Collateral Damage: Chapter 4

See Prologue for disclaimer and other story notes.

A Familiar Face

~*~

"Jesse!"

Brennan glanced up as the girls entered, both making a beeline for Jesse.

"We were worried abut you," Shalimar said as she hugged him gently.

When she moved aside, Emma took her place. "Are you okay?" she asked when she pulled back. Both girls seemed anxious for an answer to the question.

"I'm fine."

Emma and Shalimar glanced from him to Brennan. Jesse noticed and rolled his eyes, mumbling something about needing big brother's opinion. Brennan grinned, reaching to ruffle Jesse's hair as he spoke. "Adam's doing some blood work, but he seems okay."

"What happened?" Emma asked softly.

"We're still working on that," Brennan responded.

Both girls got the message. After a moment Shal squeezed Jesse's shoulder and tried to lighten the mood. "Well, Emma and I are just going to have to pick out both of your dates from now on," Shalimar proclaimed, a teasing note in her voice.

"Maybe we just shouldn't let them out at all," Emma suggested.

Jesse started to protest around the bite of sandwich he had just taken.

It was then that Adam came in. Brennan noticed him first, then looked closer. The older man's face showed a mix of emotions Brennan didn't think he'd seem on Adam before—and a prominent one was fear. "What is it, Adam?" he asked with some trepidation.

Their leader didn't respond. The other three went silent, watching him as well. He came closer to the table where Jesse still sat. Emma and Shalimar moved aside to give him room, both looking on in concern. He pointed vaguely to the cup beside Jesse's plate. "Jesse, try to phase the cup," he ordered softly, voice shaky.

Jesse was confused, but went to do as Adam asked. He grasped the cup and tried to phase it.

He couldn't.

"Adam?" The young mutant's voice was frustrated as he tried again to use his power, with no success.

Adam didn't seem surprised; rather it seemed he was getting confirmation. Brennan stood from his place beside his friend. "What's going on?" he addressed the leader.

Adam simply rubbed a hand across his mouth. "Try to mass," he instructed Jesse.

Again, Jesse couldn't do it. Frustration was slowly turning to fear. "Adam, what's happening with my powers?"

Adam took a few moments to answer. In that time, his four team members stared at him with varying amounts of confusion and concern. They hadn't seen Adam this rattled in quite a while. Eventually he said, "They're being suppressed. You won't be able to access them."

That announcement was met with a few seconds of stunned silence. Then came a chorus of four voices. "What?!"

But Adam wasn't sticking around to answer; he was already halfway out the door.

It was Brennan who caught up to him first in the hallway. He grasped his elbow, pulling him up short. "Adam, what the hell is going on?" he demanded.

"Brennan…" he trailed off, watching as the others approached as well. "I'll tell you all everything, I promise. But right now time is of the essence. I have to make a call."

Brennan was frustrated, but something in Adam's eyes told him this situation was very serious. He let him go.

Adam started to turn, but paused and faced Jesse instead. He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder and said, "We'll figure this out, Jesse. I promise you that." With that, he walked off purposefully.

Brennan turned to the rest of the team. They looked back at him, obviously surprised that he had given up with that little of a fight. "Let's give him a few minutes. I'm sure he'll explain as soon as he can."

The girls exchanged a look. Jesse alternated his gaze from the spot Adam had disappeared from and Brennan. "And what am I supposed to do in the meantime, huh?" he asked.

"Do you feel okay?"

Jesse took a second to consider it. "I guess so."

"Okay. Just try to calm down, all right? We'll work this out."

Brennan just hoped he wasn't lying to his friend.

~*~

Now that he knew who he was looking for, it was a simple matter to get a hold of her. This time the image wasn't scrambled, and the brunette on the screen was certainly older, but still easily recognizable to Adam.

"Shannon," was his only greeting.

She smiled. "Ah, so he does remember me."

He didn't return the gesture. "It's been a long time. You weren't the first person I thought of as a kidnapper."

She grew serious. "I had no choice, Adam."

"Oh, of course not. Look doctor, whatever you're thinking, it won't justify this." His voice was hard and unforgiving. "Why? Do you really hate me that much?"

"You checked his blood, I assume." It was rhetorical; he wouldn't have called if he hadn't identified the drug. She continued in a soft tone, "I don't hate you. I need your help. I didn't think you would give it freely without some kind of motivation."

He stared at her incredulously. "And you thought that killing one of my people would put me in a generous mood?"

"I'm not killing him," she denied.

He was speechless with anger, but in the silence that followed he let her response and its implication sink in. Then he sank into the nearest chair. "You made it work?" he asked, unable to keep the slight hint of awe out of his voice.

She hesitated. "Not exactly. I think you were right all along--it couldn't be done. Not safely, anyhow." She paused, meeting his eyes and holding the gaze. "But I have found a way to reverse the drug, an antidote of sorts. I never stopped working on it. Would you in my position?"

Adam tried to reconcile all of this in his mind. "Are you telling me that you can counteract it in Jesse?"

"I can stop its progress and reverse its effects, yes. That is, if he receives the antidote in time."

Now they were getting to the heart of it. He felt his anger rise again. "So what is this? Blackmail? Have you really sunk so low that you would use an innocent life to blackmail me?"

She raised her voice as well. "This is all about innocent lives!" She took a calming breath then added, "It isn't blackmail. You owe me this, Adam. Think of Jesse as your collateral. Right now, his life is in my hands. When I get what is mine, you can have him back."

Adam had to take a calming breath of his own, thinking silently that this woman wasn't exactly stable. He needed to keep his head and avoid upsetting her more. "What exactly is it that you want in exchange for the antidote?" he asked.

"Think about it, Adam. I can reverse it now. I can fix it all."

Realization hit him with the impact of cold water. His anger drained away as he began to understand. "Tamara," he breathed softly.

She nodded, tightening her jaw. "I can't get to her. But you can. Even if you don't know where she is, you can find out. You bring her to me, and I'll give you what you need to save him."

He squeezed his eyes shut, resisting the urge to rub at his fast-growing headache. "I would have helped you, Shannon. You didn't have to do this."

"Maybe," she answered. "But it wasn't a chance I was willing to take."

"How long does Jesse have?" he asked bluntly.

"I had him drugged him last night at the club, as I'm sure you've guessed. I had to wait until most of that had worked through his system before I injected him. He's at about hour 6 now."

"Eighteen hours," he concluded. Time was going to be very important here.

"Only about 6 before you start to see the symptoms. He's going to need you constantly then," she reminded, as if he could have forgotten how this worked. "But that leaves you plenty of time to find the location and send out the rest of your team." She paused before adding softly, "I don't want him to die, Adam. I never wanted anyone to die. Just call me as soon as you have her. We'll set up a meeting and put all of this behind us."

She clicked off the transmission before he'd gathered himself enough to respond. He'd been in an angry shock before, but felt the implications of all of this now. It was like a guillotine hanging over his—or rather Jesse's—head.

He debated going out to the team and explaining everything right then. But a moment's thought brought the decision that it would be better if he had a plan first.

He spent a few minutes racking his brain, trying to remember the specifics of the long-dead Genomex project. Then he sat at his computer and set about tracking down one very important cryogenic pod.

~*~

To be continued

Author's note: I know this is all still a bit confusing. I was going to include the explanation and back-story in this chapter, but it was just getting too long. Everything will be much clearer next week, I promise!