A/N: Why am I so bad at this updating thing? As always, so sorry for the massive delay. I'm trying to get to the exciting things I keep playing out in my head, but getting there is proving difficult, so I just dropped off the face of the earth.

Also as always, enjoy! Let me know your thoughts, questions, suggestions, anything at all!

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"Gunshots?" asks Sofia, her voice rising a few octaves in fear.

I turn and look at my pack. I sense fear from some, determination from others, and most heartening is the courage I can see many gathering.

I look at Alex as I sense my eyes shift to feline while my canines expand. He takes the hint and I turn back to the door while I listen to him give calm orders.

"Hank, I need you at maximum strength, Adelaide, shift what you need to," he starts, and I can hear the tell-tale hiss of Hank's quickly emerging blue fur, while Adelaide and I shift into our half-and-half forms.

"Diego, I need you ready," Alex continues, which results in the acrid scent of toxins – Diego's toxic spit.

"Piotr—" Alex starts, but he's cut off by the sound of the slight clank that occurs whenever Piotr transforms into his metal state; he doesn't need to be told this could turn ugly fast.

The bursts of noise – gunshots – stops abruptly and don't continue, which sets me further on edge.

I startle some of the others when I snarl suddenly as I hear footsteps in the hallway. It must be audible from the hallway because the footsteps stop simultaneously; the sudden quiet allows me to hear too many heartbeats to quickly count before they start moving again.

The door banging open has me dropping into a crouch, ready to transform at a moment's notice. The strangers dressed in tactical SWAT gear with covered faces register my position immediately and order me down, but I only snarl in return, unsure what to make of them since they didn't open fire the second the door opened.

"Stand down, girl!" shouts the man in front, his voice only slightly muffled by the face covering.

I hear someone behind me squeal in fear at his shout and I have to remind myself he hasn't done anything to make him the enemy yet.

I stay rooted to the spot as the others pour in behind him, spreading along the wall of the room facing us. My focus stays on the one continuing to tell me to be calm – which, for the record, has never actually succeeded in getting anyone to calm down in all of history. I'm not listening anyway, just focusing on his movements – he hasn't put the very large gun down yet and all the others keep theirs pointed vaguely in our direction.

But my attention is pulled away by the desperation in a man's voice from the hallway.

"Where is my son? Where is he? Dammit, Jim, let me in!"

"We haven't secured the room yet!" responds the man who must be Jim.

"They're being held prisoner! Don't treat them as a threat!" shouts the first man.

The first man to barge through the door (and shout a lot) turns to look at the commotion in the doorway, and his movement allows me to see as well.

The desperate man has removed his face covering, though he is also decked out in tactical gear. He's staring down Jim, I guess, because Jim is completely blocking the entrance.

Jim takes a deep breath while he shakes his head to respond, but the man is having none of it and just punches him straight in the face, sending Jim reeling into the room and knocking over Shouty McShouty Pants. I barely move out of their tumbling path and I'm so startled by this turn of events I feel my jaw drop while I shift entirely back to human.

Desperate Guy, on the other hand, spares them no mind and rushes into the room, eyes frantically searching the face of every mutant until—

"Daddy!"

And a blur goes by me as Mason runs and jumps into Desperate Guy's arms who lifts him effortlessly and clutches him close.

Mason keeps yelling "daddy" over and over again, so I take a wild guess and assume he's Mr. Camp. The big man himself, however, has tears running down his face and seems unable to speak for the moment.

I notice the other men in the room finally lower their weapons, and I sense the other mutants relax just a bit. No one has quite let go of their abilities yet, but there's less fear. Most are paying attention to the reunion happening before us, but others are still assessing us and what kind of threat we pose. Although I suppose that's understandable; I assume they've seen the abduction video and who knows how we reacted to six weeks of captivity?

Shouty and Jim have managed to untangle themselves and have regained their footing. Jim lost his mask, probably due to the punch, and I can see a bruise forming on his face in the outline of his mask – almost like a bad sunburn when you've been wearing sunglasses. Jim's face must feel tender because he keeps poking it with his fingers, as though that will make it better.

"Jim." Shouty says with a hint of disappointment, but also some amusement. He takes off his mask and turns to us; although his steel grey eyes are heard to read, I think he's unsure what to think of us. His gaze lands on me, and he takes a deep breath – but doesn't say anything. I'm not sure how to start this conversation either, though, and he's the adult, so I decide I'll leave it to him.

Luckily, we don't have to wait on him.

Mason seems to have had enough of the cuddling session because he wiggles to be put down, and his father complies, although clearly begrudgingly. Mason grabs his hand and tries to pull him further into the room, but Mr. Camp resists. He looks up at us and is clearly still uncertain about us, although he apparently accepts his son's mutations.

I notice the twelve other men, I've since had time to count them, are all watching Shouty – who I belatedly realize has a name tag thing that reads Willis – which leads me to believe Shou- Willis – is in charge here.

Mason frowns and drops his father's hand. He walks over to Alex and grabs his hand, before dragging him to me where he uses his free hand to grasp mine. He pulls us both forward toward his father.

I'm not sure I like this direction, especially since I saw Mr. Camp twitch like he wanted to stop his son from associating with us. Mason gets us about six feet away before Alex and I resist – but Mason accepts this and turns to his father.

"This Myka and Alex," he starts seriously, "and they are like me!" he proclaims. I can't help but wonder is the seven year old actually understands his father's hesitation.

Mr. Camp's eyebrows jump in surprise, before puckering together in concern.

"And just what is it you two can do?" he questions. I can tell Willis wants to jump in, but he's still at a loss. I can sense everyone's curiosity. But just barely over mine – has he not seen the video? Alex and I exchange a look over Mason, his expression reflecting the confusion I feel.

"He doesn't know what Mason can do." Emma informs me, and it has the echoing quality that means it wasn't just to me. The confusion evaporating from Alex's aura tells me it went to him as well.

I take a deep breath. "I think you misunderstand, sir, we don't have the same ability as Mason, but we are all mutants."

He flinches at the m-word.

"Well, what do you do?" Willis jumps in, finally.

Alex and I exchange another look and we're in agreement – we're not sure we trust these people yet.

"Right now? We survive." Alex tells him.

"Show me." Demands Willis, but I shake my head.

"No." Willis looks from me to Alex.

"Show me, boy."

"Even if I was inclined to, I can't do it in here."

Willis doesn't seem to like this answer, but my attention is on the conundrum of Mr. Camp.

He's conflicted, his aura tells me this much. He loves his son, but the mutant part scares him. He doesn't know what he can do, he doesn't seem to want to know. He can accept the presence of the mutation in his son, but the rest of us are a threat? Does he think it's temporary? That it can be cured? What will he do in the future when Mason really gets a handle on his abilities?

"Myka" Alex says softly just as I register Mr. Camp's spiking heart rate and fear. I'd forgotten that sometimes when I read an aura too intently, I take on a predatory gaze that, understandably, makes people uncomfortable; their hindbrain starts telling them something dangerous has them in their sights.

I mentally curse myself for losing even that little bit of control in a room filled with men with guns who haven't fully deemed us harmless yet.

I lock eyes with Willis and see a calculating coldness there that sends shivers down my spine. I've never found premonition to be in my repertoire of abilities, but I am usually a good judge of character.

I decide I don't like this man, and his eyes narrow like he can sense my distrust and wants me to know he returns it.

The tension in the room is, thankfully, interrupted by the sudden appearance of two familiar figures.

"Have you found them?" Dan asks, just as he walks through the doorway, Sandy right behind him.

For the first time in a while, a genuine smile threatens to split my face, and I hear the sigh of relief from some of the other mutants who have managed to remain inexplicably still and silent.

Dan and Sandy push past Willis. Dan grasps my hand, "We're going to get you out of here." He tells me solemnly, and I hear a sob of relief from behind me.

After Dan lets go, Sandy pulls me into an unexpected hug, "I'm glad you're still okay! The video is huge – you're the face of mutants and people are rallying!"

All of this is said with excitement, but it sends me into a quick panic. What? No way. Not a chance. I don't want any of that.

But Sandy has let me go and isn't paying attention to my expression of dismay and panic.

After the hug, Dan explains they're here to rescue us. The men are from a private company who agreed to help, with the permission of the government, to get us out and take us somewhere safe. Apparently the lab was declared to have gone rogue by the president. A lot of the scientists, doctors, nurses, and security personnel are accounted for – but not Ratty or Muscles Michaels, which makes my stomach twist uncomfortably to know they're still free. Evidently, it's their absences that caused confusion and no one knew what to do, so no one came for us. Almost like Ratty and Michaels were warned.

During this explanation, which includes a specific assurance that we will be able to just walk out of the building, I sense the other mutants relax further. The acrid scent of Diego's toxins leaves the air, and I sense more than hear Hank and Piotr return to normal.

Adelaide is the last to shift back to fully human – and only after she receives a glance from me. She was making the men nervous.

The next few moments blur together in my memory because I don't want to remember anything more about this building. The men with guns reluctantly walk out first not really wanting us at their backs, but lead the way through the hallways anyway. Mr. Camp picks Mason up and walks just ahead of Dan and Sandy, who are just ahead of the group. Alex walks at the front of the group of mutants. I walk at the back, in a daze.

I think there's a part of me that was sure I would die down here. And it is 'down here' as we walk up four flights of stairs. Leaving seems almost surreal, and I'm sure I'm dreaming. But it's different. The few times I dreamt of escape or rescue or just leaving there were whoops of joy from the other mutants, and we were running toward freedom.

But real life isn't a dream, and our exit is somber. We may have survived this, but who knows what the next destination holds. We've been promised before nothing would harm us. I think the private army guys are feeling the subdued atmosphere as not a one utters a sound.

I'm deep in a haze of depressing thoughts when we pass a café looking room with a wall of windows – and I stop. Inside there are more men watching over the personnel who have ensured our personal hell for six weeks. There are police officers and officials in suits as the people in lab coats and nurses outfits sit at the tables in handcuffs.

The others have noticed I stopped, and they're waiting just out of sight of the people inside the room, but I know the mutants can see some form of justice being dealt, whether it lasts or not.

The police officers notice me first. They stop and turn to look at me, all conversation dying on their lips, though I couldn't hear them anyway. Perhaps if I had tried, but I didn't have the energy. The military guys follow suit, and then the suits. Many of their expressions show pity, but I don't care about them. My focus is on those who tortured me and mine. They all glance up to see what got everyone's attention, but then they differ. Some look away quickly, inscrutable expressions flitting across their face. Others glare, still stuck in their hatred of us. Some appear sad, but I find I can't feel anything for them. Even my anger is gone.

It scares me that I don't feel anything about them. It scares me when the only thing that breaks through the fog is satisfaction that those who harmed Connor are nowhere to be seen, likely still recovering.

My eyes refocus to see my own reflection in the highly polished glass. I see my face but I do not recognize it. Even in the mirrors after showers I could still see myself. But the girl I see now has no expression but slightly pinched eyebrows as though confused. I almost think I can see the fog my brain feels in the reflection of my eyes, but the moment passes quickly and suddenly everything is clear in one singular thought: it's time to leave.

I turn and begin walking again, cueing the others to do so. I can feel the eyes of everyone in the room on my back, but I don't spare them another glance.

It's just one corner later that I realize I can smell the outdoors, then it's just one doorway, and I can see the blinding sunlight.

I'm still in the back, but I can hear the light laughter and loud whoops coming from the other mutants as they choose to enjoy the moment and not worry about the future.

I step out the door and stop in the shade of the steps. I look over the same meadow where we were originally lined up before this hidden lab and I watch the mutants I've become family with over the last six weeks. I watch the men relax as they watch them enjoy being free.

Alex spreads his arms and seems to be soaking up the sun just outside the edge of shade. Adelaide starts running laps, just around and around, Piotr watching her like before. Connor spread his wings for the first time in weeks and a smile splits his face from ear to ear. Others lie down in the grass, and just bask in the sunlight. Mason has gotten free from his father again, and is playing tag with Sean and Remy.

I don't notice Dan watching me, or the small camera Sandy has as he walks around quietly.

I step out from the shade a few feet to the right of Alex, and tip my head back with my eyes closed. And I just enjoy the warmth of the sun on my sun. A small sigh escapes me and I feel myself smile a little as the last of the fog in my mind drifts away.

Whatever the future may bring, I've never felt so free in the sunshine.

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A/N: I'm going to try to update more often. I've gotten to a point in the story that I think will give me some momentum moving forward.

Also, it's a few chapters away, but what suggestions do you guys have for Myka's mutant name?

I have a plan for the others, and also for other mutants not yet introduced, but if you have any thoughts on mutant names for any of the characters, please feel free to share!