"What the hell was that?" Victor Reilly asked, rubbing his eyes.
"That was cool..." Tommy Foxe said to nobody in particular, taking in his new surroundings.
"What the hell was what?" Icarus Sidewinder replied.
"That. When everything went white and now we're somewhere else and that's weird."
"Oh... that's Paragon's patented subsomething inducers," Icarus explained. "They teleport."
"As was explained to me. But I didn't know everything would get so... white. And who the hell is that?" Reilly asked, pointing. Icarus followed his finger and found himself face to face with Grissom Montag.
"That..." Drake Marshall said, turning to face Reilly and Icarus, "...is Grissom Montag." Marshall and Montag shook hands. Montag looked over Marshall's shoulder and found some guy they didn't know standing there.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?" Montag asked.
The man shrugged. "Jeff. What's up?"
"...not a lot."
Montag smiled when he turned to face Adem.
"Adem. Hey," Grissom said, and held out a hand.
"It's good to see you, Grissom," Adem said, shaking Montag's offered hand.
"You too, Adem."
"So, wait..." Reilly whispered. "Those guys already know this guy?"
"Yeah. Drake, Ozzy and Adem used to be members of Vanguard International before Paragon hired them," Icarus answered.
"Not you, though?"
"Me? No. I don't like the tropics. Too humid."
Lykopis walked forward towards Grissom.
"You are Montag?" She asked.
"That's me, love."
"I am Lykopis. Drake has mentioned you. Do not call me 'love'."
"...right. Well... you're every bit as tall as Drake described," Grissom said. A moment of silence passed wherein Icarus giggled slightly and Gaunt coughed.
"So... we should do introductions, then," Grissom said, stepping aside and gesturing out of his study. He and Drake walked alongside each other through the hallway and towards the loungeroom that Grissom usually shared with Brianna, but now housed all of Vanguard International.
Drake entered the room to find himself facing Brianna, Bruteforce, Robo Squirrel, Grimm, Tiberius and Phil Smith.
"This..." Grissom said, his arm outstretched, "Is Vanguard International."
"Vanguard International?" Reilly asked.
"Yes."
"Doesn't international law confine you to this island?" Reilly said. Nobody from VI said anything for a moment.
"This is one of those 'shut up, Victor' moments, isn't it?" Reilly asked, turning to Icarus, who nodded. Reilly shrugged.
"I get those a lot," Icarus said.
Robo Squirrel shot up from his place hovering behind the couch, and circled the room above the heads of Vanguard Europe.
"GAH! What the hell is that?" Drake exclaimed, ducking as Robo Squirrel zoomed above his head.
Robo Squirrel beeped loudly. "New arrivals registered. Should Robo Squirrel scan for weapons?" Robo Squirrel asked.
"Never mind, Robo Squirrel," Banshee said.
"I repeat. Gah, what the hell is that?" Drake asked.
"That," Grissom said, sighing slightly, "Is Robo Squirrel."
"You have a robotic squirrel on your roster?" Edmond Gaunt asked, one eyebrow raised.
"Yes! Yes we do! What of it?" Bruteforce asked.
"Nothing..." Gaunt replied, turning away and taking in the rest of the room.
Drake stepped forward with his arms outstretched. "Brianna! It's good to see you again." The two ex-teammates hugged, then Drake turned. "Grimm! You're back."
"We're not hugging," Grimm said, and Drake laughed.
Icarus picked up a framed photo of Grissom and Brianna on the beach from the mantelpiece next to him. He smirked, and showed it to Reilly as the former members of Vanguard International caught up with their old teammates.
"Where's Danny? And Ed? And Mason?" Some guy named Jeff asked, excitedly.
"Ed and Mason left, for reasons of their own," Grissom explained. "How the hell do you know them, anyway?"
Jeff shrugged again. "I read their Wikipedia entry."
"And Danny?" Adem asked.
Nobody from VI said anything for a moment, simply sharing uncomfortable glances amongst themselves.
"Hal... you remember Hal?" Brianna asked. Drake nodded, so she kept going. "Hal possessed Danny. Took over his body and his powers. He turned against the rest of us, trying to take DNA samples and then destroy the team. The headquarters was ruined in the fight and then when we beat Hal and Danny came back... he left."
Brianna hung her head as her voice became a little choked up at the end of the story.
Drake paused for a moment before he replied. "...oh," Was all he said.
"Introductions, then?" Drake said, as Grissom sat down next to Brianna and held her hand. "This is..."
Drake was cut off by Grissom. "Don't worry about it. We can skip the verbal introductions. Phil?"
"Hmm? Oh, right," Phil Smith said, still sitting on the arm of the couch. Suddenly, every member of both teams was mentally introduced to every other. Names and powers were instantly known.
"Right. Done," Phil said.
"Hey! Cut that shit out!" Icarus said.
"What?" Phil asked.
"Stay out of my head," Icarus said, his arm pointed across the room.
"Fine," Phil said, shrugging. "I doubt there's much in there that would interest me..."
"Should we compare our notes on the crime scenes?" Brianna said, standing up.
The first thing Victor Reilly thought when she spoke was: Take out the throat first. Disable her ability to fight back. Then take out the wings so she can't retreat. Then she's as defenseless as anyone else.
He shook the thought from his head.
Grissom followed Brianna up as she got a folder from their desk drawer.
Reilly realised that one would have to catch Grissom by surprise, before he had a chance to teleport himself anything useful, to have a chance to kill him.
These thoughts brought him no joy. But he had them anyway. He'd been created and trained to have them.
Adem stepped forward to consult the notes VI had made on their crime scene.
