Chapter 4 Helpless

"Darius is dead?" Emma eased off the medical bed and walked away from the two men. "It's my fault. I must have led him straight to them."

Upon learning about the deaths of the new mutants at the safe house, Adam had ordered Brennan and Shalimar back to Sanctuary. Now he moved to comfort the distraught young woman. "Emma, it's not your fault. You mustn't think that way."

Emma pulled away from him. "How else should I think? He attacks me and hours later we discover that Darius and the others have been murdered. They were in a safe house; how safe could it be when I lead the bad guys right to them?"

"Adam, I get the feeling you know who is responsible. Who are we dealing with here?" Jesse hoped by returning the focus to the actual problem, Emma could quit blaming herself.

"That's what I want to know." Shalimar insisted as she and Brennan came in. Her jaw was set and her whole posture was ready for battle.

Adam sighed. "Back when I worked at Genomex, I worked with a man named Maxamillin Crueben. He made Mason look like a saint. When we began seeing the full effects of our experiments, he became outraged. He felt the mutations we were seeing develop were too dangerous and that we should eliminate the situation before it got out of hand."

Emma shivered. "You mean he wanted to kill the children of Genomex."

Adam nodded. "More than just wanting to, he actually killed two or three before we knew what was happening. As soon as we learned what he was doing we confronted him. It was a tense moment and somehow; I still don't know exactly how; there was some sort of accident. Crueben developed the ability to dampen mutant abilities. It's as if those abilities never existed whenever Crueben was in close proximity with a new mutant."

"So that explains why Emma couldn't use her powers. But how was he able to kill Darius? Even without his feral strength and heightened senses, Darius should have been able to fight back. I saw his body; he never had a chance. Crueben shouldn't have been able to get the drop on him."

"But I'm helpless, right? Thanks Shal." Emma turned away from the team but not before they caught her hurt expression. Her shoulders slumped and her head lowered. Without another word, she headed for the door.

Shalimar reached out to touch her friend's arm but the Telempath avoided her. Once Emma was gone Shalimar looked at the others. "I didn't mean."

"We know, Shal." Adam assured her the Feral. "Emma knows it too; she's just dealing with everything that's happened. Jesse, will you."

"I'm already on it." Jesse quickly followed Emma out of the lab.

"So if Crueben hates mutants so much why haven't we heard from him already?" Brennan asked.

"I thought he was dead. The way he saw it his being able to dampen mutant abilities made him just as much a mutant as the ones he was out to kill. He couldn't handle that knowledge. He threw himself into finding away to reverse what happened to him. When he couldn't do that he attempted to kill himself. Everyone thought he had succeeded."

"Yeah from Emma's bruises and the bodies we saw at the safe house, if he's a ghost, he's a very strong ghost." Shalimar folded her arms across her chest. "Okay, we know who's responsible. How do we stop him?"

For a moment Adam said nothing. At long last he shrugged. "I don't know."

***********

Jesse didn't have to go far to find Emma. She was right outside the lab, slumped to the floor holding her ribs painfully. He squatted beside her. "Em? You shouldn't be up. Let me help you back to bed."

"Stop it, Jesse!" The anger she'd exhibited earlier in the lab was back but it didn't make it up to her eyes. The hazel orbs merely reflected pain. "I'm not helpless."

Reaching out, he touched her cheek. "No, you're injured."

"Because I was helpless." Emma sniffled. "Shalimar even said so." The last vestiges of control she had on her emotions left her and she collapsed against Jesse in sobs. For a moment he held her, allowing her tears a moment of freedom but then he took her bruised face gently in her hands so she could see his face.

"No she didn't, Emma. None of us think you are helpless. The only person who thinks you are is you."

"Maybe none of you think I'm helpless but I sure felt like I was, lying on the ground completely defenseless. I was powerless both because my abilities wouldn't work and because I couldn't fight back. I need to learn how to defend myself powers or no powers. I want to learn how to fight." She bit he lower lip before continuing. "And I want you to teach me."

Jesse nodded. "Okay, as soon as your ribs have healed."

"No, I want to learn now. Crueben is still out there and he's not going to wait until I'm healed to attack again."

Jesse wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "Don't worry about Crueben. We'll take care of him."

Emma shook her head and used the wall to push herself up to a standing position. "Don't you see, if I depend on the rest of you to fight my battles, I really am helpless. I need your help, Jesse, not to shield me from Crueben but to help me fight back. Will you help me?"

Jesse squeezed her hand. "Of course I will."

For the first time since hearing about the death of the other new mutants, Emma smiled. She couldn't bring herself to tell him why she was so insistent that they not wait. She didn't want to tell him that Crueben wasn't through with her; that he'd promised to come back and finish the job he'd started. She couldn't admit it to her friend but she made herself a promise; this time, she'd be ready for Crueben.