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As some of you may know, I was hired to find the person responsible for multiple killings in September, along with an attempted homicide. That person has now killed the Emperor. [ There's a flash of something like remorse, but it only lasts a second before her jaw tightens. There's no time to feel guilty for not catching the person sooner. She has to stop him now, before he kills again. ]

I have a list of suspects. I've narrowed it down significantly. If you were one of the people I talked to about it, please see me immediately.

[ The message is simple, one she can essentially cut-and-paste to each person. It's short, but far from sweet. She doubts they'll appreciate it. If the killer is killing again, then they have to move to catch him, and quickly. So screw pleasantries. ]

Get in touch with me as soon as possible.

[ Sharon looks tired. She doesn't want to have this conversation, but it's part of the job. The horrible thing is, Barry seems like a nice guy. A good guy. But that doesn't mean he can't be a killer. ]

Barry, I hate to ask this, but do you have an alibi for the time when the Emperor was killed, and is there anyone who can verify it?

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That's good to know.

So you weren't with him last night?

Not all night. We hung out for a little bit but then I went back to my apartment and he stayed in his. We live right next to one another.

Why?

I was hoping he might be your alibi for when the Emperor was murdered. [ If it's rattling, she doesn't seem to notice, diving into the next question. ] The week everyone switched abilities, bodies, and ages, did anything happen to you?

[He just stares for a moment, shocked. A slightly annoyed expression comes to his face.]

I was with Santo for awhile. We ate, hung out, and I went back to my suite. I looked around the network for awhile before going to sleep. I had nothing to do with the Emperor's murder and neither did Santo.

[He nods.]

I ended up switching bodies with my friend Billy. I spent most of the week trying not to make things worse by accidentally using his powers.

Powers?

Wait.

Billy Kaplan. Young Avenger?

[ Oh, damn it. ]

Young Avenger.

[ Magic user. Sharon doesn't like dealing with magic. The whole thing's a pain in the ass. What else did she know about him? Right. Huge superhero fan. And this kid is friends with him and Santo, both. If he's from the same universe as Billy and Santo... She knows he isn't a Young Avenger. ]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're an X-Man, too.

Okay, look. All I need to make sure you're innocent, and thus won't be bothered with this crap, how tall are you and Billy?

That's him.

[Vic's not magic's biggest fan either. He nods to the question though.]

Yeah. And here on the turtle, I'm with the Avengers too. Cap recruited me himself. Santo too.

Uh...with the spikes [He ducks his head and lifts the hat he's wearing a little to show them.] about 5'9. 5'8 without them. Billy's around the same height I think. What do our heights and what happened back during that week have to do with the Emperor's assassination?

[ Sharon leans in. Hello, interesting tidbit.

She answers the question, but her tone is rushed. ]

Multiple witnesses confirmed the killer was a taller, and the killer then is the same one who killed the Emperor.

Cap recruited you two himself? Would you mind telling me? And this isn't part of the investigation. Steve and I... I was his liaison with SHIELD. [ She swallows. ] And his girlfriend. He was here for a while, but... I'd like to hear about it.

[ What? She misses her fiance. ]

[He makes a thoughtful noise.]

Do you have an more likely suspects? If there's any way I could help out, I'll try.

[He nods. He did. And sure. [Victor offers an understanding look. He knows how the whole 'missing loved ones' things is.]

It was back about five months ago. During the Summer. The Cap from our world got brought here and was asking about work on the network. We got to talking and he invited me over to his suite. We talked about my X-men training for a bit and then he surprised the heck out of me by asking me to join the Avengers here on the turtle.

If you want to come by WA-1D, I wouldn't mind having some Avengers help on this.

Sure. I'll be by in about ten or fifteen minutes.

[Victor closes the feed after a moment and starts getting a bit more bundled up. About fifteen minutes later, he's arriving at the door to WA-1D and lifts a hand to knock a few times.]

[ She finishes sending another message over the network and goes to answer the door. ]

Victor. Come on in. [ She waves him through to her bedroom. It doesn't even occur to her that showing an underage young man into her bedroom might be odd. It's only that her bedroom is where she keeps her wall of suspects. She opens the door to show it to him. ]

So. Tell me what you think.

Thanks.

[He definitely appreciates getting out of the cold and snow. Vic hates those. He doesn't think there's anything odd about being led to the bedroom either, mostly due to the reason he came over. When he sees the wall of suspects, Victor arches a brow. He looks over the list and lets out a thoughtful noise.]

I can't say I know everyone you listed but I really doubt some of them had anything to do with any murders.

Me, too. Whoever we're dealing with, though, is incredibly smart. They've been hiding in plain sight for months without anyone knowing better. It's likely they've been careful to engineer a facade of perfect innocence in that time. So until I have proof, I can't take any of them off the list.

[ She smiles wryly to herself. ]

I've even put friends through the wringer. I see no reason to stop with strangers.

I think the rest of us being distracted has worked to their advantage, whoever they are.

[Victor offers a wry smile right back.]

It makes sense. Are you just asking about heights and what happened during that messed up week or do you have any other leads?

We know the person is a lean man about six feet tall and an estimated 180 to 190 lbs. During the week in September when people switched abilities and all the rest, he likely got Superman's abilities and used his speedster abilities to kill two people. He wore a disguise with two of them, a homeless man and someone with a mask, and with one of them, he was wearing a nice suit.

There was a scrap of cloth left at the scene. I plan on getting an image or sample of it and taking it around to the shops to see if they can identify it, and then asking any who do if they know any of the suspects.

Since I'm still questioning people and tracking them down, would you mind looking into that avenue?

[Victor frowns at the mention of Superman's powers. He doesn't know them all but what he has heard reminded him a lot of Gladiator and Sentry. Some murderer having that kind of power isn't a pleasant thought even if it was temporary.]

I could check out the shops, sure. A sample would probably be the most helpful in that case.

You may have to talk to the police for that, since it's in evidence right now. Or their equivalent of it. I'm afraid that since this is a private investigation, you'll have to take whatever you can get.

Do me a favor and take Santo with you, though. So far, the killer doesn't seem to be bothered by the investigation at all, but I don't want to lose anyone because he might feel we're getting too close or just wants to murder someone to get rid of some boredom or something.

[That gets a small frown out of Victor.] You'd probably have better luck getting anything from them than me then. I haven't had much interaction with the police here but experience says they'll take the adult SHIELD agent more seriously than the green guy who looks like he's about to become a mutant-cicle. [He's not happy about that at all. Or the cold.] Unless you want me to actually try taking it from them.

Are you sure? Santo's not exactly quiet or subtle.

We don't need quiet or subtle. We need Avengers.

[ Part of her is proud that Steve managed to come so far from telling the Young Avengers to stand down. Most of her is extremely worried. At least X-Men tend to have their shit together better than Thunderstrike. ]

It may take me some time to get the sample from the police... [ She taps her fingers against her chin. ] Give me until tonight to see what I can do. I have a couple ideas. Until then, tell Santo about the situation and get a plan in place. If I can get the sample, I'd like you two to start first thing in the morning.

[ Since the killer tends to strike at night, that might be the safest time for them to be out. Good. ]

[Victor will be embarrassed to admit it later but he can't help but feel a little bit of fanboy thrill at those three simple words. It's like when he got assigned his codename or his first X-men mission. He nods though, hiding his smile a bit.]

Got it. I'll let him know as soon as I leave here.

And if you need someone tailed or watched for this...[Victor pauses a moment and fades right out of sight. After a moment, he reappears...upside down and standing on the ceiling.] even Wolverine can't find me when I do that. [He'll just drop down to the floor again now with a quick flip.]

[ Sharon arches an eyebrow, her lips twisting into a slow smile. ]

You know, it's utter crap that so many people don't trust mutants. If SHIELD were more open to hiring people who could do what you do, most of our cases would be a breeze.

[ And this, coming from the woman who, as Director, had a program in place designed to find out how to permanently disable or kill specific mutants. What can she say? She's come a long way. And she still thinks the program wasn't without it's uses, given how many times Wolverine has been brainwashed. ]

I'll keep it in mind. The more I talk to people, the shorter this list gets.

Most of us would rather not hook up with SHIELD or any government organization though. No offense meant.

[Vic doesn't have much trust or love for SHIELD or similar organizations.]

Hopefully this will help narrow the list down further. Or even lure the killer out of hiding.

[Vic doesn't doubt he and Santo could take down whoever it is.]

I'll get going.

Oh, right. I'm offended because I can't imagine any reason why.

[ She rolls her eyes, but it's good-natured. She gets where he's coming from.

She gets up to see him out. ]

And I'll be in touch as soon as I know something.

Hey, you never know.

[Vic offers a smile. He nods as he's shown the door.]

Right. I'll make sure I'm available. See you then.

[He'll just tighten his coat a little before heading back out into the snow.]

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