Control
Disclaimer; see pt 1 for disclaimers. Basically, they ain't mine, and probably never will be. 'cept in my hyper-active imagination. Heh heh.
Part 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Driving along the motorway, Shalimar relaxed, enjoying the feeling of the wind in her hair, the freedom she always felt when she was riding her bike at high speeds. It felt great to just get away, to forget about everything that had happened, to get out of the confines of the Sanctuary. Speeding along, she noticed she had the road almost entirely to herself, except for a car she could see a short distance in front of her. Revving the bike, she accelerated to pass the car. As she got nearer, it seemed that the car was slowing down, coming on a level with her to her right. It looked vaguely familiar to her, but she put that out of her mind as she focused on overtaking the car. Because of this focus, she didn't see the window on the black car scroll down, nor did she see another car of the same design begin to pull up beside her on the other side. As she began to pull away, she felt a sharp pain in her right side. Glancing down to see, she lost control of the bike, swerving to the side away from the first car. As she turned the other car sped up.
Crashing into it, her bike flipped over the hood, taking her with it. Still attached to the bike, she hit ground behind the car, skidding along half under the bike before she came off it. Struggling, she crawled to her hands and knees, dizzy from the tranquilliser dart that had impaled her and caused her loss of control. Looking down, she ripped out the dart, throwing it away from her. She sat back down on her knees, head on the floor as she waited for the dizzy spell to pass. Briefly looking up, she saw three faint black-clad figures moving towards her before she passed out in the middle of the road.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sitting in her room, Emma crossed her legs and closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind in search of Shalimars'. Although she knew that Shalimar probably wouldn't welcome the intrusion, her concern for her friend overwhelmed her. Reaching out, she scanned as far as she could, desperation causing her to look further and longer than she should do.
Coming back to her room, she inhaled sharply as the slight ache in her head intensified. Bending down, she clutched her head in her hands, then sat up and reached for the painkillers she kept in her bedside cabinet. Lying back on her bed, she closed her eyes briefly. I'll just rest awhile and then try again were her last thoughts as she drifted off into sleep.
Whilst she slept, Jesse and Brennen returned in the Double Helix. Walking through from the craft, they met Adam halfway.
"Any luck?" he asked them quietly, so as not to disturb Emmas' sleep. Both Jesse and Brennen shook their heads.
"We didn't find Shal, but….we did find her bike." Pausing, Brennen turned to look at Jesse before continuing. "It was in a ditch Adam, trashed. We brought it back with us, but I don't think you'll find anything on there that'll help us find her. It looks like it was in a pretty bad accident."
"How's Em?" Jesse asked, glancing in the direction of Emmas' room.
"Last time I checked she was asleep, that was about an hour ago." Adam frowned slightly. "She's taking this real hard guys; I think she's blaming herself for what's happened, although she still won't tell me what happened between them to make Shalimar run out like that."
"Yeah, it must've been something pretty big to make Shal react like that." Brennen looked at Adam, concern on his face. "How'd you think she's gonna take the latest news?"
Adam sighed, shaking his head. "I dunno guys. If it wasn't for her powers I probably wouldn't tell her, but the problem is we're not gonna be able to keep this from her even if we wanted to. We're just gonna have to give her the most positive outlook on the situation that we can." Turning, as a group they headed to break the news to Emma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shalimar awoke in a cold dark room. Lying completely still, she kept her eyes shut and used her heightened senses to investigate the room she was in. Listening intently, she could hear nothing but silence. Opening her eyes, she confirmed with her eyes that there were no guards near her. Looking around, making as little noise or movement as possible, she saw that she was in a large laboratory, strapped down to a metal table of some kind. Flexing her arms and legs, she tested the strength of her bonds. She felt the leather straps around her chest and legs give way slightly, however the metal cuffs around her wrists and ankles didn't budge. Trying to lift her head, she realised there was also a leather strap around her neck, which stopped her from lifting her head more than an inch or so off of the table. Pausing in her exploration of her environment, she focused on a minute sound that she could hear in the distance. Inhaling deeply, she could smell the sickly odour of Eckharts' after-shave, growing stronger with each passing second.
Analysing the options available to her, she realised that the best chance she had was to 'play dead' until a better opportunity presented itself. Forcing herself to relax, she closed her eyes. From her brief examination of the laboratory that she was being held in, she knew that the entrance must be behind her somewhere, as she couldn't see it anywhere in front of her. Calming her breathing, she told herself that she was taking the sensible option, not the cowards' way out of a confrontation.
Concentrating, she strained to hear every sound possible. Her patience was eventually rewarded, when she heard a gust of air a fair distance behind her, and the soft sound of foot steps. Forcing her facial features to relax, she heard the footsteps coming closer, then come to a halt beside her. From the scent of the being beside her, she concluded that, although it was a man, it wasn't Eckhart. Which probably meant that he was watching through a viewing window somewhere nearby. Listening to the movements of the man by her side, she almost missed the subtle entrance of a second person, this time Eckhart.
"Is the subject ready Doctor?"
"Yes sir. All the tests have been run, and the subject is ready for implantation. We can begin whenever you wish."
"Good, good. Well, I see no reason for delay, begin the procedure now." Pausing by her side, he gazed down at her briefly, then turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Shalimar opened her eyes, calling to Eckhart. "What are you going to do to me?" Turning back, Eckhart walked around the table so that she could see him.
"Why hello, my dear Miss Fox, so gracious of you to join us in the land of the living. Such a shame you won't be here for much longer."
Repeating her question, she turned to face him, fixing her yellow eyes on him, lifting her lip in a snarl. "What are you going to do to me?"
"Did you ever hear the saying 'curiosity killed the cat'? Well we're about to see how true that saying is. You, my dear, are of course the cat, whereas I shall provide the curiosity." Turning to the Doctor, he nodded once. "Proceed." Beginning to walk away, he paused once again by her side. "I'm so glad you're awake for this. It should make it so much more interesting to observe; far more entertaining". He then retreated back to the safety of the viewing-port above the laboratory.
Looking frantically around her, Shalimar tried to find a route of escape. Her efforts increased as she heard the whine of a machine starting up behind her, then the hum and buzz as it reached full power. Looking up as far as she could, she could see the pointed end of a machine being lowered towards the back of her head. The neck strap prevented her from getting a clear look, however she could tell that it was ready for use. Looking at the Doctor, she followed his gaze up to the viewing-port, where she could now see Eckhart sitting. She watched as he nodded to the Doctor in the laboratory, she then heard a variety of clicks as the machine was engaged. The hum of the machine behind her reached an unbearable level, as her sensitive hearing complained at the noise. Then all she knew was pain, and a blinding white light exploded behind her eyes as her body spasmed in the restraints. She was grateful when she finally passed into unconsciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days after the loss of Shalimar, Adam called an emergency meeting of the remaining members of Mutant X. Once they were all assembled, he sat down to address them.
"Whilst I know you all want to continue the search for Shalimar, as I do, we still have a duty to perform. I've received reports from a trusted source that Eckhart has found and taken control of one of the safe-houses. You're going to have to go out and confirm the reports; if they're true you need to free the captured new mutants and get word out that the safe-house is no longer safe."
Nodding, the team stood and headed out of the lab towards the Double Helix. Adam watched as Emma trailed behind the other members of the team, shoulders slumped, head low. He resolved to talk to her when they returned, and eventually get the truth out of her about what had happened between her and Shalimar on the day she disappeared. Watching them until they were out of his view, he went back to his computer and began searching for data on the whereabouts of Shalimar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arriving in the vicinity of the safe-house, they landed the Double Helix on the roof of the building, then headed down towards the entrance. Walking through, they saw that it was the standard safe-house layout – a large deep room, accessed by a metal walkway and flight of stairs. Walking down into the main room, they looked around, checking for any signs of Genomex activity. Finding nothing, they met up at the base of the stairs.
"Nothing here that I can see" Brennen reported.
"Likewise. It all seems normal to me."
Emma closed her eyes, focusing outwards. "I can't sense anyone here but us." Then she frowned. "Wait a minute, I can…. I'm sensing someone familiar….but not familiar. I don't know how to explain it." She shrugged in frustration. "It's like I know them, but I don't."
"Where are they?" Jesse asked, preparing to go on the offensive. Once again focusing her energies outwards, she scanned the surrounding area.
"Approaching the building. I'm sensing four Genomex agents and this mystery person." She looked at the two of them. "We should stay, find out who this person is and seal up the safe-house – it seems pretty clear that Eckhart knows it's here." Nodding in agreement, they spread out to find suitable points from which to view the agents, whilst remaining safely hidden. Looking up, she glanced at both Jesse and Brennen to indicate that the intruders were nearby. The four agents walked in first, blocking the fifth figure from view. Responding to a silent command, the agents dispersed throughout the safe-house, giving the hidden Mutant X members their first clear view of the unknown agent, who had her back to them. Moving to get a clearer look, Emma accidentally knocked against one of the supply boxes she was hiding behind.
The fifth agent leapt vertically; twisting mid-air to land crouched on the railing of the walkway. Emma gasped aloud, moving out from her hiding place.
"Shalimar? Shal, is that you?" She took a hesitant step towards the woman on the railing. Looking disdainfully down at her, the agent jumped off of the railing, then immediately launched into an attack, until she had Emma on the ground and was standing over her. Staring into Emmas' confused eyes, she growled low in her throat. Flicking her hair behind her, she crouched down to come on a level with Emma.
"Shalimar is no more. She is gone, forever. *I* am here now…." Leaning forwards she roughly stroked Emmas' jaw-line, holding onto her chin. "….and I'm not going anywhere." Leaping into the air, she returned to the walkway, indicating that the other agents should follow her.
Emma put her head in her hands, curled in on herself, and cried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside her mind Shalimar fought against her restraints, hearing mocking laughter echoing all around her at her failure to do so. Renewing the battle with vigour as she heard Emmas' cries in the distance, she watched her body being totally out of her control as she struggled to get free. She knew she could never return to Mutant X after a betrayal of this magnitude, not that they'd want her, but she refused to allow Eckhart to control her and force her to hurt them. So once again, she fought to regain control of her body and mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~