Chapter Thirteen
Angeles Bio-Medical Research Facility, Pasadena, California
December 13, 1450 hours
Liam stepped out into the afternoon sun, closing his door behind himself. The Angeles Bio-Medical Research Facility was a five six story hospital looking building North of Pasadena, nestled in the foothills of Angeles National Forest. Liam's black Chevy Suburban now bore white lettering on both front doors that read "Center For Disease Control-Los Angeles". Kurt had placed the peel & stick letters just before Liam and Piotr left the house, and Logan had finished installing the blue light bar that now sat on the roof of the truck not much earlier.
Liam, dressed in a charcoal gray suit and a white lab coat sighed as he turned to Piotr, who wore SWAT style riot gear, though it bore no markings. The large Russian carried Liam's Colt 1911 in a thigh holster, and one of his MP5's on a shoulder sling, though truthfully, he looked so intimidating he needed neither, nor did he need the mirrored helmet he wore, just in case someone recognized him. Liam handed the Valet his keys, and stepped around to join Piotr.
"Are you ready for this?" Liam asked.
Piotr snorted as they moved towards the main entrance.
"Of course. I have the easy job, my little friend. Stand there and look scary. You've got to do the talking."
"Don't remind me." Liam said, rolling his eyes as he opened the door.
They stepped into an air conditioned lobby, and Liam led the way to the receptionist's desk, putting on his best smile.
"Hi there…Jessica." he said, reading her name plate. "That's a pretty name. Listen, I'm Doctor Chalmers, and I'm here for a patient transfer."
Jessica, a thin and Waspish blonde smiled at him.
"And what doctor are you receiving from, Doctor Chalmers?"
"Ah, that would be Doctor Ashton."
"Let me ring him for you. If you and your friend would care to have a seat over in the waiting area?"
Liam grinned.
"Thank you very much, Jessica." he said, winking at her.
He and Piotr strolled over to the waiting area, which was more of an atrium with an elaborate abstract fountain softly burbling. Piotr followed one step behind and to Liam's left, playing the part of bodyguard quite well, except for when he leaned down to whisper in Liam's ear.
"That's a pretty name?"
"Oh shut up." Liam said, trying to hide a smile.
"Why don't you just go offer her a date? She'll probably have us out of here in no time." Piotr chuckled behind his helmet.
Liam just scowled at him.
"Doctor Chalmers?" a voice came from the right.
Liam turned and found an older man with sparkling blue eyes coming his way. The man moved with a sense of purpose, and cut quite the dashing figure in his navy business suit. Liam immediately got a bad feeling about the man. He was hoping for some paunchy administrator who would just be happy to get rid of Laura as quickly as possible, but this man fairly screamed "shark".
"Doctor Ashton, I presume?" Liam said, walking forward to extend his hand.
"So I am. So good to meet you, young man." said Ashton, pumping Liam's hand vigorously. "Please, come with me to my office. I hear you've come to take away our little kitten downstairs."
Liam fell into step next to Ashton, and Piotr followed as they walked down a long hallway.
"I have indeed. Our mutual friend has found a…another facility, better suited to the kitten's needs. I'm here, along with this strapping young lad, to spirit her away to her new home."
"I can't tell you how much of a relief that is, my boy. If you only knew the amount of trouble she's caused…" Ashton said, rolling his eyes. "It's a shame that we lost so many, ah, 'strapping young lads' in the process. They're so expensive. Of course, once we had her medication worked out, they didn't seem to mind caring for her so much anymore. Found uses for her time. Here we are."
Ashton led Liam and Piotr into an expensively furnished office, which he locked from the inside once they were in.
"I'm sure that she won't be a problem. This guy may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's strong as an ox, and faster than he looks." Liam said, nodding at Piotr, silently thankful for the mirrored visor. "It's such a shame that honest doctors like us have to resort to working with…mercenaries, to do our work."
Ashton paused and looked Liam in the eye, and for a moment, Liam thought he'd played it too heavy handedly, but Ashton grinned.
"Just so, my boy, just so. Couldn't have said it better myself." he said, chuckling. "Now, we'll be going downstairs in my private elevator, but I must warn you, my security teams probably won't like your boy being so armed. He'll have to leave his weapons here."
Liam turned to face Piotr, and raised his eyebrows, as if waiting impatiently.
"Well? You heard the doctor. Lay them down." he said, nodding to the desk.
Piotr growled softly behind the visor, but complied. Liam really really really hated that. They were about to go into a secure facility, with armed security teams, and Lord knew what else, and they were going in with only what weapons God had blessed them with genetically. They were screwed.
"Wonderful. Shall we?" Ashton asked, pressing a button on the wall that opened a silvery elevator car.
The three men rode down three stories, heading into the facility's basement, and they were expelled into a dingy gray hallway. Ashton led them through several twists and turns until they came to a security checkpoint, where they all went through a metal detector and x-ray machine. After they were cleared, Ashton, plus a contingent of four security officers, armed with Taser rifles, led them to the appropriate cell. A biometric scanner read Ashton's palm print, and the cell door clicked. Liam caught sight of the thin pale girl, sitting in the corner of the cell. Her hair hung limply in her face, and she seemed to have little awareness of what was going on. She stared at a blank spot on the floor, and breathed, and that was about it.
"Well, here she is. She's fairly docile, as long as you give her regular doses." Ashton said, stepping into the cell. "Laura…Laura, can you hear me?"
He waved his hand in front of her face, and she dimly followed it. He got her to look at him, and smiled at her. It was not a pleasant look. It oozed ownership.
"Good afternoon, Laura. Do you know why I'm here?" he asked.
She stared at him for a long moment, and then blinked.
"Med…sin?" she slurred.
"That's right. I'm here to give you your medicine." Ashton spoke to her like she was a three year old. "One dose for now, and then these nice men will give you more later."
Ashton reached into his pocket and removed an orange pill bottle. Liam saw Laura's eyes light up as the bottle rattled in his hand. She crawled slowly towards him. He popped the top and removed one pale blue pill. Her eyes followed the pill as Ashton waved it back and forth. Her mouth opened just a bit, enough for her tongue to wet her lips, a dart of pink in the dim light. He slowly offered the pill towards her mouth, and she opened her lips. He placed it gently on her tongue, and she sucked on his index finger as she backed away, like she was trained to do it. Liam imagined the man probably tasted absolutely foul. He had to keep his smile plastered on his face to keep from gagging a little bit as she returned to the corner, a blissful look on her face.
"You see, her metabolism, the healing factor, processes the drug more quickly than other mutants, so she requires a pill about once an hour, or she gets…testy." Ashton said, turning back to Liam. "We put her through complete and total withdraw once. Only took three hours. Of course, in those three hours, we lost sixteen guards. Terrible mess."
"I'd imagine so." Liam nodded. "So she's good to go? Can she walk?"
Ashton nodded, looking at her as if he was handing over one of his most prized possessions, despite his claims that he was glad to be rid of her. Liam figured that the guards weren't the only ones finding uses for her time.
"Yep. She's all yours, Doctor. The paperwork was done before you even got here, so all that's left is to escort you out. She'll need to be carried, though. First ten minutes or so after a dose she's completely out of it." Ashton said, smirking at Piotr.
He looked like he was amused by the fact that he was saddling the "brute" with extra weight. Liam nodded and stepped aside and gestured at Laura.
"Mister Steel, if you would take hold of the patient, we can be on our way." He said to Piotr.
The large man moved into the cell, filling it up, and reached down to gently pick Laura up off the ground. She nestled comfortably into his arms, and sighed contentedly.
"Softer now." she muttered.
Liam frowned, and turned, extending his hand to Ashton again.
"Thank you very much, Doctor Ashton, for your help. You've been most informative. I'll have to put in a good word with our friend." he said, smiling as Piotr stepped into the hall.
Ashton shook his hand, and grinned.
"Absolutely. And you might look into a career change, Doctor Chalmers. There's always room for like-minded individuals here. You'd do well."
Liam tried to look intrigued, but could still feel a little bit of Laura's saliva on Ashton's finger. He couldn't wait to let go.
"I'll think about it." he said, withdrawing his hand.
"If you'll excuse me, I've got some other patients to attend to, but the boys will show you out." Ashton nodded at the guards.
"Of course. Thank you again, Doctor." Liam said, turning to follow the guards.
They made their way back upstairs via a different elevator, and the Valet attendant had the Suburban waiting when they arrived, along with Piotr's weapons. Piotr loaded Laura into the back seat, and moved around to the driver side. Liam was climbing into the passenger seat when he heard Ashton's voice.
"Stop them!" Ashton called, and the security team moved closer, raising their weapons.
Liam paused, and saw Ashton jogging towards them. They were busted. He just knew it. He gathered a nice chunk of invisible energy in his hand, and clenched his fist around it, ready to throw it into the nearest guard's face at a moment's notice.
"No, no, no, you idiots. I said stop them, not shoot them." Ashton said, pushing his way through the guards. "Doctor Chalmers…good lord. Is this what they make you drive?"
Liam smiled ruefully and shrugged.
"It gets me around."
"Ridiculous. I just wanted to make sure you know who to call when you make your decision." Ashton said, pulling a business card out of his pocket. "Maybe then you can get out of this piece of junk and into something a little more befitting your position. Check out the Jag sitting at the end of the lot on your way out. You'll understand."
He nodded to a black Jaguar parked in the first spot next to the building, at the far end of the parking lot. Liam grinned.
"Sounds like a plan to me." He said, taking the card, and powering down.
He climbed into the Suburban, and Piotr pulled away from the curb. Liam watched as the guards and Ashton turned to go back inside, and he powered back up quickly. He rolled down his window, and as they passed the Jaguar, he saw, like he expected, that the license plate read "Doc Ash". He grinned, and tossed the writhing ball of energy out the window. It slammed into the front end of the car, flattening it with a shriek of tortured metal as they pulled out of the parking lot. The gas tank must have ruptured, because a small fireball erupted, and engulfed the car in flames.
"Pretty lights." Laura muttered, staring out the back window.
Liam and Piotr laughed.