[Plot] Bear Handler

[Will Stanton]

A day or two after being brought in, and being attended to by doctors poking and prodding, the Ghost Hawk would get a knock on her door, and a green-haired man in a brown sweater and tan slacks came in.

"Good morning," he said, with a professional smile.

[Byrna Cooper]

”Are you from the Symkarian embassy?” she asked in the standard Slavic dialect, curtly.

[Will Stanton]

"I'm afraid I don't speak Symkarian, Miss...

What would you like me to call you?" Will said, maintaining that neutral smile.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear frowned, after a moment.

“My name is Perlot Ursala Steeloux, and I am a citizen and resident of Symkaria. I wish to speak to a representative of the Symkarian Embassy in London.”

[Will Stanton]

"And you will, Miss...Steeloux," Will said, with a slight hitch in his voice. "We're getting that arranged, though there are some complications.

For starters, attempting to kill the next in line to the throne does tend to dampen diplomatic ties."

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear gave a momentary look of incredulousness, before continuing.

“You know my name. May I ask of yours?”

[Will Stanton]

"Stanton. Will Stanton. I work for the university," Will said, watching Bear carefully to see if she reacted to the name.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear did not react to the name.

“Regardless of what happened in Symkaria, Will Stanton, I have been removed against my will from within its lands. Kidnapping and unlawful detainment across international borders is horrific. And unless you wish to equate your Mutant School to the worst excesses of the United States, you will resolve this.”

[Will Stanton]

"Well, there's the rub, Ms. Steeloux," Will continued. "You claim to be Symkarian, in which case, you can consider your presence here coming at the behest of your royal sovereign, who surprisingly enough appears to be a student here.

You also may wish to bring up your transportation with the dictator of Latveria, while we're at it."

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear laughed at that.

“I sincerely doubt that Victor Von Doom was involved in an internal Symkarian dispute, and absconded with me to Britain. No, I’m sure one of your children teleported me here, no doubt a friend of the Golden Debutante.”

She then fixed a death gaze at Will.

“And don’t ever make the mistake of calling her my royal sovereign to my face again.”

[Will Stanton]

"I'm fairly sure Victor von Doom is involved in everything, from internal Symkarian disputes to the introduction of replay in major league baseball, but that's neither here nor there," Will said, flatly.

"You have, erm, issues with Miss Karkov, then?" Will said, still treading ground cautiously.

[Byrna Cooper]

“She and her family have been monsters for over a generation, terrorizing my country! Surely even that much has been covered by your corporate overlord media!”

Bear was slightly agitated. Just slightly.

[Will Stanton]

"Terrorizing your country. Could you go into that? How much do you remember about that. Say, their reign during your childhood, perhaps," Will said, trying to slowly probe 'Perlot' to ascertain the depth of her...well, brainwashing, or whatever this was.

[Byrna Cooper]

“You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Love for me to titillate you with the stories of starvation in the center of the capital? Carefully preparing every move and word you spoke? Watching as your sister was detained by plainclothed men wearing the Karkov shield on their lapel, and never seen again? You are sick.”

[Will Stanton]

"So, you're claiming you were born and raised in Symkaria, then? That is your story?" Will frowned.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear blinked with a look of incredulousness.

“Are you serious, mutant? Is that a serious question?”

[Will Stanton]

Will pulled out a folder from his pile, and opened it in front of "Perloe". Inside were the school pictures of Byrna Cooper; her student ID and several of her entrance forms.

"Do you recognize this woman?"

[Byrna Cooper]

“Yes, of course. That’s me. I don’t recognize this false identity you’ve attached my picture to, however.”

[Will Stanton]

"This is Byrna Cooper. Bear," Will said, slowly, going through the pictures. "She was a freshman here at Xaviers University.

She disappeared a few months ago," he said, looking "Perlot" in the eyes. "Just before the first sighting we can find of you."

[Byrna Cooper]

“I must admit, you do have a lovely campus here. Especially all the Victorian touches..”

She leaned in closer.

“The gaslighting is exquisite.”

[Will Stanton]

"Your blood type matches. Your fingerprints match," Will continued, ignoring the joke. "Your X-Gene matches. We..."

He paused. "We believe you were travelling across Europe, and were abducted. And were subject to...well, rather intense brainwashing and reprogramming."

[Byrna Cooper]

“Oh, I’m a mutant now? That’s news to me! What do I do? Shoot lasers out of my ass?”

[Will Stanton]

"Secondary mutations are always possible," Will deadpanned. "But no. You have...I believe it's called kinesthetic telekinesis. Accuracy, joint structure, eye sight -- all optimized to give you a superhuman degree of accuracy and distance when you throw things."

[Byrna Cooper]

“Wow, fire your identity writer. You could have at least given me a cool power, like flying or shapeshifting.”

[Will Stanton]

"Sorry, those have been reserved for those of us with just a tad less snark," Will said, with a bit of a forced laugh.

"I know you don't believe me. Yet. It's going to take some time."

[Byrna Cooper]

“So, I infer you intend to imprison me here for the foreseeable future, rather than respecting international law and returning me to my home?”

Bear crossed her arms, as much as the restraints allowed.

[Will Stanton]

"Well, there's a couple possibilities, here.

Either you are home, and we're going to do everything we can to help you remember that. Or you an international assassin, and we'll be turning you over to the Symkarian authorities."

[Byrna Cooper]

“Yes. As stated, I insist on the latter.”

[Will Stanton]

Will frowned. "We're going to have you speak to some counselors first. If you...if you are Byrna Cooper, sentencing you to to life...or worse...in some Symkarian pit is a wee bit of a dereliction of our duties."

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear gave him a steely gaze.

“Do whatever your mutant brain prefers. I am your prisoner, for the moment. I have been stripped of my dignity, my clothing, and my equipment. But sooner or later, we both know I will return to my homeland.”

[Will Stanton]

"Your brain is a mutant brain too," Will said, quietly. "Whether you realize it or not."

[Byrna Cooper]

“Still gaslighting. That doesn’t speak well of your kind, you realize.”

[Will Stanton]

"You've been hurt. I'm going to schedule you time to talk to some of our psychically inclined people here. They can help you prove what you're saying...or what I'm saying."

[Byrna Cooper]

“… Very well. Do what you must. I will be waiting.”

[Will Stanton]

_____________________

A few days later, another knock on Bear's door preceded the entrance of a green-haired nurse, wearing white scrubs, wearing a nurse's hat and carrying a clipboard. How many green-haired people did this hospital have working for them?

"Knock knock!" she said. "And how are we this morning?"

[Byrna Cooper]

“Still being held against my will, with no contact with representatives from my homeland! You?”

Bear returned whatever expression the nurse had back at her, sarcastically.

[Miriam Bell]

"Wow, what a peachy patient you have there." Miriam notes as she follows the nurse inside.

[Byrna Cooper]

“Oh, there are two of you now. Is this where we move onto the next phase of my imprisonment? A little good cop, bad cop, perhaps?”

Bear sat up, as much as her restraints would allow.

[Will Stanton]

"The next phase of your treatment, yes," Will said, leaning over to check Bear's vitals. "The Symkarian embassy is a liiiitle busy at the moment, and talking to people who may have sparked a civil war isn't particularly high on their list of priorities, especially when instructed otherwise by their princess, so I figured we'd just go ahead and see what we could do for you here, y'hear?" the green-haired nurse smiled.

[Byrna Cooper]

Bear was definitely on the mend. Most of the sutures were clear, and her bruises were starting to fade. In a few more weeks, there would be little more than a few awesome scars. The confinement was not doing well for her muscle tone, however.

“We are doing this the hard way, hmm? Very well.”