2013.07.01 - Heading Home from Honduras

The journey from Honduras back to West Chester wouldn't take long, as soon as the superjet was at full speed and high above the clouds. Given Jean's connection with the young girl named Rosa Osequera, Kwabena had offered, reluctantly, to take the controls of the Blackbird for the return journey. He'd recently become rated to pilot the vehicle, though he was only truly familiar with its automated controls in detail.
Plus, piloting the thing made him nervous as hell. Oh, he had no fear of flying, at least not for his own safety, but rather for the safety of others.
Not long after the Blackbird has risen to its maximum height, Rosa has fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion. It's likely she won't be awake until they've reached West Chester. From the cockpit, Shift checks the readouts and controls for a fifth time, before finally seeming to relax. It only last a moment, however, before he points at a red light that is flashing at him.
"What's dat?" he starts, then throws his hand up into the air in frustration. "Nevahmind. Autopilot." Sitting back into the chair, he lets out a sigh. "Damn."
With Rosa asleep, Jean is able to move back to the co-pilot seat. She's had years to become familiar with the Blackbird's controls, and to hone her powers enough to be able to cushion it in case of sudden loss of lift, so... they'll be fine. She leans back in her chair and lets out a slow breath rubbing her forehead with her fingertips as she does.
"Well," she says dryly. "That was exciting..."
And while the two 'adults' talk, one of the others that went with them just remains silent, and in her seat. Yes, Laura is here, and she's still mentally reviewing what happened, from how everyone's powers went down, to what she faced, to the mysterious person and their equally mysterious message.
What's left of Kwabena's anxiety goes away as soon as Jean takes the co-pilot's seat. "You could call it dat," he breathes. "I'm going to owe Harper more dan a few favors for handling de diplomatic side of what happened." He shakes his head. "Dere will be fallout."
Fortunately, the secrecy of the X-Men will remain in place, but Shift can't help wondering what ripples this incident may cause.
After sparing a glance toward the cabin where Rosa is resting, he looks over toward Laura. "You alright, X?" he inquires, before casting a look across to Jean. "How is de girl?"
Jean gives a half-shrug. "Tired," she tells him. "And frightened. Very, very frightened." She gives him a direct look. "She just lost everything she ever knew -- her family, her friends, her home. And she's on a hair trigger. If she gets scared, or upset, again, she's very likely to flare up, until we can teach her control." She grimaces. "And I haven't even begun to try to explain being a mutant to her." Not to mention the language barrier. "We're going to need a translator, too,"
"I am alive." is all Laura says at first, even as she thinks over what Jean says about what the girl lost. To be honest, in some ways it strikes a chord with Laura, not that she'll say it, show it, or otherwise admit to it.
"We may also want to find out if that... Message was meant for her, one of us, or someone else..."
Kwabena's family is still alive, somewhere in Ghana. He's lost them, in a way, but it's very much different. A flash of understanding and familiarity resonates in his expression. "I'm sure dere is someone around who is proficient in Espanol," he agrees. "If not, I can try to modify de translatah Hank built for me." He shakes his head. "Probably best if she -isn't- talking with someone through a machine."
When Laura mentions a message, however, Kwabena turns a more direct look at her. "Message?" he asks, then glances toward Jean inquisitively, before looking back at Laura.
Jean nods to Kwabena. "I can translate telepathically, but I'm not always going to be around." If only because a) there's that vacation she and Scott have been trying to take and b) the realities of life. "She's fairly accepting of my telepathy, for now, however." At least that's something.
She glances, now, between Shift and Laura. "Message." She echoes. "Laura's the one that received it, but what I saw was a dark figure who said simply, 'Tell her de nada.'" Not that she has any idea who the figure was or to whom he wants the message delivered. She glances at Laura. "Was there more than that?" Because, you know, she was a little distracted at the time.
With a slight shake of her head, Laura simply says, "That is all he..." Pause. "/They/ said. Who ever they were, they were tall, covered in darkness, and had a large hood covering their head and face. He said that, then ran."
Then her gaze drifts from Kwa to Jean.
"And language should not be a problem. Have Doug help her."
While it would seem that the language barrier won't be much of a challenge now, Kwabena seems perturbed by what this message may have been. "De nada?" he asks, as if to rhetorically clarify. "You're welcome." He considers the options. Who might her be? Jean? Laura? Rosa? He peers back toward the cabin thoughtfully, then diverts his attention to the controls before him.
"Entertain dis," he muses. "Assume de reason our abilities went away was because of a person. Maybe dis person has a device, or a meta-human ability to affect our mutations." He glances back toward Jean and Laura. "Wouldn't it make sense dat dere message is for Rosa? After all, none of us were just responsible for what is essentially the detonation of a W.M.D. in a civilian area. Do you suppose dis person is de one responsible for dese recent happenings of X-Gene inhibition?"
"I think it's as good an explanation for what happened as anything," Jean replies. "And, yeah. I was already wondering if Rosa wasn't the intended recipient." Because, really, why would it be her? Unless said Mr. Inhibitor has dirt on the mutant rights advocate and geneticist she doesn't know about.
But, no. She's pretty sure Rosa's the target.
"So, here's the next question," she says. "Why Rosa? Because she's so damned powerful? Or is there another connection? And, if this is the first time she's used her abilities," which Jean believes it really is, "how did he know?"
"I do not know." Laura admits as she hears both questions, thus she tries to answer both with one answer.
"But if he was there to 'help' Rosa, then he may not be like any of us expected. That is if he actually were there to try and help her."
Then there's just a slight shrug.
Kwabena shakes his head. "That's a lot of if's. Dis is not de first time something like dis has happened, and it seems to be happening to -us-. De X-Men. It almost feels like someone has it out for us." He turns his chair to the right a little, trusting the controls to the Blackbird's highly advanced computer. A nod is given to Laura. "If it's de same person, den dey helped me to bring down Highball, too."
Turning back to face forward, he checks a few gauges before settling back into his seat. "I guess someone is out to 'even things out' a little."
Okay, when doesn't someone have it out for them? Still, Jean knows what he means. Her brows knit together faintly. "If he's helping, this mystery man, are you sure he has it out for us?" Not, mind, that she's all for trusting him any time soon. At all. "Or is he actually testing us." A beat. Her head cants. She glances between the others. "Guinea pigs, perhaps?"
There's a slight head tilt from the female clone towards Jean, before she lets out, "Or there is more than one person behind this. Maybe more than one with these powers, or this device."
Then there's a slight nod at Shift.
"At this point, we do not have enough information."
"The natural next step," concludes Kwabena, "is to find one and apprehend dem. Keep them in one place long enough to ask some few questions." A surreptitious look is granted to both. "Which means we'll need to be ready to fight without out powers. I don't get de idea that dese peopah want to let themselves be known." He looks back toward the clouds that rush past beneath them. "Next time dis happens, I say we make an effort to take de culprit down."
"I agree," Jean says. "I also suggest we look to see which of our allies may be helpful, when going after them. There are at least a couple that used to be on our roster or loosely allied with us whose abilities might not be affected by a mutant gene inhibitor." The various X-related magic users come to mind. Illyana Rasputin. Amanda Sefton. Not to mention the more technologically-based heroes. "And, if it turns out they are affected? Well, then we've learned a little more about the full scope of this thing's effect."
There's a slight pause, before there's a *SNIKT!* as Laura's claws extend and retract.
"We may also want to have a way to 'bug out' set up for next time as well. For some mutants, like me and... Logan, our powers actually are keeping us alive, and if we went too long without them, we could die."
All though with everything else that's said, well... She's not sure what else she can add.
A certain nod of approval is granted to Jean, and Laura, though upon the latter Kwabena lets a certain look of concern linger. "We keep our lines of communication open at all times when outside of de Institute then," he suggests. "Tracking devices in case an emergency comes up. Make sure everyone knows where each oddah are. Dere is a warehouse in Brooklyn I have set up as a safe zone." He perks an eyebrow. "It may be best not to bring de person back to Westchestah if we do capture him. Or her."
That gets no argument, either. Jean simply nods, glancing back, briefly, to their somnolent passenger. A wry smile touches her lips and she glances then to the instrumentation to see just where they are. "No," she agrees. "We take on enough risk at the school, as it is. The last thing we need is a giant off-on switch dropping into the middle of everything." She looks to Kwabena. "Make sure you pass this information on to the rest of the team. We're all going to need to know what's happening." Yeah. That vacation with Scott? Looking less and less likely. Damn it.
And Laura just remains silent. And possibly thoughtful. Because well, she's not sure what she can add as she thinks this over.
All though at the mention of 'everyone wearing tracking devices' she does scowl.
"Don't worry, claws," quips Kwabena. "I don't much like it eithah." He cants his head toward Jean and asks, "Well, you mind taking ovah? I'll go prepare everything so dat it's ready for de network upon arrival." He pushes the controls into their locking place, so that she might withdraw hers. "I'll... check on de girl, too. If you hear a big scream, you'll know what to do." Rising, he looks over at Laura, and winks. "Don't worry. I can be charming when I need to."
Category:Log