Washington, D.C.

Not much had changed since the last time he’d walked through the corridors of the Pentagon, and somehow, he doubted they ever would. Stark and drab, decorated to suit its purposes, the suite of offices made every attempt to keep its guests off-kilter and paranoid, expecting the worst. Of course, this was exactly how he’d felt as soon as the government car had arrived outside his Dallas home, ready to whisk him away to what was surely the next phase of his life.

Some days, it felt like he was leashed to these halls, doomed to come back to them time and again, no matter how far he distanced himself. He supposed that was the price paid for getting into bed with the wrong people, for jumping at chances that seemed too good to be true and often were. He’d had his share of regrets, most either starting or ending with his ties to the government, and he’d spent many nights trying to chase his guilty demons into silence. Someday, maybe, he’d forgive himself.

Doubtful.

“I have to admit, you’re the last person I expected to meet here, Gabrielle,” he said, biting back on his own trepidation and keeping his tone even and smooth, controlled. “Last time I was here, it seemed pretty clear that the United Nations and U.S. Government had different viewpoints on superhuman activities and how to handle them. Val and Colonel Vazhin still only speak when it’s absolutely necessary. After the whole Magneto debacle, I can hardly blame them.”

The dark-haired woman nodded curtly. The lines on her face were deeper than he remembered, her eyes more detached and vacant. There was a hint of sadness in her voice as she replied, “Alexi has always been a man of passion, even if he chooses not to show it. His thoughts are for his country and the way the world powers reflect on that. Just because we side with the lesser evil does not make it any easier to stomach. But we have all made our hard choices, haven’t we, Forge?”

She stepped ahead of him then, leaving him to wonder how in touch she was with his current feelings. Or were her words a hint of what was coming? As she pushed the doors open, he followed her into the conference room and took one of the few remaining chairs.

As Forge moved to speak, a man at the end of the table raised his hand and cut him off. The man sported a dark blazer over a charcoal grey t-shirt, and the faded decaling of the t-shirt barely showed through the part in the coat. “Dispensing with formalities for a moment and moving around the room – Gabrielle Haller, Israeli ambassador on mutant affairs – Forge, mutant inventor and former spook – Dr. Valerie Cooper, U.S. liaison on mutant affairs – and I am Lucian Venaux, known as Mr. Subtle. We’re here to talk about the Deep Flagwatch program and its recent revelation. More so, we’re here to collect the pieces and work quickly, so let’s hold back on all irrelevant questions and try to keep ourselves focused. Shall we?”

Seated to his left, Forge noticed that Val refrained from meeting his gaze. Maybe she felt guilty about X-Factor, maybe it was something else, but whatever the cause, the blond woman kept her attentions focused on Subtle as she spoke, “Are we fully surfaced, or do we have time to put backup plans in motion?”

“I was in Washington State until early this morning. One of our seeded individuals slipped the noose of external watch programs,” Venaux replied. “All clues point toward the chaperone as initiate. She’s currently in debriefing but does not appear forthcoming with satisfactory answers. It’s also been indicated that she had contact with an outside source, suggesting this outsider was making a move at collecting the children. Whatever the case, she thought it more prudent to take the child’s life rather than leave it to chance or turn him over to our custody.”

Forge raised his hand. “What children?”

“Please, we don’t have time to backtrack…”

“Then we don’t have time to argue about it, either. I’m here for a reason, and unless you want to work without me, then you need to bring me up-to-speed.”

A deep scowl settled into Subtle’s features, and he locked gazes with Forge, voicing his discontent silently. When Forge refused to back down, the other man closed his eyes and shook his head. “Fine. Years ago, as you know, the X-Men were involved in the liberation of the Genoshan continent, particularly the enslaved mutant population. The mutate process was never quite reversible, despite the best attempts of our scientists to understand and perfect it. What you don’t know is that David Moreau – also known as the Genegineer – was in deep development of an expanded mutate procedure, one which identified potential mutants at birth and bonded them immediately.

“When the United Nations peacekeeping forces arrived on Genosha and began the clean-up process, they found an underground nativity with several test subjects. These children were all between the ages of six to ten years, and they were hooked to feeding and waste removal machinery, educated through virtual reality reprogramming to give them false memory engrams, and monitored for the manifestation of their mutant genes. The remainder of the lab was completely ransacked, and most of the evidence was destroyed, save for the test subjects and a scattering of notes.”

Subtle paused there, allowing a moment for recognition to set in. Forge watched as the man glanced around the room, gauging reactions from his audience, and then continued, “The notes were not enough to reverse the process and not enough to know the full extent of the Genegineer’s intentions with the project. It’s been surmised that the children were the first attempt by the Genoshan government to develop superhuman sleeper cells, mutants it could place within a targeted area for mass destruction. Of course, none of that has been proven as the first test subjects were still in full remission.”

Turning on Val, Forge asked, “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this? I was there with the X-Men. I should have been included.”

A slight wince of apology broke across Val’s face, but it was Subtle that answered. “The U.N. kept the entire thing strictly hush-hush, because they did not want to incite an international panic. We didn’t know if these weapons were already seeded in other countries, and we certainly didn’t want to start a witch hunt. It was decided that the children would be taken into U.N. custody and raised in compliance with their faked memories. Chaperones were interviewed from various government entities worldwide, and the children were allowed to live seemingly normal lives -- under close monitoring, of course.”

“So why bring me in now?”

“As I mentioned, someone or something is moving against these children. That’s led us to believe that their programming cycle is nearing an end. We need to mobilize and bring in the strays immediately. As for you, Mr. Forge, I was led to believe that you were well-versed in discretion and mutant affairs, but you’re not currently showing allegiance to any of the known mutant camps. Once the children are here, I need you to help us understand what is becoming of them, and if possible, how to shut it off.”

“You want me to finish what the Genegineer started?”

Mr. Subtle shook his head. “I want you to give these children their lives back. Dr. Haller has agreed to education and integration of these students into a generalized population, with their powers activated. I understand that you might be an invaluable resource in this as well. Do you disagree?”

This was all a lot to process at once. Forge closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it back out slowly. “Assuming I do agree to this offer, how are we supposed to keep this quiet? I mean, I’m right in thinking you want to continue this as a secret.”

This time, Val piped in, “Xavier’s people wouldn’t understand why we sat on this for so long, and I’m sure that they would want to train the mutants themselves. On the other end of the equation, we’ve knowingly held Genoshan citizens in custody for years, unbeknownst to any of the Genoshan regimes. If Magneto learned of this…”

She didn’t need to finish her sentence. Forge was already shaking his head in disbelief as the words ‘International Incident’ rolled through his mind. “Then your problem lies in their manifestation. Once that happens, all bets are off the table. The X-Men will have a means of locating them, and I’d be extremely surprised if Magneto remained ignorant. What do you plan to do then?”

“We’re not yet worried about that possibility. Dr. Cooper indicated that the two of you knew a place in France that would be ideal for the operation…” Subtle said, leaving the sentence open to interpretation.

And Forge knew exactly where he meant. With a nod, he agreed. “So, collecting these kids? How far along are we?”

“Aside from the child lost in Washington, there’s one other that’s fallen off the grid. I’ve scrambled personnel – including local law enforcement – to begin bringing in the rest of the subjects.”

Hanging her head low, Gabrielle Haller rejoined the conversation and said, “Let us hope, for the sake of these children, that we are not too late.”