Part 3

"So how's Earth Garde find her so fast?" Six inquired perching on a chair.

"It appears our highly intelligent girl has a weakness," Lexa explained swiping up on her tablet.

The screen on the wall showed a paused video surveillance camera.

"She has a partner doesn't she?" Marina questioned.

"Well, not exactly a partner. A little girl. Four or five years old. Our friend Athena tried taking her to a clinic. I'd need time to dig up this girl's identity. But sources say she's sick. Pretty sick." Lexa explained.

"With what?" Marina asked.

"They don't exactly know but the little girl was described as drowsy and quiet."

The girl flickered away with the child.

"Earth Garde missed her again. That's at least the 5th failure to capture her." Lexa continued.

"How'd they find her?" John inquired.

"The little girl. Our resourceful child picked the wrong clinic apparently. One of the receptionist has a husband who works at the local processing station. She called it in because this girl had no insurance, no paperwork whatsoever, and seemed to be nervous. Apparently, Earth Garde jumped on it instantly." Lexa answered.

"So house location?" Sam inquired.

"I'll get you the address. Anything else?" Lexa questioned them. John looked at Nine.

"Relax. Ella will be fine. She'll be back up and running this afternoon. Taylor does excellent work." Nine reassured.

"What?" John demanded.

Oh yeah. He didn't tell John that he'd let Ella go through his obstacle course and only made it halfway before he had to shut the thing off.

"Nothing Johnny." Nine quickly recovered.

"She's survived a Mogadorian invasion and being held captive and experimented on by her evil grandfather. I'm absolutely sure whatever training incident happened she'll recover from." Six reassured directing him out the door. Nine chuckled.

"Where is she?" Marina asked.

"She's with my other healer. Go find us a human Garde." Nine reassured.


Ella was in a full out dash for Nine's office. She heard an official on a golf cart yell at her for cutting him off. She'd found the message this morning stuffed under her door. The others were reporting their findings to Nine today as soon as classes were done. She'd had to suffer through this morning's early training with her new found friends, breakfast, six hours of classes, a few more hours of training before she was free until dinner. Which was at six and it was five fifteen. She was already running late. She burst into the room to everyone else already there.

"Sorry! I wanted to shower after training and I lost track of time." Ella apologized.

"It's okay Ella," John spoke from the monitor. Nine chuckled.

"So how's the investigation going?" Ella questioned.

"Well, we've learned very little again," John explained. Marina appeared on camera next to him.

"But the child with her is sick. We discovered children's Tylenol in one of the bedrooms. A worn blanket with Emma embroidered on it was abandoned in the same bedroom too." She replied.

"The girls smart but cares about appearances because we found no signs she changed her appearance this time." Six added from off screen.

"If she had any tech with her she must've kept it on her," Sam spoke.

"So we have one sick child and nothing else." Malcolm summarized.

"Yep. Want us to stay out here? Or come back?" John questioned.

"Have you thoroughly gone over the scene?" Malcolm asked.

"There wasn't much to go over. This house looks barely lived in." Marina answered.

"Feel free to come back until the next hit." Nine shrugged.

"Wait." Ella blurted.

"What?" John asked worriedly. Ella smiled.

"I beat the obstacle course." She announced proudly.

"The sadistic invention of Nine's?" Sam chuckled.

"You're just chicken." Six teased.

"You want a try Six? I'm free after classes if you want to make a go at it." Nine teased.

"You're on." Six agreed.

"Adios." Lexa waved before ending the call.

"So when you going to tell Six you barely make it through on a good day?" Malcolm questioned.

"I ain't." Nine huffed. Ella laughed.

"The great and powerful professor Nine can't survive his own invention?"

Nine glared at both of them.

"End of subject. Shouldn't dinner be ready yet?" He demanded.


She had spent a few weeks in Florida before her anxiety got to her and she teleported again.

She's was exhausted when she appeared in a new city. Then as she started off with the girl in her arms. She was running a fever again and coughing occasionally. Once they came around the corner she saw a very recognizable landmark. Damn her unpredictable gift. Of all the cities in America, it had to be San Francisco. That stupid Academy was nearby and if she was caught here she'd have to pull out all the big guns to escape. Maybe she could find an abandoned building to hide in until she was strong enough to move again. She wasn't going to go to a shelter for Emma's sake. They'd take her away. In a rundown section of the city, she took shelter in an abandoned house. There was no electricity or running water but there was a roof over their head. She managed to find a mostly clean corner and sat down to rest with Emma. Emma was getting worse. She coughed and coughed and it made her feel bad that she could do nothing for her. She was always burning up now and barely had any energy to complain now. She'd hope Emma would get better but she was only getting worse. Maybe she could find a way to get her to a doctor without risking herself. She just had to really put her mind to it.


"Bye guys!" Ella waved to the boys. She and Marina were gonna accompany Taylor to her weekly hospital visit. Malcolm stood near the entrance waiting for them.

"Extra Garde can't hurt can it?" Taylor asked him.

"Two healers are better than one." He optimistically replied.

"Any leads?" Ella asked him as the other two fell back.

"It's been five weeks and nothing from our fugitive." Malcolm sighed.

"I heard Nine talking about sending an alert to hospitals," Ella suggested.

"Lexa is on it last I heard. Haven't heard anything since." Malcolm answered.

"What was Taylor asking about more Garde couldn't hurt?" She whispered.

She looked over her shoulder to see Marina and Taylor in deep conversation.

"I'm surprised Nine hasn't told you or that your new friends didn't tell you about the incident. Weeks ago Taylor snuck out with a few peers and this organization captured Taylor. She was the fourth healed to be captured by this group. Thankfully she was rescued. There have been concerns ever since that on one of these trips they could make a second attempt on her." Malcolm quietly explained.

"Oh." Ella frowned.

"But the peacekeepers accompanying us are completely outfitted with anti Garde technology. There's nothing to worry about Ella." Malcolm reassured.

"I hope so. I'd hate to have to pummel someone." She chuckled.


They'd been here for two weeks when she woke up to Emma dry heaving. The girl was white as a sheet and burning up. Her hair was pasted to her head with sweat. The girl whimpered before starting to cough again.

"Come here Em." She softly spoke scooping up the small child. She had slept with her backpack on so she left the abandoned building behind. She walked the streets until she came across an average hospital. She entered the building and went right to ER reception.

"Help she's sick." She pleaded with the woman. The receptionist had been talking with an older girl with a long dark braid. The woman gave the older girl a weary look.

"Come with me." The older girl smiled.

"I'll tell you a room when I'm back." The girl told the woman. If she had to guess she was an adult. Hopefully, one who didn't pay attention to the news. How stupid of her. She hasn't changed her appearance since New York. Curses. Now she really hoped the girl didn't turn her in. The girl didn't lead them into the ER though she led them to an actual hospital room.

"What's wrong with her?" The woman asked.

"She keeps coughing and has a fever." The girl replied setting the small child on the bed.

"How old is she?" The woman asked.

"Four." The girl answered.

"Name?" She questioned putting a hand on the small child's forehead.

"Emma. I'm Cecilia." The girl blurted awkwardly.

"Okay now I'm just gonna help her and in a few minutes she'll be all better." The woman kindly explained.

"What's your name?" The girl questioned.

"Marina." She nodded. Marina couldn't tell if the girl looked tired and worried because of the little girl or because she already knew who Marina was.

"Would you mind if I brought in my assistant?" Marina asked. The girl silently nodded. Marina stepped out and went down the hall to where Ella and Taylor were last.

"Ella?" She questioned poking her head in.

"Yes?" Ella peeked up at her name.

"Can you come with me for a moment?" Marina questioned.

"Why?" Malcolm sounded concerned.

"Because I need to level the playing field before she runs," Marina spoke quietly.

"No way." He gasped eyes going wide.

"Hurry before she gets suspicious," Marina warned.

"Is it the little girl?" Ella mentally asked. Marina nodded before turning into a room.

Marina was hoping Ella could nullify the whole room. Ella had been working on it while at the academy with Nine but it took lots of concentration and energy. Hopefully, she could manage. In a very confusing scene, the girl held a very sharp bone the length of her forearm in one hand and a ball of energy in the other. Her body was forming a hard white shell.

"Nice try. I have not survived this long to be caught by a weak human Garde." She snarled. Marina realized this girl was bleeding. Whatever the girl was forming it hurt her dearly. She launched her ball of energy at her. The ball was deflected by Ella.

One more minute. Ella spoke in her head.

Marina shook her head eyes still fixed on the girl.

"Relax. Your sister is sick right? I can help her and I can help you. You're injured as well right?" Marina calmly asked.

"How do I know you'll help us. You're probably just distracting us for reinforcements." The girl demanded. Marina couldn't believe the girl was tearing up. Just as the girl reached for her sister Marina saw Ella throw something. It hit the girl right in the left shoulder. It was a scalpel glowing bright red.

"I didn't want to risk not being able to nullify the room," Ella told Marina. Marina still raised an eyebrow. "I grabbed the scalpel from the other room."

The girl yanked the scalpel out. Ella sighed and tackled the girl to the ground. Marina stepped out and took a deep breath.

"Malcolm!" She called as loudly as possible before ducking back in to help Ella hold the girl down. Only a minute later Malcolm and a few peacekeepers came in.

"Ella keep a hold on her until they have the cuffs on securely." Malcolm instructed. Marina stood up and turned to the little girl. She placed both hands on the girl and could already feel the disease. It was in her chest. She moved her hands there and poured energy into the small body.

"Don't you dare hurt her! She doesn't deserve any of this! She didn't deserve any of it!" The girl thrashed.

"I promise no harm will come to Emma," Marina promised the girl. She scooped up the sleeping child and waited for them all to leave. Taylor and a few more peacekeepers waited out in the hall. They all filed into the van and went back to the academy. All the living original Garde were assembled along with Nine's officials. The peacekeepers led the girl away in handcuffs. These handcuffs were specifically designed to screw with one's legacies.

"Ella!" Nine called as they all walked away. Ella turned to rush after them. The little girl in Marina's arm realizing the situation started squirming and screaming.

"Hey, it's okay. You're gonna be fine." Marina reassured. The girl kept screaming her little head off.

"Hey, you'll see her again shortly," Marina told her. The girl buried her head in Marina's shoulder and continued crying. Marina rested her head on the girl's small head.

"Marina take John to our room. Sam and I will find food for her." Six answered. Sam scoffed. Six elbowed him and walked away. Marina rolled her eyes and headed towards the dorms. The little girl had taken to weakly punching Marina with her tiny fists.

"I want my sister!" She whined.

"Don't worry you'll see her soon," Marina repeated.

It's not nice to lie to children Marina. Four teased in her mind. Marina rolled her eyes. Marina sat down in the common room of their dorm when they got there. She set the child down. The little girl charged at John and started punching and kicking him. John looked down at her with a smile. Marina chuckled.

"And what do you think you're doing child?" John chuckled.

"Fighting my way free!" She cheered.

Okay, this child was cute in her efforts. Marina will admit it. John picked her up and turned her upside down.

"Let me go!" The girl demanded. John righted her and placed her on the couch with Marina. This was going to be interesting.


Cecilia glared at the steel band on her wrist. Stupid government officials think she needed it for protection. She'd already tried everything she could think of. If she yanked it off she'd break her wrist. If she tried to teleport she'd get a severe headache. Telekinesis got the same result. If she tried summoning her energy blasts her hands felt like they were on fire. Her favorite one? Forget it. This contraption also screwed with a useful one. The bruises from where she'd tried breaking free of the handcuffs were still there. This is exactly why she didn't want to be here.

She was still stuck in this room alone. She has absolutely no clue where Emma was or what they were doing to her. All the officials that were here moments ago looked at her like she was a criminal. Well except the therapist woman who thought she could help. Mercy. She most certainly didn't need her head examined. But the teenage boy looked at her with interest, not disgust. She didn't know what he saw in her. There was nothing to see here. All she has to do once they let her go was find a way to get this dumb band off of her and find her sister. Then she was home free. Maybe she should find a safe place to stay. There had to be somewhere these officials couldn't reach. She yanked on the band again already knowing the result. It wouldn't budge worth anything. She huffed impatiently and blew a stray dirty blonde hair out of her face. Couldn't they make up their minds already? She had way too much to accomplish besides being bored out of her mind in this room. As if someone had actually heard her thoughts they all filed back in.

"Where's the little girl?" Cecilia inquired.

All the officials ignored her. The teenage boy though almost looked like he wanted to tell her.

"I think my colleges would appreciate it if you kept her retained on campus grounds." The snotty Earth Garde rep spoke. She rolled her eyes at him.

"Completely. She shouldn't be released no matter what." The military guy agreed.

"Now Colonel maybe over time she can regain her freedom." The therapist lady argued.

"Come again? No amount of talking will stop her from destroying us all at the first chance of freedom." The military guy demanded.

"I'm right here ladies and gentlemen." She reminded in an irritated tone. She could've sworn she saw the boy smirk.

"Do you want to release her Professor Nine?" The military guy inquired.

"She should be fine while you all have disabled her legacies." He sharply replied. She almost detected a hint of disdain in his voice.

"My office?" He asked the other officials. They all nodded.

"Ella!" Nine called. As if she'd been listening in on them the whole time appeared in the doorway.

"She's all yours." Nine told her. Cecilia silently groaned. She didn't know if this was on purpose or not but she felt like the universe was laughing at her.