The Magnificent Seven: Take Up The Gauntlet

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In a country now officially under siege, another complicating factor introduces itself, and Nathan and Jean have to leave the rest of the team behind.


It was still dark - not surprising, this early in the morning, and the light on in the kitchen of the guesthouse turned out to be the screen of Nathan's laptop, illuminating his face in a harsh glow as his fingers moved swiftly over the keyboard. "Hey, Jennie," he said to the young woman in the doorway, his voice quiet. "Fancy meeting you, awake in the middle of the night. You'd think we're sitting in a country that's being invaded or something."

Jennie tried not to roll her eyes. "If you're expecting a lecture about 'you should be sleeping, blah blah blah, lemme feed you some pie,' and all that jazz, look elsewhere," Jennie went for a package of water bottles left on the counter and pulled one out from under its plastic covering. "Anything new in the last half hour?"

"Actually," Nathan said, his fingers still moving across the keyboard and his lips pursing briefly as he gazed at whatever was on the screen, "if you'd said anything about 'you should be sleeping', or pie, I'd have taken you over my knee. And, well, I'm currently watching satellite feeds."

"Kinky," Jennie said, twisting open the water. "I'll be sure to let your wife know." She took a swig before coming up behind Nathan. "What do they say?"

"Beyond the fact that Wakanda's being invaded from two directions?" The Kenyan and Tanzanian government were apparently both swearing on whatever they held holy that the incursions had not been authorized. According to T'Challa, the Wakandan government actually believed it, too. But the fact remained, the other two countries weren't having any luck recalling their troops back to their own borders; whatever had induced them to go rogue in the first place was still at work. The fighting had been going on for a few hours now.

"Well," he went on at Jennie's expectant look, "on top of that, they also say that a crazy bastard of a Chechen telekinetic trashed the army base in Kanda about half an hour ago." He made the comment in the same tone that someone might have used to observe that night was dark. "Which confirms the report T'Challa got a few minutes ago."

"Oh," Jennie said, leaning that she was peering directly over Nate's shoulder. "Is that a fact?" A dull ache started up in Jennie's still-healing ribs. She'd heard of Sadula-whateverthefuckhisname was. Read the files. Without admitting to it, Jennie's stomach clenched in mild fear. Maybe it was still too soon. She wiped her sweaty palm on her shirt.

"Steady on," Nathan said, without looking at her. He couldn't not empathize with what he was sensing from Jennie. The man had all but killed him a few months ago, after all. But there were times to give in to the edginess, and times to stay on target. This was definitely one of the latter. Plus, can't show fear in front of the kids, can you? part of his mind mocked. "The team as a whole has other priorities. Jean and I are going to borrow a helicopter and go look for him - she's off talking to T'Challa. We're hoping to be out of here by dawn. But the rest of you are going to have to stick with the original plan."

"So who's in charge, Cochise?' Jennie said, leaning back up and wincing at the stiffness of her muscles. "'Cause that leaves me, Marius, and two trainees..."

"Emma will do her own thing. I will concede it's liable to be helpful in some way, shape or form, but that said, I'd prefer not to put you in the position of taking tactical orders from her," Nathan said, not quite dryly. Still very calmly, as well. If he behaved as if this was all matter of fact, then it would be. Right? "I think it's got to be you, Geronimo. I have to leave Dom some specific instructions regarding T'Challa's security, but if you get Trask and crazy Ms. Amber showing up, especially if they have friends, you're going to have to go on the offensive. And Dom isn't part of the unit. You are, and you haven't sucked in the lead role in Danger Room exercises." He raised an eyebrow. "Don't you just love it when we throw you into the deep end?"

"Oh," Jennie said simply. She took a very long drink of water. "There's no other options is there?" Because, really, there wasn't. Marius was best suited for a beta role, and neither Alex nor Zanne had nearly the training to deal with the upcoming situation. Small African country on the brink of war and we're the only things standing in the way. Of course I'll be in charge!

Jennie hated the universe some days.

Nathan shook his head, not quite quizzically, at the slightly over-loud train of thought. "Well," he said, choosing not to comment, "it's either you or Marius, and I want him to stick like glue to T'Challa, given that he can sense these kids coming, or Trask and her merry band of lunatics. Of course," he said, exiting the satellite feed and rising, "you get all the responsibility, as well as the power. It's kind of the downside."

"Well slap some spurs on me and call me cowboy," Jennie said, mock-cheerfully. "Which means, y'know, I'll do it. I know how the chain of command goes," Jennie sighed. And maybe this time she wouldn't get chucked off a bridge. "You guys better give me the deets so I know what I'm doing."

"Walk with me."

--

"Bless T'Challa. He even got us a helicopter I can fly," Nathan said, finishing the last of his pre-flight checklist. The Kiowa recon helicopter was perfectly suited for these purposes, too; it was designed for nap-of-the-earth flight, and getting into Kanda without being spotted and picked off at a distance, either by Saidullayev or by enemy troops (because what Saidullayev had done to that army base had left Wakanda's other major population center semi-defenceless, and that had to be part of a wider strategy) was definitely a good thing.

He switched to telepathy as the noise of the engines grew loud enough to prevent easy conversation. #And maybe if I have to focus on flying I can get over my nerves. Did I mention how much I'm not looking forward to this?# The bantering tone to his mental voice was more than a little forced.

#Talk about stating the blindingly obvious,# Jean sent back, eyes narrowed to peer through the window as they took off. #Anyone who was looking forward to this would have to be at least as crazy as Saidullayev himself.#

#Still. You'd think I could muster some bravado about how it's his turn for the fractured skull.# His hands were absolutely steady on the controls of the helicopter as he took them up; his stomach was anything but. He wouldn't be alone this time, he reminded himself. And he and Jean had beaten Saidullayev together before.

#Or hoping he enjoys his impending coma as much as you did yours?# she offered. With the strange, heightened telepathy that the astral plane here was forcing on them, Jean could sense Nate's unease even more than usual - an unfortunate circumstance, given she was already pretty unsettled herself.

#We can hope.# Nathan stayed at a more normal altitude, for now at least; there was no fighting happening right around N'Jadaka, and there was no point in taking risks until he had to. #Jean, we need to make sure we coordinate,# he went on, projecting flashes of possible tactics at her, ways they could combine their powers as seamlessly as possible. #If we keep up the pressure...#

She nodded, providing him with a few alternatives and variations. #His biggest weakness is still telepathic, even with the implanted Askani shields.#

#Point.# Nathan steered the helicopter towards the boundaries of N'Jadaka, headed farther down into the valley. Focus on flying and strategizing, he told himself. Get over the nerves that way. #I was holding him off pretty well by myself in Alaska until John stepped in - I think. Between the two of us-#

#Yes. I think as long as we work together, it will be okay. I hope.#

#And the others?# Nathan's eyes flickered down to the city passing beneath them. #We've leaving a lot of responsibility on their shoulders. Saidullayev could be the distraction.# It was the thing he was most afraid of, that this was an attempt to draw him and Jean away for some reason.

#Even if he is, he is not a distraction we can ignore,# Jean answered firmly, images from Shatoy flickering through her mind. #And the others would not be able to deal with him. At least against Amber and Trask they have a chance. A good one, even.#

#Right.# And he did trust the rest of the team, and Dom. They'd protect T'Challa, if nothing else. One step at a time. Just because things had not gone according to plan didn't mean they couldn't preserve the important elements. #May as well sit back,# Nathan sent. #Couple of hours at least to Kanda.# And once they got there, the trick was to find him. If this was a distraction, he wasn't going to necessarily make himself obvious after that initial attention-grabbing attack.

You hope. Because Nathan really didn't want to think about what might happen if Saidullayev continued his rampage while they were en route. If he did, there might not be much left of Kanda to search.