Day in the City: Gonna look in every corner of the city

[x-polarisstar.livejournal.com]

After Scott is abducted, Alex does the right thing and calls X-1-1. Polaris is on duty and fields the call.



Frantically, Alex rummaged through his backpack to dig out his cell phone. As all the students did, he had the X-men Emergency number on speed dial and in moments he was listening to ringing and tapping his foot because it was taking to long for his liking.

Comm duty was a great opportunity to get work done. Lorna listened with half an ear to the routine ‘all clear’ reports, noting them down in the logs where they would be backed up by the end of shift reports from the on-duty patrol. Most of her attention was on her notes for her geology midterm. When the emergency line began to ring it took a second or two before she realized what it was. Nevertheless she picked up the line by the second ring. It gave her a little chill but her voice was calm. “Polaris, name and emergency please.” Her hands were poised over the keyboard, waiting for information.

Alex paused a moment, definitely not expecting Lorna to be on the line. He was still getting used to her being an X-man and this was not a pleasant reminder. "This is Alex and we have a problem at the airport! Scott and I were attacked and now he's disappeared!"

Lorna’s heart jumped into her throat and she had to remind herself fiercely that she could not afford to be Alex’s girlfriend right now. She typed quickly even as she replied. The whole conversation would be recorded but her first impressions would get the team in gear. “Are you still in danger?” First priority was the student.

"I'm not." Alex looked around quickly hoping once again for a sign of Scott. He'd moved all the bags and himself to the car, just in case Scott was waiting there for him, but there was still no sign of him. "But I don't know about Scott. The men were after him in particular and they did something to him with a syringe. I was able to fight the guys off, but by then, Scott had disappeared."

Oh God “Stay put until I give you further instructions. If the men return, you are not to engage them in any way, just get out of there. We can track the car and the phone.” She did not want to be on the phone. She wanted to be in a car or better yet the ‘bird to get to Alex as fast as possible. Calm, calm “Can you tell me anything more about the men who took Cyclops? How many were there; did there seem to be a leader?”

Alex nodded at her first command instinctively even though he knew she couldn't see. He took a deep breath and leaned back against the car, and tried to keep himself from starting to shake as he remembered what happened. "There were six of them. They jumped us from behind parked cars as we walked through the parking lot. The one who seemed like the leader jumped me first and tried to use me as incentive to make Scott obey his commands. He tried to defend himself but the others got him down and did something...and now they're all gone!" He bit his lip to keep his voice from quivering. The stress was starting to get to him and his mind was starting to freak out. Scott was gone.

“How long ago was this?” She heard the strain in his voice and had to suppress an instinct to comfort him and tell him it would be okay. “Alex, I need you to stay calm. Focus on me. How long ago were you attacked?”

"Only a few minutes ago, this just happened. It was quick and over in a matter of minutes." Alex forced another deep breath at her command, clenching the hand not holding the phone, focusing on her voice.

“How long, Alex? Ten minutes, fifteen minutes?” She glanced at the call log, just about three minutes. It felt like an eternity.

Alex rolled his eyes in frustration but forced it out of his voice. "Ten to fifteen would be my best guess."

She posted to the team journal and tagged it as an urgent page as well. She could update as they went on. “The team is on its way. Tell me more about the leader. Can you tell me what he looked like?” Mentally she apologized to him, I’m sorry, love. I hate doing this to you.

Closing his eyes, Alex continued. "No, he was behind me so I never got a good look at him." He began to tap his foot again, impatient for the team to get here and find his brother.

“What about the other assailants? Any distinguishing features? What were they wearing?” A useless question, clothing could be disposed of. The screen flashed as someone responded to her page. She gave him—or her, Lorna wasn’t checking at this point—current coordinates on Alex and instructions to wait for a back-up.

His brow furrowed as, with his eyes still closed, Alex tried to remember the details. His free hand went to his temple as a head ache started to form. "I think they were wearing some sort of military gear. In fact, everything about them spoke of rogue military. Their tactics, clothes, builds...yeah rogue military is the best way I can describe it."

That merited an instant update to the team and another page. “Did they say anything? Either to you or to each other?” Quick stats first. She could get more details soon. The screen told her they had a back-up and she dispatched them with a quick update. The call was barely five minutes old.

He thought for a few moments before responding, his hands going from his temple to rub the bridge of his nose. "They told Scott to get on his knees with his hands behind his head, then he would let me go. After Scott fought them and they had him on ground, one called for the syringe. That was it, they were pretty quiet in their execution." Alex pictured what had happened as he spoke it and couldn't repress the shudder that went down his spine.

“Did Cyclops seem to recognize them at all?” Lorna had read the files. Rogue military, drugs. She had a terrible feeling about this.

"I don't think so...But they were definitely after him. I was the added bonus." Alex added the last sarcastically, his patience starting to wear thin.

She rubbed at her eyes wearily. “I think that’s a fair analysis.” A quick check on the first team out told her they would be there soon. She dropped professionalism for a moment, “I know this is hard, love. But I need you to keep answering for me. Everything you tell me helps us find Scott faster.”

Alex swallowed, suddenly feeling guilty. Guilty for not being about to prevent this and guilty about taking his worry out on her when she was just doing her job, "Sorry," he said softly. "What else can I answer?"

She shifted back to her carefully blank calm voice, “You’re doing fine, just keep talking to me. We’re going to go through this step by step. Ready?”

Alex again nodded instinctively. "Yeah, I'm ready..." He spoke a moment later as he remembered she couldn't see him.

With false patience, she began to lead him with careful questions through the events of the last hour or so, starting with disembarking the plane. There would be time for her strapped down panic when he and Scott were home safe. Soon, she prayed. Let it be soon.