What is to Come
Chapter Thirty Eight
Bobby approached the townhouse with caution. He knew Emma was here, but thanks to that ill-advised lunch with his mother he had no idea who else may be here. He also didn't know if he would be welcomed. Just because he was pretty sure Emma had seen him earlier didn't mean that she wanted him to visit her.
He crept around the back of the building, making sure not to be seen, after he watched the maid leave for the day. Through the kitchen window he could see Emma at the sink, filling a tea kettle. He walked over to the french doors on the patio and knocked gently on the glass.
Emma looked up at him, and he heard the familiar sound of her voice in his head telling him the door was unlocked. He let himself in as she set the kettle on the unlit stove. "I was wondering how long it would take you to come." Emma said.
"I wasn't sure I would be welcome." Bobby replied as he stepped closer.
"Darling, I told you the night I left, no matter what happens, no matter what you may hear, I love you." Emma said, inside his head, as she smiled briefly at him. Aloud she added. "I haven't seen you in the longest time."
Bobby wasn't sure if she was worried about being overheard from someone in the house, or if the house was bugged, but he understood right away that she couldn't talk freely here. He nodded slightly to let her know he'd gotten the message before saying out loud. "Well you know they eventually were going to send someone to see how you were doing and if you'd reconsider. We are short staffed after all."
"Yes, I assumed sooner or later I would get such a visit." Emma agreed,playing along. "As I said before however, I do not feel the Institute has anything further to offer me."
"That's to bad."Bobby said, before mentally adding. "Meet me when you can." and handing her a copy of his room card. They had issued him two at the time he checked in. "Well if you're sure I can't change your mind?... I should probably be going, there are others on my list after all."
"It was nice seeing you Mr. Drake. I hope all goes well for you." Emma replied as she showed him out, adding silently that she would come by later that evening.
~o~0~o~
Logan was impatient to attempt to pick up the trail, though he knew it would likely drop just outside the warehouse. Inside, the others were searching for clues while he stood at the end of the hallway waiting and growing impatient as they walked back and forth over the signs that he needed to follow.
Remy was in the lab,working on the computers to try to retrieve the data that had been dumped off of them, Scott was in Jean's cell searching for anything she may have left behind,while trying not to look at the spot where they had found her. Ororo was searching the offices for clues, Piotr was helping Ororo and John (who had stayed with his wife's blessing and understanding) was by Remy's side.
After a few minutes, Remy sighed before shutting down the system and then he began unplugging everything. John looked at him questioningly, before Remy explained that he needed more time to sort through all of the files, so he intended to take the computers back to the mansion where he could work on it without slowing down the search. John nodded in understanding before he began to help. Logan, who had overheard their conversation, came in a few minutes later with a dolly, commenting that they would drop Remy and the computers off along the way.
"Along the way where exactly?" Scott said in a flat voice as he joined the others.
"On the the way of searching the trail." Logan said. "Remy can take the plane back to the mansion, John can join him if he wishes, the rest of us are renting a car."
"Do you think you will be able to follow them far this time?" Ororo asked as she and Piotr joined the others.
"Far enough. Victor and Raven have already begun. They at least left the city the traditional way." Logan said,the dolly now loaded they all walked to the elevator.
With in minutes, John and Remy were securing the computers onto the plane while the others followed Logan down the street. Remy then called ahead to the mansion as they secured the plane to let them know he and John were on their way back, but the others were still on the search.
Logan sent Ororo and Piotr to rent the car while he and Scott followed a path only he could find. Logan hadn't said anything to Scott or the others, because without a previous contact he couldn't be completely certain; however he was almost sure the baby, where ever it was, was not with whoever they were following.
In fact, though Jean had clearly recently given birth, he had detected no trace of the baby ever being in the warehouse at all. It was his belief that Jean had given birth elsewhere, then brought there. He didn't know why, nor did he know why this time there was a trail to follow at all, but he suspected a trap.
He would have preferred to send Scott back to the mansion with the others, but knew that Scott wasn't going to leave the search this time. At least, Logan thought, the other two were safely out of harm's way. Scott was the only one he had to keep an eye on.
Logan hoped he was wrong, that somehow Sinister had made a mistake and this path was leading them straight to the baby. He didn't believe that, but he hoped for it. As reached a busy intersection, a car pulled up with the others. Logan and Scott got in, and Logan rolled down his window. This served both to allow him to continue to follow the path and to avoid answering and questions.
Victor and Raven would wait for them from where Victor had called him a few minutes earlier. Soon they would be underway, either to a trap or hopefully answers. Either way, they all knew a battle was coming.
~o~0~o~
Rogue was glad to have Remy back at the mansion so quickly. She left Nathan in Elizabeth's care for a few minutes so that she could help John and Remy set the computers back up in one of the sub-level labs. At least with them here, she didn't feel like she was on house arrest anymore, plus she could hopefully help them with the search of the computers.
Remy was rather quiet during the process, which she was worried about. She hoped the things her brother said wasn't getting to him, but she knew him well enough to assume that they were. After John left to find out if they had anything he wanted in the kitchen, she decided to break the silence. "Kurt's an idiot. You know that, right Rem?"
"Oui. Maybe.'Remy said as he hooked up the last of the cables. "But he's not completely wrong,Cherie. Face it, Sinister... He was coming either way, we know this, but if not for me, can we be sure he would have come for you?"
"Yes. We can be sure of that. Everyone who's ever found out about my power came after me Remy. Everyone. Magneto wanted my powers, Mystique adopted me for my powers. You even wanted my powers when you needed help. Sinister wanted them too. I'm pretty sure even Xavier wanted them and he's on the 'good' side. It's just how it is." Rogue said, then came around so that her husband had no choice but to look at her.' The fact remains, it wasn't me he really wanted was it? Because it wasn't me he took this time. It wasn't me he's been obsessing over. It wasn't me who's out in the garden. Now we need to figure out why and what he's really after and we ain't gonna be able to do that if you're busy obsessing over what you could have done differently."
"He destroys everything he touches." Remy agreed. "We need to know why he wanted the others, but you he took because he was punishing me. I just don't want to see you hurt Anna. I don't know I can survive what Scott has. I can't lose you."
"Scott's surviving because his children need him to, he's not stronger or better than you or anyone else, he's a father."
"I'm not." Remy said. 'honestly I'm glad I'm not with the way things are. I know we talked about it before, but with the way things are I'm not sure we should keep trying until this thing with Sinister is settled."
"Sinister''s gonna do what he's gonna do. We can't sit here waiting to begin our lives until the perfect time. As far as being on the fence goes, you better make up your mind on it , and do it fast. You ain't going to have a choice but to be okay with it." Rogue said. "I'm going to go make sure John doesn't burn down the kitchen, you have work to do."
Rogue left before Remy could say anything. He stared after her for a full minute before he got up to follow her. What she had said sinking in as he tried to catch up before she got on the elevator. Logan at least had to know, he realized. No wonder he was so quick to agree to send Remy back to the mansion.
~o~0~o~
It was getting late, Bobby had nearly given up for the night and was preparing to go to bed when the soft knock at his door alerted him just before Emma slipped in. Emma set down her purse as he came out of the bathroom, toothbrush in one hand and the other securing his towel. He smiled a little embarrassed as he grabbed the robe he'd left on the bed, not expecting anyone and pulled it on quickly.
Emma held up a small bag. "I brought dinner, but if you already ate...'
"No, no it's fine." Bobby said, sitting down at the table and gesturing for her to join him. "I can always eat again, you know that."
Emma laughed slightly and nodded before joining him at the table, and unpacking the plastic covered dishes. She had picked up Chinese on the way over, knowing that Bobby liked the restaurant from the conversations they'd had at the mansion. "I wasn't followed, I made sure of it, but I also doubled back over my path a few times, to make it look like I was just out shopping. Sorry it took so long to get here.'
"It's okay. I'd assumed you weren't able to get away for the night and was just going to relax with a movie before bed. This is better." Bobby said with a smile.
"There's so much I want to tell you, but I can't." emma said sadly.
"It's okay, Em. I trust you. I know that you have to be doing all this for a good reason. I love you." Bobby said.
"You shouldn't. You shouldn't trust me or love me after all of this, everything I've been doing, but I'm so glad you do." Emma replied.
Bobby didn't know what to say to this, it was, in his opinion, so similar to conversations he'd overheard between Kurt and Amanda or Remy and Rogue, but he wasn't Kurt or Rogue, he didn't know how to find the words to assure Emma that everything was going to be okay.
~o~0~o~
Logan and his team had met with victor and Raven several hours ago, the rest of the group followed slowly behind now, as Logan and victor took the lead, and Laura and Raven guided them. Raven would periodically check to see if the men were still in front of them by flying ahead and then returning. Laura was sitting in the front passenger seat with the window down so she could follow their trail.
For the most part, the others rode in silence. It was a tense trip, no one voicing their opinion that this was likely going to be either a dead end or a trap. Likely both. Just because the odds were against them, didn't mean anyone was willing to give up on a chance to find the child. Though there were a couple of people among them that wondered if the child was still alive.
They all knew Jean had delivered the baby early even before Scott grudgingly admitted that the child had to be premature. No one was willing to suggest to the grieving man that it may be too late. Laura, like Logan and Victor were not among those in doubt. They knew that the child had been alive the last time it had been anywhere near Jean, and they knew the capabilities of this madman. Truly Sinister was a monster beyond doubt, but he was also able to preform medical feats that should be impossible. A premature baby barn in a high tech lab wasn't even high on the impossible list. Babies survive in regular hospital NICUs, so the idea that one wouldn't in his care was one they weren't considering.
If the others who were in doubt had the experiences these three, as well as Scott and Remy, had with this, they would understand why the others believed they would find the child alive. What they feared more, was what horrible experiments he might be putting the poor baby through. What they were hoping for was that he would decide the child was to fragile to begin any testing on.
Scott was the one who finally broke the silence, by asking Ororo to call the mansion and see if Remy had had any luck with the computers yet. He was afraid that the systems would somehow know they'd been moved or something and erase themselves. Ororo agreed, and made the call. Everyone sat in a new tenseness as they waited for a response.
John, who had offered to watch the security room for awhile, answered the phone on the second ring. When Ororo asked him if she could speak to Remy, he said. "Remy's busy down in the basement cracking codes and freaking out over some conversation with Rogue earlier. I don't think it's a good idea to bother him right now. He's got that crazy, speak to me and I'll end you, thing going for him right now. That's why I'm up here instead of offering my expertise."
"Oh. I was unaware that you knew how to brak into computer files." Ororo said, while trying to make sense of the rest of John's statement."
"Pah. Don't insult me." John laughed. "Do you really think out of all the mutants he could have picked, that he would have recruited me without any skills? I know I'm awesome, but awesome don't get the work done does it? It isn't all fire and flash."
"I didn't mean to offend you,John." Ororo said politely,trying to regain control of the conversation.
"It's fine. I know it's hard to see someone this sexy, and assume there may be a brian as well." John replied.
Ororo couldn't tell if he was joking or serious, so she chose to ignore his statement, and asked if he had any updates at all. John, who had just been messing with by thay point, stopped chuckling long enough to tell her that the last time he'd checked, Remy had managed to get past all the passwords and was going through the files in search of information. Unfortunately, Sinister's files were all labeled with serial numbers and no other data which meant having to open and skim nearly every file in the database. They didn't seem to have a numarical order as far as "Subject 1 is the first Subject, Subject 2, ect, ect. Instead he seemed to have an odd filing system that John hadn't been able to figure out before he decided that Remy needed space.
~o~0~o~
He was pleased with the results of the testing. The man known As Sinister allowed himself the slightest of smiles as he looked over the read out. The Subject's lungs were developing even faster than he had hoped. Thanks to the treatment, he would be able to unhook her from the ventilator in the next few days. Making a final note, he left the bedside of his patient, and set the clipboard at the foot of the isolet. Now for the tedious part. To speak with the parents and show the appropriate amount of concern.
Dr. Nicoloas Monroe, as he was currently known, had worked in the high risk nursery for the last eighteen months. He was already gaining notoriety for his success rate and advances in neonatal medicine, which meant he needed to conclude this experiment soon.
It was a shame, in his opinion, that the world of technology had made staying in the shadows more difficult. Not impossible, just more difficult. He had selected this Naval base because in the past, working for the governments made staying away from the press easier,longer. Now however, they were already pressing him to write a paper of his his work, and more importantly, since the papaers he wrote in the past could fill a novel, they wanted to interview him.
Still, he needed to conclude his work here, before he continued his new pet project. The child in his private lab had begun the same treatment as soon as he had delivered her, but his wanted to ensure the success rate before he continued. She was far to valuable of a subject to take the risk on. After all, she was the offspring of two very powerful mutants, she was bound to be an excellent subject.
Turning his mind back to the task at hand, Dr. Monroe entered the parents' lounge. He looked around briefly before spotting the subject's- the patient's parents. They were sitting quietly in the corner, talking to another of his subject's mother as the women expressed their was a sight he had yet to grow used to.
He had been raised in a Victorian culture, where fathers and other men were not frequent visitors among the women as they expressed milk. Indeed, the devices these women were using did not exist when he was young. It would have been considered improper in his youth for the casual co-mingling of the sexes during such a private matter. He shrugged the matter off as yet another thing he had to adjust to with the changing world around him, and approached the parents.
He forced the usual polite smile onto his lips as he said. "I do not mean to interrupt."
Both women waived away his statement, and offered him to join them. Reluctantly he sat down in the remaining chair in their corner. Luckily it was placed in such a way that he was sitting directly across from the father and could mostly ignore the women. He preferred to speak to the father in these matters anyway, as mothers, in his opinion, tended to ask more questions.
"I just completed my rounds, and was pleased to see the progress Baby Gose is making." the doctor stated.
"Her name is Kylie, Doctor/ How's she doing?" The mother said.
"Well, Madam, if she continues to progress at the current rate, we should be able to remove the ventilator tomorrow." he said, without looking in her direction.
Both mothers as well as the father seemed pleased with this news. The other mother asked how her own baby was doing. He nodded, the said. "Baby Smithfield is progressing nicely. He is stable at the moment."
She nodded calmly, though she appeared disappointed the news wasn't better. The doctor wasn't surprised on her child's progress however, since he was the infant he had chosen as the control subject, and therefore had not received any of the treatments. He, of course, wasn't going to mention any of this to either mother however. The docotr stayed for a few more minutes before excusing himself to finish his rounds. His shift was nearly over, and he was looking forward to heading home to check on his other subject. He had so many projects to juggle, he was afraid he may have to give up one or two of them if they continued to be so involved.