Search and Rescue: In Transit

[x-cyclops.livejournal.com]

Alex wakes up thirty thousand feet in the air and very confused. Unfortunately, his captors aren't particularly forthcoming.


The first thing Alex noticed as he drifted back to consciousness was that whatever he was lying on was hard, cold and vibrating. He couldn't quite open his eyes yet, but from the noise, he seemed to be on a plane. Even though his recollection was fuzzy, he didn't remember anything about flying. He remembered surfing....then the lost tourist...

Alex's eyes opened in a sharp movement, which just made him dizzy. As the world around him spun, he tried to steady himself and found his hands cuffed behind him. With a groan he closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the cold floor to center himself. What the fuck was going on...?

"... Murphy, he's awake," someone said from somewhere behind Alex.

"So I see." Footsteps, then the lost tourist was crouching down in front of Alex, eyeing him, the tranquilizer pen in his hands. "You're in a plane. Thirty thousand feet in the air," he said briefly. "Use your powers and you'll kill all of us, including yourself."

Recognizing the voice, Alex just groaned again, feeling extremely stupid. Plus he was shivering, which reminded him that he couldn't use his powers even if he wanted to. He was still only wearing his swim trunks, his containment suit just happened to have been left in his apartment that day. He opened one eye as he lifted his head. After a few moments, the two men in front of him merged into the one holding the vaguely familiar pen. "I can't use them anyway. What's going on?" His throat was dry so his words were more of a croak.

"You can't use them anyway?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

It was probably the fact his mind was still cloudy that made him respond when his better judgement knew he should do otherwise. "I can't control them without my containment suit, which I'm not wearing. They would blow up this plane even on the ground without it."

The man eyed him carefully, as if judging how clear-headed he was and the likliehood that he was telling the truth. "Interesting," he said. "Well. Since we're not on the ground anyway, I'll leave you undrugged, at least while we're in the air. We need you in fairly decent shape and you energy-projector types sometimes react oddly to drugs. But this will change," he pointed out coolly, "the moment you give us any trouble."

Alex managed a glare somehow even when things kept blurring together. But he didn't say anything, as he would prefer to remain undrugged. Maybe then he could find out why they had kidnapped him, of all people. He was just a mutant college student, nothing special. Though something was nagging him at the back of him mind, something that should be familiar but wasn't clicking.

"Don't worry," the man said, sticking the pen back in his pocket as he rose. "Your stay will be a brief one, if all goes well. " He moved around Alex, heading back in the direction he'd come. "You behave," he called back, "and I'll bring you something to eat in a bit."

Alex looked over his shoulder as he followed the man's progress before closing his eyes again with a sigh, letting his head fall back to the floor with a soft 'thunk'. Seriously....what the fuck was going on?