Exposed
Summary: Mutant X find themselves mixed in with enemies new and old as they try to save Brennan from a government agency that has just discovered Genomex's secrets.
Author's Notes: My last fanfic before I start hitting the books again. By the way, the music lyrics, which have the brackets around them, in the first part of the story, are from Bush's "Glycerine." Just in case you were wondering...
Part One: Menace
Adam wandered into the small club fifteen minutes past 1 a.m., searching amongst the rows of black coats that passed him by for the familiar faces of his team...no, scratch that, he thought, shaking his head, of his children. Closing his eyes, he felt the rock music pulse in his head.
[Live in a wheel where everyone steals and when we rise it's like strawberry fields.]
As if on cue, Emma emerged, a small smile on her face, her olive complexion glowing in the orange light. Following closely behind her was Brennan, a can of Fresca in his hand; he waved to Adam with the other.
[Treated you bad, you bruised my face. Could have loved you boy, you got a beautiful taste.]
Adam laughed and shook his head,
"Shalimar didn't let you have a beer?" He asked, his usual grim face forgotten for the moment.
[Should I have been easier or free? I often fear when you're with me.]
Shrugging, Brennan chugged the rest of his soda and threw it into the recycling. "Apparently, I'm driving."
"Where are Shal and Jesse?" Adam asked, almost shouting to make himself heard above the roar of the music.
"They went to another club to check out a possible location of a New Mutant." Emma replied sharply, "but that was a while ago and we were about to leave to check on them."
Nodding, Adam began to make his way through the crowd, signaling for the others to follow. Turning, he saw that they did.
"So, have a fun night out?" Adam asked casually, sliding into the front seat of Brennan's red Corvette.
Emma shrugged, plopping into the backseat. "It was okay. Bad night for the ladies though, I'm afraid."
Brennan shrugged, reached into his pocket and pulled out several crumpled pieces of paper with telephone numbers scribbled on them. Nonchalantly, he sprinkled them on Emma's lap and threw his head back in a laugh. Emma responded by slapping Brennan on the shoulder, hard.
"Hey!" Brennan pouted, rubbing his arm. "Em, you got some action tonight," pausing, a moment of enlightenment struck him, "remember David?"
"Oh, right. David," Emma retorted, batting the scraps of paper off her skirt. Smiling, she decided to play along, "old enough to be my father...that David?"
"So of course," Brennan interjected with a grin, pulling the car out of the parking lot and onto the street, "she danced with him anyway."
"That's nothing though," he continued, "I think one of the girls who hit on Jesse was actually a man."
Emma rolled her eyes. "We're here." She told Brennan after they had been driving for a few minutes, pointing at the sign that read "Club Monaco" in neon pink lights.
Brennan pulled over and shaded his soft brown eyes from the glare of the streetlights. "What a horrible dive."
Emma laughed, patting Brennan's arm affectionately. "Some people just don't have your good taste in exterior design."
"Why don't you two sit back. I'll get them." Brennan offered.
Adam nodded, "Make it quick."
Brennan feigned a salute to Emma before jogging into the run down club. Emma had to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. In a jolt she felt a stab of fear and panic, heard the distant sirens and dimly saw the flashing red and yellow emergency lights. Swiveling she saw no one beside her but Adam, with that calm look in his eyes.
* * *
Brennan had to take a step back as the blinking strobe lights and reek of alcohol hit him. He searched from face to face for Shalimar and Jesse, but found nothing. Pushing his way deeper into the bar, he found a waitress he thought looked around twelve that he interrogated briefly. Finding no information on the whereabouts of Jesse or Shalimar, he continues to comb the bar a few times over before exiting out the back.
Sucking in his first breath of fresh air in twenty minutes, he looked around the small alley.
"Looking for someone?"
The voice was male. Late thirties perhaps...and definitely familiar.
'No,' Brennan thought, 'it couldn't be.'
Frank Thorne.
"Thought you'd be far from here by now." He replied, finally finding his voice after a minute of silence.
In the pale fluorescent light above them, Thorne raised his lips in an upward fashion.
'A smile?' Brennan mused.
"If you're looking for your Mutant X buddies, they dashed a long time ago."
Brennan snorted. "Yeah, once they realized this supposed New Mutant was only you."
"I was expecting you to show. When you didn't, I decided to stick around anyway, see if you would eventually drop in." A smile pursed on Thorne's lips. "Glad you could make it."
"Yeah, well. I never disappoint a fan."
A peel of laughter erupted from deep in Thorne's throat.
"What do you want?" Brennan asked, annoyed.
"Thought you'd like some inside information from a non-underground mutant."
"What do you know that Adam hasn't figured out already?" Brennan spat incredulously.
Raising his hands in an offended pose, Thorne laughed again. "There are some things even we can agree on."
"And that is?"
"In order to continue living our comfortable little lives," Thorne made a gesture to encompass his surroundings, "we must keep mankind ignorant of our existence."
Brennan shrugged. "You're boring me Thorne."
"Fool. Breedlove was ready to blow the whistle on Genomex and the whole Mutant operation. That was, until...I handled the situation."
Brennan didn't blink. "You murdered him," he answered in a cold voice.
A small chuckle from Thorne. "Unfortunately, Eckhart didn't handle the situation nearly as well as likes to believe."
Brennan paused to collect his thoughts. "What do you mean?" He asked, after a moment of silence.
"A disk, full of all the research and work Eckhart and your buddy Adam did on mutant genetics is sitting on the desk in some high profile government agency office. Apparently, Breedlove had it sent in weeks before he made the announcement of going public on the project...sort of as a backup plan."
Brennan fingered his COM link ring, wondering if he should call Adam in. "What are you proposing we do about it?" He asked the sarcasm drained from his voice.
Thorne laughed. "Nothing."
"What?"
"They want a living specimen that will verify everything the disk says before they act."
Brennan surveyed around him, watching as shadows began to dance around him.
"Throne, you fucking idiot. What? You couldn't stand not being someone's flunky?" Brennan demanded, backing up till we felt the cool touch of the wall behind him.
"Not at all Mr. Mulwray. You see, as of right now, I'm in a much better position than you are."
"Whose to say you're not next, huh? You think they'll be satisfied with just one guinea pig when they could easily have two?"
Throne shrugged. "They've done all kinds of tests on me already...but don't worry, I'm sure they'll think of much more...fun things to do with you. You're a smart kid, use your imagination." Craning his head backward, Thorne signaled to the men around him. "Careful boys, make it clean and quick, this one has friends."
Without thinking, Brennan dropped to his knees and sent an electrical current through the floor, stunning the men that had begun to encircle him. Shoving his way through, Brennan sprinted down the alleyway.
"Adam!" He roared into his COM link ring.
"Brennan? Shalimar and Jesse are with me now; we're just waiting for you. What's going on?" Adam asked calmly.
"I'm being pursued. Government guys...don't have time to explain now, but I could use a little back up. I'm in the back alleyway of the club. And Adam, hurry." Cutting off the line, Brennan delivered a sharp kick to the man in black who had come up behind him. All around him was the 'ping' sound of bullets ricocheting off the walls. Stray bullets ripped through Brennan's arm and leg and grazed his chest. He went down, just as pain exploded from the back of his head. Blindly, Brennan shot electric bolts from his fingertips. The sound of a grunt and a collapsing body told him he made contact. Then the world faded to black.
Summary: Mutant X find themselves mixed in with enemies new and old as they try to save Brennan from a government agency that has just discovered Genomex's secrets.
Author's Notes: My last fanfic before I start hitting the books again. By the way, the music lyrics, which have the brackets around them, in the first part of the story, are from Bush's "Glycerine." Just in case you were wondering...
Part One: Menace
Adam wandered into the small club fifteen minutes past 1 a.m., searching amongst the rows of black coats that passed him by for the familiar faces of his team...no, scratch that, he thought, shaking his head, of his children. Closing his eyes, he felt the rock music pulse in his head.
[Live in a wheel where everyone steals and when we rise it's like strawberry fields.]
As if on cue, Emma emerged, a small smile on her face, her olive complexion glowing in the orange light. Following closely behind her was Brennan, a can of Fresca in his hand; he waved to Adam with the other.
[Treated you bad, you bruised my face. Could have loved you boy, you got a beautiful taste.]
Adam laughed and shook his head,
"Shalimar didn't let you have a beer?" He asked, his usual grim face forgotten for the moment.
[Should I have been easier or free? I often fear when you're with me.]
Shrugging, Brennan chugged the rest of his soda and threw it into the recycling. "Apparently, I'm driving."
"Where are Shal and Jesse?" Adam asked, almost shouting to make himself heard above the roar of the music.
"They went to another club to check out a possible location of a New Mutant." Emma replied sharply, "but that was a while ago and we were about to leave to check on them."
Nodding, Adam began to make his way through the crowd, signaling for the others to follow. Turning, he saw that they did.
"So, have a fun night out?" Adam asked casually, sliding into the front seat of Brennan's red Corvette.
Emma shrugged, plopping into the backseat. "It was okay. Bad night for the ladies though, I'm afraid."
Brennan shrugged, reached into his pocket and pulled out several crumpled pieces of paper with telephone numbers scribbled on them. Nonchalantly, he sprinkled them on Emma's lap and threw his head back in a laugh. Emma responded by slapping Brennan on the shoulder, hard.
"Hey!" Brennan pouted, rubbing his arm. "Em, you got some action tonight," pausing, a moment of enlightenment struck him, "remember David?"
"Oh, right. David," Emma retorted, batting the scraps of paper off her skirt. Smiling, she decided to play along, "old enough to be my father...that David?"
"So of course," Brennan interjected with a grin, pulling the car out of the parking lot and onto the street, "she danced with him anyway."
"That's nothing though," he continued, "I think one of the girls who hit on Jesse was actually a man."
Emma rolled her eyes. "We're here." She told Brennan after they had been driving for a few minutes, pointing at the sign that read "Club Monaco" in neon pink lights.
Brennan pulled over and shaded his soft brown eyes from the glare of the streetlights. "What a horrible dive."
Emma laughed, patting Brennan's arm affectionately. "Some people just don't have your good taste in exterior design."
"Why don't you two sit back. I'll get them." Brennan offered.
Adam nodded, "Make it quick."
Brennan feigned a salute to Emma before jogging into the run down club. Emma had to swallow the sudden lump in her throat. In a jolt she felt a stab of fear and panic, heard the distant sirens and dimly saw the flashing red and yellow emergency lights. Swiveling she saw no one beside her but Adam, with that calm look in his eyes.
* * *
Brennan had to take a step back as the blinking strobe lights and reek of alcohol hit him. He searched from face to face for Shalimar and Jesse, but found nothing. Pushing his way deeper into the bar, he found a waitress he thought looked around twelve that he interrogated briefly. Finding no information on the whereabouts of Jesse or Shalimar, he continues to comb the bar a few times over before exiting out the back.
Sucking in his first breath of fresh air in twenty minutes, he looked around the small alley.
"Looking for someone?"
The voice was male. Late thirties perhaps...and definitely familiar.
'No,' Brennan thought, 'it couldn't be.'
Frank Thorne.
"Thought you'd be far from here by now." He replied, finally finding his voice after a minute of silence.
In the pale fluorescent light above them, Thorne raised his lips in an upward fashion.
'A smile?' Brennan mused.
"If you're looking for your Mutant X buddies, they dashed a long time ago."
Brennan snorted. "Yeah, once they realized this supposed New Mutant was only you."
"I was expecting you to show. When you didn't, I decided to stick around anyway, see if you would eventually drop in." A smile pursed on Thorne's lips. "Glad you could make it."
"Yeah, well. I never disappoint a fan."
A peel of laughter erupted from deep in Thorne's throat.
"What do you want?" Brennan asked, annoyed.
"Thought you'd like some inside information from a non-underground mutant."
"What do you know that Adam hasn't figured out already?" Brennan spat incredulously.
Raising his hands in an offended pose, Thorne laughed again. "There are some things even we can agree on."
"And that is?"
"In order to continue living our comfortable little lives," Thorne made a gesture to encompass his surroundings, "we must keep mankind ignorant of our existence."
Brennan shrugged. "You're boring me Thorne."
"Fool. Breedlove was ready to blow the whistle on Genomex and the whole Mutant operation. That was, until...I handled the situation."
Brennan didn't blink. "You murdered him," he answered in a cold voice.
A small chuckle from Thorne. "Unfortunately, Eckhart didn't handle the situation nearly as well as likes to believe."
Brennan paused to collect his thoughts. "What do you mean?" He asked, after a moment of silence.
"A disk, full of all the research and work Eckhart and your buddy Adam did on mutant genetics is sitting on the desk in some high profile government agency office. Apparently, Breedlove had it sent in weeks before he made the announcement of going public on the project...sort of as a backup plan."
Brennan fingered his COM link ring, wondering if he should call Adam in. "What are you proposing we do about it?" He asked the sarcasm drained from his voice.
Thorne laughed. "Nothing."
"What?"
"They want a living specimen that will verify everything the disk says before they act."
Brennan surveyed around him, watching as shadows began to dance around him.
"Throne, you fucking idiot. What? You couldn't stand not being someone's flunky?" Brennan demanded, backing up till we felt the cool touch of the wall behind him.
"Not at all Mr. Mulwray. You see, as of right now, I'm in a much better position than you are."
"Whose to say you're not next, huh? You think they'll be satisfied with just one guinea pig when they could easily have two?"
Throne shrugged. "They've done all kinds of tests on me already...but don't worry, I'm sure they'll think of much more...fun things to do with you. You're a smart kid, use your imagination." Craning his head backward, Thorne signaled to the men around him. "Careful boys, make it clean and quick, this one has friends."
Without thinking, Brennan dropped to his knees and sent an electrical current through the floor, stunning the men that had begun to encircle him. Shoving his way through, Brennan sprinted down the alleyway.
"Adam!" He roared into his COM link ring.
"Brennan? Shalimar and Jesse are with me now; we're just waiting for you. What's going on?" Adam asked calmly.
"I'm being pursued. Government guys...don't have time to explain now, but I could use a little back up. I'm in the back alleyway of the club. And Adam, hurry." Cutting off the line, Brennan delivered a sharp kick to the man in black who had come up behind him. All around him was the 'ping' sound of bullets ricocheting off the walls. Stray bullets ripped through Brennan's arm and leg and grazed his chest. He went down, just as pain exploded from the back of his head. Blindly, Brennan shot electric bolts from his fingertips. The sound of a grunt and a collapsing body told him he made contact. Then the world faded to black.
