+ Month 9

"Well, good people, things are really shaking upstairs," Proxy Blue told her viewers. "Martial law is still in place, but the White House and Senate restructuring that's being going on since the destruction of what has commonly been dubbed the Inner Circle has ensured that all laws invoked since the beginning have been revoked. And the President today read out the Constitution across the major networks in a bid assure the people that proper democratic process was being put back in place, that mutants have the same rights as humans.

"Nicely naïve and what the people want to hear, but I think we all know it's not going work out like that; ingrained prejudices and fear of the unknown will prevent it, but we're headed in the right direction. One at a time, and under controlled conditions, the mutant slave workers are being released from various industrial encampments, and elementals are being asked to volunteer their services to help keep generators going while repairs are made as fast as possible in order to release those still in enforced service.

"And talking of the Inner Circle fiasco, it's been confirmed that although injuries were minor, there were five mutant bodies discovered. The Mayor was quick to pledge support from both humans and mutants to the families of the deceased.

"Anyone ever wonder what Genomex and LexMor are up to these days? They used to be rival companies, both dedicated toward genetic research, but now come under the same CEO, a renowned geneticist in his own right. Could make interesting reading. Keep 'em coming kids, it's all good stuff!"

*****

All of them were quiet and introspective, each with their own problems, any bond between them seemingly shattered in the aftermath of the Inner Circle's demise. It wasn't supposed to have gone down like that, and Brennan wandered the streets as he tried to deal with his guilt.

He'd meant for his little spark to short-circuit some hardware, never expecting it to feedback and nuke his SGFlex.

Because of him, five women were dead, Shalimar was killing herself with guilt over Jesse and Dale just seemed lost. And Adam was holed up in Genomex, inventing ways to kill mutants.

"Hey, penny for them!" a familiar voice called from above. Brennan looked up and Kathy dropped to the ground from the fire escape. "You don't hold a grudge do you?" she asked, her smile sly.

In a flash he had her up against the wall, fighting to keep his temper in check as he came close to throttling her. "Do you have any fucking idea what you put me through? Even one tiny clue how many people have died, or suffered because of you?"

Kathy squirmed and tried to reply, but her air was almost entirely blocked. Brennan kept her there for a second, then dropped her.

She rubbed her throat and stood shakily. "Guess I deserved that, huh?" she croaked. "I'm sorry you suffered, Brennan, we had good times. And I'm sorry about the people who lost out over the Underground. But I'm not sorry for being who I am. It's all about wealth, and we got it. Your team of thieves remember? We're going strong. Help one side, help the other, make a little money here and there. Just like we did when we helped out your techno-geek friend."

"And that's meant to make it all better?" Brennan asked bitterly. "Propagating the war? And playing both sides against the middle, I'd bet too."

Kathy shrugged. "Thought it might help."

"You. Might help you. It doesn't help me. Now just fuck off, and if I ever see you again, I will kill you." His temper was on a very short fuse, and in his eyes she was a traitor and a murderer.

"Hey, you might think you're a hero, but you're really still just a glorified criminal," she taunted. In another life, he might have wondered just what she was trying to accomplish. In this life, however, he had too much pressure built up inside him. "I can still have you arrested for a whole host of thievery, you know," she continued, and he stopped hearing the words as a red haze come over him and he just cut loose.

He didn't aim especially well, but he heard her scream as she went flying back down the alley. She might've died or she might've just been stunned. He didn't care, and walked away.

*****

Shalimar's guilt had temporarily been assuaged by Eckhart and Lena's discovery that both Emma and Jesse were both alive and with Adam at Genomex.

Paulo was spending more and more time with Charlotte, his men finding interests elsewhere, and Brennan seemed to prefer his own company, leaving her with Dale who didn't seem to know what to do with hirself.

The shape shifter couldn't seem to settle on one body to wear, constantly changing. It seemed that s/he'd been captive virtually hir whole life one way or another, constantly being told who to be, and now that s/he was free of Path's influence, s/he didn't know what to do.

Spending time with the shifter slowly brought the feral's compassionate nature back to the fore as she helped the other form the beginnings of an identity for hirself. S/he'd thought hirself female at first, and had started off borrowing Shalimar's body, with her permission this time. But they then decided that that was because s/he'd had more practice at being female. In the end, like working their way through an entire wardrobe, Dale settled on a boy in his late teens, about hir own age. Based on someone he'd seen in the street, they'd spent hours in front of the mirror as he changed his hair and eye colour, altered the shape of his nose slightly and straightened the teeth, before he was happy.

"And now you're unique two ways, which is more than most of us," Shalimar told him after they'd dressed him in some of Paulo's men's clothes.

"Two ways?" Dale asked.

"Sure. You get your mutant side, and you also got your own human side. You just gotta work on being your own man." She was taken by surprise when the boy threw himself at her, enveloping her in a huge hug.

But after hesitating, she returned it, expecting to see the blood crawling up her arms.  But it didn't, so she hugged him harder.

*****

When Eckhart was satisfied that his team had pulled themselves back together sufficiently enough to function, he sent an ultimatum to Adam.

He would get Genomex back.

And he didn't want it destroyed, so he invited Adam to face him on the top of the old Weisengard building. Big and abandoned, in the middle of nowhere, no fear that any fallout might instigate anti-mutant feelings.

*****

Jesse spent his spare time working out. He didn't remember anything from the last few months, his last clear memory being of standing in Senator Langley's hallway dripping mud and dirt.

He remembered the mines, but didn't remember much about the interrogation before that. He'd thought Adam had been there, but then again he'd thought his long-deceased mother had been there too. It felt odd that home was Genomex for the time being, but with Adam working in a lab and Emma meditating in a room she'd decorated with flowers, he could kind of settle here.

He was well aware of the need to get Shalimar and Brennan out from Eckhart's influence, and Adam promised him that day would come and soon. When they were back to par. The SGFlex that had kept his powers dormant had been removed, and Jesse never realised that he'd ever miss his powers so much. It felt good to be able to move where he wanted, or protect himself and others from harm.

But he felt constantly filthy. Not the filth of good honest dirt, but the filth of violation.

Emma had told him that, in the time he couldn't remember, he'd been violated repeatedly. And not to worry about it unduly, that it would come back to him to deal as and when he was ready. She'd always been spot on in the past so he didn't argue, just maybe took the odd shower or three more then necessary.

Emma had been his biggest worry. For days after they'd come here, she'd been wracked with chills and fever. Adam just said it was a withdrawal from the psionic group, that she needed to cold turkey. It had turned out that Adam was right, as per usual, but that didn't stop Jesse from hating that the older man couldn't or wouldn't help her.

He was the one holding her while she shook herself apart, or keeping her clean while she puked violently into the toilet, and he was the one mopping her brow when the sweat was running off her in rivers. And that was just the physical side. Her nightmares implied that whatever was happening in her head was far, far worse.

Nursemaid was not something he was good at and, while he worried over Emma, he also resented that no one more, uh, qualified, was willing to help out. Especially as there was another patient. Emma had told him that Cyber was a good friend to them both. He didn't remember the kid, though, and to be honest she was just a little strange.

Same as Emma, she went through withdrawal, but hers was much shorter and milder, and as soon as she was up and about, she was never more than a couple of feet away from Jesse. Which was cute. And annoying. Especially as Cyber never, ever said a word. But then again, for the longest time, the kid was his only real lucid company.

The rest of the staff here looked like they thought he was going to suck their brains out, Emma was just vacant a lot of the time and Adam was closeted up in his lab.

On top of that, Adam had warned him off the PC's. He balked initially, but Adam had explained that too much of his time over the last few months had been spent in VR and he needed to get rid of the light sensitivity he'd developed, as well retrain muscles and practice his fighting and power related skills. Added to that the fact that their two resident psionics were both suffering from overload, it would be a really bad idea to let Cyber anywhere near a PC for her own good.

That had worked for a while, but he was back to par and Emma could look after Cyber. Except that Emma kept losing the kid who always turned up just as he was about to log in somewhere. Aggravating and frustrating, and Jesse just wanted to get out here and kick ass.

*****

Adam was confusing himself. He quite honestly didn't know what he wanted anymore. He had to eradicate his mistakes, make sure no more mutants were born or developed, but the destruction of the Psionic Circle had made him realise that he didn't actually hate mutants. Quite frankly, he was indifferent to most. But the seven in the Circle he'd come to know somewhat. Especially Path and Kin, and Em who he already knew.

So when he'd met Emma and Cyber in the stairwell, he'd felt the urge to get them to safety. Jesse too, to a lesser extent. And when they'd died, he'd known. Not like Emma and Cyber had.  But like he'd lost some good friends.

And now he found that he remembered that he actually liked Jesse and Emma; even the child was endearing.

Jesse didn't seem to be able to recall anything, so he'd spoken with Emma and they'd agreed that it was best to keep him away from computers and foreign psionics, and preferably sharp objects, until they knew whether the memories were likely to come back again.

Emma herself was cold towards him, and he was well aware that she bore a passionate hatred for him, but that she needed the Sanctuary he had to offer. She'd agreed to a truce between them until such time as she was recovered and they had Shalimar back from Eckhart's clutches. It was interesting to note that she didn't mention Brennan, and Adam filed that away for another time.

When Adam received Eckhart's ultimatum, he realised that if he didn't take it up then Eckhart would try and take Genomex by force. But if he did take it up, then at least the prize would be intact for the victor, and he'd be left alone to do what he needed to do.

*****