Title: Children of Genesis
Chapter: 9
By: WebSpinner
The day of the funeral was dreary reflecting the few mourners as they gathered around the fresh grave. A reverend said a few words as the coffin lowered into the ground. Besides she, Adam and Jon, there were around twenty mourners. Mostly Mr. Winters co-workers at the hospital. The young police officer, Banks, had attended as well. Gwen gazed at each face in the crowd. Some looked bored, while others still looked at the grave in disbelief. Many drifted towards Adam to express their sympathy in low voices. Adam thanked them softly. He looked so calm but Gwen knew better. She noticed his knuckles were white gripping his cane and his voice held a hint of strain in it. She leaned over the open grave and dropped a few roses on the coffin. She sighed again. Death was a part of life. She knew, maybe better then anyone. As Spider-girl she had seen death a lot, death of the good and the bad. She suddenly realized, maybe for the first time, what strain her mother went through watching her daughter and her husband go out to fight crime in the night, not knowing if they'd come back to her.
Adam rummaged through his fathers possessions laying most of them aside to be sold at a thrift shop. He had learned long ago to travel light. His memory drifted back to a different time. He had been 9 at the time and had left an important action figure of Captain America at the last apartment which they had fled in the middle of the night. His father simply hugged him close and told him that possessions were just things, family was the real treasure in life. Of course, that had been a lot to swallow at 9 and was still that way at 19. Adam closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. He would've traded anything in the world just to have his father back. He opened his eyes again and continued to look. His hand grasped a thick envelope. His fingers quickly scanned the front and read the indent of ink. It was addressed to him. He shoved it in his pocket for later observation and continued to look.
Gwen's parents were there to greet the three tired travelers the moment they stepped off the plane. Peter Parker immediately hugged his daughter giving her the look, 'I wish you had told us sooner instead of just two hours ago that you were coming in' look. It truly was amazing how parents could do things like that. M. J rushed and hugged Adam and sort of reminded Gwen in an old sort of way like a mother hen . Adam looked flabbergasted at the attention. It had been the same way at the Kents. He still was very solemn as the death of his father weighed too heavily on his shoulders. Tiffany and Ben had been there to meet them as well. Although the only one of the three of them that Tiffany had eyes for was Jon. She looked absolutely moonstruck much to Gwen's disgust. It was too embarrassing to have your sister fawning all over your best friend. Gwen wrapped her arm around Adam, causing him to smile, and lead him to the car with Jon following behind trying to untangle himself from Tiffany.
Hell's Kitchen teamed with lowlife, so many that few of New York's finest would rather fired then having to patrol the streets. The unfortunate cops who did get assigned to this unsavory part of New York spent most of their time in their cars. But Daredevil had to hand it to them, although the police could be a major pain they spent their lives keeping New York safe.without super powers. Daredevil stretched and messaged the tense muscles at the back of his neck. He was getting too old for this, even though he hated to admit it. Years of crime fighting were weighing down on him. He had just spent the night wrapping up some crooks for the cops. Unfortunately half would probably escape the justice system with just a smack on the wrist as a warning. It was a never-ending battle that was starting to tire him. As he pondered such things his keen ears caught a familiar twirp sound. "Hello webslinger," Daredevil greeted not bothering to turn around. "Hey Horn head," the amazing Spiderman answered and crouched beside the man in red as he peered at the street below. "Gwen arrived last night," Spiderman commented. "I thought she had gone to San Francisco," Daredevil said with puzzlement. "She did along with your son and the Kent's boy. When they got there Adam's father was found dead. Apparently suicide, but from what you have told me, I don't buy it," said Spiderman as he continued to watch the city below. "So they found Winters, poor boy," Daredevil said glumly. By some sick twisted fate, Adam's life was following more closely to Matt's own then Matt would have cared for. He too had lost his father around Adam's age. He felt like someone had just hit him in the stomach. He should have followed the boy or at least tried to get one of the super- heroes from San Francisco to guard the father. Wasn't that Spider-woman's turf? Daredevil wasn't sure. He had met her once as she stopped in New York and found out that she wasn't connected to the friendly neighborhood Spiderman in any way. "So are you going to tell him?" asked Spiderman. "Don't you have so diabolical super villain to catch or something?" asked the annoyed hero. Spiderman smiled under his mask. "Did ya hear? Today is when all those guys clean their long underwear," Spiderman joked lamely. He couldn't probably thought of a better wise crack but he was just too tired for it. He had stopped about eight robberies tonight and was dead tired. Granted, it could've been worse but even superheroes need a break. "So are you going to tell Adam?" Spiderman asked. Daredevil shook his head. "Why not?" Spiderman asked only to get a grunt for a reply. "Come on, the Hulk could come up with a better answer then that," coaxed Spiderman. "Do you try to be so annoying?" Daredevil demanded. Peter grinned beneath his mask. "Nope, comes naturally or so I'm told. Come on, Horn head, he has a right to know who his father is and why he's going to be killed if we don't watch out for him," his friend bluntly pointed out. "Oh yeah, great idea. And what am I going to say? 'Oh hi, Adam, you may not know but I'm your father, actually you were cloned from me and now Kingpin is trying to kill you!' that's not what I call a father and son bounding moment," Daredevil commented sourly. Then with the athletic grace, few could muster, Daredevil leapt off the building and faded back into the night. Spiderman shook his head, but something kept nagging him. If the Genesis project had been performed over 18 years ago, why was Kingpin only now getting around to killing the witnesses?
"Will you two be alright out here?" asked Mary Jane as she brought out extra blankets and pillows. "Yes ma'am," Jon and Adam both answered in unison. The living room had been turned into a temporary bedroom for the two guests. Mary jane grinned at the two and left as she turned out the lights. "Her folks are pretty cool letting us stay here," Jon commented as he pulled of his shirt and climbed beneath a mountain of blankets on the cot that had been set up. "Yeah I guess," Adam mumbled half heartedly as he too started to change for bed. "Adam sometimes you are really dense," Jon chided. Adam paused, "About what?" he asked with confusion. Jon let out a long sigh. "Do I need to explain everything to you? Ok, no father I know of would let his daughter's boyfriend stay in his house when his daughter's room is just two feet away," Jon stated. Adam felt color begin to spread over his cheeks and thankful the darkness hid it. "Tempting thought but I think they should worry about Tiffany crawling into your bed first," Adam said with amusement. Jon let out a low laugh. "Yeah but it's good to be adored." As Adam took of his shirt, the envelope dropped to the ground. After picking it up, Adam wondered how he could have forgotten it. He sat down on the couch and slowly begin to tear the seal. It's contents fell into his lap. He picked the first thing up his fingers felt, a ring. By the weight of it he judged it to be gold. The stone that was set in it was a mystery. It could have been a diamond or a sapphire, maybe even an emerald. He set it aside for a moment with a frown. There was also a necklace with some sort of Asian symbol giving no clues to why his father would have given him these things. Along with the jewelry was a folded piece of paper, as he open it, a photograph fell out. He scanned the letter with his fingers feeling the print in the paper. Dearest son, I have done my best to protect you over all these years. You may have despised me for making you move those many times but it was for you own good. There have been so many things that I have longed to tell you and if you are reading this letter that means I'm no longer alive. My cowardice has followed me to my grave, for what I am about to tell you will not be easy.
Adam closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. He felt pain in his chest as the grief claimed him again. He hid his anguish well and had never cried for his father like he had wanted to.
The truth is that you are not adopted. Not really. More like kidnapped. When you were born I was working on a project with Clayton Genetics Inc. to create better human beings. We foresaw a bright future where humans could run faster, live longer, and even fly without the aid of a plane. There was no stopping the evolution of the human. But the natural process would be too long to wait. So with DNA extracted from many with those with super human abilities, we were able to create human beings. But the project required mothers to carry the special children to term and that is when I met your mother. Her name was Jade. Adam I wish you could have known her. Her hair was as black and curly as yours and she had the greenest eyes that lived up to her name. I fell in love with her. Even though she was a petty thief off the streets and even though I was many years her senior I fell in love with her. She was impregnated with you and carried you to full term, as did the rest of the women in our clinic. Then everything started to wrong. Many of the children were flawed. Some were born without arms or legs, some deaf and others blind like you. Then the mothers started to disappear one by one, as did the deformed babies. It was right after you were born that a coworker and I found out the terrible truth. Clayton was breeding super soldiers and then killing the mothers once they gave birth. I confronted my superiors about this and they laughed in face. They killed Jade in front of me with an injection. I will be haunted with that for the rest of my life. Days later, you were found to be blind. I couldn't loose you and kidnapped you before you had a chance to be killed. They have been looking for us ever since. My son, I'm getting too old to run anymore and no doubt will not be on this globe long. I cannot seem to think of any soul shattering advice that one is supposed to leave. Just live your life to the fullest and let this world be better because of you.
Your loving father
Adam's hands trembled as he picked up the photograph and scanned it with his fingers. It was hard to make out for photographs always gave him trouble but t was off his mother, he could almost swear to it. He rushed to the bathroom and proceeded to loose the contents in his stomach.
The day of the funeral was dreary reflecting the few mourners as they gathered around the fresh grave. A reverend said a few words as the coffin lowered into the ground. Besides she, Adam and Jon, there were around twenty mourners. Mostly Mr. Winters co-workers at the hospital. The young police officer, Banks, had attended as well. Gwen gazed at each face in the crowd. Some looked bored, while others still looked at the grave in disbelief. Many drifted towards Adam to express their sympathy in low voices. Adam thanked them softly. He looked so calm but Gwen knew better. She noticed his knuckles were white gripping his cane and his voice held a hint of strain in it. She leaned over the open grave and dropped a few roses on the coffin. She sighed again. Death was a part of life. She knew, maybe better then anyone. As Spider-girl she had seen death a lot, death of the good and the bad. She suddenly realized, maybe for the first time, what strain her mother went through watching her daughter and her husband go out to fight crime in the night, not knowing if they'd come back to her.
Adam rummaged through his fathers possessions laying most of them aside to be sold at a thrift shop. He had learned long ago to travel light. His memory drifted back to a different time. He had been 9 at the time and had left an important action figure of Captain America at the last apartment which they had fled in the middle of the night. His father simply hugged him close and told him that possessions were just things, family was the real treasure in life. Of course, that had been a lot to swallow at 9 and was still that way at 19. Adam closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. He would've traded anything in the world just to have his father back. He opened his eyes again and continued to look. His hand grasped a thick envelope. His fingers quickly scanned the front and read the indent of ink. It was addressed to him. He shoved it in his pocket for later observation and continued to look.
Gwen's parents were there to greet the three tired travelers the moment they stepped off the plane. Peter Parker immediately hugged his daughter giving her the look, 'I wish you had told us sooner instead of just two hours ago that you were coming in' look. It truly was amazing how parents could do things like that. M. J rushed and hugged Adam and sort of reminded Gwen in an old sort of way like a mother hen . Adam looked flabbergasted at the attention. It had been the same way at the Kents. He still was very solemn as the death of his father weighed too heavily on his shoulders. Tiffany and Ben had been there to meet them as well. Although the only one of the three of them that Tiffany had eyes for was Jon. She looked absolutely moonstruck much to Gwen's disgust. It was too embarrassing to have your sister fawning all over your best friend. Gwen wrapped her arm around Adam, causing him to smile, and lead him to the car with Jon following behind trying to untangle himself from Tiffany.
Hell's Kitchen teamed with lowlife, so many that few of New York's finest would rather fired then having to patrol the streets. The unfortunate cops who did get assigned to this unsavory part of New York spent most of their time in their cars. But Daredevil had to hand it to them, although the police could be a major pain they spent their lives keeping New York safe.without super powers. Daredevil stretched and messaged the tense muscles at the back of his neck. He was getting too old for this, even though he hated to admit it. Years of crime fighting were weighing down on him. He had just spent the night wrapping up some crooks for the cops. Unfortunately half would probably escape the justice system with just a smack on the wrist as a warning. It was a never-ending battle that was starting to tire him. As he pondered such things his keen ears caught a familiar twirp sound. "Hello webslinger," Daredevil greeted not bothering to turn around. "Hey Horn head," the amazing Spiderman answered and crouched beside the man in red as he peered at the street below. "Gwen arrived last night," Spiderman commented. "I thought she had gone to San Francisco," Daredevil said with puzzlement. "She did along with your son and the Kent's boy. When they got there Adam's father was found dead. Apparently suicide, but from what you have told me, I don't buy it," said Spiderman as he continued to watch the city below. "So they found Winters, poor boy," Daredevil said glumly. By some sick twisted fate, Adam's life was following more closely to Matt's own then Matt would have cared for. He too had lost his father around Adam's age. He felt like someone had just hit him in the stomach. He should have followed the boy or at least tried to get one of the super- heroes from San Francisco to guard the father. Wasn't that Spider-woman's turf? Daredevil wasn't sure. He had met her once as she stopped in New York and found out that she wasn't connected to the friendly neighborhood Spiderman in any way. "So are you going to tell him?" asked Spiderman. "Don't you have so diabolical super villain to catch or something?" asked the annoyed hero. Spiderman smiled under his mask. "Did ya hear? Today is when all those guys clean their long underwear," Spiderman joked lamely. He couldn't probably thought of a better wise crack but he was just too tired for it. He had stopped about eight robberies tonight and was dead tired. Granted, it could've been worse but even superheroes need a break. "So are you going to tell Adam?" Spiderman asked. Daredevil shook his head. "Why not?" Spiderman asked only to get a grunt for a reply. "Come on, the Hulk could come up with a better answer then that," coaxed Spiderman. "Do you try to be so annoying?" Daredevil demanded. Peter grinned beneath his mask. "Nope, comes naturally or so I'm told. Come on, Horn head, he has a right to know who his father is and why he's going to be killed if we don't watch out for him," his friend bluntly pointed out. "Oh yeah, great idea. And what am I going to say? 'Oh hi, Adam, you may not know but I'm your father, actually you were cloned from me and now Kingpin is trying to kill you!' that's not what I call a father and son bounding moment," Daredevil commented sourly. Then with the athletic grace, few could muster, Daredevil leapt off the building and faded back into the night. Spiderman shook his head, but something kept nagging him. If the Genesis project had been performed over 18 years ago, why was Kingpin only now getting around to killing the witnesses?
"Will you two be alright out here?" asked Mary Jane as she brought out extra blankets and pillows. "Yes ma'am," Jon and Adam both answered in unison. The living room had been turned into a temporary bedroom for the two guests. Mary jane grinned at the two and left as she turned out the lights. "Her folks are pretty cool letting us stay here," Jon commented as he pulled of his shirt and climbed beneath a mountain of blankets on the cot that had been set up. "Yeah I guess," Adam mumbled half heartedly as he too started to change for bed. "Adam sometimes you are really dense," Jon chided. Adam paused, "About what?" he asked with confusion. Jon let out a long sigh. "Do I need to explain everything to you? Ok, no father I know of would let his daughter's boyfriend stay in his house when his daughter's room is just two feet away," Jon stated. Adam felt color begin to spread over his cheeks and thankful the darkness hid it. "Tempting thought but I think they should worry about Tiffany crawling into your bed first," Adam said with amusement. Jon let out a low laugh. "Yeah but it's good to be adored." As Adam took of his shirt, the envelope dropped to the ground. After picking it up, Adam wondered how he could have forgotten it. He sat down on the couch and slowly begin to tear the seal. It's contents fell into his lap. He picked the first thing up his fingers felt, a ring. By the weight of it he judged it to be gold. The stone that was set in it was a mystery. It could have been a diamond or a sapphire, maybe even an emerald. He set it aside for a moment with a frown. There was also a necklace with some sort of Asian symbol giving no clues to why his father would have given him these things. Along with the jewelry was a folded piece of paper, as he open it, a photograph fell out. He scanned the letter with his fingers feeling the print in the paper. Dearest son, I have done my best to protect you over all these years. You may have despised me for making you move those many times but it was for you own good. There have been so many things that I have longed to tell you and if you are reading this letter that means I'm no longer alive. My cowardice has followed me to my grave, for what I am about to tell you will not be easy.
Adam closed his eyes and took a deep sigh. He felt pain in his chest as the grief claimed him again. He hid his anguish well and had never cried for his father like he had wanted to.
The truth is that you are not adopted. Not really. More like kidnapped. When you were born I was working on a project with Clayton Genetics Inc. to create better human beings. We foresaw a bright future where humans could run faster, live longer, and even fly without the aid of a plane. There was no stopping the evolution of the human. But the natural process would be too long to wait. So with DNA extracted from many with those with super human abilities, we were able to create human beings. But the project required mothers to carry the special children to term and that is when I met your mother. Her name was Jade. Adam I wish you could have known her. Her hair was as black and curly as yours and she had the greenest eyes that lived up to her name. I fell in love with her. Even though she was a petty thief off the streets and even though I was many years her senior I fell in love with her. She was impregnated with you and carried you to full term, as did the rest of the women in our clinic. Then everything started to wrong. Many of the children were flawed. Some were born without arms or legs, some deaf and others blind like you. Then the mothers started to disappear one by one, as did the deformed babies. It was right after you were born that a coworker and I found out the terrible truth. Clayton was breeding super soldiers and then killing the mothers once they gave birth. I confronted my superiors about this and they laughed in face. They killed Jade in front of me with an injection. I will be haunted with that for the rest of my life. Days later, you were found to be blind. I couldn't loose you and kidnapped you before you had a chance to be killed. They have been looking for us ever since. My son, I'm getting too old to run anymore and no doubt will not be on this globe long. I cannot seem to think of any soul shattering advice that one is supposed to leave. Just live your life to the fullest and let this world be better because of you.
Your loving father
Adam's hands trembled as he picked up the photograph and scanned it with his fingers. It was hard to make out for photographs always gave him trouble but t was off his mother, he could almost swear to it. He rushed to the bathroom and proceeded to loose the contents in his stomach.