Author's Notes: Thank you thank you thank you to all you wonderful
reviewers! Love you guys!!! And now as I have promised- a new chapter, just
for you. (Actually I finished this bit 2 days ago but the server was down
so I wasn't able to upload it right away-please don't be mad at me!!)
Spoilers: The Meaning of Death (just the mere mention of it!)
"We need to find him!" Shalimar said frantically. "Elaine will get to him if we don't get to him first!" She paced back and forth furiously; unaware that she was letting her feral side show for she looked every bit like a very angry lioness with her blond tresses flying about her face and with a fierce scowl like that on her face, everyone steered as far away as possible from her.
"Adam!"
"We mustn't panic, okay? Now let us think clearly for a second here; why would Jesse suddenly leave and where would he go?" Adam massaged his forehead while they all gathered around their leader, staring at him anxiously. Things were getting out of his control and he didn't like it even one bit. He had to admit he was furious at Jesse for leaving without telling; that was one habit all his protégés seemed to share, they always disappeared without any news in times of distress but would usually come back once they were calmed down. He always assumed it was a trait all young people had. They really had a funny way of taking care of problems and Adam had never really gotten the hang of it. But as angry as he was, he couldn't help the sickening feeling of worry tightening his chest; Jesse was in no condition to go anywhere, let alone by himself. He hoped Emma and Brennan were having more luck with the computers. Knowing Jesse, he'd probably have deactivated every sensory device that could lead them to him.
Shalimar forced herself to take a deep breath, trying her best to calm down. Why wouldn't Jesse want them to know where he was going?
And where could he be now? Shalimar was worried sick. Adam had spent the last ten minutes inventorying the laboratory and feverishly straightening things out; inspecting every piece of glassware and beakers Jesse had left on the experimenting bench. With an expert eye, Adam examined every solution and reagent bottle which Jesse had used before he left.
"What was he working on Adam?" Shalimar asked in a hushed voice. Adam lifted a Petri dish with his gloved hand gently and scrutinized its bluish gel-like content.
"Traces of restriction endonuclease...an enzyme usually used to cut bacterial DNA at specific sites." Adam tapped his chin thoughtfully. The vial containing Elaine's hair was also missing along with samples of its DNA results. What HAD Jesse been doing? He checked the inventory list again. The centrifugation chamber. He hadn't checked that one yet.
He dislodged a test tube from the collecting tray, which was still a little warm to the touch, obviously from having been centrifuged not very long ago. In the bright white light of the laboratory, he could clearly make out the three separate layers of sediment, all hued in different tones of scarlet red.
Shalimar was checking the records on the computer's logbook to see if Jesse had used any of the other devices in the lab, to solve the mystery of Jesse's unknown experiments. True, Jesse WAS, she could say, a secretive person but she never expected this level of secrecy from him. She had told him over and over again since they were little that she would always be there for him if he needed her. He should know he could tell her anything!
Jesse, your life is in danger damn it! She angrily brushed away a stray tear with the back of her hand. If anything happened to Jesse.
Wait a second. She peered closer at the screen.
"Hey Adam," Shalimar called. Adam came over in a hurry.
"What is it?" Shalimar pointed at the monitor.
"The record showed that Jesse used the DNA extractor at precisely 10 o'clock this morning."
"The DNA extractor?" Adam's forehead wrinkled in a frown. The last time had used that was when he needed to extract Charles Marlowe's unique strand of DNA which coded for his mutant invulnerability and where it had helped them save Jesse and Emma's lives as well as the lives of hundreds of other Mutants who had fallen victim to the dangerous air-borne spore infection which had almost gotten them all killed, he couldn't see how the use of it was of any relevance to their current situation now. "This morning?"
Shalimar nodded seriously. "No one was here except Jesse-Brennan and I were out, so were you and Emma-" The unspoken question played in Adam's mind.
Who did he use it on? Adam wondered. "Bring up an image from 10 o'clock this morning will you Shalimar?" Shalimar tapped a few commands and a new window opened up, activating the security video camera in the lab. Instantly Jesse materialized on the screen, and the muscles on Adam's jaw clenched. Jesse looked terrible; he felt like kicking himself in the head for leaving Jesse alone at the Sanctuary.
They watched silently as Jesse hefted himself painfully onto the bio-bed. Shalimar felt a lump in her throat as Jesse slowly lay back, his face clearly locked in a grimace and her eyes went wide as rays of high-energy electron beams hit him from the legs upward. She choked back a cry as Jesse bucked in the chair. "Oh God.."
The painful episode ended a few minutes later and after a while, the video playback automatically shut itself down. But the unanswered question still lingered in the stillness of the sudden silence.
"Why would Jesse extract DNA from himself?" Shalimar asked fearfully.
Adam shook his head, obviously baffled. "I don't know."
Ps: Hey guys sorry if this chapter might be a bit boring to you but I really have to get my thoughts together and I'm doing my best to make sure I myself know where this story is leading to! I think it's safe for me to promise you that the next chapter will be more exciting! Thanks! And pls review!
Spoilers: The Meaning of Death (just the mere mention of it!)
"We need to find him!" Shalimar said frantically. "Elaine will get to him if we don't get to him first!" She paced back and forth furiously; unaware that she was letting her feral side show for she looked every bit like a very angry lioness with her blond tresses flying about her face and with a fierce scowl like that on her face, everyone steered as far away as possible from her.
"Adam!"
"We mustn't panic, okay? Now let us think clearly for a second here; why would Jesse suddenly leave and where would he go?" Adam massaged his forehead while they all gathered around their leader, staring at him anxiously. Things were getting out of his control and he didn't like it even one bit. He had to admit he was furious at Jesse for leaving without telling; that was one habit all his protégés seemed to share, they always disappeared without any news in times of distress but would usually come back once they were calmed down. He always assumed it was a trait all young people had. They really had a funny way of taking care of problems and Adam had never really gotten the hang of it. But as angry as he was, he couldn't help the sickening feeling of worry tightening his chest; Jesse was in no condition to go anywhere, let alone by himself. He hoped Emma and Brennan were having more luck with the computers. Knowing Jesse, he'd probably have deactivated every sensory device that could lead them to him.
Shalimar forced herself to take a deep breath, trying her best to calm down. Why wouldn't Jesse want them to know where he was going?
And where could he be now? Shalimar was worried sick. Adam had spent the last ten minutes inventorying the laboratory and feverishly straightening things out; inspecting every piece of glassware and beakers Jesse had left on the experimenting bench. With an expert eye, Adam examined every solution and reagent bottle which Jesse had used before he left.
"What was he working on Adam?" Shalimar asked in a hushed voice. Adam lifted a Petri dish with his gloved hand gently and scrutinized its bluish gel-like content.
"Traces of restriction endonuclease...an enzyme usually used to cut bacterial DNA at specific sites." Adam tapped his chin thoughtfully. The vial containing Elaine's hair was also missing along with samples of its DNA results. What HAD Jesse been doing? He checked the inventory list again. The centrifugation chamber. He hadn't checked that one yet.
He dislodged a test tube from the collecting tray, which was still a little warm to the touch, obviously from having been centrifuged not very long ago. In the bright white light of the laboratory, he could clearly make out the three separate layers of sediment, all hued in different tones of scarlet red.
Shalimar was checking the records on the computer's logbook to see if Jesse had used any of the other devices in the lab, to solve the mystery of Jesse's unknown experiments. True, Jesse WAS, she could say, a secretive person but she never expected this level of secrecy from him. She had told him over and over again since they were little that she would always be there for him if he needed her. He should know he could tell her anything!
Jesse, your life is in danger damn it! She angrily brushed away a stray tear with the back of her hand. If anything happened to Jesse.
Wait a second. She peered closer at the screen.
"Hey Adam," Shalimar called. Adam came over in a hurry.
"What is it?" Shalimar pointed at the monitor.
"The record showed that Jesse used the DNA extractor at precisely 10 o'clock this morning."
"The DNA extractor?" Adam's forehead wrinkled in a frown. The last time had used that was when he needed to extract Charles Marlowe's unique strand of DNA which coded for his mutant invulnerability and where it had helped them save Jesse and Emma's lives as well as the lives of hundreds of other Mutants who had fallen victim to the dangerous air-borne spore infection which had almost gotten them all killed, he couldn't see how the use of it was of any relevance to their current situation now. "This morning?"
Shalimar nodded seriously. "No one was here except Jesse-Brennan and I were out, so were you and Emma-" The unspoken question played in Adam's mind.
Who did he use it on? Adam wondered. "Bring up an image from 10 o'clock this morning will you Shalimar?" Shalimar tapped a few commands and a new window opened up, activating the security video camera in the lab. Instantly Jesse materialized on the screen, and the muscles on Adam's jaw clenched. Jesse looked terrible; he felt like kicking himself in the head for leaving Jesse alone at the Sanctuary.
They watched silently as Jesse hefted himself painfully onto the bio-bed. Shalimar felt a lump in her throat as Jesse slowly lay back, his face clearly locked in a grimace and her eyes went wide as rays of high-energy electron beams hit him from the legs upward. She choked back a cry as Jesse bucked in the chair. "Oh God.."
The painful episode ended a few minutes later and after a while, the video playback automatically shut itself down. But the unanswered question still lingered in the stillness of the sudden silence.
"Why would Jesse extract DNA from himself?" Shalimar asked fearfully.
Adam shook his head, obviously baffled. "I don't know."
Ps: Hey guys sorry if this chapter might be a bit boring to you but I really have to get my thoughts together and I'm doing my best to make sure I myself know where this story is leading to! I think it's safe for me to promise you that the next chapter will be more exciting! Thanks! And pls review!