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Remy asked Scott to come down stairs and take a look at something. He was crypt…well, he's always cryptic, but there is a good shot it has something to do with Albuquerque. He also invited other folks who happened to be around, people he trusted with this information. Really, he doesn't know what to do, but he knows they need to do something.
Once everyone who is available and invited comes downstairs, Remy begins to tell them the story about Albuquerque and what he saw (I will save you from trying to parse it with his accent).
Elixir and Gambit went to Albuquerque as the riots were getting really bad and were starting to get violent. The rioters have been growing in their anger because the police department would not release the report on the death of a mutant who was killed by a police officer after a routine traffic stop. For whatever reason, city hall would not discuss the report and refused any attempts at information.
On Friday night, things were headed for big problems. The governor, Will Reynolds, was planning on ordering in the National Guard to quell the riots. Elixir and Gambit went to the top of City Hall to throw exploding cards down, high above the heads of the protesters. The ruse worked. The masses thought they were under attack and fled before the military men arrived.
But all that was in the news. Remy reaches into his trenchcoat and pulls out an envelope and throws it underneath the lamp of the dark War Room. "Elixir be helpin' a copper who had gotten hurt." Actually Remy, you had accidentally thrown him off the side of a skyscraper. "I took a pit stop and picked up this." The envelope says Report: Lou Davis. That was the man who had been killed by the police officer and it seems to be the report that everyone is rioting over. As Remy reaches for his cigarettes he shrugs his shoulders and answers the obvious question in the room. "Yeah, ah stole it."
Scott reaches for the report, even if he arches a brow slightly at Remy's admission. Sometimes you do what you have to, though. "I assume no one caught you?" he asks as he starts to flip through the pages, skimming for the information. "And Elixir, is he still with the officer, or did he get out as well?"
Logan doesn't pay attention to the news. He knew that Remy and that funny shiny kid had gone off for something, but he didn't really know what. Trouble, most like. That's usually what came around when the Cajun was in tow.
"Stickin' to yer fundamentals," he says. He leans against the wall, arms crossed over his fireplug chest and a cheroot sticking out of the corner of his mouth. "So, what exactly you want us to do about it? Hunt the guy down, string 'im up, eye for an eye, that sorta thing?" he says.
Lorna kept quiet and off to the side, her arms folded as she listened. Her lips pursed into a thin line of thought, her head tilted slightly as she considered everything presented. Then, as Scott picks up the report and glances over it she stepped up behind him, curious to try to read over his shoulder at what was written there. "Can I see?" She asked after a moment of trying and failing to see much more.
Then green eyes glanced toward Logan, "Even if we did that it wouldn't change much. It might make things worse really if people are going to blame mutants…"
Those who look at the report will notice something that seems surprising. A deeper look shows that the officer who was with Ralph Jimenez was the one who filed the reports. It seems that Officer Alexander wrote the first report showing that his partner, Jimenez, acted with unnecessary force and was responsible for Davis' death. That report was approved by the police chief, but was denied by directive of the governor. A second report was written, that put it more vague, but the same approval then rejection. Whatever it is, the governor seems to be using his power to prevent the report from going out and having the police take the blame, even though the facts would say they should.
"Well, when in Rome, monsieur," Remy says and gives Logan a wink. "No one caught us, Cyclops. Dey might have seen us a bit, but I dun tink dey knew who we were, non."
Remy shakes his head at Lorna, "T'tell ya da truth, chere, I dun know what to do."
Scott grimaces as he reads, then passes the report back to Lorna at her request. "So we've got one bad cop, one good cop, and one dirty governor," he summarizes. "Or else two good cops and one that made a hell of a mistake that the governor thinks he can cover up in the interest of the greater good." It's a more optimistic read of the situation, but it's still a possibility. "It makes sense. If he admits the officer used too much force, then he's got a righteous riot on his hands plus he either owns up to not caring, causing more riots, or he basically sacrifices this officer. He lies about it, he's at least got half a chance at keeping things from going nuclear. I'm not saying I agree with the choice, but it's something to consider."
Logan snorts, "When yer in Rome, I don't imagine much is goin' on but scooter rides an' bottles o' wine. Garlic-eatin' daddies chasin' you away from their signorinas," he says, blowing smoke through his nose.
"Can't just start pickin' apart any human hates mutants, even the ones that shoot. Work never ends that way," he says. "Don't get me wrong, happy to leave 'im cold an' busted, just don't pretend it's anything but revenge. I ain't got the temperament to handle the political side, I'd leave that to Chuck or Jean, they got a more delicate touch."
Lorna glanced over the reports, her brows furrowing further as she continued to read it over after Scott handed it to her. "As much as I hate to let it go.. I agree. It won't help the mutants there or anyone really if it gets out and causes more riots. More people will die. But even if we leave things as they are.. then it .. I mean, then this guy might cover up worse. The cops might cause more deaths.. Where will it stop?" She bit her lower lip, chewing on the chapped skin there.
"I just.. I don't know what else to do either Remy.." She sighed gustily, holding out the report in offer back to him.
"Sound like a nice afternoon," Remy says as he tilts his head and shrugs at Logan discussing Rome. "Y'eva been ta Milan?" He raises his eyebrow knowingly. As the people talk, Remy's mood darkens just a bit. Raven often talked about how Xavier was only interested in watching the world go by. "So we do nothin?" he asks.
"Not nothing." Scott takes the report back, giving it a longer look. "We can't fix everything. But there are holes in this story. We know there's at least one good cop in this precinct. This first report is honest. But we don't know why it happened, which means we don't know how likely it is to happen again. I think out first step is to find out more about this officer who used the excessive force in the first place. Who are his connections? Where was he coming from?"
Logan snorts, "Son, I been everywhere," he says.
"You already did somethin'. Gathered intel, got the lay o' the land. Beyond that, keep the eyes peeled, make sure things don't go south. Not every problem's got an easy solution, the kind you can cut. Believe me, I ain't happy about it either, but it's part of the reason I'm here these days and not so much out in the world puttin' people in the ground no more."
He nods to what Scott says, "See? More to do. It's just sniffin', not punchin'."
Lorna bit her lower lip, "It might be worth it to see what we can find out from him and find out if the rest of the department is corrupt or not. If it's pretty bad and they have other mutants there— possibly under similiar circumstance, then we can always work on getting them out in the future. But what Scott said is true." She grimaced faintly, fidgeting upon her toes.
"I'm not particularly good with the politics of it all. But if we do need to break anyone out, well, I can help there at least." She offered, wiggling her fingers with a weak smile.
Remy shrugs his shoulders, but he does seem to relax a bit. For a moment there, he was worried this team was about to slide into the stereotype of malaise that Raven had preached. "Milan a great place t'be," the Cajun says passively before nodding to Lorna. "Dun wanna speak on yo' behalf, specs, but mebbe we put a team t'getha and go talk do dat man sooner den later?"
"I don't want to make any promises," Scott cautions Lorna. "We might get there and find out there really isn't anything we can do. But we can look into it. That's what we do." He nods to Remy, running a hand over his hair. "Sooner rather than later," he agrees. "We'll need to clear it with the Professor. We'll need a team. A relatively subtle one," he glances to Lorna, "But with some teeth, just in case," a look to Logan.
Logan nods, "Don't worry, I may play softer these days, but I can go hard when it's called," he says. "An' I can do it all quiet-like so we don't ruffle any feathers. Just gotta be careful dealin' with the government. They decide to call the Feds for back-up, things can get mighty ugly mighty fast."
Lorna shrugged, "I'd rather hear that the guy was an oddity and that it's just one bad cop. I don't want to find out the whole thing is a mess." She offered defensively when Scott cautioned her. She pushed her hair back, glancing at the color between her fingers when he mentioned 'subtle'.
"Right.. I'll uhm.. put my charm on." She added. No green hair if she came along.
Remy shrugs his shoulders and searches through his pockets for his lighter. "Whatevah y'all decide, ah'd like ta come with if it's all the same to everybody." He finds his lighter and looks around the room. "Ah'm gun leave dat paperwork with you, Slim. Keep me posted, non?" He lets out a sigh, "Ahma gun go smoke a cig."
"It's less the hair than self-control, Lorna," Scott cautions with a faint smile, standing up and taking the folder with a nod to Remy. "You've been there, we'll need the experience. Josh too, if he's not burned out, in case we run into trouble. Sophie'd be a good addition, she can get in places. How's Jean holding up lately?" he asks, looking to Logan. "Could use her insight if we're trying to get a read on people."
Logan heads out in his own right, "She's flyin' around in a black suit beatin' up muggers. But she seems to like it," he grins. "Sometimes beatin' a little ass is the best kinda medicine."
A huff followed that mention about her control from Scott. "Hey! My control is fine, just ask Remy!" She jabbed a thumb over at the Cajun and back. Defensively crossing her arms after and biting back a pout.
"If he didn't think I couldn't handle helping out he wouldn't have invited me here to read over things… I can totally keep my cool for this." She muttered.
On his way out, Remy nods to Scott as the latter starts going over smart people to bring. He nods towards Lorna, "She be right. Ah'll vouch for her. Shoulda seen her lift dat car d'otha day." Now it's time to smoke.
Logan goes home.
