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The Life of Valor (Grave x Kat)

Jessica blinked in surprise when she saw the little girl, having to bite back a protest of bringing a child with them, knowing they weren't in her world anymore and not all logic worked the same. She smiled kindly to Julie and introduced herself as they shook hands. She then nodded and asked. "Is there anything else we need to do in preparation?"
 
Yvette looked at Jessica and shook her head.
"No, that's all you need to know for now. Once you successfully isolate Blood Wolf's location, take Julie back here. Then you can go on to confront him."
She made a gesture for them to follow her, and led them deeper into the facility. After passing through the records room, they were in an aircraft hanger where two jets were currently docked.

"During the course of forming a response team, I also acquired a new jet and outfitted it with weaponry. It mainly serves as a way for our team to enter the airspace of a country undetected if needed, but can also defend my operatives if need be."
She walked over to the jet that Scott had used four years ago.
"You'll be taking this one. I'll be flying you to Maine myself."
Using steps on the side, Scott climbed up to the open door and onto the jet with Yvette, Jessica, and Julie right behind him.

Scott sat down in a passenger seat and had watched as Yvette got the jet ready. Once the pre-flight checklist was done, a set of blast doors began to open at the end of the hangar. Once the doors were all the way open, the jet began to rumble to life. As it taxied down the hangar, it began to build up speed. Before it had reached the end of the tarmac, it was in the air. As they ascended higher into the air, Scott relaxed in his seat and prepared for the next stage of their plan.
 
Jessica nodded as Yvette explained there were no more preparations. She then blinked in surprise when she saw the jets and was even more surprised when Yvette said she'd be flying them there. She slowly followed Scott onto the plane and sat in another passenger seat. Once they were in the air she relaxed a little and looked over at Julie. "Thank you for helping us Julie. Have you ever been out of the country before?"
 
Julie looked over at Jessica with a small smile.
"You're welcome. Madame Shadow said that it was really important."
Jessica asked her if she'd ever been out of the country before, and she nodded.
"I'm from Wisconsin, in the United States, and I haven't been at Shadowgreen very long. I thought it would be a whole year before I got to visit home."

Yvette turned to Jessica with a smile.
"As part of Shadow Force, Julie will be going around the world fairly often. It's a good idea for her to get used to it as soon as possible."
Scott nodded, thinking that it was cool that Shadowgreen was forming a team to combat evil. Julie gently swung her legs in her seat, waiting patiently for them to touch down. In the back of her mind, she hoped that she didn't have to see a werewolf like Madame Shadow had described, as they scared her.
 
Jessica nodded and smiled. "I see, you seem very mature for your age to accept such a big job. That's good." She said before settling back in her seat, in the back of her head worrying abut bringing such a young girl into a dangerous situation.
 
Julie appreciated Jessica's kind words, and thought she was very nice. However, her ability to mind-read made her able to see that she feared bringing a child into the situation. She smiled, thinking that it was kind of her to worry about her safety like that. Madame Shadow had been teaching her some self-defense techniques should she be confronted by a threat, including the ability to render an opponent unconscious by tapping into their mind. She had been getting the hang of it, although she would have to prove very proficient before the Shadow Force went on their first actual mission. Though she was nervous about facing danger, Madame Shadow had assured her that her talents were very important and that she would do her best to make sure that she was safe.

About three hours later, the jet touched down at a small airfield in Augusta. There was a black car waiting for them courtesy of the Governor's office, who had been informed of their imminent arrival. Yvette took the front passenger seat while Scott, Jessica, and Julie sat in the back. On the way to the governor's office, Scott turned to Jessica.
"Have you ever been to Augusta?"
He looked out the window, getting a feel for the place on the way there.
 
Scott nodded.
"Ah, I see."
The car pulled up in front of the government building, and Yvette turned to them.
"Wait here. I'll head inside and take care of business."
She stepped out of the car and headed inside, carrying the important papers in a satchel with her.

She approached the desk, where a pretty young blonde secretary was typing on a computer. When she saw Yvette approaching, she turned and gave her a friendly smile.
"Hi there. May I help you?"
"I need to see Governor LePage, please?"
"Do you have an appointment?"

Yvette showed her documents stamped with the official seal of the United States government.
"I do. I have official papers here from the government for the governor to see and sign."
The receptionist was a bit surprised, but picked up the phone to let the governor know that she was there. After some brief conversation, she set the phone back in the cradle.
"The governor will see you now."

Yvette nodded and went inside to speak with Governor LePage. She handed him the papers, and he read over them before signing where he needed to sign.
"I can't say I'm too fond of having mutants running around my city, but these papers assure me that this is the best course of action. Just don't cause any trouble, or I'll have all of you thrown in jail."
Yvette found Governor LePage's prejudice distasteful, but she was used to it, and took his words in stride.
"We will go about our business as best we can."

Yvette left the Governor's office and got back into the car. After putting the satchel in the passenger seat, she placed her arm on the center console and looked back at them.
"Jessica, can you please give me directions to the hospital?"
When they arrived, she would use her official papers to get in to see the patient, so that Julie could do what she could to help track down Blood Wolf.
 
Jessica waited for Yvette while she was speaking with the governor then nodded and directed her to the hospital. Once they got there she followed the group silently, walking into the patient's room.
 
Yvette entered the hospital with Scott and the others after they arrived thanks to Jessica's directions. She showed the official government papers to hospital staff, which gave her access to the patient on official grounds, since they would not be allowed to see the patient on normal grounds. They entered the hospital room of the young woman, who still had some bandages and casts on, but otherwise seemed okay. She seemed confused by the unexpected visit by so many people, and Yvette sat down. Her eyes softened, helping her to trust her and easing the confusion.
"Ms. Marlow, my name is Yvette Duchet, and I would like to talk to you about your incident."

Marlow looked upset to relive the incident, tears forming in her eyes.
"Please...I'd rather not talk about it right now."
Yvette gestured to Julie.
"This little girl has psychic powers. If you permit it, she can use the memories of what that awful man did to you in order to find him and bring him to justice."
Marlow at first was not convinced that Julie had psychic powers, but the serious looks from the others in the group convinced her that they were telling the truth.

"Will it hurt?" she asked finally.
"Physically, no. However, she may experience some discomfort and mild trauma as the images flash through your mind again."
Marlow thought about it for a minute, and then nodded.
"Okay. If it will help keep others from ending up like me, I will do it."

Yvette nodded at Julie, who walked up to the right side of the hospital bed. Since she could not reach Marlow from where she was standing, she climbed into the bed before placing two fingers on each temple. Both Julie and Marlow sucked in deep breaths as the mind-link began. Julie could see a wooded area, and she could feel herself looking around as if she was seeing through Marlow's eyes. As the vision continued, she could see a sign indicating that she was somewhere in Alaska, but unfortunately, the city on the sign was blurred. Her mind link ended just as a vision of Blood Wolf attacking her came into focus.

After the link was broken and they had a few minutes to calm down, Julie turned to Yvette.
"Blood Wolf is somewhere in Alaska."
"Somewhere? You didn't get the name of the town?"
Julie gently shook her head and climbed out of the bed. Yvette turned to Marlow, giving her a gentle smile.

"Thank you for your time and cooperation, Ms. Marlow. We hope that you recover soon and can lead a normal life again."
The group then left the room and were soon sitting in the hospital cafeteria drinking cups of weak coffee.
"Julie's vision gave us a good starting point, but we'll need to narrow the search area down further. If we could meet with other victims of Blood Wolf, Julie could scan their memories and track him down."
With the plan of action decided, the group was to finish their coffee and then head to a hospital in the nearby town, where another victim was being treated.
 
Scott gently took Jessica's hand, giving her a smile. He was glad to have her along for the journey, as it helped keep things from being too serious. Once they had finished their coffee, they went out to the car and began the drive to the nearby town. It was pretty much a repeat of what they had done to see the patient at the last hospital, although the patient that they were visiting this time was a man. When approached with the idea of Julie looking into his memories, he was against the idea. Unfortunately for them, his ordeal had left him with a distrust of those with superpowers.

"Sir, if you just let us search through your memories, we can find the person who did this to you and bring them to justice."
"No way. One of you superpowered freaks already had your way with me, and now you want to go through my mind? How do I know you won't erase my memories or put ideas in my head? No way am I allowing that."
Scott gave Jessica a look, encouraging her to try and talk to him from normal human to normal human.
 
Jessica hesitated before stepping up. "Sir? I understand your worry about this. I didn't even know super human's existed until a few weeks ago... but it would be a huge help to our search for the man behind this if you'd let this little girl search your memories. Scott over here has already saved the world from a terrible threat once, I beg you, don't make him fight an entire army again. If we can find the person behind this we can stop him before his army grows large enough to take over the country."
 
The man looked at Jessica as she spoke, the weight of her words sinking in. She said that Scott had faced a major threat once before, and so he turned his gaze to the only other male in the room. After a few minutes, he began to recognize him from news footage he had seen four years ago.
"You...You were the one that fought the aliens."
"That's right," Scott replied with a nod.
The man looked at each of the women, his facial features beginning to soften.

"These women...They're with you?"
"Yes. I promise that all of them can be counted on and trusted. They are nothing like the evil person that did this to you."
The man lowered his head and thought about it for a few minutes. He then raised his head and looked at Jessica.

"I understand now that you sincerely want to help. I'm sorry for mistrusting you. Whatever I can do to help stop this person, I will."
Madame Shadow nodded.
"Thank you, sir. I promise that the procedure won't hurt a bit."
She nodded at Julie, giving her the go-ahead to begin.

Julie climbed into the hospital bed and placed her hands on both sides of the man's temples. Memories began to flash through her mind, taking her back to Alaska, where Blood Wolf was supposed to be. The same sign that she had not been able to read in the mind of the last victim was now appearing again, and this time, she could make out what it said. The mental connection was severed when the image of a werewolf appeared in their minds, and the man had to take some deep breaths. After he had recovered, Yvette shook his hand.
"Thank you for your cooperation, sir, and I hope you get well soon."

The four of them were back in a hospital cafeteria, and Yvette turned to Julia.
"So, what did you see?"
"From what I could tell, Blood Wolf is somewhere in Whittier, Alaska."
Madame Shadow folded her hands and began to think.
"That's a remote area, so we'll need to return to Shadowgreen and get some equipment before we go searching for him."
The four went outside and were soon in the car heading back to the Shadowgreen jet.
 
Jessica smiled and nodded to the man, thanking him as he apologized and allowed Julie to search his mind. Back in the cafeteria she nodded, clinging a bit to Scott's arm, almost protectively as they rode back to the jet.
 
Scott turned as Jessica clung protectively to his arm. He looked deeply into her eyes, seeing the slight concern.
"It's all going to be okay, babe. We're going to find him and put an end to this."
He held her close to him, doing his best to reassure her. They stayed close together, even on the plane ride back to the Shadowgreen Institute.
 
Scott smiled as Jessica told him that she didn't want him to have to go through fighting armies again.
"Well, being the Protector of the Earth is not an easy job."
He looked into her eyes.
"However, knowing that I have someone special to protect and someone who believes in me makes things easier."
He kissed her cheek and held her close. Being close to her like this was one of his favorite things in the world now.

The jet landed back at Shadowgreen and everyone disembarked to begin outfitting the jet with heat-signature sensing equipment. While Madame Shadow and Julie took care of this, Scott heard someone coming down the elevator. When the door opened, he was surprised to see Shell-Shock dressed in a uniform like Julie's come walking in.
"Oh, hey, Scott. I didn't know you were here already."
Scott was too surprised to answer at first.

"Nick, you're part of Shadow Force?"
"Yep. My big bro and friend Mike also joined on. When Madame Shadow said that we'd have the chance to make a real difference in the world for the unusual, I jumped at the chance. Besides, I can't let you be the big hero all the time, can I?"
Nick turned his attention to Jessica.

"You must be Scott's girlfriend, Jessica. I'm Nick, codename Shell-Shock, and it's nice to meet you."
He shook hands with her.
"So, where are Mike and Richard?" Scott asked.
"They should be here soon. Madame Shadow said something about needing the full team to fight some kind of werewolf army?"

Scott turned to look at Madame Shadow.
"Is that right?" he murmured.
"She just cares about you, is all. I know that you're the big hero and can fight off armies and all that, but we all think that you shouldn't have to fight alone all the time. This time, the Shadow Force will back you up."
Scott nodded, and Nick walked away to talk with Madame Shadow.
 
Jessica blinked in surprise when the man addressed her by name and she shook his hand politely. "O-Oh... nice to meet you." She said softly as she watched him and Scott talk and she looked at Scott confused when Nick walked away. "How did he know my name?"
 
Scott turned to Jessica to answer her question, but before he could, another voice cut in.
"I can answer that one."
It was a baritone voice that Scott recognized well, belonging to Nick's older brother, Richard. The tall man that was built like a bodybuilder came walking in wearing the black Shadow Force uniform. His brown hair was in a buzz cut, but his bright blue eyes softened his otherwise hard military appearance. In contrast next to him was Mike, who was slender and had long, sandy blonde hair with green eyes, looking more like a surfer than an operative, which Scott guessed was appropriate given his powers.

"Everyone who shows up at Shadowgreen is given a security screening. That data goes to our main computer, where all members of the Shadow Force review it. Since we're the first line of defense of Shadowgreen, we have to see potential threats coming before they happen. Given your age, the fact that you arrived with Scott, and your body language, it was easy to deduce that you were his girlfriend. Your name came with your data after the security scan."
Richard began shaking hands with Jessica.

"I'm Richard, codename Rocky. I'm the field commander of Shadow Force, so when it comes to combat operations, I'm the point man. My powers are the ability to cover myself in different kinds of stone and fling anything from pebbles to boulders at my opponent. If my little brother Nick didn't tell you his powers already, he can shoot energy blasts from his body."
Richard let go of her hand and headed over to the jet to assist in the installation. That was when Mike stepped forward to shake her hand and introduce himself.

"I'm Mike, codename Sandstorm. My powers are that I can turn my body completely to sand and merge myself with any kind of natural sand for offense, defense, or camouflage. It's good to meet you."
Mike dropped her hand and went over to join the others. Scott turned to Jessica, a smile on his face.
"It's hard to believe that those guys were once bitter enemies of mine, now that we're working together."

The installation of the equipment was finished, and Yvette waved them over to join in a short briefing before they headed out. Scott put his arm around Jessica's waist and began walking with her.
"I guess we should join in."
They were close now to finding this madman and stopping him, and Jessica would have the chance to avenge her mother.
 
Jessica blinked in surprise at the explanation and shook his hand, nodding in greeting to Richard then Mike. She was still having a hard time having this whole 'meta-human' thing seem real. She nodded to Scott and followed him to the briefing.
 
Once Scott and Jessica joined the briefing, Yvette explained what they were doing.
"Since we're going into a largely uninhabited and snowy wasteland, we'll use our heat-seeking equipment to spot any heat signatures in the area. This will make it possible for us to find Blood Wolf and his cohorts. Since we don't know how many we are dealing with, the entire team will be on hand for this job. We'll be leaving as soon as everyone is ready."
The members of Shadow Force nodded and began boarding the jet.

Scott turned to Jessica.
"Jessica, this could be really dangerous. If you want to stay at the Shadowgreen Institute until I get back, I would be okay with that. We will bring Blood Wolf to justice, and you don't have to be overly concerned about my safety."
As the only one of them without powers, she would be the most at-risk on this mission. He would leave the choice up to her, although he thought he knew her well enough by now that he knew what she would choose.
 
Jessica listened to the briefing and then looked up at Scott, pain in her eyes as this was bringing her so close to her mother's death, but there was also intense determination. "He did that to my mother... I'm going."
 
Scott looked into her eyes, seeing the determination there. Of all of them, she had lost the most personally to Blood Wolf. It was understandable that she would want to see him brought to justice with her own eyes.
"I understand. We'll go together."
Scott walked up the entry ramp with her, feeling very proud of his brave girlfriend.

After everyone was onboard, the entry ramp was retracted and the large blast doors opened. Once it was sufficiently primed, the jet shot out of there, headed as fast as it could go toward Alaska. Scott sat in quiet contemplation, eager to take down the one who had done such great emotional harm to both his girlfriend and his master. A few hours later, they were over Alaska, using their sophisticated equipment to see what was going on in the blizzard.
"Beginning infrared scan now," Yvette said as she pressed a button.
The jet sent out an infrared pulse that scanned everything within fifty miles in all directions that contained a heat signature, sending the data back to the jet.

When that failed to turn up anything besides regular people and animals, they moved ahead another fifty miles north of Whittier. After running the scan again, they got a very unusual reading.
"This kind of reading would usually be from a campfire burning, but the pattern does not indicate a fire. We're going to have to go five miles to the east."
After doing so, they repeated the scan and discovered that the source was coming from within an abandoned mine.
"It seems that this creepy abandoned mine is the lair of our enemy."

The jet landed a mile west of the mine, and everyone was made to disembark after putting on special winter uniforms. The uniforms went on over their regular clothes, so none of the women had to disrobe in front of the men. They exited the jet into the blizzard, and Scott was thankful for the goggles he was wearing. They plodded through the deepening snow at a snail's pace, but eventually reached the mine and were able to shed their gear, which would only hamper them in a fight.
"We have no idea how many enemies we are looking at facing," Yvette began, "so be very cautious."
Scott quickly put on his armor in sections and had Valor keep a proximity scan up as they moved through the mine, which had to have been abandoned for at least one hundred years.
 
Jessica probably struggled the most in the deep snow, even Julie did better than her though she was smaller, must have been her lack of training. She clung to the back of Scott's jacket with her fumbling gloved fingers as they walked and finally made it to the entrance to the mine. She removed her outer-wear and was soon shivering in the blizzard. She nodded and stuck close to Scott as they prepared to enter.
 
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