Post-XM Last Stand

Hank was tired and wanted to do nothing but fall down to sleep for days but with the call he had received right before the battle at Alcatraz, he knew sleep would be along time in coming. Two connecting flights and three hours of driving in a cramped rental car and here he was at the office of one Daniel Guthrie, sheriff of Lakeside county. A county barely large enough to need a sheriff and yet holding in his cells one very important prisoner. If the sheriff was right. The sheriff was thanking him for his prompt arrival and outlining how he had found the prisoner and how long it had taken him to reach Hank when he saw her. She was laying down and looking so lost to the world, he couldn't help saying, "Oh my stars and garters."

His voice was touched with such sadness, Sheriff Guthrie didn't even have to confirm his guess had been right. Raven Darkholme was in fact his prisoner though why she was looking human and still herself (with pink skin and blond hair) was beyond the sheriff. "I'll release her into your custody. Ms. Jane Doe here," Sheriff Guthrie said with emphasize on the name, "has been very cooperative."

"Sheriff, if I may inquire, why are you doing this?"

"Well sir, my son was a mutant and 'cause of you, he was proud of himself."

"'Was'? I'm sorry."

"He was lynched and murder two years ago when he went away to college. And that's the other reason I'm doing this," the Sheriff replies with a nod toward "Jane". "After what I saw in the news, I ain't too sure she'd get a fair trial, if she even made it to trail and that ain't right. I can't just let her go but I can give her to you."

"Passing on the problem?" Hank replied with a hint of a levity he did not feel.

"True hallmark of a great government. I'll leave you two to catch up. Knock on the door when yer ready to sign her out."