Vagabond Vigilanties

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Blythe set her cup of water down and rubbed at her injured shoulder. "They're called the Red Dove Society, or simply just the Red Doves."

She knew very little about the organization from Irene, since it was never something either of them were fond of talking about, but Blythe knew enough to know that her friend was in trouble.

"I don't know exactly what they do, but Irene said that they're the ones that raised her. They took her from Africa when she was still a newborn and she always said that they're the ones that gave her, and a bunch of other kids, powers."

During the attack Blythe remembered one small soldier who was able to screech like a siren. The noise had stopped her from concentrating on anything while providing a perfect distraction.

"To be honest, I have no idea where to even begin." She sounded dejected, like they were out for the count before they could even try. "Irene had managed to escape them before she went on a rampage when we met. From what she's told me, they'd raise a bunch of forgotten or orphaned kids and enhance them into mutants or something. And when they were old enough, they'd use them as weapons or soldiers in some sort of cause.
 
Giving powers? That was news to Alex. Since when could people be given powers? For as long as she'd been alive -and that was a hell of a long time- Aleksandra had never heard of something like "power injection or creation", and when she had asked several renowned genetic scientists about it, they had told her the likelihood of ever being able to reproduce something like the X-gene was pretty much nonexistent. Sure they could put a bunch of powers into someone, but there was so much work there, and even then, they had to remove some of the cells and genes from someone who was born a mutant and place them immediately into the new host. It wasn't like they could grow their own powers.

And Alex had been keeping up with mutant affairs enough to know none of her kind were being taken off the streets by some shady facility and experimented on. And Blythe was saying Irene told her the red Doves had given powers to other people as well? That was insane, but Alex also knew if Blythe said it was true and honestly believed it was, she had to look into it.

"Let me guess, they're bad people just like White Facility was, they screw with people's lives, and they don't like it when their test subjects escape, which is why they hunted down Irene and took her back?" It was just the first idea off the top of her head, but Alex wouldn't have been surprised if it was close to accurate.

The Red Doves sounded an awful like like the facility that had "raised" her, so she knew all too well what it was like to be chased down by your creators. She knew what it was like to be the prey.
 
Blythe looked back down, going over what Alex had said. "Well. . .it's not completely like that."

Going off of what Irene had told her, Blythe knew that the Red Doves also helped people in a way.

"I'm not entirely sure what all of their motives are," she began, "but Irene always told me that the Red Doves wouldn't just go around kidnapping random orphans or anything. They would mostly occupy areas devastated by war or violence--like some of the countries in Southern Asia or places in Africa that were damaged due to things like earthquakes or something."

It wasn't uncommon for people to be left homeless, without a family, or without hope when tragedies struck. But what Irene had said about the Red Doves almost made them sound lie partial good guys.

"The Red Doves would also go to places where the people are oppressed and try to help them, like in North Korea or Russia. And what they would do is provide shelter for a lot of victims and care for them, but it wasn't just that. They weren't always peaceful. A lot of the kids they took in often had choices.

"They weren't really like the White Facility. I mean, yeah, they took in kids but they also saved a lot of others. People like Irene grew up to join the Red Doves and eventually she got to be a part of their experiments. Irene said that their vision was for a 'better world' where there wasn't anymore man-made devastation. But that kind of path wasn't going to be smooth.

"There were lots of experiments done on people whom the Red Doves saved, people who willingly volunteered to give back to the people that had already given them everything. Irene. . . Irene's experiment was a success, and she got her thermal fire powers and whatnot. She said she was like a human flamethrower, except stronger and better. She and a few other test subjects went on missions and took down a lot of the bad stuff in the world, like pirates or people who conducted human trafficking. They even stopped the soldiers deployed in other countries that raped the women there and abused their power."

Blythe pulled her legs to her chest. "But Irene ended up getting confused about everything they told her about the world. Back then, she was one of their strongest allies. When she left, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted her back so that they would either replicate her powers and cram them in someone else, or worse. . ."
 
On the outside, everything Blythe said about the Red Doves sounded perfectly innocent, like they really were doing good and making the world a better place, but Alex had lived too long and seen far too much of the world to believe it for a second. She knew the mutant wasn't trying to defend the organization or anything like that because she was simply stating the facts she'd been given by Irene, but Aleksandra could see plain as day that those facts only scratched the surface of the true organization. Nobody ever chose to dig deeper because they only ever saw what the Red Doves wanted them to see, and as long as they continued doing that, people would continue turning away and letting them keep doing what they were doing because it's what they wanted to believe.

Alex would bet any amount of money that those orphans and underprivileged people were happy to be taken in until they realized why they were really around. While those reasons were still unclear in the woman's mind because she still didn't have the full story, going just off of Blythe's closing statement, Alex could hazard a guess that they weren't pleasant.

But, thinking about that would have to wait, because Blythe was clearly still distressed, even if she was trying not to show it, and Alex wasn't about to let her friend stay up all night worrying. Whatever relationship Irene and she had obviously went deep, which meant Alex was going to do what she could to work things out. The blonde would help Blythe sort all of this out in the morning with Jeff and Kaleb's help, and nobody was going to be hurt.

"Hey," Alex moved closer to Blythe until she could nudge the woman with her knee, bringing the mutant's eyes to meet hers, "We're going to get her back, and in one, living piece, okay? But we need to have at least an hour of sleep in us in order to work properly. So c'mon, get some rest. I'll have Kaleb take the couch."
 
Blythe stiffened when Alex moved closer. Her nerves pinched and pulled at her muscles until she felt like she would condense into a diamond. Despite already knowing how strong Irene was already, Blythe couldn't shake how easily the Red Doves had recaptured her like some sort of stray dog. If only either of them had done more. . .

"It must've been real nice living with Jeff for so long after we parted," she said quietly. Anything else Alex had said went in one ear and out the other. "It was really nice being with Irene too."

Before she went any further, Blythe stood up and started walking back to bed.

"I'm gonna try to get some more sleep."
 
Blythe's remark caught Alex off guard and the blonde watched as her long lost friend got up and headed back to the guest room. Blythe may have not meant anything by it, but the way she'd said how nice it it had been with Irene made Alex frown. The mercenary couldn't help but wonder just how much about Irene Blythe was still keeping from her and how much it would effect things once Alex located the woman for her.

"She sounds stressed."

Alex looked up, wondering when Kaleb had entered the room and cursing his feline-like grace. Seriously, that man could run up a flight of stairs in a wall with horribly thin everything and nobody would hear a thing. It was one of the main reasons Alex both loved and hated the man, because if there was anything Alex hated more than being discriminated against, it was being surprised.

Alex nodded in agreement with the Apache and stood up with a groan; her back was still killing her from the plane ride home. "You should sleep." The man stated and the blonde hummed since he couldn't see when her head bobbed again. "You can take the couch. Sorry, if I'd known you were coming I would've set it up for you."

Kaleb waved her off and smiled gently. "It's not a problem, Alex. I'm the one who came without telling you. The couch is just fine, thank you. Sleep well."

Alex knew when she was being dismissed and she sent a goodnight her friend's way before heading back to bed with Jeff. There was much to be done in the morning and Alex knew she would need as much sleep as she could get.
 
After telling Alex all about the Red Doves, about Irene and her past with her, Blythe wasn't surprised by how long it took her to fall back asleep. Once two hours had passes she had stopped glaring at the clock. It seemed like only an hour had passed until she woke up again.

When she crept out of the room, Blythe noticed that everyone else was still asleep. Alex and Jeff were in their room and that Kaleb guy was sleeping on the couch. Blythe had no one to talk to at the moment, and she doubted that Alex would appreciate her snooping around the house out of boredom.

For a while Blythe mainly stayed confined to the guest room, not wanting to step out and accidentally wake up Kaleb. While not knowing how strong his hearing was, she knew that one step on a squeaky floor board could wake the man up.

Another hour passed and around 7am Blythe stood in the bathroom with scissors. She was about to go on a mission to rescue Irene; she can't have her hair flying around in her face and if it was tied back it would still be long. Long hair could easily become a distraction.

Using her psionics to hold other mirrors around her, Blythe snipped away at her black locks. The stray pieces fell into the sink while she acted as her own hairdresser. Her powers were mostly use to snip at her hair in the back and in the hard-to-reach areas. And by the time she was satisfied with the shorter length, someone was bound to have woken up already.

Blythe never really had short hair before; she always kept it long like her mother. Staring at herself in the mirror with a new frame around her face felt weird--but at least she still had her signature black color.
 
The sound of scissors clipping was what roused Kaleb from sleep and the man groaned when he sat up and stretched his arms above his head, listening to the satisfying pops his spine produced. The Indian turned the dial of his wristband left slightly and found the noises coming from the bathroom beside the guestroom, which had the man assuming it was the newcomer- Blythe. Despite getting off on the wrong foot, Kaleb knew Alex trusted the woman so he figured he could as well, even if she still seemed to be quite the mystery to even the blonde. Kaleb trusted Aleksandra's judgement.

The Apache felt for the rubber band he'd left on the side table and pulled his hair into a ponytail, and when he felt no stray hairs the man secured it and stood from the couch. Kaleb made his way towards the kitchen and smiled when he heard Alex and Jeff waking down the hall. That reminded him to turn the dial on his device down to normal human hearing before he continued his taste of getting things ready for breakfast. If the conversation snippets he'd heard last night were any indication, Alex and Jeff had a lot of work to do today.

--------------------------------

After they'd showered and dressed, Alex and Jeff left their, pausing when they noticed the guest bathroom door slightly ajar. Alex frowned and Jeff sent a knowing look her way before heading off to the kitchen by himself. "I'll help Kaleb, you deal with her."

Alex smiled softly at her husband and nodded. He always knew what to do and when to do it, and not for the first time, Alex was grateful he also knew her so well. Shaking the domestic thoughts aside, Alex slowly entered the bathroom, her eyes widening upon seeing a large pile of hair on the floor and Blythe with... well short hair. It was the first time the blonde had seen the woman's hair so short and Alex couldn't keep the surprise off her face when she closed the door and continued staring at Blythe.

"Hm, not bad. Why the sudden change?"
 
Alex's sudden presence startled Blythe and on an impulse she turned the mirrors in the air towards Alex. Upon seeing no real danger, Blythe straightened up and set the small mirrors down.

"It just seemed like the thing to do," she replied plainly. "Everyone else was asleep and I don't really want my hair getting in the way later on."

She grabbed some tissues to clean up the giant hair ball in the sink before leaving the bathroom.

"So what's the plan for today?"

Last night wasn't very informative; it was mostly just exposition. But now that Alex knew about the Red Doves, they could start to try finding Irene, now that they had an idea of what to look for.
 
Alex shook her head in amusement and followed Blythe out of the bathroom to lead her into the kitchen where the men were in the middle of making breakfast. There wasn't much to actually talk about until they found Irene, but Alex knew she had to say a few things so Blythe didn't stress herself out.

The blonde handed the mutant a pan and a carton of eggs, pointing to the stove in clear instruction as she went to get a loaf of bread to work with. Jeff was in the middle of cooking bacon while Kaleb was setting the table and sent Alex a raised brow. The woman waved her hand in dismissal and went to toasting the bread before speaking. "Honey, do you have my dye?"

Jeff barked a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Alex uttered a pleased hum before turning to Blythe. "After we eat, I'll use my tech and find the possible places they could be holding Irene, you'll help me narrow it down, and then we'll go get her as soon as possible. I might have to call in a few favors, but all in all, it shouldn't be more than a quick in-and-out thing so long as we all know what we're doing."

Given that they were all well into adulthood, Alex had no doubt that once everything was sorted, they could go in, get Irene, get out, and be back home before the day was out if they worked as smoothly as they had ten years ago. And that was the good thing about time, it only honed skills, so really, the only danger in this whole retrieval thing would be based on just how protected his facility was.
 
Blythe looked down at the eggs and pan Alex had given her and used her powers to make them cook themselves over the stove. She poured herself a glass of water while her psionics did all the work.

"I don't think it'll be as easy as breaking in, getting Irene, and then breaking out." She sipped from her water. "I mean, the Red Doves are probably operating in some highly advanced facility that--"

Wait. . .

"Did you just call Jeff 'Honey'?"

Blythe looked from Alex, to Jeff, and then to Alex's hand.

"Since when were you two married?"

A decade flies over their heads, and Alex never bothered to tell Blythe about her apparent marriage with Jeff. When were they even married? And what was Blythe only finding out now?
 
Alex narrowed her eyes at Blythe when she realized the mutant was using her powers to cook. Cheater. Despite having telekinesis Alex found herself rarely using the powers for simply, around the house things, it just made her feel incredibly lazy. Anyone who knew her knew Alex didn't like laziness unless it was after a hard days work. Still, it was slightly amusing to see her friend no longer shying away from her abilities.

The woman was about to reply to Blythe that she knew it was a bit harder than she'd made it sound and that she had been been through so many bad facilities that she knew how they ticked most of the time -and that wasn't cockiness, it was truth-, but she didn't get the chance because the mutant was suddenly exploding over the fact that Alex and Jeff were married.

Alex hadn't expected Blythe to have noticed last night, but this morning had been productive enough that it hadn't even been a topic that surfaced in the woman's mind, and in all honesty, the blonde hadn't even remembered their unity was a fact Blythe had not been privy to. Now that the mutant was bringing it up, Alex found a smirk curling her lips as her cheeks tinted with just the lightest of pinks.

Jeff answered for her with a smile of his own as he flipped the bacon. "Since about ten years ago. I proposed a few months after your guys' mission. We wanted to invite you to the wedding, but despite Alex's numerous links to the underground world, we weren't able to find you." The last part was apologetic and Alex shrugged her shoulders, finishing Jeff's explanation off with some words of her own. "That's why you're supposed to stick around or at least leave a number I can contact you at."

In all honesty it had frustrated the woman to no end in the months that the wedding had been being prepared she hadn't been able to find anything that hinted to Blythe's whereabouts. She'd known the mutant was paranoid and didn't like staying in one place for too long, but they'd known each other for awhile and Blythe had up and left without a proper goodbye. Alex had really wanted her around for the wedding, but... well, it just hadn't been in the cards. It wasn't something the woman was sore about anymore, but Aleksandra wanted to make it clear to Blythe that she really had been wanted, and had been missed.
 
Blythe was silent after Alex spoke. She wondered how hard they had tired to track her down. Either they didn't put that much effort into it, or Blythe had just been too good for them to hunt her down. Nonetheless, her first meeting with Alex was because she had been tracked down. Surely they could have at least known something about her whereabouts after they split.

"You could have at least told me last night," she said. Behind her the eggs started to cook more slowly while the pan worked lazily above the stove. "Sorry I missed the party."

She took a casual sip of her water as her mind wandered away from Alex and Jeff's apparent marriage and towards Irene again. After living for so long with her, Blythe had grown used to having her around all the time. Irene had been the only person she felt comfortably telling everything to, other than Alex, of course. But the connection between her and the mercenary still felt like it had a couple of bumps in it. Aleksandra is the type of person Blythe saw as both a friend and a stranger. While knowing the woman personally, it still felt like she barely knew her at all. But she supposed Alex felt the same way about her.
 
Alex pushed the nagging feeling of guilt that Blythe's words caused away. It was in the past and it would do neither of them any good to dwell on it. Alex had tried to find her, but after the whole SHIELD fall apart thing, resources had been lost and it had been nearly impossible to find anyone. Still, they didn't need to get into something that was, and had been, a moot point for awhile.

"You didn't miss much," Alex replied softly and buttered the toast when it was finished cooking. It was more or less the truth; very little had gone on after the actual marriage part of the wedding because she and Jeff had wanted to keep it quiet and invite only their closest friends... and well, none of them had very many friends, and their families were long dead -on her side- and/or estranged from them, so really only about twenty, maybe twenty-five people had been there.

It would have been nice with Blythe around though. Even if Alex didn't know the woman nearly as well as she did most people, Alex had always felt like there was an unbreakable bond between them that allowed them to get along without really knowing much about one another. It was an odd to think about as Alex had never had relationships like that, but it was the truth. In all her years of living she'd never connected with anyone as effortlessly as she had Blythe. No, they didn't know everything about each other, and Alex would honestly be surprised if they ever did, because that was just their relationship. They were enigmas that just weren't meant to ever be figured out.

"You've known each other a... month? You seem awfully comfortable with each other for such a short time."

Kaleb's soft spoken words made Alex chuckle lightly. It was funny how the man could ask things that somehow went along with someone's train of thought; it had made the blonde wonder more than once if he could read minds, but Kaleb had sworn left and right that he just read people well, which in and of itself was a hilarious statement considering he couldn't see people. Alex understood where he came from though, which was perhaps why they too got along so well.
 
As the moment passed, Blythe managed to prevent herself from overreacting to anything in time for them all to eat breakfast. She still had questions about Alex, though. But with Kaleb around, Blythe just didn't feel too comfortable asking them. The man had only met her a few hours ago; she just didn't know him enough to get all cozy with him around.

"So how're you suppose to locate where we're going with your tech?" she asked Alex suddenly. They had all been sitting at the table when she asked. Blythe wasn't much of a chatty person with Jeff and Kaleb around, neither of whom she has a special connection with like Alex.
 
When the silence was broken by Blythe's question, Kaleb did his best to hide his flinch; he hadn't been expecting anyone to talk and Blythe had taken him by surprise. Well, that and his hearing was still sensitive from earlier that day, but Kaleb didn't like making excuses for things he knew he had no control over. Even without his sight and only the faint gray silhouettes in the expanse of black that surrounded him Kaleb knew everyone was a bit tense, and even without Alex or Jeff saying anything, he knew why. Where Blythe was concerned, he was an outsider and not to be trusted. He understood that well enough, so he wasn't offended, but he also knew it meant he'd have to leave the three alone if any progress was to be made.

Kaleb still didn't know exactly what was going on in regards to the sudden appearance of Aleksandra's old friend, but he knew when Alex thought he should know, she would tell him. They'd known each other for three years and counting and Kaleb knew enough about the woman to know she was intelligent and kept secrets if she felt they needed keeping.

"You'll see," Alex was telling Blythe and Kaleb could sense the secretive smile on her face. "I've collected some nice stuff over the years and it'll help, don't worry about it."

"Well, the longer we sit here, the longer Irene is with those guys, so we should probably get to it." The squealing of a chair signaled Jeff getting up and Kaleb was quick to follow. Though unlike Jeff, who put his dishes in the sink and then seemed to go right back to the woman, Kaleb gave the fuzzy form he assumed was Alex a short bow of dismissal and took his leave, heading to the living room until someone came to speak with him.
 
Blythe watched Kaleb go while black energy engulfed her plate and cup. They were dropped into the sink and Blythe even used her powers to turn the water on, all while maintaining her attention on Alex.

"So what kind of toys have you been hogging all to yourself, then?" Without realizing it she was slipping back into her casual tone with Alex. That always seemed to happen.

"Even if they'll help us pinpoint which Dove facility she's being held in, there's still just a matter of time before they come track me down. They know I'm not dead, and they don't care for snitches."

Despite all of the pressure she felt--finding Irene, breaking in and out of the facility, etc.--Blythe locked away her stress to disguise with a suprisibgly natural act of normalcy. It's as if this was just another mission with Alex.

So far she knew they're outnumbered, possibly outmatched, and now some of Blythe's only friends were willing to risk themselves for a person they've only heard a quick story about.

Yup. Just like old times.
 
Alex knew where Blythe was coming from and could only imagine what would happen if the facility found her. But that wasn't going to happen so the woman really had no need to worry. If there was one thing the blonde was good at, it was going underground and becoming untraceable. Though there was going to be no need for those skills to be brought to light, because the Mutant had no doubt they could locate Irene, infiltrate the facility, and get out without too much trouble and minimal detection.

After that it was all a matter of picking the right spot to hunker down while waiting for things to blow over. Alex knew a thing or two about doing that too because being forced into tight place in order to survive was just one of this unfortunate occupational hazards.

The woman stood from her chair and set her dishes beside the sink to be cleaned at a later time before heading out of the kitchen and motioning for Blythe to follow. There was really no good way to describe her toys or their location and Alex wasn't going to try when she could just as easily show. Jeff didn't follow their path down the hall, instead telling Alex to go without him before going to sit in with Kaleb.

Aleksandra bobbed her head marginally to let her husband know he'd been heard as she brought Blythe into the guest bedroom where the woman had slept earlier. "Alright, you know the drill: Keep quiet about this or I'll have to hurt you." It was only partly a joke and Alex knew Blythe would understand. Some things were just too important to be discussed.

The Mutant directed some of her telekinetic power towards the bed and with a flick of her wrist pulled it away from the wall, revealing the dark wooden floor underneath. The woman stared at the floor the furniture had occupied for a moment before smiling to herself and allowing her powers to work from memory, prying up several floorboards and stacking them neatly beside the hole their absence had revealed.

Aleksandra turned to Blythe and motioned for the woman to use the ladder nailed to the concrete wall beneath. Of course the younger Mutant would have to wait for Alex to descend because of the coded door a few feet away from the ladder at the bottom, but still, it was always courteous to let the guest go first. "After you."
 
Blythe spared Alex a glance while looming over the entrance to see how far down it went. After climbing down, she found herself standing in a dark room and could hear Alex coming down over the obvious whirring of monitors and whatever other machines her friend decided to hoard down here.

"Better turn on the lights if you want to show off your nerd machines to me," she said, not seeing a light switch on the wall.
 
Alex rolled her eyes and stepped past Blythe in order to type in the codes for the door that kept her toys hidden from the world. Their mechanical noises could be heard outside the door which made the Mutant smile to herself. Once the door was open and they stepped inside, Alex flipped her hand in a well practiced motion causing the lights to turn on and show Blythe just what they were working with.

Starting at the height of the desk that ran along the length of the ten by six meter room and extending all the way to the ceiling were screens of all shapes and sizes with various purposes. Some were already turned on for usage Alex had already prepared them for while others remained blank. Keyboards, mouses, hard drives, flash drives, and various other pieces of equipment were strewn about the long desk along with different headsets and earpieces. In the corners of the room were filing cabinets filled to the brim with papers of varying important and priority with cases that obviously held weapons laid beside them. It was a rather cluttered setup -as was Alex's usual work space- and anybody who didn't know exactly what they were looking at would be confused beyond belief trying to figure out what the purpose of everything was.

But Blythe wasn't anyone and Alex knew her friend was well aware of what each piece of equipment did and why the mercenary had them. Alex said nothing to the dark haired woman as she took a seat in her black swivel chair and grabbed the nearest earpiece. A computer's voice came through on the speakers built into the walls requesting vocal confirmation of the user as well as a password, both of which Aleksandra provided quickly. "Aleksandra Volkov. The Red Files."

Any other time the blonde might have wondered what Blythe thought about the fact that she was using their first mission together as a password, but now was definitely not one of those times and Alex knew it. As soon as she was logged in the woman's fingers danced across two separate keyboards at the same time, giving the computer orders as she went. "Start doing searches for anything having to do with the key words "Dove Facility", "Mutant Experimentation", "Genetic Coding", "Advancing Studies", and "Disaster Relief". Do cross reference searching for "Missing Person, Name: Irene" last name unknown. Track with any other possible missing persons."

Once that was in and the computers started doing their automated searching Alex looked over her shoulder at Blythe. "Well? Come on, I'm not doing this by myself. You know how these things work," The blonde waved her hand at the nearest monitors and they lit up, allowing access to Blythe, "Get cracking."

The Mutant didn't wait to see what her friend would do, simply turning back to her work and doing deeper searches as the computers gave her documents pertaining to her specified searches. This part of the process was what took some time, but the results were always worth the effort.
 
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