"Blood is Thicker" series
Part I: Healing the Feral Heart
Plot summary: All hell breaks loose while Mutant X rescues a young mutant from Genomex agents; the mysterious young survivor of a safehouse massacre. A startling discovery forces Shalimar to deal with some hard realities regarding her family, while Genomex is bent on obtaining the young survivor and the team encounters a gang of terrorists who will go to any lengths to get what they want.
Disclaimer: No, alas, Mutant X and it's characters do not belong to me. They belong to Fireworks, Tribune and Marvel. However, the character Willow is my brain child and the basis for this little excursion into the fanfic universe. I've just recently got into the show, so my knowledge is a bit limited. What can I saw I caught the writing bug and was inspired to write. I know, I know, you're thinking Willow, hmmmm, well she's just ripping off Buffy, granted I like the name Willow and she definitely inspired it. The similarities stop there, because my Willow is nothing like Buffy's Willow. It would be the equivalent of saying Buffy is just ripping off Willow Offgood and so on and so forth. But there are many out there who think that Mutant X is merely a ripoff of X-men, so in short basically everyone is ripping off everybody and we all suck. So leave me alone! LOL. Some of the events of this story were inspired by the X-men movies, especially the safehouse raid. Well now that I got that out of my system, also, I took liberties with storylines and timelines for my own convenience. This is my Mutant X third season if Emma had of survived the explosion and Adam not disappeared. So go easy on me. This is my first piece of fan fiction ever. Please review. Any input, criticism (as long as it's constructive).
Violence warning: This is Mutant X we're talking about, so of course there's gonna be violence of one form or another. There are some disturbing images of mass killing and attempts at genocide (not alot I promise you), so if you are offended by that, then this isn't the story for you.
Feedback, suggestions and input are definitely welcome. You can send me feedback at janurabiyahoo.ca. Enjoy!
Chapter I - No Rest for the Wicked
Mutant Safehouse...
"No way man! No way!" Mattius shouted.
"What the hell do you call this?" Jade barked back, satisfied that she proved her case.
"I call that using your empathic powers. No using your powers while playing cards. It spoils the game," Landon explained, frustrated that Jade had won yet another hand.
"Hey, just because I'm that damn good, doesn't mean I cheat, alright. I won fair and square," Jade smirked.
"Fair and square my ass! No one's that lucky at poker," Landon sighed.
"Well, that does it. That's the last time I ever play poker with an empath," Mattius threw down his cards and got up, "I'm going for a smoke. Anyone care to join me?"
"Nah you go ahead," Landon nodded.
"Alright, suit yourself," He smiled as he left the table.
"Hey Matt! Hurry back so I can whip your ass at crib!" Jade laughed.
Mattius ignored the comment and ventured outside.
"Well guys and gals. I'm spent. I'm gonna call it a night," Willow yawned.
"Sweet dreams Willow. Don't sleep your life away," Landon joked.
"What about crib Willie? Don't you want in?" Jade asked.
"No thanks, you guys knock yourselves out. Enjoy yourselves and don't do anything I wouldn't do," Willow joked.
"Hey you know us!" Jade laughed.
"Yeah, like I said. Hey, Landon, if the riff raff gets out of hand you know whose door to knock on," Willow laughed back.
"Get going squirt. We'll miss ya," Jade threw a crumpled paper at Willow.
Willow smiled and retreated to her quarters.
Meanwhile, outside...The night was cool, but pleasant. The dock was quiet and he loved the sound of water although he hated getting wet. He pulled out his tin and pulled out a smoke. A bright flame emerged from his finger to light his cigarette and took he a long drag. He exhaled as if all his problems evaporated with the smoke.
Things were finally coming together and Mattius had finally obtained freedom from the GSA. Finally, he was with people he could relate to and he was beginning to love life again. Yep life was good and he knew he was among friends.
He smiled to himself triumphantly "I think I could even learn to love again". His thoughts dwelled on the beautiful Jade. A stunning empath with ebony hair and emerald eyes one could get lost in. And he did, he most definitely did.
He heard the sound of a can falling on the ground and he turned towards the direction that the sound emanated from. His attention was drawn to a pile of garbage just outside the safehouse. As he drew closer the garbage, his sense heightened as if ready for action, when a stray cat emerged from the pile. The black stray stared up at him curious as to his presence on his turf. His attention was diverted from a shadowy figured approaching by stealth from behind.
A quick jab to the back of the head and Mattius was knocked out cold.
The figure approached the now unconscious Mattius. "Bind his hands and blind fold him", the figured ordered. Then a bunch of dark figures came out of the shadows and bound Mattius and hauled him off.
"Is this the place sir?" One whispered.
"Affirmative. These are the correct co-ordinates provided by Sam. Move in," He ordered into a walky-talky.
Within seconds the safehouse was surrounded by fully armed soldiers in full attire or at least they appeared to be. Special Ops perhaps. What they were looking for was unclear.
"Alright men. You know the order. No prisoners, no survivors. Let's go" He directed his troops towards the entrances.
Inside...Willow was dead tired. It had been a long day and she was anxious to turn in. For three weeks she had been in the safehouse, she knew that the GSA was after her and she needed her rest. For over a year, she had been on the run from the GSA, hopping from city to city, trying to escape their never ending series of operatives and connections. Many nights she lied in bed pondering why they wanted her so badly. She knew that she couldn't stay in one place for too long and get attached to anyone, for fear that the GSA would got to any means necessary to find her. So she knew this night was her last in this safehouse, tomorrow she was gonna leave and try to contact the mutant underground, for she knew it was the safest bet. She pondered this as her head hit the pillow and closed her eyes for some much needed rest, when suddenly she was awoke...
BANG!
In the Main Room..."No body move! Get your hands up!" Barked the masked soldiers.
"Get your hands up!" The leader pointed a gun at Landon. "Don't move!"
The tension built in the room as soldiers piled into the room from all sides. Landon, Jade and a few other mutants stood side by side as they stood surrounded by guns.
"You picked the wrong place buddy, "Landon shook his head and punched the leader square in the jaw.
With that the room was full of soldiers and mutants fighting. The battle was fierce and Landon was right in the middle. Jade joined in, as did several other mutants who heard the commotion from the next room. But there was strength in numbers and soon the whole room was filled with armed soldiers who began to open fire on the mutants.
Willow ran from her room to see what caused the commotion. Her worst fears, as she suspected that the GSA was there for her. Her fear overcame her and she searched the room. Grabbing her bag she looked for a means of escape. Seeing an airduct in the ceiling corner, she quickly moved and jumped for the high duct. She quickly slipped through and swiftly crawled up the vertical shaft with the quickness of an insect. She crawled to the air shaft just above the battle and witnessed the carnage through a vent hole.
"Jesus Landon! They're coming through the walls!" Jade shouted as more and more troops began to overtake them.
"Something tells me this is a battle we can't win!" He yelled over the bullets, "Stop! We give up!" Landon threw his hands up in the air in surrender.
Bullet shells tore through his body and he dropped to the floor like a rag doll.
"LANDON!! NO!!" Jade shouted from behind the table she was using for refuge.
Tears overcame Willow as she saw her friend drop to the ground. She couldn't believe her eyes. No, the GSA would never pull something like this, she thought to herself.
"Hold your fire!" A voice came from the distance.
Willow turned her attention to the entrance of the safehouse. A bearded man wearing a black trench coat walked in amongst the soldiers and inspected the carnage. Then he turned his attention onto the surviving mutants.
"Line them up," he ordered.
The soldiers immediately took the survivors and lined them up against the wall. The man in the black coat turned to walk out and nodded to one of the soldiers as he past him. The soldier made a cutthroat jesture as the soldiers lined up in firing squad fashion and shot the survivors dead.
"My god, no..." Willow cried silently as she witnessed her friends all fall to the ground lifeless. She regained some rationality when soldiers started to pour gasoline all over the safehouse.
"Torch it!" Was the final order from the head soldier as he and his men turned to retreat from the safehouse. The remaining soldier lit the gasoline and ran out as the room immediately burst into flames.
Willow came to her senses and began to make a vigorous attempt to climb the shaft to the roof of the compound. She knew her only chance to get out was to jump into the bay. She frantically climbed out of the shaft with moments to spare and jumped off the roof into the bay just as the building exploded. As she came to the surface, she watched her temporary home go up in flames. She quickly turned and swam for the docks.
Sanctuary (Three days later)...Things had been thankfully quiet all week at the Sanctuary. Though everyone had survived the explosion at the Naxcon factory, Nicholas and Emma had both sustained heavy injuries. Nicholas, however, remained in critical condition, just barely clinging to life, while Emma suffered a bruised rib, a broken leg and a nasty blow to the head. Shalimar kept a constant vigil by both Emma and Nicholas, praying that she would not lose either of them. When Emma finally showed signs of coming to, Shalimar immediately ran to her sided and gently kissed her bandaged forehead.
"Wha...Shal," Emma mustered a small smile,"Where am I?". Emma tried to move but was gently pushed back down by Shalimar.
"No you don't...lie down, sweetie. You got banged up pretty good there. So I'm afraid you're gonna be bed ridden for a while. You had us worried for a while there kiddo," Shalimar said, wiping away some fresh tears, "You're pretty lucky you know".
"Yeah, well, I would think we all are," She joked, trying painfully to find a more comfortable position. Then she looked up to see Shalimar's tear-stained face and knew right away. "How's your father?"
Shalimar looked up at her and sniffled. "He ahh...well, it doesn't look good, sweetie. Adam can't do anything more for him. All we can do is wait".
Emma looked at her sympatheticly, "I'm so sorry Shal". She then winced as her head began pounding "Ahhhhh..."
"No, no, no. No mind reading today for you honey. You've gotta turn that off for a while. Like I said, you took a nasty blow to the head. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. But now I think it's time you relax and work on recovering. Go back to sleep, sweetie, I'll be here," Shalimar said as her nurturing instincts took over.
She stayed with Emma in her room until she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Shalimar gently laid Emma's hand back down at her side and quietly slipped out of her room. She dried her eyes as she exited the room to find Adam waiting there for her.
"How's she doing?" Adam asked.
"She's fine. She's just sleeping," Shalimar sighed.
"Good. Well she's gonna need all the rest she can get, it's gonna be quite a long recovery. But I think we can all rest easy now that everyone made it out alive," Adam added.
"Yeah, I guess Emma was right; We where all lucky," Shalimar smiled.
Adam smiled and nodded in agreement.
"How's my father?" Shalimar questioned.
"Well, he's stabilized for now, but he's still in a comma. I think only time will tell," Adam shook his head.
"I'm gonna go see him, if you don't need me for anything," Shalimar said.
"No, go ahead. Any problems, Jesse and Brennen will handle it," Adam agreed.
"Thanks Adam," Shalimar said as she
Genomex..."Well, Mr. Larkin. Did you're men find the mutant?" Eckhart asked impatiently, "I judge from you're hesitation that the mission was a failure."
"There were...complications sir," a nervous Larkin replied.
"Complications. What kind of...complications," Eckhart asked slightly annoyed.
"It appears, that someone hit the safehouse before we did. The whole place was completely destroyed," Larkin responded.
"Any survivors?" Eckhart asked.
"Don't know sir. Our men swept the area and the bay and found no bodies, but they did find this on the other side of the bay," Larkin stated, presenting a spider-like mechanical devise.
"Hmmmm...well Mr. Larkin, it would appear our mutant is still alive, however, without this device, she maybe a tad bit difficult to trace. I want you to contact every ground agent we have and I don't want them to stop until she is found. Do you understand?" Eckhart instructed.
"Yes, sir. I'll get right on it," Larkin smiled and turned to leave.
"One other thing...are you absolutely sure that the explosion wasn't an accident?" Eckhart inquired.
"Yes sir. We found gasoline trails along the pier beside the wreckage," Larkin explained.
"If that's the case then it appears we may have a slight problem on our hands. Mr. Larkin, I want you to discover the identity of the ones who destroyed the safehouse. Whoever they are, they could present a possible threat to Genomex and this project. Find out everything you can and report back to me immediately. Understood?" Eckhart said.
"Yes, sir" Larkin left the room.
Sanctuary...
"Adam!" Jesse yelled.
Adam approached "What is it, Jess?"
"It seems I intercepted a top secret priority one GSA cable to all field agents," Jesse explained.
"Hmm...sounds pretty big. Let's have a look," Adam said.
Jesse projected the message.
"From the looks of it, they're searching for a new mutant. She must be pretty important. Willow?" Adam looked, "Brennen search the new mutant database for a new mutant named Willow."
"I'm on it," Brennen turned to the console.
Adam and Jesse gathered around Brennen and watched as he searched her name.
"Found her. Willow...Willow Fox," Brennen looked confused.
Both Jesse and Adam were taken aback by the name, not to mention the uncanny resemblance to Shalimar.
"I didn't know Shalimar had any mutant relatives," Jesse said awestruck.
"Come on Jess. Fox is a common last name. It could be just a coincidence," Brennen said somewhat dumfounded.
"I know but look at her Bren. I don't know, but the odds of that being a coincidence..."Jess replied.
"Agreed," Adam interrupted, "What else you have on her Brennen?"
"Okay, Willow Fox aged 15. Feral Class, Arachnid mutation, spider-like agility, ability to scale any structure, can jump high distances...also says she showed extreme acceleration in intelligence. High school graduate by age 12. Numerous suspensions and was almost expelled for hacking into the Schools main frame computer. Was skipped five grads after it was discovered her dilinquint behavior was attributed to boredom. Excelled in mathematics, chemistry, physics, technology and biology," Brennen read.
"Sounds like the next Einstein," Jesse replied quite impressed.
"Yeah, but I don't see how that would make her Genomex's Most Wanted," Brennen joked.
"Anything else Brennen?" Adam interrupted.
"Umm...no, no record of parents, family history, nothing," Brennen replied.
"According to this cable, she was in a mutant safehouse near the bay..."Adam hesitated.
"What is it?" Brennen asked.
Adam's look was of disbelief. "The safehouse exploded three days ago."
"What?!" They both said in unison.
"It says, they were gonna hit the safehouse when they came upon it in flames. The GSA seems to think it was a terrorist attack," Adam collected himself, "All the mutants inside were killed. But they believe she escaped. According to this she had a homing device implanted on the base of her neck that they found on the dock across the bay."
"Wow..." Brennen said.
"Yeah...Eckhart definitely didn't want this one to get away," Adam added.
Adam stood there and thought for a moment. "Well, I would say our top priority to find her before the GSA does. Brennen,I want you to monitor police scanners. Maybe, they've picked up on something."
"What about the safehouse?" Jesse asked.
"If my suspicion is correct and she was in that safehouse before it blew, she might know what happened there," Adam surmised. "Jesse I want you to monitor all GSA communications. The moment they locate her, I want you and Brennen to take the Double Helix and get her before the GSA does. I'm gonna log onto Proxy Blue and see if I can find out more about this explosion."
"What about Shalimar? Shouldn't she know about this?" Jesse inquired.
"She's with her father right now. I think that's the last thing..." Adam was interrupted.
"Bingo! I got something," Brennen shouted.
"Jesus that was quick," Jesse said.
"Well, my guess it doesn't take long for our little friend to find trouble," Adam smiled "What you got Brennen?"
"It sounds like some old lady called into the police station and reported seeing a young girl scaling the side of the old water tower," Brennen smiled.
"Are they responding?" Adam inquired.
"I think they're sending a patrol car out there to check it out, but I doubt they're taking it seriously," Brennen explained.
"Looks like the GSA's picked up on the transmission as well," Jesse warned.
"Alright you two. Move out," Adam ordered.
"Should we get Shal?" Jesse asked.
"No. You're responsibility is to bring her back here safe. I'll talk to Shalimar," Adam informed them.
End of Chapter One.
