Final crossing c-2 The Execution

The doctor accompanied Eckhart through the corridor of the medical center, slowing her pace to match his. Eckhart studied the clipboard that the doctor was holding. The bodyguard of five men surrounded them, two in front, three in the rear.

"Why do you always keep so many guards around you, Mason?" she asked.

"I have many enemies who do not share my view of the truth," he answered.

"Adam?"

"Yes, Adam." He replied.

"He's a doctor. He wouldn't try to kill you, would he?"

"He's a man who has lost sight of his calling and is obsessed with developing his New Mutants, for whatever selfish reasons he has. I called him on it and reported him to the proper authorities. After due consideration, they pronounced a just sentence upon him, but his team of highly trained, evolved Mutants rescued him. I suspect that he has me on his hit list."

"You're damned right he does," a new voice rang out. Shalimar was perched on the wall above them, supporting herself on the narrow ledge. Her eyes glowed as she dropped down on them and immediately put Eckhart in a headlock. She began to slowly apply pressure to his neck. The security guards suddenly found themselves engaged in hand to hand combat with Jesse, Brennan and Emma. The doctor, gazed alarmed at the scene unfolding before her. She grabbed Shalimar's arm and pulled at it, trying to loosen the Feral's stranglehold on her patient.

"LET HIM GO!!" she demanded, pounding uselessly on Shalimar's arm.

"Not on your life, honey," the golden haired Feral replied, flicking her arm and sending the doctor a few feet away. She spoke into her com-link. "We've got him, Adam."

"Good," Adam's voice said coldly. "You know what to do."

Within a few short moments, the Mutant X team had subdued each of Eckhart's 5 bodyguards.

"Michael!" the doctor felt the guard's pulse. It was weak, fluttering. She looked up incredulously. "He's critical. I need to get him to surgery." She rapidly checked each of the other guards. They were unconscious but seemed stable. The pale woman came back to Michael and scanned him with her hands. Bruised artery, internal bleeding, she thought shaking her head. Worried, she looked over at Mason. The beautiful blond woman was still holding him in a headlock in a standing position. Mason stood expressionless, unresisting in her grip, watching the doctor. A tall, muscular male standing several feet away from him was playing with an ever-growing arc of electricity in his hands.

"Any last requests, Eckhart?" Brennan asked.

"Mason, who are these people?" she asked.

Eckhart stood stoically in Shalimar's grip. "They are Mutant X." he replied.

"I'm calling 9-1-1." The doctor said angrily.

"We can't let you do that," Emma said, forming a Psionic blast. The doctor whirled and grabbed a gun from one of the fallen guards. She tripped on the man's outstretched arm, just as the red-headed woman delivered the blast.

"Don't anyone move," the doctor said, waving the gun around at her attackers.

"C'mon, doctor. You'll hurt someone with that," Jesse tried to reason with her.

"Like you hurt Michael? He's dying! If he dies, one of you is a murderer." she exclaimed. "Who do you think you are, invading a medical facility and inflicting injury."

"We are here to eradicate the highest form of evil," Emma said solemnly, her blue eyes beginning to go a little black. "Don't worry, you will not remember this."

The doctor had activated the emergency security pager that all personnel carried. She knew that by the time the police arrived, it would be too late, but hoped that the threat might cause their attackers to pause or to stand down.

"I've already called 9-1-1. They should be here momentarily," she replied, gazing alertly around her while trying to make the bodyguard comfortable.

"My last request," Eckhart spoke up, realizing that Mutant X was not falling for the doctor's bait.

"Well?" Brennan demanded.

"I want to state that you are about to kill an innocent man (someone snorted in derision) and that the charges you have against me are false assumptions. You have no idea of my side of the story." Eckhart stated, looking at each member of Mutant X, then at the doctor. She nodded.

Brennan generated a ball with lethal electrical charge and threw it at Eckhart. Shalimar let him go and gave him a little push toward Brennan. The doctor saw all this and lunged at Eckhart, knocking him out of the path of the lethal blast. The bolt exploded into the woman who convulsed as she fell to the ground.

"Anna!" Eckhart exclaimed softly, in horror. He scrambled toward the fallen doctor and turned her over. Her sightless eyes were still open as he felt for a pulse in her neck. There was none. As Eckhart looked down, fighting to contain his grief and rage, Brennan looked to his companions for support.

"She got in the way, it was her choice." He said defensively.

Jesse, Emma and Shalimar looked momentarily stunned but then Emma said, "We don't have much time, Brennan."

"She's dead. You killed an innocent bystander," Eckhart said, hiding his shock. He stared at Brennan accusingly. "Murderer."

"Look who's talking," Brennan retorted, moving his hands in a circular motion to create another bolt.

Eckhart knelt beside the doctor and gently closed her eyes with a gloved hand.

". a stray touch of my unprotected skin could kill you." Her words echoed in his mind. He didn't want them to take the credit for ending his life. He would take his chances. He bent forward and kissed her forehead. Suddenly, the room was spinning and turning black and he could hear a high pitched whine in his head. He felt all of his strength slip away like water through a sieve and started to collapse. Catching himself he looked up in time to see the outline of Brennan throw a final lethal dose of electrical voltage at him. Blue bolts of electricity emanated from where Brennan had struck him. Eckhart's eyes glazed over, his mouth opened as if to deliver a final retort. He shuddered slightly and fell lifeless onto the doctor's body, his face touching hers.

Jesse walked over silently, checking for pulse in Eckhart's neck. Emma's eyes had an other-worldly quality as she scanned their arch-enemy's mind for any sign of activity. All was dark and still. He was gone.

"It's over," Emma said. Jesse nodded in agreement at Brennan. Shalimar glared down at the lifeless forms, resisting an impulse to scratch dirt over them.

"I wonder if there was any truth to what he said about the false assumptions," Jesse wondered aloud.

"C'mon, Jesse. We all know what a liar he was," Shalimar replied, "you of all people."

They could hear sirens in the distance. Jesse shrugged. He silently led the way, touching the nearest wall and phasing the molecules so that his teammates could pass through in safety in front of him. They had completed their mission and rid the world of an evil man. The blond man, last in line to leave turned and looked back at the fallen that they left behind them. He looked away, wondered for another moment at Eckhart's last words and moved on.

THE END

A/N- This was my response to Final Judgment. Was Adam really guilty? What if he was? I had another chapter set up to bring Mason back because the world just wouldn't be the same without him, but decided against it. Heck, let's ponder the character of Mutant X from Eckhart's point of view for a change and have Mutant X make good on all of their threats about getting rid of Eckhart. Comments anyone? Like it? Hate it? Just curious.