Chapter Text
“Well, I didn’t expect that,” Illyan noted, as he finished reading his new orders.
“It’s pretty clever. Locks us down good and proper in a place where there’s a lot of very public work that has to be done well, but there’s no chance at any broader influence. Stryker’s not a stupid man,” Mary noted, grumpily.
“I gotta say, I don’t want to spend the rest of my career in this pit. I honestly don’t want to spend another week here,” Shilpa admitted.
“Why in the world would we do that?” Illyan asked, apparently genuinely confused.
“Because your new orders are to be the warden of the Kiln, and we’re to support you however we can?” Viktor offered.
“Oh, but those orders won’t last.”
“Why not?” Shilpa asked.
“Folks, the situation’s changed. Look at it from the perspective of the current situation.”
He got five identical confused and annoyed glares.
“What are our assets?”
“A bunch of brand-new guards and traumatized prisoners,” Luo listed.
“And some good press,” Mary admitted.
“And the Avengers!” Shilpa threw in, though the Avengers were back in New York.
“Luo got it,” Illyan said.
Four faces looked confused, but Alexander thought he had it. “You’re going to recruit the prisoners into the MRD? I don’t think that’s gonna work. Even putting aside the mental health issues, I think there are actually rules against that.”
“There are,” Mary confirmed.
“So close. Shilpa could you please connect me to Ms. Romanova? Secure line.”
A moment later, Natalia answered the phone. “What?”
“Ms. Romanova, could you please put me in touch with SHIELD’s director of recruitment?”
She recovered from what had to be a moderate surprise without hesitation. “Thinking of changing organizations?”
“Hardly. My work here isn’t done.”
“Then why do you want to talk to her?”
“I believe SHIELD still has authority to recruit from prisons?”
“Did someone get in trouble?”
“Many people, yes. I’ve noticed that SHIELD doesn’t recruit from MRD prisons. Is there a reason for that?”
“Two of them. First, even with the authority, a hostile warden can make it a giant pain in the butt. Second, Fury says we shouldn’t try because if we look too closely at MRD prisons we’re probably going to end up opening a nasty can of worms and SHIELD’s already got plenty of work.”
“But if there was an MRD prison where the can was already open and a…friend had just been appointed warden of it?”
There was a moment as she considered that and then gave her surprisingly high-pitched real laugh, so different from the low throaty one she affected. “You know what I like about you, Illyan?”
“In fact, I do.” He allowed himself a small smile.
“Connecting you now.”
Stryker proved to be almost as pissed by SHIELD recruiting mutants as he was by Illyan doing it.
Illyan still holds the record for shortest assignment as a warden within the MRD.