I'll warn you, things are gonna get crazy. I'd like to hear more theories before I start dropping bombs on you guys. Anywho, I hope you guys had a good, and safe, New years. I did. Now for shoutouts. To the people who favorited, reviewed, and followed: jukmare, babyshan211, iDragonSpyro, ShadowTeir, SkyZdLimit, HoldingOntoFireflies, cathinda1, Sunset Whispers, and Azul Jones. Also a special note to Sunset Whispers, this whole thing is a big spoiler for episode 10 so I hope you've watched it already. If not, I wouldn't read this if I was you. Slight subtle mention of suicide, just to warn you. Onward people!

It had been hours since the adults left and Dane was going out of his mind. A bit from boredom but mostly from anxiety. Clarice and John had both told him that they were gonna go after Trask. They were planning to rescue the captured mutants but also take down as much of their research as they could.

He was worried though. After what happened with Shirley and Steven he didn't want to lose the other two adults that had entered their lives. The bond between them was already there, getting stronger every day.

But he also couldn't throw a fit like he kinda wanted to. They were working to help all of mutant kind not just a group of rag-tag foster kids. He'd even begged Clarice to go with them since the other two, Andy and Lauren, were going. It hadn't worked. Not even close. Because for all his arguing about his ability being useful Clarice was right. With John and her both gone, he was in charge. And he needed to prioritize.

So here he was, in the woods outside the bank watching Norah run her hands through the tawny fur of the mountain lion she'd charmed. The newly dubbed Sarafina, Sara for short, had indeed hung around like Dane knew she would. So far no one had managed to find out about her. Norah had wanted to call her Nala but according to Harper, it was too easy to put figure out. So Andrew had suggested the name of Nala's mom, who had never had her name uttered in the movie. Luckily Norah had agreed.

Corie the now named large black bird, a raven according to John, was perched next to Dane up in a tree roughly ten feet off the ground. From his vantage point he could see over the massive reinforced dirt wall Oz created every time they came out here to where the building was. Andrew made sure that the trees in whereever area they were at were dense, the branches thicker with a swelling of leaves. So far so good.

Harper was off on one side of their area, twirling around the staff she had gotten as a gift from her cousin. Andrew was showing Jessica different leaves to different types of edible plants, something he had recently been teaching to everyone. Oz was lying on his back on the ground, face upward and eyes closed.

When Dane had first seen the new boy do this he'd asked what he was doing. Meditating and connecting to the earth was the answer. Apparently that was how Oz was first taught by his foster mom. Eyes closed helped his other senses to be totally focused on the dirt under his feet, which were barefoot like every other time they came out here. There had been an old cartoon series that his foster mom had showed him that also helped him control his ability, something he was trying to show and teach to Naya.

There was something else that had caught Dane's attention. Recently Oz had been acting strange toward John. It had started the day before Clarice had talked to the mutant leader, in the middle of the day. He avoided John and if he couldn't he tended to narrow his eyes at the man whenever he could. Even after Clarice had told them that John had suffered from nightmares and that was why he'd avoided them, Oz didn't seem to care. He seemed mad at the older man. Dane wasn't sure why though.

On the other hand the preteen hung around Clarice a lot. If she asked for something he did it immediately, often answering with a Yes Ma'am. If she spoke in a firm tone, like she was about to scold you Oz's back would straighten and he'd put on an apologetic face. It reminded him of when Andrew or himself would get in trouble with Shirley.

Corie let out a loud croak, causing Dane to jolt, the avian lifting off their shared branch and soaring in the direction of the road. Which meant one thing. Someone was heading their way. Scaling down the tree Dane met with the rest of the group as they circled around Norah, who had sent Corie as a spy.

"Is it John or Clarice?"

They had seen the pair leave in two different cars with two different groups, John being the attacking force while Clarice was on the team that would take out the power.

"It's John. They just pulled up." Norah looked up at Andrew's question before closing her eyes again, connecting with Corie so she could see what he did. She frowned. "They're arguing."

As soon as she said the words, in the distance voices rose, bouncing back and forth between the different people. They sounded angry but they weren't close enough to distinguish words. Something must have happened. Dane did not have a good feeling about this.

"The big van just got here."

The van meant Clarice. More voices were added to the mix, Kate's being the loudest. And she sounded panicked.

"Dane." Norah had opened her eyes, blue eyes tearing up, distantly he could hear Corie let out another croak in response to her stress. "I didn't see Clarice. There's no Clarice." Sarafina was purring, rubbing her head against Norah to try and comfort her as she cried.

This was bad. It meant only one thing.

With a shudder under their feet the dirt wall disappeared, seeming to melt back into the ground like it had never been disturbed.

"Oz?" The preteen was no longer in their presence but Dane caught a glimpse of his shirt racing through the trees. Toward where the road was. This was not going to be pretty. "Harper stay here with Norah. Jessica. Andrew." Together the trio ran after Oz, heading in the general direction of the road. Not even five seconds later Dane heard Oz yelling.

"Liar!" Immediately after there were more shouts from the adults then a tremor, almost like an aftershock that caused Dane and the others to steady themselves before they kept going, all the while hearing Oz yell and thunderous booms. "Liar! You promised!"

Reaching the road Dane saw the adults, minus one, standing around with their eyes wide at the circular barrier of rock in the middle of the street. He wondered why they weren't doing anything until he saw that they were literally stuck in the ground, having sunk down to the middle of their calves. Oz certainly thought this out. Marcos kept trying to weld through the hardened soil but it just resealed itself while Lorna kept trying to pull her feet out of the ground. She must have metal decorating her shoes or wearing steel toe. John was missing from the group and Dane was willing to bet he was stuck inside the blockade with an angry Oz along with whatever was making all that smashing sound.

"Andrew, get me a view."

The green haired boy made a gnarled claw with one of his hands and pulled up. Underneath his feet Dane felt a small rumble and he braced himself as the enlarged tree root lifted him up in the air until he had a full view of what was going on.

"John!" He called out, ready to shut down Oz but he was stopped by the mutant leader.

"Don't Dane." John took a large melon sized ball of hardened soil to the shoulder, the projectile crumbling at the contact. The dark haired man barely moved. A similar sized stone immediately followed after, hitting John in the forehead above his left eye. That too fell apart at contact, only leaving behind fragments and dust. John kept his head down, not so much as wincing. "Leave him alone."

Oz was standing only a few yards away, making pitching motions with his arms as he screamed at the tracker. For every whip of his arm, a sphere of hard dirt or an actual rock was pulled out of the ground and flown at John. Each one shattered when colliding with his body. Soon Oz grew tired of that, instead he marched up to John, dirt being called up from the ground to cover his hands and harden into stone boxing-like gloves.

"You promised!" Oz swung left and right into John's torso, the mineral coverings falling apart when his punches contacted but reformed immediately after. "Why are you breaking your promises?!"

Dane noticed the preteen seemed to tire after that, his swings getting weaker until he stopped, arms limp at his side as he slumped against John's stomach. "Clarice…"

John finally moved, unconcerned about the bits of dirt and rock shrapnel when he laid a hand on top of Oz's head. "We'll get her back. All of them."

John glanced up at Dane, eyes dark and with a certain gleam to them. Dane knew those words were for him at well.

~~~jinXed~~~

Back and forth Clarice paced, one eye on the camera spying on them and the other on the hallway outside the holding cells. She wasn't sure if they had listening devices so she refrained from talking in general. It had been hours since they'd been caught. Of course Sentinel Services didn't get anything from them which resulted in the four of them being loaded up in an armored truck and whisked away. The shock collars made the whole experience highly unpleasant.

It had been a bit of a drive but soon the building John and the others were suppose to have attacked earlier loomed in front of them. Trask.

So here she was, wearing dark gray prison garb, green eyes tracking movement and mind buzzing. Getting out of here would be much more difficult, especially with the camera watching and the stupid piece of machinery around her neck. If she was by herself it'd be easier, she would just need to get the thing off, maybe short-circuit it then she'd be able to portal jump. But she couldn't.

Sonia was in the cell next door while Lauren and Andy had been separated from them since arriving. She would need to find them before she attempted to escape. And as much as Sonia irritated her, she couldn't leave her behind. It was the other mutants in the holding cells that made Clarice pause. She wouldn't be able save them. She had no way of knowing if they were under Trask's control. She couldn't risk taking a sleeper back to headquarters. Not with the kids there.

"What do you think they did with Andy and Lauren?"

Clarice's eyes followed the guard that walked by, his lips curled in most likely disgust. She mirrored his expression, waiting until he turned the corner. "Probably nothing good."

Sonia continued to talk while Clarice paced, only barely paying attention to the red-head. No, her attention was on when the next person walked by. It was only a few seconds later that a different guard waltzed by, this one ignoring Clarice entirely. The timing made no sense. There didn't seem to be an actual schedule to the rounds they made, which made it more difficult to keep track. She was sure it was on purpose. She faintly heard Sonia talk about wishing she could get rid of their memories from the capture, that was when she spun in her direction.

"Taking our memories won't help us. If anything it's enabling."

Sonia stayed silent for a few seconds. "Escaping just seems so impossible."

This time a doctor or scientist, according to the white coat, walked by and glanced at Clarice. She gave him a glare and a raised eyebrow. She felt some satisfaction when he scurried away. "Depends on your definition of escape but thinking like that's not gonna do you any good. Just keep your head, John and the others will figure something out."

This time Clarice heard a larger commotion and saw the group of guards walking through the hall. Stopping right in front of their cells.

"Time to go."

~~~jinXed~~~

Looking at the table John was happy he hadn't broken the whole thing. It was still usable. But doing the actual damage had done its job. The yelling had tried his patience, especially after he had dealt with Oz when they got back.

Before leaving for the mission the preteen had sought him out, after John had spent days prior trying to talk to him, asking about what the mission was and what Clarice's role in it was. He'd told him what it entailed and the boy had gone silent. Oz had then made him promise, somewhat demanded, that he keep Clarice safe, that he would watch out for her and bring her back. He'd agreed.

He hadn't been able to keep it.

So when they got back, when he'd seen the raven hanging out on a near by tree, he knew the kids now knew. And it hadn't taken very long for Oz to show up. Being impervious to damage he'd let the kid vent his emotions, feeling a bit like he deserved it. He should have known Sentinel Services would be watching, waiting. Considering Lorna and Marcos had technically kidnapped Agent Turner of course the man would make it a personal vendetta. He'd be watching carefully.

He traced the broken edge of the table, eyes distant. Four people. Four of the people he was in charge of were gone, captured on his watch when that was the last thing he had ever wanted. Dane had wanted to go and John was happy Clarice had managed to convince him to stay behind. He'd loose his mind a bit more if one of the kids had been captured too.

His right hand quivered.

He was worried. Really worried. The four of them had been loaded up and left Sentinel Services, heading out of the city. Right to the same building he was suppose to have attacked.

This time he noticed the definite shake. He curled his fingers into a fist, willing the movement to stop. It didn't.

He hoped it wasn't a prelude. All four of them could be changed into one of their hounds. He knew Clarice was a definite interest of theirs, Sonia's ability would be usable to them. As for Andy and Lauren, the fact that they could use their abilities together would no doubt make the scientists in that place eager to experiment.

He sighed, leaning forward and running a hand through his hair. Not only were four of his people taken but the elder Struckers had left to track down Agent Turner. He'd been angry, upset they had done something like this behind their backs but in reality he'd take whatever he could get. If the two parents could manage to convince the federal agent to take them out of that place they had a higher chance of rescuing the others.

The thrumming caught his attention, looking up and seeing blue eyes peer at him from across the room. A sharp pain slashed through his chest. He turned his chair around, opening his arms in offering. Norah didn't need any prompting. She darted forward, climbing up onto his lap and looping her arms around his neck.

"Those men that hurt Shirley, did they hurt Clarice?"

The first real words he's heard her speak and it's these ones. John's arms tightened on the little girl, not enough to hurt her but enough for him to feel grounded. "No, we're gonna save her before they do."

Norah nodded, her voice a little wobbly with emotion. "I don't want Clarice to go away. Like Shirley did."

John's eyes pinched shut, resting a hand on the back of the little girl's head as hugged her. "She won't. I won't let that happen."

His right hand started to quiver and he pulled it away from where it had wrapped around the girl's back in an embrace, tucking it off to the side of the chair. He didn't want that arm to touch the four year old, not when he had another promise he might have to fulfill that would taint it. Taint him.

"John!"

At his name the tracker picked up Norah with his left arm, resting her high against his shoulder as he stood and looked over the railing to the lower level

Sage was looking up at him, her mouth set in a firm line. "Shatter just called."

~~~jinXed~~~

Since being delivered back to her room hours before Clarice hadn't paced, instead she'd sat on her cot and gritted her teeth at what had happened.

Doctor Campbell. That sick bastard.

She hadn't hated Sonia, dislike-with-the-white-hot-passion-of-a-thousand-suns yes, but not hate. Denise had taught her not to hate and she carried that with her all these years later. Even with her strong dislike of the red head, she hadn't deserved to be killed. All because the kids wouldn't hold hands.

She hadn't known what that meant at the time, but seeing the aftermath put things in prospective. He was studying them, wanting to know how it worked. And, following villain-logic, Clarice figured the good doctor wanted that phenomenon for himself. No doubt he wanted to recreate it, apply it to the other numerous hounds he had.

The only question was if he got what he wanted. The man had used Sonia and herself to force the teens to react to his request. Clarice's life depended on what the results would be. There would be no point to keeping Clarice alive if he succeeded. Or the worst option. He'd be able to focus on her. She still remembered what John had said when he'd tracked her down after she left the underground.

Would Campbell be too focused on the Struckers to care about her or was she to be his new pet project? Clarice turned a critical eye to her cell. She could escape even if she never left the building. Like she'd told Sonia, it all depended on your definition of escape.

Marching feet drew her attention, looking up to see men in suits and uniforms different from the Trask employees. Their badges caught her attention. Sentinel Services. A few of the men stopped at her cell, the door opening.

She rose off her cot, eyeing the men warily. "What's going on?"

Her question was answered by the tall familiar agent who stopped just outside the threshold. Turner. "Let's go, you're being taken back to Sentinel Services."

They didn't wait for her to respond, two of the uniformed men walking in and grasping her arms. They pulled her out and frog-marched her with them, her eyes darting everywhere as she witnessed other agents pulling mutants from their cells and carting them off. They took a few hallways before coming upon another bank of cells where she spotted two familiar heads of hair look up at their approach.

"Clarice!" The two voices melded together as the teens stood, watching with wide eyes at the production.

"Let's go." Turner didn't stay for long, just enough to give the order then stalked off, speaking into his radio. Two agents each pulled the young Struckers out and followed the agents who were leading Clarice around as they left, navigating through the building. They didn't give them a chances to talk, shushing them when Andy asked where they were going. Surprisingly, and luckily, Andy was too shocked about the turn of events to be angered over the harsh reprimand the agents gave him.

Reaching the lobby, Clarice noted the other agents in the spacious room guarding roughly fifteen other mutants. Once their group entered Turner looked over then spoke into his radio, marching out of the building with Clarice's group leading. Once outside Turner directed them to the large transport bus.

"Let's go, get them loaded up."

Clarice was first on, being told to sit in the back. She complied, pulling Andy and Lauren to her when they followed after.

"What's going on?" Andy whispered at her, watching as others were loaded up, filling the seats around them.

"I'm not sure. Turner was saying we were being sent back to Sentinel Services. Just-" Clarice trailed off, looking out the front windshield at Agent Turner who was talking to the other agents. This transfer was his doing and she had to admit, she'd rather be locked up in a detention center than at Trask. She turned back to the kids, keeping her voice low. "Just be ready. Do as I say. Knowing the others, they're already waiting to ambush this bus. We got to be ready to move as soon as we can."

The two of them nodded and Clarice glanced out the window, taking in the surroundings. The front of the building was too open, they would see the others coming. So somewhere with cover? En route? There were too many variables. Either way she had to be ready.

The bus pulled away following after the lead cars in front of them. Clarice kept her eyes to the windows, trying to see if there was something to give away what John and the others were planning. After a few minutes they reached the gate that lead out of Trask property, the bus stopping while Turner and his partner, Agent Weeks as he'd introduced himself to her, exited their car to talk to the man controlling the gate.

Looking on the bus' right side Clarice spotted the thick trees. Would they attempt it here? So close to Trask? It was a risk but they-!

Her hands shook as she felt the familiar tingle that had been absent for so long. She looked over at Lauren and Andy, their eyes also wide as they stared back. Clarice took note of the lightless collars around their necks.

"Get rea-" Clarice screamed in shock, the dual gunshots harsh to her ears in the enclosed space. Despite the ringing she yelled out for the driver to stop as he turned the gun on himself.

Things were going bad. More gunshots, this time from outside. Agent Weeks was firing at Turner and the men manning the gate. Clarice glanced at Lauren. "Stop Turner's partner."

Lauren furrowed her eyebrows. "What? Why?"

"Do it!" Clarice's growled order worked as Lauren threw a hand out. Which was right on time considering Clarice saw the man turn the gun up toward to his chin but Lauren's shield stopped him. The purplette turned to Andy. "Get the collars off, run to the woods."

She didn't wait for his response, instead quickly creating a portal and jumping through before the others had a chance to react. Said portal emptied her out behind Weeks and she quickly pulled at his arm, trying to tug it away.

"Turner! Help!"

Her words seemed to work, causing the man to lurch to his feet and join her in attempting to keep the man from killing himself. "Take the gun away, I'll hold him."

While she could hear more gunshots and fear pulsed through her, Clarice peeled the man's fingers from around the weapon, finally ripping it away from him and throwing it as far as she could. She only had time to turn and met Turner's stare when an explosion had her ducking.

Standing up she searched past the burning car to see Andy and Lauren exit the bus and send her a look before they ran off into the woods, a few mutants following while the others watched as two blond women converged on another who had stepped out from the tree line.

"Oh my God." Three. There were three Esme's, two dressed in the same prison uniform as her while the third was wearing a red shirt. That was the original Esme that had been hanging around headquarters. Were they triplets? Clones? Duplicates?

She walked forward, ignoring Turner's gaze on her back as she marched up to the fair-haired trio. "What the Hell is going on Esme? Why would you do this?"

As one all three turned to look at her. She felt a chill down her spin as they smiled together, three voices speaking out. "Hello Clarice."

"We did what we had to." The left.

"What was necessary." The right.

"You should be happy. It's time to leave." Esme spoke, her eyes glowing icy blue.

Clarice yelped, her hands pressing against her temple as the icy pain seemed to dig and burrow into her mind. Esme was doing something, maybe even trying to control her. Dropping to one knee Clarice looked up at the bright eyed trio cruelly smiling at her.

That force, the same one that had urged her to seek shelter in the overhang, bubbled in the back of her mind and she screamed as it pushed outward, an angry mass of energy pulsating and crashing into the copies, sending them flying back and slamming to the ground, writhing as they grabbed at their own hair, blood starting to drip from one of their noses.

Clarice didn't wait, stumbling to her feet, one hand cradling her head as she glanced back at Turner and Weeks as they stared in shock, looking back and forth between the women. "Run! Get out of here!"

With that last warning, the portalist took off into the woods, desperate to escape and get back to John and the others.

~~~jinXed~~~

The familiar bangs spurred action, John running in the lead. He felt fear trying to take over, images of Gus getting shot were replaced with Marcos or the kids, Sonia being shot down as she ran. Clarice screaming for him as she ran for her life. He couldn't do it. Not again.

A sound reached his senses and John held up a fist, causing Shatter and Lorna to halt and freeze. Seconds later he figured it out. "Marcos!"

The father-to-be burst through the underbrush, Lorna immediately going to him and running her hands over him to look for injuries.

"They're killing them."

Lorna looked up from her search. "What?"

John caught the other man's eye. "Who Marcos?"

"Esme. There's three of them. I don't know if they're triplets or duplicates, maybe even clones but she made Sentinel Services kill themselves or attack the other agents."

"What about our people?" This question came from Shatter.

"I don't know. They-"

John shushed them as more sounds brushed against his senses, various heartbeats racing as they ran toward them. Two he was familiar with. He looked to their left. "Andy! Lauren!"

It was silent before they heard it.

"John!"

From the darkness two lanky figures emerged, others behind them and all wearing the same dark clothing.

The two groups raced to each other, John taking note of the new mutants that had followed the siblings. He didn't need to see everyone to know there were two missing.

"Andy, Lauren. Where's Sonia and Clarice?"

The Struckers' eyes both widened, Andy glancing behind him. The women must have stayed behind.

"Get them out of here." John ordered Marcos before taking off into the darkness.

~~~jinXed~~~

The residual pain was leaving, letting Clarice focus as she ran. She wasn't sure how far she would need to go but she hoped the others were close by. She thought about portalling but she knew the colors would attract someone's attention.

She wasn't sure if the Stepford Wives were still down but she wasn't about to stop and find out. She hoped Turner had listened to her and ran off before the other three could recover. The man may have his morals a little twisted but she knew helping him save his partner would benefit in the long run. She'd seen how angry he'd been about his daughter's death, how he made this all personal. Now it was personal in a more positive light.

She paused, tucking herself against a tree, listening. She'd heard the snapping of branches on her right and she waited as the figure she heard stepped out of the trees, his head turning this way and that, long hair swaying with the movement. Wait…

She gasped. "John?" She rushed him and threw her arms around his torso. Safe. She was safe now. "John-"

Nails digging into his skin, Clarice's eyes were wide as she stared up at John, hickory eyes regretful as he pressed the painful metal prongs of the stun gun against her skin. She collapsed onto the ground, her body stiff as sound came back to her, hearing the additional male voices from the woods, flashlights making their way closer.

Standing above her looking down John grimaced as another male dressed in a Trask security uniform came up on his side, slapping a hand on his shoulder. "Good work, hound. Zap her one more time and let's head back."

"J-Joh-John." Tears were pooling, escaping over the curve of her cheeks as she cried. It was impossible, it had to be. "Jo-John, please."

He stood still, staring down at her. He apparently took too long as the other man nudged him and growled. "Hound."

John crouched down, brown eyes in pain as he pressed the prongs against her stomach. "I'm sorry Clarice."

She saw him look away before her body danced with electricity.

Oh, things just got real. Things will be revealed soon. But I really do enjoy hearing your theories so please send me more! Now we're venturing into super AU territory. I had to save Turner's partner. I need him to be kinda nice. I have plans for Turner. So did you guys like it? Let me know how you feel. I'll see you people later. Peace out. -Mez