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Picture it. Neal LaBeau was still on the back foot against Babette, dodging her grip. He still was trying to find something to snag and snatch to use against the psycho, but alas, it was a small shed and he wasn't having a lot of options to grab anything. Furthermore...he wasn't sure if any of these people laying on the ground were Psy-... His concentration was knocked out...and so was the door to the shed. Surprising both him and Babette, all that appeared were men in suits...and Neal took the opportunity and really hammed it up. All for the cause for him getting out of here quickly. "OH MY GOD! Thank goodness your here! She's trying to kill everyone!!!" "Seems you've been duped, son," one of the suited men said, wasting absolutely no time in unholstering a small firearm with some kind of dart attached, then firing it at Neal's captor. "Ow," Babette said, taken aback by the sudden developments. "...a tranq dart? Really? That's supposed to be... my... shtiiiick......" And then she collapsed. "Steve Carson, DOD, no relation to the doctor," the apparent leader said, as his men began rounding up the paralyzed hostages and their would-be tormentor. "Seeing as you're the only one here who can still stand, we'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright. We don't suspect you of having any hand in this - don't worry about that - but we need to see if we can glean any information from witnesses and survivors of this attack. If you'd come with us, please." "Of course sir, happy to help." Neal lied with a smile. ...damnit. There goes my immediate and quick exit. And thus...he was taken in for questioning. JUNE 11TH, 2030, 2:17 P.M. LOCATION: AIR FORCE ZERO, LOBBY 2B "I'm Austin Lewis, the Secretary of Defense. Some of you may be in shock or not realize what happened about fifteen minutes ago, but a group of psychic terrorists belonging to an organization called MIRROR just made an attempt to assassinate President Jack Roosevelt. They failed, thanks to the bounty hunters he hired, but I hear at least one of you civilians also helped in disarming the threat levvied against us. If so, I'd like to personally thank any responsible parties for their contributions." Secretary of Defense? Oh that bode well for Neal. He couldn't believe he was stuck in here like this. And with a motley crew of...whatever...and was that a fucking dinosaur?! "I would very much so like to be speaking with him as well! But first, I will offer any assistance I can! I will be assembled into this 'squad'! You would do well to have a Meteor Kin, especially THE Stalag Mightjaw, in any 'squad' you are to be assembling! The only compensation I would require is the friendship of the United States and it's peoples! I do not suppose this is much to ask, is it?" Ah...he's one of those ones that think the Crisis as a god-send. Fantastic... Neal thought, doing his best to keep his composure. Nevertheless, once the two finished talking, he proceeded to speak. The quicker he finished here, the better. "The young lady that I ended up following to that shed...what was it she said her name was?" Neal asked, rubbing his chin, playing it up some. He then snapped and nodded. "That's right, Babette. Yeah, she said she was trying to help and check to see if anyone had any weapons...naturally, that was a lie...considering the civilians started dropping like flies. Her fingers seemed to be her source of ability...at least from what I could tell." "I'll have our men in the prison block restrain her use of her hands further, in that case," Austin nodded. "Pardon me a moment..." Austin turned his attention back down to his stack of papers, glancing at different lines of text throughout. "We don't know much about the internal structure of MIRROR, and I'm allowed to say even less than that, but I'm not seeing a Babette in our files. She must not be important to the people running the organization, in that case. But we'll see to it that she can't break out, of course." "That's a relief. Least that psycho won't be out on the streets anymore." Neal let out a sigh of relief, just doing his best to keep up the charade. "In any case, that's unfortunately all I know, Mr. Lewis. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help." He hoped this would be the end of it, that he could waltz out of this room a free thief. After all, they weren't looking for him right now...they were after MIRROR. And as such, he could go undetected. "That's fine. We're not expecting to stumble on some shocking revelation like this, but it pays to be thorough. One of my men can escort you out of the airship whenever you're ready to go home." "Thank you." Neal flashed a smile, grabbing his bag and standing up. He pushed the chair in and was about to walk towards the door and one of Lewis' men...when he heard the sounds of clattering on the floor. He froze in his tracks, hoping that what he heard wasn't what he thought it was. Carefully and slowly, Neal glanced to his right side and his suspicions were unfortunately correct. There on the ground laid the paintings he stole earlier...and worst of all, his thief mask. It seemed that the bag had come open during the encounter with Babette. He looked down at the ground and the items there before looking back towards Austin. "...I'm still good to go, right?" He delivered a weak chuckle and an equally weak smile. ...busted...damnit... "..." Austin looked down at the stolen art that had fallen to the ground, moving away from the desk for the first time in this meeting to assess the goods up close. Each painting received a long, discerning stare, and then Neal received much the same. "You are not. Unless you plan to try breaking out of the single most secure facility in the world, I suggest you sit down." Neal was silent but let out a simple, knowing sigh as he put the bag down near the chair and slid back into it. The jig was up, so he had to just roll with the punches. "...I suppose it didn't hurt to ask regardless." he shrugged, folding his hand in front of him. "I will say...that was the most unfortunate timing." "Since you've been so helpful as to bring these straight to the authorities, which will make it easier to return them to their rightful places," Austin started, picking up the paintings and setting them down in a neat stack on his desk. "I'll offer you a choice. You can join this team we're putting together to follow leads back to and hopefully eliminate MIRROR, or we can help you get familiar with one of the local jails in nearby Chicago for however long the judge says is fair. Just as a word of warning, joining the team will be the more dangerous option, but it's not jail now is it?" "You know, Mr. Lewis..." Neal started, giving a bit of a sly smirk on his face. "Those paintings were technically going to their rightful places...just not back to the Chicago museum is all." He gave a small chuckle, before tapping the desk. "Not the point though. Your offer is appealing to the gambler in me, so allow me to give a bit of a bet for you, considering only one of those options allows me to keep away from the clink. I join your little party...I help you deal with MIRROR...but in return? After all is said and done: I walk away a free man. It's a gamble, sure...but here's the thing that you may not understand...I know what to look for with stuff like this. No one else could come close to realizing Babette's little acting except for me. A man in your position would be crazy to refuse the help and assistance from a thief. And I, myself, would be a fool to just give up and head to prison. So..." he smirked, looking at Austin with a bit of a wicked grin. "...what do you say?" "Bold of you to say you caught on to Babette's act when, as my men tell it, you were also one of her hostages. Your pitch is sketchy, but your terms sound acceptable. If MIRROR is dismantled and you don't get killed along the way, your theft from the museum will be pardoned." "Hostage is such a strong term to use, my good sir." Neal shrugged, seeming a bit insulted by that, but he let it go. "And sketchy is far from my modus operandi, sir. I'm just a simple thief giving it to you straight. Regardless, I believe this will work out in both our favors. I thank you for taking a chance on the dice."