Disclaimers : U guys know e routine…MX n its characters doesn't belong to me but to their respective owners…sigh! I'm only borrowing them for this non-profiting story of mine.

Oh yeah…this plot also has some reference to Laily's " One Step Behind" (great plot! please read it) and

Vega5's "The Flood" (very sad somehow…but nice…please read that too) and the many good authors out there whom I forgot to mention for the history of Jesse's character. erm…might also contain spoilers from… "the Assault" though I have yet to watch it…I only know e extended summary thks to tv.tome.

Hmm…Adam always implied that all the new mutants were the by-product of his experiments with DNA,rite? He also mentioned that without his intervention in their genetic makeup, they'll probably had died of some disease or something. So I've always wondered what sort of 'condition' our dear old Jesse suffered from; so much so that they had to tamper with his genetic codes to stabilise his "condition". So; this little story of mine is an attempt to explore this little unknown background of our (well, if not mine) favourite character.

Well…tt's abt it…enjoy…n don't forget to review, k?

Note : mistakes in grammar n etc are to be expected. Don't say I didn't warn u…this was done in the wee hours of the morning…so expect the unexpected…hehehe…man, I have got to stop eating chocolates…they're giving me such a high; I can't sleep! lol!

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Expiration Date

By aniki19

Chpt 1 : Reminiscing the Past

"Ouch!" Jesse exclaimed; his head having hit something hard. He had woken up under his bed this morning. This wasn't the first time it had happened and it won't be the last either, he sighed. He got up and walked to the bathroom. As he's brushing his teeth, he wondered whether he should tell Adam about it and promptly decide against it. No way…he thought. I can just imagine the amount of 'babying' I'll get ; visualizing the tests and scanning that will be done if he does exactly that. Besides, it doesn't hurt that much; just a dull ache in his chest. Must be I'm still growing, he added bemuse, turning the shower on.

Sighing, he came out from the bathroom; drying his hair with his towel and stopped to pick his clothes. Suddenly he gasp sharply and clasp his chest. He started phasing uncontrollably and collapsed on the floor.

Breath, Jesse, breathe; he told himself. Come on, you're in control here. Focus Jesse, focus.

Calming himself down to breathe; pushing away the panic that's rising ; he took a deep breathe, saw dark spots and then everything went black.

Adam looked on at his young ward lying on the bed in the med bay; he had Jesse hooked up to half a dozen contraptions to monitor his conditions and he shook his head. "I'm sorry Jesse, your time's almost up" he whispered to himself. Sighing, he moved back to his usual place in the med bay and tried once again to stabilise Jesse's condition. He couldn't help but recall his involvement in Jesse's life.

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Twenty-five years ago, in a certain building that shall remain anonymous; a brilliant scientist was engrosses in his work when ---

"And who are the couple we're meeting today, Mason?" Adam inquired to his bespectacled colleague; looking up from one of his many experiments.

Mason gave him a grin, "A very wealthy couple". He glance down at his clipboard and, "The Kilmartins; apparent Mr and Mrs Noah Kilmartin have been having trouble conceiving and they've come to us as a last resort".

That figures, what with the exuberant fees we charge them, who wouldn't want us to be the last resort. Adam noted sourly. Well, at least this time it's someone who could afford those fees and possibly more…he thought as he did a quick background check on the couple's profile. Both of them were from two of the most influential family in the whole of the state and their marriage had sealed the deal, so as to speak. Unfortunately, in the five years they've been married, they have yet to be blessed with any child---the ultimate icing on the cake---and rumours are threatening to break their marriage (cum partnership) apart.

After running several weeks of tests on the couple, the genetic codes( i.e. the egg n the sperm, blue eyes from mom, dirty blonde hair from dad, bla, bla, blah) from both of them and a little ingenuity of the researchers; Mrs Kilmartin was pregnant. Both parties were thrilled of the results and everything seems to be going according to schedule. The baby, a boy---the Kilmartins had insisted on the sex to carry on the legacy of the family---was growing up steadily up till his third month when his mother nearly had a miscarriage.

Mrs Kilmartin was having difficulty with this pregnancy. She has a history of a weak heart and her pregnancy was putting undue stress on her heart. Adam tried one of his new treatments on her and it seemed to ease the pain a little but he could tell it wasn't doing much to rectify the problem. By the time she was in her fifth month; it was evident that continuing the pregnancy would endanger both mother and child.

In her sixth month, the situation got so dire that they had to induced her to a premature birth; reassuring both anxious parents that it was the best solution to the problem at hand. And so, on the 19th of November 1994, Jesse David Alexander Kilmartin II was born prematurely, weighing only 2.1 kilos. He was immediately put in an incubator while his mother was having her well deserved rest.

Alas, the boy was born with poorly developed set of lungs which made his respiratory system; including his heart, extremely weak. It would seem as though all of their hard effort would have gone down the drain had not Adam suggested to try a revolutionary new technique of genetic science that he had developed on the baby. Of course, he also warned the parents of the possible side effects as this treatment was still in the testing stage and though results have been positive, side effects in the possible future are inevitable. Adam, however, managed to exclude some possibilities of the side effects from the written contract before administering baby Jesse to the required treatments.

Within a few days, Jesse's condition was improving. By a week, he was off life support and was breathing on his own. Within a month, he was ready to go home.

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O.k…tt's it for now…u guys want more? Should I continue? please, please tell me…k? so now…I'm gonna catch some sleep.nite!

14/06/04

02:34