An emergency meeting was called late that evening. It seemed as though urgent matters had been postponed after the battle so the people of ICE and the SSS could come together and mourn their losses. Hunter enjoyed getting to know the members and being around her friends again, because she realized that their time together could be shorter than she anticipated and she wanted to make the most of it. But the Captain was right – there were strategies to discuss, and that was why only those from ICE, those with powers and the Captain's tech team and advisors were present that night.
It was with dinner in their bellies and eyes dried from tears that they congregated in the communications room, alert and ready for the news.
"Right, we're all here now because despite having suffered a great loss, it is time to focus on the crisis at hand," said the Captain. "You-" He pointed in the general direction of Hunter and the group, "-know this Dr. Wolfe character. You also know the threat. We-" He threw out his arms, "-are your support and your resources. Anything you need to take down this asshole, you got it."
They smiled in thanks.
"Alright," the Captain continued. "We're at a point now where things have become serious. And not just serious; personal. It's time to make a strategy."
Around the slightly empty room, there were murmurs of agreement.
"We have several very real threats: Dr. Wolfe, his institution, his army of Agents and mutants – of whom we do not have numbers – and this Destructo villain character."
"Jack," said Hunter and Eli together. She couldn't hear them call him Destructo when they hadn't seen him destroy anything. To she and Eli, he was and always would be Jack.
"Yes," the Captain shrugged. "Whatever. Point is, we may have numbers and weaponry here, but we don't know the doctor's limits, nor do we know his plans, which brings us to the second issue: The prisoner."
The Captain clicked a button on his remote and a recording of a room somewhere in the compound showed a high camera angle view of Mikayla huddled in the corner on the screen.
Hunter was ashamed to admit she'd forgotten about her completely. It was on a whim that she decided Mikayla would be a valuable insight into Dr. Wolfe's plans, but then she did nothing to interrogate her.
"Has she said anything to anyone?" asked Joshua.
"She hasn't said a word. Hasn't answered any of our questions. Obviously she thinks we're going to kill her even if she reveals the doctor's plans."
"She probably doesn't know them," said Marcus. "Trust me, she's my brother's girlfriend and I know her better than anyone here. Dr. Wolfe wouldn't reveal his world domination schemes to someone of her profile."
"Which is?" asked the Captain.
"A weapon," said Hunter. "That's all she is to him."
"All she was," said Marcus as he turned his gaze to her. "Until you stopped her."
"Yeah, how did you stop her?" asked Ryo.
Hunter looked around at them, then to Joshua. They'd discussed this at the cabin, but it hadn't been spoken aloud to the group.
Joshua explained how her powers were stronger because she was conceived of Ravenadium and Feucotetanus. She looked at the faces in the room and found that her friends were staring at her differently. She didn't realize how the truth of her origin would set her apart from the others. It made her feel like she was being put on a pedestal.
"Ravenadium was the key to saving Fearne's life, but unfortunately, the last sample I had was stolen from the cabin the night of the attack. And Jet's body was missing also."
"Holy shit on a stick," Zac gaped.
"What? I thought he died!" exclaimed Marcus.
"His body vanished. It would have been easy for the Agents to return to find out if anyone was alive and steal anything they could. But only Jet would know its true value. He must have taken the other sample Hunter left behind when she and Ryo went back."
"Why the hell didn't you tell us you had something so valuable kept in a briefcase in an unlocked office," said Marcus. "We could have protected it!"
Suddenly, Joshua was being bombarded by questions and accusations. The supposed plan of action had been ignored, and there was shouting and raising of hands and too much noise for Hunter to handle. They were all angry and hurt over what had happened and scared of what was to come. She found herself staring at Will and how utterly broken he appeared as he sat in an office chair at the back of the group. His thoughts were not even present.
A sharp whistle blew over the noise and they fell quiet to see the Captain step forward.
"Enough!" he shouted. "There's no time for technicalities. We have a very real threat on our hands and we need a strategy. Which brings us to our next issue."
Up on the screen, a news report started playing. A blond reporter by the name of Catherine Sherman with a beautiful face stood before the FBI building in DC where an American flag waved in the background. The report was titled 'HEROES IN OUR MIDST'. Instantly, Hunter felt her stomach drop.
"After the announcement just last week from the Federal Bureau of Investigation stating that there are 'altered DNA' humans living among us, we have been given exclusive footage of these heroes in action."
The reporter disappeared and a new video played. It was clearly recorded on an iPhone or similar, because the quality was unclear and everything was dark. Static sounds blared through the speakers. A male voice was bleeped out and then suddenly, there was an explosion of fire and he screamed and stumbled. "Holy bleep!" he exclaimed. The camera steadied, and then they saw images of themselves on the lake behind the cabin, squaring off against the Agents and mutants. The fight was messier than she remembered and the camera didn't hold for very long before a tree nearby was hit by a bolt of Marcus's electricity and the cameraman dropped his phone.
The camera flicked back to the blond reporter. "This footage goes in conjunction with a fearsome rescue back in March this year at a New York restaurant, where a red-headed heroine much like the fire-wielding girl caught on camera only recently went into a burning building and came out with a girl who had been trapped inside." Two images of Hunter, side by side, frozen in blurry action at the cabin and outside the burning building filled the screen. She couldn't look away from them and didn't want to see the faces of the others staring at her. "Sources inside the FBI have confirmed that other powers do exist and that these people are the future heroes of our country. Fire wielders, technopaths and shape shifters are just some of many abilities that really do exist. Could this be the birth of a new generation of superheroes with unique abilities? Thanks John."
Newsreader John Crown appeared at a desk back in the studio, smiling in anticipation. "Thanks Cathy, and we have just heard now that police and FBI officials have investigated the sight of this so-called 'battle' but have found no leads as to who participated and if any were injured. Our inside source also confirms that the FBI's plans to hunt down the dangerous geneticist Dr. Winston Wolfe have come to an end when they raided his supposed institution in Yellowstone National Park, but found no possible leads as to his accomplice's location."
The report cut off.