Age Of Magneto

Dual Purpose

The sounds of the fight had started to drop back and it wasn't long after K had disappeared that Scott redirected his efforts to where Logan and Cap were fighting together. The fight was already going in their favor and droves of skinny, malnourished ex-prisoners were making their way out of the buildings in confusion when the power supply that had been remotely charging the collars exploded in a spectacular overload that looked almost like a Tesla coil rippling electricity off of the center high point of the building.

"Was that you?" Steve called out when he saw Scott and a few of the others gathering up.

Scott shook his head. "I think it was K."

Steve straightened up a little and looked past him. "You know where she went?"

"She got past me after we wrecked the server room," Scott said, then paused. "And I think we should leave it at that."

"Scott ..."

"She was there to turn off the collars. She made sure to tell me where their personal information was stored so they can't find these people again. And she blew the power just now to help us get out," Scott said. "That's more than Magneto's been willing to do for us when he's worked with us before."

Steve was already shaking his head on the way to the jet. "It doesn't change anything."

"Captain Rogers," Scott said, "with the greatest possible respect? I think you're wrong on this."

"Yeah? So tell me how I'm wrong on the way out of here," Steve said, though he didn't look very open to the idea.

Scott frowned at that and shook his head as he caught up and climbed into the jet with him. "Jean and I have been digging on K ever since she showed up with Magneto. Logan's been looking into her too, and everything we can find says he scooped her out of a place much worse than this-" He gestured at the rubble. "-and she's been working for him ever since." He tipped his head. "I think it would have been a very different story if we'd been the ones to find her."

"What? You think she's being forced into it? Wanda said her father had no idea the two of them were going anywhere near Pym when she murdered him in the street. How am I supposed to look the other way for that?"

"I'm not asking you to look the other way, but it might be time to consider everything else she's done when she hasn't been under orders. The kids, for one thing. And the fact that she warned you about the attack on the tower," Scott said.

"And she gave you that stuff for Stark," Logan added.

Scott nodded. "And you know she wasn't in control when she fought you."

"Yeah I figured that out," Steve said in a breath.

"She stays on the outskirts of the big fights," Scott said. "There's a bigger picture here that we're not seeing and to be honest, as bad as what happened with Pym was, I think it's worth asking Janet just how much weight we should be giving that compared to everything else." He shook his head. "I've got Sam following me around when Clint's not available singing her praises on what a good 'babysitter' she was, not to mention the rest of the kids. Charles and Jean have been working with Jan - and I honestly think she's not as upset about what happened as you and I have been."

Steve let out a breath and looked over first to Logan, who refused to do anything but hold his gaze, then to Jean, who looked just as hopeful as Scott.

"I'm not saying look the other way," Scott said. "I'm saying it's not like this would be the first time we've reached out to pull someone from the other side. Both of our teams have."