-----
Eckhart stared at his computer screen, reading over the forwarded e-mail that had been sent to his Genomex account. He didn't recognize the IP address of the sender, but it was signed as being from "an old friend," obviously Adam.
He knew the man would never agree to his terms, but he typed his reply. He'd accept nothing less. And if Adam did refuse as he predicted, he'd end up making his past friend pay far more.
The stakes in their little cat and mouse game had finally reached all or nothing.
-----
To Brennan's amazement, he made it almost all the way to his destination without a problem. No alarms had gone off, a sign of Eckhart's overconfidence in Brennan's inability to escape. His first true obstacle came at the sight of Emma's handler sealing the door to her room.
Rage flared inside Brennan. The man had obviously just returned Emma, meaning he'd taken her somewhere. "What did you do with her?" Brennan asked, his tone ice cold.
The man jerked his head around, spotting Brennan. He instantly drew his knife, taking up a fighting stance. "Looks like the puppy managed to get off his leash." He scowled at Brennan, ready to place him back in a cage where he belonged.
Glaring, Brennan made sure to stay alert of any movement of the blade. Where knifes standard GSA issue now or something? "You know, guns work better." He moved his hands into position for channeling his power.
Seeing the telltale sign of Brennan readying to throw an energy blast at him, Emma's handler didn't wait and lunged forward to strike before allowing the charge time to form.
Needing to avoid the attack, Brennan was forced to drop the current. The distance between them would be closed before he'd be able to take his shot. Instead, he prepared to dodge. He'd block the knife and use the man's own momentum to propel him into the wall.
Either Brennan's timing was off, or the man anticipated the move, because as Brennan attempted the sidestep, Emma's handler moved with him. His left hand was easily blocked as the two made contact, but Brennan knew he was leaving his entire upper body open to the man's right and the blade of the knife.
Making an instant decision, Brennan brought up his other arm and shielded himself. He cried out as the knife sliced the back of his arm, cutting deep enough to graze the bone. However, that action had been a better option than allowing a stab which could have easily proved fatal.
Wasting no time in dealing with the pain, Brennan grabbed the man's arm and fought for the knife. As they were locked together in the struggle, Brennan seized the opportunity to kick the other man's legs out from under him. They both went down and resumed the battle for control.
Eventually, Brennan found himself pinned, using all his strength to attempt shoving the knife away from his throat. But his efforts were failing, and he felt the cool metal of the blade touch his skin.
"Mr. Eckhart normally doesn't approve of using lethal force," Emma's handler spat through gritted teeth, "but I don't think he'd care if I slit your throat. You're beyond being a freak."
It really didn't matter if he died, Brennan realized. His death would only make a difference to Emma. He'd wake up healed, but he'd lose his chance of getting her out. That was reason enough to fight. He suddenly angled his legs to push the man off him while rolling to other side. The knife cut the side of his neck, but not deeply.
Another dodge, then another punch, a blur of actions, and somehow the knife slipped free and hit the floor. Brennan was fighting using solely instinct now. The stakes were too high for him to lose.
Both men were now standing, neither going for the knife. That action would leave their backs open to attack. They both knew to never look away during conflict. This wasn't some movie where everyone dove for a fallen weapon. In this situation, even if you got to the knife first, the other would never grant you the chance to get up, turn around, and then finally attempt a thrust. No matter how swift the action, whoever went for the blade would lose.
Each took up the defensive, hoping the other would act first. And Brennan couldn't afford to wait long. He'd gotten lucky so far, but soon this fight would no longer be one on one. He had to end it before being faced with an entire security team.
"You need my handprint to open the door," Emma's handler sneered at him.
Raising his own hand, Brennan formed a spark. "I think mine will work fine."
The other man laughed, dark and forced. "Try it. The doors default to lock, not open. You'll entomb your girl inside that room."
Knowing he couldn't simply ask the man to open the door for him, Brennan decided further talk was pointless. He ran the couple steps forward and slapped his palm against the man's chest, delivering an unregulated surge of power while using his free hand to stop the attempted block. The man fell back and Brennan held him to wall beside the door, never letting up and continuing to force the electrical current into his body.
When he became limp, Brennan grabbed him, holding him up just long enough to press his hand to the panel. Then he let him drop as the door slid open. The man hit the floor hard and didn't move.
"Emma!" Brennan called out, rushing into the room but making sure the door wouldn't close behind him. Relief washed over him as he saw her, and he practically sprinted over to her. He gently caressed her cheek and then tilted her chin up toward him so he could look into her sad eyes. He'd been so afraid Eckhart would have managed to move her before he got to her, or that she'd be hurt, or about a million other terrible things.
"Bren..." She looked back at him before moving into his arms. She held onto him, praying that he hadn't been tortured as badly this time. After Eckhart's threat, she doubted it.
He pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss against her hair. "We have to go." Touching the small of her back, he traced his fingers up her spine until her reached her neck, then he zapped her governor, but his hand remained resting on her skin. He wanted to touch her, draw her even tighter to him, be reassured that she was real and alive... and have her confirm that he was.
As her gift returned, Emma suddenly knew something was wrong. She tensed in his arms. His emotions were practically drowning her. She took a step back, also feeling his physical pain. "Brennan, your arm is bleeding."
He glanced at the wound but shook his head. "Doesn't matter."
Emma made herself look beyond him, using her eyes, not her psionic abilities. Brennan was wearing a lab coat, and their door was still standing open. It dawned on her that they were going to run. Yet she could feel Brennan's strength draining from him.
"Give me your arm." He obeyed, and she hurriedly ripped the already torn sleeve. She used it to tie off his wound, although she sensed that was the least of his problems. However, she'd need to wait and wade through his overwhelming emotions later.
An alarm abruptly began to blare. Right now, they needed to move. Brennan clutched her hand. "Come on." He pulled her through the doorway and into the hall.
At the sight of her handler lying on the floor, Emma let her fingers slip from his. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the body at her feet. She could sense nothing from the man. He felt hollow. Yet Brennan was emitting in waves. There was blackness inside him now. Hatred, anger... remorse. Whatever had happened here, he was completely stained by it.
She took her eyes from the body and stared at Brennan, not wanting to believe what he'd done. "He's dead," she said quietly.
"Leave him," Brennan replied, turning to continue down the hall. He could feel Emma's eyes drilling into his back. He'd used his abilities to kill, and he didn't care.
He really had lost his soul.
Suddenly frozen, Brennan could no longer move, no longer breathe. He'd actually killed somebody. Deliberately. That man was GSA, evil, he deserved to die. Brennan truly wanted him dead.
Maybe he was just becoming his true self. His stint with Mutant X was only a joke. How easily he'd been able to swear off his loyalty to Adam when Jordan seemed a better option. And only moments ago he'd purposefully not regulated his power, ignoring the voltage, wanting it to cause more damage than unconsciousness. He was capable of turning his back on everything. He'd been on the other side all his life. Outlaw. Thief. Criminal. And now murderer.
It wasn't an accident. Neither was it self-defense. The situation could have been handled without lethal force.
Walk forward or go back? That single choice would either damn or redeem him. Who he was hung in the balance.
But he already knew who he was. He was Brennan Mulwray, the bad apple that nobody wanted. He was trouble, just like his stepfather had always said he would grow up to be. Everyone had been right about him never amounting to anything. The people he considered friends weren't exactly respectable, and they hadn't even really noticed when he'd moved and joined Mutant X. Everybody else in his life had only cared enough to try to take advantage of him and then leave.
On the other hand, there was still the other him, the Brennan Mulwray nobody knew all that well, the person he desperately wanted to be. Somebody who mattered and made a difference. Somebody with true friends, maybe even a family. The Brennan Mulwray he wished he could become had earned the trust of Jesse and Shalimar, and the respect of Adam who'd lately been his role model. He was one of the good guys - honest, decent - and no one felt the need to watch their wallets around him. That was the person Emma saw when she looked at him. She made him want that life, and made him believe it wasn't merely a fantasy.
Making his decision, Brennan turned back. He hurriedly knelt beside the fallen man and placed his hands over his chest. Carefully, he channeled his power before using it to jump-start the GS agent's heart. He found a pulse after his second try.
Then he closed his eyes and shook with the sobs that threatened to break free. He had done the right thing, so was there still hope for him after all? He didn't want to hear the alarm, didn't want to get up. He wanted to cry because he was so lost that he'd very nearly taken a life. He'd thought it mattered who it was, as if killing a GS agent was a forgivable sin. He had chosen who deserved to die. That act made him no better than the man on the floor before him.
Emma rested her hand on his shoulder as precious seconds slipped by. He would need to face these thoughts some other time. All that was important now was that he'd wanted to take his action back. That was what made him different. "It's okay," she whispered comfortingly. "Brennan, it's okay."
She'd felt the turmoil of his mind and hadn't interfered. Above all else, she still had faith in him. Realizing this, he shakily stood and took her hand, his lifeline. For today, he could still pretend the slate was wiped clean, and just maybe there was a chance it could stay that way for the rest of his life. He looked at Emma for a moment before speaking. He couldn't allow her to wait with him while he dealt with the mass of things he was feeling. He had to able to continue, to flee. "We need to run."
-----
"Post guards at all the exits," Eckhart ordered the man in charge of security whose name he'd never bothered to learn. That didn't matter now, though - he'd already decided to have him fired tomorrow for letting Mulwray and DeLauro both get lose. If they actually managed to escape, he might need to cheer himself up by firing at the incompetent man with a literal gun, and he would have no qualms with doing the job personally. "Lock the parking garage doors and double security for that entire section."
As the man shouted instructions into his walkie-talkie, another security agent addressed Eckhart. "Sir, we just lost cameras H-23 through 26. He's moving away from the garages."
"Are they both together?" Eckhart demanded.
"Unknown," was the instant reply. "We're losing systems before getting visuals."
Eckhart stared over his shoulder at the monitors right as another one blinked out and changed to static. "Seal off all the elevators, I want access to the main level blocked, and make sure electrical overrides won't open those doors."
"We'll have to manually lock each door," somebody told him.
"Do it," he snapped back, growing frustrated. "While your crew is doing that, I need you to pull up the emergency procedures for the complex and trip the fire alarms for the whole floor. If he keeps shorting out cameras, I want to be able to flood all of SL-1. And make certain the men at the exits are fully armed. If anyone tries to leave this building, they have my authorization to shoot to kill."
-----
TBC...
For those who asked:
No, Emma does not have the ability to heal. Yes, Brennan can still be permanently killed. No, Eckhart wasn't lying.
If anybody wants further explanation, let me know. Also, if you want me to respond to your feedback, e-mail me (aliasjanedoe@hotmail.com). I'd love to chat with you, but I feel weird replying to comments left on ff.net seeing as it isn't meant to be a bulletin board.
Oh, and does this story have too much Brennan/Emma ship, or not enough? You guys are confusing me. I thought you all wanted more, but now I've got at least a couple people who want less. And there are the few who want me to pair up Brennan and Jordan! For crying out loud you guys, I can't please all of you! But I've gotta say the slashers send the most amusing feedback. You people are so sick and twisted, it's great. I'm probably never going to write slash, because ick, but please don't stop trying to convert me. Your messages are currently the highlights of my day.
Eckhart stared at his computer screen, reading over the forwarded e-mail that had been sent to his Genomex account. He didn't recognize the IP address of the sender, but it was signed as being from "an old friend," obviously Adam.
He knew the man would never agree to his terms, but he typed his reply. He'd accept nothing less. And if Adam did refuse as he predicted, he'd end up making his past friend pay far more.
The stakes in their little cat and mouse game had finally reached all or nothing.
-----
To Brennan's amazement, he made it almost all the way to his destination without a problem. No alarms had gone off, a sign of Eckhart's overconfidence in Brennan's inability to escape. His first true obstacle came at the sight of Emma's handler sealing the door to her room.
Rage flared inside Brennan. The man had obviously just returned Emma, meaning he'd taken her somewhere. "What did you do with her?" Brennan asked, his tone ice cold.
The man jerked his head around, spotting Brennan. He instantly drew his knife, taking up a fighting stance. "Looks like the puppy managed to get off his leash." He scowled at Brennan, ready to place him back in a cage where he belonged.
Glaring, Brennan made sure to stay alert of any movement of the blade. Where knifes standard GSA issue now or something? "You know, guns work better." He moved his hands into position for channeling his power.
Seeing the telltale sign of Brennan readying to throw an energy blast at him, Emma's handler didn't wait and lunged forward to strike before allowing the charge time to form.
Needing to avoid the attack, Brennan was forced to drop the current. The distance between them would be closed before he'd be able to take his shot. Instead, he prepared to dodge. He'd block the knife and use the man's own momentum to propel him into the wall.
Either Brennan's timing was off, or the man anticipated the move, because as Brennan attempted the sidestep, Emma's handler moved with him. His left hand was easily blocked as the two made contact, but Brennan knew he was leaving his entire upper body open to the man's right and the blade of the knife.
Making an instant decision, Brennan brought up his other arm and shielded himself. He cried out as the knife sliced the back of his arm, cutting deep enough to graze the bone. However, that action had been a better option than allowing a stab which could have easily proved fatal.
Wasting no time in dealing with the pain, Brennan grabbed the man's arm and fought for the knife. As they were locked together in the struggle, Brennan seized the opportunity to kick the other man's legs out from under him. They both went down and resumed the battle for control.
Eventually, Brennan found himself pinned, using all his strength to attempt shoving the knife away from his throat. But his efforts were failing, and he felt the cool metal of the blade touch his skin.
"Mr. Eckhart normally doesn't approve of using lethal force," Emma's handler spat through gritted teeth, "but I don't think he'd care if I slit your throat. You're beyond being a freak."
It really didn't matter if he died, Brennan realized. His death would only make a difference to Emma. He'd wake up healed, but he'd lose his chance of getting her out. That was reason enough to fight. He suddenly angled his legs to push the man off him while rolling to other side. The knife cut the side of his neck, but not deeply.
Another dodge, then another punch, a blur of actions, and somehow the knife slipped free and hit the floor. Brennan was fighting using solely instinct now. The stakes were too high for him to lose.
Both men were now standing, neither going for the knife. That action would leave their backs open to attack. They both knew to never look away during conflict. This wasn't some movie where everyone dove for a fallen weapon. In this situation, even if you got to the knife first, the other would never grant you the chance to get up, turn around, and then finally attempt a thrust. No matter how swift the action, whoever went for the blade would lose.
Each took up the defensive, hoping the other would act first. And Brennan couldn't afford to wait long. He'd gotten lucky so far, but soon this fight would no longer be one on one. He had to end it before being faced with an entire security team.
"You need my handprint to open the door," Emma's handler sneered at him.
Raising his own hand, Brennan formed a spark. "I think mine will work fine."
The other man laughed, dark and forced. "Try it. The doors default to lock, not open. You'll entomb your girl inside that room."
Knowing he couldn't simply ask the man to open the door for him, Brennan decided further talk was pointless. He ran the couple steps forward and slapped his palm against the man's chest, delivering an unregulated surge of power while using his free hand to stop the attempted block. The man fell back and Brennan held him to wall beside the door, never letting up and continuing to force the electrical current into his body.
When he became limp, Brennan grabbed him, holding him up just long enough to press his hand to the panel. Then he let him drop as the door slid open. The man hit the floor hard and didn't move.
"Emma!" Brennan called out, rushing into the room but making sure the door wouldn't close behind him. Relief washed over him as he saw her, and he practically sprinted over to her. He gently caressed her cheek and then tilted her chin up toward him so he could look into her sad eyes. He'd been so afraid Eckhart would have managed to move her before he got to her, or that she'd be hurt, or about a million other terrible things.
"Bren..." She looked back at him before moving into his arms. She held onto him, praying that he hadn't been tortured as badly this time. After Eckhart's threat, she doubted it.
He pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss against her hair. "We have to go." Touching the small of her back, he traced his fingers up her spine until her reached her neck, then he zapped her governor, but his hand remained resting on her skin. He wanted to touch her, draw her even tighter to him, be reassured that she was real and alive... and have her confirm that he was.
As her gift returned, Emma suddenly knew something was wrong. She tensed in his arms. His emotions were practically drowning her. She took a step back, also feeling his physical pain. "Brennan, your arm is bleeding."
He glanced at the wound but shook his head. "Doesn't matter."
Emma made herself look beyond him, using her eyes, not her psionic abilities. Brennan was wearing a lab coat, and their door was still standing open. It dawned on her that they were going to run. Yet she could feel Brennan's strength draining from him.
"Give me your arm." He obeyed, and she hurriedly ripped the already torn sleeve. She used it to tie off his wound, although she sensed that was the least of his problems. However, she'd need to wait and wade through his overwhelming emotions later.
An alarm abruptly began to blare. Right now, they needed to move. Brennan clutched her hand. "Come on." He pulled her through the doorway and into the hall.
At the sight of her handler lying on the floor, Emma let her fingers slip from his. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the body at her feet. She could sense nothing from the man. He felt hollow. Yet Brennan was emitting in waves. There was blackness inside him now. Hatred, anger... remorse. Whatever had happened here, he was completely stained by it.
She took her eyes from the body and stared at Brennan, not wanting to believe what he'd done. "He's dead," she said quietly.
"Leave him," Brennan replied, turning to continue down the hall. He could feel Emma's eyes drilling into his back. He'd used his abilities to kill, and he didn't care.
He really had lost his soul.
Suddenly frozen, Brennan could no longer move, no longer breathe. He'd actually killed somebody. Deliberately. That man was GSA, evil, he deserved to die. Brennan truly wanted him dead.
Maybe he was just becoming his true self. His stint with Mutant X was only a joke. How easily he'd been able to swear off his loyalty to Adam when Jordan seemed a better option. And only moments ago he'd purposefully not regulated his power, ignoring the voltage, wanting it to cause more damage than unconsciousness. He was capable of turning his back on everything. He'd been on the other side all his life. Outlaw. Thief. Criminal. And now murderer.
It wasn't an accident. Neither was it self-defense. The situation could have been handled without lethal force.
Walk forward or go back? That single choice would either damn or redeem him. Who he was hung in the balance.
But he already knew who he was. He was Brennan Mulwray, the bad apple that nobody wanted. He was trouble, just like his stepfather had always said he would grow up to be. Everyone had been right about him never amounting to anything. The people he considered friends weren't exactly respectable, and they hadn't even really noticed when he'd moved and joined Mutant X. Everybody else in his life had only cared enough to try to take advantage of him and then leave.
On the other hand, there was still the other him, the Brennan Mulwray nobody knew all that well, the person he desperately wanted to be. Somebody who mattered and made a difference. Somebody with true friends, maybe even a family. The Brennan Mulwray he wished he could become had earned the trust of Jesse and Shalimar, and the respect of Adam who'd lately been his role model. He was one of the good guys - honest, decent - and no one felt the need to watch their wallets around him. That was the person Emma saw when she looked at him. She made him want that life, and made him believe it wasn't merely a fantasy.
Making his decision, Brennan turned back. He hurriedly knelt beside the fallen man and placed his hands over his chest. Carefully, he channeled his power before using it to jump-start the GS agent's heart. He found a pulse after his second try.
Then he closed his eyes and shook with the sobs that threatened to break free. He had done the right thing, so was there still hope for him after all? He didn't want to hear the alarm, didn't want to get up. He wanted to cry because he was so lost that he'd very nearly taken a life. He'd thought it mattered who it was, as if killing a GS agent was a forgivable sin. He had chosen who deserved to die. That act made him no better than the man on the floor before him.
Emma rested her hand on his shoulder as precious seconds slipped by. He would need to face these thoughts some other time. All that was important now was that he'd wanted to take his action back. That was what made him different. "It's okay," she whispered comfortingly. "Brennan, it's okay."
She'd felt the turmoil of his mind and hadn't interfered. Above all else, she still had faith in him. Realizing this, he shakily stood and took her hand, his lifeline. For today, he could still pretend the slate was wiped clean, and just maybe there was a chance it could stay that way for the rest of his life. He looked at Emma for a moment before speaking. He couldn't allow her to wait with him while he dealt with the mass of things he was feeling. He had to able to continue, to flee. "We need to run."
-----
"Post guards at all the exits," Eckhart ordered the man in charge of security whose name he'd never bothered to learn. That didn't matter now, though - he'd already decided to have him fired tomorrow for letting Mulwray and DeLauro both get lose. If they actually managed to escape, he might need to cheer himself up by firing at the incompetent man with a literal gun, and he would have no qualms with doing the job personally. "Lock the parking garage doors and double security for that entire section."
As the man shouted instructions into his walkie-talkie, another security agent addressed Eckhart. "Sir, we just lost cameras H-23 through 26. He's moving away from the garages."
"Are they both together?" Eckhart demanded.
"Unknown," was the instant reply. "We're losing systems before getting visuals."
Eckhart stared over his shoulder at the monitors right as another one blinked out and changed to static. "Seal off all the elevators, I want access to the main level blocked, and make sure electrical overrides won't open those doors."
"We'll have to manually lock each door," somebody told him.
"Do it," he snapped back, growing frustrated. "While your crew is doing that, I need you to pull up the emergency procedures for the complex and trip the fire alarms for the whole floor. If he keeps shorting out cameras, I want to be able to flood all of SL-1. And make certain the men at the exits are fully armed. If anyone tries to leave this building, they have my authorization to shoot to kill."
-----
TBC...
For those who asked:
No, Emma does not have the ability to heal. Yes, Brennan can still be permanently killed. No, Eckhart wasn't lying.
If anybody wants further explanation, let me know. Also, if you want me to respond to your feedback, e-mail me (aliasjanedoe@hotmail.com). I'd love to chat with you, but I feel weird replying to comments left on ff.net seeing as it isn't meant to be a bulletin board.
Oh, and does this story have too much Brennan/Emma ship, or not enough? You guys are confusing me. I thought you all wanted more, but now I've got at least a couple people who want less. And there are the few who want me to pair up Brennan and Jordan! For crying out loud you guys, I can't please all of you! But I've gotta say the slashers send the most amusing feedback. You people are so sick and twisted, it's great. I'm probably never going to write slash, because ick, but please don't stop trying to convert me. Your messages are currently the highlights of my day.