Chapter Text
July 4th, 2017 3am Outskirts Of Tucson
Agent Alex Smith leaned on the side of the SUV Sipping his cheap motel coffee and a cigarette in his other hand. The events of the last few months were starting to catch up with him. The Diaz brothers have been his primary focus since Sean’s escape from the hospital in California. He is still not sure how the boys got a heads up about the raid in Away. That will be another matter for another time. Right now it is over. The boys are in custody and soon his Task Force Leader Agent Flores would be giving them an offer they couldn't refuse and this chase would be over.. He was glad this was finally coming to an end and he could get back to Oregon and back to his other duties.
“Morning Smith.” Agent Mark Baker greeted him
Baker was the next senior person on Smith’s Tactical response team. Like Smith, Baker was an old Army veteran. Battle hardened, grizzlied and built like a tank. Even though Baker had no powers it felt as if he could read Smith's mind.
“Morning Baker, Any word on Flores? We should be hitting the road soon unless we want to be out at the section of the wall in the middle of the day.”
“She said she will be down in a moment.” he said, sipping a red bull. He leaned in with a hushed tone. “So you ready to meet another one like you?”
Like me... Smith thought.
Agent Alex Smith has Telekinetic powers. Daniel would not have been the first kid with powers he met. Back in Oregon he has a few kids whose cases that he manages. An empath, a full telepath, one kid who seems to have prophetic visions but with little control over it, and another with telekinesis but it appears to not be as strong as his own.
“Yeah I just hope it will be easy. I think I should be able to bribe him with Chococrisps.”
“You are probably right. That trash heap at Away had more of those Damn candy bar wrappers than anything else.” Baker Chuckled.
“Morning Gents” Agent Flores walked Across the parking lot.
“Morning Flores. What’s the plan?” Smith asked.
“Straight to the point, Alex?” Flores ribbed.
“It’s 0315 and this coffee just isn't doing it”
“Hey just be lucky we didn’t have to sleep in the trucks like Director Shepard wanted.”
Smith and Baker groaned, “Honestly he would be happy having us sleep in GP tents on a normal workday.”
They laughed.
Flores switched over to her more serious tone. “So El Rey PD swears Daniel Diaz has been sedated per our instructions. My hope is that I can talk to Sean and make him the offer. If he accepts we should be on our way back to the Field office in Phoenix in no time.”
“If he doesn’t?” Baker asked
“He would be an idiot to refuse. This would be full exoneration” Flores answered back. I have a briefing with Langly soon so I won't get to El Rey until about 7. You two will head to the section of wall they Damaged Yesterday. Sheppard wants you, Alex, to give a report on how much power would be needed to do that kind of damage. The math “seems off” as they told me so just verify the construction quality.
“Yes Mam” Smith replied
“Once you are done, meet me at the station. By that time Daniel should be brought off the sedatives and we can all get on the same page. I am sure Daniel will stand down when he realizes he is not alone and we want to help.”
“Understood,” Smith and Baker replied.
“Good, See you all in a few hours.”
0545 Border Wall
The sun was already above the horizon when Smith and Baker pulled up to the site where Sean and Daniel were apprehended. A border agent stepped out of his truck and greeted them. The officer looked like he had just woken from a nap.
“Hey you must be the Feds we were told about. I am Officer Tompson.”
“Officer Tompson I am Agent Smith, CIA and here is my colleague Agent Baker, FBI”
“Woah CIA and FBI working together? What strange supernatural forces made that happen?”
Baker raised an eyebrow but Smith’s face remained neutral.
“I am sure a lot of behind the scenes politics. What can you tell me about what happened here.”
“Honestly I can’t tell you much about how this..” the officer pointed to the wall “happened. We arrived on scene in the afternoon after hearing Campbell's call. By that time the Child was rushed to the station with the Teen along with the 2 Minutemen”
“Minutemen?” Baker asked. Taking the officers words down
“They are a volunteer group that helps us enforce border security.”
Smith raised an eyebrow “So these people are deputized by your department? That's why they used lethal force on our suspects?”
Officer Tompson Shifted uncomfortably, “Well um, not exactly... it’s more of…”
“So no they were not.” Smith said, taking notes. “What do you know about the construction of this section of the wall?”
“It was done by a company up in Phoenix. All the Materials though come from Typon Industries, I can’t remember the name of the contractor but we supervised the construction earlier this year.”
“Our team can pull that info.” Baker responded. “have there been any other breach attempts in this fashion?”
The officer thought for a moment “Back in May we were pursuing a truck that we suspected of smuggling drugs. They made a break for a section like this a few miles west of here. And tried to ram it at about 30-40 MPH maybe. Totaled the vehicle and barely made a dent in the wall. This… I can’t imagine what could have made something like this. Our explosive test was negative and our observation equipment did not pick up a blast.”
“I see," Smith said. Now he was curious. If what the officer said is true then Langley was right to have them double check. "We will need those readings from that time period sent over to us to examine. Baker, I want to take a look at this wall."
Smith walked over the twisted metal. After checking to see if Baker had the officer's attention, Smith reached out with his hand. He could feel his powers reach out to the steel. He was probing for any flaw or weakness in the steel or construction. It was up to the standard. He walked over to another undamaged section. This time he reached out with both arms. He pushed against the wall to look for any weakness. None. Smith would be able to do the same damage but only if he were to go full power.
Holy hell this kid will surpass me. We need to make sure they agree to our terms if not…. Smith did not want to continue that thought. He needed to inform Flores to be careful. This kid can do real damage. He walked back to Baker and the officer.
"Baker, I need to report back to Flores when you a-" Smith started but was interrupted by the officers radio
"ATTENTION ALL UNITS, THERE HAS BEEN A BREAK OUT AT EL REY STATION. SEAN AND DANIEL DIAZ ARE ON THE RUN HEADING TOWARDS THE NEAREST CHECKPOINT. ALL AVAILABLE UNITS CONVERGE ON EL REY CROSSING."
Smith felt cold water flow through his veins. Daniel was supposed to be sedated. What the hell happened?
"We have to go now. Thanks for your time officer" Smith said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
Once in the truck. Smith told Baker to drive to the crossing before hopping on the radio.
"Smith to Flores, I heard the APB what's your status. Over" Smith called over the radio. Baker was not making it easy to operate with all the dips and bumps
"We are heading to the checkpoint to set a barricade. They appear to be heading there. I need you here ASAP. Over"
"We are en route GPS puts us at about 40 mins out. Over" Smith replied
"I can shave about 10 mins off!" Baker said as he started picking up speed.
"Make that 30 mins. Maria, the wall was up to standards. Daniel is extremely powerful, delay him if you can but we may need to go to our failsafe. Over"
There was silence for a moment.
"Understood. Smith, get the Council on the line. I will take charge at the checkpoint and hope you all get here in time. How copy over"
"Willco, out"
"Well this has certainly gone to shit" Barker said jerking around a pothole
"Seems like this whole damn case is one fuck up after another." Smith replied, pulling out his sat-phone and finding the number for the director's office.
"Director Sheppard's office."
"This is agent Alexander Smith authorization code Phoenix-261-Alpha. We need to speak to the director ASAP"
"Confirmed one moment…" The pause felt like an eternity. "Director says he is on channel 9 with encryption code 4862"
"Thank you" smith hung up the sat phone and set the channel on the radio.
"This is Smith on the line"
"Agent Smith what is going on? I wasn't expecting to hear from your team for another few hours."
"The Diaz brothers have broken out of El Rey. The reports we are hearing suggest the child was not sedated as we ordered."
"God damnit. What's their status?"
"Heading to El Rey crossing. Flores is setting up a barricade. Baker and I are 23 mins out. Flores understands the fail-safe protocol is in place."
"Understood. Keep this channel open I will patch it in the NSC. Keep me posted"
"Rodger"
Smith opened a second comm channel to Flores and
"Smith to Flores, NSC is being appraised. What's your status?"
"Barricades have been set up and the gate is closed. They should be here in the next 5-10 mins. Please tell me Baker found a shortcut."
"Negative still 20 mins out"
"Understood."
Baker finally got on a better paved road. Smith pulled out his service pistol. He pulled out the magazine loaded with standard-issue ammunition and pulled a mag with a red stripe on the base out of his belt holster. He had a sense of dread looking at the dark silver bullets but shook it off before loading it into his pistol and chambering a round.
God I hope I don't have to use these. Smith thought.
The radio was quiet for several minutes. Smith sat quiet with his mind racing.
Suddenly the Radio came alive. “We have eyes on the truck. Over.”
“Hold the line and Do not engage until ordered to do so. over” Flores replies
“10-4” the officer replies
“Flores we are still 12 mins out at top speed.” Smith updated.
“Keeping the comms open”
Smith can hear her on the megaphone “Sean! Sean Diaz! It's over! Don't make this worse! Get out of the car... SLOW... with your hands above your head! Do EXACTLY what I say!”
After a brief pause “Unit 14 and 18 are on scene we have them blocked in.”
Please don’t do anything stupid Kid…
“Get out! Please! Don't make any more mistakes!” Shit, her voice was cracking… “It's not too late to surrender! Sean! You know this is not a trap!”
“Smith what is going on?” Shepherd's voice came on the line.
“Unsure, we have them surrounded. Standby”
“Miller here, Smith you know what it is that needs to be done. The NSC has authorized Lethal Force, We cannot let these boys escape. Relay that to Flores now!” Mark Miller was on the line. Miller was the liaison between the White House and the Taskforce Leadership. He was also on the National Security Council.
“Flores, NSC has given the green light for Lethal Force” Smith felt sick Lethal force on 2 scared kids.. This wasn't what he signed up for. But now was not the time for debate.
“You can trust me! Please, get out of the car! Come on! There's no way out! This is your last warning!” she continued “Listen up! Step out of the car! NOW!”
“I said lethal force was authorized. Neutralize the-'' Miller tried to get out
“We have Movement on the Vehicle!” one of the officers radios
“Sean! Stop the car!” Flores cried out
Gunfire erupted over the radio followed by the sounds of crashing metal. Smith could do nothing but There were screams and cussing flooding the radio. Followed by silence…
“Flores, its Smith report…” quiet hissing of the radio
“Flores please respond…” more hissing “Baker what is our ETA”
“5 Minutes” He replied over the Roar of the engine.
Fuck he was so helpless here. Smith thought.
“This is Agent Smith to anyone on this Channel. I need a SITREP NOW!!”
“I’m here..” Flores came on the radio.. “The younger brother jumped out at the last second.. He is alive and in custody. The older brother made it into Mexico. Situation is normal as it can get..”
Smith leaned back into the passenger seat “Thank God…” He said before Keying up the radio “Glad to hear it. We are almost there.”
When they arrived at the checkpoint the place looked like a Warzone. Police cruisers were strung around the desert and the gate was well into mexico. Smith turned on the jammer when ordered to by the Council. This place was to be on lockdown until further notice. Smith found Flores arguing with the Lead officer on the scene.
“Are you seriously trying to stop me from doing my job? I told you We have lead on this. No one comes in or out without my approval and the boy is coming with us.”
“Mam, maybe the desert heat is getting to you but I am in command here. Border crossing offenses are my jurisdiction and the boy will be going to our facility. Whatever this boy is, we will get the bottom of it.”
“No, you won’t.” Smith said, walking up behind them.
“And who do you think you are?” the Lieutenant asked
“Agent Alexander Smith, CIA.” Smith replied pulling out his ID “By the order of the National Security Council and the White House this area is under full lockdown as Agent Flores was telling you. Mr. Diaz will be under our care. As for communication we will be handling it. If something needs to go out it will have to go through myself or my Supervisor.”
The officer looked at Baker and asked ”And who is your supervisor? I want to have a word NOW!”
“You were just talking with her.” Smith said nodding to Flores
“I uhh-”
“I have medical teams enroute. Please get me a count of how many of your officers are hurt so I can get word to area hospitals” Smith said. The Lt. looked like he wanted to argue but Flores’ glare had him back down.
“Maria How are you doing?” Smith asked as they looked into mexico
“God I have no idea. One minute we were thinking it was over and now just pure carnage.”
“Well it is over now. Daniel is in custody. I will have Miguel worry about Sean. We have teams coming down to interview the officers.”
“You think Miller will be happy I disobeyed his kill order?” she joked half heartedly
Smith sighed. Miller had started his career on Project Stargate prior to its shuttering in the 90’s. He only ever saw Military applications for the powers. He didn’t care about the actual people behind it.
“Probably scream about having your job. But I swear that he is required to say that by his new boss. But you made the right call. Things would have ended worse if you went through with it. How is our little superhero?"
"Some cuts and bruises. That gunshot wound didn't open back up, thank God. Won't talk but it doesn't look like he wants to fight. Once the medics look at him He should be fine to move."
"That's good to hear. I'll update Director Shepard. The clean-up crew should be here before we leave."