Part 2

When Brennan came to and slitted open his eyes, the first thing he saw through blurry dancing black spots was Shalimar leaning over him - and man, did she ever look pissed. He groaned as memory and a superior headache assaulted him at the same time. He really didn't like it when Shalimar was mad at him, hated that she felt hurt or worried enough to be mad at him, but this time he felt that he deserved her anger.

"'M sorry, Shal," he mumbled, and why the hell wasn't his mouth working properly? Her eyes widened and she suddenly looked more worried than pissed. He became aware of a deep bass booming around him somewhere, and skin that itched like prickly heat.

He needed to tell them what had happened but, with muscles all out of synch and senses gone haywire, he could only submit to whatever Adam deemed best.

"So how is he?" Emma came into the lab just as Brennan felt himself sliding towards a drug-induced sleep.

"He'll be okay with some rest," Adam said. "I think he was hit by a psionic who scrambled his brain, but he seems to improving. Any sign of Jesse?"

Emma shook her head. "No trace at all. Or of Noah. I guess we'll have to wait for Brennan to recover before we find out what happened. " She tore her gaze from the recumbent Brennan over to Adam. "I came to tell you that General Sperling's on the vid and wants to talk with you. Confidentially."

Brennan failed to hear any more as by then he was asleep.

*****

Jesse woke up with a yell as the clamp bit home. The pain was shocking but fleeting, and he recognised the shackles of the sub-dermal governor through the groggy after-effects of whatever it was he'd been given.

He was strapped into a chair, but loosely, as if the Velcro were more to stop him slipping out, or making sudden movements than actually prevent him from escaping. Looking around the sparsely furnished white room, there were people silently watching him. A tall man, thin to the point of emaciation, Noah cowering in the corner and a black man in an army uniform as well as a couple of thugs, one of whom was setting up a PC on a trolley in front of him.

Resisting the impulse to ask why, where, who, how and what, Jesse waited patiently. On the negative side, he'd been drugged, abducted and restrained and Noah was here, but on the positive side, he was unharmed, probably able to escape if he put his mind to it, and Noah was here. Jesse laughed mentally. Never knew which side his father was on these days. So much for the hero of his childhood. Right now, Noah looked like a snivelling, cowardly bookkeeper, with his trench coat and broken glasses hanging haphazardly from his nose.

Still, nothing was said as the PC played a recording of a web cam conversation between the black man, Sperling, and Adam.

In a daze, Jesse watched as Sperling explained away his abduction as a method of getting him to their base with minimal risk of exposure. Told Adam that he was needed for a special ops assignment, that Adam owed him. Denied Adam any information on the mission other than it was a Code Black.

Code Black meant eyes only, no backup, high risk and official denial. He knew that from things Noah had told him in times past.

And was utterly shocked when he heard Adam agree that the government could use Jesse as they saw fit before signing off. He hadn't even asked to speak with him, hadn't given Jesse an option, hadn't even asked if he was all right.

The objective trained professional in him knew that the recording could well have been tampered with, in fact probably was, but he also knew that Adam had a ruthless side to him that had been brought to the fore all too easily in an encounter with a mutant not too long ago.

Either way, it was clear he was on his own, that if he ran now, he really would have nowhere to go.

"So, it looks like my services have been volunteered for me," he remarked resentfully.

"I would like you to agree to come along," the tall man said. "It would save us all so much trouble, not to mention it would get your father out of a very nasty hole."

Jesse looked at Noah, who shrugged apologetically. "Do you think I really care what kind of hole he's in?"

"Hmm, perhaps not. He was rather emphatic in his declaration that you wanted nothing to do with him. However, that's entirely irrelevant. He owes me a large debt and I intend to collect. One way or another, you are the price. As far as you're concerned, you'll be doing this for God and country."

"How do I know that?"

The tall man grinned, an unpleasantly vampiric sight. "You don't. But you will, I promise you that. For now you'll just have to take my word for it."

Used again.

By everyone he trusted.

"Sure, I'll do it. I mean, it's for the government right?"

"Right," whispered the tall man. "For the government."

Jesse thought about it all for a while as the other occupants of the room waited patiently. After weighing up what little he knew, he finally nodded. Playing along for a while at least, couldn't hurt. "I'll do it," he said harshly, and looked directly at Noah. "But I'm not doing it for you, and I'm not doing it for a government that's terrified of the mutant threat, yet doesn't hesitate at using mutants to do its dirty work. Nor am I doing it for Adam, who doesn't seem to have any compunction about sending us out to do the dirty work of others. I'm pretty sure you rigged that web call, but this wouldn't be the first time he's done it. I'm doing it because maybe, just maybe then everyone will owe me one."

The tall man's smile only broadened. "I don't care why you agreed. The important thing is that you have."

"What about this?" Jesse twisted his neck, indicating the governor.

"Not yet, dear boy. We'll release you when the time comes."

*****

The next time Brennan awoke, the headache had receded to manageable proportions, and everything seemed functional again, if somewhat still and achy. Shalimar was still there, as was Emma, though the feral looked a little more sympathetic than she had before. But how did he go about telling them what had happened?

"Uh," he flinched away from both women. "See, there was this girl…" He trailed off as two pairs of identically narrowed eyes glared. Feeling somewhat nervous, he tried to explain what had happened, ending with a helpless shrug. "What can I say? I thought I was tagging along for moral support and referee duties if needed. I didn't think Jesse's old man would actually go and stick him. I mean, last time, maybe things got a little out of hand, but I saw Noah stick Jesse with a needle myself. What kind of father does something like that?"

"You wouldn't believe what some fathers would do to their kids," Shalimar muttered darkly, then shook herself. "But I think something more has to be going on here. I mean, why kidnap Jesse at all over an argument?"

"There is something more going on," Adam said from the doorway. "I just got off from the Pentagon and Jesse's fine.  Apparently the whole kidnap routine was just a typically heavy-handed recruitment method by one of the secret services. Jesse's going to be gone for a while helping the government out."

"And you believe them?" Brennan and Shalimar both wore looks of complete incredulity.

Adam raised his hands. "I know, I know, but my hands are tied. Jesse's agreed to help them out."

"You spoke with him?" Shalimar demanded.  "Did he look you in the eyes and tell you that himself?"

Adam shook his head. "No, I only have the word of a man I trust as much as anyone in the government."

Brennan snorted. "Well, that's not saying much. What's he doing for them, anyway?"

"I couldn't tell you even if I knew, which I don't," Adam apologised. "Top secret. Can you just trust me on this? Jesse is fine, he's being well taken care of and he'll be back here in a few days. It's classified, not dangerous."

As Adam left the room, Shalimar growled, "We'll see about that. Jesse's not the only hacker around here, you know."

Five minutes later, Shalimar screamed in frustration as one of Jesse's new modifications gave her the finger and booted her out of the system.

*****

The truck that left the base was covered, leaving Jesse none the wiser as to where it was located. They would be transferring to a plane at some point, then another truck before the last stretch, which would be by foot. Once at their destination, Jesse would be required to phase a wall. That was the sum total of his knowledge as to what the mission was about.

There were six of them in total and all wearing identical black combats, sweaters and tee with the requisite boots and packs. Jesse had been partnered with Collier, the blonde that had taken Brennan out. Her mission was to baby-sit him, but she also carried one of two Palm Pilots that Intelligence had equipped them with. as well as a small arsenal dispersed about her person.

Seated opposite them were two men who stared at him with the same brittle gaze, Alwin and Sharford, both from the same unit as Collier and Cobb. Sharford, however, was an extensively qualified pilot, a skill that would apparently be crucial to the mission and it was Alwin's job to protect him.  He carried the other Palm Pilot, and as he was a feral, Jesse found it amusing that the new mutants among them were being entrusted with the Intelligence.

Jesse looked from the corner of his eye at the third pair, and caught Noah glancing surreptitiously back at him. Some say that a look can convey a thousand words, but right here and now a look only confused things even more. For Noah had a deep anguish in his eyes that Jesse couldn't fathom the reason for. Next to him, Cobb, the small wiry babysitter for Noah who also doubled as the team medic, saw the looks and shook his head as he turned away.

*****

"Brennan?" Adam walked into the training room with a puzzled expression on his face as he stared at his cell phone. "I've just had the Post Office call to ask you to go pick up a parcel."

"Really?" Brennan was just as puzzled as he put the barbell down and used his towel to wipe the sweat from his face. "I'm not expecting anything.  Did they say who the sender was?"

"No," Adam was still staring at his mobile. "No, but they seemed a little concerned that it was ticking."

"Huh?" Brennan shook his head. "Okay, I'll go pick it up this afternoon."

*****

Under cover of night, they were debarked from the plane and herded into the last covered truck that would take them to their final destination, and Jesse couldn't miss Cobb's attempt to be subtle and guide Collier to sit with him instead of her charge. Unfortunately, subtle wasn't something that Collier was very good at, myths about the female of the species notwithstanding. Nevertheless he found himself perched next to Noah on the rough wooden bench that ran along the side of the truck, and facing Alwin who was about as communicative as a rock, perhaps less so.

"You must think I'm pretty rotten right now," Noah leaned in and raised his voice a little over the rough mechanical whirr of the engine.

"That would be an understatement," Jesse replied, grabbing hold of a wrist strap as some stone or pothole threatened to send him head first through Alwin.

Noah paused a moment. "I'm not as bad as you think. You don't know everything that's going on."

Jesse couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Well, d'uh! Of course I don't know everything that's going on! But I don't want to hear it from you."

"Oh for –" Noah ground his jaw. "Well, I'm gonna tell you anyhow, you don't have to listen."

"Thanks to your friends, I can't exactly escape now, can I?" He waved towards the device on the back of his neck.

Noah didn't react to that comment, instead barrelling on with what he clearly wanted to get off his chest. "It was for your mother, you know."

"What?" Jesse couldn't believe this. What was Noah playing at this time?

"No, it's true," Noah blinked at him owlishly from behind the hastily repaired glasses that Jesse wasn't entirely convinced his father actually needed. Maybe protective camouflage? But from whom? "She was in the earlier stages of erm, whassitcalled," Noah continued. "Uh, Bralinger's Disease. Congenital and debilitating."

Jesse turned away; he didn't want to hear what was so clearly a fantasy aimed at garnering his sympathy.

"I couldn't bear to see her degenerate. You know how vibrant she was, how much she enjoyed life. She tried throwing cash at it, but even with her family's backing there was no cure that money could buy. So she tried to ignore it. But it was starting to show; a few seconds of blanking out here, hands shaking so badly she dropped whatever she was holding there. I had some contacts back then, and they put me in touch with Horatio. That's the codename for the tall guy, one who looks like he needs a good meal."

Jesse glanced at Noah from the corner of his eye, and found the older man was looking at him with such pleading, it was almost impossible for him to steel his heart against it.

"Horatio, he was… well, he looked a little different back then. Quite a lot different actually.  Anyway, he was a rising star in the CIB, rapidly building his own empire. Everything he's ever done has been in the name of the government, but a good deal of what he's done as gone to line his own pockets, so they say. Anyhow, he offered me a chance to get help for your mother."

And there was that look again, Jesse thought, the one that said 'please believe me', that he'd come to learn meant that he was suckering you right before he delivered the smack in the face. If he was honest with himself, he really didn't know how much, if any, of what Noah was telling him was the truth, but listening couldn't hurt, might even help get him through whatever the next twenty four hours would bring. So he kept his face carefully neutral, and let Noah carry on a little uncertainly with his tale.

"Anyway, Horatio put me in touch with Genomex who said that while they couldn't cure her, they could stop its progression any further with some gene therapy and a fair amount of cash. But there was a problem, she was pregnant."

Again, with that look, but Jesse refused to rise to the bait.

"That was you, Jesse," Noah pushed and Jesse couldn't help mutter 'Yeah, right,' under his breath. Lowering his gaze to the floor, Noah continued. "They did a lot of tests, but in the end, they said that you had the gene for Bralinger's as well, and that they couldn't treat either of you until after you were born. Of course Bralinger's lies dormant for years, but it's swift, a matter of weeks, maybe months at most, and you weren't due for another seven months. They wanted to abort you, but your mother wouldn't let them."

Noah was still looking down and it occurred to Jesse that Noah had said his mother wouldn't, not the both of them, and that his father was on a bit of a guilt trip, or denial or something. If he chose to believe him, of course.

"But, there was a way to save you both. It was unethical, immoral, and illegal, but Horatio offered me a way to bypass the red tape and objections and try it anyway. Jesse, look at me, please."

Reluctantly, Jesse did as asked and saw a sincerity in his father's face that gave him no doubt over his next words. "Jesse, I did love your mother, very much. And I would have done anything to keep her alive. So I struck a bargain with the devil. Horatio made the program happen that saved you and your mother's lives, and I promised to return his favour at a time of his choosing. Which just happens to be now."

There was a long silence other than the crashing of the truck going over what felt like heavily ploughed fields and ditches. If even half of what Noah had said was true, there were so many questions to be asked.

"What was the penalty Horatio mentioned?"

Noah looked flustered for second, but the truck lurched to a stop and he stuck his head out back. "Oh, look we've arrived!" he said brightly, and jumped off the back, the fairytale apparently forgotten, and Jesse was left to trail behind as Collier gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.

*****

Brennan looked once more at the contents of another letter he'd received the previous afternoon. He knew full well who the ticking parcel was from and was certain it would be safe. After all, Anya would never hurt him, or so her letter claimed.

What did worry him was the photo that had been included in the letter. It was a picture of him with Emma and Shalimar in the park near the fountain that must have been taken the day before, when they were looking for any evidence of Jesse. They hadn't told Adam that was what they were doing, but he'd known anyhow and berated them gently on their return.

But the picture was of the three of them together, of Emma holding his hand as she told him to get over the guilt, and Shalimar embracing both in that touchy feely way she had. And thick red marker pen had been used to scribble out both of the young women.  It never occurred to him to tell anyone else at that point; it was no one else's problem but his own to deal with.

*****

The terrain was hilly, even mountainous, and the landscape, even through infra-red binoculars, was clearly a carpet of forestland and treacherously muddy trails. If he'd had to guess, Jesse thought that they were probably in one of the central or South American countries. He didn't think the flight time had been long enough to have taken them over the Pacific, the polar cap or even the Atlantic, but as Collier had said at the time, you can't really know unless you know how fast the craft is going, and only close mouthed Sharford had any hope of estimating that.

Having left them with strict instructions to be back at this spot in exactly twenty fours hours for their only extraction opportunity should they fail, the truck chugged its way back the down the slippery rutted track. Collier dug her Palm Pilot out and issued instructions on where they were headed. They would travel the first few miles together, but as they approached detection range they would stop to eat and confirm orders before splitting up into their buddy pairs and taking different routes to end up at a specified rendezvous point. As Collier marked the route they would be taking on their map before passing the Palm Pilot to the other two teams, Jesse could see that the rendezvous point was part way up a mountain.

When they were oriented, Noah briefed them on the little they needed to know before getting there. That given the electronic security systems the guards were very few, but had orders to shoot to kill. Naturally, the target was not only a top-secret military installation, but it was also inside the mountain, which gave Jesse a surreal case of déjà vu.

Having been dropped off just before dawn, it was well into a hot and humid mid-morning before they stopped for a brunch made up of cold vacuum packed rations. Noah and Cobb had the shortest route with Cobb citing an old war wound as cause for slowing them up, even though they all knew that he was as fit as they came and it Noah who was not quite at his peak.

Sharford and Alwin volunteered to take the longest route, being the fittest, at which both Jesse and Collier objected.

"You two thugs may be stronger," Collier said, indignantly, "but that does not make you fitter."

"You wanna take it? Fine by me," said Alwin flatly. "I'll have time to take a nap before you get there."

Jesse couldn't tell if the man was joking or not as. in direct contrast to Shalimar, this feral had so little emotion that he wondered if Alwin'd had it spliced out of his DNA.

Collier, however, roared with laughter. "Now you know damned well I'd take you up on that, but with a pleb in tow, I gotta take the middle road."

"Excuse me?" Jesse's face was disbelieving, but before he could say anything more Collier cut him short.

"I know, I know. I sneaked a peek in the changing rooms," she grinned wolfishly, "and I know you're fit. But this isn't a game and it's my job to protect you. You wanna be a hero, do it on your time, not mine. This isn't the time for pride."

"Okay," Jesse agreed, understanding her logic. "But next time," he grinned, and allowed his sentence to go unfinished.

The three teams split up and Jesse followed his partner into the undergrowth. The going was thick with vegetation, but fortunately mostly low level which meant they made good time. A couple of times Collier had them diving under bushes as paired patrols passed them by, but after a couple of hours they found a good spot for a short breather and some water.

Jesse looked at the woman who right now looked nothing like the stunning blonde who'd chatted up Brennan, with a mud disguise dulling the normally bright locks down to a mid yellowish brown and football streaks across her face.

"Why do you do this?" Jesse asked gesturing at the Uzi slung over her shoulder.

"Because it pays ridiculously well," she said, before swigging from her water canteen.

"The marines?" Jesse asked incredulously. "They pay that well?"

"No," she said, swallowing. "But people like them do." She nodded behind him.

"Like who - ? Uh…" Jesse froze as the cold muzzle of a gun nudged at the join between his neck and shoulder.

"Suggest you get face down on the ground."

Looking around cautiously he found half a dozen soldiers, all with rifles, and remembering what Noah had said about killing on sight he knew he had no choice. So he got face down in the mud, and let them take him.

*****

Cont'd.