"You haven't seen him?" Lindsey asked, trying not to wear her emotions on her sleeve.

"Not since he went to talk to you again," Markas replied. Jake and Isaac had begun to peek through the door at her, their interests sparked by the conversation.

"If you see him or hear from him, could you tell him that I'm looking for him?" she pleaded.

"Uh yeah…is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah…just tell him I'm looking for him?" she pleaded. The search had been relentless. There only one explanation as to what had happened: Caleb had somehow known what decision that she had made and had left. Ironically, that was the best scenario that she was willing to entertain. The idea of him in any kind of mortal danger racked her emotions with pain. It sent a feeling of vicious nausea to her stomach. The idea of losing him was incomprehensible. Though Nathan was by her side every step of the way, he somehow gave no comfort to her current state of emergency.

She made her way into the foyer. Nathan was standing there waiting for her. They had searched the entire mansion from subbasement up, looking for Caleb to no avail.

"Any luck?" she asked hopefully, yet with despair.

"Sorry," Nathan replied a little too nonchalantly. Now was not the time to accuse Nathan of not caring, though she feared that now that he had what he wanted, Caleb was no longer a concern. She remembered a day when she would have never questioned his intentions…his integrity. Were those days gone now? Could things every really be the same. She did not think so. It was not realistic. In reality, fairy tale happily-ever-afters did not exist.

"We have to find him," she stated, thinking aloud. He shrugged—shrugged. She could not handle that gesture right then. She gave him a scowl without meaning to.

"What?" he asked defensively. "All we can do now is wait until he come back."

"What if he doesn't come back, Nathan? What if he's run away again?"

"He'll come around when he's ready," he shrugged, uncaringly again. She gritted her teeth. This was a nightmare. She knew that no matter what she did, she was going to have to lose one of the men she cared about the most.

Who ever knew following your heart would be so hard?

At that moment the doubled doors leading into the foyer from outside burst open and Caleb came barreling through the halls. He looked up at her for a split second and their eyes met. That single gaze was worth more than a thousand words. His eyes told her love, sorrow and loss. They told her that he would always have a place for her in his heart and he would always be there for her.

If only things like that could go unsaid…

"Caleb! Where have you been? I've been so worried," Lindsey took a deep breath of relief to see that he was safe.

"Not right now, Lin," Caleb said, breaking their eye contact and heading for the room underneath them.

"Wait! We need to talk!" she protested. No response. She was tired of this. Any other time under any other circumstances he had no problem saying exactly how he felt and what he thought. Now, she was being pushed on the sidelines of his life.

Is he punishing me?

She shadowported to the floor beneath her to catch up with him. He was already getting on the elevator. She grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him long enough to get a few words from him. He whirled around and gave her an angry snarl.

"Let go! I can't stay here!"

"We need to talk!" she demanded. He jerked his arm away and hit the button for the subbasement. She was not about to let him get away. She stepped into the elevator as it was closing, leaving Nathan behind.

"Caleb, what is going on?"

"Look I know about you and Nathan. That's fine. I'm hurt but I'll get over it. Right now I have something more important to deal with," he snapped.

"More important than this?"

"If it was so important to you how could you just throw it away?" he threw his hands up, his eyes wet and puffy from emotion oozing out of him.

"You were the one who told me to make a decision, Caleb."

"And this is what you want?"
"I want to be with Nathan," she admitted a little too harshly.

"Well I hope that the two of you have a really happy life together," he rolled his eyes and stepped out as the elevator opened.

"Caleb that is not fair! I still want you to be a part of my life; I'm not cutting you out."

"Lindsey I'm not ready for that right now," he was pumping for speed towards the hangar. It just clicked in her mind that he was leaving again to go somewhere. "Maybe some day, but right now I just need my space."

"Where are you going?" she asked realizing that he was getting one of the jets ready. He did not answer. "Caleb?"

"I have some things to take of at home. It just came up," he said, deliberately leaving out as many details as he could.

"What's happened?"

"The MCA, for whatever reason are trying to get a hold of me so that they can use me against other mutants in the war. They can't get to me here so they're going after my family to lure me out," he said, hitting the controls to open the hatch.

"How do you know this?" she asked. He stopped, for the first time since he'd walked into the door. He paused for a second and looked her in the eye.

"Mindflare told me."

"Mindflare! You're going to rush home and out of safety on a tip you got from Mindflare? Are you crazy? He's probably the one trying to get you away from here."

"I was this close to him, Lin. If he wanted me he could've had me. My family's in danger and I have to go help them.

"I'm coming with you."

"What? No, it's going to be dangerous!"

"All the more reason why you're going to need my help. Look, I don't want to see anything happen to your family. I know what it's like to lose someone because my own actions. Let me help you; we can rescue them together," she put a hand on his shoulder. It looked as if he was going to protest a little more but he paused and clicked his tongue.

"Fine. First let's get some gear; I'll get the field equipment, you get our uniforms," he brightened. She turned and went down the entrance of the jet and onto the hangar. A sudden burst of unknown energy lifted her off of her feet and sent her flying through the air. She skittered across the floor, mostly unharmed but bruising her knees and elbows a bit. She landed hard on her front and the wind was knocked out of her. She could see little circle-stars floating around in her vision. It didn't take her long to figure out what had happened, Caleb had let out one of his smaller booms to knock her away so that he could leave without her.

Oh no you don't!

She was up on her feet, still dizzy from her little fall but ready to shadowport back into the jet. A sudden blast of pain racked her eyes, head and even skin. All of the hangar lights came on in a simultaneous flash. She tried to adjust but could hear the roar of jet engines fire up. Before she knew it, Caleb had blasted out of the hangar and was gone into the night. There was no catching him now.

What is he doing?

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Nathan suddenly rushed to her side. She reached for the controls and turned off all of the bright lights, leaving only enough so that they could see where they were going.

"I'm fine. Caleb's family is in danger and he's taking off home to help them. He insisted that he go alone," she spat. She couldn't believe he had resorted to using his powers against her. She knew that he meant her no serious harm but it was something that she never saw him capable of.

You learn new things everyday…she thought, realizing more and more that she had made the right decision.

"When did all this happen?" Nathan asked, confused. He was referring to Caleb's family.

"During his little Houdini act he ran into Mindflare, leader of the Brotherhood. He told Caleb that his family was in danger and now he's on a wild goose chase. If he's not careful, he's going to walk right into a trap."

"We have to help him," Nathan stated the obvious.

"Come on. I'll ready the jet, you get our gear," she said.

"You know how to fly? Cause I sure don't," he raised his eyebrows.

"Don't need to know how. Typo installed a state-of-the-art autopilot system that will let anyone fly," she said. "Hurry, we gotta go."

"What's going on?" Lindsey shot her head to the left and saw Lifestream standing there. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was dressed head-to-toe in gray sweats; she looked as if she was just done working out.

"Caleb's in trouble and we're going to help him."

"What kind of trouble? Should we talk to Cyclops?"

"By the time he plans out a mission it may already be too late," Lindsey said grimly. She wasn't much for speaking against or defying leadership but her friend was in trouble and there was no room for protocol.

"Okay…I'm coming too," she stated firmly—an odd thing for her. She was normally so shy and withheld.

"Are you sure?"

"I care about Caleb too," she protested almost angrily. "Besides, if someone gets hurt I can take care of them."

She had a point that was hard to argue with. Lindsey didn't see any reason why she shouldn't come.

"Great. Get into your uniform; Nathan is getting our gear."

"Titan?"

"Nathan," she restated, hoping that she wouldn't have to explain the whole situation to her.

"Oh him," there was a long and awkward pause. Lindsey knew that Lifestream had long had a crush on Caleb. He was totally oblivious to it too. He was always so friendly and not a bit flirtatious with all the girls, he could not seem to tell the difference between farce and genuine interest. It had never bothered Lindsey; she was not a jealous person. Caleb was a little too sanguine for his own good sometimes.

Enough! He's in danger; focus on the task at hand!

Before long Lifestream and Nathan had returned and it was time to leave. Lindsey did the honors of punching in the coordinates of where they wanted to go as they waited for the jet to taxi them to the Midwest. With as fast as it would take them, they'd be there in well under an hour.

Caleb was closing in on his hometown; it had been song long, it seemed since he had last seen the Midwest. Illinois have never seemed so ominous as he flew towards to his father's house. He looked down and saw that there were cars with orange siren lights, MCA patrol cars. He could also see the tracers from the automatic rifle fire firing into his house. There was return fire going back, taking down one MCA agent at a time.

Who?

He couldn't imagine who would be returning fire to the MCA; his father didn't own any guns nor did he have any reason to begin firing on governing authorities…not that Caleb minded at this point. He was about to seriously lay waste to them. He opened the hatch to the jet, wind whipping all over the place. On his wrist he fastened the remote computer that commanded the jet. He looked down and made sure that he was squarely above the cars. Without thought or reserve he jumped, which was an unusual thing for him to do. He was terrified of heights. With the thought of his family in jeopardy nothing else seemed to matter. All inhibitions and reserves went right out the window.

He descended upon them like a calamity from the skies, ready to rain destruction and terror on those who would threaten what he held dear. He used his waves to slow his fall and came to the ground in the middle of the cars, MCA agents all around him. They were hiding behind their cars to keep from being hit by the return fire. He looked up for a split second to see who it was defending his house for him and a smile crossed his face.

Garrett was there, wielding twin pistols against a small platoon of MCA's elite. He would not have to fight alone for long. Caleb quickly gathered as much energy as he had ever mustered. He knew that the result wouldn't be pretty and he was glad. He split the energy to the right and left poles of his body and held his hands out. He unleashed two ridiculously strong booms and, as he had hoped, the result was catastrophic. The pavement beneath him began to crumble and fly away. The cars smashed like tin cans and the booms were powerful enough to break open the skin of the MCA agents. Though it was instantaneous, it all seemed to happen in slow motion. As the debris began to clump together, men were pinned between cars and each other. The wreckage went on for a quarter mile on each side, tearing down telephone poles and destroying any cars parked on either side of the road.

He was terribly weakened after such a feat. He knew better than to attempt a feat that required so much energy. At least the job was over and done with. Garrett came down to what was left of the sidewalk to join him.

"I see you made it out of the bank okay," Caleb observed with a sneer. He and Garrett had always had something of a love-hate relationship.

"You look a little disappointed," he chuckled.

"How did you know about the MCA coming after me?" Caleb demanded, changing the lighthearted tone of the conversation.

"Little tip from Mindflare, actually. Once he paid me what he owed me he gave me a little intel on the MCA coming after the parents," Garrett admitted.

"Same here. Do you know why they're after me?"

"I don't know details. I'm sure they want you for your power. They also mentioned something called Project Catalyst. I don't know what any of that means but I can find it out for you."

"How will I get in touch with you?"

"You won't; I'll get in touch with you," Garrett insisted. There was no point in arguing with him. He was not staring at the punk kid little brother that he had grown up with. He was an assassin now—the assassin. He was legendary among the mutant and human circles. He was clearly trained in combat and espionage. If he wanted to disappear he could.

The sound and the wind created from helicopter blades interrupted their brotherly moment together. It was black and unmarked, but it was not hard to figure that it belonged to the MCA. There missile launchers on either side of the chopper. Two missiles flew without warning. Caleb was not fast enough, nor were his reflexes. Garrett bolted off of the ground like black lightning, unsheathing his sword and twirling like an acrobat as he flew. He used his sword to parry one of the missiles into the air, it exploded harmlessly above the houses. The shockwave was massive from it, shattering the windows of their house and of those nearby.

With the second missile he was not so fortunate. He slashed maliciously at the missile trying to divert its path but to know avail. Caleb tried to react but there was no time. His house exploded in a mass of wood, shingles, siding and fire. His power kicked in involuntarily to protect him from injury but it did not keep him from being thrown around like a rag doll. When he finally came to a halt, he had smashed through his neighbors fence and landed in their pool. Smoldering wood and ash rained from the sky. He could not get out of the pool fast enough. He boom-jumped out of the pool breaking the foundation underneath and sending water misting into the air like a geyser.

He landed and fell to his knees, overcome with anger and loss. There was only fiery remains of what was once his father's home. There was no possibility of survival if they were inside, even in the basement. Both his father's truck and his stepmom's car were parked in the driveway. He screamed with fury and let out a radial boom out of frustration. It did damage like the ones before had, tearing through his neighbor's yard and house, tearing down trees in front of him. With as close as Garrett was to the house when it exploded, it was doubtful that he had survived either.

Caleb began to gather energy to himself, more than he had ever tried before. Even when he thought his body could contain no more, he continued to reach inside of him for the energy to make another boom. Something was different this time. He was also taking energy from around him as well. He saw grass and dirt disintegrate from underneath him. The water that once soaked his clothes evaporated into nothing. Soon his vision began to change. He could see everything—everything. It was invigorating. While he did not understand how, he could feel everything as well. Everything became a crimson hue. He could see every plant, the cars, the helicopter in the air the houses around him and even the particles in the air—everything. He could feel the distance between him and the helicopter and knew exactly how much energy he would need to put out in order to boom-jump from where he was to the helicopter.

Wasting no time he launched himself in an arc towards the helicopter and smashed into the windshield. He ignored the wind pulling at him and just looked into the faces of his father's killers. He couldn't see details. He could see every fiber of their being however, both their clothes, skin, organs and the seats beneath them. He could still faintly see the street and neighborhood through the chopper. Without reserve he unleashed all of the energy in wave into the cockpit of the chopper. To his bewilderment, particles began to wisp away into nothing. There was no other way to explain it. The particles of the chopper and the men flying it began to break into pieces and become nothing. He knew of no better way to describe it.

The wave began to do the same thing to the fuel in the tank of the chopper and the blades on the tail of it. He could feel the chopper descending towards the ground so he stopped the wave and back-flipped away from it, using another wave to bring him down slowly to the ground. He fell only a little slower than the chopper. Soon his vision returned to normal and the excess energy went into his reservoir for later use. He was better than one hundred percent. Any fatigued felt from using his power before was negated. He had never felt more alive.

He looked at the chopper in horror. It looked as if some sort of eroding acid had eaten away at the chopper and the pilots. Neither had completely faded away and one's chest lay open, exposing all of his organs, including lungs still trying to breath and a heart fluttering to beat. Blood gurgled out of the man as he twitched and died. The other man had no face whatever. Half of his skull and brain was gone. Fluid and blood erupted out like a geyser.

Caleb could not help himself. He had never seen anything so gruesome in all of his life. He turned away and threw up his lunch. He breathed heavily and wiped the gummy tears from his eyes. He had certainly meant to kill the helicopter pilots but not like that. He would not have done it like that if he knew that the results would have been so grisly.

He felt a hand on his shouldered and he whipped around in a stupor, ready to fight.

"Whoa! It's just me. What did you do?"

"I don't know," he spat. He looked over at the house that he and Garrett had grown up in. "We should get the bodies."

"It's no use. There won't be anything left to bury by the time the flames die down," he scrunched his face when he spoke, the words escaping his mouth nonchalantly. Caleb was stuck by how emotionlessly he said it but the more that he thought about it, he was not so surprised.

"I guess there's nothing that we can do."

"They're probably at your mom's house, Caleb," he pointed out.

"And your dad's," Caleb added.

"I don't know if helping them is the smartest thing."

"I can't do nothing," Caleb admitted.

"Me neither. Let's split. We're both capable enough of handling the MCA on our own. We'll cover more ground that way. If we hurry, we might be able to save them," Garrett said hopefully. That was the only thing that Caleb could hold onto now. He wanted to take time to mourn his dad and stepmother but if he did that now, there would be no chance for his mother and stepfather.

"Okay. Until next time, bro," Caleb said, extending his hand. To his surprise, Garrett grabbed him and embraced him. It had been a long time since he and his brother had even seen each other. He welcomed it, awkward as it was. It was likely that soon, Garrett would be the only family that Caleb had left. They would no doubt find all of his other brothers and sisters, maybe even some of his friends to hurt him with.

"Later, bro," Garrett said bolting from the ground onto the roof before them. He watched as his brother jumped from roof to roof soundlessly and effortlessly. Caleb wasted no more time in calling the jet back to pick him up. When it was close enough to the ground, he boom-jumped through the hatch, closed it and began to input the coordinates for his mothers house, only two cities from where his father's house once stood. He wiped the tears from his cheek and stifled the emotions of hurt and rage deep within him as the jet carried him on, not knowing what kind of danger, peril or loss awaited him at his mother's house.

Lindsey looked down on the smoking remains that was once Caleb's house. She turned away, feeling memories of the loss of her aunt and grandmother well up within her. It had been such a long time. Caleb was likely to do something rash and stupid out of anger once he moved on to go to his mom's house. As she looked down, she saw a wrecked helicopter and a massive lump of wreckage that was once MCA jeeps and agents on polar opposite sides of street. No doubt, it was Caleb's handwork.

We have to hurry…

"He's not here. Set the coordinates for his mom's house. Maybe we're not too late," Lindsey said, being hopeful for Caleb's sake.

She could feel feelings of hatred and rage welling up inside of her for the Brotherhood and the MCA. She knew, somehow, though she had no way of proving anything that Mindflare was somehow responsible for all of this. He was just the manipulative kind to do something like that.

The jet bolted across the sky and in mere minutes they were at his mom's house. There was chaos below them. The trees, the fence the street looked as if it had undergone a massive earthquake. There was no safe place to land near his house. She could see him through the gigantic window in the front of his house, broken and bloody, collapse on the floor.

"He's hurt!" she wailed desperately. She looked frantically for a place to land. She feared the worst and that they would be too late to save him.