Cass woke up slowly finding herself in the lab again "Well, this is getting to be a nasty habit" she mumbled to Adams back and he turned to her with a small smile
But there was something strained about that smile - it didn't really reach his eyes.
"What's wrong with me?"
He hesitated for a moment and then told her everything he knew "I'm sorry Cass but right now I don't know how to save you...I don't know if I even can" there were tears in his eyes as he finished his explanation.
She sat up slowly and smiled at him softly "Adam it's ok. I understand"
"We can still place you in the underground Cass" he pleaded softly "You'll never have to use your powers again..."
"No"
"Cass, you don't understand, the more you use your powers, the sooner you die"
"Adam, you said it yourself - not using my powers isn't going to save me - it's just going to buy some time..."
"and maybe in time I could..." he started but she cut him off
"I finally found somewhere I belong Adam, Finally I can make my life count for something...I'm not going. I don't mind dying Adam, it's ok, I never even expected to live this long." She told him softly and hugged him.
She got up and started walking out of the lab to her room then stopped and turned beck to him "The others? Do they know?"
"Not everything, but most of it"
"Don't tell them anything more... they don't need to know"
*
They were sitting in the main area, none of them were talking. She saw them all get up as soon as she and Adam came out of the lab.
"Are you ok?" Jesse asked her worriedly
"I'll be fine really" she shrugged, lying through her teeth. "did we catch Gabriel?"
"No, he got away" Shalimar said grumpily, part of her glad about the change in the topic - death was not something she dealt with very well - death caused by their own powers was something she dealt with even worse.
"There was something wrong with him" Jesse said "like he was in pain or something"
"In pain?" Adam frowned
Emma concentrated for a second, they could see her eyes narrow as she tried to remember the feelings she picked up back at the clinic and filter the ones she got off Gabriel "Adam I think Jesse is right" she finally said "I think Gabriel is sick, maybe even dying"
*
Genomex
Gabriel stumbled into his room with the aid of two of his men, the girl who was there - his latest mistress, Beth - rushed to his side as he crawled onto the bed.
"Gabriel, are you ok?"
"Do I look ok?" He growled, and she frowned slightly at the harshness in his voice "I'm sorry, the fight with those Mutant x people took a lot out of me"
One of the men who was still in the room approached him carefully "Anything we can do for you Gabriel?"
"Yes!" he nearly screamed "find a way to complete the process and get me what I need!!!"
*
It was very late at night and Shalimar was prowling the halls, the adrenaline from the fight earlier that day was still streaming in her body and she just couldn't lay still, let alone sleep.
She saw light in the lab and made her way over there, finding Adam still hard at work.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked without turning towards her and she smiled, not surprised that he knew it was her.
"Did you find anything?" she hopped on the counter, her bare feet dangling in the air
"I think so, but it's not going to be good news" he sighed
"Well tell me anyway, if I'm going to loose sleep it might as well be out of worry" she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"I went over Dr. Toledo's research, it seems like right before Genomex turned into the GSA, he was involved in a top secret project - the Eve project. It involves taking powers form a living mutant donor and implanting them into another living patient. The idea was to use already existing Mutant genes to kind of correct the problems with other mutant's gene structure. The problem was that he couldn't make it work completely - the donors kept dying on him"
"What does that have to do with Gabriel?"
"Well, for starters - Gabriel's gene structure is highly unstable, even back then when he was just a child we were worried about the possibility of his genes turning erratic and splitting up."
"so that could be why he was sick today" Shalimar said excitedly "if it is then we might have our problem solved for us!" but she noticed Adam wasn't sharing her excitement
"Gabriel dying is the last thing we want Shalimar, a dying man has nothing to loose, which makes him even more dangerous. And if this process works not only will Gabriel not die - but he'll be able to simply take powers from anyone he wants - not to mention killing them in the process"
There was a long silence between them as Shalimar took in the information Adam had just given her. Gabriel Ashlock with even more powers then he had now - now that was a scary thought.
She left the lab quietly, still thinking about Adam's discoveries, and made her way beck to her room.
She heard the sound of footsteps somewhere down the dark hall. She turned and turned on her feral senses to allow her to see in the darkness and saw Brennan, tiptoeing his way down the hall - towards Cass's room.
But there was something strained about that smile - it didn't really reach his eyes.
"What's wrong with me?"
He hesitated for a moment and then told her everything he knew "I'm sorry Cass but right now I don't know how to save you...I don't know if I even can" there were tears in his eyes as he finished his explanation.
She sat up slowly and smiled at him softly "Adam it's ok. I understand"
"We can still place you in the underground Cass" he pleaded softly "You'll never have to use your powers again..."
"No"
"Cass, you don't understand, the more you use your powers, the sooner you die"
"Adam, you said it yourself - not using my powers isn't going to save me - it's just going to buy some time..."
"and maybe in time I could..." he started but she cut him off
"I finally found somewhere I belong Adam, Finally I can make my life count for something...I'm not going. I don't mind dying Adam, it's ok, I never even expected to live this long." She told him softly and hugged him.
She got up and started walking out of the lab to her room then stopped and turned beck to him "The others? Do they know?"
"Not everything, but most of it"
"Don't tell them anything more... they don't need to know"
*
They were sitting in the main area, none of them were talking. She saw them all get up as soon as she and Adam came out of the lab.
"Are you ok?" Jesse asked her worriedly
"I'll be fine really" she shrugged, lying through her teeth. "did we catch Gabriel?"
"No, he got away" Shalimar said grumpily, part of her glad about the change in the topic - death was not something she dealt with very well - death caused by their own powers was something she dealt with even worse.
"There was something wrong with him" Jesse said "like he was in pain or something"
"In pain?" Adam frowned
Emma concentrated for a second, they could see her eyes narrow as she tried to remember the feelings she picked up back at the clinic and filter the ones she got off Gabriel "Adam I think Jesse is right" she finally said "I think Gabriel is sick, maybe even dying"
*
Genomex
Gabriel stumbled into his room with the aid of two of his men, the girl who was there - his latest mistress, Beth - rushed to his side as he crawled onto the bed.
"Gabriel, are you ok?"
"Do I look ok?" He growled, and she frowned slightly at the harshness in his voice "I'm sorry, the fight with those Mutant x people took a lot out of me"
One of the men who was still in the room approached him carefully "Anything we can do for you Gabriel?"
"Yes!" he nearly screamed "find a way to complete the process and get me what I need!!!"
*
It was very late at night and Shalimar was prowling the halls, the adrenaline from the fight earlier that day was still streaming in her body and she just couldn't lay still, let alone sleep.
She saw light in the lab and made her way over there, finding Adam still hard at work.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked without turning towards her and she smiled, not surprised that he knew it was her.
"Did you find anything?" she hopped on the counter, her bare feet dangling in the air
"I think so, but it's not going to be good news" he sighed
"Well tell me anyway, if I'm going to loose sleep it might as well be out of worry" she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
"I went over Dr. Toledo's research, it seems like right before Genomex turned into the GSA, he was involved in a top secret project - the Eve project. It involves taking powers form a living mutant donor and implanting them into another living patient. The idea was to use already existing Mutant genes to kind of correct the problems with other mutant's gene structure. The problem was that he couldn't make it work completely - the donors kept dying on him"
"What does that have to do with Gabriel?"
"Well, for starters - Gabriel's gene structure is highly unstable, even back then when he was just a child we were worried about the possibility of his genes turning erratic and splitting up."
"so that could be why he was sick today" Shalimar said excitedly "if it is then we might have our problem solved for us!" but she noticed Adam wasn't sharing her excitement
"Gabriel dying is the last thing we want Shalimar, a dying man has nothing to loose, which makes him even more dangerous. And if this process works not only will Gabriel not die - but he'll be able to simply take powers from anyone he wants - not to mention killing them in the process"
There was a long silence between them as Shalimar took in the information Adam had just given her. Gabriel Ashlock with even more powers then he had now - now that was a scary thought.
She left the lab quietly, still thinking about Adam's discoveries, and made her way beck to her room.
She heard the sound of footsteps somewhere down the dark hall. She turned and turned on her feral senses to allow her to see in the darkness and saw Brennan, tiptoeing his way down the hall - towards Cass's room.