Ausente sin Culpa ni Presente sin Disculpa | Conclusión

[x-barrier.livejournal.com]

After tough fights, the group decides what to do with the gang and its drugs.

Angel did one last loop around supply house just to make sure no one was escaping before going to join the group at the door, reporting, "Everything's quiet. So what do we do with all this?"

"My preference would be to destroy it," Scott admitted. "This stuff is too dangerous to just leave it lying around. Anyone else who stumbles across it could replicate the gang's reign of terror."

"And I don't think we can just hand it over to the government. They don't really seem... trustworthy, so to speak." Sooraya commented slightly absently as she scanned the area around her. "Anyone seeing Cecilia yet?" With that she thumbed her communicator. "Cece, come in please? Are you alright?"

"I'm here." Cecilia's voice was low in tone, but somehow commanding. She strode up to the three X-Men, her shield shimmering around her. There was sweat on her forehead, and a catch in her throat, but her face was impassive and stoic, belying the racing of her heart and the constant panic in her mind. "There's nobody in the other houses," she said. "I — well, there was someone. But I — he's immobilized." Her forcefield pulsed, contracting and expanding to punctuate the point.

She sensed a look of concern from Sooraya, and perhaps the others, and she gave them a strained smile. "I'm fine." She was lying. There was a pit in her stomach as she kept replaying scenes in her head. That man. What he said. What she did. And what it meant that she knew she would do it again if she had to. "I just — my feelings on this situation haven't changed." Sounding bitter, she figured, would hide the chaos. "You did it," she said rather hastily, "so what now?"

She was a liar, and not even a good one. Angel pursed her lips thin and made a mental note to grab her later. One problem at a time, and there was no reason to put Cecilia on trial right now. "That's what we were just trying to figure out. We have all these drugs and this big gang. Need to work out what to do with them. Any thoughts?"

Thoughts. Tasks. Something to occupy her mind. As if it wasn't busy keeping her from a total meltdown..

"I think we should burn the whole thing down," she said rather flatly, staring Angel in the face, as if challenging her to speak her opinion. "But the authorities are going to be here at some point, and we're in the middle of a city, gang-protected enclave or not. And anyway," she turned to Scott, "this isn't my mission. Never was, really." She spat the words out more than she'd intended. She'd meant them to distance her; to absolve her from any of this. But it came out as blame, and she found that in a way, she did blame for Scott for her being in this situation.

Maybe Rave had irritability as a side-effect. If her forcefield was any indication, she was probably still high. "So?"

Scott looking around the group, "We burn it down," he decided giving Cecilia a sidelong glance. It looked like she wasn't the happiest camper right now; he would have to make sure to talk to her when they got home to see what was on her mind. "Let's clear everyone out then we can set it off and start making our way away from here. Do you think the government here can take care of the gang?" He asked Cecilia.

"As well as they handle anything else," Cecilia said, her voice dripping in contempt (and more than a little self-loathing). She stared at the supply-house, seeing only her spikes piercing Raúl's stretched, disfigured skin. Over and over and over.

She'd had to get creative to stop the bleeding. They were in a room with some drug supplies, after all; it wasn't like she'd had sterile surgical instruments or a suture kit. But she'd managed to keep the man from dying, and she felt fairly confident that he'd at least be fine until someone showed up to arrest him.

Which was its own problem.

"I don't know if they're going to want them from us," she added after a long pause. This was too much. She couldn't make decisions like this. Not after bringing a man within inches of his life.

"This drug is — we should burn anything we find." Cecilia turned to Angel. "I want to take something back so I can — so someone can study this thing. But the rest of the stash should be destroyed." Her shield pulsed visibly. Even now, it wouldn't let its guard down. "I think — if we can make it look like a rival gang did this, that would be best." Then they wouldn't have to answer questions. She wouldn't have to answer questions.

Angel made a face at that. "Yeah, alright," she said nonetheless. "Someone clear the place real quick, make sure there are no stragglers or anything? You grab your sample, I'll light it up once everyone is out."

Scott nodded, "Ok, it's a plan. Let's get moving, people." Putting action to words he made his way back into the facility, checking that they hadn't missed any stragglers.

Sooraya searched Cecilia's face for a long moment, still worried. "We'll talk when we are done with this." She said softly, before dissolving in her sand form again, knowing it allowed her to sweep faster and more efficiently.

"Okay." They wouldn't. Of that, Cecilia was fairly certain. Even right now, with both adrenaline and Rave still moving through her body, she felt — she felt…

Well. Better not to dwell on feelings now. Or ever. She watched as a storm of Sooraya swept into the house. She swallowed, hoping to push down the lump in her throat, and followed the trail.