The Cherokee, courtesy of a certain secret Government Agency who was the
owner of many other Cherokees of its kind, sped down the Freeway as if
there was no tomorrow, slinking in and out of taffic in all its ominous
glory. Its occupants? Shrouded in the same aura of mystery and secrecy.
She had been sitting quietly at the back for the last hour, and if the agent at the wheel cared to look into the rearview mirror, he would have definitely seen the lines of concentration contorting her fine features. If not for the occasional mono-syllable directives 'right' or 'left' or 'south' or 'faster', he would have thought she was in a trance.
Indeed she was, and in a deep one too. For the record, since Eckhart had hired her, she'd been bringing him more New Mutants per day than any of his previous recruits had in a month. And it was all because of her genius and that little strand of nucleotides hidden in her every cell, also known as DNA. Inflicting every New Mutant she met with the same deadly malady was her renowned specialty. The ability to track them down was a bonus.
She kept her eyes shut and concentrated on the radioactive waves she was receiving. The signals were getting stronger by the minute. They were getting closer and closer to the psionic she had been tracking; she could feel it in her bones. There. That's it. It had finally come to her. The exact location.
"31, Docker Street. That's where he is."
************** Jesse awoke the next morning to an awful pain in his stomach. Ugh, he groaned silently, squirming a little in his bed, hoping to ease some of the discomfort. I knew that last Margarita was a mistake, he thought with a wince, and with an effort, he pushed himself up on his elbows.
His alarm clock read 11.00 a.m.
*Oh God* Jesse rubbed a hand across his face wearily. 11 o'clock was late, even for him. That, and plus his churning stomach, he had a feeling that it was going to be a long, long day.
Resisting the urge to rub his sore stomach, Jesse got dressed as fast as his hurting body would allow him and made his way down the stairs. He didn't need to look into the kitchen to know that Shalimar had left some breakfast for him like she always did on the rare occasions that he'd missed a meal. The thought of food seriously made him want to regurgitate.
As he expected, everyone was gathered around Proxy Blue.
"Hey, Jess." Emma was the one to look up first. She smiled at him sympathetically. "Rough night?"
"You might say that." Jesse had to agree. "What's going on?" A painful twinge in his abdomen caused him to wince a little, and he quickly hid his discomfort behind a small cough. Thankfully the rest of the gang was too busy listening to what Proxy Blue was saying to even notice.
"The mysterious disappearances of New Mutants," Shalimar summarized for him. "Lost another one yesterday. A feral, reported missing after calling in sick from work." Jesse nodded, and his eyes flicked to Adam. Their mentor and guardian looked worried and Jesse could understand why. When New Mutants went missing, they were either dead or captured, neither one a pleasant thought.
"Genomex?"
Adam shook his head. "I can't say. Eckhart has always been subtle in his work. . . but we can't deny the possibility that he could be involved in this. Kidnapping New Mutants is risky business but ten New Mutants have been reported missing in the past week alone- if it was Eckhart's doing, he's risking his neck on the line for such drastic action."
"Unless he's confident no one can pin anything on him." Shalimar frowned.
"Well, if it's him, he's doing a pretty good job in covering his tracks. No witnesses whatsoever. Most of the New Mutants who disappeared, they either lived alone-" Emma looked deeply concerned.
"Or maybe they didn't put up with much of a fight when they got kidnapped," Brennan finished.
"Or- they went on their own free will," Jesse added.
"Well, assumptions won't do us any good without solid proof," Adam crossed his arms across his chest. "Jesse, Brennan, I want you guys to check out with the New Mutant Underground, see if you can find out anything. Shalimar, run a check on those missing Mutants, see if you can find a link in their disappearances. Emma, you help Shalimar out. I believe I'll go and have a little talk with a certain someone." A gleam shone in his eyes.
"Got it." They nodded.
******************
She stood back a little distance away as the agents forced the door open. Impatiently, she breezed through the door with more than a slight huff. The GS agents were quite slow today, wasting precious seconds which were crucial to make a quick and clean getaway. The longer they stayed, the bigger the chance they would be seen. And that was what she couldn't afford.
A loud moan from inside the house urged her to search each and every room, until she got to the last one. Just as she expected, the New Mutant was already very sick, and was now moaning and writhing on the floor of the cramped bedroom, clutching his head in his hands, trying to seek relief from the intense pain in his head.
"Oh poor baby. . ." Elaine knelt down next to the young man, and clasped his temples between her hands. He had been a strapping young thing, tall and strikingly handsome when she first met him at the bar, alluring him and seducing him even before he had a chance to hone in his psionic abilities to really read her intentions. He didn't even know what hit him. Until she got into his head.
"Governor," she snapped, holding out her palm. Hurriedly, the agent planted one in her out-stretched hand. Ignoring his cries and groans, she blasted a shot at the back of his neck. There.
Then she smoothed out his damp blond hair out of his eyes. He was in so much pain she doubted he was even aware of her presence.
"Come, let me fix you hmm?" She then placed a hand on his clammy forehead, and accumulated all her energy, feeling it flow from inside her body to the tip of her fingers. As more of the soothing waves were pumped into him, the mutant grew calmer somewhat, his sweaty face bathed in a resplendent red light. In her mind's eye, she could see the tumor, which had been growing at the back of his skull the last few days shrinking and shrinking and at last dissolving into nothingness. With a sigh, the guy finally released the death grip he had had on his head and his body went limp.
"Grab him. We need to get out of here."
That's another one, she thought with glee. At the rate I'm going, a promotion does not seem unlikely now, does it? Immediately her mind flew to yesterday's event. Ooh she couldn't wait to get her hands on the blond molecular she was sure she had taken care of. It's just a matter of time now. Then, not only would Eckhart be pleased with her for doing such a good job on capturing New Mutants for him, but when he learnt that soon Mutant X would cease to exist, and most important of all, the location of their secret hideout, then maybe, maybe a smile would at last appear on that dead fish face of his.
******************
Jesse was beginning to think that maybe tracking down some missing Mutants wasn't such a good idea after all. The truth was he wasn't feeling so hot and his stomach pains were back with a vengeance, and they were no longer just of minor nuisance. It was bad enough that Brennan had to drag him everywhere, questioning every New Mutant they met and getting no real answer in return, but now the elemental, who'd never shown a talkative side to him before, was being painfully conversational today.
"So. Last night. At the back alley. Was that the girl?"
"What girl?" Jesse grumbled.
"The girl you were looking for. Man, was she a hottie or what."
Jesse ignored him and snuggled deeper into the passenger seat, trying to ease the pain in his gut by not talking much, or better yet, not talking at all.
"What did she see in you anyway? I was there with you all the while, why did she go for you? I don't understand," Brennan said, hoping to get Jesse in the mood. His friend had been unusually quiet through the whole journey, and even their usual, loud, abusive banter was preferable to this.
"So.what's her name?" Argh. Brennan was driving him nuts.
"Barney," Jesse retorted at last, giving him an evil eye.
Brennan shrugged, and concentrated on his driving for a while. "Hey, man, chill. What's your problem?"
"Nothing," Jesse mumbled, avoiding his friend's searching eyes. "Just don't feel like talking, okay?"
"Okay." Brennan shrugged. "Just, if you're going to sleep on the way back, don't drool on the upholstery okay?"
Jesse groaned silently and curled around himself even tighter.
She had been sitting quietly at the back for the last hour, and if the agent at the wheel cared to look into the rearview mirror, he would have definitely seen the lines of concentration contorting her fine features. If not for the occasional mono-syllable directives 'right' or 'left' or 'south' or 'faster', he would have thought she was in a trance.
Indeed she was, and in a deep one too. For the record, since Eckhart had hired her, she'd been bringing him more New Mutants per day than any of his previous recruits had in a month. And it was all because of her genius and that little strand of nucleotides hidden in her every cell, also known as DNA. Inflicting every New Mutant she met with the same deadly malady was her renowned specialty. The ability to track them down was a bonus.
She kept her eyes shut and concentrated on the radioactive waves she was receiving. The signals were getting stronger by the minute. They were getting closer and closer to the psionic she had been tracking; she could feel it in her bones. There. That's it. It had finally come to her. The exact location.
"31, Docker Street. That's where he is."
************** Jesse awoke the next morning to an awful pain in his stomach. Ugh, he groaned silently, squirming a little in his bed, hoping to ease some of the discomfort. I knew that last Margarita was a mistake, he thought with a wince, and with an effort, he pushed himself up on his elbows.
His alarm clock read 11.00 a.m.
*Oh God* Jesse rubbed a hand across his face wearily. 11 o'clock was late, even for him. That, and plus his churning stomach, he had a feeling that it was going to be a long, long day.
Resisting the urge to rub his sore stomach, Jesse got dressed as fast as his hurting body would allow him and made his way down the stairs. He didn't need to look into the kitchen to know that Shalimar had left some breakfast for him like she always did on the rare occasions that he'd missed a meal. The thought of food seriously made him want to regurgitate.
As he expected, everyone was gathered around Proxy Blue.
"Hey, Jess." Emma was the one to look up first. She smiled at him sympathetically. "Rough night?"
"You might say that." Jesse had to agree. "What's going on?" A painful twinge in his abdomen caused him to wince a little, and he quickly hid his discomfort behind a small cough. Thankfully the rest of the gang was too busy listening to what Proxy Blue was saying to even notice.
"The mysterious disappearances of New Mutants," Shalimar summarized for him. "Lost another one yesterday. A feral, reported missing after calling in sick from work." Jesse nodded, and his eyes flicked to Adam. Their mentor and guardian looked worried and Jesse could understand why. When New Mutants went missing, they were either dead or captured, neither one a pleasant thought.
"Genomex?"
Adam shook his head. "I can't say. Eckhart has always been subtle in his work. . . but we can't deny the possibility that he could be involved in this. Kidnapping New Mutants is risky business but ten New Mutants have been reported missing in the past week alone- if it was Eckhart's doing, he's risking his neck on the line for such drastic action."
"Unless he's confident no one can pin anything on him." Shalimar frowned.
"Well, if it's him, he's doing a pretty good job in covering his tracks. No witnesses whatsoever. Most of the New Mutants who disappeared, they either lived alone-" Emma looked deeply concerned.
"Or maybe they didn't put up with much of a fight when they got kidnapped," Brennan finished.
"Or- they went on their own free will," Jesse added.
"Well, assumptions won't do us any good without solid proof," Adam crossed his arms across his chest. "Jesse, Brennan, I want you guys to check out with the New Mutant Underground, see if you can find out anything. Shalimar, run a check on those missing Mutants, see if you can find a link in their disappearances. Emma, you help Shalimar out. I believe I'll go and have a little talk with a certain someone." A gleam shone in his eyes.
"Got it." They nodded.
******************
She stood back a little distance away as the agents forced the door open. Impatiently, she breezed through the door with more than a slight huff. The GS agents were quite slow today, wasting precious seconds which were crucial to make a quick and clean getaway. The longer they stayed, the bigger the chance they would be seen. And that was what she couldn't afford.
A loud moan from inside the house urged her to search each and every room, until she got to the last one. Just as she expected, the New Mutant was already very sick, and was now moaning and writhing on the floor of the cramped bedroom, clutching his head in his hands, trying to seek relief from the intense pain in his head.
"Oh poor baby. . ." Elaine knelt down next to the young man, and clasped his temples between her hands. He had been a strapping young thing, tall and strikingly handsome when she first met him at the bar, alluring him and seducing him even before he had a chance to hone in his psionic abilities to really read her intentions. He didn't even know what hit him. Until she got into his head.
"Governor," she snapped, holding out her palm. Hurriedly, the agent planted one in her out-stretched hand. Ignoring his cries and groans, she blasted a shot at the back of his neck. There.
Then she smoothed out his damp blond hair out of his eyes. He was in so much pain she doubted he was even aware of her presence.
"Come, let me fix you hmm?" She then placed a hand on his clammy forehead, and accumulated all her energy, feeling it flow from inside her body to the tip of her fingers. As more of the soothing waves were pumped into him, the mutant grew calmer somewhat, his sweaty face bathed in a resplendent red light. In her mind's eye, she could see the tumor, which had been growing at the back of his skull the last few days shrinking and shrinking and at last dissolving into nothingness. With a sigh, the guy finally released the death grip he had had on his head and his body went limp.
"Grab him. We need to get out of here."
That's another one, she thought with glee. At the rate I'm going, a promotion does not seem unlikely now, does it? Immediately her mind flew to yesterday's event. Ooh she couldn't wait to get her hands on the blond molecular she was sure she had taken care of. It's just a matter of time now. Then, not only would Eckhart be pleased with her for doing such a good job on capturing New Mutants for him, but when he learnt that soon Mutant X would cease to exist, and most important of all, the location of their secret hideout, then maybe, maybe a smile would at last appear on that dead fish face of his.
******************
Jesse was beginning to think that maybe tracking down some missing Mutants wasn't such a good idea after all. The truth was he wasn't feeling so hot and his stomach pains were back with a vengeance, and they were no longer just of minor nuisance. It was bad enough that Brennan had to drag him everywhere, questioning every New Mutant they met and getting no real answer in return, but now the elemental, who'd never shown a talkative side to him before, was being painfully conversational today.
"So. Last night. At the back alley. Was that the girl?"
"What girl?" Jesse grumbled.
"The girl you were looking for. Man, was she a hottie or what."
Jesse ignored him and snuggled deeper into the passenger seat, trying to ease the pain in his gut by not talking much, or better yet, not talking at all.
"What did she see in you anyway? I was there with you all the while, why did she go for you? I don't understand," Brennan said, hoping to get Jesse in the mood. His friend had been unusually quiet through the whole journey, and even their usual, loud, abusive banter was preferable to this.
"So.what's her name?" Argh. Brennan was driving him nuts.
"Barney," Jesse retorted at last, giving him an evil eye.
Brennan shrugged, and concentrated on his driving for a while. "Hey, man, chill. What's your problem?"
"Nothing," Jesse mumbled, avoiding his friend's searching eyes. "Just don't feel like talking, okay?"
"Okay." Brennan shrugged. "Just, if you're going to sleep on the way back, don't drool on the upholstery okay?"
Jesse groaned silently and curled around himself even tighter.