paul?" Dani asked getting right down to business.
"Satellites got an early hit on an inter-dimensional disturbance similar to the one found near Phoenix's location." Northstar replied before a small window popped up in the upper right showing a map, "It's been detected near the centre of the European country of Transia."
"Damn." Dani cursed not sounding pleased with the name of the country.
"Yeah. While we didn't narrow things down to a fifty yard radius it does look like the disturbance occurred at the foot of Wundagore Mountain." Northstar said with a similar look of displeasure, "Due to its connection to the House of Magnus and the authority Lord Magnus has given the High Evolutionary over that territory you won't be able to just take a transport jet there. I've informed Director Shaw and he says for your team to prep for deployment on the assumption that we'll get the permission."
"What'll our mission criteria be once we get there?" Dani asked being all business now that a mission had been laid in front of her.
"Search and detain. The director wants to find out if we're looking at just a few isolated incidents that'll go away or the beginnings of a landslide." Northstar replied typing away at his station, "You'll meet up with one of the Evolutionary's knights upon arrival and she'll be supervising your stay to make sure you don't go anywhere restricted or do anything you're not supposed to. Complete your mission but if the knight calls it off you're to retreat to your transport jet and await further orders. With any luck any problems can be ironed out and you'll be able to resume your search soon after."
"Sounds like a pain." Julian complained like always at the news of bureaucracy problems.
"It might be more complicated than we'd like Scion but it comes with the territory when conducting an operation in special areas like Wundagore Mountain." Dani said with a chastising look on her face directed at Julian, "We'll just have to count on Director Shaw to convince Lord Magnus and the High Evolutionary to let us continue our mission."
"Exactly. So do whatever prep work you need to do and head for the hanger bay." Northstar said with a nod of agreement.
With that the screen reverted to its default image leaving the Hellions to discuss what prep work needed to be done and how it could be done in a timely manner.
"Alright! First thing we need to do is figure out what to do if we find a person or something else." Dani said even as the team began taking seats at the briefing table, "Phoenix? What're the odds it's another person like you?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Phoenix replied with a shrug, "It wasn't like a I stepped through a portal or got zapped by some sort of weapon. I was standing in front of a building going about my business one minute, then everything went wonky and then I found myself here. If this turns out to be a person they'll probably be as lost as I was once I got my head on straight again. Going in wearing civilian clothes'll probably get a better reaction than military uniforms."
"And if it's something else?" she asked entering into the conversation.
"Then it could be something dangerous." Phoenix replied with wary concern, "It's one thing if it's a person. You can reason with one of those for the most part. If it's a thing and it suddenly finds itself else there's no telling what it'll do. It could stay all peaceful or it could go berserk."
"Then we'll prepare for both possibilities." Dani said sounding like she'd come up with a plan of sorts, "Scion, Surge, Phoenix and I will head to wardrobe for some civvie clothes appropriate to Wundagore Mountain's climate. The rest of you will equip yourselves with M-Level load outs and remain there until signalled. Hopefully this'll all end peacefully but if things get violent we'll be ready. Dismissed!"
With their orders given the Hellions moved to fulfill them with her stepping to the side of her commander along with Scion and Phoenix.
From what she understood of Wundagore Mountain they were in for cold temperatures and possibly snow on the ground depending on the weather of the season. It'd make using her speed difficult given how heavy the clothes would be but they'd done some training involving harsh weather so she'd adapt well enough.
She just hoped that whatever they ran into didn't turn out to be dangerous otherwise they'd have TWO things to deal with.
The weather and whatever the source of the dimensional disturbance turned out to be.
Approaching the Foot of Mount Wundagore
Alexia's POV
"Why oh why couldn't the disturbance not've happened someplace warmer?" She asked pulling the parka she'd been given tighter around her body, "Like Hawaii."
"Can't you just use your psionics to keep yourself warm?" Surge asked as they got closer to the town where the disturbance occurred.
"My teacher said it might be possible down the road but I'm not there yet." She replied recalling how Rachel's lessons focused on the basics and then onto combat.
Little tricks like how to stay warm when you were someplace cold hadn't been on the lesson plan and were far from intuitive.
Still seeing as they were a short distance away from where the High Evolutionary's 'New Men' lived she could tough it out until they got indoors where a fire would warm her up in a hurry. While she would've liked to do a cursory scan telepathically to see if she could pick up on any thoughts belonging to people who knew this reality was not the right one Mirage had stopped her. Apparently the High Evolutionary and his people had strong ties with Magneto as well as an agreement to allow the scientist a surprising amount of governing autonomy. As a result anything that might cause friction between the two sides was to be avoided until there was literally nothing else that could be done and that included retreating. She would have to wait until the High Evolutionary's representative, a member of the Knights of Wundagore called Snow Queen, met with them to learn more about the disturbance.
Entering the town of 'New Men' she was intrigued by the presence of elements similar to human towns mixed with attributes unique to the High Evolutionary's domain. She'd come expecting there to be some modifications meant to accommodate the various animal attributes of the 'New Men' as well as some aesthetic differences but nothing like this. It was only when she noticed a humanoid female white tiger in purple armour approaching them that she reigned in her curiosity.
"You are the representatives sent by the House of Magnus?" The tiger lady, presumably Snow Queen, asked after coming to a stop before them.
"Yes. I'm Agent Moonstar, this is Agent Scion, Agent Surge and Phoenix." Agent Moonstar replied taking charge as leader of the group, "We have come here to investigate an anomaly, a breach in the fabric of reality, that according to our satellites happened in your Lord's territory. Do you know of it?"
Respectful. Polite. Generous.
A good opening move in the interests of gaining cooperation while also keeping things close to the vest.
"I do. The unique energies of Mount Wundagore make such disruptions hard to miss even when not using our Lord's technology. The Knights of Wundagore investigated in order to determine if it was a threat to our people and found signs of how potent the 'anomaly' was. At the epicentre of the damage we found a young human woman garbed in strange clothes unconscious but still alive. Unable to rouse her into a conscious state for questioning we carried her to this town as it was closest and allowed our healers to examine her."
"And what did your healers determine?" Moonstar asked fishing for information.
"That she was Homo Superior like you all are and that her unconscious state was likely the result of passing through a layer of space almost too alien to survive." Snow Queen replied before beginning to turn away, "Follow me. I will take you to the girl."
While not the answer she'd hoped for it did narrow down the possibilities to someone of the super powered set and female but that still left a lot of room for possibilities. While she didn't think that the male to female ratio of super powered individuals was equal neither did she believe that the female side was so small so as to make it easy to guess at who the new arrival was. What did concern her though was the state the altering of reality had left the costumed girl in and if anything remained of what used to be. For her the only thing keeping the unseen force from reshaping her to better fit this new 'House of M' reality was the power of the Phoenix within her. If it proved true that only other beings with a similar level of power stood any chance of retaining their true selves then that reduced the possibilities of who could help her set things right.
Then of course there was the discouraging possibility that unless the omega class costumed person saw the change coming and had a power capable of protecting themselves they'd have been reshaped in an instant.
She knew how this usually went.
Someone altered the past, someone reshaped reality and eventually one of the heroes or hero teams would save the day by putting things back the way they used to be.
She just had to be patient and keep her senses peeled.
It took awhile for them to come within eyesight of the house of healing and while it didn't have any of the usual symbols adorning it you could tell what its function was at a glance.
CRASH!
Too bad it looked like one of the patients had issues with their diagnosis as some sort of horse man in white robes went flying through a window. On instinct more than anything she reached out with her telekinesis to catch the man before gently setting him down on his feet. 'Mister Ed' was still a little woozy and almost seemed ready to drop to his knees before gaining a second wind capable of stabilizing himself.
"Silvani! What has happened?" Snow Queen asked rushing to the healer's side.
"It's the homo superior girl Lady Snow Queen." Silvani replied turning towards the white tiger lady before performing a gesture of respect, "I was checking on her to see if anything had changed when she woke up. I suspect she may have mistaken my efforts to examine her for something hostile and…well…this happened."
"Perhaps it might be best Lady Snow Queen to evacuate your people from the house of healing and allow my companions and I to deal with the girl." Agent Moonstar suggested without coming on too strong, "We have experience dealing with homo superior girls and incidents like this. I promise we'll do everything in our power to end this swiftly as well as without unnecessary damage."
"I will go in first. You and your team will provide support." Snow Queen said clearly unwilling to leave this matter to outsiders.
"As you wish." Mirage said before giving some hand commands to the rest of the team.
As for her she'd just stick close and provide help whenever it was needed. Until she found out it this new arrival was friend or foe she wouldn't make any waves.
When they entered the house of healing it wasn't hard to trace the sounds of confrontation to the right room but it was as they turned the final turn and beheld the door to the room that things…well…
…they got INTERESTING.
"GOD! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO TO DESERVE WAKING UP IN NARNIA!?" Came a bellow that was both agitated and angry.
That VOICE! She recognized that VOICE!
Before thoughts could form her body took action lifting off the ground with her telekinesis before shooting forward and maneuvering around the others to enter the room first. Her senses could perceive the others asking 'what are you doing' and 'stop' but her mind was focused on just one thing and that was finding the source of the voice. Fortunately the room was small enough that it took little if any time to find the cause of all the excitement and in that moment time stood still.
Why?
Because there, standing in front of a bed with crimson energy crackling around her hands, was none other than Cordelia Miriam Chase clad in the very same Halloween costume she'd last been seen in.
She was alive.
Not turned to ashes by the Phoenix inside of her.
Soul not consumed by the newborn cosmic being desperate to live.
ALIVE!
Before she could stop herself she began to fly over to the leader of the Sunnydale High School cheerleading squad intent on giving the brunette the biggest hug she could…
…only to get blasted by the crimson energy coming from the teenage girl's hands because Cordy thought herself in danger.
Fortunately with the field she had up around herself constantly in order to keep the unknown power from reshaping her to fit this mutant dominated world kept her from being knocked back more than a few feet. It didn't hurt but it did prove to be enough to get her thinking again and realize that Queen C probably didn't recognize who she was on the inside. Before in Sunnydale she was just a guy dressed as a girl in a costume with a set of fake breasts stuck between fabric and flesh. Now she was female through and through physically with the mind making progress where relevant on that front.
She had a lot to tell the queen of the social scene but it wasn't exactly something that should be said out loud. Neither of them would like to be labelled basket cases and neither would she like it if the truth about how new this 'House of M' world came out in the open for all to see. Fortunately for her Rachel had taught her a trick that'd be just enough to pass on the relevant details in the time they had without anyone being the wiser.
She just hoped that whatever energy her old sparring partner was putting out wouldn't make things harder.
Following the steps one by one she established a telepathic link with Cordy's mind and then gave it a little juice to bring both of their minds into a sort of in between place where only they existed. Then to gather the time they needed he employed the trick Rachel had shown her that would allow the two of them to talk for longer here than was actually passing by in the real world. She wasn't quite at the level where she could make it seem like days were going by when in fact it was only an hour but she was confident she could squeeze out at least fifteen minutes out of three seconds.
Only once everything settled did she focus on Cordy who looked to mentally at least still be in the process of processing what'd happened.
"Wha-? Where am I?" Cordy asked looking about the endless white expanse around them.
"A spot in between our minds. Sorry for pulling you here Cordy but we really need to 'talk' and not in the out loud kind of way." She replied keeping her voice calm in an effort to pass the feeling onto the fellow Sunnydaler across from her, "I've got the details on what's going on and where you are but it's going to be pretty nuts."
"HELLO! I grew up in a town where freakish stuff happened every FREAKIN' week and even though I TRIED to steer clear of it I kept GETTING PULLED IN!" Cordy snarked before something seemed to click knocking her social elite poise off kilter a bit, "Cordy? You know me?"
"Kinda hard not to considering we went to the same schools most of our lives." She replied trying to figure out how to word things safely, "True I doubt I could rock the Hawaiian shirts like before but I'd like to consider that a good thing."
Contrary to what some people might think she didn't wear those shirts because she liked them but rather due to a lack of affordable options. Thanks to his crappy DNA donors his allowance had consisted on whatever was scattered and forgotten about the house as well as what he could get from the local recycling depot. When budgeting things in a way so as to keep people from realizing how bad your life really was there wasn't a whole lot of flexibility in the clothing department.
"Xander!?" Cordy exclaimed in disbelief at the conclusion her mind came to.
"Yep! Not quite how you remember me eh?" She asked rhetorically with her slightly different lopsided grin, "Turns out G-Man was WAY wrong about Halloween being a quiet night for the freakiness."
"YEAH! I'd say so!" Cordy said looking to be recovering from her shock, "What the hell's going on dweeb?!"
"Short version because this little telepathic talk can't go on forever: I think some mojo happened Halloween night to turn people into their costumes AND give them powers. I got the full body makeover like nobodies business but I don't remember a lot of what happened." She replied not quite ready to drop the really BIG bomb just yet, "Next thing I know I wake up in a world where everything from Marvel Comics is as real as a vamp biting down on your throat. The Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men and all the others are real here with crazy stuff happening every other day."
This hit Cordy a bit harder than she would've thought making her wonder if maybe the queen of Sunnydale High School might know more about comics than people knew. After all if Cordelia knew as little as most high school VIPs did about comic books then logically the names he'd thrown out would mean nothing to her.
"Not only that but I found out the hard way that not only do I have Jean Grey's psi-powers but also a baby Phoenix Force inside of me. Good thing the X-Men came to pick me up and offer a mutant education on how to control it all. I'm still a newbie but I've got the whole on and off switch mastered." She said while mentally checking to see how much 'time' they had left, "Honestly…I thought I was alone here. Months went by and no one else showed up so I thought I'd be forced to start fresh all on my own. You've got no IDEA how happy I am that someone from back in the 'Dale is here now even if it's you."
"Happy to see you too dweeb!" Cordy said with only half the snark she usually used, "So where are we in the real world and what're current events like? If things are as messed up as I think they are then I need the lowdown fast."
"In the real world we're in a town of animal people created by a guy called the High Evolutionary at the foot of Mount Wundagore. You flung one of the doctors out a window just so you know." She replied feeling the strain of 'speeding up' the mental time but confident she could keep it going a bit longer, "As for current events the thing to know is that we're in the middle of a massive altered Earth story arc where mutants are the dominant species and ordinary humans are a generation or two from going extinct. Don't know whether it's someone altering the past, altering reality or whatever but it's thorough."
"But it's going to get fixed right? These things get fixed by the good guys." Cordy said her mind looking like it was going a mile a minute figuring things out.
"Maybe." She replied not able to get any more definitive than that.
"What do you mean 'maybe'?!" Cordy asked not liking the answer she'd been handed.
"Whatever's happened has messed with people's minds Cordy. They all think that THIS is how things've always been." She replied gesturing to either side even though there was nothing visible but white void, "Unless the right people manage to shake off their fake lives things might not get fixed."
"Well that's just great!" Cordy griped at the less than optimistic outlook.
"For you and me yeah it kinda is. Mostly." She said trying to bring up the bright side, "I'm a mutant and if I'm right so are you. If I turned into Dark Phoenix Jean Grey thanks to Halloween back home then there's a good chance that you've got the Scarlet Witch's powers now making you a mutant too. Sure you're probably going to need to take a few months worth of 'mutant powers 101' classes to get them under control but at least it's better than being a normal human in the world like it is right now."
"I guess. So what now?" Cordy asked sounding like she planned on repressing until she found some stability and the essentials of what she considered a normal life.
"Now? Now I bring us back to the real world and you tell anyone who asks that we went to the same school together, we weren't friends on account of me being the ugly duckling while you were the prettiest girl in school and that you need help mastering your mutant gifts." She replied figuring that'd cover most of the big points right off the bat, "Then we just wait for the heroes to turn things back to normal. If we wind up getting separated I'll let the X-Men know what's what and they'll swing by on the X-Jet to pick you up wherever you wind up."
"Well let's get to it then." Cordy said putting on the same game face she used when she let EVERYONE know who ruled the high school.
Nodding once she pulled them out of their little pow wow and back into the real world just in time for Mirage and her team to finish entering the room. Not bad considering she only had a little practice with this move under supervision by Rachel. Looking at what she'd labelled a clock early on it looked like the telepathic conversation had only taken seven seconds even though it'd felt closer to eleven minutes in the temporary mindscape.
"Stand down Phoenix!" Agent Mirage ordered looking just shy of actually being angry.
"What crawled up your butt and died?" Cordy asked with her usual bluntness drawing all eyes to her, "We were just having a little reunion here, thanks for ruining it by the way, not talking about how we're going to burn the locals at the stake or whatever."
THIS was all too much like the Cordy she remembered from Sunnydale but the problem was that this wasn't Sunnydale High School and neither did the top cheerleader have the clout she used to possess. As such mouthing off to the leader of a team of mutant S.H.I.E.L.D agents might not be the best idea even with a Jean Grey copy like her around as backup.
Most of the team looking stunned while Agent Mirage had the 'you will respect my authority' expression on her face so it was an even mix of good and bad.
So basically things had taken one step closer to getting back to what she considered normal.
True if things got really true to form things would get death defying in short order but she was pretty sure they'd manage to survive it.
After all they weren't alone.
They had backup…
…maybe.
Cockpit of a S.H.I.E.L.D Transport
Agent Dani Moonstar aka Mirage's POV
"Report Agent Moonstar." Director Shaw said once the encryption finished settling into place.
"We've found and are bringing back the person tied to the anomaly our satellites detected." She explained privately hoping to get the girl out of her hair sooner rather than later, "Turns out she's an acquaintance of Phoenix and goes by the name Cordelia Chase."
"Odd that this new girl would give us a name right off the bat instead of a codename like her redheaded friend." Shaw said even as he no doubt was running a search on the name for more information.
"It could be an alias but I'd mark it down more as the brunette just not giving a damn if we know her name or not." She said remembering everything said before leaving for the privacy of the cockpit, "She's not lacking for confidence and acts like some of the young brats I've had to protect at official House of Magnus parties."
"Charming. Have you learned anything of tactical value such as her homo superior power?" Shaw asked clearly not interested in sifting through the otherworldly past of their newest 'guest'.
"Haven't seen enough to figure out exactly what it is but it manifests as a crimson energy and has enough of a physical presence to knock people a good distance through a window." She replied even as she debated possibilities inside her own head, "From what I was able to pry out of both of them Miss Chase has only instinctual control over her power but at least it seems to be influenced by her emotional state. So long as no one provokes her or scares her the danger should be minimal."
"Just the same I'll have a telepath on hand to shut her mind down if things start to become problematic." Shaw said planning for the chance that things might get dicey.
"Not sure how much good that'll do." She said remembering the interaction she'd observed, "While I wouldn't call them best friends Phoenix and Miss Chase know each other. If it came down to us or Chase I'd put money on Phoenix defending the latter even if it meant fighting the former."
"Then we would play things carefully and GENTLY." Shaw said not sounding worried, "Say it's for Miss Chase's own good until the new girl gets her power under control. Say that to do otherwise would needless put innocent people in danger of accidentally coming into contact with this crimson energy. From what I've seen so far Phoenix doesn't seem the type to ignore a danger to bystanders just to protect an acquaintance."
True.
From what she'd observed Phoenix was pretty much like any other raw recruit with a desire to do the 'right thing' as the public was taught to see it. As such so long as they weren't too heavy handed in subduing Miss Chase should things get out of hand the situation would be manageable. Add to that the fact that Miss Chase's power didn't seem to be much more than high beta low alpha in terms of strength and she saw no serious cause for concern.
"That being said we've now got two young ladies from another reality to deal with. One probably the most powerful psionic on the planet with basic control and skill in its use and another with very little control over her gift with an apparent high opinion of herself." Shaw said becoming more serious, "With their loyalties still…undecided…they will have to be monitored and continue to be presented with S.H.I.E.L.D's best face until they do make their decision."
"And if they decide that they want to go home?" She asked aware that it was a distinct possibility.
"It might take some time but we will use the data we've acquired from both Phoenix and Miss Chase to do our best to make it happen. After exhausting all benevolent means of persuasion of course." Shaw replied indicating that neither he or perhaps the House of Magnus wanted to let someone like Phoenix go without a fight, "I've been told by Lord Magnus that the sapien ruler of Latveria is already looking into the matter of travelling dimensions in order to establish a prison for criminals too valuable to be killed but too dangerous not to be locked up someplace only we have the key to. Assuming that ape who thinks he's a king manages to produce a valid prototype we can use all we'll need is narrowing down the list of possibilities to something less than infinite. Preferably less than fifty likely candidates."
Still a big ballpark to search but one that she could see the House of Magnus and S.H.I.E.L.D willing to provide resources to exploring in order to 'help' their wayward guests get home.
The truth though…the truth was that the less than fifty possibilities would be scouted for potential assets as well as potential threats. Anything that could make Lord Magnus, his family and his world better would be secured by whatever methods were most efficient. Anything that might be a threat would be put down swiftly and permanently even if it meant sending through some sort of doomsday device that'd wipe everything out down to the last atom. If they did manage to find Phoenix and Miss Chase's home reality it's location would be saved, its circumstances evaluated and then decisions would be made.
Phoenix hadn't said a lot about what her native reality was like but it sounded like sapien's were still a problem over there with Homo Superior fighting just to maintain normal lives. No House of Magnus, no Homo Superior calling the shots and no sapiens a generation or three away from going extinct. Honestly she didn't know which way the wind would blow since a decision like that was WAY above her clearance level. Probably invite all the mutants there to come here or march the House of Magnus' military into that other reality make it just as mutant dominant as this one was.
If things went either way her team and S.H.I.E.L.D was going to get VERY busy.
Before that though…
"So have the Kree been briefed on Phoenix yet?" She asked seeing it as important as well as potentially connected to the next piece of info.
"Not yet. Mister Killgrave and Captain Marvel will be having a sit down with them within the hour." Shaw replied one hand going over the other on his desk, "Naturally we'll have a team of mutant scientists and analysts monitoring the whole conversation to pick it all apart for the smallest bit of useful information. The Kree will only be told the bare minimum needed in order to get them to divulge what they know none of which will pertain to specifics about Phoenix's appearance or location. Once Lord Magnus has been briefed and advised on the best course of action he will decide if the information allows Phoenix to remain a potential ally or if it makes her our enemy."
"And if it makes her our ally but the Kree's enemy?" She asked seeing it as a valid possibility.
The Kree no doubt saw Earth and its mutant population as a resource to be tapped in their war against the Shi'ar but only so long as the blue men maintained their position of power over mutants. They had spaceships, they had an army numbering in the millions and they had advanced weapons technology that could wipe out Earth before the House of Magnus could even put up a defence. That's why she figured the House of Magnus was playing nice with them and offering to help the Kree with the Shi'ar. It was all data gathering and covert technology procurement. As soon as mutant scientists could put Earth on equal or even higher ground with regards to the Kree she had no doubt things would change.
Things would go differently.
Magnus would probably use the new status of Earth to demand a seat at the big table instead of just being an 'ally' to the Kree. He'd be polite about it at first while letting slip veiled threats of switching allegiances if the pact with the Kree failed to prove its value to mutantkind. If that didn't work she guessed that either Earth would simply pull out from the galactic fighting altogether to pick off whoever won down the road or arrange a massive victory for the Shi'ar that would produce substantial gains for Earth.
"Then we'll deal with that outcome when it happens." Shaw replied without elaborating more, "Do you have anything else to report?"
"Yes. She's keeping it covered up but it looks like Phoenix is losing strength." She replied revealing the piece of useful info she had, "It looks like in spite of the power she has her body's still the same as yours or mine. She's probably been using her psionics to stay awake, alert and strong from the day she showed up but it's catching up with her. I give it another day, maybe two and she'll have no choice but to sleep to get her strength back."
"And when she does there's a good chance her powers will go to sleep as well." Shaw said with a grin on his face at the potential opportunity, "I'll put Madam Webb on standby and keep tabs on Phoenix once she's back. Timed right we could get everything we need to bring about the best possible outcome."
"For us or for Phoenix?" She asked worried that she already knew the answer.
And the smile on Director's Shaw did nothing to alleviate her worry.
Guest Quarters
S.H.I.E.L.D Facility in New York City
Alexia's POV
"You want me to do what?" Cordy asked from her place on the sole sofa in the room.
"Stand guard while I get a few hours sleep." She replied feeling fatigue fighting to cuddle up next to her brain with willpower being the only thing keeping it back, "I haven't gotten a wink of sleep since I got here and I'm running on fumes. Problem is there's something just waiting for me to drop my guard to pop me right in the jaw. So the only thing that'll work is if you keep tabs on me while I sleep."
"And just what am I supposed to do against something clearly in the weight class of deities?" Cordy asked not liking the plan at all.
"When I told Shaw and the others about it they said their sensors couldn't pick up anything dangerous around the time I showed up on their front lawn. Either whatever it is can't be picked up by tech or my secret stalker wants to stay invisible to everyone but me." She replied TKing her Phoenix outfit into her favourite pyjamas, "You being in the room will make it cautious and if it looks like it's doing something to me just wake me up any way you can. I'll force it back and come up with a Plan B for recharging the ol' batteries."
"Fine…but on one condition." Cordy said not sounding happy but willing to be reasonable.
"What's that?" She asked wondering just what sort of bill was being racked up.
"For the next six months anytime I want my clothes changed to the latest fashion you do it no questions asked." Cordy replied in a no nonsense tone of voice.
Figures.
Hopefully this wouldn't be the start of a trend where everyone she owed a favour to would make their compensation have something to do with clothes.
"Deal." She said with a nod, "Now if you don't mind I'm getting some sleep while I can. G'Night."
Sliding beneath the bedsheets she laid her head on the pillow, got comfortable and for the first time in quite a while she shut off the barrier of power she'd put around herself to keep from being altered into something more fitting to the current 'reality'. One second. Two. Three. Then ten seconds went by with nothing seeming to happen and her still remembering the previous reality as well as who she really was. Was the big bad of this multi-title arc taking a wait and see approach? Was it being sneaky instead of tackling her head on like before? She didn't know but she hoped that if action happened Cordy would be able to wake her in time to keep her from forgetting what did and didn't belong.
Relaxing it wasn't long before sleep took her and like usual there was no easy transition between being awake and falling asleep. One second her senses told her she was in a room with Cordelia and the next she was…somewhere…else. She found it odd that she was as lucid as she was since most times when you dreamed you were pretty much there for the ride with very little control as far as what happened. Still she wasn't complaining all that much since it'd make it easier to pick up on anything going wrong and take action.
Looking about she couldn't pin down where her dreaming had taken her but at the same time it felt…comfortable to her rather than wary like unknown places tended to make her feel. It was a mix of the sort of plants she'd seen in Sunnydale growing up with buildings that she'd been to after landing in her new 'circumstances'. Being that this was a dream she didn't need to even think to rise up into the 'air' and begin exploring the tapestry her subconscious mind had created. She marvelled at it, no pun intended, because instead of being a messy combo it actually looked quite artistic making her wonder if she could remember it clearly enough to try her hand at painting it in the waking world.
It was as she swooped down to get a better look at a group of houses that she sensed something off and instantly she went on guard for a potential threat. Looking about she looked for even the smallest inconsistency or anomaly she didn't let impatience get the better of her during her search but an undeterminable amount of time later she had to wonder if she'd imagined the odd feeling.
Putting the thought on the back shelf for the time being she resumed flying about but kept one mental hand hovering over the metaphorical six shooter she had just in case.
She didn't know how long she'd been exploring for or how much longer she had before she 'woke up' but when she noticed signs of life up ahead she decided it was time for something other than vacant scenery. Flying took almost no time at all but when she arrived she was treated to the sight of the mess she'd been expecting earlier in the form of a mishmash of elements. One part looked to be the main area of a high level apartment set aside for the rich and famous while another part looked to be your stereotypical dingy alleyway. Another part reminded her of that mutant leadership academy she visited and when she looked at the last big piece of the mixed up puzzle it looked to be some antique church. It felt odd but it got worse when people started to appear in each part but all of them seemed to be restricted to their own little domains rather than crossing from one to another.
Gwen Stacy and her father.
Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
As for the woman in the alleyway she looked to be your typical bag lady but when the face was exposed everything clicked. The face was a shoe in for one she'd seen hanging on the wall at the Institute and unless she missed her guess it could very well be Moira McTaggert. She didn't know where the woman was back in the baseline reality but given the bits of sadness that leaked from Rachel the one time she'd asked about the photo it was a safe bet the answer was six feet underground.
Seeing the Cuckoos again was a little unexpected but they also put a bad feeling in her stomach given what was likely coming. The Three-In-One restored to the original Five-In-One only fated to be reduced back to the Three-In-One because according to the superhero rulebook that's what had to happen.
And she was helpless to do anything to stop it.
As for the antique style church she couldn't quite make out who it was with how well they were blending into the shadows but the little bits and pieces she was seeing reminded her of Nightcrawler.
~Why am I seeing all this?~ She thought to herself as she hovered in place, ~Am I subconsciously tapping into my telepathy? Can't be because it doesn't look like the Cuckoos have the first clue that I'm 'looking' down at them.~
"You're not using your telepathy my dear." A familiar voice said from behind her.
Whirling around she quickly spotted the source but it was indistinct and more than a little warped like an action figure that'd been tossed in the microwave for longer than was safe. She could still make out eyes and a mouth but the rest was too much of a mess to make heads or tails out of. She didn't think it was a part of her subconscious but neither did she think it had anything to do with baby Phoenix.
~When dealing with the unknown keep both fight and flight primed for action.~ She thought before asking, "What do you mean by that?"
"Well now I don't blame you for not figuring it out Mister Harris." The melted man said in a 'Leave It To Beaver' way, "You never were much of an academic of the mystic arts and your transformation was far from gentle. You see it wasn't just the life energy of every person in Sunnydale your little fire bird consumed but also a hefty amount of magic as well. THAT is how you're looking in on these four places without being noticed."
"But magic takes studying and practice to get right." She said barely able to keep herself balanced in light of this 'guy' knowing who she used to be and what…what she helped set in motion.
"Normally it would take several months of diligent learning and practice to be able to scry four locations at once without giving yourself away but fortunately for you you have an edge." The melted man said with a distorted smile, "Thanks to your little bird friend you've accumulated a veritable sea of magical knowledge from every practitioner that was in Sunnydale Halloween night. Too much for your mind to consciously recall at the moment but here…in your dreams…in your subconscious…a part of you just has to will it to happen and the spoils of Halloween make it happen."
It was just one thing after another.
She'd almost prefer being awake and keeping herself there until she literally collapsed from exhaustion but it was too little too late.
"So as helpful as you're being why speak up now? Why not earlier?" She asked already having figured out that whoever the guy had been he was from Sunnydale.
And with how experienced the man sounded he knew his way around mojo.
Given that the guy was past all of her defences and knew how to use the magic she'd supposedly absorbed that made him a VERY real danger to her.
"Simmer down young lady. You've got nothing to worry about." The man said apparently knowing her worries, "Even if I wanted to take over your body I couldn't."
"That's something I'd expect someone who wanted what I have to say in order to keep certain defences down." She said knowing that there were precious few mojo users who'd turn down an opportunity like this to make a grab for more power.
"True but in this case I'm being honest." The man said even as an…ear?…fell off his head, "Right now your little bird friend is digesting my soul and the reason I didn't show up earlier is because it took me this long to accept my fate. Most people that the phoenix absorbed had their souls metabolized in an instant but you don't live as long as I have without learning a few tricks. As soon as I figured out what was going to happen I used every emergency protection spell I had to protect myself and it almost wasn't enough. My body turned to ash and I did get sucked into the bird's belly but my magic was enough to keep my soul in one piece for a good long while. Unfortunately every plan I had for taking your body for my own required that I divert energy from the spells keeping me whole and it turns out I just couldn't spare the juice. So when you finally fell asleep I decided it was time for a little chat between the two of us."
"Assuming I believe you…what now? You become my Dumbledore for however long you've got left then blow away like ashes in the wind?" She asked still skeptical about the melting soul's intentions.
"That does sound nice. I've only taken a few apprentices over the past century and none of them had the potential you now have." The melty man replied with a shake of his head that almost resulted in self-decapitation, "Unfortunately just reaching out to talk to you like this is draining quite a bit of my remaining strength so I'll be doing that whole 'ashes in the wind' bit pretty soon. Still there's not much dignity in prolonging the inevitable. Much better to go out on a high note so without further delay-"
With those words a glow of energy lit up the insides of the melting man and seemed to accelerate his degradation so that instead of possibly having a few more hours of life it would likely be minutes at best. Before she could tell the man to stop a wave of energy exploded outwards from him shattering what was left of his form until his head became the biggest piece amongst a rapidly fading pile of pieces.
"T-there…i-i-it'll take t-time to bake b-b-but once it's d-done…" the melting man said with increasing difficulty, "…I just k-k-know you'll be b-b-b-b-beautiful…"
"What did you do?" She asked even as she could fell herself being drawn back to the waking world.
"Just a little…spring cleaning…fare…well…"
With that the remains of the man completely faded from sight and the dreamworld did the same soon afterward as the waking world called her back.
S.H.I.E.L.D Research Facility, Colorado
Captain Marvel's POV
~Two hours in and I still can't shake that weird feeling.~ She thought even as she half listened to Killgrave discuss the particulars of a Kree-Earth alliance against the Shi'ar.
It'd been longer since a cooperative force comprised of S.H.I.E.L.D and forces under the command of Judge Advocate Ronan took down a group of sapiens led by one Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. All in all it'd gone well even if there'd been a few casualties on their side but some of the big hitters were killed rather than captured. She knew her bosses would say that there was nothing of value to be learned from sapien terrorists but it still felt a little too hasty to her. Strucker's group had once been part of the Human Resistance and as such the man might've had a nugget or two of intel that could've been pried out of him.
Still what was done was done and couldn't be undone by any mutant power she knew of so there was little point dwelling on it.
It was when she saw Killgrave click his pen twice that she knew the add on to this meeting was about to be discussed so she upped her focus accordingly.
When the decision had been made to covertly question Ronan about Phoenix and the energy within her Shaw thought it best to wait until they were far enough down the expected discussions that a sudden change would throw the Kree off guard. In the moments before the visitor regained mental equilibrium they would hopefully be able to get some quick answers from him that were more honest than carefully weighed ones. After that they would present what data they had in pieces little by little ensuring that they would be the ones to come out of this with the greatest amount of information.
~Time to see just how good Killgrave is.~ She thought seeing the man closing the document folder in front of him.
"Before we end things for the night Judge Advocate I was wondering if you might take a look at some sensor data one of our satellites picked up a few weeks ago." Killgrave said before picking up a remote for the nearby view screen from the table, "We've had our own scientists try their hand at it but it's proving to be unlike anything we have experienced in the past. We were hoping given the Kree's superior experience and scientific knowledge you might provide some…assistance."
"I am no scientist Mister Killgrave." Ronan said not outright rejecting the request but pointing out he was a poor choice for making sense of satellite data, "…however I believe I have someone on my ship who can provide you with the assistance you require. Doctor Minn-Erva is one of our foremost scientists that was assigned to this visit to perform her own evaluation of Earth's potential value as an ally."
"How long would it take for her to come here?" Killgrave asked politely intrigued by the new information.
"There is no need for her to come here." Ronan replied before placing a saucer sized disc shaped device on the table.
With the press of a button it revealed itself to be a holographic projector but when a woman with blue Kree skin and shoulder length hair appeared she realized it was a communicator as well.
"Accuser. How may I be of service?" Minn-Erva asked like a soldier should albeit with some pride.
"The Earthers have requested a consultation on some unusual readings one of their satellites detected but that their scientists have been unable to analyze." Ronan replied never once losing his aura of command, "In the interests of strengthening our potential alliance I would like you to take a glance at their data and give it your honest appraisal."
She could tell just by looking at Minn-erva that she considered this beneath her and probably saw every native from Earth as just a step or two above a caveman compared to the Kree. However a narrowing of Ronan's eyes caused the scientist to reign in her distaste for the sake of duty and a nod was given to show that she would look over the data. Killgrave didn't miss a beat and with the remote in his hand brought the data up on the view screen for examination.
She'd been informed before the Kree arrived that the raw data from the satellite had been selectively edited to keep all the important stuff but remove what the Kree could use to track Phoenix down. If it turned out that the blue skinned alien empire did know what sort of energy Phoenix had and wanted it they'd still have an entire planet to search for it. They'd have time enough to get the redhead someplace secure and shielded until their alien partners gave up looking for it. If the energy wasn't identified then at least there was a good chance that they'd be more informed than they'd been before the meeting.
"Hmmm…not as primitive as I'd feared but still archaic compared to what I'm used to." Minn-erva said operating a console that was barely in view of the holographic projection equipment, "It appears to be psionic energy but there are elements that deviate from the baseline established by multiple species. A pity we weren't here when this anomaly occurred or we might've been able to record more detailed data with our own sensors."
"Indeed we could have but for now what do you believe this is?" Ronan asked keeping his scientist from going astray.
"I believe it is a concentration of psionic energy being held together by something else." Minn-erva replied bringing up a holo-screen on her side of things, "Attempting to generate a quantum representation of each of the individual elements of the sensor data…running a comparison with existing records in the ship's database…"
It was about a minute later that something changed in Minn-erva's manner as she became more focused than before. Ronan noticed this as well and it was likely this change that caused the Judge Advocate hold his tongue rather than insist that his scientist continue talking. As for her and Killgrave they simply watched since such obvious interest might allow something to slip loose that would be lost if the woman was reminded that 'lessers' were present.
It was about five minutes later that Minn-erva turned her gaze directly to Ronan.
"Grand Accuser Ronan! Er'th si h'tam r'f e't Kree esa'ata'b!" Minn-erva said with obvious urgency, "E't h'tam si o'ega nion'anc y e't Supereme Intelligence! I's Phal'kon e'er'y!"
"Ni'eb y'ate'alp na's! Dnif eht Phal'kon!" Ronan ordered with no room for anything other than obedience, "J'i li'w yea'r secr'f o' egr'vn'c n'pu t'e aura ec'n s'ti n'en d'nimr't'd! I ll'w yll'r r'o secr'f ot egr'vnoc n'pu e't aer'a ec'o s'ti n'eb d'nimret'd!"
"Ti li'w eb en'd Grand Accuser!" Doctor Minn-erva declared before the connection was severed.
"While I am not fluent in your language Grand Accuser I take it your scientist has learned something important." Killgrave asked politely yet firmly since he wasn't in a position of power at the moment, "In the spirit of diplomacy would you be willing to tell us just what Doctor Minn-erva discovered?"
For a moment it looked like Ronan was going to stonewall them but then decided to mentally budge a little.
~Hopefully not too little.~ She thought never liking it when those with the info withheld it.
"Her examination of the data you provided has revealed an ominous discovery." Ronan replied with significant weight in his tone, "The energy you detected matches what the Kree have on file as belonging to the Phal'kon. It has many names across the galaxy however the most common translated into your language would be 'Phoenix Force'."
"And what precisely has this 'Phoenix Force' done to earn such widespread notoriety?" Killgrave asked thankfully keeping his poker face on.
"It is well known because it is a cosmic being of world changing power." Ronan replied a look in his eyes implying that he was holding some facts back, "According to some it only appears to burn away 'that which does not work', that which is stagnant, so that something new and superior may take its place. If its power has been detected here then either it is preparing to manifest or someone has procured a fragment of its power. Neither bodes well for your world."
This did sound serious but it didn't sound like Alexia at all.
While she hadn't been around the girl long enough to say she knew the young lady but nothing she'd seen indicated that the redhead was preparing to scorch the planet. Indeed Alexia behaved like any other teenage girl she'd ever met.
"As such I've ordered my forces to begin searching for the source of the energy." Ronan said as he began to leave the room, "Once it has been located the Kree military will neutralize the potential threat."
"Naturally the House of Magnus is grateful for your aid regarding this serious situation…" Killgrave said before his voice gaining a measure of firmness, "…however Lord Magnus will likely require that some of his own forces be involved in the matter. This is after all our world."
"Of course. We are future allies after all." Ronan said and with that he was gone to rally the Kree soldiers on the base.
It was five minutes later that Killgrave walked over to the comm-console and typed in a serious of commands. A moment later she learned what they were when Director Shaw appeared on the screen.
"I wasn't expecting this call so soon Mister Killgrave." Director Shaw said in measured tones, "I would've thought it'd take longer to coax any information of value out of Ronan."
"It likely would've had the data not proven exceedingly more valuable than we thought." Killgrave said letting his tone convey the seriousness, "It would appear that our guest from another world is more important that we realized. According to Ronan our young friend is host to a cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force and it may be here to 'burn away what doesn't work'. Our Kree friends are marshalling their forces to locate her and 'neutralize' the potential threat. I managed to tacitly get Ronan to agree to a joint operation but I do not know how much time we have before his forces locate the girl."
"A wise move Mister Killgrave. Normally on such an important mission I'd assign the Red Guard but they're currently having…leadership issues." Director Shaw said selectively choosing his words, "Instead I think I'll give one of the newer teams a chance to prove themselves. Yes…Agent Madrox and his team might be less experienced than the Red Guard but they work well together and possess a wide variety of powers. They should have little trouble taking custody of the young woman."
"I am relieved to hear that Director." Killgravre said sounding more at ease, "And after she has been apprehended? What then?"
"That is a little above your pay grade Mister Killgrave and nothing you need to concern yourself with." Director Shaw replied in a tone that would tolerate no further discussion on the matter, "With the Kree focusing on locating and capturing Phoenix it would seem your role as negotiator is on hold for the time being. I suggest you review what you've learned thus far and get ready for round two."
With that the screen went dead and Killgrave was NOT happy at being summarily dismissed though he hid it better than most. She wasn't blind. She knew that many Sapiens didn't like the way Homo-Superior talked down to them or even brushed them aside like they were nothing. The fact that she was portrayed as one of the top heroes in the world despite not being Homo Superior was at least partially a PR stunt. She gave it her all on every mission and to live up to the hype the media spun about her but subtle comments every so often sent a clear message.
'You're only a hero as long as we say you are a hero'.
Meaning that if she veered too far from the script they laid out for her they could just as easily turn her into a villain in the eyes of the public. Sure those who knew her would never believe it but that would only put them in harms way when they tried to speak up for her.
"Guess the rumours are true then." Killgrave said with distaste.
"What rumours?" She asked having heard several but curious about which one the man was talking about.
"That beneath the sunny surface of a Superior controlled Earth Magnus and his inner circle are willing to employ some…distasteful…methods to maintain the upper hand." Killgrave replied half turning to look at her, "Whether its Sapiens or Superiors there'll always be those in power and those who want to take that power away. Lord Magnus might've managed to gain power by exposing Nixon's Sentinel program and taking down the old S.H.I.E.L.D but that doesn't mean that there aren't people who think they should be on the throne instead of him."
An ugly truth but not an untrue one.
History made it clear that it was one thing to claim power but quite another to keep it.
"With the situation being what it is I almost pity this 'Phoenix' Director Shaw was talking about." Killgrave said with mild pity on his face, "It's not going to end well for her one way or another."
Contemplating the man's words she tried to figure out what he meant.
On the one side of things Phoenix could be captured by Ronan and his forces in which case the girl would likely be put in chains and taken off Earth. Since the girl wasn't officially on record as being a citizen of Earth Lord Magnus wouldn't have a leg to stand on for arguing that she be left in his custody. Plus doing so might endanger the alliance with the Kree against the Shi'ar so politically they could voice their position but not much else. If the 'Phoenix Force' was as powerful as Ronan implied she didn't have a hard time imagining the Kree trying to turn it to their advantage or eliminate it completely. If the blue skinned aliens thought that they could control it they'd likely try but if it turned out that they couldn't elimination would be the only option left.
But what did Killgrave mean by 'one way or another'?
"Don't be dense Danvers. Both the Kree and Magnus will look at Phoenix only in strategic terms. What do they have to gain? What do they have to lose?" Killgrave asked rhetorically, "More than that though whoever winds up controlling Phoenix will have leverage over the other that can be used during negotiations. Neither Lord Magnus or Ronan strike me as the sort to willingly give up an advantage capable of scorching planets even if it is to an 'ally'. For them there'll only be one option. Elimination."
Elimination!
Either the Kree would gain the lead in securing the girl or Lord Magnus would forcing the other to try and eliminate Phoenix before they'd let it be used against them.
This did NOT sit well with her.
She'd met the girl, spoken with her and couldn't come up with a single reason to wish that something bad would happen to her. Sure she wasn't blind to the idea that a cosmic force with the potential to wipe out all life on Earth was dangerous to keep around. However to kill someone because of what they 'might do' before it was even determined just how likely it was that the teenager would choose to end the world did not rub her the right way.
And she decided she'd do something about it.
"Then I guess I better make sure Agent Madrox's team comes out on top." She said heading for the door, "See ya around Killgrave."
Once outside she took to the air and made for Manhattan.
Even if she didn't know precisely where Alexia was she was sure the girl was in the city. She'd wait for Madrox's team to show up, offer support and together they'd make sure that Alexia was whisked away someplace secure where the Kree couldn't get to her. Played right it'd look to Ronan and his people as though the Phoenix Force had vanished into thin air. As long as there wasn't anything to implicate Earth in the disappearance the Kree would have no choice but to let things go.
Once that happened she'd do her best to convince Director Shaw and even Lord Magnus himself that Alexia was more of a valuable ally than a potential threat.
The girl deserved to have at least one person in her corner.