This is my first proper fanfiction, so I'd appreciate it if you tell me what you think. I've worked hard on it, but please tell me how I can improve.
It's set in mid-season two, after Time Squared, but before Final Judgement. Oh, and if anyone's wondering, the title means 'starting again'.
Enjoy :)
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In Genomex, all was quiet and still. The morose, oppressive atmosphere had long been lifted, and with the demise of Gabriel Ashlocke, members of The Strand were no longer present.
Mason Eckhart had been left lying in stasis for months on end. He drifted in and out of consciousness, most of the time he was unaware of anything. The stasis pod had an uncanny ability to keep anyone barely alive almost indefinitely.
And that is where he would have stayed. That is, unless the nearby power station noticed that the Genomex complex was lying dormant, and its power bills going unpaid. The power was switched off. The lights went out. The air conditioning stopped, and the temperature rose from its formerly perpetual nuclear winter.
And of course that meant that the power supply to the stasis pods was shut off.
Mason felt breathless, as if he were suffocating. He tried to move. He had to find out what was going on. He opened his eyes just in time to see the lid of the stasis pod slide open. Everything came back to him, and he was overcome with a feeling of relief, but also dread.
He tried to get up, but it was too painful. Instead, he lay there, staring up at the ceiling. He tried to recall the events that led to him being in stasis. Ashlocke. Yes, Ashlocke. That psychopathic new mutant alone justified the existence of the Genetic Security Agency. He had often entertained the thought of killing Ashlocke. He was irredeemable even as a child. He could have made it look like a technical malfunction. But he could never bring himself to do it. He paid dearly for his decision. Ashlocke could still be at large. Could have killed hundreds of innocent people. Maybe thousands. And he could have stopped it. He hated himself for his bad decisions and exceptionally poor judgement.
Ashlocke had pinned him to the window in his own office using his 'gifts'. He then told Harrison to put him in stasis. Harrison complied with an almost worrying cheeriness. He'd obviously been waiting for a moment like this since he had got there. He had no choice but to resist as little as he could, thus maximising the chances of him escaping from the situation alive.
He didn't know how long he'd been there. He searched his pockets for his phone, in the hope that it might tell him the date. When he finally found it he saw that the batteries were dead. He sighed, and dropped it over the side of the pod. It landed with a satisfying smash.
Mason made a conscious decision to get up, whatever the costs. Just lying there would solve nothing.
With some struggle, he sat up. His head spun, and he felt like he might be sick. All this was on top of the usual, unending pain that he had gotten used to, but it never lessened. He gathered his strength and swung his legs over the side of the pod. Before he knew it, he was standing up, though the room was spinning and he wanted badly to lie down again. He willed himself to stop shaking, and let go of the stasis pod. Walking slowly, he made it to the barrier between the stasis pod area and the walkway that encircled it.
He sat down on it, thinking he would collapse if he tried to remain standing any longer. He pushed his glasses up his nose, and adjusted his wig. Its artificial hairs had become matted, but that was the least of his worries. His plastic skin was coming off his face, and he dreaded to think of what it was like on the rest of his body.
Feeling a bit less dizzy, he stood up and smoothed the creases from his jacket. He decided he must leave, it was pointless sitting there in the dark. He made his way to the main doors and stepped outside.
It was winter. A thick coat of snow covered the grass as far as the eye could see. He looked down at the path and hoped that the paths were covered with snow too, and not ice. It was only then that he realised how warm it must have been inside the building. Usually when he would go outside, the heat would hit him and make him want to retreat back to his nice safe clean office. The chill winter air blew flakes of snow around him and made him shiver.
He began to walk slowly down the path. He knew the way, he'd been there many times before. Wandering around the complex had become quite a nightly habit of his. Once everyone had gone home for the night, there was not much to do.
Finally he found himself at the access road. He'd been driven down there many times before, but he'd never walked down it. There was no sidewalk, so he walked to the side, next to the high privet hedge. He didn't know why though. No vehicles would be using this road. They had no reason to. He moved slowly, partly to avoid any further injury, partly because he did not know where he was going.
After an age of silence, he knew that he was nearing the main road as he heard the familiar hustle and bustle of the traffic. He rounded the corner and went in the direction that would lead him into town.
His legs were aching, and the desire to just give up and let himself fall onto the sidewalk was overwhelming.
But still, he continued.
He neared a cafe, and he had a thought as he glimpsed a computer monitor. Perhaps that blue-haired know-it-all would have some information on the new mutant situation, and maybe give him a clue as to what Adam was up to.
He entered hesitantly, and instantly it was clear that the heating was way up. He regretted going inside. The place was probably crawling with germs, and being the winter season, people were likely to be coughing and sneezing all over him.
He took a seat at a table as far away from the other customers as possible. Thankfully, there was only a young couple and a man reading a newspaper in the cafe.
Although everything told him not to touch anything, he couldn't keep his head up any longer. He wanted to sleep. To escape from the situation. Escape from the horror. Escape from the pain. He slumped down in his seat and laid his head on the table.
"What can I get ya?" A waitress said chirpily. He lifted his head off the table and sat up a little straighter. "Oh god, you look awful." She cried. He just looked at her, beyond caring. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"No worse than usual." Was his reply. He forced a small smile. "I'll have a coffee. Black. No sugar."
The waitress nodded and rushed off.
He realised that he had completely forgotten what he had came there for in the first place. Proxy Blue. He turned around to look at the computer monitor. Strangely, a smartly dressed, obviously flesh and bones man was reading the news. He made a note to ask the waitress about it.
But for now he concentrated on sitting up properly. Lying on the filthy table wasn't going to do him any good.
"Here ya go." Said the waitress, giving him his coffee. She turned and started back to the kitchen.
"Could I ask you something?" He said, at the last possible moment.
She turned round and put on a fake smile. "Yes, what is it?"
"What happened to Proxy Blue?" He asked, indicating the monitor.
"Oh, she's been gone for a bit. A couple of months ago, the monitors went black for about an hour, then when they came back on again, there was a real man reading regular news. I guess they decided to go for the retro feel." She told him. "Chrissy reckons there's a big conspiracy behind it all. We're not busy right now, I'll get her to talk to you about it if you want."
"If you don't mind." He said. Conspiracy. He couldn't help but wonder who was behind it. Adam. Maybe. But he never worried about her before. Ashlocke's people. No. They wanted the world to know about new mutants. The Government. Perhaps. But since when has any other department cared about this predicament?
Another waitress emerged from the kitchen, bounded up to him and sat on the table. "Hi, I'm Chris. So whadda ya wanna know 'bout Proxy?" It was quite clear that she was an aficionado of the newscaster, for her hair was short and dyed bright blue.
"What did she report on the day of her...ah...demise?" He asked carefully, while sliding his chair backwards. The woman was sitting unnervingly close.
"You know, mutants and stuff, the usual. Though it seemed she got some new information that day. Something about two opposing forces. The Strand and the GSA. I don't know what The Strand is, but I did some digging and it seems the GSA is operating from the old Genomex facility. You know the one, that funky looking building not s'far away from 'ere. She was kinda sketchy, but she did give some names. I have 'em written down somewhere. It pays to be in the know." She broke off, and began to search a rather large handbag. Mason originally doubted that she actually knew anything, but he thought the list may prove to be useful.
"Oh, here it is." She said, drawing a tattered piece of paper from the depths of her bag. She passed it to him and he placed it on the table. His name was on there. No surprise. Adam. Breedlove. Ashlocke. Harrison. The rest he supposed were assorted Genomex scientists and members of The Strand. He quickly memorised them, before passing it back to her. "Mean anything to you?"
"No." He said. He didn't trust her. He wasn't about to give away his identity.
"Me neither. Dunno why I kept it. Silly really." She laughed and stuffed it back in her bag.
"Who do you think is behind this...conspiracy?" He asked, wondering if he could get anything useful out of her.
"The government probably. They're behind everything. Or maybe one of the two factions. Well, the GSA is the government. I don't know. All I know is I'm not going to stop before I find out the truth!" She said triumphantly. Mason felt strangely guilty about not telling her who he was. She'd be thrilled. He shook his head. He really was losing it.
She jumped off the table. "Well, I'd better get back to work. Can't stay and talk about conspiracies all day ya know! Oh, before I go, will you tell me, is that a wig?"
"Yes." He said exasperatedly. He hadn't been asked that for years, but it still annoyed him. He flattened his hair self-consciously. It was probably looking awful by now.
She trotted off and left him alone with his untouched coffee. He didn't really want it, he knew that cafes did not hold the same concept of clean as he did. It was probably cold by now anyway. He slipped a five dollar bill under the ashtray and left.
In a way, he was relieved to leave the heat and filth of the cafe, but on the streets he felt exposed and vulnerable. He put his hands in his pockets, kept his head down and trudged on through the snow. Once again, he had no idea where he was going, but he liked to feel that he was going somewhere. He passed several people as he walked. He had no doubt that they were all giving him funny looks, but he didn't even look at them. He didn't feel like there was any point. No one cared. In the outside world, no one respected his authority.
***
Adam put the phone down and sighed wearily. He thought that finally everything had settled down and he could have a rest for once. No such luck. There was another situation that needed sorting out, and he thought he'd better go and get it over with.
He put his jacket on, and headed for the garage, hoping not to alert the others to his departure.
"Where ya going, Adam?" Shalimar asked, breaking from the group that the team had formed around the stairs.
"I have some business to attend to." Adam told her, hoping that would satisfy her. He didn't want to have to explain if he didn't have to.
"What kinda business?" Asked Brennan, who was lounging on the stairs.
"Well, it seems that someone from the underground has spotted a certain someone wandering around the streets." Adam said, watching the faces of his team as the realisation set in. There was a long silence.
"But Adam, how could it be Eckhart? I mean, he's been in stasis for about...four months now." Jesse said.
"Oh but there are several ways he could have escaped. I designed the stasis pods to have a release button that is only accessible if you have the key. There is also a control room which can open them all at once. Also, when the power fails, if certain measures are not taken the stasis pods will automatically open. I suspect the latter." Adam explained.
"I'm coming with you." Shalimar demanded.
"Shalimar, there really is no need. I think you'll find that Eckhart is quite harmless without his lackeys running around after him." Adam told her.
"But Adam..." She began, but Emma took her arm and pulled her back.
"Let him go." She told her.
***
After almost an hour of driving around town, Adam still saw no sign of Mason. He wasn't sure whether he should be worried, apathetic, or mad at the new mutants from the safehouse downtown for winding him up. He hated driving in the snow at the best of times.
He was about to give up and go back to Sanctuary when he drove past a park. If he remembered correctly, Mason had been quite fond of taking walks in that park back when he still had his health. He turned around and parked the car.
As he wandered through the park, memories of the old days at Genomex came back to him. Everyone seemed to get on with each other, and the days just flew by. It was partly his fault that all that changed.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he nearly walked past who he was looking for. Sitting on a snow covered bench, half snow covered himself, Mason sat with his head in his hands. He was dizzy from all the walking, and he could feel his condition worsening. Adam sat down next to him, but he made no indication that he had noticed.
"Back in the land of the living then Mason?" Adam said.
"Adam..." Mason said pathetically. He cringed at how he sounded. He cleared his throat and straightened up. "Why are you here?"
Adam began explaining to him what happened, but Mason could not concentrate on his voice, and simply stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Are you even listening to me? Mason, what's wrong?"
"Nothing...everything..." He began, but broke off. "I don't need anyone's pity. Certainly not yours." He started to shiver again, but the cold wasn't what was bothering him. Adam watched him, not sure what he should do. Mason wasn't acting like himself. His speech pattern was different, and he could hardly stay upright, even though he was sitting down.
"I can help you." Adam said, and quickly added. "If you want."
Mason looked up at him, and Adam could tell that he desperately wanted to say yes. But he was too proud. "No Adam, I am not going to accept your help. It is far too late for that." Adam began to wish he'd brought Emma with him. Mason was just...difficult.
"I'm afraid I'm not going to take no for an answer. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." He stood up and held out his hand. Mason didn't move. "Are you coming with me or not?" He didn't answer. "Look, if I have to drag you back to the car, I will. But I'm not leaving you out here to die." He reached to grab Mason's arm, and he shrank back.
"If I am to have no choice, then I will walk." Mason stated, struggling to stand. He finally managed to get up and took a few steps. It made him wonder how he had gotten there from Genomex. They walked slowly through the deserted park, snow falling and swirling around them.
It's set in mid-season two, after Time Squared, but before Final Judgement. Oh, and if anyone's wondering, the title means 'starting again'.
Enjoy :)
*************************************************************************
In Genomex, all was quiet and still. The morose, oppressive atmosphere had long been lifted, and with the demise of Gabriel Ashlocke, members of The Strand were no longer present.
Mason Eckhart had been left lying in stasis for months on end. He drifted in and out of consciousness, most of the time he was unaware of anything. The stasis pod had an uncanny ability to keep anyone barely alive almost indefinitely.
And that is where he would have stayed. That is, unless the nearby power station noticed that the Genomex complex was lying dormant, and its power bills going unpaid. The power was switched off. The lights went out. The air conditioning stopped, and the temperature rose from its formerly perpetual nuclear winter.
And of course that meant that the power supply to the stasis pods was shut off.
Mason felt breathless, as if he were suffocating. He tried to move. He had to find out what was going on. He opened his eyes just in time to see the lid of the stasis pod slide open. Everything came back to him, and he was overcome with a feeling of relief, but also dread.
He tried to get up, but it was too painful. Instead, he lay there, staring up at the ceiling. He tried to recall the events that led to him being in stasis. Ashlocke. Yes, Ashlocke. That psychopathic new mutant alone justified the existence of the Genetic Security Agency. He had often entertained the thought of killing Ashlocke. He was irredeemable even as a child. He could have made it look like a technical malfunction. But he could never bring himself to do it. He paid dearly for his decision. Ashlocke could still be at large. Could have killed hundreds of innocent people. Maybe thousands. And he could have stopped it. He hated himself for his bad decisions and exceptionally poor judgement.
Ashlocke had pinned him to the window in his own office using his 'gifts'. He then told Harrison to put him in stasis. Harrison complied with an almost worrying cheeriness. He'd obviously been waiting for a moment like this since he had got there. He had no choice but to resist as little as he could, thus maximising the chances of him escaping from the situation alive.
He didn't know how long he'd been there. He searched his pockets for his phone, in the hope that it might tell him the date. When he finally found it he saw that the batteries were dead. He sighed, and dropped it over the side of the pod. It landed with a satisfying smash.
Mason made a conscious decision to get up, whatever the costs. Just lying there would solve nothing.
With some struggle, he sat up. His head spun, and he felt like he might be sick. All this was on top of the usual, unending pain that he had gotten used to, but it never lessened. He gathered his strength and swung his legs over the side of the pod. Before he knew it, he was standing up, though the room was spinning and he wanted badly to lie down again. He willed himself to stop shaking, and let go of the stasis pod. Walking slowly, he made it to the barrier between the stasis pod area and the walkway that encircled it.
He sat down on it, thinking he would collapse if he tried to remain standing any longer. He pushed his glasses up his nose, and adjusted his wig. Its artificial hairs had become matted, but that was the least of his worries. His plastic skin was coming off his face, and he dreaded to think of what it was like on the rest of his body.
Feeling a bit less dizzy, he stood up and smoothed the creases from his jacket. He decided he must leave, it was pointless sitting there in the dark. He made his way to the main doors and stepped outside.
It was winter. A thick coat of snow covered the grass as far as the eye could see. He looked down at the path and hoped that the paths were covered with snow too, and not ice. It was only then that he realised how warm it must have been inside the building. Usually when he would go outside, the heat would hit him and make him want to retreat back to his nice safe clean office. The chill winter air blew flakes of snow around him and made him shiver.
He began to walk slowly down the path. He knew the way, he'd been there many times before. Wandering around the complex had become quite a nightly habit of his. Once everyone had gone home for the night, there was not much to do.
Finally he found himself at the access road. He'd been driven down there many times before, but he'd never walked down it. There was no sidewalk, so he walked to the side, next to the high privet hedge. He didn't know why though. No vehicles would be using this road. They had no reason to. He moved slowly, partly to avoid any further injury, partly because he did not know where he was going.
After an age of silence, he knew that he was nearing the main road as he heard the familiar hustle and bustle of the traffic. He rounded the corner and went in the direction that would lead him into town.
His legs were aching, and the desire to just give up and let himself fall onto the sidewalk was overwhelming.
But still, he continued.
He neared a cafe, and he had a thought as he glimpsed a computer monitor. Perhaps that blue-haired know-it-all would have some information on the new mutant situation, and maybe give him a clue as to what Adam was up to.
He entered hesitantly, and instantly it was clear that the heating was way up. He regretted going inside. The place was probably crawling with germs, and being the winter season, people were likely to be coughing and sneezing all over him.
He took a seat at a table as far away from the other customers as possible. Thankfully, there was only a young couple and a man reading a newspaper in the cafe.
Although everything told him not to touch anything, he couldn't keep his head up any longer. He wanted to sleep. To escape from the situation. Escape from the horror. Escape from the pain. He slumped down in his seat and laid his head on the table.
"What can I get ya?" A waitress said chirpily. He lifted his head off the table and sat up a little straighter. "Oh god, you look awful." She cried. He just looked at her, beyond caring. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?"
"No worse than usual." Was his reply. He forced a small smile. "I'll have a coffee. Black. No sugar."
The waitress nodded and rushed off.
He realised that he had completely forgotten what he had came there for in the first place. Proxy Blue. He turned around to look at the computer monitor. Strangely, a smartly dressed, obviously flesh and bones man was reading the news. He made a note to ask the waitress about it.
But for now he concentrated on sitting up properly. Lying on the filthy table wasn't going to do him any good.
"Here ya go." Said the waitress, giving him his coffee. She turned and started back to the kitchen.
"Could I ask you something?" He said, at the last possible moment.
She turned round and put on a fake smile. "Yes, what is it?"
"What happened to Proxy Blue?" He asked, indicating the monitor.
"Oh, she's been gone for a bit. A couple of months ago, the monitors went black for about an hour, then when they came back on again, there was a real man reading regular news. I guess they decided to go for the retro feel." She told him. "Chrissy reckons there's a big conspiracy behind it all. We're not busy right now, I'll get her to talk to you about it if you want."
"If you don't mind." He said. Conspiracy. He couldn't help but wonder who was behind it. Adam. Maybe. But he never worried about her before. Ashlocke's people. No. They wanted the world to know about new mutants. The Government. Perhaps. But since when has any other department cared about this predicament?
Another waitress emerged from the kitchen, bounded up to him and sat on the table. "Hi, I'm Chris. So whadda ya wanna know 'bout Proxy?" It was quite clear that she was an aficionado of the newscaster, for her hair was short and dyed bright blue.
"What did she report on the day of her...ah...demise?" He asked carefully, while sliding his chair backwards. The woman was sitting unnervingly close.
"You know, mutants and stuff, the usual. Though it seemed she got some new information that day. Something about two opposing forces. The Strand and the GSA. I don't know what The Strand is, but I did some digging and it seems the GSA is operating from the old Genomex facility. You know the one, that funky looking building not s'far away from 'ere. She was kinda sketchy, but she did give some names. I have 'em written down somewhere. It pays to be in the know." She broke off, and began to search a rather large handbag. Mason originally doubted that she actually knew anything, but he thought the list may prove to be useful.
"Oh, here it is." She said, drawing a tattered piece of paper from the depths of her bag. She passed it to him and he placed it on the table. His name was on there. No surprise. Adam. Breedlove. Ashlocke. Harrison. The rest he supposed were assorted Genomex scientists and members of The Strand. He quickly memorised them, before passing it back to her. "Mean anything to you?"
"No." He said. He didn't trust her. He wasn't about to give away his identity.
"Me neither. Dunno why I kept it. Silly really." She laughed and stuffed it back in her bag.
"Who do you think is behind this...conspiracy?" He asked, wondering if he could get anything useful out of her.
"The government probably. They're behind everything. Or maybe one of the two factions. Well, the GSA is the government. I don't know. All I know is I'm not going to stop before I find out the truth!" She said triumphantly. Mason felt strangely guilty about not telling her who he was. She'd be thrilled. He shook his head. He really was losing it.
She jumped off the table. "Well, I'd better get back to work. Can't stay and talk about conspiracies all day ya know! Oh, before I go, will you tell me, is that a wig?"
"Yes." He said exasperatedly. He hadn't been asked that for years, but it still annoyed him. He flattened his hair self-consciously. It was probably looking awful by now.
She trotted off and left him alone with his untouched coffee. He didn't really want it, he knew that cafes did not hold the same concept of clean as he did. It was probably cold by now anyway. He slipped a five dollar bill under the ashtray and left.
In a way, he was relieved to leave the heat and filth of the cafe, but on the streets he felt exposed and vulnerable. He put his hands in his pockets, kept his head down and trudged on through the snow. Once again, he had no idea where he was going, but he liked to feel that he was going somewhere. He passed several people as he walked. He had no doubt that they were all giving him funny looks, but he didn't even look at them. He didn't feel like there was any point. No one cared. In the outside world, no one respected his authority.
***
Adam put the phone down and sighed wearily. He thought that finally everything had settled down and he could have a rest for once. No such luck. There was another situation that needed sorting out, and he thought he'd better go and get it over with.
He put his jacket on, and headed for the garage, hoping not to alert the others to his departure.
"Where ya going, Adam?" Shalimar asked, breaking from the group that the team had formed around the stairs.
"I have some business to attend to." Adam told her, hoping that would satisfy her. He didn't want to have to explain if he didn't have to.
"What kinda business?" Asked Brennan, who was lounging on the stairs.
"Well, it seems that someone from the underground has spotted a certain someone wandering around the streets." Adam said, watching the faces of his team as the realisation set in. There was a long silence.
"But Adam, how could it be Eckhart? I mean, he's been in stasis for about...four months now." Jesse said.
"Oh but there are several ways he could have escaped. I designed the stasis pods to have a release button that is only accessible if you have the key. There is also a control room which can open them all at once. Also, when the power fails, if certain measures are not taken the stasis pods will automatically open. I suspect the latter." Adam explained.
"I'm coming with you." Shalimar demanded.
"Shalimar, there really is no need. I think you'll find that Eckhart is quite harmless without his lackeys running around after him." Adam told her.
"But Adam..." She began, but Emma took her arm and pulled her back.
"Let him go." She told her.
***
After almost an hour of driving around town, Adam still saw no sign of Mason. He wasn't sure whether he should be worried, apathetic, or mad at the new mutants from the safehouse downtown for winding him up. He hated driving in the snow at the best of times.
He was about to give up and go back to Sanctuary when he drove past a park. If he remembered correctly, Mason had been quite fond of taking walks in that park back when he still had his health. He turned around and parked the car.
As he wandered through the park, memories of the old days at Genomex came back to him. Everyone seemed to get on with each other, and the days just flew by. It was partly his fault that all that changed.
He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he nearly walked past who he was looking for. Sitting on a snow covered bench, half snow covered himself, Mason sat with his head in his hands. He was dizzy from all the walking, and he could feel his condition worsening. Adam sat down next to him, but he made no indication that he had noticed.
"Back in the land of the living then Mason?" Adam said.
"Adam..." Mason said pathetically. He cringed at how he sounded. He cleared his throat and straightened up. "Why are you here?"
Adam began explaining to him what happened, but Mason could not concentrate on his voice, and simply stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Are you even listening to me? Mason, what's wrong?"
"Nothing...everything..." He began, but broke off. "I don't need anyone's pity. Certainly not yours." He started to shiver again, but the cold wasn't what was bothering him. Adam watched him, not sure what he should do. Mason wasn't acting like himself. His speech pattern was different, and he could hardly stay upright, even though he was sitting down.
"I can help you." Adam said, and quickly added. "If you want."
Mason looked up at him, and Adam could tell that he desperately wanted to say yes. But he was too proud. "No Adam, I am not going to accept your help. It is far too late for that." Adam began to wish he'd brought Emma with him. Mason was just...difficult.
"I'm afraid I'm not going to take no for an answer. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." He stood up and held out his hand. Mason didn't move. "Are you coming with me or not?" He didn't answer. "Look, if I have to drag you back to the car, I will. But I'm not leaving you out here to die." He reached to grab Mason's arm, and he shrank back.
"If I am to have no choice, then I will walk." Mason stated, struggling to stand. He finally managed to get up and took a few steps. It made him wonder how he had gotten there from Genomex. They walked slowly through the deserted park, snow falling and swirling around them.
