--------------- Chapter 11 ---------------------
"Emma?" Her name called softly pulled her from the blank haze of unconsciousness. She blinked in the harsh lights, lifting a heavy hand to protect her eyes. "How do you feel?"
"..." She tried. Licking her lips she cleared her throat and tried again. "Groggy?" Adam chuckled quietly.
"I'm not surprised. If it had been a bullet instead of a tranquilliser dart you might have been in serious trouble. As it was I think you took a dose meant for Shalimar."
"How is Shal?" Emma didn't miss the flash of pain in Adam's eyes as he passed over her question.
"Do you have a headache? Are you feeling nauseated?"
"Adam." Emma emphasised, panic rising in her. " Where's Shalimar, is she Ok?" Adam sighed.
"She fell into a coma almost as soon as we got back inside Sanctuary. She's in the other room." He rested his hand on her shoulder as she tried to rise. "Wait, Emma. You still have sedatives in your system, you need to sleep them off."
"Please Adam, I need to see her."
"Emma..." Adam sighed deeply. "Wait while I get a chair set up for you."
Two days had passed and still there had been no sign of Shalimar waking. Emma sat by her side once more, fixing a smile on her face.
"Hey, Shal. I have to tell you, you missed bacon this morning. I think Jesse was thinking the smell might bring you out of this. He's been a bit down. He and Brennan are taking turns watching the people downstairs while Adam decides what to do with them. I don't envy Adam at the moment. We had a brainstorming evening last night, don't regret that you missed it. We had nothing. Brennan was just about ready to suggest shooting them all to make it easier. We can't just let them go, you see, because they know where Sanctuary is and they could tell other people, or just bring more people the next time they try. It struck me, this morning, how trusting Adam was when he first let us know where Sanctuary was on a map and let us drive the cars. It was a huge leap of faith that we would be strong enough to resist if we were ever caught or - God forbid - we decided to 'turn to the dark side'."
She turned feeling Adam's presence at her back, smiling softly at him.
"Hey Adam, how are you?" He smiled and half-nodded at her question.
"Yes, good." He responded quietly.
"Adam, what is it?"
"Emma, you have to understand I would never ask this of you under normal circumstances."
"Adam?"
"I know your powers have advanced, perhaps further than you're prepared to admit, and I respect that you might not want to tell the others about these advances." He continued, glad she hadn't made too much of a fuss over this so far. "There are things in Sanctuary I might not want to tell them about for risk of losing their confidence. But I need you to do something for me. If you can't do it all of Sanctuary will be at risk."
Emma glared at the group of BDU dressed men and women behind the fireproof glass.
"One at a time." She told Brennan who was watching over the 'prisoners'. "Rogers first." She smirked at the handcuffed psionic as he was guided into a room nearby.
"Hey, Emma." Brennan stopped her as she made to follow him in. "You sure you'll be safe in there with him? I mean... my powers are completely offline with him around and he proved yours aren't going to do anything to him and... well..."
"It's not me you have to worry about." She retorted to his well-meaning insult, quickly turning and following Rogers in.
They were stood in a white room with no windows and only one door.
"What do you think you're doing little girl?" Rogers mocked. "You know your powers are no match for mine and you can't truly expect to best me in hand to hand do you? I could beat you even with my hands cuffed."
"You are now stood in a room which incorporates a... perfected design of the cage you so kindly demonstrated to us earlier. It is quite effective against all forms of mutation and is rather less vulnerable to electronic disturbances. Of course there is a way to bypass the system which means I have my powers at my disposal and you don't have anything but your... hands." Emma's eyebrow rose mockingly. She smiled internally as she saw self-doubt cloud Roger's emotions. "You're going to answer some questions, Rogers, and then you're going to forget all about this place."
"The telecyber - Jame - is extraordinarily good. He found Sanctuary quite quickly by hacking in through our external e-mails. Rogers stopped him from going to their contact 'Mr. White' because he thought they'd get extra credit - or at least larger pay offs - for initiative if they could hand us over at the same time. Mr. White is an elusive guy who talks through messengers. They never told him what they found because they were worried about someone else getting here first, so the location of Sanctuary is safe. They were never told about the underground or the database that we have here. They had no idea, and they still have no idea. They don't remember anything from the day before Mr. White first contacted them. It sounds like Mr. White was the one to put together these people as a team, they didn't know each other from before that." Adam nodded as Emma finished her report.
"I'm going to offer the new mutants places in the underground while we're sure they're not in contact with anyone who might turn them against us. Do you think that's a good idea?"
"You're asking my opinion?" At his serious nod Emma gave it some thought. "The feral's heart is in the right place. Her and quite a few of the fire elementals were only with Rogers because he offered them safety and a chance to get back at their creator," Emma saw Adam flinch but surprised herself by not being in the mood to coddle his hurt conscience. "They weren't in it for the money.
"Rogers is a lost cause, a nasty piece of work with too many ambitions. Jame... needs help. He's so locked up in what he does, he's barely conscious. But he could get there, so could all of the others. But they need watching; we'd have to be wary of them."
"What do you suggest we do with Rogers?" Emma felt a brief burst of elation - Adam was taking her seriously!
"I'd feel quite justified in killing him, but I don't think you'd approve of that." He smiled as he shook his head. Condescending - he didn't think she'd do it. She counted to ten. "Let me find out why he's like this. If it's something - some point at which he changed and became like this then I can take his memories back to before that point."
"You think you can do it without getting drawn into him, affected by his hate?"
"Yes."
"And what if it's the way he has always been?"
"Then I wipe him completely and we throw him out onto the streets as an amnesiac and see how long he lasts."
"Look lady, I don't know you. Just like I don't know anyone else here. What's going on?"
"Luke, has anything happened to you in your life that you feel guilty for?"
"What's this, twenty questions? And how do you know my name?"
"Sit down, please." She appealed. "I just want to ask you some questions."
Emma walked out of the room smiling blandly. She nodded quietly to Jesse as he watched Rogers back into the cell where he was now the only occupant. She kept the smile all the way to the lab, sitting placidly in the chair now stationed permanently at Shalimar's side.
Brennan appeared in the doorway just as the she broke down into heart wrenching sobs.
"Emma, give it up, please. The others are all safe now, in the underground or home where they belong. No one knows where Sanctuary is but us. Jame even gave us enough information to make out system safer. What ever it is you're trying to do with Rogers, give it up. It's not worth it."
"I'm waiting for an excuse, Brennan. I'm just waiting. And I hate it. I hate that I can't just..."
"Hey. Don't. You don't mean it, it's just his hate getting to you."
"You're starting to sound like Adam." He pulled her into a tight embrace.
"You know he's a smart guy, that Adam." A coughing laugh escaped her through the tears. "You need to get him away from you Emma." She nodded, wiping away her tears.
"Yeah. It's time."
AN: I'm not so sure I like this chapter. R&R and tell me what you think.
