Neverland: Garrison, Scott, and Jean-Paul

[x-cynosure.livejournal.com]

Garrison, Scott, and Jean-Paul set out to investigate a series of kidnappings involving mutant children. Northstar's sister, Aurora, is suspected of being involved.



It only took Jean-Paul a minute to suit up and head to the Situation Room following Scott's text. Almost as soon as the smart armor was on, he found himself slipping into the habit of thinking in field names. Northstar. Cyclops. Old habits died hard. He was curious as to the why of the summons -- he was not an X-Man and he didn't have any regrets to speak of so far as that went -- but trusted Cyclops enough to hold his questions until they were face-to-face.

The first person he noticed upon his arrival was Garrison Kane. They hadn't had a chance to cross paths since Northstar had come back to his teaching post and Kane had returned from the dead. No particular regrets about that either.

"Garrison." He acknowledged the other with a nod before turning to Cyclops. "What is going on?"

Scott grimaced slightly. He wasn't actually looking forward to this conversation, and he really couldn't think of any way to soften the news, so... "There's a possibility," he said in a careful tone, "that we may have some news about your sister."

And suddenly, he was just Jean-Paul in Northstar's armor, desperate for word of his missing half and trying not to hope.

"What news?" He managed to catch the next question in his teeth before it could escape. If she was unwell...or worse...he'd know soon enough.

"I think suspicions cover it a little more closely. Maybe all the way up to potential concern." Garrison was sitting at the table, a stack of files beside him and a notepad covered in his writing in front. Kane had barely been around the last few days, and whatever had been taking up his time was obviously arrayed around him. "A few days ago, an NYPD officer quietly passed along a stack of files regarding missing persons cases that she felt were linked. The evidence was pretty thin, and both her department and the FBI decided they couldn't launch an investigation based on it. I guess she's friends with one of the guys I work with, and thought maybe Duncan might take a look, since all of the cases she's compiled involve mutants. Again, too thin for anything official, which is why I'm sitting here with a stack of files I shouldn't have, looking into a potential case I'm not supposed to be involved with."

Scott wondered if Jean-Paul was about to lose his patience with the two of them and their qualifiers. He kind of had that look in his eyes. "There have been a number of young mutants who've gone missing," he said. "With most of them, their siblings have seen it happen. And the one consistent element they've given investigators is that each of the missed kids has been... spirited away by a dark-haired woman, in a flash of light." He paused for a moment, then went on more apologetically. "You see how thin it is. But the physical description plus the powers - it's suggestive."

Jean-Paul nodded, his expression calm, his fingers itching to drum against his thigh. "Beyond their mutancy, do we know if there was any common situation among the children who've gone missing? Jeanne-Marie used to have an interest in children. It went with her teaching duties." There was a snag to that. "Aurora, not so much and she was the one who had access to their powers, but if she's managed to integrate her personalities after all this time, or if whatever Langkowski did has caused another shift...gone in a flash of light and too fast to stop? This could be her. I assume you want me along as a counter, in case she is hostile?" It save the others the trouble of having to find a euphemism for "crazier than before".

"The hope is that if she is involved, you'll be able to at least get some answers why. The last thing that's going to help this situation is if Aurora is behind it, her being able to make a run for it and having to get either SHIELD or Department H involved." Garrison said. He'd worked with Aurora before, and had an idea how unstable that she could be at times. He wasn't convinced that she was the reason behind the disappearances, but he'd learned to cover the potentials just in case. "Hopefully, Aurora doesn't have anything to do with it, and having another option to help deal with whoever is responsible isn't going to hurt at all."

"I am in." Knowing what he did now, he'd follow the jet even if they decided not to take him along. "What else do we have?"

"The computer coughed up a possible location for where whoever she is might be hiding. A home base, maybe." Scott waved a hand somewhat aimlessly. "Extrapolation, based on the pattern of the kidnappings. I thought we might take the jet and go check it out." It was only jet fuel, in the end, and nowhere was it written that they could only react to things blowing up.

Northstar turned his gaze to Kane this time. "If Jeanne-Marie is involved in this, are we looking to bring her into custody?"

"That's a really good question. Assuming none of the kids have been harmed in any way, I think that bringing her back to the Professor is the best case. Depending on how fractured her mental state is, she might not have any real control over her actions. Besides, right now, all of these cases are still only 'missing persons', so if they all show up back at their homes, officially, there aren't any existing charges." Garrison took a deep breath. "But if any of the kids have been hurt, then we don't really have much choice."

"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," Scott said. Hopefully said crossing wouldn't be necessary, and he didn't want to borrow trouble, in any case. "I've figured out what our flight plan should be. Whenever you're ready."

"I'm ready." His tone was steady, his thoughts far less so. Jeanne-Marie wouldn't...but he had no idea what she had been through. Hell, he didn't even know if his sister was involved -- the evidence was, as they had said, thin. He had to prepare himself for any possibility, though.

"Why do I have this feeling that this just isn't going to turn out to be simple..." Kane muttered as he got up from the table and followed them out.