Bio-Hazard Girl: Welcome to Houston. Now Go Away.

[x-scorpion.livejournal.com]

The X-Men get a not-so-warm welcome in Houston, and start their investigation.

Houston, Texas

The rain had trailed off in the early morning hours, but the waters hadn't left every part of the city yet. Some of the dry places had faint traces of a chemical smell to them, and the places still flooded with five inches of water had another, more morbid sight.

As featured in the news, there were dead squirrels, pigeons and rats and a buffet of insects in the water. The clean up crews from the CDC were having a hard time keeping up with it. The area hit the worst by what the news harshly had labeled a 'Mutant Bio-Terrorist Attack' in the neighborhood of Montrose, an area well known for night clubs, bars, music venues and itself, not totally crime free. Third and forth hand accounts came pouring in collaborating it.

The police had their hands full, as did the hazmat team that had come in. Feds were also crawling around. And on the radio and on TV theories were being tossed back and forth.

Anthrax, poison gasses, some mutated form of cholera to the 'lone mutant' story were all being debated. They had one dead, with some black fluid smeared across his face which the medical examiner said bore a superficial resemblance to blood. They wouldn't know until they finished the tests on it.

Witnesses hadn't been forthcoming. But they had a vague idea of what they were looking for.

The local police station was a buzz with activity, with a Sheriff leading the activity in what had become the command center for this crisis.

Monet shook her head and looked around. "So... Given that this is bloody Texas, are we gonna get shot or arrested for being mutants, things like that? Because I'd like some warning and all beforehand," she muttered and waved cheerfully at the Sheriff. "Hi!"

She received a scowl in response. Sheriff J. R. Wade hadn't had the best of evenings. Bad enough the toxic spill, or whatever the hell it was, but there were CDC east coasters crawling all over his town and now he had a bunch of freaks in black leather. Who were they supposed to be in their Halloween costumes any way? Dropping his cigarette to the ground and grinding it out with his boot, he sauntered over, thumbs tucked into his gunbelt.

"Howdy," he drawled, playing up the "dumb Texan hick" for all it was worth. "I reckon you'd be those SHIELD people I was told about?"

Terry rolled her eyes, listened to the thicker than necessary accent--different from how he'd been talking to his men a few sentences before-- and rolled into her own mid-America standard accent. It would have taken someone with her hearing to notice the small problems with her mimicry. She walked up behind Monet and tapped her on the shoulder, clearing her throat meaningfully then gave the Sheriff a professional smile, "Yes. We're here on behalf of SHIELD. This sort of thing is our mandate, we'll appreciate any help that your men and give us. My team will be getting started right away. My medical staff will want to do some testing."

Jennie turned from where she was giving the stinkeye to a older man in handcuffs seated next to a desk for oogling her, and nodded to the Sheriff. "How long has this ...incident been occurring?" Jennie said, all Serious Business.

"God damn, are you two even out of school?" Sheriff Wade snorted as he looked Terry and Jennie up and down. "If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd wandered onto the set of a new Charlie's Angels movie." Before anyone could respond, he continued. "We've been pickin' up dead critters since yesterday. Not as much now the flood waters' goin' down, but that ain't exactly a comfort since we still don't know how much the groundwater's gonna be affected. CDC teams have been doin' their tests, but they're takin' their sweet time." Rubbing his jaw, he added: "There's reports of some kind of disturbance near one of the bars, night before last."

"Really? Was it in one of the flooded areas or near them at all?" It was a long shot but maybe... Monet smiled prettily at the Sheriff and said, her accent having flattened out to its widest North Queensland drawl, "You've had some decent rain around here recently, eh?"

"Smack bang in the middle." Wade wasn't swayed by Monet's wiles, remaining as stony-faced as ever. "Nothin' hard 'n fast, but from the local rumour mill, there's a mutant involved. Which is what you all are here for."

"What makes them say it's a mutant?" Zanne asked, her demeanor one of polite efficiency. The reports had been pretty thin, and the more information they could garner from the lawman, the better off they would be.

"Are you serious, Missy? Look at what's goin' on - we've got ourselves a major disaster, and you're askin' me what makes them say it's a mutant?"

The statement bothered Crystal, but the young woman forced herself to remain silent. Although walking around in a black leather outfit normally called attention to a person, she was now dressed as the others were in order to avoid any bit of extra attention. She was here to help if needed, not to make a scene or do anything to call notice to herself.

"Major disasters do happen without mutant involvement", Kurt spoke up, quiet but firm. "I think what my colleague meant is, is there any evidence for it here?"

"We've got a fatality - local man, works at a local car repair joint. Got some kind of stuff on his face looks like blood, only the egg heads at the CDC are havin' trouble identifyin' it for sure." Wade looked Kurt up and down, not finding much to respect in his soft, accented voice but glad for a man to speak to, instead of a little girl. "And from what I hear tell, there was some kind of fight. That sound like a mutant to you?"

"It is possible", Kurt allowed. "And as you say, that is why we are here - but it is still only hearsay, until we find proof one way or the other."

The station door swung inward forcefully, scraping against the floor sharply enough that the sound could be felt in the roots of one's teeth. A young man with a uniform and gunbelt to mark him as one of the local cops hurried in, sweeping off his much-worn Stetson as he approached the sheriff. He paid the out-of-towners no attention at all, speaking only to his boss. His words were pitched low enough to keep them away from curious ears.

"Sheriff Wade, the Richard boys finally came 'round. We couldn't get a lot out of 'em...they're awake, but their heads ain't exactly clear. " He gave the gathered X-Men a wary glance. "Near as we can make out, whatever it was put those two down happened to 'em over at Poison Girl, one of the waterin' holes east a' here. Said they got busted up fightin' over some new girl before they hit the ground. That lines up with the other thing we found -- looks like whatever the hell this is, it originated damn near where those boys had their dust-up."

"A girl", Kurt said flatly, looking between them. "Then she had better be found, I think."

Crystal nodded in agreement. While what the man had just said didn't necessarily mean that the girl in question was a mutant, with what they already knew it did seem to be quite likely, and of course that possibility was not at all unexpected. It was good to have an actual sighting, though; Jean was at the hospital now, and they'd soon meet up to exchange information.

"I want all available men down there, searching. We need to find the cause of this 'fore anyone else gets killed." Sheriff Wade's tone became businesslike as he rattled off orders to his men. "Billy, you take these SHIELD folks down to the site - might as well use 'em. And if you do come across anythin' like a mutant, y'all shoot first ask questions later. Anyone who can poison this much area is too dangerous to mess with."

Billy didn't look as if that particular order sat altogether well with him, but nodded. "I hear ya, Boss." He finally spoke to the X-Men. "If you folks'll follow me. We can be there in less'n twenty if we get a move on."