Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X, although I often wish I did! Any similarity between this story and others is unintentional.
AN: Sorry this took so long. Thanks to those who reviewed. Please continue to R&R. Thanks ;)
Glory Days
The Hunt Begins
The next morning dawned bright and blessedly quiet. With Ashlocke and his Strand out of commission, there wasn't anything to pressing to deal with at the moment, unless you were Adam. While his team took some much needed down time, he was searching through his message files, looking for something, anything that might need their special attention. Just because Gabriel was no longer around, that didn't mean that they could afford to be any less watchful. Unfortunately for the team, Adam found something. He quickly popped his head into the computer lab where Jesse was working on some tricky programming. "Jesse, I have something here I think you all need to take a look at. Can you get the rest of the gang and meet me in the kitchen for a little coffee break?"
"Sure thing Adam. Just give me a few minutes to get the rest of them." Jesse really didn't look forward to interrupting his friends, but their experiences had taught them not to take Adam's meetings lightly. If the man thought there was something that Mutant X should check out, well nine times out of ten, he was right.
In a matter of moments, the members of the team met in the warmly lit kitchen area. Adam already had the computer in the kitchen pull up the file regarding the mission. "Sorry to interrupt your day off, but I think there's something here you should all see. First of all, my purpose for joining you last night was not strictly to blow off steam." Jesse smiled inwardly at that. Somehow he wasn't surprised that Adam had had multiple motivations for joining their party the night before. "I have been receiving reports through Proxy Blue regarding a recent rash of unsolved crimes. Now there are only two things that link these crimes together. Most of the crimes have been within two blocks of the nightclub we visited last night and there have been no clues left at the scene. That's why I joined you last night. I wanted to see if I could find anything out of place; anything that would indicate that this is something Mutant X should be involved in rather than the local police." Jesse wondered what was taking Adam so long to get to the point. Usually the man just told them what was going on, he wondered if this time Adam wasn't sure what was going on.
"Frankly, I'm still not sure if this has anything at all to do with us," Adam continued. "But the crimes have escalated to murder. A man was found dead in the alleyway next to the club. He appears to have been strangled to death and my contact with the police says they don't have any leads at all. So, I'd like for you guys to check it out. If you can rule out New Mutants, great. If it is a New Mutant, then it is best that we get on it now, before things get worse. Here's the file I have so far." With that, Adam pulled up his file on the screen for them all to see.
Jesse didn't get much farther than the picture of the dead man. "Hey, I know that guy! He was at the club last night. Brennan, he's the guy I told you about. The one that was hitting on that cute blonde." Jesse filled the rest of the team in on the man's behavior the night before. "I don't see how it could be connected though. The blonde didn't seem too worried about the situation and there were no angry boyfriends around or anything."
"Well, you never know with these kinds of things. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but we should check it out," Brennan said. It was quickly agreed that the best way to start would be to head back to the club and see if anyone noticed anything unusual. Jesse and Shalimar would return to the club. Shalimar would use her feral abilities to see if she could find out where the man had gone after he had left and they would both question some club workers to see if there were any clues. As for Brennan and Emma, they were to visit the crime scene and the victim's home. Adam would stay at Sanctuary and research the recent crime spree to see if he could find a connection between the murder and the other crimes in the area.
Brennan and Emma
The area of town the dead man, one Richard Ellis, lived in had seen better days. Just about every third house was closed for demolition and his looked to be one of the next on the list. Brennan and Emma cautiously climbed the stairs. "Well, whatever he did for a living, it looks like maybe he drank away all his money," Brennan commented as he noted the many eviction notices pinned to the warped front door. He knocked on the battered wood just to make sure there was no one else living there. When no one answered, he placed a hand on the knob. Before he could turn it, it swung open on its own.
Emma took a step back. She glanced quickly up and down the street, but could see no working vehicles that might be waiting for a quick getaway. They slowly entered the building. Emma opened her senses to the building. "Brennan, no one's here now." Brennan moved further on past the narrow entryway. A low whistle escaped his lips.
"Looks like we're not the only ones looking for something," he commented. The place was in shambles. It had obviously been ransacked. The furniture was slashed and the few personal belongings had been destroyed. "I'm gonna check the other rooms." Brennan said as Emma found herself a clear space in the center of the floor. She cautiously reached out with her mind to see if she could find some trace of who had left behind this mess.
Brennan was surveying an equally disturbed bedroom when he heard Emma's soft gasp. Quickly he returned to the living room. His teammate was standing in the middle of the chaos, her blue eyes unfocused. "Emma?"
"Someone's watching. There's been another death. Something with water. Brennan, I think we should leave. Now." Without waiting for a response she headed toward the door.
Brennan grasped her slender shoulders and shook her gently. "Emma, you told me just a minute ago that no one was here, has that changed?" Emma turned her gaze on him. For a moment Brennan wondered if she saw him. Her eyes remained unfocused for a moment more. The she gave her auburn hair a little shake and looked at him again.
"No, Brennan, you're right. I can't find anyone who is paying any attention to us now. But I did just get a hit off of someone. Whoever it was, they aren't close enough to bother us, but I think we'd better hurry." The two of them quickly finished their search of the house. There was no indication of why the place had been tossed and no clue as to why a man so down on his luck would have been killed. Empty handed, the two of them returned to Sanctuary.
Jesse and Shalimar
Back at the club, Jesse and Shalimar arrived well before the usual Saturday crowd. There were a few diehard college kids, getting a head start on their evening, but primarily, it was time for the employees to do set up for that evening. Shalimar and Jesse approached the bar. There was a spiky haired bartender giving about five servers their table assignments for the evening and the brunette bartender from the night before was going over some bookwork. Jesse and Shalimar leaned casually against the bar. The brunette quickly finished what she was writing and then looked up from her paperwork.
"Can I help you?" she frowned at the two people in front of her.
"We hope so," Shalimar responded. The woman glanced uncertainly between the two of them.
"Hey aren't you the guy from last night?" She asked, smiling at Jesse. He nodded. "Well, I definitely owe you one. What can I do for you?"
"We were hoping you could tell us a little more about the man Jesse helped you with last night." With that little sentence, the woman's face closed up. All friendliness vanished.
"Are you cops or something? I already talked to some of you and I don't really want to rehash it. We have a busy night ahead, and like I told the others, there's no way we can follow each customer to make sure they get home ok."
Jesse interrupted, "No, we aren't the police, but we are looking into Richard's death. Do you mind talking with us for just a few minutes?"
The woman sighed. "Five minutes. That's all. I still have a lot to do to get ready for tonight."
Shalimar noticed that the woman definitely seemed to be more comfortable with Jesse, so she left him to find out what he could. In the meantime, she decided to check out the alley where Richard had been found. There wasn't much to see in that dim, narrow little alley, but Shalimar didn't need to see anything. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching her and ducked below the yellow police tape. Her eyes flashed feral as she carefully examined the scene. A little smile crossed her lips as she found the trail she was looking for. In a matter of minutes, she had learned a few interesting facts to share with her teammates. She returned to the club to find Jesse.
"And that's all you remember?" Jesse asked.
"Look, usually I don't have anything to do with the customers. I'm the assistant manager here, but one of the girls called in sick and I had to fill in. I had about a million and three things on my mind and like I told you before, it's not my job to make sure the guy makes it home. All I remember is that after he talked to you, he had one more beer before I cut him off. He didn't get mad; he just nodded and made his way towards the door. That was the last I saw of him. "
"Ok, well, if you think of anything else, my name's Jesse Kilmartin," he handed her a small piece of paper with his name, an Underground telephone number and the email address. "You can usually reach me at this number, but if not try the email. Please, this is really important."
The woman studied his face carefully. She took the piece of paper and scanned it quickly. Then her eyes narrowed. "You're one of Adam's people, aren't you?" she asked. Jesse didn't need Emma's telempathy to feel the suspicion coming off the woman.
"You know Adam?"
"I've answered all the questions I mean to today. I'll contact you if anything else comes up."
It was the best Jesse could get from her. Fortunately, Shalimar came to get him before he could annoy the woman any more. He made note of her name though. It wasn't every day someone on the street recognized the Mutant Underground contact number on sight.
Shalimar was fairly bursting with excitement over her discovery, but she refused to share it with him until they got back to Sanctuary. Jesse sighed. He hoped Brennan and Emma were having more luck today than he was.
* * *
Somewhere across town, in a brightly lit, colorful bedroom, a woman opened a manila envelope and pulled out a single photograph. As if on cue, the telephone rang. She picked it up; her blood red nails a startling slash of color against the cream of the phone. "Hello?" she answered a little uncertainly.
"The time is set. You start tonight with the target you were shown. Can you complete the mission?" the phrase was almost a ritual with the woman, but it always drew results.
"If you complete the drop off," the woman with red nails looked down at the photograph. Four people were captured in various stages of clarity. A young man with dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes, a rumpled drunk man, a dark haired bartender and a young blonde woman who glared at the drunk man. One red fingertip caressed the face of the next victim.
"You'll get your reward, as long as you bring me the proof we discussed."
"I'll be there," the woman with long red fingernails said as she gently replaced the phone in its cradle.