Reed Strucker quotes from The Gifted

Reed Strucker

Did you get any sleep?

Caitlin

Some. But I think you might be a mutant, too, with some sort of snoring ability.

Jace Turner

Was I unclear? Your job was to stay in the van.

Reed

You were clear enough.

Turner

You just made the biggest mistake of your life.

Reed

No, but I got pretty damn close.

Turner

We had a deal, Mr. Strucker.

Reed

And you can shove that deal up your ass.

Reed

I know I'm probably not someone you want to talk to.

Lorna

You're right about that.

Reed

I always told myself that anyone who was facing me in my courtroom was guilty. Told myself that I was the prosecutor, and that the law was clear, and if you'd broken it it was on you. Told myself that I was doing my job. And then I found out that my kids are mutants. They didn't mean to hurt anyone, they didn't mean to do anything. They were just defending themselves. But they broke the law, and with mandatory minimums they'll get at least ten years, maybe more. And a few days ago I would be the one making that argument. Before all of this I didn't understand, but I do now, and I'm sorry.

Lorna

Congratulations. On figuring out you're one of the bad guys. So what? If you would've thought about it awhile longer you wouldn't of destroyed so many lives? Huh? You want forgiveness? Ask the little boy who I strapped into a bus while he screamed, begging to join his mommy in prison, where you sent her. You know what? Ask the hundreds of families whose lives you and your friends ruined. Don't ask me.

John

If the cops really are coming here, we could try and leave, but...

Uh, based on average police response times, any identifiable mutants leaving here will be apprehended before we're out of city limits.

Reed

They're looking for fugitives. The only that's gonna stop them is if they find one.

John

What are you saying?

Reed

I have to go out there, get seen, stir them away from this place, make it look like we went in another direction.

John

Even if they see you, doesn't mean they'll stop searching.

Reed

I know how these things work. They made an educated guess about the direction we went.

Caitlin

No, Reed! You can't do this! We just got you back.

Reed

The police are coming. We can't evacuate, and even if we did there is nowhere to go.

Caitlin

It has to be you? I mean we're in a building filled with people with powers.

Reed

They didn't just escape from jail. They're looking for me. These people, they need to know which side I'm on. And if this is my chance to make things right, I have to take it.

Caitlin

What will I tell the kids?

Reed

Tell them I'll be back by dinner.

Caitlin

You better.

Marcos

Did you always want to be a dad?

Reed

Yeah, yeah I guess I did. You're gonna be a father. How about you?

Marcos

I don't know. I didn't know my dad much really. Even before he kicked me out for being a mutant. I was the oldest, supposed to run the family business, make him look good. Safe to say I disappointed him.

Reed

Listen, if we all turned out just like our fathers, I wouldn't be much of a dad myself.

Marcos

Yeah. How'd you figure it out? Parenting?

Reed

I haven't. But I can tell you this: nothing that they can do would make you love them less. You start there, and then you do the best you can.

Reed

Hey, let me make something clear. I have always been proud of you. Always, you hear me?

Andy

Yeah.

Reed

Whatever it is that you're thinking, you can tell me. I want to hear, no matter what.

Andy

I'm thinking... you should be the shoe. [Hands Reed the shoe piece from the game]

Reed

Of course, I'm always the shoe.

Andy

Yeah.

Reed

I was looking for Lauren, but I think she's avoiding me.

Caitlin

Very perceptive, counselor.

Reed

I always knew we were gonna be arguing over curfews or trying to keep wrong guys away. But this? Didn't see this coming.

Caitlin

I know. It feels like with all that's happened, everything should just stop, but our kids keep growing up.

Reed

I just want to protect her.

Caitlin

I know. We were blind to so much about the world, about our family. That's why Lauren hid herself from us.

Reed

I can't change the past.

Caitlin

I know, but right now she doesn't need a prosecutor, she needs a dad.

I know you probably hate me.

Reed

I don't hate you. And what I think doesn't matter as much as what Lauren thinks, anyway. You mind if I sit?

Yeah, go ahead.

Reed

[sits next to Wes] All my life I've been enforcing laws. The way I saw it, society only worked if there were consequences for breaking the rules. Lately, my feelings about society have changed a bit, but it's something I still believe in. Maybe in a new way, but I do believe it. It's about trust. What you did was wrong, Wes. You know that, right?

Yeah. What'd they say when you told them?

Reed

I haven't told them. You have a choice to make, Wes. You can hope they don't find out, or you can tell them and take your choices. But I'm gonna leave it in your hands.

There's something you need to see. It's better you know everything. [takes out photos from a box] This is my father, Andreas von Strucker. My father and his sister Andrea did unspeakable things, they were terrorists. They were also mutants.

Reed

[looking at newspaper clippings from the box] This was all them?

All of it, and more.

Reed

What could they do?

Apart, they had the same abilities as your children. Together though, they were known as Fenris, the wolf. And they were more powerful than you can imagine.

Reed

Wait, if they were mutants−

Yes, Reed, your children's mutations were inherited. I am a mutant.

Reed

It's not possible.

Please, just let me finish. [showing a photo of him as a child] They tried to raise me to be like them, but I ran away.

Reed

That's you?

I hid my powers from everyone, even your mother. You have to understand, our family's abilities set us apart even from other mutants. It was too much, I had to stop it.

Reed

How could you possibly stop it?

That's what brought me to Trask. A research project to eliminate the X-gene. I never found what they wanted, a serum that worked on all mutants. But I made a version that worked on one mutant, and gave it to you.

Reed

So, what happened in the vault?

Caitlin

What did you feel exactly?

Andy

Everything around us kind of disappeared. And it's like there wasn't two of us anymore. There was just one.

Lauren

It's like we're seeing out of the same eyes.

Reed

You said you could've destroyed a building. How did you know that?

Lauren

I could feel it. Andy pushes things apart, right? I do the opposite, I can pull them together.

Andy

Combined it was like we could do whatever we wanted. I mean, we were looking at the wall in front of us and we could of just vaporized it. Maybe if we practice–

Lauren

Practice?

Andy

What? We can do it. We might as well get better at it.

Reed

You've been given a gift, and a power like that can hurt people. You can't just go around using–

Andy

So we should just stuff it down and bury it, like your dad did? How'd that work out?

Caitlin

That's way out of balance, Andy.

Andy

Mom, it's who we are, okay? It's who I am.

Reed

Andy, sometimes you can't control your own powers.

Andy

I see, so I'm just some kind of monster. [gets up to leave the room]

Caitlin

That's not what he meant.

Andy

At least you have one kid you can actually trust. [leaves room]

Caitlin

How did you deal with it? The nerves?

Reed

The first few times, I threw up.

Caitlin

Really? You never told me that.

Reed

We were still dating, and I was trying to impress you.

Caitlin

Reminds you of our own neighborhood, doesn't it? Lawns, flags...

Reed

I wonder how patriotic they'd feel if they knew their fellow Americans were being used as science experiments 15 miles away.

Caitlin

Honestly, I... I think a lot of them would be fine with it. You think people couldn't water the lawn, or put up holiday decorations, knowing that people are suffering, but... I did.

Reed

We all did.

Reed

They're in there now! Please, you know this is wrong.

Turner

No, I know this is legal. I know this is authorized.

Reed

Just because it's legal, it makes it right?

Turner

I'm not gonna debate this with you! [pause] I don't know what you two expected to come out of this. I'm not in the habit of helping people who threaten my family.

Reed

I'm trying to save my children!

Turner

Yeah, you're children, who were apprehended attacking a key infrastructure facility, which makes them terrorists.

Reed

Terrorists? They are high school students.

Turner

You wanna talk about how bad off your kids are? Our child is gone! [pause] Whatever their circumstances, your kids are alive.

Reed

But for how long? That's your justification for experimenting on them? Torturing them? A 15-year-old and a 17-year old–

Caitlin

Reed, please. [to Jace] I know how upsetting this must be. When you came into my house with a gun, I was terrified. Believe me, this is the last place I want to be right now. So I'm going to say this, and then we're gonna go. The program our children are in, I've seen what it does first-hand. They pump the mutants full of drugs until they are hopelessly addicted. They're given mental conditioning so they have to do what they're told and... and then they are sent to kill everyone they love. They may be alive, but that... that's worth than death. [gets up and leaves, followed by Reed]

Reed

We understand this place is full of difficult memories now. It's one of the reasons that we've been thinking that maybe we should move on.

Lauren

What?

Andy

Move on? You mean "give up".

Caitlin

No one's giving up. We're gonna be part of this fight, no matter where we go. It's just with everything we've been through...

Andy

The worst of it is already over! Alright? That psycho doctor's already done with all his tests and–

Reed

Guys, we almost lost you a few days ago.

Caitlin

There is so much tension between everyone right now. We can't get caught in the middle.

Reed

And maybe that means that we go to Mexico, like we talked about.

Lauren

So that's it? You've made up your mind, right? We're just gonna run away?

Reed

Going to Mexico isn't running away. There are refugees that need help there too, maybe more than here.

Andy

Yeah, but here is where we can make a difference.

Lauren

He's right. I want to do something.

Reed

Right now I think we're gonna have to agree to disagree on this.