Their eyes met.
As Natalia re-emerged from the depths in which she had concealed herself, she found herself looking into the soul of a stranger who was just realizing the brutally sudden loss of someone he actually cared about.and that his hopes for a cure for his constant life-threatening condition had been dashed. His absolute vulnerability was laid bare before her. Then she saw the sheer force of will and the warrior courage that girded him. Natalia's eyes softened in momentary compassion, then her lips parted in sudden surprise as he calmly focused his attention on her.
Another devastating loss, he had been thinking. Stoically putting it aside for later, he found himself lost in the eyes of a stranger who moments ago had been his daughter.
Eckhart closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Natalia cradled her head in her hands. Adam hovered over her protectively. "Welcome back, Natalia," he said.
At hearing his voice, Natalia looked up at Adam with a look filled with sunshine. "Oh Adam, it's so wonderful to see you!" Turning to hug Shalimar, she said, "You remembered me. Thank you for bringing me back." Natalia then turned and gave Emma a big hug as well. "You did manage to hold off Fitzpatrick just long enough." she said with a delighted grin.
Eckhart observed the reunion gravely. "You were mentioning a potential security breach," Eckhart mentioned conversationally to Adam. Adam looked at his white-haired adversary sharply.
Glancing at her glove-clad hands then at Eckhart's, Natalia said, "I don't believe we've met."
"I am Mason Eckhart," the man replied with an uncharacteristically soft smile.
"-head of the GSA," Adam finished.
"Ah, the Enemy. Nice to meet you in person, I'm sure." Natalia replied, her studying this nemesis of Mutant X that she had heard so much about with deep knowing eyes. She extended her hand to Eckhart. "I am Natalia," she said pleasantly.
"I'm sure we will be seeing more of each other," Eckhart replied meaningfully, taking her hand lightly then letting go quickly. "Keep in touch," he said devilishly, rising to leave. Two male GSA Agents appeared from out of the woodworks and accompanied Eckhart as he slowly walked away.
Adam's brow furrowed suspiciously at Eckhart's departing figure. "That's not like him," he thought.
As the foursome joined Jesse and Brennan outside the restaurant, Adam hugged Natalia again. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Wonderful," she answered, hugging him back.
LATER AT SANCTUARY.....
Adam and Natalia sat together by the fountain in the beautiful foyer designated as the meditation area. "Do you remember anything that happened after Fitzpatrick attacked you?" Adam asked her.
"No, I'm afraid my last memories were of Fitzpatrick's threatening to take my mind. I realized after Emm and Shal were attacked, the magnitude of power I was up against. At that moment, somehow, my dormant Psionic abilities became activated so I could restore Shalimar. I knew I had to protect my memories so I initiated a lockdown and created a mind-link with Shalimar, knowing that we would eventually connect at the Feral level. Her saying the key word that I had implanted in her mind reopened the door of my mind."
"You took a huge risk, Natalia. We could have lost you." Adam chided gently.
"Life is full of risks. That's what makes it so delicious." She replied, smiling into his eyes. "I didn't realize that I had been out for 3 weeks."
"Yes, you were in a morphed state for far longer than any documented case that I know of. Theoretically, a shape-shifter would have to revert back to his or her original state within 4-24 hours, depending on their capacity. Failure to do so could result in several unfortunate consequences: automatic reversion- occurring at a time not of one's own choosing, dissipation, insanity, death, or becoming locked into the new form with loss of Shape-shifting powers."
Natalia held out her hand and idly watched it turn into a lion's paw then changed it back. Adam's eyes widened with fascination. "Still works." She said lightly.
"I wonder if Eckhart had them work on you while you were there," Adam wondered aloud.
"I'm no child of Genomex," Natalia reassured him quickly. Bemused, she added, "Now where did I know that from?"
Adam caressed her hair lightly, feeling perfect contentment. "Memory's coming back."
LATER THAT NIGHT AT GENOMEX.....
Colin Wolfe, Eckhart's new assistant waited patiently for Eckhart to acknowledge him. It was two-fifty five in the morning and Eckhart had summoned him a few minutes ago. He seemed unusually preoccupied with his thoughts. As Eckhart suddenly became aware of Wolfe's presence he startled imperceptibly. "Your coffee, sir." Wolfe handed Eckhart his coffee as Eckhart quickly pulled himself back to the present. "It would appear that our newest asset has been destroyed by MutantX," he told Wolfe, then looked down with a pained expression. "There is, however, a new member of that renegade group whose capture could potentially make up for our loss. I want you to compile all the information possible on her.
**Mr. Wolfe considered the idea, his large, dark eyes smoldered with activity. He was a New Mutant almost unlimited ability to access computer space. Genomex science had enhanced his Cyonic abilities so that he would be able to obtain retinal scans, fingerprints, and other personal information from a subject simply by being in their presence. The combination of the two abilities made him the perfect bloodhound. There was no personal data that he could not access if it existed anywhere in a database and if he could access the person. The thin, shaved headed man nodded deferentially to Eckhart. "I will get to work on it right away, sir."
Eckhart sat at his desk holding the mug in his hands. Jennifer was lost to him, but he couldn't stop thinking of the woman who replaced her. At the moment of transformation, as he was trying to maintain contact with his daughter, there seemed to have been some kind of connection with the other one, Adam's woman. Eckhart was both disturbed and intrigued at the possibilities.
LATER THAT NIGHT AT SANCTUARY....
"Do you ever sleep?" Brennan asked Natalia jokingly, when he found her in the Meditation area at three in the morning.
"Umm, once in a while," Natalia smiled back, when I need to recharge my batteries."
"Just like Adam." Brennan yawned and shook his head smiling as he walked back to his bedroom.
Natalia went back to her meditations, but kept finding her thoughts drifting back to her last mind-touch with Eckhart. "I'm off center," she thought with some concern. Usually she could let the thoughts and memories pass through her mind until she reached her center of tranquility, but right now her thoughts centered on Mason Eckhart. Maybe she did need some sleep after all. A couple hours later still unsuccessful at moving past that experience, she passed Adam on her way to her room. "Need to recharge." She told him.
"I'm not surprised," he had answered, understanding.
Natalia felt herself drift into a blackness, a welcome relief from the constant flashbacks into Eckhart's tormented soul. Moments later, Jennifer opened her eyes and bewildered, sprang out of the bed, circling like a trapped animal, gazing around the room she was in. Jennifer tried the door. It opened easily.
Emma stirred uneasily in her sleep. Suddenly she was fully awake. They had been invaded!
Shalimar was already awake, stretching luxuriously in the early morning light. Her enhanced animal senses suddenly told her that all was not right in the Sanctuary. "Adam?" she raised her hand to her mouth to speak into the Comm-link.
Jesse and Brennan bolted awake at the urgency in Adam's voice from their comm-links. His voice was strained. "Jennifer's back. Training area, everyone!"
As the Mutant X team converged on the area, they saw Adam and Jennifer circling each other. "You failed to eliminate me, Adam." Jennifer was saying. "That is your first mistake and you will pay dearly for that. This time my father is not here to restrain me." Jennifer threw him a kick that he dodged. Adam retorted, "I was not trying to eliminate you, I was just trying to restore the person from whom you originated. You are too quick to come to conclusions, Jennifer, just like your father."
Jennifer backed up and stopped circling at Adam's acknowledgement of her father. Her dark eyes, suddenly had a lost puppy look. "You.will speak with my father?" she asked with a touch of uncertainty in her voice, remembering how Eckhart had restrained her from hurting Adam at the restaurant despite the animosity he felt for the man. "Stay." He had told her. "Can you bring me back to him? I miss him." The child in her suddenly surfaced and she fought back tears at being in the midst of these strangers and away from her home.
"You're very brave," Shalimar said softly, offering her hand.
Adam looked across at Emma and silently thanked her for her telempathic intervention. Looking back at Jennifer, he said, "I think we can make the arrangements, Jennifer. There are some minor questions, issues that need to be addressed first." Jennifer nodded silently, allowing Shalimar to take her hand.
Jennifer lay uneasily in the lab examination chair as arrays of golden light scanned her body. Shalimar stood nearby to reassure her. Adam looked grim as he looked at the output on the monitor. He kept shaking his head.
"Adam, what's wrong?" Shalimar asked.
"There's no sign of Natalia here. Brain pattern, even the blood type is totally different, " he said, trying to fathom the mystery. "And Jennifer's vital signs are not normal," he said concerned, "which means that Natalia's may be equally at risk."
"Of course," Jennifer retorted. "She could have at least taught me some table manners."
"What do you mean?" Adam asked her intensely searching for any clue.
"Wnen Father scolded me, he asked me if my mother bothered to teach me any table manners," Jennifer said almost sheepishly. "I guess he didn't like the way I handled my dinner."
A look of total comprehension suddenly swept over Adam's face. "Of course!" He half-whispered excitedly.
Shalimar and Jennifer looked at Adam questioningly. Adam's eyes danced with excitement. "Of course!" he kept saying to himself, his hands flying over the panel on the med-board. Eventually, he approached Jennifer with an air of concern. "You had the key to this puzzle, Jennifer. I thank you for revealing it."
The teenager half frowned at him, then graciously accepted the thanks. "What do you want, Adam?" She asked, in a direct imitation of Eckhart.
GENOMEX., NEXT DAY....
Eckhart's eyes flashed at the email message before him. If this was true, Adam was going to be meeting him on terms acceptable to both men. Still, Eckhart would be taking no chances. Mistakes were simply not acceptable. "Mr. Wolfe, you will accompany me to this rendez-vous with my team. Scan every available member of MutantX for identification." Eckhart allowed himself a ghost of a smile. He would take every advantage possible of Adam.
MEETINGPLACE....
The building was a small laboratory whose administrators Adam had some influence with. Eckhart was waiting patiently in the foyer with Colin Wolfe at his side, knowing that the building had been secured by his people. Adam walked into the foyer, accompanied by Natalia. Colin looked up at Natalia and smiled. She looked at him and smiled back in acknowledgment. Colin Wolfe sent Natalia's retinal scan into the Genomex database. Adam was preoccupied with discussing something with Eckhart while Natalia waited a short distance away, listening and watching for danger.
"Why are you disclosing this information to me, Adam?" Eckhart was asking him.
"This may seem farfetched to you, but Natalia means a great deal to me. Her condition, for which you are partially responsible, is putting her life at risk. I hope to remove that risk from Natalia and at the same time restore Jennifer to you. That's where your interests lie," Adam explained simply.
"So you did not destroy Jennifer?" Eckhart asked hopefully. "And what is this condition that is jeopardizing Natalia's well being?"
"Theoretically, she's pregnant with your child, Mason." Adam replied bluntly, fire in his eyes.
Eckhart blinked incredulously. "You know that's impossible, Adam. I'm shocked that you would even suggest such a thing."
Adam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Natalia believes she has the ability to clone herself. It's the only reasonable explanation and solution for this dual identity problem that is consuming her and Jennifer. We think that somehow, you got assimilated into Natalia's matrix while she unconscious at Genomex, resulting in the creation of a new being whose DNA substantially matches yours, has free will and has her own unique characteristics.."
"Jennifer." Eckhart replied thoughtfully.
Adam nodded. "The only problem is that she is still imbedded within Natalia's matrix. As Jennifer develops and matures, she draws more and more of Natalia's resources and vice versa.
"Yes," Natalia added, "at some point, if we do not separate, either one or both of us will cease to exist. I am quite certain that my personal matrix is capable of supporting the separation, and I am eager to meet Jennifer." Natalia suddenly looked uncertain as she felt some disturbance within her. "We should go to the lab." Turning to Eckhart, she lightly asked, "Care to watch. Dad?"
Adam glowered momentarily at him. Eckhart, still somewhat stunned at the information said, "Sure, why not?"
As the threesome walked quickly to the laboratory, Natalia's eyes started glowing red. "Get your men out of this area of the building now, Mr. Eckhart." Eckhart looked at her in surprise, but upon meeting her gaze, pulled out his cell phone and complied wordlessly. Adam shook his head incredulously.
Natalia started to phase back into Jennifer. "Father!" The youngster turned to Eckhart with a look of total devotion. Adam grimaced internally. She then turned to Adam and said, "Thanks for bringing me back to him."
Jennifer's image melted away and Natalia stood there for a moment. Jennifer and Natalia phased back and forth three more times before Jennifer collapsed. Eckhart caught her as she fell. Holding her limp body in his arms, he looked uneasily at Adam, and said, "She's as light as a feather."
"She's dissipating," Adam replied, concerned.
Natalia then phased back into existence. Her face had a tired, pained expression as she gazed up at Eckhart who was still holding her, and still looking at her uneasily. Suddenly an energy field formed around them, intensifying with every moment. There was a high pitched whine coming from everywhere.
"Natalia!" Adam shouted again and again as he tried to break through the field to rescue her. "Mason!" The brilliant field of light proved to be similar to the force field that Natalia had generated once in practice ages ago. Natalia was now standing, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful. Eckhart was standing motionless beside her, his gaze fixed light years away. Light danced in vertical patterns in and around them. Their images began to look transparent as an unknown force began aligning genetic structure for duplication. The high pitched sound became unbearably loud as a new field, similar to the one that contained Natalia and Eckhart, formed in front of yet intersecting theirs. Adam could see a glow eminate from within Natalia, intensifying quickly until she glowed like the sun. Adam shielded his eyes, fascinated. The incredible light energy suddenly shot out from Natalia like a beam at Eckhart, who in turn, deflected it like a mirror to the new energy field. The adjacent energy field filled with shimmering, intense light for a long moment while the original energy field seemed to grow dim. Adam could see a figure standing in the midst of the light, absorbing it, growing more solid. Natalia and Eckhart suddenly seemed to become conscious of their surroundings n and they, too watched the third figure materialize.
"How are you feeling," Eckhart heard Natalia's voice in his head.
Eckhart felt incredible peace and, yes, happiness as he stood near Natalia, watching the new life emerge. Unable to speak and finding nothing strange about it, he thought back, "incredibly well. We should do this more often." Mason Eckhart was unaware that in his euphoria, he had sent the equivalent of a hug and a light kiss to Natalia.
There was a silvery ripple of laugher from Natalia followed by a sense of being gently caressed by the summer breeze.
The moment seemed to last forever, yet was too short. The energy fields melted away, leaving Eckhart, Natalia and a young woman, about 15 years old, the exact image of Jennifer. Adam had discreetly covered Jennifer with his coat as she emerged naked from the cocoon of energy that had formed her. She thanked him silently with large, dark somber eyes, her father's eyes.
Eckhart had pulled off his glasses and sat in a nearby chair. He looked slightly disorientated and concerned. Natalia took a seat beside him. "Your immune system has not been compromised, Mr. Eckhart. We were in a regenerative field," she said in a faraway voice.
Recovering quickly, Eckhart turned to her and studied her for a long moment. "How was it for you?" He asked devilishly.
Natalia glanced sideways at him and allowed herself a ghost of a smile. Adam and Jennifer approached.
"You're looking well, Mother," Jennifer said appraisingly.
"As do you, my child," Natalia replied. Then following a trace of a long forgotten ritual greeting, raised her left hand, palm outward toward Jennifer. The girl raised her opposing hand and clasped that of her mother's.
"May your strength and courage be that of the lioness, may you always be shielded from evil. Walk in light and in honor and like the chameleon pass unseen, at will, amongst your enemies. Let wisdom guide you into all that is right." Natalia said, gazing intently into the dark depths of her daughter's eyes.
Jennifer nodded solemnly.
Breaking the mood of the moment, Natalia looked at Eckhart and said, "I expect visitation rights, Mason."
His eyes were amused. Your place or mine?" He quipped.
Without missing a beat, Natalia scribbled an address on a piece of paper and passed it over to Eckhart. "If this is acceptable with Jennifer, she nods in agreement I will look for her Sunday morning and you may pick her up Monday night at this address. We can set up a meeting, you and I to discuss other arrangements say, in a few weeks, and." looking very seriously at Eckhart, ".if I ever hear that you've put Jennifer in a stasis pod, you will answer to me."
"Of course," Eckhart replied, his dark eyes sparkling with excitement. As he rose to leave with Jennifer, the two of them regarded Natalia expectantly for a moment, like a pair of wolves waiting for her to join them.
Natalia stood still with Adam at her side. Her troubled gaze followed them as they left.
"She'll be all right." Adam reassured her, arm around her shoulders.
Natalia allowed the moment to pass and smiled up at Adam. It was time to go home.
THE END
Thanks for reading my story. Hope you all liked it. Thanks for the feedback- on yet another read, I think I figured out where the confusion was- I don't keep track of time very well-- and hopefully corrected it. Please R/R.
As Natalia re-emerged from the depths in which she had concealed herself, she found herself looking into the soul of a stranger who was just realizing the brutally sudden loss of someone he actually cared about.and that his hopes for a cure for his constant life-threatening condition had been dashed. His absolute vulnerability was laid bare before her. Then she saw the sheer force of will and the warrior courage that girded him. Natalia's eyes softened in momentary compassion, then her lips parted in sudden surprise as he calmly focused his attention on her.
Another devastating loss, he had been thinking. Stoically putting it aside for later, he found himself lost in the eyes of a stranger who moments ago had been his daughter.
Eckhart closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Natalia cradled her head in her hands. Adam hovered over her protectively. "Welcome back, Natalia," he said.
At hearing his voice, Natalia looked up at Adam with a look filled with sunshine. "Oh Adam, it's so wonderful to see you!" Turning to hug Shalimar, she said, "You remembered me. Thank you for bringing me back." Natalia then turned and gave Emma a big hug as well. "You did manage to hold off Fitzpatrick just long enough." she said with a delighted grin.
Eckhart observed the reunion gravely. "You were mentioning a potential security breach," Eckhart mentioned conversationally to Adam. Adam looked at his white-haired adversary sharply.
Glancing at her glove-clad hands then at Eckhart's, Natalia said, "I don't believe we've met."
"I am Mason Eckhart," the man replied with an uncharacteristically soft smile.
"-head of the GSA," Adam finished.
"Ah, the Enemy. Nice to meet you in person, I'm sure." Natalia replied, her studying this nemesis of Mutant X that she had heard so much about with deep knowing eyes. She extended her hand to Eckhart. "I am Natalia," she said pleasantly.
"I'm sure we will be seeing more of each other," Eckhart replied meaningfully, taking her hand lightly then letting go quickly. "Keep in touch," he said devilishly, rising to leave. Two male GSA Agents appeared from out of the woodworks and accompanied Eckhart as he slowly walked away.
Adam's brow furrowed suspiciously at Eckhart's departing figure. "That's not like him," he thought.
As the foursome joined Jesse and Brennan outside the restaurant, Adam hugged Natalia again. "How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Wonderful," she answered, hugging him back.
LATER AT SANCTUARY.....
Adam and Natalia sat together by the fountain in the beautiful foyer designated as the meditation area. "Do you remember anything that happened after Fitzpatrick attacked you?" Adam asked her.
"No, I'm afraid my last memories were of Fitzpatrick's threatening to take my mind. I realized after Emm and Shal were attacked, the magnitude of power I was up against. At that moment, somehow, my dormant Psionic abilities became activated so I could restore Shalimar. I knew I had to protect my memories so I initiated a lockdown and created a mind-link with Shalimar, knowing that we would eventually connect at the Feral level. Her saying the key word that I had implanted in her mind reopened the door of my mind."
"You took a huge risk, Natalia. We could have lost you." Adam chided gently.
"Life is full of risks. That's what makes it so delicious." She replied, smiling into his eyes. "I didn't realize that I had been out for 3 weeks."
"Yes, you were in a morphed state for far longer than any documented case that I know of. Theoretically, a shape-shifter would have to revert back to his or her original state within 4-24 hours, depending on their capacity. Failure to do so could result in several unfortunate consequences: automatic reversion- occurring at a time not of one's own choosing, dissipation, insanity, death, or becoming locked into the new form with loss of Shape-shifting powers."
Natalia held out her hand and idly watched it turn into a lion's paw then changed it back. Adam's eyes widened with fascination. "Still works." She said lightly.
"I wonder if Eckhart had them work on you while you were there," Adam wondered aloud.
"I'm no child of Genomex," Natalia reassured him quickly. Bemused, she added, "Now where did I know that from?"
Adam caressed her hair lightly, feeling perfect contentment. "Memory's coming back."
LATER THAT NIGHT AT GENOMEX.....
Colin Wolfe, Eckhart's new assistant waited patiently for Eckhart to acknowledge him. It was two-fifty five in the morning and Eckhart had summoned him a few minutes ago. He seemed unusually preoccupied with his thoughts. As Eckhart suddenly became aware of Wolfe's presence he startled imperceptibly. "Your coffee, sir." Wolfe handed Eckhart his coffee as Eckhart quickly pulled himself back to the present. "It would appear that our newest asset has been destroyed by MutantX," he told Wolfe, then looked down with a pained expression. "There is, however, a new member of that renegade group whose capture could potentially make up for our loss. I want you to compile all the information possible on her.
**Mr. Wolfe considered the idea, his large, dark eyes smoldered with activity. He was a New Mutant almost unlimited ability to access computer space. Genomex science had enhanced his Cyonic abilities so that he would be able to obtain retinal scans, fingerprints, and other personal information from a subject simply by being in their presence. The combination of the two abilities made him the perfect bloodhound. There was no personal data that he could not access if it existed anywhere in a database and if he could access the person. The thin, shaved headed man nodded deferentially to Eckhart. "I will get to work on it right away, sir."
Eckhart sat at his desk holding the mug in his hands. Jennifer was lost to him, but he couldn't stop thinking of the woman who replaced her. At the moment of transformation, as he was trying to maintain contact with his daughter, there seemed to have been some kind of connection with the other one, Adam's woman. Eckhart was both disturbed and intrigued at the possibilities.
LATER THAT NIGHT AT SANCTUARY....
"Do you ever sleep?" Brennan asked Natalia jokingly, when he found her in the Meditation area at three in the morning.
"Umm, once in a while," Natalia smiled back, when I need to recharge my batteries."
"Just like Adam." Brennan yawned and shook his head smiling as he walked back to his bedroom.
Natalia went back to her meditations, but kept finding her thoughts drifting back to her last mind-touch with Eckhart. "I'm off center," she thought with some concern. Usually she could let the thoughts and memories pass through her mind until she reached her center of tranquility, but right now her thoughts centered on Mason Eckhart. Maybe she did need some sleep after all. A couple hours later still unsuccessful at moving past that experience, she passed Adam on her way to her room. "Need to recharge." She told him.
"I'm not surprised," he had answered, understanding.
Natalia felt herself drift into a blackness, a welcome relief from the constant flashbacks into Eckhart's tormented soul. Moments later, Jennifer opened her eyes and bewildered, sprang out of the bed, circling like a trapped animal, gazing around the room she was in. Jennifer tried the door. It opened easily.
Emma stirred uneasily in her sleep. Suddenly she was fully awake. They had been invaded!
Shalimar was already awake, stretching luxuriously in the early morning light. Her enhanced animal senses suddenly told her that all was not right in the Sanctuary. "Adam?" she raised her hand to her mouth to speak into the Comm-link.
Jesse and Brennan bolted awake at the urgency in Adam's voice from their comm-links. His voice was strained. "Jennifer's back. Training area, everyone!"
As the Mutant X team converged on the area, they saw Adam and Jennifer circling each other. "You failed to eliminate me, Adam." Jennifer was saying. "That is your first mistake and you will pay dearly for that. This time my father is not here to restrain me." Jennifer threw him a kick that he dodged. Adam retorted, "I was not trying to eliminate you, I was just trying to restore the person from whom you originated. You are too quick to come to conclusions, Jennifer, just like your father."
Jennifer backed up and stopped circling at Adam's acknowledgement of her father. Her dark eyes, suddenly had a lost puppy look. "You.will speak with my father?" she asked with a touch of uncertainty in her voice, remembering how Eckhart had restrained her from hurting Adam at the restaurant despite the animosity he felt for the man. "Stay." He had told her. "Can you bring me back to him? I miss him." The child in her suddenly surfaced and she fought back tears at being in the midst of these strangers and away from her home.
"You're very brave," Shalimar said softly, offering her hand.
Adam looked across at Emma and silently thanked her for her telempathic intervention. Looking back at Jennifer, he said, "I think we can make the arrangements, Jennifer. There are some minor questions, issues that need to be addressed first." Jennifer nodded silently, allowing Shalimar to take her hand.
Jennifer lay uneasily in the lab examination chair as arrays of golden light scanned her body. Shalimar stood nearby to reassure her. Adam looked grim as he looked at the output on the monitor. He kept shaking his head.
"Adam, what's wrong?" Shalimar asked.
"There's no sign of Natalia here. Brain pattern, even the blood type is totally different, " he said, trying to fathom the mystery. "And Jennifer's vital signs are not normal," he said concerned, "which means that Natalia's may be equally at risk."
"Of course," Jennifer retorted. "She could have at least taught me some table manners."
"What do you mean?" Adam asked her intensely searching for any clue.
"Wnen Father scolded me, he asked me if my mother bothered to teach me any table manners," Jennifer said almost sheepishly. "I guess he didn't like the way I handled my dinner."
A look of total comprehension suddenly swept over Adam's face. "Of course!" He half-whispered excitedly.
Shalimar and Jennifer looked at Adam questioningly. Adam's eyes danced with excitement. "Of course!" he kept saying to himself, his hands flying over the panel on the med-board. Eventually, he approached Jennifer with an air of concern. "You had the key to this puzzle, Jennifer. I thank you for revealing it."
The teenager half frowned at him, then graciously accepted the thanks. "What do you want, Adam?" She asked, in a direct imitation of Eckhart.
GENOMEX., NEXT DAY....
Eckhart's eyes flashed at the email message before him. If this was true, Adam was going to be meeting him on terms acceptable to both men. Still, Eckhart would be taking no chances. Mistakes were simply not acceptable. "Mr. Wolfe, you will accompany me to this rendez-vous with my team. Scan every available member of MutantX for identification." Eckhart allowed himself a ghost of a smile. He would take every advantage possible of Adam.
MEETINGPLACE....
The building was a small laboratory whose administrators Adam had some influence with. Eckhart was waiting patiently in the foyer with Colin Wolfe at his side, knowing that the building had been secured by his people. Adam walked into the foyer, accompanied by Natalia. Colin looked up at Natalia and smiled. She looked at him and smiled back in acknowledgment. Colin Wolfe sent Natalia's retinal scan into the Genomex database. Adam was preoccupied with discussing something with Eckhart while Natalia waited a short distance away, listening and watching for danger.
"Why are you disclosing this information to me, Adam?" Eckhart was asking him.
"This may seem farfetched to you, but Natalia means a great deal to me. Her condition, for which you are partially responsible, is putting her life at risk. I hope to remove that risk from Natalia and at the same time restore Jennifer to you. That's where your interests lie," Adam explained simply.
"So you did not destroy Jennifer?" Eckhart asked hopefully. "And what is this condition that is jeopardizing Natalia's well being?"
"Theoretically, she's pregnant with your child, Mason." Adam replied bluntly, fire in his eyes.
Eckhart blinked incredulously. "You know that's impossible, Adam. I'm shocked that you would even suggest such a thing."
Adam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Natalia believes she has the ability to clone herself. It's the only reasonable explanation and solution for this dual identity problem that is consuming her and Jennifer. We think that somehow, you got assimilated into Natalia's matrix while she unconscious at Genomex, resulting in the creation of a new being whose DNA substantially matches yours, has free will and has her own unique characteristics.."
"Jennifer." Eckhart replied thoughtfully.
Adam nodded. "The only problem is that she is still imbedded within Natalia's matrix. As Jennifer develops and matures, she draws more and more of Natalia's resources and vice versa.
"Yes," Natalia added, "at some point, if we do not separate, either one or both of us will cease to exist. I am quite certain that my personal matrix is capable of supporting the separation, and I am eager to meet Jennifer." Natalia suddenly looked uncertain as she felt some disturbance within her. "We should go to the lab." Turning to Eckhart, she lightly asked, "Care to watch. Dad?"
Adam glowered momentarily at him. Eckhart, still somewhat stunned at the information said, "Sure, why not?"
As the threesome walked quickly to the laboratory, Natalia's eyes started glowing red. "Get your men out of this area of the building now, Mr. Eckhart." Eckhart looked at her in surprise, but upon meeting her gaze, pulled out his cell phone and complied wordlessly. Adam shook his head incredulously.
Natalia started to phase back into Jennifer. "Father!" The youngster turned to Eckhart with a look of total devotion. Adam grimaced internally. She then turned to Adam and said, "Thanks for bringing me back to him."
Jennifer's image melted away and Natalia stood there for a moment. Jennifer and Natalia phased back and forth three more times before Jennifer collapsed. Eckhart caught her as she fell. Holding her limp body in his arms, he looked uneasily at Adam, and said, "She's as light as a feather."
"She's dissipating," Adam replied, concerned.
Natalia then phased back into existence. Her face had a tired, pained expression as she gazed up at Eckhart who was still holding her, and still looking at her uneasily. Suddenly an energy field formed around them, intensifying with every moment. There was a high pitched whine coming from everywhere.
"Natalia!" Adam shouted again and again as he tried to break through the field to rescue her. "Mason!" The brilliant field of light proved to be similar to the force field that Natalia had generated once in practice ages ago. Natalia was now standing, her eyes closed, her expression peaceful. Eckhart was standing motionless beside her, his gaze fixed light years away. Light danced in vertical patterns in and around them. Their images began to look transparent as an unknown force began aligning genetic structure for duplication. The high pitched sound became unbearably loud as a new field, similar to the one that contained Natalia and Eckhart, formed in front of yet intersecting theirs. Adam could see a glow eminate from within Natalia, intensifying quickly until she glowed like the sun. Adam shielded his eyes, fascinated. The incredible light energy suddenly shot out from Natalia like a beam at Eckhart, who in turn, deflected it like a mirror to the new energy field. The adjacent energy field filled with shimmering, intense light for a long moment while the original energy field seemed to grow dim. Adam could see a figure standing in the midst of the light, absorbing it, growing more solid. Natalia and Eckhart suddenly seemed to become conscious of their surroundings n and they, too watched the third figure materialize.
"How are you feeling," Eckhart heard Natalia's voice in his head.
Eckhart felt incredible peace and, yes, happiness as he stood near Natalia, watching the new life emerge. Unable to speak and finding nothing strange about it, he thought back, "incredibly well. We should do this more often." Mason Eckhart was unaware that in his euphoria, he had sent the equivalent of a hug and a light kiss to Natalia.
There was a silvery ripple of laugher from Natalia followed by a sense of being gently caressed by the summer breeze.
The moment seemed to last forever, yet was too short. The energy fields melted away, leaving Eckhart, Natalia and a young woman, about 15 years old, the exact image of Jennifer. Adam had discreetly covered Jennifer with his coat as she emerged naked from the cocoon of energy that had formed her. She thanked him silently with large, dark somber eyes, her father's eyes.
Eckhart had pulled off his glasses and sat in a nearby chair. He looked slightly disorientated and concerned. Natalia took a seat beside him. "Your immune system has not been compromised, Mr. Eckhart. We were in a regenerative field," she said in a faraway voice.
Recovering quickly, Eckhart turned to her and studied her for a long moment. "How was it for you?" He asked devilishly.
Natalia glanced sideways at him and allowed herself a ghost of a smile. Adam and Jennifer approached.
"You're looking well, Mother," Jennifer said appraisingly.
"As do you, my child," Natalia replied. Then following a trace of a long forgotten ritual greeting, raised her left hand, palm outward toward Jennifer. The girl raised her opposing hand and clasped that of her mother's.
"May your strength and courage be that of the lioness, may you always be shielded from evil. Walk in light and in honor and like the chameleon pass unseen, at will, amongst your enemies. Let wisdom guide you into all that is right." Natalia said, gazing intently into the dark depths of her daughter's eyes.
Jennifer nodded solemnly.
Breaking the mood of the moment, Natalia looked at Eckhart and said, "I expect visitation rights, Mason."
His eyes were amused. Your place or mine?" He quipped.
Without missing a beat, Natalia scribbled an address on a piece of paper and passed it over to Eckhart. "If this is acceptable with Jennifer, she nods in agreement I will look for her Sunday morning and you may pick her up Monday night at this address. We can set up a meeting, you and I to discuss other arrangements say, in a few weeks, and." looking very seriously at Eckhart, ".if I ever hear that you've put Jennifer in a stasis pod, you will answer to me."
"Of course," Eckhart replied, his dark eyes sparkling with excitement. As he rose to leave with Jennifer, the two of them regarded Natalia expectantly for a moment, like a pair of wolves waiting for her to join them.
Natalia stood still with Adam at her side. Her troubled gaze followed them as they left.
"She'll be all right." Adam reassured her, arm around her shoulders.
Natalia allowed the moment to pass and smiled up at Adam. It was time to go home.
THE END
Thanks for reading my story. Hope you all liked it. Thanks for the feedback- on yet another read, I think I figured out where the confusion was- I don't keep track of time very well-- and hopefully corrected it. Please R/R.