In the Shadow of Heroes
Legal Disclaimer-It's called Fanfiction and there is no financial use of these characters, other than to entertain the masses. All characters and situations belong to Marvel and DC. Got it?
Author's Note-I blame Aniki. She said something in a review and this story reared its head. It's possible, just an interesting way for it to happen. It's set in between Season One and Two. Oh yeah, Animiga, Cliffhanger alert. Reviews are begged for.
Chapter 1
The buzzer that Adam Kane hoped to never hear rang loudly at Sanctuary. It gave a pinpoint notification, registering location, status and needs for the sender. To Adam, it was a roadmap on how to find him, but, what could he do. He would have to tell his people and hope and prayed that they understood.
It was amazing, they shared so much in common with the sender, fantastic crime fighting weapons, the need to keep the world safe, and while they were five, Adam and the team that Mutant X was, the sender and his partner were people of the same ilk, but not genetically enhanced.
Adam took nanoseconds to call the team in and start a plan to rescue them. The message read that the team was stuck inside a cave, the entry blocked by a cave in. There was literally no way out. The message was a beacon of last chances, and Adam knew that they could get the pair out, but afterward was going to be a problem.
"You rang?" Brennan Mulwray took his usual spot on the edge of a counter in the center of the computer lab, Shalimar Fox and Emma DeLauro not far behind.
Jesse Kilmartin ran in, still yanking on a shirt from his nap in his room.
"Thanks for the speed, guys, this one's a doozy," Adam began, "We have a rescue mission and time is of the essence."
"New Mutants?" Jesse asked, raising an eyebrow, noting the odd look that Adam carried.
"No, more of an old friend," Adam went behind his computer and printed up the map coordinates.
He handed the paperwork to Brennan and Brennan in turn shared it with Jesse.
"I've loaded the coordinates into the Helix," Adam continued, "But I want you to handle these two with extreme care. Jesse, you might know them, Brennan, I know that you have heard of them. They have secret identies, folks and we're going to stick to them."
"Out with it Adam, who are we going after?" Shalimar was getting annoyed by Adam's cloak and dagger talk.
"You'll know when you get there," Adam replied, his eyes flashing angrily, "They don't have much time, so go."
With that, the team assembled the gear they would need to take down a mountain and loaded into the Helix. The coordinates set, Jesse and Brennan pondered Adam's attitude.
"Who are these guys?" Jesse thought aloud, "I mean, Adam has never acted this strange."
"Adam has his secrets," Emma entered the conversation by sitting in the jump seat behind Jesse, "He's just wanting us to make sure that we know to keep this as confidential as possible."
"Now we can do this by concentrating on how to get them out," Shalimar said from her seat, "I've been running a scan on the location where they are, Jesse, you should be able to get in there. We'll be your backup."
"And we're almost there," Brennan announced as he set down the Helix in an open park, after pulling the aircraft into stealth, "You ready guys?"
The park was set on the edge of the ocean, a large cliff face being a beautiful overlook during daylight hours. Since it was night, it was dangerous. There was very little to no light, and with the lack of a full moon, they would be going to the edges in pitch blackness. Jesse and Brennan slowly set up the repelling ropes while Shalimar steadied herself to be the first to jump. Jesse soon followed her into the night, the only light that they had was from the small lights that they wore around their necks, a pack on Jesse's back containing a beeper that sounded every time they got closer to the cave that had their people in need of help.
As they stopped, Jesse stepped on the ledge, while Shalimar landed softly next to him. They were in front of cave that had been cut into the rock wall over time. As the light barely showed in front of them, they were staring at the front of the cave in.
"You smell anything?" Jesse asked, pulling the small locating computer out of his backpack, "This states were close."
"Mainly dust and rocks, and fear, lots of fear," Shalimar said, testing the rocks in front of her, "I don't like going into places this unstable, but we need to get them out of here."
Jesse keyed his ring.
"Emma, what dimensions are you getting on this wall of rock? What are we looking at?" he touched the edge of the rock opening, hoping for a low number.
"Just about two feet," Emma's reply was followed by a readout loaded into his computer, "You should be okay."
"I will be," Jesse smiled, and touched the wall.
His mutant ability enabled him to turn the wall into molecules. He walked through, Shalimar holding his hand as they did, and on the other side, they found that they were in a small cave, a small dying light in the corner and two men lying on their sides.
Shalimar went to the smaller one, touching his neck to look for a pulse. The man was in a costume that she didn't recognize, but she was used to all sorts of outfits. She was met with a gloved hand gripping hers tightly and from the dim light on his face, a masked set of eyes looking at her.
"Hey, hey, we're here to help," she said softly, "You should know that. You sent the beacon."
"I didn't," came the reply, weak due to the lack of oxygen in the room, "He did, then he passed out. I think he's hurt worse than he'll admit."
"He's still alive, Shal," Jesse said, from his stance next to the larger man.
Jesse had followed Shalimar's example and checked the man's vitals. His lack of response was scary, but he was out cold. He knew that they could probably help him, but he knew he had to move him.
He found a pulse and a man dressed entirely in leather. The pulse was steady, and Jesse instinctually didn't pull his mask off. He just knew that he could, with help, pull him back through the wall and out to fresh air. Shalimar helped him get the unconscious man up and helped place him on Jesse's shoulders.
"I'll be right back," Jesse said, walking through the wall.
The younger man looked stunned.
"He just walked through a wall," he said, taking Shalimar's hand as they stood up.
"Hey, you will in just a second," she smiled, "It's something we do."
"I'm sorry, but who's the we?" the younger man asked, "I just want to know who I am working with."
"The other guy didn't tell you anything, did he?" Shalimar asked, keying the ring, "Jesse, it's getting bad airwise in here."
Jesse had been met by Brennan, who was busy putting the older man into his own harness and tugging on the rope so Emma could pull them up by motor. Brennan started to follow the man up, careful to make sure that he didn't bang against the rock.
"On my way, just handing this guy off to Brennan," Jesse's quick reply was followed by his return to the cave.
He took them both by the hand and led them through the wall, back out to the ledge.
The younger man took deep breaths of fresh air. He stopped for a second, then took the harness offered to him as the other harness, with the older, unconscious man was lifted into the night.
"You take good care of him," he said, latching his on, "I know I can get up to the top from here."
The young man then jumped up and grabbed the outcropping, climbing up the cliff slowly, his repel line waving in the night.
"What is this guy, an acrobat?" Shalimar asked, as Emma keyed the engines to pull the three of them up from the cropping. She had pulled the older man up and gently laid him down.
She was feeling the edge of his head, being careful not to disturb his mask. He was out cold, his injuries putting his consciousness out of reach, but the need to be unconscious helping his healing begin. Something horrible had happened, and she could sense his subconscious trying to process it.
The younger man reached the top of the cliff, and yelled at her, breaking her concentration.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM?" he yelled.
"Checking on his condition," Brennan said, stopping the younger man as he ran toward her, "Calm down man, we're the good guys."
"Who are you guys?" the younger man said, the better lighting of the park showing not only his costume, but the long cut that was bleeding on his forehead.
Jesse and Shalimar finished the climb and were heading toward them.
"They call us Mutant X," Jesse started toward him, "You called us, remember?"
The young man nodded. He looked toward the man on the ground and knelt down next to him. Emma stopped and looked at the man, seeing the pain and confusion in his eyes.
"What do they call you?" Shalimar asked, joining him by the older man's side, "We're not going to hurt you."
"My name is Robin," he said, turning to look deeply into Shalimar's eyes, "And he's Batman."