Leverage: Something Stolen

[x-traction.livejournal.com]

When a group of mutant terrorists want to gain the attention of the President, all they need is the right type of leverage.

"They're late," Heidi McKenna said with a nervous look at her husband. "They're never late." Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile on her face. "I know, it's probably just an accident on Constitution. But still..." She had no reason to be worried; the security system they'd had in place for their daughters hadn't failed once in the years her husband had been in office. "Check on their status?" she asked the closest Secret Service agent, not sure why she felt a knot in her stomach. "Just to be safe."

President McKenna smiled at his wife. "Just you watch, they'll storm in here in a few minutes, horribly offended that you checked with their detail. We won't hear the end of this for weeks." But the carefully light tone in his voice was belied by his tense nod to the agent, underlining his wife's request. The girls really were very responsible for their age.

"I'm their mother. It's my job to offend them," she replied, keeping her voice equally light. "And if it wasn't about this, there would be..." Heidi trailed off at the look on the agent's face as he touched his hand to his earpiece, turning away from the pair. Her face quickly paled as she reached out for her husband's hand.

McKenna kept himself outwardly composed, though it was an effort, and his hand was white-knuckled on his wife's. Not the girls, oh please God let them be safe . . . "What is it, Todd? What's happened?"

"Their detail isn't answering the line," the agent replied grimly. "Let me try again, it could just be a glitch in the system." Heidi closed her eyes, not wanting to watch Todd or her husband's face, just praying to whoever might be listening. Todd muttered a few words, then smiled. "It's going through now sir."

When the other line picked up, he began talking quietly, a note of alarm apparent in his voice. "They were ambushed sir." Several other agents had entered the room as he spoke, fanning out to remain close to both the president and his wife. Activity could be heard throughout the White House as agents swept into action, one of their worst nightmares coming to life.

And then the phone rang. Not the main line, or the security line or the guard's line. The president's personal, unlisted cell phone.

McKenna's face went ashen at the word "ambushed," and he flinched slightly when the phone rang. The caller was listed as "Unknown." It rang again, as he composed himself, but before the third ring he'd flipped it open. "This is the President of the United States," he said forcefully. "To whom am I speaking?

"You sound rather calm for a man who seems to have misplaced a rather precious personal commodity," the nasal voice on the other end replied. "Perhaps we should have let you wait a little longer?" The man laughed, but it was a cruel, sharp sound. "No? Then you would do well to listen and listen carefully. Magnetic North has a few demands for you if you want to get these cute little girls back in one piece." Whimpering could be heard in the background, followed by one of the girls speaking. Her words couldn't be understood over the line, but it was obvious she was trying to comfort her sister.

"Really, our needs are simple," Gregor continued. "For too long, mutants have been discriminated against. We are hated, hunted and punished when we have done nothing wrong except be born as your superiors. It is time for you homo sapiens to make a move in the right direction. The health care bill that's coming up before Congress needs to pass. We'll be in touch. I would recommend you don't waste your time looking for us. It'll be simpler and safer for everyone involved if you just do as we say." Gregor paused, letting his words sink in. "And Johnny boy? Don't bother trying to trace any of our calls. You won't be successful."

The click as the kidnapper hung up, even as McKenna was about to demand to speak to his daughters, seemed loud enough to fill the whole world. He put the phone down with a shaking hand.

"Isn't that just the way, Jon?" It sounded like Bill Stryker's voice, in his head, the way they'd used to talk before it went wrong. "You give, and you give, but in the end they'll just turn on you. Too bad we didn't put them down when we had the chance . . ."

He shook his head violently, banishing the old shade. As much as he wanted to reach out and smashthe people who'd taken his daughters, the angry, frightened father had to take a back seat to the President of the United States, and to the President, the important part of "mutant terrorist" was terrorist. The adjective just called for a different kind of expertise.

"Todd," he said as he folded his wife into his arms, holding on to his tone of voice God knew how. "Todd, I want Val Cooper in this office right now."


After getting a call, Ororo is quick to arrive. Val briefs her on what little they know and asks her for the X-Men’s assistance.



This wasn't the first time one of the X-Men had been in the Oval Office, Val Cooper knew. It was however the first time one of Xavier's team had been there as an invited guest. It would have been difficult for Ororo Munroe to go unnoticed, with her height and striking looks, but she had shown up clearly making an effort to be discreet, wearing a sober business suit and making only the bare minimum of conversation with anyone on her way to the Oval Office.

Cooper appreciated that, under the circumstances. So her voice, as she briefed the other woman, was fractionally less cool than it might have been. "They're calling themselves Magnetic North," she said. "We have no intelligence that they're actually connected to Magneto, despite the name. They've called back twice since their initial phone call to establish their demands. Very consistent repetition of those demands, actually. They claim that the girls are all right-" She very carefully did not look at the girls' father, sitting behind the desk, "but they haven't permitted us to speak to them. They say that all they're concerned about is seeing this bill pass. Some basic profiling's been done - quietly, of course, since we can't risk this getting out – but we don't have enough information to draw any conclusions as to how likely they are to become violent."

Because it went without saying that the government of the United States could not compromise with terrorists. The whole purpose of going to the X-Men was an effort to prevent the man behind her from having to make the choice he knew he would have to make.

"The group is not known to us," Ororo replied, keeping her expression as neutral as possible. "So any information, no matter how basic, would be helpful." As well as a bit of quid pro quo, but she didn't voice this thought. This wasn't a circumstance she relished any more than anyone else in that office. "What is the pattern of their calls? Are they likely to call again soon?"

"Timeframe-wise, they're tied to the bill, obviously. I imagine we'll be getting additional calls if it looks like it's running into problems." Cooper leaned forward, handing Ororo a thick file. "Not enough of that is about the hostage-takers, but it's everything we have on the situation to date."

"If you need anything else, just ask," McKenna broke in, his voice ragged around the edges. "All my resources are at your disposal. Just bring--bring my girls home safe." He fell silent again, hands curling into white-knuckled fists as he fought for control.

"Yes sir, we will," Ororo replied. The possibility of failure was the furthest thing from her mind at that moment, and she wanted him to know that. "We will begin our preparations immediately, and we will do all we can to work towards a safe ending to this." She couldn't promise anything, but regardless of his important position this man was still a worried father, and he needed assurance that his children would be all right.

Cooper judged it an appropriate time to shepherd Ororo back out of the Oval Office once her boss had managed to pull himself together for long enough to thank the woman for her team's willingness to help. "We've kept the information as compartmentalized as we can," she said as the door closed behind them. "Obviously, once this gets out it's going to be harder for all of us."

Ororo nodded sympathetically, her hands clasped behind her as they walked back through the various offices and hallways. "Time is certainly our most precious resource. Though with the information you have provided we will be able to move much more quickly now."

Cooper waited until they were clear of the people in the outer office before she went on. "I can't promise you a free hand, Munroe," she said, keeping her voice low. "There are too many different parties involved for that." Jurisdictional conflicts to spare, today. "I can't even promise that the Boss will back you up after the fact if your people have to... take the initiative. It depends on how it all turns out," she admitted frankly. "But what I can say is that despite the situation, he trusts you. You've proven yourselves time and time again, and that doesn't go unnoticed."

"In an event like this," Ororo told her, "we will do what needs to be done, regardless of the official consequences. Please know that we will do what it takes to resolve this in the most low-profile way possible, but the girls' safety is first and foremost. Thank you, and thank the President for his trust; we will do all we can to prove ourselves worthy of it."

"I can have a few words with my colleagues in the Service," Cooper offered. "And Fred Duncan knows your people well enough by now." She paused, her expression somewhat awkward. "I wish I could offer more... personally, I mean. They're sweet kids. The girls, I mean."

Ororo glanced at the woman, letting the faintest smile touch her lips. "I am sure they are. And perhaps you will be able to contribute yet; someone will need to undertake the important task of explaining what has happened to them when they return home." Not if; when.

Cooper held the other woman's gaze for a moment, then nodded. "I'll let you get going," she said more crisply. "Time is of the essence, like I said. But call me, if you or your people need anything."

"Thank you, Agent Cooper. We will do that." With that, Ororo turned and headed for the exit, already pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket as she walked. The other woman was right, there was no time to waste. Ororo only hoped that what they had was enough.