THICKER THAN WATER
Chapter 5: Betrayed or Manipulated?
Jesse sat in front of the computer watching Proxy Blue. Adam was in his lab, reading and comparing notes. Emma and Brennan were training.
Dylan was outside sitting beneath a tree when Shalimar found her. "Hey there."
The girl smiled. "I'd forgotten how beautiful it is outside." She closed her eyes as a soft gust of wind swept through her blonde hair.
Shalimar looked up at the overcast sky and smiled again. Six years indoors sure changes your perspective on things, she thought. Out loud she said, "It's a lot nicer when the sun's out."
Dylan opened her eyes. "The sun? What's that?"
She seated herself beside the girl. "It's this big, round ball of light up in the sky," the feral explained with a wink.
"I think I might actually remember something like that." Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to come off sounding like I'm looking for sympathy."
"You've been locked away in a dungeon for so long." Shalimar leveled with her.
Dylan plucked a blade of grass, held it between her finger and thumb, and simply stared at it.
Jesse spotted the pair under the tree, and approached them. "'Mornin',"
"Afternoon," Shalimar corrected.
He looked at his watch. "Barely," he smiled at Dylan. "Sleep well?" She shrugged. "Yeah, Adam told me." She shrugged again, releasing the grass to the wind.
"I think I'll leave you two alone." Shalimar winked at Jesse as she got up.
He took her place beside Dylan. "So," he fumbled for a topic. "Uh…"
"You were making waffles," she said.
He raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What?"
Dylan giggled. "In my dream. You were making waffles. And you were wearing one of those hats—you know, one of those, like, triangle-type hats?"
Jesse nodded. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But why waffles?"
She shrugged. "That I couldn't tell ya."
A Genomex helicopter passed overhead. Jesse jumped to his feet. "I think we'd better go inside now, Dyl." He held out his hand to her, but kept his eyes on the sky, incase another—or the same one—passed over them again. He noticed that she had not moved, and looked down at her. "Dyl?" She raised terrified eyes at him. "Don't worry they didn't see us. Come on," he urged gently.
She nodded, taking his hand. They ran back to the compound. Once inside, Jesse spoke into his ring, "Guys, tell me that chopper just kept on going." No response. Dylan gripped his hand tighter, and with both hands. "Adam? Shalimar? Emma? Brennan?"
Dylan scanned the hallway in front and behind them. A screen in the wall showed a layout of the building. A red light flashed in the upper left hand corner. Where in the place it designated specifically, she had no idea, but flashing red lights were never good. "Jesse," she pointed to the screen.
His jaw dropped open at the sight. "Somehow someone broke in." he explained in amazement. "But on one knows we're here. No one – " he turned his head, his expression a mix of uncertainty and accusation.
Dylan shook her head emphatically. "I didn't - I wouldn't –"
Jesse took her hand again. "We have to find the others."
She nodded in agreement, following him down the hall. They made their way cautiously to the hangar. Jesse's plan was to use the Double Helix to escape. If the others were not answering their rings, then it was likely they had already been caught. Dylan didn't day a word as they traveled the compound.
Gunfire erupted behind them. Jesse pulled Dylan around in front of him. "Run!" he ordered, willing his body to impenetrable solidity.
Dylan almost couldn't stop as she reached for the doorknob. It wouldn't turn. She turned to Jesse for instructions, a key, a code, anything.
"Left! Go Left!"
They raced down the next hallway, until they entered into the main room, where Dylan had spent the night on the couch. Unfortunately, they were not the only ones present.
Mason Eckhart stood at the head of eight GS agents, a malicious glint in his eyes. Dylan froze, her whole body feeling suddenly very weak and jelly-like.
"Get them," Eckhart ordered simply.
Two men on each side of him moved confidently forward, advancing on their cornered prey. The two shooters blocked the way Dylan and Jesse had come.
"Stay close to me," Jesse told Dylan.
Dylan addressed Eckhart, "How did you find me?"
He sneered, "Why, my Dear, you have a tracking device grafted to your shoulder blade. Have for some time, in fact."
One of the agents made ready the subdermal governor.
"Where's Adam and the others?"
"They will be joining us shortly." Jesse punched an agent that got too close. "Mr. Kilmartin, please don't make this more difficult than it has to be."
"If you leave them alone I'll come with you willingly," Dylan said quickly, sensing the tension in the room.
Eckhart sneered at the compromise. "I'm afraid no such offer will be sufficient. I have great plans for your brother and his companions.
Dylan shot a worried glance over her shoulder at Jesse. He was poised for the oncoming attack. So were the GS agents. She turned back to Eckhart. "Mason, please—"
"No such
luck, my Dear."
The agents attacked Jesse at
once. The man holding the subdermal
governor held back, waiting for the subject to be subdued so the device could
be administered to the new mutant's neck.
Six more agents entered the room, a new mutant between pairs. Eckhart smiled; Shalimar, Brennan, and Emma each barely clung to consciousness.
Shalimar forced her head to move. "Jesse?"
Her call broke his concentration. "Shalimar?" He looked away from the fray briefly. "Oh my—"
It was just the right distraction for the man with the subdermal governor. Dylan tried to stop him, but he knocked her aside easily, then shot the small electronic device into the back of Jesse's neck.
The five agents Jesse had been defeating now punched and kicked him since he was no longer capable of using his new mutant abilities. Eventually he caved to his knees, and two agents took him by the arms.
"Excellent work, all of you." Eckhart praised his agents' efforts. "But where is Adam?"
Three more agents came in behind Dylan, and threw Adam to the cold marble floor. His hands were bound behind his back. Blood seeped out of a deep gash in his forehead where he must have hit the corner of a table, and also trickled out his nose.
Tears stung Dylan's eyes. This was her fault; the GSA had found Adam's Sanctuary because of her. "Adam," she croaked.
He turned his head, and looked up at her, but his eyes held no anger or accusation. Instead they harboured a deep sadness—that same sadness she had seen when she had first arrived. He knew that once again he was going to lose his sister to the one man he despised.
"Wonderful!" Eckhart beamed. And that was rare.
The man with the subdermal governor took hold of Dylan, ready to place one in the back of her neck.
"That's not necessary, Jonestin. Her abilities are non-threatening," Eckhart informed the other man.
Jonestin handed the device off, but kept his grip around Dylan's waist. Adam forced his battered body to get up. He made it to his knees. "Let her go," he ordered, still hoping to stand.
"My my my, aren't we the protective one. Granted, you haven't seen your sister in, what six, seven years? How do you know this isn't exactly how we arranged this little operation? After all, I have been her only family since you abandoned her to my care." Eckhart rubbed salt in the wound. Adam winced at his words, adding fuel to the fire. Eckhart continued. "I'm sure you're aware that she still has those nightmares? I've lost count of the times she cried on my shoulder."
Seeing her brother's distress, and not wanting Eckhart to describe the last six years to anyone present, Dylan stepped in, "Mason, stop it."
He cocked his head to the side, looking her over. "You escaped me, Dylan. For the most part I let you go, but you escaped nonetheless." She felt a knot in her stomach. Eckhart had that cold look in his eyes—the one that meant he was about to delegate punishment. "So, what am I going to do with you?" He held out his hand, and a gun was placed in it.
Adam's eyes went wide. He forced himself to his feet. "Dylan!" Two agents grabbed him to prevent him from taking any action.
But Dylan was not concerned about being shot; she knew that the bullet was not intended for her, but for Adam. She struggled against Jonestin. "No! Lemme go!"
Jesse caught the desperate glance at Adam, and realized what she already knew. He threw the two agents off him, and leapt in front of Adam just as Eckhart pulled the trigger.
For endless seconds there was nothing but silence. Then, Shalimar cried out, "Jesse!"
Dylan couldn't form thoughts, let alone words. Adam just stared in shock at Jesse, lying on the floor, the life draining from him. Jesse had taken the bullet in the heart. Blood spread out beneath him, creeping across the floor like a shadow at sunrise.
Rationality returned to Dylan, as she realized that Jonestin was no longer holding her back. She didn't bother looking at anyone from the GSA; she understood that for whatever reason they wanted her to use her new mutant ability to help Jesse. And though that could not be a good thing, she was not about to let him die.
Dylan bolted to Jesse's side, falling to her knees beside him. He met her eyes and tried to smile through the haze of pain and near-unconsciousness.
"You're gonna be okay," she told him. "I hope this isn't your favourite shirt." She winked at him as she tore the hole open wider so she could fit her hand underneath.
Jesse furrowed his eyebrows at her. "What are you doing?"
"You asked me what my new mutant ability was, right? Well, now you get to experience it first hand." Dylan closed her eyes in concentration. Beneath her hand a deep orange hue emanated. The glow danced around Jesse's wound. He cried out, then lost consciousness. Tears stung Adam's eyes as he remembered that fateful day six years ago. Orange tendrils climbed up Dylan's arm. She fell sideways to the floor, also unconscious.
The bullet rolled out of her hand. Eckhart stopped its journey under his shoe. "Gather them up. Take them out to the van." He indicated Jesse and Dylan. "Well, Adam, it would seem that once again I am taking away someone you love, and you are powerless to stop it."
Adam could not keep the defeat from his face. His request was a plea, "Please don't take her away from me again."
Eckhart smiled his thin, humourless smile. "Don't worry, my dear foe, you will not have to suffer from the loss." He cocked the gun, and pointed the muzzle at Adam's head.
Adam's eyes stayed locked on his sister's limp form as she and Jesse were carried away. Emma, and Brennan were gradually regaining their senses, but there was nothing they could do to help Adam. The three of them each had a subdermal governor in the back of their neck, inhibiting their new mutant abilities. Emma closed her eyes against the tears that welled up in them. Shalimar refused to allow her emotions to show. Brennan tried to get to his feet, but the GS agent behind him drove his elbow into Brennan's spine.
"Any last words, Adam? Words that your charges will hear echoed in their minds for the rest of their lives as they vividly recall being beaten down and helpless as you were murdered by the one man you never should have lost to?"
Adam stared deep into Eckhart's cold, hard eyes. "They already know," he said bravely and simply.
"Of course they do." The other nodded.
Oops. I cliffhangered y'all…=;-) Stay tuned!