They had been in the cavern for over an hour when Heather started to wake up. She reminded Cole of a kitten being woken up. He wasn't sure if that was just her personality or the feline DNA coming out, but it was cute to watch. Heather yawned, her eyes still closed, and stretched out her arms and legs straight from her body, just like a cat would. Her eyes blinked a few times, and she let out a big sigh as they opened and stayed that way.
Heather was feeling pretty good when she woke up. She could remember "catching" Uncle Cole and Ms. Miller, and holding them, and then there was this silver bolt of sheer agony, and everything went black. Now she was warm and comfy, and she could feel Cole playing with her hair. She had always liked it when he scratched her head. When she was little and he would stay with them for Christmas, she would put in her favorite Christmas movie, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and sit on his lap and he would lightly scratch her head the whole time.
She sat up slowly, feeling a wave of dizziness overcome her. Cole's arm was immediately around her shoulders to steady her. "Feeling better?" he asked.
She looked up at her uncle and smiled. "I think so," she replied. She blinked a few times. "Did I drop you?"
"Not bad," Cole responded, hoping Janice would get the hint and not say anything about his knee. "I've handled worse." Not by much, and not when holding someone else.
Janice was a little amused by the way Cole treated his niece. They had been talking about some of the things they'd done, and beneath the humor, she was seeing a man who could be absolutely ruthless when he wanted to be. But he was extraordinarily gentle with this young girl, both physically and mentally. He didn't want to upset her that she had gotten him hurt. He was a very complex individual.
Heather looked around and smiled, feeling pleased with herself. "We made it," she declared proudly.
"We made it into the caves," Cole clarified. They weren't out of the woods, literally and figuratively, by a long shot. If he knew Alicia would be here soon, he would feel better, but she had no idea exactly where they were in the mountains. He did not like feeling vulnerable.
"It's a start," Heather countered. The bad guys were going to give up soon. Ms. Miller said there was no way they could find them in these caves. Mom and dad were going to be here, and there wasn't anyone who would want to try and go against all four of them at the same time. Ms. Miller could help too. She really kicked ass earlier, and she was a real good shot. Heather looked at her uncle and teacher. Wait a sec; they were sitting kind of close there. Before Heather actually fully woke up, she was in a little bit of a doze state where she could hear them. They had been talking and laughing and stuff like that.
"So, um, you two didn't like make out or anything when I was asleep did you?" she asked brightly. She had never been reserved when it came to asking Cole absolutely anything, and if he didn't want to answer honestly, he would tell her he wasn't going to answer. Usually he just gave her an honest answer to her question, no matter what it was.
"Heather!" they both said in unison, embarrassed at her question. Janice was shocked she would even ask such a thing from them. Cole was more amused, but a little embarrassed anyways. When Heather wanted to know something, she normally waited until they were alone. Then again, Heather and shy were two words that just didn't go together. He'd just been lucky before that she waited until they were alone.
"Hey!" she defended herself. "Mom said her and dad kissed for the first time when they had been alone for a while together on a train. You two are looking all kinds of cozy there, and I'm just wondering if I should just knock myself back out again 'cause my uncle and teacher, that's just wrong."
It took every once of discipline for Cole to keep from laughing. Yeah, he supposed Alicia and Zack had kissed on that train. Kissed, possibly conceived Daniel, it was just a matter of detail. Alicia had told him the entire story, including everything that she didn't put in her official report, a couple of days after they had returned back to the base after the Red Disposable fiasco. He had to look away from Heather or he was going to die laughing. His eyes met Janice's for a moment, and she could see the genuine humor in them.
"Actually," Janice said firmly, wanting to change the topic. She had moved closer to Cole to show him a small tattoo on her wrist that was part of a story she was telling, and she had just not moved away. Maybe they were looking a little cozy, but Cole didn't move away either. "I was about to ask if all of you were telekinetic." It would explain why they could jump like they could, especially with the cat DNA.
"I'm a nomaly," Heather announced proudly. She liked being unique. "Daniel and the weasels are telepaths, but I'm special."
"Out of all of you, there's just one telekinetic?" Janice asked. From what Cole described there were quite a few Manticore-bred people running around. Statistically there should be more than one telekinetic.
"Only the X-7 group has ESP abilities," Cole clarified for her. "And since there are only four X-7's out there, chances are Heather will be the only kinetic in the bunch."
"Then what happened with you?" Janice asked him. Outside, she heard him muttering about one of the men that were after him like he was reading the guy's mind. He had been reading the guy's mind.
"I'm…"Cole smiled, a touch of bitterness in that smile, "I'm the nomaly within the X-6 group. The genetics that were supposed to be latent in us, they aren't in me."
Janice crossed her arms. "So what am I thinking now?"
He shrugged. "You've got an enormous amount of mental shielding, and I'm not in the mood to pick through it," he said. She looked at him a little skeptically. Was he trying to get her to relax and not try and hide her thoughts? "You really do," he repeated. "It's actually almost as much as a Manticore has which is pretty impressive for a norm."
Janice wasn't sure if she'd just been insulted or complimented. "So you can't read a Manticore mind?"
"I can if they drop their guard," he answered. "Sometimes they'll accidentally project a thought if it's real strong, or if they're fighting and forget to protect their thoughts while their bodies are distracted. But, most norms don't guard their thoughts at all, and they're very easy to read."
Janice was about to say something when Cole held up his hand sharply, the smile gone, and a look of serious concentration replacing it. His head cocked slightly, like he was listening to something or someone. Heather strained to hear, but she couldn't make out anything. Cole closed his eyes, and then Heather understood. He was hearing thoughts, not sounds. Cole blocked out his sensory perceptions, sight, feel, smell, taste and concentrated on mind only.
"They're coming," he said softly.
"Chances of them finding this place are almost zero," Janice whispered.
"They have a guide," Cole said. His eyes were still shut. "Don't trust him," he muttered, catching snatches of thought. "Just in it for money…not one of them…American…might help the other one…" Cole cut off, his eyes snapping open. He couldn't make sense out of all of what he was reading, and he didn't have to. "Time to get moving again," he said firmly, getting to his feet painfully. His knee was throbbing, but he was going to have to ignore it for now.
Janice and Heather got up as well. If someone were coming, then they would be better on the outside. Janice was worried more though. There were only four people who knew these caves as well as she did, well enough to find this place, but she couldn't see any of them turning traitor. They wouldn't. They couldn't. Would they?
