Part 4: Identity Crisis
By: lornein
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Some people remain misunderstood only because they are financially more secure than the others. A major fraction of the society has a habit of associating wealth with happiness. To them, financial security means nothing but a happy, wholesome life. Jesse Kilmartin had learned this lesson the hard way. Being wealthy was never an asset to him, just a burden that he had to bear. Jesse always wanted a separate existence for himself; he wanted to be someone other than Noah Kilmartin's son. Not that being his father's son had not been an oddity in itself. Jesse could not remember much about the time that he spent at home, at his father's estate, a family heritage. All he could remember was a staircase leading up to a large room, totally unbefitting for a six year old. It was secluded from the rest of the manor and even at such a tender age, Jesse could realize that his parents wanted to keep it that way. From the whispers of the hired help in the manor Jesse also heard other rumors that kept originating regarding him and sooner or later died down in the hallways or the kitchen. He heard that six years ago his mother, who everyone thought could never have children, had been sent somewhere. And when she had returned after a few weeks she looked as if she was nine months pregnant and gave birth to Jesse shortly. At those moments, Jesse could not understand what exactly they meant to say but just hearing those things made him uneasy.
And then again, he had something that the others did not. He could phase through walls, and become one if he willed. His powers were anything but an advantage when Jesse first realized that he had them. And his parents, whenever they were around made him more aware of that fact that his powers were nothing to be proud of. But they did urge Jesse to try and harness his abilities. Not because they cared, but because they wanted to keep him away as far as they could from their own lives. He was like an experiment that had gone terribly wrong and had to be covered up like a family secret. Noah and Eleanor Kilmartin had wanted a perfect son, with good looks and health, one that would take up the legacy of their clan to the very next level. Instead, they had ended up with their impression of a freak. Jesse was never sorry that he had abandoned these people. His mother had been an alcoholic who cared little about others around her, including the son she had given birth to. And he never envied his father's life in any way either. To Jesse, the worst fate would be to end up like him. Noah Kilmartin had never been anything but his biological father. Jesse was anything but proud of his parentage.
Jesse had spent twenty-four inexperienced years of his life sheltered away from the rest of the world, knowing next to nothing regarding his origin. He just knew that he wasn't like others. According to his parents, he had some shameful abnormalities that always had to be kept a secret. And that was the reason why he had to stay away from everyone. Jesse's secluded life had given way to his very colorful imagination. No matter what the others tried to tell him, Jesse always tried to look at his 'abnormality' in a positive way. His imaginations of himself as a superhero, a secret agent or a mythical guardian occupied most of his childhood afternoons. He spent endless hours reading comic books that portrayed regular men who had unusual capabilities, giving them superhuman status. Jesse only wanted to convince himself that his powers were not something totally out of fantasy, things like this did happen, even if in make believe worlds.
But one man changed it all. Adam Kane. That name meant a lot of things to Jesse. Coming in contact with Adam was a life altering change for him. Jesse came to know things about himself that he never could have imagined. He could still remember when Adam answered his questions;
"So how do you feel? Betrayed, lied to? Confused?" Adam had asked.
"Try all of the above." He had tried to grasp what he had learnt.
"So I am not a broken experiment?", he had asked Adam after a long pause.
"You're anything but Jesse. The only question is that can you deal with it?" Adam had asked again.
"I'll be damned if I don't."
So Jesse had become Mutant X. Jesse had come to learn that there were others like him. Shalimar Fox was the first that he had met. Then he had come across Brennan Mulwray and Emma De lauro. Together they had formed a family that Jesse had learned to love and respect.
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"His B.P is seventy five over forty and falling Adam. I think he is hyperventilating too. What can we do?" Emma's concerned voice sounded through the sanctuary halls.
"There is nothing much you can do. Just get him here as quickly as possible." Adam said as he started getting the lab ready. He had to save Martin. At any cost.
"I am going as fast as I can Adam. But it will at least take another ten minutes." Brennan huffed.
"He might not have ten minutes Brennan. His eyes are closing." Emma said again.
"Just hang on Martin. Please don't give up on us." Adam said through his comlink.
"I think that we could have done something if we at least knew what was wrong with him. He's not a mutant. We could have taken him to emergency. But when we got into his room all we could see was that he was lying there with his eyes open and he was really cold. It took us four minutes to get him back to the helix. And right now, he looks if he is already dead." Shalimar's voice surrounded Adam.
"We can't talk like that Shalimar. Remember he asked for our help, we have to save him." Adam replied, loading up a syringe with a sedative.
"Okay, Emma please try and contact Martin telempathically." Adam said again.
Emma closed her eyes and probed into the mind of the man before her.
"Alright. I am going to try and project images of a warm fire in his mind. It will take his body temperature up. Hopefully this will keep him alive." Emma decided on this. She started projecting images of a fire slowly spreading.
"Alright, body temperature ninety six degree farenheit. Good job Emma" Jesse patted Emma on her back.
"Yeah and we're almost here." Brennan started landing the helix.
Brennan, Shalimar and Jesse carried Martin Collins to the lab while Emma joined Adam there. They all silently hoped that their efforts would not go in vain.
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Will Martin live or die??? Why was he found in that state?? Find this out and much more in the new chapter!!
Okay, bri you asked me about the pairings. If you have read my earlier stories then you already might know what they are(hint hint). So if a coupling actually occurs in this one then I'll go with that! Hope you like this chapter!
Please review everyone!! It will make me write faster!!!