A/N 1: Ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, ficlets, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net.

A/N 2: WritingMoose: *grins* Sorry, but Laetitia's death suited the plotline best. And the beginning of the end? Yeah...I think it is.

Ageless: *smirk* Don't worry - me and the muses will talk with Lucian if he has any objections ^^

Italics indicates thoughts/telepathy

'...' indicates Jhonen's use of his powers

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Chapter Sixty-One: Lamentations

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There was a stark moment of silence following Jhonen's words as they tried to comprehend what he'd just said, then-

"Dead?" Hal repeated disbelieving. "But she can't..." The albino trailed off and fell silent, not sure how to continue. One some level, Laetitia had seemed almost immortal - like Blade and Jordane, she seemed to have an uncanny ability to escape situations that no ordinary person could have survived. Much as Hal hated to admit it, the trio was the very foundation of the team, and odd as it sounded, their seeming invulnerability gave the rest of the team a certain confidence - they had survived this long, and they would continue to survive whatever the world decided to throw at them.

But now, with one swift blow, part of that foundation had been crushed, leaving the team far more vulnerable than before. And the remaining two members of the trio...Hal's eyes widened as she realized something.

Laetitia went off to find them...and their two cellmates. If she was with them when it happened...

Hal looked at Ryan, intending to make him aware that this could easily be worse than they'd expected, but Diana had obviously been thinking the very same thing and reached out to touch Ryan's shoulder.

"Ryan...what about Kyle and Suzuka?" she asked quietly.

And suddenly, the grim reality became all too clear - it was no longer a matter of when the remaining four got out of the prison. It was a matter of 'if'.

Ryan didn't reply but closed his eyes; the people that surrounded him temporarily forgotten as he surrendered himself to the whirls of emotions that assaulted his mind. He reached out, letting his mental fingers run through bundles of confusing feeling and memories, searching for that one presence he would recognize anywhere.

Kyle?

There was no reply from the madness around him, and Ryan pushed himself further into the hurricane, forcing himself to resist the increasingly powerful emotions that roared around him, threatening to tear his mind apart.

Kyle? Suzuka!

Still no reply, and the silence was almost as deafening as the chaos around him. He should have been able to sense Kyle, he knew that beyond any doubt. They'd known each other for more than four years...by now, Ryan knew Kyle's mental presence almost as well as he knew his own.

KYLE!

Silence.

He should have been able to sense him...he'd been able to last time Kyle had been unconscious. Kyle's presence had always been out there somewhere, around the edges of his mind, somehow comforting Ryan with the fact that he would never really be alone.

Kyle...Ryan's mental voice tailed off, the sound torn from his lips by madness that surrounded him.

Almost reluctantly Ryan let himself pull back from the hurricane and into the relative safety of the real world. He took a moment to calm his mind, then slowly opened his eyes to face the people around him.

"Ryan?" Deirdre looked at him, silently asking him to take away the fear and uncertainly, and tell them that everything would be all right.

"I can't sense them," Ryan replied quietly, hoping to make the news a little easily to hear. "They could be unconscious, or maybe they're still wearing those collars, but right now I can't sense them. I'm sorry."

"Unconscious?" Deirdre repeated, a hint of desperate hope shining through the words.

"Yeah," Ryan said, bending the truth just a little. He knew he should have been able to sense Kyle even if he'd been unconscious, but...but there could have been other factors involved, couldn't there? The collars, or the prison itself, or something completely different, something which would have forced Kyle out of his reach. They shouldn't give up hope, not now.

Ben sent Ryan a long look, and the telepath focused his attention on the young healer.

Couldn't you sense Kyle the last time he was unconscious? Ben asked silently, worry tainting his thoughts.

Yes...I could, Ryan whispered in reply, and Ben frowned.

But...can't you feel anything? Anything at all? he asked, and like Deirdre he looked to Ryan to make the fear and worry he felt go away.

Only silence...I'm sorry, Ryan replied quietly, and for a brief moment Ben felt the pain and uncertainty that Ryan could not allow himself to show on the outside.

They're alive...they have to be, Ben said with more conviction than he felt, the words meant to reassure Ryan rather than himself. Kyle is too smart to get caught in a situation like that...they both are.

Ryan was silent for a moment, then sighed softly. Thank you.

They both knew that Ben had lied, that there was a real chance that something serious had happened to Kyle and Suzuka, but that small gesture still comforted Ryan more than he'd expected. It felt good to know that even among the chaos, the fighting, and the suffering, Ben's support remained unwavering. No leader could stand alone, and Ben, having watched over Ryan and Kyle for a long time, knew that fact better than anyone.

Ben didn't reply, but just shrugged slightly, almost uncomfortably, and again Ryan got the distinct impression that something that wrong, that something was bothering Ben. His behavior, the slight change in his mental presence...something was definitely wrong, but much as Ryan hated to admit it, now was not the time to worry about it. Getting out of the prison alive had first priority...no matter how much he cared about Ben as a friend and teammate, the safety of the team as a whole came first.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan saw Hal step away from Pheonix, whom she had deliberately stayed near - even to Ryan who barely knew the girl, it was obvious that she'd taken the news of Laetitia's death badly. She didn't react as Hal let go of her, but remained where she was, unmoving and silent.

Hoping to take his mind off the grim situation if only for a moment, Ryan let his eyes trail Hal until she stopped next to Jhonen, and he realized what she was doing. Slowly Ryan headed over to Jhonen as well, taking the chance to check on his teammates on the way. They looked worried, of course - no big surprise - but not to a point where they looked downright sick with worry. Apparently, they had accepted Ryan's explanation as to why he couldn't feel Kyle and Suzuka, and that, at least, was something to be thankful for. The people who seemed to take the news the hardest was Pheonix...and Jhonen.

Hal reached out and touched the boy's shoulder gently, and the faraway look in his eyes disappeared.

"Hal?" he asked, watching her with an almost confused look, and for a moment Ryan saw the innocent, young teenager he'd come to know so well over the past year and a half.

"Can you sense them?" Hal asked softly. She didn't have to elaborate - judging from the look on Jhonen's face, he understood her all too well.

Jhonen frowned, then closed his eyes and felt reality dissolve around him as he returned to the spirit world.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself not on Laetitia's beach, or by the shore of Erik's endless, dark lake. Instead, he found himself in a void-like space - he could feel no ground beneath his feet, or even what was up and down, north and south. No color was to be found, either - it wasn't black or white, or even gray. It wasn't a color as much as a lack of color - like an impenetrable mist it surrounded him, but even though it *seemed* like a fog, he felt no dampness on his skin, no cold touch of ghostly fingers.

Jhonen got the distinct impression of endlessness, and still he couldn't help but feel claustrophobic thanks to the heavy mist-like substance around him. He shivered and closed his eyes briefly, trying to calm down his beating heart. He wanted nothing more than to get far away from that unnerving place, but he had a job to do first.

'Suzuka?' he asked the nothingness, desperately hoping that he wouldn't get a reply. 'Suzuka!'

Only silence greeted him, and somehow it comforted Jhonen. Of the four, Suzuka was probably the person that he knew the best...that, and she was also the one with the strongest feelings towards him. That would make her the person most likely to hear his call, even if the emotion she felt was nothing but pure hatred. If she didn't reply, there was a fair chance that she was still alive...and along with her, Kyle, Blade, and Jordane.

'Suzuka!'

Still only silence, and Jhonen turned his head, but saw nothing but more of the unnerving ghostly nothingness. Maybe they were still alive. Maybe they'd only lost one teammate today.

'Laetitia...' he whispered, and for a moment he felt the caress of warm, gentle fingers on his cheek, followed by the scent of her hair. Then the moment had passed, and Jhonen fought back the tears that threatened to fall.

Resolutely he focused on the nothingness again, concentrating on his memories of the four missing mutants. Tears were for the weak...Laetitia had never cried, and neither would he.

'Kyle?'

Silence, and Jhonen spun around, searching for any movement, any sounds, anything at all.

'Blade? Jordane?'

As before, there was no reply, and with relief flooding his senses, Jhonen finally allowed himself to leave the claustrophobic nothingness. He felt the ground return beneath his feet, followed by the welcome feeling of gravity, and he slowly opened his eyes, thankful to back in the real world.

"Jhonen?" Hal asked, waiting concerned for the result of his brief foray into the spirit world.

"I couldn't sense them," Jhonen replied. "I tried to focus on them, but there was only nothingness."

Hal nodded, and a bit of the weight seemed to fall off her shoulders. Ryan hadn't been able to sense them...but then again, neither had Jhonen. Maybe there was still hope after all.

Now the question was what to do. They couldn't stay - they'd remained there for too long already. If they stayed, it was only a matter of time before they were captured again. It was really a matter of the needs of the many, wasn't it? Hal wondered. The safety of the people around her, or the possible escape of four people whose current situation and condition was unknown.

She felt Ryan move next to her, and sighed softly.

"We can't stay," she said quietly, the words paining her more than she'd thought possible.

"No," Ryan replied, his voice equally quiet. They both know what was at stake - they both had a team to worry about, and two teammates who could very well be dead or re-captured. They didn't want to leave or to leave anyone behind, but they also knew that they didn't have a choice. It was a matter of survival, it was that simple. This was what the books and movies never dealt with - the painfully decisions any leader would have to make. The lives of the many...or the death of them all.

Ryan sighed and made his choice.

"Deirdre...did you manage to get the van working?" he asked, and Deirdre nodded slowly, almost afraid of what she knew would follow.

"Good," Ryan replied, and slowly made his way towards the vehicles.

"Wait...what are you doing?" Diana asked, reaching out to capture Ryan's hand with her own. Ryan sent her a regretful look and kissed her hand gently, unconsciously asking her to make the pain and guilt go away.

"Hal?" This time it was Aaron, watching his teammate carefully with his snake-like, blue eyes.

Hal looked away for a moment, looking for the strength to go through with the decision.

"Just get into the vans," she finally said. "We're leaving."

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