ELEMENTAL CHILD
Chapter 3
"What?" Brennan exclaimed. His eyes skittered sideways, glancing at Ashley's abdomen. "That's not possible! I never--"
Eckhart took an interested step closer, cocking his head a little sideways. "Never--what?" he prodded.
Brennan swallowed the rest of his words, his mind racing to process the latest information. "Never--nothing," he muttered. "I'm just shocked, that's all." He again looked at Ashley. Was it another scheme to get him to cooperate? Was Eckhart telling the truth? Ashley's face gave him no clue.
"Hmm." Eckhart stared hard at Brennan for a long time, impassive eyes boring into the mutant. When Brennan provided no further information he turned away. "I'll be back later. I'm sure you and Miss Elliott have a lot to discuss."
Brennan waited until the door had closed behind Eckhart. Then he whirled around, eyes flashing at Ashley. He needed her to say it out loud.
She took one look at him, and nodded.
"It's true," she admitted softly, staring at the floor. "You are the baby's father. When I absorbed you-- Well, apparently a tiny bit remained behind after your friends... extracted you."
In a flash, he understood. Nine months ago, she hijacked his power, and absorbed him completely. That's when it must have happened. Although Brennan had no idea how it could have. The good news was that, though Eckhart found out about Brennan's paternity before he did himself, the creep apparently didn't realize that he had a miraculous conception on his hands. And anything Eckhart didn't know couldn't hurt Brennan, or Ashley. Or their child, Brennan's mind added.
Brennan took a deep breath, suddenly finding his lungs needed more air. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged a gesture around the room. "Careful what you say."
"You're worried about bugs? Don't be." Ashley patted her stomach with a gentle hand. "Junior here will take care of it. He, or she, wreaks havoc with electronics."
"Right."
She gave him a wry smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't mean for any of it to happen."
Brennan's expression softened. "Why didn't you contact me? Tell me?"
Ashley shrugged and shifted awkwardly, trying to find a more comfortable position in the hard chair. Brennan sat on the floor, crossing his legs in front of him. "After what I did--I thought you'd hate me," she said. "Besides, it's my problem. I didn't want to bother you."
"It's my baby too," Brennan chided her. He couldn't bring himself to be angry with her. Perhaps a little upset for not telling him, but not angry.
It was a unique situation. Brennan hadn't had any active part in the conception of this child. Still, he realized he already felt the genetic pull of his unborn offspring. It was like... He searched his brain for a comparison. The closest he could think of was the pull of lightning he sometimes felt when thunderstorms brewed. He wondered if it was a mutant thing, or if ordinary fathers also felt such a connection with their children.
Brennan found he couldn't keep his eyes off Ashley's abdomen. "How much longer?"
"Not much." Ashley shifted again, grimacing.
Brennan jumped back to his feet, suddenly nervous. "We have to get out of here," he muttered, prodding the invisible shield that held him captive as securely as thick walls of concrete would have done. Better, even. At least concrete walls would have had a lock that he could either pick or blow up. "I don't want Eckhart to get hold of our child."
"The shield is too strong," Ashley replied wearily. "Don't you think I tried? I used all my power, and that of the baby. Couldn't even get it to flicker."
"Then we need help." Brennan lifted his ringed hand to his mouth, only to realize that between the force field and his child's disruptive power, he was effectively incommunicado as far as Mutant X was concerned.
"Damn it!"
* * *
"Adam?"
"I'm listening."
At the sound of Jesse's voice coming in over the com-link, Emma perked up from the chair she sat slumped in. Her head still hurt, although the headache was gradually fading until only a dull throb in her left temple remained. She had refused, however, to go lie down when Brennan, Jesse and Shalimar left by car to rescue Ashley from Eckhart's hands.
"Brennan's gone."
"What?" Adam glanced at Emma, concern marring his brow.
Emma walked over, a confused frown wrinkling her own forehead.
"Brennan's missing. Vanished. One minute he was there, the next he was gone. Found the car keys, though. He must have dropped them." Emma recognized a slight note of desperation in Jesse's tone; he sounded as if he hoped Adam would tell him Brennan was right beside him, at the Sanctuary. He knew better, Emma knew.
"Do you think the GSA got him?"
"It certainly has their scent all over it," Shalimar growled, joining the conversation over a second link.
Adam pondered for a long second. Emma held her breath.
"I want you both back here," Adam said at last. "If the GSA is taking you out one by one, it's too dangerous. We need to reevaluate our tactics."
"No!" Emma cried. "Adam, they targeted Brennan for a reason. We have to get them out of there, both him and Ashley."
"Jesse, Shalimar, hold on." Adam turned to face Emma. "What do you know that you're not telling us? Emma, this is important."
"I know." She hesitated. "Brennan's the father of Ashley's baby," she said softly. "I sensed it. That's why I know exactly where she is. It's Brennan's... let's say essence, within the baby that I can hone in on. I'm sorry I didn't say anything before. Ashley made me promise not to tell."
"I see." Adam rubbed his face. "How-- Wait, because she absorbed him?"
Emma nodded.
"Shalimar, Jesse, lay low. Emma and I are on our way."
* * *
Nobody noticed when Adam suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the parking lot outside the Genomex complex. He looked around for a moment and raised his right hand to his face. He spoke a few words, softly.
Shalimar and Jesse materialized from the brush dividing the parking lot from the main road.
Shalimar smirked at Adam. "That's pretty freaky," she said with a nod to the invisible door he had stepped through.
"Any news?" he asked.
"Nope." Jesse shrugged. "Nothing happened. No sign of Brennan, nobody looking for us."
"We better get him and Ashley out of there stat. Shalimar, please lead the way?"
The blond grinned in anticipation. "Be happy too."
Jesse exchanged an amused look with Adam. There was nothing the feral liked better than a good brawl with some GS agents.
The doors slid easily aside upon their approach and they marched into the building. A security guard carrying a clipboard ran up to them.
"Hey! You can't just walk in here. You need to sign in f--Oomph." A jab to his stomach sent the air from his lungs. He bent forward in agony, and a raised knee connected with his chin. The man crumpled to the floor without any further sound. Shalimar looked slightly disappointed.
The man's shout, however, had alerted other guards patrolling the hallways. They came running, their boots pounding the concrete floor. Shalimar dashed ahead of Jesse and Adam, a flurry of kicks and jabs and high jumps. Gray-uniformed guards were flying every which way, arms and legs milling. Just as Jesse was about to complain that Shalimar should leave some for him, she ran up the wall, passed several open-mouthed men and landed behind them.
"That's better," Jesse muttered as the guards in front now turned their attention to him and Adam.
It was over in moments. Gray-clad figures lay sprawled along the length of the hallway. Jesse's cheek throbbed. One moment of inattention had given a security guard an opening, and the guy had dealt him a good blow.
"Now, let's get Brennan," Adam panted. He limped a little; a steel-tipped boot had connected with his knee.
"You and Jesse go," Shalimar suggested She hadn't even broken a sweat. "I'll keep watch."
"All right." Adam pointed at the door farthest down the hallway. "Emma said they should be in there."
Jesse raced into the room, ready to pommel any security guard he might encounter. There were none. He quickly took in the layout of the room. To the right, several computer terminals were lined up against the wall. Their screens were glowing with scrolling numbers, and the cooling fans hummed softly. Brennan and Ashley were on Jesse's left. Ashley sat on a chair and Brennan on the floor, his back resting against the wall. Jesse dashed in their direction.
"Hey, here's the caval--Ow!" He slammed into an invisible wall, which stopped his progress abruptly. Suddenly blocked in its advance, the energy of Jesse's forward motion translated itself into another direction, propelling him back with such force that he lost his balance and landed on his butt.
Brennan grinned. "If you hadn't been in such a hurry, I could have warned you. Glad to see you, though, Jess."
Jesse picked himself up from the floor, wincing. "That hurt!"
Adam followed Jesse into the room at a more moderate pace. He crossed to the bank of computers, and began studying the data scrolling across the screens. He whistled softly. "That's a pretty strong force field."
"Tell me about it," Jesse muttered.
Brennan's grin widened. "Needed to control a pretty special baby."
Jesse rubbed his behind but couldn't help himself smirking back at Brennan. "Spoken like a true daddy."
He was satisfied to see Brennan blink. "How did you know?"
"Emma." Jesse went to stand beside Adam. He peered past the other man's shoulder. "Can you take it down?"
"Sure." Adam pulled over a seat, settled himself, and started hitting keys on one of the keyboards. "Just give me a minute."
Assured that Adam knew what he was doing, Jesse turned back to the two new mutants incarcerated behind the invisible field. It was strange. To all appearances, they should be able to walk right up and out of the room. But the rather painful encounter with the force field had taught him that looks could be deceiving. Until Adam shut off the field, walking away wasn't an option.
Brennan was staring at Ashley. "Emma knew? You told Emma, but not me?"
Ashley shook her head. "I didn't tell her. She knew, almost as soon as we met, earlier. I made her promise not to tell until I could tell you myself." She smiled tiredly, but the smile faded as a shudder ran through her body and she whimpered in pain, clutching a hand around her belly. Jesse took a step forward, stopping short when the simmering field caused the hair on his arms to stand on end.
"Ashley?" Brennan's irritation was gone and he rushed to the girl's side. "Are you all right?"
"No," she gasped. "I'm having a baby."
"Yes, of course you are, but-- You mean, now?" The last word came out a little bit of a squeak, Jesse noted with absent amusement.
"Yes." Ashley took a deep breath and straightened. "Now."
"Adam!" Brennan pleaded with the older man. "Now would be a good time to shut down that damn force field."
"Right." Adam glanced over his shoulder and gave them an encouraging smile before he returned to pressing keys and entering commands. "Done."
Nothing changed in the room for a long second. Then Jesse sensed the field going down. The lights flickered; the computer screens blanked out one by one, streamers of smoke wafting up from burnt-out monitors. "I'd say it worked," Jesse remarked dryly. "That's one powerful mutant baby."
With Brennan on the right, arm slung around Ashley's waist, and her left hand draped across Jesse's shoulders, they helped her follow Adam out of the room. In the hallway, the uniformed guards he and Shalimar had strewn in motionless heaps across the floor were still out, Jesse noted with satisfaction. "Careful." He gestured for Ashley to step over a still form that blocked the doorway.
"Nice job," Brennan commented.
"Thank you." Shalimar appeared from the shadows. "All clear," she told Adam. "Guess the alarm system is on the fritz, too."
TBC