ELEMENTAL CHILD
Chapter 4
Shalimar was right. No sirens blared. No security guards or GS agents came running down the hallways to stop them. They encountered nobody while they hurriedly made their way across the Genomex compound. At last they passed through a pair of double doors, their automatic systems conveniently locked in the open position. The moment they cleared the doorway, the Double Helix appeared as if by magic in the parking lot, sparkling in the sunshine.
"We need to get Ashley to a hospital, Adam," Brennan urged.
"No! No hospital." Ashley fought down another contraction and she sounded a bit breathless. "Can't. Baby'll blow up all the machinery." She noticed the Helix. "And I can't go in that either!" Her voice began to take on a note of panic.
"Stay calm," Adam suggested. "Emma?"
"Yes, Adam?" Her voice came over the link.
"Can you come out here a moment and give us a hand?"
"Sure." An instant later the Double Helix opened its maw and Emma stepped out. She only needed one look at Ashley to realize what Adam wanted her to do. Her eyelids closed for a moment and when they opened again, they held an intense fire. Emma took Ashley's hand, staring hard at her. Slowly, Ashley's drawn features softened and her breathing eased a little.
"We should be all right now," Emma told Adam. "The baby's calmed down."
"You better stay near," Shalimar said while Adam ushered everyone inside the Double Helix. "Crashing now would be a very bad idea."
Emma laughed. "Isn't it always? Don't worry, Shal. I got it."
* * *
"Hello! We need some help here." Shalimar raced ahead, drawing everyone's attention. "Pregnant lady needs a doctor."
Brennan strode on Shalimar's heels, carrying a moaning Ashley in his arms. Emma struggled to keep up with Brennan's much larger strides. Adam and Jesse closed the line.
One of the emergency room nurses took one look at Ashley's belly and her pale, sweaty face, and gestured for Brennan to put the patient down on a stretcher.
"What's your name, honey?"
"Ashley," Ashley grunted. Her face twisted when another contraction hit her.
An aide approached at another wave of the nurse's hand and took hold of the gurney. "We'll take it from here," the nurse assured them. "Don't worry." She glanced at Brennan. "Are you the father?"
"Uhm... yeah. Yes, I am."
"Good. You come along. The others wait here. And I need someone to go to the desk and fill out the admission forms."
"I'll handle that," Adam said. He patted Brennan's shoulder. "You go ahead."
"I have to go too." Emma wormed her way in between the nurse, the aide and Brennan. Ashley reached for her, grabbing her hand. She squeezed it tight.
"Miss, you can't--"
"She comes with us," Ashley growled before growing rigid and letting out a loud moan through clamped teeth.
The nurse took a long look at Emma, then shrugged. "Okay."
She pressed the button to call for the elevator and as soon as it arrived, the aide wheeled the stretcher in. "Call O and G," the nurse ordered as the doors closed. "Tell them we need a labor cubicle prepped right away."
The maternity wing presented an oasis of peace after the hectic emergency room. A male doctor was waiting for them at the elevator, alerted to their arrival by the ER staff. "In here," he ordered, pointing his finger at a wide door.
While nurses and the doctor bustled about, Emma drew over a stool and sat down beside Ashley. She made sure she wasn't in anyone's way, all the while holding the other woman's hand in hers. Brennan began pacing at the foot of the bed but withdrew to the far corner after another long, pain-filled cry wrenched from Ashley's throat.
The doctor took his position near the foot of the bed. "You're doing great, Ashley. It's almost over."
Emma glanced at Brennan, giggling at the paleness of his skin and the consternation etched in his features. "Bren? You all right?" She knew she was being unfair but couldn't help feel a twinge of malicious pleasure at the sight of such a manly man frightened half out of wits when faced with the prospect of having to watch a woman give birth.
He met her eyes, looking wild. "Not... really."
Emma's momentary amusement faded. "Maybe you should wait outside," she suggested. "I can handle two, but I can't handle three." She knew it was safe to say such a thing. The nurses and doctor were far too busy to pay them any attention, and besides, they would have no clue what she was talking about.
"Uhm... yeah." Brennan fled into the hallway.
Emma returned her attention to the woman in the bed, and the baby in her belly, preparing itself to be born and to greet the world. Ashley was calmer now that she was in good hands and Emma soothed the baby's fears so it wouldn't destroy the medical equipment. The baby, although agitated and frightened at having to leave the safety of its mother's womb, allowed itself to be placated. And so everyone could concentrate on the business at hand: the small miracle of helping a new life into the world.
* * *
Brennan paced the hallway outside the room. Three steps up, turn, three steps down, turn, three steps up. He never strayed far from the room in which Ashley labored, his ears tuned to the slightest noise coming through the door. The sounds didn't tell him much; all he could discern were the encouraging murmurs of the doctor and nurses, broken by an occasional pained cry from Ashley.
It was quiet in the maternity wing. Peaceful. Every once in a while, a nurse walked by, sometimes cradling a mewling bundle wrapped in a blanket. Several cubicles further down the hallway, another man mimicked Brennan's pacing. Back and forth, forth and back. Another expectant father, a part of Brennan's mind whispered evilly.
He wondered what he was supposed to do. He felt numb. Rationally, he was aware that the news had not quite sunk in yet. But damn, he was going to be a father! Thoughts kept whirling in his head; about the baby, Ashley, what was expected from him, what he wanted himself.
Concerned, he wondered if Ashley would expect him to marry her. No, he decided after some long minutes of agonized contemplating. If that were the case, she would have come to him sooner. In fact, if the baby hadn't caused her such trouble in the hospital the first time she tried to get help, she might not have come at all. And he would have never known.
That prospect horrified Brennan almost as much as the idea of marriage. He had never thought much about raising a family before. First, because he was too busy surviving as a crook. Then, the life style of a Mutant X team member didn't quite agree with family life either. But now, now that becoming a father was a matter of minutes --how many hours had passed since Ashley disappeared into that room anyway?-- he found himself strangely excited at having participated in creating a new life. Although, he mused, I haven't really done anything!
One thing was for sure: even if he couldn't be held responsible for this child's existence, it was his. It carried his genes as well as Ashley's. And he would be damned if he'd let a child of his grow up the way he had himself: fatherless; never knowing who his dad was, or what he was like.
Taking another turn, Brennan made a decision. He wanted to be a part of this child's life. He wouldn't desert it, like his old man had done to him. He would be there for his baby and for its mother if she needed him. They would find a workable arrangement.
Feeling better once his mind was made up, he began to worry what was taking them so long. Was everything going all right in that room? Sometimes, he longed to possess Emma's power. What he wouldn't give to be able to scan Ashley's or the doctor's mind to find out what was going on. He dreaded going back inside, afraid of what he would find.
He stopped his pacing, standing in front of the door, wondering what to do. Go in? Put his ear against the door? He wished someone were here with him, Shalimar or Adam. Or even Jesse, whose jokes might have distracted him.
Brennan was spared having to make a decision. The door inched open and one of the neonatal nurses peered out. Behind her, he could make out shadows moving. And--
A thin yet powerful wail rose from the room. Brennan's eyes widened. Was that--?
"Congratulations, Mr...."
"Mulwray," he replied absently, trying to peer past the nurse.
"Mr. Mulwray. You have a daughter. Why don't you come say hello to her?"
* * *
As soon as the doctor gave the okay, the team whisked Ashley and the newborn baby away to the Sanctuary. If was safe to assume that Mason Eckhart and his GSA were still very interested in getting their hands on the child, and every minute in the hospital the new mutants were at risk of discovery, with all the nasty consequences.
The flight to Stormking Mountain didn't last long. As soon as they arrived, Ashley was escorted to one of the guestrooms, where she could rest and recover. Emma never strayed far from her and the baby's side, although the little girl was much calmer now that she had managed to make her way into the world.
"What am I going to do with her when you're no longer around?" Ashley asked Emma, casting an adoring and worried glance down at the little girl in her arms. "She's gonna wreck everything."
"We'll implant her with this."
"What's that?" Brennan tore himself away from his new pastime of gazing at his daughter to see Adam holding a shiny, silver disc the size of a dime in his fingers.
"Subdermal governor," Adam explained. "That will suppress her gift until she's old enough to learn to control it."
"Subdermal governor? Are you insane? No!" Brennan firmly positioned himself between Adam, and the woman and child on the bed. "You're not giving my daughter one of those things!" He folded his arms and squared his shoulders.
Adam smiled his special smile, the smile that said he knew something you didn't. "Brennan, this is a moderated version. It's not harmful to her in any way, it doesn't hurt. It will just make sure she can't use her powers until she grows up a little. It'll dissolve by itself over time as she slowly learns to control her abilities."
Brennan grunted. He looked hard at Adam, unwavering, until he finally stepped aside to let Adam near his daughter.
"Have you thought of a name?" Brennan asked Ashley ten minutes later, once everyone else had filed out of the room and they were alone.
"I thought you might want to decide." She brushed a finger along the baby's cheek. A tiny muscle in the child's face twitched but she never woke. "Do you?" She peered up at Brennan.
He met her eyes. "Alice," he said. "After my mother."
Ashley smiled. "Then Alice it is."
--END--
Disclaimer: this story is based on the Tribune Entertainment/Marvel Studios/Fireworks Entertainment series Mutant X. All characters belong to their original creators. The story was written for entertainment only and no copyright infringement was intended.