A/N: As in the previous chapter - ideas, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to d.angelino@caramail.com (oh, the joys of multiple e-mail accounts ;)

A/N 2: Hmm...this chapter became a big longer than I expected. Oh, well.

'...' Indicates telepathy

/.../ Indicates Hal's visions of parallel timeline and Laetitia's manipulation of dreams

* * *

Chapter Seven: Escapes and old Enemies

* * *

Ben adjusted his seatbelt and looked at Ryan. They had switched places, and now Ryan was sitting in the passenger's seat with his eyes closed. He had a calm expression on his face, an expression which Ben knew was a sure sign that Ryan was preparing for some heavy use of his powers.

"Ryan? Are you sure you're up to this?" Ben asked.

"No. But we don't have much of a choice, do we?" the other replied, without opening his eyes.

Ben shook his head. The car in front of them was finally allowed to pass, and now the guards motioned for Ben to come closer.

"Ready or not," he mumbled.

They drove closer to the guards, and then Ben killed the engine and stepped outside. In the backseat, Diana and Deirdre exchanged a brief, worried look.

Two of the guards sent the passengers a quick look before focusing on Ben.

"Good afternoon, sir. Do you and your passengers have a genetic ID card?"

The words were said with an unusual politeness, but none of the four mutants missed the groups of heavily armed soldiers nearby

"Sure," Ben replied. He handed the guards four normal ID cards, and sent a silent prayer to whatever god who might be listening that Ryan would be able to pull this off.

The first of the guards checked the cards and inside the car, Ryan frowned in concentration.

'The cards are okay. We are humans. Let us pass...let us pass.'

The guard shook his head, and ran a hand through his short hair.

'Let us pass.'

"It looks like everything is in order, sir," he finally said and returned the cards to Ben. "Good thing you had those cards, otherwise we'd have to take a blood sample before we could let you pass."

"Yeah...good thing we did," Ben mumbled.

"You can pass now, sir. Have a nice trip," the second guard said.

Ben nodded in response and got in the car again. Ryan took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Let's go. We'll wait for the rest on the other side," he said tiredly.

A bit away, one of the soldiers frowned.

"Captain? Did you see how the guards acted?" he said.

The captain looked at the guards, then at the car. The first of the guards rubbed his temples, and the captain's eyes narrowed.

"Typical reaction to telepathy. Good job, soldier."

He grabbed his radio.

"This is unit seven. We have a possible telepath, and we will need reinforcements."

"Got that, unit seven," a voice replied. "Reinforcements are on their way."

The captain motioned to his men, and they quickly made their way to Ryan's car.

"Kyle. Look at the soldiers," Jhonen said. "They're heading for the others."

"It could be coincidental. It doesn't have to mean anything," Kyle said, but they all knew that he was lying.

"Ryan!" Diana warned.

"I've seen them,"

"Can you...?" Ben asked, but trailed off.

Ryan shook his head.

"No. They know that we're mutants, and they've called for backup. We have to do this the hard way. Seraphim-"

Deirdre snapped to attention.

"Yeah?"

"Stall them. Blind them. Do whatever it takes to slow them down long enough for us to get through. I can stun some of them, but I don't have enough strength right now to stop them all. I'll warn the others."

Deirdre nodded, and Ryan quickly found Kyle's calm presence in the car behind them.

'Kyle, get ready. Trouble ahead.'

'We've seen them. Backup-plan?'

'We'll incapacitate them and drive through the gate. If we miss any of them, make sure that they don't get the chance to hit us.'

'Got you. Rendezvous in Johnstown in two days – the Bluebird Motel, maybe? It's in the outskirts of the town.'

'Then Johnstown it is. Good luck.'

'You too.'

Ryan broke the connection and focused on his teammates.

"Seraphim – I'll take the soldiers in front of us. You handle the back up and the guards. Kyle will do his best to stop the bullets if we fuck up. You ready?"

Seraphim nodded, and the others closed their eyes tightly to protect them from the light they knew would come. Ryan took a moment to gather the rest of his strength.

"Now!"

The five soldiers in front of them never knew what hit them – one moment they were heading towards the car, the next they lay unconscious on the ground as a result of Ryan's mind bolts.

Their fellow soldiers, however, were not so lucky.

A blinding light engulfed the area around the car as Deirdre unleashed her power. The soldiers screamed and tried to cover their eyes, but it was too late. Deirdre's eyes narrowed and the light grew even stronger. She waited for a few moments, and then made the light disappear as quickly as it had come.

"Go!" Ryan almost shouted, but Ben was already speeding away from the checkpoint. Behind them, Kyle followed. Ryan could feel the darkness claw at the edges of his mind as the exhaustion set in, but he couldn't relax – not yet.

"Rendezvous at the Bluebird Motel, Johnstown, in two days," he told Ben, who just nodded in return.

'Good luck, Kyle.'

'You too.'

Ryan felt the darkness return with renewed strength, and this time he didn't fight it. With an unseen smile, he welcomed the oblivion and fell unconscious.

The two cars separated at the first intersection and sped away, leaving nothing but confusion behind.

* * *

Back with the Shadow Alliance, things were a bit better...but not much. Now that they were finally out of danger – at least for the time being – Zach felt the exhaustion set in, as the adrenaline-rush slowly faded away. The pain he had been able to ignore during the battle now returned with renewed strength, and his weakened state did nothing to help matters.

His left arm – the one he'd landed on when he threw himself on the floor – had gotten the worst of the injuries, as far as Zach could tell. He felt a constant, dull throbbing in the arm, and he knew that the black and blue bruises would soon be visible. The large transfer of energy had weakened him, too, and it felt like his arms and legs were made out of clay – heavy and clumsy to move.

Zach leaned against the window and let the deep, constant hum of the engine lull him into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

"He's asleep," Jordane noted some minutes later when she checked on Zach. "Poor kid must be exhausted."

"Too much excitement in one day. Happens to all of us," Blade replied, never taking his eyes off the road.

"He's just a kid."

This time Blade did look at her briefly.

"We're mutants," he corrected. "We're not allowed to be kids."

Jordane didn't reply, and the two fell silent once again. Out of the corner of his eye, Blade saw Jordane play absently with one of her knives, followed by a slightly absent look on her face. Damn.

"Melee," he said, trying to pull her out of her semi-trance.

"Yeah?" Jordane looked at him, but didn't stop toying with the knife.

"I just...wanted to tell you that I'm impressed that you didn't lose control in the fight," Blade replied, saying the first thing he could think off. He knew from experience that it wasn't smart to let Jordane brood when she was like this, and that he had to do something before things escalated.

"Thank you" Jordane mumbled, and returned to her trance-like state.

"Melee..." Blade tried, but was interrupted by the girl in question.

"I can feel it building up...the rage. All those emotions I couldn't let loose when we fought...they're growing," she whispered and looked at her knife with morbid fascination.

"Jordane! Control it!" Blade snapped. What Jordane did when she was alone in the bathroom wasn't any of Blade's business, but in this case that 'no-see-no-tell' policy was something they couldn't afford. If they were stopped – or even worse, searched – any knife-wounds on Jordane's arms would attract attention, and that was the last thing they wanted.

At least, that was what Blade has explained to Jordane on several occasions. It was true, but it wasn't the only reason. The other reason was rather unusual for Blade – he didn't like to see his second in command get hurt. Him, Blade, cold-hearted mercenary and natural born killer. He could kill another human being without blinking, but the thought of cold, sharp steel against Jordane's wrists...he didn't like it one bit.

But he had no right to intervene with her life, and so the second reason remained a secret.

"I can't," Jordane whispered.

"You have to, or you could get us all killed," Blade replied coldly. Despite Jordane's cocky – even careless – attitude, he knew that she wouldn't do anything that could endanger her teammates.

Or at least he hoped so.

Jordane just sighed, and looked out the window with a tired expression. But she did put her knife away.

* * *

"Fuck!"

Pheonix' loud curse pulled Hal and Aaron out of their peaceful naps and they sent her a confused look.

"What's wrong?" Hal mumbled, still not completely aware of her surroundings.

"A checkpoint," Laetitia said from her place behind the steering wheel.

"What?!" Aaron said, suddenly fully awake. "A checkpoint – here? But we're in the middle of goddamn nowhere!"

"Well, tell that to the government goons," Pheonix snapped.

"Quiet!" Laetitia ordered. She didn't have to raise her voice – when Nike spoke, people listened.

"I can use my powers to convince a guard to let us through, but Hal, you'll have to find out which one of them is the best to do it on," she explained.

"Okay...okay, I can do that," Hal said and nodded. She hated using her power, they all knew that, but in this case, she didn't have a choice.

Hal took a deep breath and focused on the guards. She closed her eyes - and was instantly trapped in a maelstrom of images.

/-"Stop the muties! They're getting away!"-/

/-Guards running; gunfire; a car – their car – exploding; burning fuel covering the road; her skin burning; hot, too hot-/

/-"Let's get the fuck out of here! We have to go, NOW!"-/

/-"Yes, everything seems to be in order, ma'am. Carry on."-/

Hal gasped as she finally found what she was looking for – a timeline that wouldn't get them killed.

The others looked at her anxiously.

"Over there," she whispered, out of breath. "The guard at the second gate."

Laetitia nodded.

"Good job."

Hal didn't reply, but just curled up in her large jacket, and tried to forget what she'd just seen. Aaron gave her leg a comforting squeeze, before putting on his jacket and cap to hide his scales.

Because of the remoteness of the checkpoint, there were few cars, and it took only a few minutes before they reached the gate.

"Good evening, ma'am. May I see your genetic ID card?" the guard asked.

"Sure," Laetitia replied, and focused completely on the guard's mind.

"Wh-" the guard started, but was asleep before he could finish even the first word.

/You see our genetic ID cards – all four of them. We are not mutants. We do not come from a family of mutants. We are pure humans. You allow us to pass/

The guard opened his eyes and blinked.

"Yes, everything seems to be in order, ma'am. Carry on."

"Thank you," Laetitia replied.

They drove past the checkpoint, and Pheonix grinned.

"That idiot didn't stand a chance."

* * *

"How is he?" Ben asked.

Diana reached out and stroked Ryan's hair gently.

"Still out cold. But he should wake up soon...I've never seen him be out for more than an hour after a fight."

Ben nodded.

"We should find some place to spend the night...a small motel or something. Where are we, anyway?"

Deirdre checked the map.

"We've just passed some town called Reading."

Ben sent her a look in the rearview mirror that clearly said 'good one, try again.'

"I'm not kidding!" Deirdre protested. "It really *is* called Reading! Anyway...we're still a bit away from Johnstown, but we can easily get there tomorrow."

Ben nodded.

"I just saw a motel-sign. We can spend the night there, and leave early tomorrow, just to be safe."

The other two nodded, and Ben followed the small road that led to the motel.

"Where are we?" Ryan mumbled, still half asleep.

"Finding a motel," Diana whispered. "Go back to sleep. We're safe here."

"No...no," Ryan protested and shook his head. "I can sleep when we get there," he added, and rubbed his eyes.

Ben finally reached the motel, and stopped the car.

"How do you feel, oh powerful leader?" he asked.

"Like someone hit me in the head with an eighteen-wheeler," Ryan confessed. "Let's find a room."

Ben and Diana just shook their heads, and Deirdre mumbled something about stupid, stubborn men.

* * *

"And they call *us* a danger to society?" Jordane commented and looked at the small checkpoint they had just passed. "They're more corrupt than most of the politicians in the counsel."

"That's why I picked one of the smaller roads," Blade explained. "They don't accept bribes on the superhighway – too many witnesses – but on the less traveled roads..."

"But one grand?" Zach commented, by now finally awake.

Blade shrugged.

"It's easier than to fight our way through," he replied. "Now shut up and help me find a motel."

"How about that one?" Jordane suggested.

"'Reading Inn'?" Blade asked disbelieving. "These people lack imagination."

* * *

Deirdre closed the door and tossed the license plates on the couch.

"I've changed the plates. We can get rid of the old ones tomorrow," she said.

"Great," Ryan commented. He was lying on one of the beds, waiting for the painkillers to kick in and get rid of the headache.

Diana smiled.

"Poor Ryan. Why don't Dre, Ben, and I go for a walk, and you can get some sleep?"

"You don't have to do that," Ryan protested.

"No arguments," Diana said. "I'm your second in command, and I order you to get some rest."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Ryan replied, already half asleep.

Diana put one of the blankets over him, and followed her teammates out of the door.

"What a day," she said and sighed.

Deirdre laughed.

"And with our luck, it isn't over yet."

* * *

"Not the best room I've seen, but it'll have to do," Blade decided.

Jordane and Zach tossed their bags on their respective beds and took a look around. It wasn't a luxurious room, but it did have the basics – beds, bathroom, and a shower.

Jordane sat down heavily on her bed and yawned.

"Tired?" Zach commented.

"Duh," Jordane mumbled. Then she suddenly seemed to remember something.

"What about food? I'm hungry."

Blade snorted.

"You're *always* hungry," he reminded her.

"Can't help it – it's part of my mutation," she replied and tossed with her hair in mock arrogance.

Blade rolled his eyes, and Zach choked a grin. A comfortable silence filled the room, and the three enjoyed their first peaceful moment since they had been attacked.

"...A day," someone said outside their door.

"And with our luck, it isn't over yet," someone laughed.

"What the fuck?!" Zach exclaimed and hurried to the door. "I know those voices – it's the Guardians!"

Blade and Jordane exchanged a look, and followed Zach, their tiredness suddenly forgotten.

* * *

Diana heard the door behind them open, and she turned around.

"Oh, my God," she said.

That got Deirdre and Ben's attention. They turned around, and felt their jaws hit the floor.

"Ryan! RYAN!" Diana shouted. Next to her, Deirdre had already created a globe of light in her hand, while Ben had taken a defensive stance.

Somehow Ryan managed to get out of the bed, and gather enough strength to open the door. He staggered into the hallway...

...And found himself standing face-to-face with Blade.

* * *