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xp_logsKane finally gets some answers about his suspension and future with the Bureau.
“Kane. Thanks for coming in.” Fred Duncan said, getting up to shake his hand before finding his seat again. “You’ve got some kind of orange shit on your ear.” Garrison sighed and rubbed his earlobe. That powder got everywhere.
“You said you had some news. About… well-“
“Whether or not you get to keep your badge? Yeah, I have some news.” Fred leaned back in his chair. “SHIELD is throwing its weight around here, there and everywhere right now. They want us to let them define mutant terrorism versus mutant crime.” He snorted. “As if. They also don’t appreciate the fact that their own team of superheroes have apparently ruled your X-Men out as terrorists.”
“What does this all mean?”
“It means despite their influence, SHIELD overreached with their reactions. I’ve heard that the CIA made a very pointed question regarding the citizenship status of the Avengers that nearly had Fury stroke out during a meeting. Everyone is pissing around trying to establish territory with regards to mutants and in this case, SHIELD managed to get everyone’s shoes wet. So, they’re looking to play a little nicer for now.” Fred reached into a drawer and pulled out a folder.
“You’re dragging this out on purpose, aren’t you, Fred?”
“Yes, but I have a good reason. You picked up the Bugle today?” He grabbed the paper off his cadenza. On the front page was a blurry picture of the fight on the roof of Ryker’s. Both the Hulk and Captain America dominated the photo, but the blurred shapes that they were fighting with were himself and Marie. It was impossible to tell by the photo; the figures were simply smeared black uniforms in motion and the distorted shape of heads, but it was still more than he was comfortable with.
“Shit.” Garrison slumped back in his chair and let his head loll back. “Fuck!”
“That’s what we all said. But here is where it gets interesting. Before going to press, Ben Urich contacted the Bureau to ask if it wanted to comment on the story that not only did the Avengers battle a third party on Ryker’s Island that day, but the third party is rumoured to be secretly made up of mutant FBI agents.” Fred sighed. “I declined to comment, but then he specifically asked to be able to speak to you. Somehow he got the name Garrison Kane and the fact that you’re not just on loan from the RCMP but that you’re also a Canadian mutant.”
“You didn’t tell him that-“
“Ben Urich doesn’t need confirmation from me, Garrison. If he thinks you’re a mutant, it’s because he got it from a source he trusts, and he doesn’t trust easily.”
“I suppose threatening a lawsuit is out of the question.” Kane was fishing for ideas. If he was tied to the X-Men, he was putting them all in danger by staying at the mansion.
“No. You never bluff with Jameson and the Bugle. If you try, he’ll come back with a countersuit and run the story to ground for weeks. Especially since Urich is right.”
“So that’s it. I’ve been outed.”
“Do you think I’d make you come in if that was the case?” He shook his head. “I’m re-assigning you, Garrison. I’ve started a taskforce called Operation: Wideawake. Its purpose is to investigate and document mutant crime and response, to help build a roadmap for how law enforcement adapts. My problem with SHIELD is that they are operatives, intelligence agents and anti-terrorism forces. They aren’t police and they don’t know how to balance civil rights and law enforcement. To be fair, plenty of police don’t either, but at least there’s a system in place that is supposed to govern them. SHIELD has no such structure.”
“How many people are on the task force?”
“Right now, two. You and I. My plan is to bury you for now, keep you out of sight. But I want you working. I know what your X-Men are going to get involved in. I want you to be eyes and ears on what’s happening and feed it back up. There’s a hundred ways that we can interfere with local cops or SHIELD if they start shitting in our territory, but I can’t do it if I don’t know it’s happening.” Duncan fiddled with his pen. “But first we need to placate SHIELD, and the best way to do that is to expose their leak. The fact that it’s happening at all is a blow for them. If we plug it without rubbing their noses in it, they’ll back off the Bureau and you specifically.”
“I see where this is going. I’m going to plug the leak but only with the info that the Bureau has on it which is… what, zilch?”
“That is correct.”
“Fuck.”
“If you can’t take the joke, you shouldn’t have taken the job, my old DA used to say. Seriously though, this is the only way to keep you where you need to be, Kane. My suggestion is to talk to Urich first. He’s already got your name and he’s old school. Lie to him and he’ll burn you on the front page but he’s a decent guy. Maybe he’ll be some help getting out in front of this.”
“Kane. Thanks for coming in.” Fred Duncan said, getting up to shake his hand before finding his seat again. “You’ve got some kind of orange shit on your ear.” Garrison sighed and rubbed his earlobe. That powder got everywhere.
“You said you had some news. About… well-“
“Whether or not you get to keep your badge? Yeah, I have some news.” Fred leaned back in his chair. “SHIELD is throwing its weight around here, there and everywhere right now. They want us to let them define mutant terrorism versus mutant crime.” He snorted. “As if. They also don’t appreciate the fact that their own team of superheroes have apparently ruled your X-Men out as terrorists.”
“What does this all mean?”
“It means despite their influence, SHIELD overreached with their reactions. I’ve heard that the CIA made a very pointed question regarding the citizenship status of the Avengers that nearly had Fury stroke out during a meeting. Everyone is pissing around trying to establish territory with regards to mutants and in this case, SHIELD managed to get everyone’s shoes wet. So, they’re looking to play a little nicer for now.” Fred reached into a drawer and pulled out a folder.
“You’re dragging this out on purpose, aren’t you, Fred?”
“Yes, but I have a good reason. You picked up the Bugle today?” He grabbed the paper off his cadenza. On the front page was a blurry picture of the fight on the roof of Ryker’s. Both the Hulk and Captain America dominated the photo, but the blurred shapes that they were fighting with were himself and Marie. It was impossible to tell by the photo; the figures were simply smeared black uniforms in motion and the distorted shape of heads, but it was still more than he was comfortable with.
“Shit.” Garrison slumped back in his chair and let his head loll back. “Fuck!”
“That’s what we all said. But here is where it gets interesting. Before going to press, Ben Urich contacted the Bureau to ask if it wanted to comment on the story that not only did the Avengers battle a third party on Ryker’s Island that day, but the third party is rumoured to be secretly made up of mutant FBI agents.” Fred sighed. “I declined to comment, but then he specifically asked to be able to speak to you. Somehow he got the name Garrison Kane and the fact that you’re not just on loan from the RCMP but that you’re also a Canadian mutant.”
“You didn’t tell him that-“
“Ben Urich doesn’t need confirmation from me, Garrison. If he thinks you’re a mutant, it’s because he got it from a source he trusts, and he doesn’t trust easily.”
“I suppose threatening a lawsuit is out of the question.” Kane was fishing for ideas. If he was tied to the X-Men, he was putting them all in danger by staying at the mansion.
“No. You never bluff with Jameson and the Bugle. If you try, he’ll come back with a countersuit and run the story to ground for weeks. Especially since Urich is right.”
“So that’s it. I’ve been outed.”
“Do you think I’d make you come in if that was the case?” He shook his head. “I’m re-assigning you, Garrison. I’ve started a taskforce called Operation: Wideawake. Its purpose is to investigate and document mutant crime and response, to help build a roadmap for how law enforcement adapts. My problem with SHIELD is that they are operatives, intelligence agents and anti-terrorism forces. They aren’t police and they don’t know how to balance civil rights and law enforcement. To be fair, plenty of police don’t either, but at least there’s a system in place that is supposed to govern them. SHIELD has no such structure.”
“How many people are on the task force?”
“Right now, two. You and I. My plan is to bury you for now, keep you out of sight. But I want you working. I know what your X-Men are going to get involved in. I want you to be eyes and ears on what’s happening and feed it back up. There’s a hundred ways that we can interfere with local cops or SHIELD if they start shitting in our territory, but I can’t do it if I don’t know it’s happening.” Duncan fiddled with his pen. “But first we need to placate SHIELD, and the best way to do that is to expose their leak. The fact that it’s happening at all is a blow for them. If we plug it without rubbing their noses in it, they’ll back off the Bureau and you specifically.”
“I see where this is going. I’m going to plug the leak but only with the info that the Bureau has on it which is… what, zilch?”
“That is correct.”
“Fuck.”
“If you can’t take the joke, you shouldn’t have taken the job, my old DA used to say. Seriously though, this is the only way to keep you where you need to be, Kane. My suggestion is to talk to Urich first. He’s already got your name and he’s old school. Lie to him and he’ll burn you on the front page but he’s a decent guy. Maybe he’ll be some help getting out in front of this.”
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