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It's early morning at the Baxter Building, and the Fantastic Four residence is (relatively) quiet. Well… as quiet as expected. The phone has been ringing rather incessantly for the better part of the morning, but Sue has ignored it because of company.
The table has, of course, the teapot with mint tea already on, a plate of cookies, and two cups — one in front of each of the ladies. A notebook is flipped to a clean sheet as Sue scribbles some information, "I spoke to the President Johnson, and he explicitly said he trusts my judgment. If I feel you belong, evidently, you belong," she shoots Karolina a warm smile and brings her teacup to her lips. "So, it appears everything is good on that front."
*
Oh, honesty. Lucy's smile is not as bright as it could be. "Everything. Yeah." Her hands are tightly clasped on the table in front of her and she gives Sue a worried look.
"There is something more. Not about me. About my parents." She's an alien. Her parents are aliens. That falls under the purview of Act-F. "I do want to help you, I wasn't lying about that part. But I also…I also thought that maybe, if you had the right resources, you could help with my parents." Already, her voice breaks. She looks increasingly terrified the longer she speaks. "Because something needs to be done."
*
Sue's eyebrows knit together tightly at the assertion. Her lips purse lightly as she sets the teacup on the saucer and offers Lucy a considerate gaze. "Well. Then what do you need? Right now, strangely, it seems we have more authority than ever seemed possible." Her eyebrows lift and she issues a shrug. "It seems President Johnson trusts me. What do you need?"
*
"Okay, first. I lied. But only a little, because my whole life was a lie and this part of it is the true part. Everything I said was true." Lucy fiddles with her bracelet. "But my name isn't Lucy West. Only a couple people know that, because my parents hired them to find me. Jessica Jones and her friend David North. My real name is Karolina Dean and my parents are Frank and Leslie Dean. The movie stars. And I think they're my real parents. That they're aliens — Majesdanians — too. And they can't find me."
*
Sue squints at Lucy. She inhales a long deep breath and leans back in her chair to pensively stare at the girl. Well. Things are becoming increasingly complicated by the minute. She frowns slightly and pinches the bridge of her nose. Slowly Act-F is becoming more and more complex. "Uh. Allllriiiiight." She frowns slightly. "So, what does that mean? That they're aliens? Why can't they find you?"
*
"Because I've been hiding. They live in California. I was homeless for a long time, I lived on the street so no one could find me. But then I met Laura and she said she'd keep me safe. She was in that Weapon X program and she's so strong, I knew she could do it. And they did find me but Miss Jones said she wouldn't tell." Lucy shakes her head slowly. "I don't care if you kick me out, I just needed to know you could do it. That you could go after them. You could use me to find out how to stop them, I'll do whatever you want." Her eyes are wide and full of tears.
"I didn't just run away because I was angry, because they lied to me. I didn't find that part out until later." Lucy blinks and tears spill down her cheeks and the words come out all in a rush. "I ran away because they were acting strangely. Upset. I wanted to know why, I thought Mom was drinking or doing drugs, or Dad was having another affair, so I started watching them. But it wasn't that. I wish it was. I saw them kill someone together, downstairs, where I'm not allowed to go. A girl. And they talked about it like they'd done it before. A lot."
Lucy puts her face in her hands. "And I didn't know what to do. So I ran away until I could find someone who might be able to fix it — if I didn't get strong enough to do it myself. And when I saw the Act-F thing, I thought…I thought you could. Because I would never let them get away with it. I just couldn't do anything myself."
*
And just like that, things change rather quickly. First, as Lucy begins to tear up, Sue reaches across the table to squeeze Lucy's hand and offer support. Her expression steels, however, at the mention of the girl. Something in her alights a silent fire — one not often seen in the elder Storm. Most associated the younger of the two as fiery. Sue, however, has her moments. Her jaw tightens, her nostrils flare, and her lips purse tightly.
Her voice drops to a whisper, "As aliens," she couldn't repeat the name if she wanted to, "what can they do?" because knowledge is power. "I can get a team to arrest them. But you have to be certain."
*
"I'll show you everything I can do." Lucy gets a grip on herself with a valiant effort "They might be better than me but…they always told me I was special. I thought it was just talk, but maybe I'm better they they are. If they are like me, you just have to keep them away from sunlight once you have them. My power only works if I get solar energy. Someone told me our planet was close to a white star, so we're made to use light."
Lucy takes a long, slow breath, then carries on, thoughfully. "Your. Your Mister Richards. He can probably do a scan or x-ray machine or something to see how I work, right? I'll show you everything. We're really hard to hurt, but not as tough as some mutants. And we can shield ourselves and shoot energy beams. But if you got them by surprise, if you drugged them, you could probably get them without any danger. You can test it on me, it's okay." She's completely sincere, her demeanor is changed now that she thinks there's a solution. "I will do anything, Doctor Storm. I feel responsible. I just…watched." Her eyes fill with tears again but she blinks them away. "I wish it had been me. If I could have traded places with her, I would have. I don't even know her name but I won't ever forget that I didn't help her because I didn't know how and I was too scared. I'm never going to be too scared again, I promise."
*
"Doctor Richards, technically," Sue offers with a small smile and then nods. "The lab should have equipment to help us understand how you work. And yes, we could, potentially, catch them off guard. I have no desire to test these drugs on you, but… we may need to talk to Doctor Richards. He… will have ideas of his own. And they're typically very helpful." She presses her lips together tightly, "And, it's not your fault. You can't hold yourself responsible for someone else's actions." She stares pointedly at Lucy as she gives the girl's hand another squeeze. "Truly. What they did, they were responsible for. And now, perhaps, we have the resources to stop them." Pause. "Together."
*
"I couldn't call the police," Lucy says, wiping away tears. "I mean. I could kill people if I wanted. There would be so many deaths if the police tried to catch them — if they even believed me. And if Laura and I went, we couldn't put them in jail. We'd have to kill them. We would have, too, if I hadn't found another way. But I knew there was another way. I knew I'd find something and I found you. I will do everything I can to make sure no one else gets hurt doing this. And maybe, when they're caught, they'll be able to tell you things. Maybe they know about the other aliens, or have some more technology, and we could protect other people better in the end."
*
Sue inhales a slow breath and squeezes Lucy's hand again. "You did nothing wrong," she repeats. "You sought help if and when you thought you could. That is just and good, and you are innocent. You didn't kill this child, and you didn't know what should be done." She releases Lucy's hand and rises from her chair to retrieve a box of tissues from the kitchen counter. In short order, she's assuming the seat next to Lucy, and reaches around the girl to offer her shoulders a squeeze. "But you've done the right thing. We have reach right now, and everyone here," in the Fantastic Four residence, "can do extraordinary things. We won't let this stand."
*
"So where do we start?" Lucy wipes her tears and blows her nose and then takes a deep breath. "I want to make this right. I'll do whatever you tell me to do. I'm here to learn how to protect people so I might as well start now."
*
"We start by talking to Reed. Or, that's where you start. We need to be smart. Meanwhile, I'll talk to the President and relay the situation at hand." Sue's eyebrows lift expectantly. "We'll form a plan between us and get them arrested. I suspect we can get something in process within a week. We're fortunate the President is anxious to resolve the situation with unfriendly aliens."
*
"My parents are really famous," Lucy points out. "However you want to handle it, you should just keep that in mind. People love them. It's going to be hard if they're exposed as aliens — unless you can convince them to put their acting skills to good use." She thinks about this for a moment. "That girl, and anyone else they hurt, needs justice. But if you can use them somehow, I think my parents might negotiate if they have no other option. They're canny and avaricious. It's how they got ahead in Hollywood. If you handle them right, I think they'll sell out any way you want, to save themselves somehow."
*
"It's possible we may be able to broker some kind of deal of them. I'll see what I can do," Sue Storm is not a spy, government agent, politician, or law enforcement person. She is a scientist. She knows little about brokering deals, she does offer, however, "WE'll see what we can glean and what our needs are." Her lips purse slightly and she shakes her head, "To be honest, the more we know, the more unsettled I become about the situation and our capacity to address it." Her eyes hone in on the teapot. "But it's possible your parents could provide insight if they feel like cooperating." She chews on her bottom lip, "Why, do you think, did they kill this girl?"
*
"It wasn't random." Lucy toys with her tissue. "I didn't see everything that was going on, I wasn't allowed down in that room in that part of the basement. I saw through a window. I did catch that they thought they needed to do it, that they'd done it before. And then they took her downstairs. I knew a way to get to where one of the uncovered windows was."
Lucy's breath catches and she's quiet for a moment, then she laughs, once, sharply. "I thought it was some horrible sex game. I don't even know what one of those would look like but I didn't know what else to think. And then they put her on this…this table thing. Like a pool table but not. And they cut her open. It was so fast. They knew exactly what they were doing. That's all I could see, just a piece of the scene. Her face and the table and the knife. Maybe there was more. I don't know."
*
Sue's eyes darken and she manages a vague nod before issuing Lucy's shoulders another squeeze. "We'll figure this out, don't worry." She manages a small smile and emits a soft sigh. "I"m sorry that I had you describe any of it to me. You shouldn't have to relive that." She swallows hard. "We will get this sorted, you have my word on that. They won't hurt anyone else. Not on our watch," she manages a very small smile.
"
*
"It's okay. I think about her all the time. I guess this is putting you in the deep end, isn't it?" Lucy gives a shaky giggle. "I wish I knew more, about any of it, Doctor Storm. I didn't have a way but, if you could get some missing persons information from this summer, from California, I would recognize her. That might help, right? Not with my parents, but with her. Do you…" Lucy looks around. "Do you have a place for testing someone like me? I wonder if Act-F thought they'd get actual aliens. Am I the only one?"
*
"Sue," she corrects softly. "Doctor Storm is technically correct, but everyone cals me Sue," she offers with a small smile. "Or Seo, if you prefer." Her smile softens some and she nods slightly, "We certainly have facilities we could use for testing here. There are quarantine chambers that have been effective in the past. As far as Act-F brining in aliens, I'm not entirely sure." Her teeth toy at her bottom lip. "Currently, to my knowledge, you are the only one, but then I haven't met everyone yet." She inhales a sharp breath, and almost looks like she intends to say something else, but thinks better of it for the time being.
*
"I was just curious," Lucy says, sheepishly. "I only met two other aliens so far, really, both in Central Park. But they might have gone by now. They weren't green or anything. One of them was a half-alien from Arizona, a Nova-something, and the other was from the Kree Empire. I wish I'd been able to ask them more questions. The Kree one had the weirdest guns. I kind of expect he went home or something. He was really into candy. Said his empire ruled thousands of planets. He looked a lot like a normal kid except for the crazy guns."
*
"…" sometimes there's really nothing to say. Sue finally draws her arm back to her side and manages a very vague nod. "Alright," she replies again as her body tenses. "Thank you for the information. I'll talk to Reed and we'll get moving in the directions we discussed." She shoots Karolina the easiest smile she can muster, but it never meets Sue's eyes.
*
"It'll be okay, Sue," Lucy says impulsively. She doesn't know what's wrong but she can see that Sue is stressed. "We'll all learn how to do this thing, how to help, and then it'll all be okay. Right?" She gives Sue a hopeful smile. That's how it's supposed to work.