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Charles Xavier After the strange event at the University Residence Hall at Washington Square Park, there was a lot of mixed footage and recording to go through. The CCTV gave good evidence particularly related to the positions of those who collapsed, but it was the individual recordings that led to something more useful.

There was a recording from inside the hallway, from Becky Thatcher, groaning into her phone about the damn fire alarms, and walking out the back. Alone, this footage meant little, but it showed three other faces in it, one of which was headed the opposite way to leave via the front of the building. The expression of that young man, with a strong nose and deep-set cheekbones dressed in a dark blue blazer, was one of irritation, but also smiling.

Footage outside showed the back of that same person, as they went outside. A second person, another male in casual gray athletic wear that seemed to be relaxing with headphones, was sitting outside, on part of a stone railing along a landscape bed, and called out to the exiting person in the dark blue blazer. The person in the blazer looked over, and the one on the stone rail jumped up and did a few aggressive looking hand gestures. Everyone around them collapsed.

CCTV picked up a little later, but there's no visuals of the gray athletic wear person leaving. The other man just calmly left.

The results of the footage did give one piece of useful information - someone at the athletic center had a name for the athlete: Rhett Gage, and had a contact for him. SHIELD's attempts to reach out or find him have led almost nowhere-- but finally there was success to schedule a meet with a single agent, to talk about the event....
Leopold Fitz As Dr Fitz had been at the scene of the mental mix-up, as he's calling it now, the coverage has been sent to his lab for analyzing. While not the best person for getting everything out of a CCTV, he is, perhaps, the best one for picking out details regardless. Before him, his lab is actually a flurry of activity. Several monitors are scrolling data, another is decompiling code, with all its arcane twists and turns. Beside that grand monitor, his whiteboard sits, and he has partitioned off a few spots, each with its own set of mathematical studies, with circles with plusses, arrows, and .. there aren't many who could even begin to see his thought processes just through his workset.

CCTV is priceless. The information gained from Diedre has been so very helpful in terms of times and timestamps that he can see what it is that she'd witnessed. There, there is the fire alarm. The students exiting; some to the back, some to the front.

And there, there is the fall.

In the middle of it all, however? A name. A name and a face.

No success is frustrating, but as they say, when a door closes? Just open it again. It's a door.

Grabbing his backpack, Fitz requisitions yet another car and tosses his gear into the front seat. On the spot next to him, his tablet sits open; GPS. He's not from around here!

As the scientist rolls up to the meeting spot, he remains in the car. He's dressed in dark neutrals, but obviously not geared for field work. Belt, boots.. he looks as if he's come from the lab, complete with his ID badge around his neck and a metal one hanging from his belt.
Loki Mr. Gage could be the source of it all. After all, he was caught on the cameras doing some kind of hand gestures after directly calling out to the other person before the event, and the footage is pretty damning. He was also not outside until the fire alarm, either - he's someone that exited due to it.

But there's a meeting in place, and that's something. Answers, in some way. And there he is, already there at the spot, though not in athletic wear this time. He's relaxing under a tree in a very, very public area, in casual light brown jacket, jeans, dark glasses. He has short brown hair, a light shadow of beard; goodlooking if you look close, but otherwise generally he would blend in. He has a cup of Starbucks he's enjoying - body language is vigilant.
Leopold Fitz Mr Gage is most definitely his main contact; the CCTV has him speaking to another that had exited, and it looked as if there was something between them.

With that little bit replayed for memory's sake, Dr Fitz opens the door and exits the vehicle in what looks to be an easy, casual, unhurried manner. He's got support from without; cars are parked a short distance away for extraction, just in case. After the door is closed behind him, he pockets the keys and begins the short cross towards his contact.

"Mr Gage, I presume." The soft burr of Scottish accent is well present. "I'm Dr Fitz. I appreciate you comin' out to meet with me an' helping clear up a fair bit of questions."
Loki "Hi," says Rhett Gage cheerfully, with a disarming wave and smile. He feels immediately, obviously, in the category of likable, upstanding young man. All of the information on him said the same thing, except for some drunk brawls he was written up for in the past, some general young-man issues in teen years, nothing outstandingly bad.

"Doctor, huh? Doctor of what?" he asks, but it's a companionable curiosity, not forcefully so. He doesn't get up; there's a youthful sort of relaxed quality here... and maybe an undertone of hidden nerves. "I guess I should have come forward or talked sooner about the other day. I guess I hoped I didn't have to get involved."

There's a pause. "Did you catch the guy?"
Leopold Fitz To be very honest, having Fitz ask someone questions is probably the most inoffensive thing ever; unless, of course, he's mad. Or, emotions are flying in the thick of things. Then? It's hard enough to understand what he's saying when the tones rise and the questions come out one after another after another. He's babyfaced, not quite pushing 30.

He offers a quick smile and finishes the approach, finding a tree to lean against. The bad part of all this is that Fitz is //not// a people person. He doesn't always //get// cues. He's not a walking lie-detector.

"Engineering, really. Though I do dabble in other bits from time to time. Physics as well." Which is probably why this caught his attention (other than the fact that he was //there//, that is.).

"You really should have. Come forward sooner. As it was, we were able to identify you through the CCTV." No sense lying. Everyone knows that the cameras are there. Now, he knows they actually //work//. Shaking his head, he leans his back against the newly found tree, and he drops his hands into his pockets, "No. Do you know his name? It looked like you an' he had a few words. Care t'share what the problem was?"
Loki There's a quick laugh, "That's actually funny you ask that. That's what I tried to get out of him, and he didn't much like it." Rhett Gage looks across the campus, as if reliving back through that weird day. His expression goes a little distant, as memory lane is addressed maybe.

"So, you'll just have to bear with me, some of this will sound a little nuts," he begins. "I'm not a witch or a /warlock/, but I have some talent. Keep this to yourself, please - they don't like sports people with any edges, right? They won't understand this doesn't apply to any of that." Rhett pauses, looking at Fitz, to see if he's taking this to heart to keep on the down-low.
Leopold Fitz So, from what Fitz is hearing, it's not so much that Gage was having a problem with him, but the other way around? Ish?

Fitz nods his head slowly, offering a quick if encouraging smile, and looks expectant.

He does give the courtesy of an answer, a promise. "I have friends who are special in more than a few ways," Fitz acknowledges with a touch of humor lying beneath. "I understand, an' I won't tell your coaches." He's a geek after all! Never the twain ever met.

"Honestly, it might sound nuts when you say it out loud, but.." He's seen and heard nuts. "I was there for the aftermath, so anything you can tell me, no matter how it sounds, would be helpful."
Loki "Okay. Anyway, I'm part of a group, a club I guess you could call it, mostly witches. Some of them go to school here; two live in this dorm behind us. One of them felt this strange entity, or something, enter the campus, and put a text into our group. I was nearby, so I came over. I didn't sense or see much until I got to the dorm. I sensed something here, and attempted to contact it." There's a gesture from the head, indicating some kind of mental contact.

"I got a bad feeling from that, and the two witches didn't answer me either. I decided to pull the fire alarm, and wait outside. Just over there," Rhett Gage points. The CCTV confirms the description.
Leopold Fitz Fitz nods his head slowly, more acknowledging the information and taking it in than agreement, though so far? Everything sounds right in line with what he'd seen on the tapes. "This entity," he does have to ask, "'Something'. Not 'someone'? A thing rather than a person, the way it felt?" He believes in gut feelings, at least others tell him about it all the time. He likes his proof, his science.

It should be plainly obvious that the young doctor believes the story to now. "Were you in contact with the other two when you contacted the entity? Or did they just drop off.. or perhaps it was you who couldn't reach out?" That's how it works, right?

So, he was the one to pull it.

Glancing in the direction gestured, Fitz squints and his voice is low, "What was said between you an' that other student?" After all, there was also accounts of a flash of color. Purple. "Everything seemed t'happen after that."
Loki "Did I say 'it'? Maybe so," Rhett Gage says, thinking about that in a suddenly rather focused way. Some of the 'jock' persona moves aside as he does that. The athletic quality may be something this young man uses socially to avoid being picked on for being a warlock. That piece of 'nerddom' may be something Fitz can see a mile away. Perhaps the opposite thing was less than it seemed, or more of a front.

"He came out, yes. I said something like, 'Don't ignore me, what are you doing to them', and something just ... ripped out of him, like these massive purple psychic whips. He didn't even move to cast, there was no warning, so it wasn't a magic spell. Some kind of psychic lash. I shielded quickly, a reflection spell on my spot. It felt like he was trying to rip my mind out. I got out of there."
Leopold Fitz "Yes," Fitz offers softly, "'something' and 'entity', and 'it'." He's going with the gut reactions, and he nods slowly with the retelling.

There, there he has more of the story. Everything the younger man says is filling in those holes where silence reigned on the videos, and underscores the other stories, but from a different angle. The purple .. magic.

Fitz hadn't mentioned it, but there it is. Granted, it could have been pulled out of his head as the thought surfaced, but still?

"He was tryin' to pull you out as well?" Which meant he was strong enough to resist. To not only resist the draw, but also the push.

"I'm gonna ask a serious question of you," Fitz slows his thoughts to form the words, "We have a lot of people who are lost." Gage should understand the real meaning behind the word. "Some are in comas, some are medicated, and some are helping us the best they can." He pauses, and smiles tightly, his lips pressed together, "Can you come back with me an' help? At least, talk with someone who might be able to help if they knew.. something." How it felt, how it worked, anything.

Magic is not his bailiwick. Nor is psychic abilities.

"It'd be appreciated."
Loki Rhett Gage looks skeptical, doubtful. "I don't know about that. I'll think about it? I don't want to get blamed if I somehow made something worse," Rhett says. It's a prudent answer for someone that accurately realized it looked bad, the whole situation.

And that if he isn't skilled enough, he could do damage: like a medical student that can recognize he maybe isn't ready to do surgery!

"I'm willing to show the psychic energy signature if someone wants to see-- I can share memories, but... if somebody wants to talk, maybe. I mean, you know where to find me."
Leopold Fitz To be honest, Fitz had asked him to come back and talk to others, and not potentially do the 'surgery' himself. There is an entire department, looking at you, WAND!, that does magicky, psychicky things, and they might be able to handle it with that insight.

"No one would blame you," the Scots offers quietly. Through it all, he hasn't raised his voice, hasn't had a need to. "But I understand. Say the word, an' we can come get you, or.."

Reaching into his back pocket, Fitz pulls out his wallet. From there, a card with the SHIELD logo on it. Along the bottom, Dr Leopold Fitz, Operations, R&D. He turns it over quickly and pulls a pen from his top pocket and puts a phone number on the back before the pen is put away, as is the wallet. Handing the card over, he looks at the younger man, "That's all I'm asking. Talk to someone else. I can get you set up for a meeting. It'll be fine." But, if not, Fitz is leaving that door open as well. As it is, he gained a mountain of information, and a lot of it might actually be actionable.

"If you see it again, or sense it? Call me. I'll be there. Promise."
Loki The other man accepts the card, and considers this- --- or considers something. What he's considering comes apparent soon. "I mentioned my friends, the witches? They're missing. I think they're in hiding, but they could know more. I'd like to know what they saw too, if they turn up. Fiona Harris, and Nancy Roper."

"Maybe they're just staying low, like me. Hard to say for sure," Rhett adds. But he climbs to his feet, then. He's pretty tall, built like a runner. "I don't know if they summoned it, or what. But it wasn't magic, at least, what it used... that was something else. One of those mind-control people you hear exist and hope you never meet." Rhett puts the card away. "Those whips were the size of this courtyard, though. And I feel like... it knew to make me look bad. That's that creepy part. Careful with this."
Leopold Fitz "You did," Fitz nods and when the card is taken, his hands are back in his pockets, casual lean renewed. He shakes his head slowly; not any names of the victims that he was aware of. Which means?

They're missing.

"You've no contact at all. Not.." and he takes a hand out to point to his head in gesture, his expression questioning.

Apprently not.

Fitz exhales in a sigh, and he looks at the collegiate and offers a tight smile that's meant to be somewhat encouraging. "We can offer you a place to hide until it's tracked down," is offered. "I have that ability. But, if not now, we won't close that door on you." The added information is taken with a nod, and he twists around to gain the scope of what is described, and he exhales with a soft whistle.

"Careful indeed," is murmured.

Turning back around, Fitz nods at the card, "Call me. No matter the time, no matter where you are. I mean it, yes?" The good doc is in protect mode now, and he's feeling for the young man. "If you hear anything, feel anything. If your friends contact you. If you want someone to deliver a burger, I don't care. Do you understand me." It's a statement rather than a question.

There's a long look given the other young man before Fitz is satisfied that he's gotten his point across before he turns to head back to his car. On the way back, he's looking at the courtyards around, the buildings, and taking the names down before committing them to memory.

Something is going after witches. How many of those does he know?