SHOUT OUTS/ANSWERS

Dark-Supernatural: Yeah. Awww…cut him some slack. He's just trying to do the right thing. Sorry this isn't soon enough.

DISCLAIMER

Life With Derek belongs to Canadian Television and Disney. Mutant X belongs to Tribune, Fireworks Entertainment, and Marvel Studios. I only own the plot and characters you don't recognize. They only hinted at the full extent of Emma's powers, so I'm taking some liberties. Reference to "Conspiracy Theory" (at least I think that was the episode where Emma opened herself up fully power-wise). Vision is in italics.

Several minutes later, the Mutant X team arrived at Curtis' house. Adam's brows furrowed in concern when he saw the police cars and officers talking to Mrs. Valentine. What happened here? he wondered. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. Hearing the other car drive up, the officers turned around as the Mutant X team got out of the car and began approaching.

"Excuse me, Sir. I'm sorry. You can't be here," one said, coming up to them.

"Please…that's my boyfriend's mother. What's going on?" Casey asked, fright in her voice.

"I'm sorry, but we can't discuss that with you," the officer answered. I don't know if Mrs. Valentine wants me to tell her, and besides, she's just a kid, he thought to himself. Lorraine came running up to them.

"Casey," she said, wrapping the girl in a hug.

"Mrs. Valentine, what happened?" the girl asked.

"They came out of nowhere! Kent tried to protect us! They shot him!" the woman said.

"Curtis?" Casey queried.

"They took him," she said. "They took my baby!" Casey anxiously looked at Brennan, who took her hand and pulled her into a hug. Don't worry, Kiddo. We'll find him and bring him back, he thought to himself.

"Which way did they go?" an officer questioned. Lorraine let out a stammered response, which the officers took down, and then drove off.

"Mrs. Valentine, besides getting Curtis back, is there anything I can do?" Casey asked. The woman smiled at her and then drew her into a hug. Such a sweet girl, she thought.

"You're a good girl, Casey," she told her. "And you shouldn't be getting mixed up in something so dangerous. They could hurt you too," she continued.

"I don't care about that. I'm getting my boyfriend back," came the response.

"Come on. We'll catch them, even with their head start," Brennan declared. Lorraine allowed herself to be led to the van. Adam started the engine and then drove off. As they continued down the street, Adam kept a worried but subtle eye on Casey. He knew how volatile the girl could be when she was upset. Not that he could blame her for being upset in this instance. If he was her, he'd be reacting the same way. Emma bit her lip. Even though she couldn't exactly see Curtis, she could feel his emotions. And he was scared as heck…not that she blamed him. After all, he had just seen one of his parents murdered right in front of him. I hope we can find him. I'm only getting abstracts, she thought to herself.

"I wish we had the helix," Casey murmured. Hearing this Brennan, turned to look at his daughter.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Kiddo. It is faster and has a lot more resources," he agreed. Resources that could all use right about now. Lorraine glanced at the others in the van. I can't believe that they're all willing to do this for me. I mean, Curtis and I are total strangers, she thought.

"Thank you…for doing this for me…I mean, I know I'm a total stranger and-"

"Don't even worry about it. It's people like the ones who took your son that need to be stopped," Brennan interrupted. And he'd do all that he could to make sure that happened. He shared a worried look with the other members of the team. Now if they could just get to the boy in time. Meanwhile, the Genomex agents had reached a warehouse and had dragged Curtis through the building until they had reached a small room. Then, they threw Curtis into the room.

"Why'd you bring me here? What's going on?" he demanded.

"Shut up, freak. You'll find out soon enough," Darrin snapped. They kill my father and kidnap me, and I'm the freak? Curtis asked himself. However, he wisely kept his mouth shut. Then, he sighed. What did they want with him? For whatever reason, they seemed to hate him because of what he was. But why? He had never intentionally hurt anybody…not that they seemed to care. He looked around the room. Maybe there was something he could use to escape or figure out where he was. However, the room was bare except for something etched on the walls. Curtis frowned thoughtfully. Okay, think, man. You're down, but not out. There's gotta be some way you can beat these guys, he coached himself. Besides, his mom was most likely trying to find him. He blew out a breath. I don't want her getting hurt and she probably won't find this place for a while. I need to figure out a way to get out of here, he thought to himself. But how? There were no windows, no posters…nothing. He closed his eyes and slumped against the wall. Casey…please find me, he thought to himself. While this was going on, in the van, Emma had closed her eyes and gotten a determined look on her face.

"Emma, what are you doing?" Lexa wondered.

"I'm opening myself up completely. That way, I can find any emotion Curtis may have," Emma replied.

"Emma, I want you to be careful. You know very well just how dangerous for you that is," Adam cautioned. I know she's powerful, but an intense wave of emotion could crush her mentally as well as physically, he worried.

"I know, Adam. But he's just a kid and we're the only ones looking for him. I need to do this," Emma responded. Adam nodded. She had a good point. That didn't mean that he still didn't worry. "I can feel the concern. Thank you, Adam." Adam let out a small laugh and shook his head. That girl would be the death of him some day. Emma once more concentrated on reaching out to Curtis. Come on, Curtis. Casey's worried about you, she thought. And so was she. He had never experienced anything like this before. Come on, Curtis. Give me something, she thought again. He had to be somewhere. The woman continued to shift through the emotions, trying to latch on to Curtis. She bit her lip nervously. She had never used her ability this far. Sure there was the time she and Jesse had been in danger and she had used her illusionary ability to her fullest extent, but she had never done anything like this before. She was about to pull out when-an image of Curtis in a locked room came rushing into her head. The boy looked around, trying to find some method of escaping, to no avail. He glanced over some writing. Emma frowned. What was that? It was obviously some sort of writing. Maybe she could zero in on it and get some sort of clue. She re-shifted her focus and concentrated on the writing she had seen. Come on, come on, she encouraged as she tried to get a bead on the words.

"Emma?" Brennan asked uncertainly. He had never seen her like this-so focused. He wasn't sure if this was good for her.

"Don't make her break her concentration," Adam cautioned. But he had to admit, he was concerned too. As he drove around, he kept a subtle eye on the woman. Emma let out a frustrated growl. She had almost had something: she was certain of it! Come on, concentrate. You almost had it! Emma encouraged herself. She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. There had to be a way to get a lock on Curtis. Curtis, where are you? she wondered. Curtis looked around his prison, trying to find a way out. The scene shifted to outside the hotel, where a large, wooden sign hung, along with an address. Then, the scene turned to red. Emma gasped and her eyes widened.

"Aunt Emma? What'd you see?" Casey wondered and Emma told them. Adam headed in the new direction and Shalimar reached out to put a comforting hand on the girl's wrist.