Pull The Trigger

[x-gambit.livejournal.com]

"Jesus Dave. You been here all night?" Ed Jakowski said, holding a cardboard tray of coffee cups and a stack of files in his hands. David Langstrom looked up in surprise, blinking several times before turning to look at his curtains bleeding light.

"Shit." He rubbed his face wearily, massaging his closed eyes. "Yeah Ed, looks that way."

"Dave, you know better than this. Burning the candle at both ends is occasionally needed, but taking a flamethrower to the middle at the same time isn't." Ed admonished. "You're too tired to be thinking straight anyhow."

"Yes mom." Dave said wryly, reaching for his cup of coffee. "I don't know how the old man used to handle all of this."

"He surgically removed his need for sleep in '67."

"Really?"

"Kidding. Got your morning brief here." Ed tapped the files he'd put on Langstrom's desk. "The DDCI already tool it up to the National security Advisor."

"How does it look?"

"I'd stick to short term stocks for now."

"Great. One of those mornings." Dave gulped his coffee and quietly wished for the days when he could fucking smoke in his office. "Start with the international."

"We've got movements in China linked with that new directorate chief there."

"Any thing substantive?"

"Not immediately confirmable. Troop movements near the Amir river, and a whack of training exercises with their armor. The Russians are getting nervous. Shifted two armored units and a full division of mech infantry to their CINC-Far East."

"Do we have any good Chinese assets in place?"

"Fuck all. Usual issues about recruiting in Asia. The South Koreans are shaping up some decent intel, and they're willing to trade."

"Good. Let's take them up on that. Is this connected to that Bloodscream cult?"

"It seems to have abated somewhat after the Chinese put the hammer down. After a thousand deaths between them and India, I'm not surprised. The Indians say they've got their area secure, and the Chinese are making similar noises. Analysis says it's not just propaganda."

"Any signs of infiltration here?"

"Not yet, but smart money says at least a few fanatics made it over here. We're keeping a close idea on Seattle and San Francisco."

"That legal?" They both shared a chuckle. The fact was the CIA was not supposed to operate on US soil. However, national security did not recognize borders very well, and the Agency had an unofficial nod-wink from Congress in such matters. As long as they don't get caught, Congress wouldn't look deep.

"There's a rumour that the EU is working up something along the lines of ULTIMATES."

"Really? I figured their cultural differences would preclude any sort of multinational force like that?"

"The funny thing? It's based off of the Soviet's RED GUARD plan in the 80s. The Poles and the Ukrainians brought it to the table, and I guess the Germans went ape shit and started pushing it."

"Any idea when they go active?"

"Not the slightest. Hell, there's no guarantee it's anything more that a political dream." Jakowski turned over the file folder. "We've got some agents trying to firm it up as we speak, firm up the data."

"Great." Langstrom leaned back in his chair. "Anything else?"

"We think we caught a whiff of Essex in Spain. Not far from the De La Rocha estate."

"What would Alphonso have to do with Essex?" He toyed with his letter openers.

"No idea. The De La Rocha's have some biotech in their conglomerate, but nothing like the serious juice someone like Essex would be interested in."

"Maybe a personal reason. Alphonso sick or something?"

"Not according to our sources." Ed pulled the picture of Alfonso from the file and slid it over. Dave snorted, tapping the woman beside Alfonso.

"His new wife is about a biscuit older than his son." Langstrom laughed. "Manuel's still at Xavier's?"

"Yup. We've gotten some good shots of them outside the mansion." Ed passed over another stack of photos for David to flip through.

"Who's the street trash?" He said, holding up a photo.

"His new girlfriend. She's at Xavier's too, but no idea on her mutation. We haven't been able to run down a name yet."

"It always comes back to that damn school, doesn't it?"

"Seems like." Ed nodded. "Essex disappeared after Spain. We think he's back in the US."

"Army?"

"Looking pretty hard. The word is that if Essex gets picked up on those charges the government hung on him, the Army steps in and transfers him out to New Mexico immediately. Too many people consider him a strategic asset."

"Figures. What about the British? Are they doing the same?"

"No, they're not on board. I guess the Chiefs were a little less than honest with their English counterparts and withheld some of what Essex was working on. Pissed is the nicer term for it. Plus, Kinross has some serious juice in their parliament. If they get their hands on him, Essex will spend his life behind bars."

"Assuming we don't get the call to shop him first, before he starts bargaining thirty years of secret programs for his freedom." Langstrom sighed. "Right, let's get on to the bad news. What's going on in that mansion?"

"Well, we've gotten enough heat blooms from their takeoffs to assume they've started working for FedEx. Lots of new faces, new recruiting."

"Do you have anything inside the mansion yet?"

"Other than a couple of transients, no. That Kuk bastard knows his stuff." Jakowski admitted grudgingly as he flipped through the files for a bit. "Here's the dossiers on the new arrivals. As you'll notice, it's pretty thin."

"Fix it."

"I don't have the resources for that." Ed shrugged. "The good news is that the rest of the people living there know jack about security, so we're building up a nice little collection of data and photos from the town. Passive intel at the clubs, bars, shops, that sort of thing. Look, David, just give me another team of people and--"

"Forget it, Ed. Even what we have tasked to them now is stretching our funds to the limit. We cannot commit aboveboard agency funds to this without a lot of questions being asked by the Director or the White House. Until the President gets his thumb out from up it, we're stuck with hidden funds and black agents."

"Shit." Jakowski sighed. "Well, best analysis that we have is that the place has firmed up some since the spring. We're not getting a lot of signs of internal instability."

"I knew we should have gone in around March."

"Yeah, well, the bad news gets worse. We've confirmed that Dayspring is in the house."

"That sick motherfucker?" David said, eyebrows climbing. "Does the FBI know?"

"If they do, they're not pursuing it yet."

"I was at Alan's surgery, ed. My kids have swimming lessons with his."

"I'm not arguing, Dave. He's my friend too. But the Director does not have an active case going, and officially McMahon never was in Budapest."

"Fuck that. That animal tortured him for hours before dumping him on the street. He was one of ours, Ed, and thanks to that sick bastard he'll never walk straight again." Langstrom snarled. "If there's an opportunity, we take him all the way out. Dayspring's a fucking psycho anyway. He doesn't fit with Xavier's rhetoric, does he?"

"But he is a great asset for a terrorist cell."

"So, Saint Charles is officially recruiting criminals now."

"Gets better. Guess who he just added to his stable? Lensherr's daughter."

"How connected is she to Erik?"

"Highly, we assume."

"He's now coordinating with the Brotherhood." David tossed his pen on the desk disgustedly. "That's how he's building up his X-Men. Just there conveniently to save the day against the 'evil' Magneto and his followers. Lulls everyone off-guard while he builds his real strike force. Throw in a couple of mercs, agents and psychos... what's he building towards?"

"Could be anything." Ed nodded. "And there's one more bit of bad news. LeBeau is back."

"I thought they terminated him in March?"

"I guess not. he turned up in St.Louis and disappeared again. That Bartlett woman was tagged in the hospital."

"So he's back. Think they know about him?"

"If he was running? Likely. He's moving around freely though. SATINT caught him on the grounds, no guards."

"So Xavier put the mental whammy on him?" Langstrom said, and Ed shook his head.

"Maybe. We can't confirm it."

"Makes sense. LeBeau's hard to read, so if Chuck's going to do a little loyalty and belief rewrite, any strangeness in Remy's head would be written off as a byproduct of his powers." Langstrom tapped his upper lip. "If he'd been truly compromised, they'd have started using his nets. Any activity?"

"Not from the ones we know."

"So, it's possible that they think he's just another wannabe X-Man now. That means access to things."

"Dave?"

"Let's test it. Ed, I want Lebeau activated. If we're right, Gambit will have all the tools he needs to turn that place into a charnel house. If not, then at least we'll let Xavier do the job of killing him before he can reveal anything."

"Dangerous, Dave. Why not shop him while he's in town?"

"No. If he's still available as an asset, I want to find out."

"How do you want to do it?"

"Call in activation. We got that contact from the bartender he was seeing in February, right?"

"Not telling if it's still good."

"Worth a shot trying. Say, Friday night? Catch them napping?"

"How?"

"The code phrase needs to be spoken twice to him. You can do it right over the call."

"What's the phrase?"

"Climb Mount Niitaka."

"Niitaka?"

"Whelan was a history nut. That was Yamamoto's code phrase for the attack on Pearl Harbour." Langstrom swiveled his chair around to stare out the window. "If it works, Xavier's will suffer a similarly devastating surprise attack."

"Poetic. What about tracing?"

"NSA has the Bell switching system wired up. Bury it from a Belize number."

"I'm on it."

"Good." Langstrom rubbed his eyes and suddenly felt very tired. "That doesn't matter. We need to regain control of the situation, or the next surprise could be Washington DC on fire. On our watch."

"I understand." Jakowski said, before leaving the room.

***