(disclaimer: I don't own the fine characters of Mutant X and receive
nothing but personal satisfaction from these fanfictions)
After placing the sedated woman in the chair in Sanctuary's lab, Brennan turned and left before Adam could say a word. Standing beside the chair, Jesse asked, "Do you want to use the restraints?"
"Uh, yeah!" replied Adam, trying not to sound too sarcastic, "she wasn't displaying too much control before pain and suffering were added to the equation." Jesse leaned over and engaged the straps over her arms, legs and torso. Adam came back from a side storage area with a different headrest which would immobilize the woman's head and allow him to focus on her eyes. Jesse gently supported Daari's head as Adam changed the headrests and then fastened a strap across her forehead.
As Daari started to stir into consciousness, Adam walked over with another syringe. In answer to Jesse's questioning gaze he said, "This should keep her calmer, as well as helping with the pain, but I'm going to need her to be conscious." Then, as he used a small tool to activate her sub-dermal governor he added, "but she doesn't need to be able to destroy the entire lab!" As the woman slowly came too, Jesse stayed by her side, rubbing her arm and speaking to her reassuringly.
After working for a while, analyzing the extent of the damage to Daari's eyes, Adam noticed Brennan, looking sullenly down from the window above the lab. He touched his ring, activating the comlink, "Brennan, it wasn't your fault, it was an accident."
"Yeah, whatever," Brennan interrupted, "I'm gonna go pick up Emma and Shal." The click from his ring told Adam that the comlink had been disabled.
*****
A short time later, Emma, Shalimar and Brennan entered the lab to see how things were going. Adam looked up and asked, "Is Dave all settled in?"
Shalimar responded, "Yeah, he's fine. We did a little checking on the computer and found out that the GSA didn't have his sister after all, she was already back at her college dorm, it was all a ruse."
Emma walked up to Jesse, standing next to the woman laying stiffly in the exam chair. The anger and the anguish seemed to have subsided, but the look of terror was evident, even through the sedatives. Emma focused on scanning Daari for several moments before reporting to the team, "She's starting to shake off the sedatives, the anger is still there - just below the surface, but she's mostly just feeling fear at this time. From the image that I'm getting, she can't actually 'feel' telekinetically, she relies on being able to see what she wants to move." Emma immediately regretted the words as she saw Brennan turn and leave the lab.
Shalimar followed him out as he went and sat on the stairs to the dojo. "Great," he said as she approached, "not only have I possibly blinded her for life, but I effectively destroyed her new mutant abilities as the same time!" As Brennan put his head down on the arms that he had wrapped around his knees, Shalimar was surprised at how small and childlike he appeared. Normally, he was the picture of strength and protection, but now she was feeling all of her maternal instincts rising to the surface.
"Brennan," she said gently as she sat beside him and placed her arm on his shoulder, "we all know how careful you are not to do any serious damage with your charges - even when the person you're fighting deserves some permanent damage. It was an accident, you were obviously aiming low to avoid hitting her in the face, none of us expected her to come out like that! Adam's going to do everything he can to make sure that she can look him in the eye when he gives her 'the lecture of her life'."
Shalimar's attempt to lighten the mood a bit was successful as she heard a snort of laughter from somewhere inside the tightly wrapped ball beside her. "Actually," came the muffled voice, "I think that she'll be hearing several different lectures, there's the "yes, you are too human" lecture; the "New Mutants and non-New Mutants can peacefully co-exist" lecture; and of course all of the "why the GSA isn't the best way to deal with things" lectures."
Shalimar smiled and added, "Oh, and let's not forget the entire series on "why New Mutants aren't a 'superior' species"!" Finally, Brennan raised his head and Shalimar pretended not to notice the puffy red eyes.
"I just don't like sitting here, waiting while someone else tries to clean up the mess that I made," he said with a sigh.
*****
Adam nodded approval at the information on the computer screen in front of him and then turned toward the woman restrained in the center of his lab, reminding himself for the dozenth time that the restraints were necessary and temporary. "Daari, it doesn't look like there's any damage to the optic nerves and I think that I'll be able to repair the damage to the retinas with a minimum of scar tissue. I'm going to need you lay still and relax. You still seem a bit jumpy, so I'm going to ask Emma to distract you a bit while I do this." Adam frowned as Daari's body tensed, pulling against the restraints.
Jesse nodded in understanding - kind words and a gentle touch could only do so much - and backed away to allow the telempath room. "Daari?" Emma said gently as the woman saw her face to face in her mind, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to show you some relaxing images."
"I know some cool images," responded Daari to the woman's image in front of her, "would you like to see them?" Emma could tell that it was the woman's way of trying to stay in control, but sensed no hostility, so she nodded her approval. Suddenly, Emma found herself standing on a cliff, overlooking an ocean beach. She was amazed at the detail of the image when she noticed that she was spreading her arms and leaning over the edge.
She felt a wave of panic until she heard Daari's voice, "its okay, you're a bird, look at your arms." Emma looked out at her right arm and, instead, noticed a long graceful wing. As she started to fall from the cliff, she felt herself stretch out her wings, spreading out her feathers as the first updraft started to lift her into the air. "Relax," came Daari's voice again, your just along for the ride, enjoy it! Oh, and don't forget to breathe." Emma let out the breath that she had been holding and allowed herself to relax into the new feelings.
As she soared along the cliff, she could feel all of the tiny adjustments that she was making to her wings, reacting instantly to the subtle bumps in the air, riding the wind. Slowly and gracefully, she turned and descended, floating toward the beach. As she approached a large tangle of driftwood, she felt sharp talons reach out in front of her and felt her feathers curving down to stop the forward motion, finally grabbing firmly on to a branch.
And then she was back, standing next to Daari. Daari laughed knowingly at the look of amazement and childish delight on Emma's face. "Oh, wow" Emma stammered, searching for the words to express her feelings, "that was incredible."
"Yeah," replied Daari, "that's one of my favorites, although its too short. I tried to convince the hawk to continue down the coast a ways, but he was too focused. Right after he landed, he jumped down on the sand and started tearing into a rotting fish that had washed ashore."
"Eww," replied Emma, "I see why you cut it off where you did!"
"So," continued Daari, "is the mad scientist finished, or do we have time for another one?" Emma pulled her mind back for a moment and noticed Adam carefully directing a lazar into one of Daari's eyes.
"We've got time, where are we going now?" Emma asked as she re-entered the woman's mind. She could tell that this was mostly a desperate attempt by Daari to keep her mind off the terrifying thought of being blinded, but she was willing to settle for any shred of rapport that she could establish with the woman.
"Down under," Daari replied in an Australian accent. "Just remember to keep breathing normally, you can't hold your breath as long as a dolphin can." She added with a sly smile. Moments later, Emma found herself riding the wake at the bow of a motor boat with the clear blue water rushing over her sleek body. Occasionally, she would dip beneath the water and, with an effortless flick of her tail and a slight angle of a fin she would be shooting through giant coral heads as thousands of little fish scattered out of her path.
"Emma," she heard Adam's voice calling her from a distance.
Suddenly she was back in Daari's mind as the woman stood pouting, "Your master is calling you." Emma shuddered as she felt the woman's bitterness rising to the surface. As she pulled herself away, she saw shadowed images around the dark edges of the woman's mind: crushed corpses laying in a wooded area.
Emma shook her head and looked up into Adam's concerned gaze. "I'm okay, Daari was just showing me what it was like to soar like a hawk and swim like a dolphin." Turning to the woman who was squinting her eyes against the bright laboratory lights she exclaimed, "Wow, that was awesome. I can still remember every detail!"
"They're recordings that I took, feel free to share them with your fellow freaks! There's also one of a wild horse running along a ridge; strong pounding muscles, wind through your mane; maybe another time." Daari said as she concentrated on the shapes that were starting to come into focus.
After placing the sedated woman in the chair in Sanctuary's lab, Brennan turned and left before Adam could say a word. Standing beside the chair, Jesse asked, "Do you want to use the restraints?"
"Uh, yeah!" replied Adam, trying not to sound too sarcastic, "she wasn't displaying too much control before pain and suffering were added to the equation." Jesse leaned over and engaged the straps over her arms, legs and torso. Adam came back from a side storage area with a different headrest which would immobilize the woman's head and allow him to focus on her eyes. Jesse gently supported Daari's head as Adam changed the headrests and then fastened a strap across her forehead.
As Daari started to stir into consciousness, Adam walked over with another syringe. In answer to Jesse's questioning gaze he said, "This should keep her calmer, as well as helping with the pain, but I'm going to need her to be conscious." Then, as he used a small tool to activate her sub-dermal governor he added, "but she doesn't need to be able to destroy the entire lab!" As the woman slowly came too, Jesse stayed by her side, rubbing her arm and speaking to her reassuringly.
After working for a while, analyzing the extent of the damage to Daari's eyes, Adam noticed Brennan, looking sullenly down from the window above the lab. He touched his ring, activating the comlink, "Brennan, it wasn't your fault, it was an accident."
"Yeah, whatever," Brennan interrupted, "I'm gonna go pick up Emma and Shal." The click from his ring told Adam that the comlink had been disabled.
*****
A short time later, Emma, Shalimar and Brennan entered the lab to see how things were going. Adam looked up and asked, "Is Dave all settled in?"
Shalimar responded, "Yeah, he's fine. We did a little checking on the computer and found out that the GSA didn't have his sister after all, she was already back at her college dorm, it was all a ruse."
Emma walked up to Jesse, standing next to the woman laying stiffly in the exam chair. The anger and the anguish seemed to have subsided, but the look of terror was evident, even through the sedatives. Emma focused on scanning Daari for several moments before reporting to the team, "She's starting to shake off the sedatives, the anger is still there - just below the surface, but she's mostly just feeling fear at this time. From the image that I'm getting, she can't actually 'feel' telekinetically, she relies on being able to see what she wants to move." Emma immediately regretted the words as she saw Brennan turn and leave the lab.
Shalimar followed him out as he went and sat on the stairs to the dojo. "Great," he said as she approached, "not only have I possibly blinded her for life, but I effectively destroyed her new mutant abilities as the same time!" As Brennan put his head down on the arms that he had wrapped around his knees, Shalimar was surprised at how small and childlike he appeared. Normally, he was the picture of strength and protection, but now she was feeling all of her maternal instincts rising to the surface.
"Brennan," she said gently as she sat beside him and placed her arm on his shoulder, "we all know how careful you are not to do any serious damage with your charges - even when the person you're fighting deserves some permanent damage. It was an accident, you were obviously aiming low to avoid hitting her in the face, none of us expected her to come out like that! Adam's going to do everything he can to make sure that she can look him in the eye when he gives her 'the lecture of her life'."
Shalimar's attempt to lighten the mood a bit was successful as she heard a snort of laughter from somewhere inside the tightly wrapped ball beside her. "Actually," came the muffled voice, "I think that she'll be hearing several different lectures, there's the "yes, you are too human" lecture; the "New Mutants and non-New Mutants can peacefully co-exist" lecture; and of course all of the "why the GSA isn't the best way to deal with things" lectures."
Shalimar smiled and added, "Oh, and let's not forget the entire series on "why New Mutants aren't a 'superior' species"!" Finally, Brennan raised his head and Shalimar pretended not to notice the puffy red eyes.
"I just don't like sitting here, waiting while someone else tries to clean up the mess that I made," he said with a sigh.
*****
Adam nodded approval at the information on the computer screen in front of him and then turned toward the woman restrained in the center of his lab, reminding himself for the dozenth time that the restraints were necessary and temporary. "Daari, it doesn't look like there's any damage to the optic nerves and I think that I'll be able to repair the damage to the retinas with a minimum of scar tissue. I'm going to need you lay still and relax. You still seem a bit jumpy, so I'm going to ask Emma to distract you a bit while I do this." Adam frowned as Daari's body tensed, pulling against the restraints.
Jesse nodded in understanding - kind words and a gentle touch could only do so much - and backed away to allow the telempath room. "Daari?" Emma said gently as the woman saw her face to face in her mind, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to show you some relaxing images."
"I know some cool images," responded Daari to the woman's image in front of her, "would you like to see them?" Emma could tell that it was the woman's way of trying to stay in control, but sensed no hostility, so she nodded her approval. Suddenly, Emma found herself standing on a cliff, overlooking an ocean beach. She was amazed at the detail of the image when she noticed that she was spreading her arms and leaning over the edge.
She felt a wave of panic until she heard Daari's voice, "its okay, you're a bird, look at your arms." Emma looked out at her right arm and, instead, noticed a long graceful wing. As she started to fall from the cliff, she felt herself stretch out her wings, spreading out her feathers as the first updraft started to lift her into the air. "Relax," came Daari's voice again, your just along for the ride, enjoy it! Oh, and don't forget to breathe." Emma let out the breath that she had been holding and allowed herself to relax into the new feelings.
As she soared along the cliff, she could feel all of the tiny adjustments that she was making to her wings, reacting instantly to the subtle bumps in the air, riding the wind. Slowly and gracefully, she turned and descended, floating toward the beach. As she approached a large tangle of driftwood, she felt sharp talons reach out in front of her and felt her feathers curving down to stop the forward motion, finally grabbing firmly on to a branch.
And then she was back, standing next to Daari. Daari laughed knowingly at the look of amazement and childish delight on Emma's face. "Oh, wow" Emma stammered, searching for the words to express her feelings, "that was incredible."
"Yeah," replied Daari, "that's one of my favorites, although its too short. I tried to convince the hawk to continue down the coast a ways, but he was too focused. Right after he landed, he jumped down on the sand and started tearing into a rotting fish that had washed ashore."
"Eww," replied Emma, "I see why you cut it off where you did!"
"So," continued Daari, "is the mad scientist finished, or do we have time for another one?" Emma pulled her mind back for a moment and noticed Adam carefully directing a lazar into one of Daari's eyes.
"We've got time, where are we going now?" Emma asked as she re-entered the woman's mind. She could tell that this was mostly a desperate attempt by Daari to keep her mind off the terrifying thought of being blinded, but she was willing to settle for any shred of rapport that she could establish with the woman.
"Down under," Daari replied in an Australian accent. "Just remember to keep breathing normally, you can't hold your breath as long as a dolphin can." She added with a sly smile. Moments later, Emma found herself riding the wake at the bow of a motor boat with the clear blue water rushing over her sleek body. Occasionally, she would dip beneath the water and, with an effortless flick of her tail and a slight angle of a fin she would be shooting through giant coral heads as thousands of little fish scattered out of her path.
"Emma," she heard Adam's voice calling her from a distance.
Suddenly she was back in Daari's mind as the woman stood pouting, "Your master is calling you." Emma shuddered as she felt the woman's bitterness rising to the surface. As she pulled herself away, she saw shadowed images around the dark edges of the woman's mind: crushed corpses laying in a wooded area.
Emma shook her head and looked up into Adam's concerned gaze. "I'm okay, Daari was just showing me what it was like to soar like a hawk and swim like a dolphin." Turning to the woman who was squinting her eyes against the bright laboratory lights she exclaimed, "Wow, that was awesome. I can still remember every detail!"
"They're recordings that I took, feel free to share them with your fellow freaks! There's also one of a wild horse running along a ridge; strong pounding muscles, wind through your mane; maybe another time." Daari said as she concentrated on the shapes that were starting to come into focus.