For Treason, Act III, Scene iii
May. 29th, 2026 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsA tale of two briefings.
At the mansion, the X-folks go over what they know from Laura about what Weapon X has been up to, and come up with a plan for dealing with the impending attack and tactics for how to deal with the folks who have been kidnapped.
Doug surveyed the others around the table. It was a solid group, all people he'd worked with at least a bit before. The mansion was definitely spread thin, given what they knew.
"We got some valuable information since Laura was able to escape. We had already figured that this was Weapon X given the attacks on Logan and North, but it's something to have it confirmed, at least. We know they're putting the group there through some kind of pack bonding to solidify their group dynamic, and we know that they're planning a major attack to test their conditioning and loyalty."
He brought up a display with several pictures on it. "Unfortunately, we don't know the precise target, but we know it will be someone with prominence and ties to the mansion. We've already got some people at Muir to make sure everyone there is safe, all likely targets in the mansion, like Terry, are staying close, and we're doing our best to cover the immediate families of the kidnapped folks."
He hit a button, and the screen of potential targets shifted to four candid shots - Kyle Gibney, Liam Nelson, Jessie Drake, and the Cuckoos.
"Flashbacks to the Brotherhood. Not like this is traumatic or anything." Kane said, sighing as he got up. "OK, Gibney. Feral, high level healing factor, and absolutely fits the profile for Weapon-X style fuckery. Good and bad part is that he can bounce back from a lot of damage, so you can hit him hard knowing he'll get back up eventually. Liam's largely a physical mutant. Lots of bad habits in the DR based on his instincts. Keep him at a distance, work on his senses, and prioritize psionics. His shields are still developing. Jessie is some level of shapeshifter, but very untrained. Weapon-X might throw us a curveball with her but in general, treat her with kids gloves physically. Finally the Cuckoos. Fucked if I understand them, even after hours of DR sessions. High level psionics, diamond forms; like Emma Frost had five kids and fucked each one up in different ways. They're the most dangerous."
"The Cuckoos' biggest weakness is if we can get in close range, or if we can take them by surprise. They're powerful but largely untrained and shouldn't be able to handle those of us who have developed psychic defences, or at least be thrown back long enough for us to knock them out. I'd rather not tie up our psychics in a war with them when a speed blitz will take them out faster and let us use our psychics where they'd be more effective." Scott leaned back in his seat, fingers tapping at the table in front of him. "I'm just a little worried that they'll know we're coming and might end up doing something hasty we'll regret."
"I can go for Kyle," Molly said, glancing over at the screen. "'Specially if he gets bitey and swipey. There won't be anything to damage except my outfit. I just gotta figure out a way to restrain him, maybe knock him out." She shook her head. "If we take down one Cuckoo does it help? So like...try to pick them off one by one so they are weaker?" she said. She totally hated the idea of talking about people that lived with them like they were the enemy. Even if right now, they kinda were. "Tranq dart? Muscle relaxers? Something that might fog up the brain?"
"They only have one of the bodies, actually," Doug informed the group. "The other four passed out, along with Emma, in her office." He looked at the display and shook his head. "I honestly don't know what that means, in a tactical sense. We definitely need to keep those four bodies and Emma, somewhere out of their reach, because they'll almost certainly be a priority target for Weapon X to try and capture and enhance their position."
"The safest place for them probably is Muir," Scott allowed grudgingly, "if we know someone's coming we can turn the mansion into a fortress, and we'll leave enough bodies here that anyone who thinks they can hit us again is in for a whole new world of pain. But we're a target, probably the first place that they'd think to hit, and we can always reinforce Muir in a few seconds if we need to." Dark eyes lifted to observe the screen for a moment before Scott reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "As much as it kills me, I'll stay back with the defence team on this one and make sure everyone stays safe and we can coordinate any changes to the plan or reinforcements that you need." He fell silent for a moment before nodding slowly, "a tranquilizer might work, but they can just diamond form to throw off the hit, I'd suggest someone force them to keep defending, they can't use their psychic abilities if they're always in crystal form."
"Why not try a bait and switch?" suggested Amanda. "Put in a decoy to draw the attack, then deal with the kids and Kyle when they show?" She cocked an eyebrow at Doug. "After all, we do have a shapeshifter handy."
"You know, they likely don't know Emma Frost is out of the picture. A chance at the Black King and the White Queen at the same time? How keen is Sydney on being a bright blond target?" Garrison asked.
"I don't know that 'keen' is the word I'd use, but I can't see him not being game for it." Doug snorted. "The real trick will be talking Shaw into it." He fished out his phone. "Guess we'll see how far in hock I can put the White Court..."
At Weapon X, the team plans for their attack, and tries to come up with their own tactics for how to approach things.
"I know. I don't like it any more than you do." Kyle sat cross legged on his weight bench - his by virtue of 'nobody else was using it anymore', not that it was his by right of ownership. Not a concept he was going to consider right now. He tapped through the tablet with his thumb flat on the screen. "It's awfully fucking exposed, we're still one down and haven't recovered X-23 yet." She could be Laura again when she got home and apologized to Kyle for the amount of stress she was putting him through. "and I'm still pushing back on Liam's..." he let his head fall back. "Buddy. We -really- gotta get you a code name. I don't wanna assign one, I'm not good at them. Anyway. I'm still pushing back, I don't like you going in direct. We could've sent you in up through the steam pipes." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Fuck I need a hacker. Wade, what's our ETA on you getting me a goddamn hacker?"
"Spicewalker, light of my currently very weird and evil life, our ETA on me getting us a hacker is approximately never because everybody knows I'm whack-a-doodle craycray, so they've stopped answering my calls. Even my wheezy little Weasel won't pick up just to say hello," Wade said, lounging back against the nearest wall. "Unless I kidnap us one..." He mulled that over for a long moment before saying, "But Lolo's fine, I told her where to go." He paused again, mouth open to say more, only to freeze as he visibly fought some deeply internal battle. Whether he won or lost was anybody's guess, but the next moment he'd flicked a throwing knife out of one of his wrist sheathes and shoved it into the back of his throat through his wide-open mouth. Blood spilled down his Golden Girls shirt as he leaned forward, spattering all over the floor as he started sawing the blade back and forth.
"I'm sorry the fuck?" Kyle threw his arms down in frustration. "Motherfucker. Fuck fuck fuck, Mimic, get me the fucking Haldol, Deadpool's nuts again." The syringe hit Kyle's open hand and he decapped it with the flick of a claw and jammed the needle into Wade's arm. "I swear to fuck if he does this on-mission I'm going to lose my fucking mind. Mims, sorry, I know you wanted to do the hit but I think I need you on Deadpool Duty. You're gonna swap with the Cuckoos."
That was not the worst idea that 14 had ever heard, but it definitely ranked in the top five.
"I'm sorry," the words slipped out of Celeste before she could even think to hold them back, "but you want us--"
"To kill Emma?" Mindee finished smoothly with barely a blip between their voices. "That seems--"
"--like quite the ask," continued Celeste. "We're good, but--"
"Are you sure that's the best idea?"
"Wouldn't it make more sense for the telepaths to deal with him?" Mimic asked. "The best I can do is shoot him in the head to make him less of a problem for five minutes."
"He's psi immune or some shit." Kyle explained. "Because he's nuts, or something. I forgot." He waved a heavy hand at whichever Frost sibling - okay, not favoring the side he'd clawed open, so the original flavor, not new coke version - was closer. "Explain why crazy makes him hard to telepath? Because I don't get it."
Celeste considered Wade for a moment. "Mother explained it to me once. His brain is so full of fibrotic scarring that it effectively acts as an anti-psi field. She was able to get in, once upon a time, but..." she trailed off, then violently flinched back as she attempted the most featherlight of touches against the madness of Wade's mind. It was as though someone had hooked up a static noise maker directly to her bones, and even that much began to give her a migraine. "Nobody is getting into there, anymore.. Frankly, it's a miracle he can even function."
Wade laid himself out on the floor, bloodied yet somehow still able to speak. "Healing factor's fault. McSparkles got in before Apocalypse convinced the healing factor it wanted to try to fix me instead of just maintaining me. I do miss the food trucks, though... and the... the what'sits. Coasters. Roller." The dosages of Haldol he'd been receiving more and more had begun to increase with each of his episodes. He couldn't even remember what he'd been saying when he started mutilating his mouth... throat... area. "I'm just gonna chill down here for a sec. Carry on."
Liam made a face at Wade, "That was his favourite Golden Girl's shirt, too," they were all his favourite Golden Girls shirts. Turning to Kyle, he shrugged. "You're Wildchild. Wildcat?" Because yeah. Cat.
"Aw, buddy." Kyle had both hands trying to wrestle the knife from Wade so he couldn't ruffle Liam's hair like he wanted. "I dig it. I'd hug you but I'm kinda busy. Wade, you gonna come out of the crazy so I can hug my kid, or no?"
"Hug my almost grandson," Wade said, releasing the knife.
Liam got a one-armed side-hug, because one of Kyle's hands was still holding the knife, and blindly handing it over to Mimic. "Okay, moment over. Mimic's in the van, Cuckoos, you're on point. We'll review some hand to hand before day of, since you're still wobbly, but it's a two to one swap and I'm trusting you'll use psi to compensate, or go diamond."
Fourteen gave him a double barrel of the driest look she could muster.
"Yes, we know..." started one.
"...how to not die," finished the other. "In fact, we'd say that we are..."
"...fix/six times as good at it as everyone else."
The double brow lift that followed was devastatingly Frost, but there was a stutter, as the two broke sync for the first time since the meeting began. Celeste mentally started. Right.Five Six. She meant five six. Why had she said five...?
"This is the dumbest," Wade muttered, not trying to make himself be heard as he slid farther beneath the table. "Weapon-X isn't even trying. You wanna take out somebody like McSparkles, you send the heavy hitters in first, use the psi to blanket suppress everybody in a certain area, send in the other teammates after to sweep up the stragglers. Or just let us snipe the fuck out of her. Stupid loyalty tests. Biggest idiot move..."
Kyle shrugged. "And yet here we are. Maybe it'll work. We've fought worse stuff. I punched a fire demon once. I think. Or ... did I ? Fuck I don't know, I did something to a fire demon once." He braced his feet to help haul Wade back upright. "Come on, pal, lets get you up and cleaned up. Have some faith, we've got two baby Frosts here, that has to be good for something."
"Cause I'm chopped liver," Liam rolled his eyes. He was not their strongest for this mission and he knew it, he had other skills. Still. He'd do his best. "Yeah, yeah."
At the mansion, the X-folks go over what they know from Laura about what Weapon X has been up to, and come up with a plan for dealing with the impending attack and tactics for how to deal with the folks who have been kidnapped.
Doug surveyed the others around the table. It was a solid group, all people he'd worked with at least a bit before. The mansion was definitely spread thin, given what they knew.
"We got some valuable information since Laura was able to escape. We had already figured that this was Weapon X given the attacks on Logan and North, but it's something to have it confirmed, at least. We know they're putting the group there through some kind of pack bonding to solidify their group dynamic, and we know that they're planning a major attack to test their conditioning and loyalty."
He brought up a display with several pictures on it. "Unfortunately, we don't know the precise target, but we know it will be someone with prominence and ties to the mansion. We've already got some people at Muir to make sure everyone there is safe, all likely targets in the mansion, like Terry, are staying close, and we're doing our best to cover the immediate families of the kidnapped folks."
He hit a button, and the screen of potential targets shifted to four candid shots - Kyle Gibney, Liam Nelson, Jessie Drake, and the Cuckoos.
"Flashbacks to the Brotherhood. Not like this is traumatic or anything." Kane said, sighing as he got up. "OK, Gibney. Feral, high level healing factor, and absolutely fits the profile for Weapon-X style fuckery. Good and bad part is that he can bounce back from a lot of damage, so you can hit him hard knowing he'll get back up eventually. Liam's largely a physical mutant. Lots of bad habits in the DR based on his instincts. Keep him at a distance, work on his senses, and prioritize psionics. His shields are still developing. Jessie is some level of shapeshifter, but very untrained. Weapon-X might throw us a curveball with her but in general, treat her with kids gloves physically. Finally the Cuckoos. Fucked if I understand them, even after hours of DR sessions. High level psionics, diamond forms; like Emma Frost had five kids and fucked each one up in different ways. They're the most dangerous."
"The Cuckoos' biggest weakness is if we can get in close range, or if we can take them by surprise. They're powerful but largely untrained and shouldn't be able to handle those of us who have developed psychic defences, or at least be thrown back long enough for us to knock them out. I'd rather not tie up our psychics in a war with them when a speed blitz will take them out faster and let us use our psychics where they'd be more effective." Scott leaned back in his seat, fingers tapping at the table in front of him. "I'm just a little worried that they'll know we're coming and might end up doing something hasty we'll regret."
"I can go for Kyle," Molly said, glancing over at the screen. "'Specially if he gets bitey and swipey. There won't be anything to damage except my outfit. I just gotta figure out a way to restrain him, maybe knock him out." She shook her head. "If we take down one Cuckoo does it help? So like...try to pick them off one by one so they are weaker?" she said. She totally hated the idea of talking about people that lived with them like they were the enemy. Even if right now, they kinda were. "Tranq dart? Muscle relaxers? Something that might fog up the brain?"
"They only have one of the bodies, actually," Doug informed the group. "The other four passed out, along with Emma, in her office." He looked at the display and shook his head. "I honestly don't know what that means, in a tactical sense. We definitely need to keep those four bodies and Emma, somewhere out of their reach, because they'll almost certainly be a priority target for Weapon X to try and capture and enhance their position."
"The safest place for them probably is Muir," Scott allowed grudgingly, "if we know someone's coming we can turn the mansion into a fortress, and we'll leave enough bodies here that anyone who thinks they can hit us again is in for a whole new world of pain. But we're a target, probably the first place that they'd think to hit, and we can always reinforce Muir in a few seconds if we need to." Dark eyes lifted to observe the screen for a moment before Scott reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "As much as it kills me, I'll stay back with the defence team on this one and make sure everyone stays safe and we can coordinate any changes to the plan or reinforcements that you need." He fell silent for a moment before nodding slowly, "a tranquilizer might work, but they can just diamond form to throw off the hit, I'd suggest someone force them to keep defending, they can't use their psychic abilities if they're always in crystal form."
"Why not try a bait and switch?" suggested Amanda. "Put in a decoy to draw the attack, then deal with the kids and Kyle when they show?" She cocked an eyebrow at Doug. "After all, we do have a shapeshifter handy."
"You know, they likely don't know Emma Frost is out of the picture. A chance at the Black King and the White Queen at the same time? How keen is Sydney on being a bright blond target?" Garrison asked.
"I don't know that 'keen' is the word I'd use, but I can't see him not being game for it." Doug snorted. "The real trick will be talking Shaw into it." He fished out his phone. "Guess we'll see how far in hock I can put the White Court..."
At Weapon X, the team plans for their attack, and tries to come up with their own tactics for how to approach things.
"I know. I don't like it any more than you do." Kyle sat cross legged on his weight bench - his by virtue of 'nobody else was using it anymore', not that it was his by right of ownership. Not a concept he was going to consider right now. He tapped through the tablet with his thumb flat on the screen. "It's awfully fucking exposed, we're still one down and haven't recovered X-23 yet." She could be Laura again when she got home and apologized to Kyle for the amount of stress she was putting him through. "and I'm still pushing back on Liam's..." he let his head fall back. "Buddy. We -really- gotta get you a code name. I don't wanna assign one, I'm not good at them. Anyway. I'm still pushing back, I don't like you going in direct. We could've sent you in up through the steam pipes." He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Fuck I need a hacker. Wade, what's our ETA on you getting me a goddamn hacker?"
"Spicewalker, light of my currently very weird and evil life, our ETA on me getting us a hacker is approximately never because everybody knows I'm whack-a-doodle craycray, so they've stopped answering my calls. Even my wheezy little Weasel won't pick up just to say hello," Wade said, lounging back against the nearest wall. "Unless I kidnap us one..." He mulled that over for a long moment before saying, "But Lolo's fine, I told her where to go." He paused again, mouth open to say more, only to freeze as he visibly fought some deeply internal battle. Whether he won or lost was anybody's guess, but the next moment he'd flicked a throwing knife out of one of his wrist sheathes and shoved it into the back of his throat through his wide-open mouth. Blood spilled down his Golden Girls shirt as he leaned forward, spattering all over the floor as he started sawing the blade back and forth.
"I'm sorry the fuck?" Kyle threw his arms down in frustration. "Motherfucker. Fuck fuck fuck, Mimic, get me the fucking Haldol, Deadpool's nuts again." The syringe hit Kyle's open hand and he decapped it with the flick of a claw and jammed the needle into Wade's arm. "I swear to fuck if he does this on-mission I'm going to lose my fucking mind. Mims, sorry, I know you wanted to do the hit but I think I need you on Deadpool Duty. You're gonna swap with the Cuckoos."
That was not the worst idea that 14 had ever heard, but it definitely ranked in the top five.
"I'm sorry," the words slipped out of Celeste before she could even think to hold them back, "but you want us--"
"To kill Emma?" Mindee finished smoothly with barely a blip between their voices. "That seems--"
"--like quite the ask," continued Celeste. "We're good, but--"
"Are you sure that's the best idea?"
"Wouldn't it make more sense for the telepaths to deal with him?" Mimic asked. "The best I can do is shoot him in the head to make him less of a problem for five minutes."
"He's psi immune or some shit." Kyle explained. "Because he's nuts, or something. I forgot." He waved a heavy hand at whichever Frost sibling - okay, not favoring the side he'd clawed open, so the original flavor, not new coke version - was closer. "Explain why crazy makes him hard to telepath? Because I don't get it."
Celeste considered Wade for a moment. "Mother explained it to me once. His brain is so full of fibrotic scarring that it effectively acts as an anti-psi field. She was able to get in, once upon a time, but..." she trailed off, then violently flinched back as she attempted the most featherlight of touches against the madness of Wade's mind. It was as though someone had hooked up a static noise maker directly to her bones, and even that much began to give her a migraine. "Nobody is getting into there, anymore.. Frankly, it's a miracle he can even function."
Wade laid himself out on the floor, bloodied yet somehow still able to speak. "Healing factor's fault. McSparkles got in before Apocalypse convinced the healing factor it wanted to try to fix me instead of just maintaining me. I do miss the food trucks, though... and the... the what'sits. Coasters. Roller." The dosages of Haldol he'd been receiving more and more had begun to increase with each of his episodes. He couldn't even remember what he'd been saying when he started mutilating his mouth... throat... area. "I'm just gonna chill down here for a sec. Carry on."
Liam made a face at Wade, "That was his favourite Golden Girl's shirt, too," they were all his favourite Golden Girls shirts. Turning to Kyle, he shrugged. "You're Wildchild. Wildcat?" Because yeah. Cat.
"Aw, buddy." Kyle had both hands trying to wrestle the knife from Wade so he couldn't ruffle Liam's hair like he wanted. "I dig it. I'd hug you but I'm kinda busy. Wade, you gonna come out of the crazy so I can hug my kid, or no?"
"Hug my almost grandson," Wade said, releasing the knife.
Liam got a one-armed side-hug, because one of Kyle's hands was still holding the knife, and blindly handing it over to Mimic. "Okay, moment over. Mimic's in the van, Cuckoos, you're on point. We'll review some hand to hand before day of, since you're still wobbly, but it's a two to one swap and I'm trusting you'll use psi to compensate, or go diamond."
Fourteen gave him a double barrel of the driest look she could muster.
"Yes, we know..." started one.
"...how to not die," finished the other. "In fact, we'd say that we are..."
"...fix/six times as good at it as everyone else."
The double brow lift that followed was devastatingly Frost, but there was a stutter, as the two broke sync for the first time since the meeting began. Celeste mentally started. Right.
"This is the dumbest," Wade muttered, not trying to make himself be heard as he slid farther beneath the table. "Weapon-X isn't even trying. You wanna take out somebody like McSparkles, you send the heavy hitters in first, use the psi to blanket suppress everybody in a certain area, send in the other teammates after to sweep up the stragglers. Or just let us snipe the fuck out of her. Stupid loyalty tests. Biggest idiot move..."
Kyle shrugged. "And yet here we are. Maybe it'll work. We've fought worse stuff. I punched a fire demon once. I think. Or ... did I ? Fuck I don't know, I did something to a fire demon once." He braced his feet to help haul Wade back upright. "Come on, pal, lets get you up and cleaned up. Have some faith, we've got two baby Frosts here, that has to be good for something."
"Cause I'm chopped liver," Liam rolled his eyes. He was not their strongest for this mission and he knew it, he had other skills. Still. He'd do his best. "Yeah, yeah."
