"George Washington Bridge was killed in a mugging," Fury said to Wisdom as they walked down the banks of the Seine. "Problem is I can't investigate it too much, which is why I've called you in." He blew cigar smoke in to the air. "This isn't a SHIELD operation."

"Walking with me's a bad move then," Wisdom said, matching the smoke of the cigar with that of a cigarette.

"You quit, remember? I'm here collecting the body of a friend. Find out what happened, Pete."

"Why can't SHIELD get in to this?" Fury looked about and moved in closer, speaking in an almost whisper.

"He was investigating the Byron Agency, unofficially." Wisdom nodded. The Agency had a big voice, especially in the areas that SHIELD needed to keep their noses clear while the system was under review. "The official line is he was mugged, resisted and was stabbed by another assailant. The coroner confirms it and we've no evidence to say otherwise. France has been a bit overwhelmed with this kind of thing since the Avatars attacked. I just don't believe it went down like they say."

"And I owe you a favour?" Fury gave a slight nod. "Guess I'm on my own too? X-Force…"

"I disbanded it after you quit, pending the review. There is no X-Force, not any more."

"Figures." Wisdom flicked his tab in to the waters of the river. "I'll sort it."

"One other thing," Fury said. "You might want to look up an old friend or two, while you're here."

"I don't know anyone in Paris," Wisdom started, and then he remembered. "Oh yeah…" Fury however had faded in to the shadows and Wisdom pulled out his cell. "Sarah, it's me. I'm on my way back to the hotel. What? I'll let you know when I get back. Let's just say we're going to go and find some more friends of mine."

"This isn't good," Lydia Del Ruiz said as she strained at the chains that fastened her in the cell. They didn't move an inch. "David, any luck?"

David North shrugged. He was in the same boat, in a cell at the other side of her and they could just about see each other through a small window. "You know we're never going to live this down, if they find us?"

"If they're looking for us," said Lydia. "But I hope someone is."

Not so long ago, Lydia had quit SHIELD and X-Force and headed to Paris to find her family, to see what had happened in the aftermath of the Avatar attacks. She and Pete had been having difficulties because of his relationship with Kitty, or Kate, or whatever name she was going by at the moment and it had been easy to walk away. Maverick had joined her because he too was having difficulties in dealing with Kitty and Pete. The miscarriage hadn't helped, but she would have aborted it anyway and while he'd been supportive and understanding, he'd realised she was never going to feel for him the way he felt for her, so he'd tagged along. However, it wasn't long after they got to Paris that their troubles started.

The place where Lydia's family had supposedly been was gone, gone as if it had never existed. There was no trace of the house, or of there ever being one there. This wasn't part of what had happened, it had simply been taken away and Lydia had felt a chill go down her. North was a bit more cynical about things and had seen operations before where whole cities had been faked - yes, it took money and manpower, but it was doable and there was an old familiar feeling to it. Afterwards they spent a great deal of time asking what had happened, but nobody had answers or even remembered Lydia's family. It was certainly suspicious, but there was nothing they could do, nothing they could find. Lydia was a trained detective, but there were no clues, not pattern. Maverick was an ex-spook and had seen a lot, but even he was close to calling in help. The one thing they hadn't wanted to do was call in X-Force, but it was looking like they had no choice until they found a coin

It had been left half embedded in the mud. Maverick's faceplate scanners had noticed it and, on further examination, it wasn't a French coin or a Euro. It was a Japanese Yen. There had been no explanation for that being here at all, other than someone had dropped it, but before they'd had chance to do anything, six black clad agents had appeared as if from nowhere and attacked them. It was swift and well executed and the former SHIELD agents hadn't lasted too long, even though they'd done some damage themselves. When they had come around they had found themselves in here. A guard brought them meals and their chains would be loosened to allow them to eat, but not to get too far away. They'd been here three or four weeks now, but it felt longer. Much longer and in truth they were guessing how long they'd been there.

Every other day they were hosed down, to clear off the bodily wastes and stench. Their clothing was down to rags, and they were a mess, Maverick's missing eye causing him pain, due to an infection of some kind, but it was as if they were being kept alive simply for the sake of keeping them alive. Nobody asked them questions, nobody came in to other than to feed them and clean them with a pressure hose. There was no sense of time down here, no sense of anything other than the two of them, trapped in separate cells.

"Lydia…" he said.

"Don't," she answered, knowing what they were going to talk about. They'd had this chat before.

"We've been down here a long time, and not once have you mentioned him."

"I'm not listening," she snapped. "I'm not."

"Neither of us have our powers," he said. "Our energy reserves are too low. Marcus isn't powerful enough to pick us up from here, even if he was listening. It's good odds that we're going to be here a long time, maybe a lifetime. Why did you leave Pete?"

"Because he didn't love me, all right?" she said, her voice was bitter and ragged. "He only ever loved her. That was all that mattered to him." The silence echoed all around them. "If it didn't, he'd have come after us, after me. He didn't. He doesn't even know we're missing."

"Okay, this is weird," said Pete as he and Sarah looked at where Lydia's family had reportedly been.

"So what was the deal between the two of you?" she asked as she rested, leant back on the car.

"I fell in love with her, and Kitty Prdye kept getting in the way. She had enough and took off." He looked at her. "Don't look at me like that, Sar."

"Kitty bloody Pryde. You quit Black Air for her, the vapid piece of jail-bait. Any woman would look good in the tight spandex things she used to wear. 'I used to be an X-Man, I'm so wonderful'. What the hell did you see in her?"

"I think the spandex told it all," said Pete. "That and she saved my life a few times."

"Hell of a reward you gave her. I tell you what, it's a bloody good job she was past the age of consent. What you two were up to would have been illegal most places."

"It's not like she didn't know what she was doing," he muttered. "Sex ed seemed to be a big thing at Xavier's, from all accounts. Anyway, she dumped me."

"Kitty or Lydia?"

He glared at her in frustration. There weren't many people who could push his buttons like this. "Both, do you mind? I'm trying to figure out what's going on here and you're sniping about Kitty…."

"Open you eyes, think basic training, you berk," Sarah said, calmly, still the mentor to the student. "It's not that long ago. Look around."

"What do you mean?" he said and she nodded in the direction of the trees in the distance. Two tall trees were bent, angled behind a small one and looked like something. "Rabbit's Ears. What the hell are they doing here, I though they were in Dorset?"

"Training bases across the world," Sarah said. "Unless it's an amazing coincidence, the Rabbit's Ears are a good sign that this was a Black Air safehouse."

"Lydia's aunt was Black Air?" he said. "That makes no sense. Unless…"

"This is a Black Air op," said Sarah. "I know the hallmarks, but for it to happen in such a short space of time… Black Air are active, Pete. I told you they were after me." Pete shook his head.

"I made sure of it myself. Black Air was ruined, and…I might have maybe used SHIELD resources to keep them gone."

"Then someone's built them back up from the ashes," said Sarah. "Black Air is back, and they've got your friends. I think you pissed them off."

"Oh, bollocks," Pete sighed. "So much for time off."

"What's the plan then?" Sarah said, taking a cigarette out, which Pete swiped from her and she took out another.

"Why do I have to have the plan?" he asked as he lit it.

She shrugged. "Because."

"Fine, we're heading back to Paris. I've a little job for you."

"What?"

"Breaking in to police headquarters, stealing all the files they have on GW Bridge's murder, and meeting me back at the hotel."

She raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to be doing what?" He smiled and blew smoke in to the air.

"What I do best. I'm going to shake the tree a little and see what falls out."

Sean Cassidy sighed. Recent events involving the X-Men had not been easy for him, but he'd done what was needed, what he had to do. The Agency had managed to take copies of the Xavier Protocols, even if they couldn't crack the codes, and he knew that the data was incomplete, fragmented. It would provide clues, not solutions, and until they broke the encryptions they had no clue as to what the clues could be. The Agency had figured that there may be security back-ups that erased the data in case of a failed hack. Banshee had worked with Forge long enough to know how sneaky the man could be. However things had worked rather well. The X-Men thought they had recovered the Protocols, they had no leads on the Agency, and aside from the fact they knew he was now opposed to them and what they did, and the fact they had lost the X-Men they'd held captive, it had been a rather good success, aside from being taken down with relative ease - a valid reason for why they needed to recover the Protocols and file them away with the other special information they had gathered over the years. Other technicians were working on the Protocols now and they would find the secrets out eventually. The only real failing was the situation with Helena Weaver, however the Hierarchy were not concerned, for there were always ways and for now they needed him to do what he did best - solve problems. Government no longer truly governed, business no longer worked at solving the problems of the world, armies were ineffective in this new global environment. That was where the Byron Agency came in, slowly working, manipulating and controlling things to ensure that things did not get out of hand, or if they did they would step in and take control, but that would only happen if they failed to stop things getting that far.

It involved making hard choices, removing people from the field of play, sometimes permanently. Once he would have found that a problem, but Sean had grown colder, harder, over the last few years and the Byron Agency had offered him a chance to make some real changes. While it was not necessarily true, the heroes of the world were no longer in control either. The X-Men had never been the same since the death of Xavier, rolling from one extra-ordinary crisis to the next. Apocalypse, then the Shadow King, then Apollyon… Such large scale conflicts and while their foes had been defeated, the Agency had to wonder what kind of toll it was taking on them. Then you had the Avengers, shades of their former selves - where was the heroics that had gone on when Captain America, Iron Man, Giant Man, Scarlet Witch, Thor and the rest of what could considered to be Earth's Mightiest Heroes? The new breed were fine Avengers, perfect perhaps for this era, but not of the calibre of their predecessors. The Fantastic Four endured as always, but they had gone such changes. Reed had been incapacitated and while he was recovering there were still upheavals. The groups that everyone looked to were not what they were. Heroes changed allegiances, slipping to the dark side, no wonder people were afraid. Even SHIELD had fallen from grace, and was now in the hands of the puppet masters of the United Nations, and all the while, the darker underbelly of society went untouched. The theory behind Excalibur was good, but the practice flawed, Alpha Flight concerned themselves with Canadian matters, and where did Canada fit in the attention of the world? Sean knew the truth - there were no heroes anymore, the heroic age had passed them by leaving this dark age of fear, of hatred, of suspicion. He would not allow that. The Byron Agency would not allow that, and they would maintain order by whatever means needed. They needed to be strong for when the line eventually fell and the Byron Agency would pick up the pieces. Sean sighed, thinking that his recent actions were also more in line with those of a villain than a hero.

The Irishman regretted the death of Bridge, but the truth of the Byron Agency would help nobody. They had worked long and hard to get to the position they were in, and to have it all revealed now was not an option. Not until after… He smiled and shook his head. He still allowed himself moments of weakness. That's why he hadn't had the two former X-Force agents killed. He'd keep them alive, but no more than that, out of respect for Terry. They were her friends, and he didn't want to cause her any more pain. Plus their deaths would bring more trouble than it was worth, but not from their former employers. Steps had been taken to remove SHIELD as a threat.

"Sir," said one of his operatives. "We have a problem." He looked at him, the glance saying 'go on' better than words. "Wisdom is in Paris. He's investigating Bridge's death, aside from the SHIELD investigation."

"I didn't think they knew each other," Sean mused. "I don't remember reading that they had come face to face in the meetings between X-Force and Excalibur." He shrugged it off. "Doesn't matter, he won't be able to prove anything. We sorted it all out."

"Yes sir, but there's something else - he's also investigating the disappearance of Del Ruiz and North." Cassidy clenched his fist. A conflict with Wisdom had been inevitable, but he was in danger of making a nuisance.

"Ready my jet, I'll see to this personally." He would call the Hierarchy and let them know that they would have to take measures sooner rather than later. Wisdom was just one man - he couldn't take on the Byron Agency and thanks to this review, SHIELD would have no jurisdiction over them and he knew he would have no small amount of pleasure informing them of that, but first he had to deal with Wisdom. If he wanted to see his friends that badly, they could certainly arrange that.

In fact, Fury was in Paris claiming Bridge's body and Sean knew that he could kill two birds with one stone.

Wisdom knew of only one Black Air base of operations in Paris, and that had long since been closed, allegedly. However if Sarah was right, and there was no real reason she wasn't, then someone had taken over from Black Air, continuing where they had left off and Pete wasn't amused. He wasn't surprised he'd missed it, given the amount of people who thought capturing him and trying to brainwash him was a good idea, but he'd have thought he'd have seen something. There was no doubt about it, really, he was getting older and maybe he wasn't quite as on top of his game as he'd used to be.

However, he was also a man on a mission. He still loved Lydia and he'd not treated her right, he knew that. Kitty's pregnancy had messed with him and stirred up feelings he'd thought he had moved past. Lydia had left him, there wasn't much more to say than that, but he was damned if anyone else was going to use the people he cared about against him. First Romany, now Lydia.

"No more," he promised as he entered the small bar, formerly run by Monsieur Alfonse, and his name was still over the door. It was a good sign that this was still Black Air based. It was a seedy dive, but he also knew that underneath it, through the cellars, there had been a rather hi-tech operation, He cautiously approached the bar, knowing that if they were watching they'd know he was here. "Bonjour, Monsieur. Je cherche Ernest Leclerc."

"Non." The man looked away.

"The hard way, then," Pete said, ditching the dodgy language skills, and he grabbed the man and rammed his face in to the bar three times. "Ernest Leclerc, or his successor. Now." There was some movement behind him and he moved just out of the way as a chair was swung at him, catching the barman as it swung and Wisdom used the momentum of the swing to throw the attacked over the bar as well. There were four others, ready and waiting for him and he cracked his knuckles. Now he was having fun.

Sarah was at their hotel when Pete sauntered through the door in to her room, his coat slung over his shoulder and a very relaxed aura surrounded him, signified by the wide grin.

"Someone had a good time," she said and he nodded. "Who'd you kill?"

"Didn't kill anyone," he said, flopping down on the bed. "But I got a damn good workout."

"Alfonse's?" He nodded. "Was he there?" He shook his head. "Why the grin?"

"Because I just beat up six former Black Air agents, used their security clearance to get in to the basement and downloaded their files pertaining to Paris operations in the last year."

"Year?" she said.

"I'd have got more, but it wasn't the Black Air mainframe," he said. "At least not the one I knew. I could only get summaries, but they've been very busy, from the look of it too." Then he looked at her. "How'd you do?"

"Bridge was murdered," she said, "but not in a mugging. The injury's not consistent. However the investigation was halted by the Interior Minister himself."

He sat up. "Really? That's interesting, he's not supposed to do that. It's outside the remit of the Ministry. It say why?"

She shook her head. "Had to dig a lot to find that. We're going to have to break in the Ministry if we want to find out more."

Pete's relaxed aura was pretty much gone now. "This is getting serious," he said. "I can see why SHIELD couldn't get involved, even if they'd wanted to. First things first though, we're heading for Lyons."

"Lyons? Why?"

"Because that's where the Black Air's detention area is. If we're breaking in to a French government office, we're going to need help."

The next morning they headed out of Paris towards Lyons, neither of them noticing that they were being watched from the roof of their hotel.

"Targets are moving out," he reported.

"Good," said the Irishman, from the comfort of the Byron Agency offices. "We may not have been able to stop him getting the files, but we limited his access. Good work" Sean hung up as he looked out of the window, towards the Eiffel Tower in the distance and he pressed another button, putting him through to the Detention facilities. "Wisdom and Bane are on their way, so make sure both of them get the welcome they deserve. They're probably expecting trouble, so try not to kill them, if you can help it. I'll be on my way as soon as I've spoken with the SHIELD Director."

"Yes sir," came the reply, but Sean had hung up before the sentence was finished and he took a sip of the coffee on his desk, then he straightened his tie and headed towards the door, feeling a little sorry for the two people heading right where he wanted them to be, but it wasn't personal.

It was just business.