Special thank to my beta E for Emma

Previously, ordinary people have been discovering extraordinary abilities. As Jessica watched horribly as her husband was murdered, she exhibited the full potential of her ability. Dawn and Will finally left their mysterious prison to find that it wasn't a prison at all. And Wayne Rockwell met the surprise of his life: The Rogue Agent. There have been certain unanswered questions throughout Ordinary People. And tonight, many will be answered.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN "THE LIGHT"

(Wayne Rockwell – Unknown)

"Maybe it would help if I introduced myself first." The Rogue Agent leaned into the light to reveal his face. "My name is Scott. Scott Martin. And I need your help."

Wayne stared at the man in the light. There was genuine sincerity in his voice, but whether or not the rock star could trust him was up for debate. His eyes were filled with urgency and intensity. Wayne was filled with a mixture of shock and confusion. He did not reply. A brief pause filled the room and was enveloped by the darkness around them.

"I take it by your silence that you're ready to listen to me."

Wayne remained quiet and stared at the Rogue Agent.

Scott took a deep breath. "What I'm about to tell you is true. Everything that has happened is in direct correlation to what will happen next." He paused for a response from the rock star, but received none. He continued. "First, allow me to inject you with something… it'll help with the 'remembering' process."

He pulled out a device that looked like a small pistol, inserted a small round cartridge into the back, and locked it into place. Wayne nervously tapped his fingers on the table. "This isn't going to kill me or anything, right?"

The Rogue Agent shook his head. "This will only unlock the memories hidden in your subconscious."

"Okay," he replied uneasily.

"Now, there may be some temporary discomfort," he warned. The device touched Wayne's arm, just below the bicep. Its cold barrel pressed against his skin and a sharp pain erupted throughout his entire body. A tingling sensation remained after he pulled away. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head, the sensation wearing off. "Um, yeah."

"Now… let me tell you how this all started."

(David and Jessica Donner – Unknown)

She sat in her chair and cried. The tears fell out of eyes and onto the hard ground. Little puddles of salty liquid stained the steel floor, forever embedding it with the marks of loss. She looked at his motionless body once again. Every good memory and every good thing he ever did for her flashed at once, filling her with a feeling of happiness. But the feeling soon disappeared and it was replaced with sorrow.

The one thing that hurt the most was that she couldn't do more to save him. She healed people before, but she never resurrected a person before. She looked down at the stinking pile of The Grinning Man remained on the floor.

At least she avenged his death.

But the pain of loss outweighed the pride of revenge.

In the cold, dark room, she sat tied and bound with nowhere else to go. Her husband was murdered in front of her eyes and now she was alone. Jessica did all she could. She pleaded and begged, but nothing could prevent the awful thing from happening. His heartbeat haunted her mind.

She looked at his body. "I thought you couldn't die! I thought you were bulletproof!" she yelled. It was all out of frustration and sadness. "I couldn't save you, David. I'm sorry!" She hung her head again and wept. There wasn't much she could do now.

Her soft breathing and falling tears were the only sounds in the room.

(Alec Lions - Washington, D.C.)

Four people walked across the outskirts of Washington, D.C., separated like total strangers. In the lead was Alec Lions, the criminal high school senior from New York City. He walked with his head down, hands in his pockets, kicking a loose piece of gravel from the road. His friend, Justin, walked beside him, holding onto his backpack. Sarah White and Casey Walker walked behind them. A few yards away was a deserted police cruiser.

There was a tense atmosphere around the travelers, a dark and depressing light that only dimmed the longer the silence between them continued. Alec wanted so badly to be close to Casey again, to see her smile instead of frown. The worst part was the knowledge that he had caused her to frown and to be sad. He wanted to make things right between them, but ever since their latest fight, he knew inside that she had made up her mind. He was nothing more than another acquaintance to her. He truly did love her, but trust was an important element in their relationship and he did not show that he trusted her.

Scott took a deep breath and began. "Seven years ago a man named John Mathers roamed the streets of Washington, D.C., claiming that he could sense people with extraordinary abilities. But no one listened to him. Everyone thought he was just your average ordinary bum on the street. John continued to tell people that he could sense these people with abilities and everyone continued to ignore him.

"One day, a bank robbery took place. But the strange thing was that no one walked out of the building. The security tapes showed a man walk into the vault with a gun but never come out. It was one of the most bizarre cases because not only was he missing, but so was the money. John Mathers knew it was a man with abilities. He was standing outside of the bank when it all happened. That day he realized that not only could he sense who these people were, but he could also define what ability they possessed if he was close enough. And this particular criminal had the gift of invisibility. He would have gotten away too, if it weren't for John. He grabbed him and held him until the authorities could take him away.

"That day, he got minimal recognition for what he had done. But little did he know that the government was keeping a close eye on John. Once Connor Franklins, The Invisible Man, was captured, he was taken to a secret facility in the White House to try and understand how he could turn invisible. They tried everything they could to unravel the mystery behind his gift, but they couldn't figure anything out. The government became so obsessed that they kidnapped John Mathers and forced him to find more people with abilities. And more came. Little by little men and women with abnormalities were brought in.

"The government secretly built a base of operations underneath the Washington Monument where they could test them. It was called The Silence Project. And when the government found out that these individuals could be used as weapons, they did just so. The training soon began for the group of people codenamed the Weapons of the Government. John Mathers watched hopelessly as each person he found was brainwashed to do the government's bidding. No one had a choice to the matter. It was either become a weapon or be killed. Many were killed, some by gunpoint but others by the serum that was used to brainwash them. The serum was too unstable and many couldn't handle it.

"Two years passed and the government had five subjects who reacted well with the brainwash treatment. Five individuals that were trained hard to become weapons. Each one served a unique purpose to what the government needed. I was one of those five. So were you. We did a few missions, all of them successful…"

Wayne closed his eyes and images flashed across his eyes. Memories of the successful missions echoed in his head. He tried to fight it. There was no way The Rogue Agent was telling the truth, yet he could remember everything. The memories were as clear as the light that illuminated the dark room. Like a deluge of constant knowledge, the memories flooded in with intensity greater than his nightmares.

Scott continued. "But soon I found out the truth. I found out about the atrocities that the government was doing to us. I found out about the subjects who didn't react well with the serum, the ones that died, about the ones that were killed in cold blood because they refused to become a Weapon of the Government. And I found out about John Mathers. He hid away, barely alive in some cold prison cell."

Wayne remembered a fight. He kept his eyes closed, trying to remember every single detail of the event. It was blurry and vague. But as The Rogue Agent continued to speak, the images became clearer.

"I wasn't going to be held against my will. So I fought back. There was no way I was going to be used as a test subject for the government. But in the end, I lost. They put me into solitary confinement because I was deemed hostile. They planned to have me executed. The government decided that the Silence Project should be shut down. They reasoned that if I could go rogue, so could the other subjects. They erased your memories and sent you out into the world.

"But they never planned to forget about you. They never planned to shut down The Silence Project. They were going to kill me, refine the serum and then bring you all back. They just wanted to make sure I thought you all were going to be okay. I was smarter than that. I knew what they were going to do, so I broke out. I stole all of the information on the old team and I rescued John from captivity. And I've been spending that last year and a half finding all of you, building up an organization to fight against the government for what they did to us."

"I've been thinking," Justin finally spoke up. "And I think I know what to call you."

No one answered.

"Mutants. I think you should be called Mutants."

Sarah spat on the ground. "Are you kidding me?"

"Why not?" Justin asked. "In X-Men people with powers were called Mutants."

"It sounds negative," Alec spoke up, barely above a whisper.

"It's not, though," he shook his head. "If you think about it, every single one of your powers are mutations. And a mutation can be for the good or for the bad. Your gifts are for the greater good. So being called a Mutant isn't a bad thing at all. It's correct."

"I think it's stupid," Sarah spoke up.

"Oh yeah?" Justin retaliated. "Well I think this is stupid."

She sighed. "What? This conversation or ditching the car? It was the only option. It would look really suspicious if I were driving a police car-"

"Not that," he broke in. "Going into Washington, D.C. is stupid. We're running from the law and we're actually going towards the city that is home to the FBI headquarters. Do you have any idea how many police will be there?"

Sarah sighed once again. "We just need to think of where we want to go once we get out of the city. We'll only be here for a few hours at the most."

A powerful gust of wind blew around them. The fall weather was beginning to turn into winter. The wind was colder and the rain was harder. Soon there would be blankets of white snow. A newspaper article surfed on the current of air that blew into their faces and got caught onto Alec's chest. He tore it off of his body and glanced at the headline. It read: Fastest boy in New York runs from the law.

Justin noticed the headline as well. "Hey, you made it into the news."

Alec read the first couple of sentences out loud. "It says 'Alec Lions was the fastest track runner in the East Coast, but all of the glory of a track trophy wasn't enough. He was hungry for more.' That's bullsh-!"

"What else does it say?" Sarah interjected, coming closer and reading over his shoulder.

"Um, it goes on to say how I would beat up my stepfather and rob banks because I wanted more glory… and that I took the stolen money and kidnapped Casey and Justin before I dropped out of high school." He threw the paper on the ground in disgust. "Who the hell writes this crap?!"

Sarah bent down and picked it up. She read over the last paragraph. "Damn," she said. "It also says that I'm aiding you. They know I'm helping you. At the very end it says 'and if anybody sees these fugitives of the law you are to report them immediately. 'There's even pictures of us, Alec."

He sighed and shook his head.

Sarah stared at the written words on the page. She looked at her picture and the picture of the High School Senior. The paper crumbled in her hand and she stood up. "Is any of it true?"

Alec continued to walk. "Not all of it."

"What part is?" she asked.

"The part about me robbing banks."

"So you really did rob those banks."

"Yeah," he sighed. "But I like I told you before, I didn't have a choice. Chris forced me."

"He knew about your ability?"

"Yeah."

"Did he abuse you?"

"Sometimes."

"Why didn't you tell anybody?"

"I was a stupid kid back then. I needed shelter and I needed food. He provided it so I stole from the banks he told me to steal from." Alec stopped walking. He looked at Casey before turning his attention back to Sarah. "I'm not saying I'm proud of what I did, but I did it. There's no turning back now."

"Your stepfather was the one who told the FBI of what you did. He basically told us what was written in that newspaper article."

"He's not my stepfather," he replied angrily.

"What?"

"He was just some guy that happened to see me use my ability. He was nothing more than a crook looking for another way to get more money."

"So… you were an orphan?"

"Yeah." Alec turned around leaving the conversation at the abrupt ending. The other three individuals stood still, watching him leave. He did not look back. "C'mon, we have to get moving if we want to get out of this city."

Justin re-shouldered his backpack and followed after his friend. Casey quickened her pace and joined Justin. Sarah tossed the crumpled-up newspaper into a nearby trash container and went after them. The four travelers continued on through Washington, D.C. The grey sky drifted overhead. A chilling gust of wind blew again and small specks of white drifted out of the clouds and down surface.

A heartbeat.

She shook her head. Jessica did not think it to be real. Too many false heartbeats echoed in her ears. She had heard them before and she thought it to be nothing more than an old memory haunting her. She shook her head again. "David, I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" a weak voice said from across the room.

Her head shot up. "David?"

He coughed and remained on the floor but he smiled.

More tears streamed down her face. "David? You're- you're alive!" Immediately she began to heal the wounds inside him. Now that she knew he was alive, she wanted to make sure he stayed that way.

"Come on," his voice was very weak. "You think a few bullets are going to kill me?"

"I thought you… you died- you were dead."

"I'm a lot stronger than you think," he coughed again. Even with all that happened, he still managed to make a joke, to make the situation lighter. "But everything's gonna be okay now."

She smiled. Believing him.

The door on the right wall opened and a man walked in. He looked at Jessica, then at David, then to the pink paste that used to be the guard on the floor. "What happened here?!" he yelled, his voice squeaked with fright.

Neither of them answered.

"Oh, God," he said as he left the room.

Once again there was silence as neither David or Jessica said a word. David had survived. It was a miracle, even if he had the gift of bulletproof skin. It was a miracle. But he was in so much pain. It was hard to see him in such agony. Hurting so badly. Jessica smiled again. But he was alive.

The forced breathing of David was the only sound when the door flung open. The scared guard walked in with another man. The other man looked of Asian descent, with a goatee around his lips.

"What do we do?" the scared guard said.

"Let's take them to the Safe House. I'll report to Scott and tell him what happened here."

Jessica looked at the Asian man before he brought his fist back. The last thing she remembered was his fist.

Wayne opened his eyes. His pupils slowly adapted to the brightness of the overhead lamp in the room. The Rogue Agent stared at him, once again waiting for a response. The rock star took a deep breath before finally speaking. "Why should I believe you?"

"Why would I lie?"

"The first night I was attacked by one of your assassins and I was paralyzed by… something. I don't know what happened, but afterwards I had nightmares of events that you were just telling me." He glared at the man on the other side of the table. "How do I know you didn't just give me false memories?"

The Rogue Agent thought about his answer before giving one to Wayne's question. A small smile formed on his lips. "You don't. You don't really have any guarantee that I did or didn't fabricate anything. But I have this." He slid a manila folder across the smooth surface of the table. On the top right hand corner was Wayne's name and stamped across the center was the word classified. "This is the file that the government made during our time as teammates."

The locks around his wrists opened. He lifted his hands out of the restraints. For a split second he thought about blinding him and finding escape, but the folder called out to him. His curiosity got the better of him. The rock star delicately flipped through the information in the folder. Everything was there: his name, his mother's name, where he lived…everything. "How… how do I know you didn't make this up too?"

"You don't, Wayne."

It seemed like anything that The Rogue Agent was going to say could be true of false. There was no way of telling what he could believe. Wayne bit his lip. He clenched his fists. He had to choose one way or the other. "Okay," he began. "Let's say everything you've told me is true. I met a man named James Lee who told me quite the opposite about you. Who am I to believe? A man who saved my life or a man who tried to take it from me twice?"

Scott smiled.

"Why are you smiling?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I want you to meet someone." He stood up and out of range of the light that the lamp provided. "Turn the lights on, Destiny."

"The knowledge of our future is unknowable. Our existence in itself is a mystery. But as the light on the roadway becomes ever brighter, our destiny becomes clearer and clearer."

The little lamp above Wayne's head turned off. For a brief moment he could see nothing. Suddenly the darkness in the room disappeared. Bright bulbs in the ceiling revealed a white room similar to the one he was in before. But that wasn't what caught his attention. Six people stood in front of him. All were dressed in uniform clothing. There was a tall, attractive woman with long black hair. A man wearing goggles over his eyes stood next to her. Another woman, younger than the first, smiled at the rock star. Scott, The Rogue Agent, crossed his arms. And James Lee stood next to him.

"James?!" Wayne gasped. "I… I thought you died!"

"There's a lot of things that you thought were true, Wayne," James smirked.

"If we really want to know the truth, we'll let the events in our life illuminate the prospect of our future and to whatever lies ahead." – Mohinder Suresh

The rock star sat in his chair. Lost of words, images, and memories of the first five individuals flashed across his mind. He remembered them. He remembered the missions that they executed together. He stared at each person's face. He still didn't know if The Rogue Agent could be trusted, but curiosity got the better of him. "Okay, Scott," he finally said. "Tell me more."

Continued…

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