Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the last few chapters. I really do appreciate it and I'm happy to hear that you're all enjoying it so much. I know its a confusing story and I'm glad that you have all pressed on with it regardless. I hope its all starting to make sense...I just didn't want to make it patronising by explaining it really really clearly. I wanted to let everything come out in stages and I hope that its effective. Please review again and I've just finished chapter 11 so hopefully an update is not too far away.
***
He walked along the hallway past all the moronic drones that worked for him day in, day out. He couldn't stand that they had to be near him with their pathetic existence's, it was so disgusting. He pushed one of them, a man only a few inches shorter than him into the wall and out of his way before striding on through the labyrinthine corridors of the building. He and Lexa facing off was not going to happen at the best time. He had plenty of assignments without having to kick her dumb ass. She knew she was about to lose though and yet she was still coming here. That impressed him though he'd never admit it. She had more guts than intelligence but he was slightly awe stricken. And Brennan Mulwray was impressing him. Handon had always supposed Mutant X to be a group of cowards who ran from the enemy and hid everyone else from them too but they were prepared to bring it. He slammed a door open as he walked on never breaking his even paced stride.
***
She looked around her, the nerves beginning to grow threatening to overtake any courage she thought she had. Handon was so much more powerful than she was. Why had she ever assumed that she could be strong enough to take him on? She was so incredibly stupid and right now turning around and running away didn't seem like such a bad idea. She became pale under her even tan and her eyes were moving more erratically. She knew if she stopped walking her legs would buckle from underneath her so she kept on making her way across the concrete. She looked across at Brennan briefly. He didn't look nervous at all. He looked confident to the point of being arrogant. She didn't know whether he was so cocky he thought they could actually win or whether he was just a brilliant Oscar worthy actor, but she was suddenly determined not to be outdone. Part of beating someone in battle was breaking their spirit and there had to be something spirit destroying about seeing two people about to go up against one of the biggest meanest government agencies there was. She smirked slightly as she pulled her shoulders back and lifted her head higher. She would show Charles Handon that she was as good if not better than him if it killed her.
***
Brennan looked at the building as the door swung open. He could feel the adrenaline growing inside him, flowing through his blood stream forcing him to become more alert and aware of his surroundings. His muscles began to tingle, aching for the fight they seemed to know were coming. The breeze whipped at his hair, messy from the earlier fight and he longed to turn around. He wanted to look back at the Helix just so he could make sure that Shalimar was okay. She had suddenly and suprisingly become his top priority in everything. She was the one he thought about when they were in a fight, she was the one he worried about when she wasn't in his eyeline. He had never been like that with a woman before. They had either been extremely casual and he had not cared about them beyond one night or they had been short relationships because he had the concentration span of a small child and couldn't seem to keep himself interested in them beyond a few weeks. But he had known Shalimar for a long time and he still couldn't get her out of his head. Maybe it was the mystery aspect in that she wasn't as easy as the girls he normally went for but there was something else to it. It was much more complex than that.
He watched as a man walked out of the doorway. He was tall with ash blonde hair and fair skin. He was wearing an expensive looking suit, the kind Brennan used to wear with a t-shirt when he was on a job. The guy looked incredibly pissed off and Brennan figured it was Charles Handon, the man Lexa seemed to be scared of. That made Brennan a little more nervous because Lexa wasn't scared of anyone.
'Lexa Pierce,' the man said loudly enough for it to carry on the wind.
'Hi,' Lexa said breezily in a voice that made Brennan turn to look at her. She was way too chirpy to be about to face the Dominion. He considered the possibility that she had taken something in the Helix, and wished that she had given him some.
'And you must be Brennan Mulwray,' Handon said, ignoring Lexa's cheeriness.
'We're here to get our friends back,' Lexa said, her voice deeper and more serious.
'We don't have your friends here.'
'But you have someone who's keeping them from being themselves so that means we're gonna have to get into that building. It shouldn't take too long and we'll be out in a minute.'
Handon's eyebrows rose as he listened to the banter which didn't seem to have strayed over to kicking ass territory yet. He wasn't sure what Lexa's strategy was but he knew he had to be wary of her. She was dangerous because she was always so controlled.
'I can't let you do that.'
'Good thing you don't have a say in the matter then,' Lexa replied. She nodded her head at Brennan signaling for him to walk past Charles and into the building beyond. She didn't want to seem self obsessed but this whole thing was totally about her and she knew that if anyone could keep Handon busy it was her. She had learnt all his little quirks, all his techniques over the years and she knew how to beat him.
Brennan started walking forward and he noticed that Charles didn't even take his eyes off of Lexa. There was serious chemistry between the two of them. But it wasn't that kind of chemistry and Brennan was sorry to be missing the huge fight that was about to take place.
He walked through the doorway and watched as a number of scientists let him. The weird feeling that had been present when he and Lexa had been caught in the illusionists dreamworld, like he was involved in some sort of ambush. He shut the door behind him, wanting to make sure that Lexa atleast had a level playing field from which to start.
***
The breeze drifted across her face as she stared at him. She couldn't believe she was here again. The Dominion was not something you could get away from easily and she had known that it would be hard but her entire past was being drawn back into her present and that was something she hadn't been prepared for. She was finally ready to do the thing she had been most scared of. She was going to finish this, now. No more postponements on the fight. She was tired of waiting until she gained the courage to do something good with her life, to leave the old crap behind. She was going to end this once and for all. The Dominion wouldn't even have the opportunity to regret taking her on.
She frowned as Charles' eyes looked past her. Footsteps sounded across the concrete, two pairs of feet making their way towards her. She knew it would probably be a good idea to turn around but she already knew what was there. Jesse and Shalimar were going to wake up sometime, unfortunately it had been too soon.
'Miss Fox, in the facility behind me your boyfriend is trying to change you into something you're not.'
Lexa breathed deeply as she saw Shalimar walk past her out of the corner of her eye. She could feel the heat of the ferals gaze but stubbornly refused to turn to acknowledge her presence. She continued to stare at Charles, waiting for him to make his move although she already knew what was coming.
***
Shalimar stepped out of the sun and felt the coolness of the air conditioning engulf her bare skin. She stood still, waiting for her sensitive nose to pick up the scent of her prey. It was weird how she wasn't even thinking about him as Brennan anymore. It was like his identity had disappeared leaving behind this guy who was running from her but who, it was inevitable she would catch.
Eventually she caught a hold of his smell and walked forward. She knew he was trying to save her but it seemed that he had never even considered the possibility that she didn't want saving. She liked being who she was, she enjoyed her life and she didn't want to change or give anything up or become someone she wasn't.
She walked forward with a purpose and complete disregard for anyone in her way. She wanted to take him out and nothing was going to stop her, not even him. She had underestimated him the first time but she wasn't stupid and she wouldn't make that mistake again.
People, scientists and security guards instinctively moved out of her way as she strode past them. She smirked as the scent became stronger and she locked onto Brennan's location in the building.
***
She felt his fist hit the back of her head and fell onto her knees in the dirt. She hadn't been quite as prepared as she had hoped. A pounding feeling began in her skull and she stood up, brushing the dust off of her trousers as she did.
She turned to face Jesse and saw in his eyes an emptiness that hadn't been there before. The illusion had overwhelmed him and he was as incapable of fighting it as she was. She felt so completely helpless. She didn't want to hurt him but she couldn't let him take chunks out of her until Brennan found the source.
He raised his fist into the air next to his head, ready to take another swing at her. As his hand sailed towards her face she ducked and swept his legs out from beneath him with one kick. He lifted off the ground for a second before landing on his back in the dirt. Lexa stood up and stepped back from him. She could sense Charles' eyes on her back, blazing a huge hole through her spine. She tried to concentrate on the obstacle in front of her but it was impossible and she turned around once she thought she was far enough away from Jesse.
'Backing out of a fight?' Charles teased with a smile.
She breathed deeply, the nerves beginning to build again as she realised quite how out of her depth she was. Anxiety seeped into her eyes and she began to look around her for a way out of her current predicament.
'That's not like the Lexa I used to know,' Handon continued. He was right, she knew he was. She never used to be plagued by doubts like she was now. In a fight she would never have backed down but she had allowed herself to feel. It wasn't that she had allowed people in, she had completely dropped all her barriers and given herself up to the people around her, their thoughts, their criticisms, their personalities. She always knew that would get her in trouble.
'It looks like Mutant X has made you soft.'
She frowned and looked into his eyes. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.
'What?' he asked, a hint of worry lacing the question.
'By that I suppose you're implying that Mutant X is soft, right?' she asked without needing or wanting an answer.
'Pretty much,' Charles replied cautiously.
'That's why Brennan, a member of Mutant X just went into a Dominion building in a desperate attempt to help his friends.'
Charles stared at her. He knew then that he had unwittingly given her the key she needed to fight back. He could have hit himself over and over again.
'And that's why you, a man who claims to be tough as nails coerced another new mutant to do your dirty work for you. Who is it?'
'Who's who?'
'The illusionist, the one you're holding in a tiny room with very little access to food or drink in an attempt to win the favour of the Dominion, the favour that you know will always be with me.'
She looked into his eyes and saw the answer she hadn't been expecting.
'Halle?'
His silence gave her the assent she needed.
'You're using your own sister to take me out?' She couldn't believe even he would stoop so low. She and Halle had been sisters themselves when they were younger, or atleast as close as. They had both grown up under the sheltering umbrella of the Dominion and they had played with Charles, the elder of the trio. They had all been as close as family and she had loved those years. But soon afterwards things had gotten serious. The competition between Charles and Lexa had grown and even though Halle was still close to the latter she drifted away from the former. The real family had fallen apart under the strain of the Dominion. Eventually Halle had broken and she had run as far away as possible. Lexa had been told the propaganda version of the affair and had been ordered to try and find her. But Halle was great at hiding. She couldn't be found unless she wanted to be and she did not want to be discovered. Charles had never forgiven her and he had always felt bitterly towards her because she had betrayed the one thing he had truly ever held dear.
But clearly he had found her. Lexa's eyes began to fill with tears. He was so cold and though she looked for some semblance of humanity in Charles' gaze she could find none. He wasn't sorry for the things he had done and that made it so much harder for her. Her past was so cold and harsh and it looked right at that moment like her future was going to be more of the same.
Tear drops slid slowly down her cheeks and dripped off of her chin before landing on the dry ground in front of her feet. She knew Jesse was moving towards her from behind but she didn't care anymore. She had wanted it to end and at the time she had been talking about fighting the Dominion, but that wasn't the only way to end it. She could give up on strength and faith and hope and love and she could give into the urge which threatened to engulf her spirit.
***
He walked along the hallway past all the moronic drones that worked for him day in, day out. He couldn't stand that they had to be near him with their pathetic existence's, it was so disgusting. He pushed one of them, a man only a few inches shorter than him into the wall and out of his way before striding on through the labyrinthine corridors of the building. He and Lexa facing off was not going to happen at the best time. He had plenty of assignments without having to kick her dumb ass. She knew she was about to lose though and yet she was still coming here. That impressed him though he'd never admit it. She had more guts than intelligence but he was slightly awe stricken. And Brennan Mulwray was impressing him. Handon had always supposed Mutant X to be a group of cowards who ran from the enemy and hid everyone else from them too but they were prepared to bring it. He slammed a door open as he walked on never breaking his even paced stride.
***
She looked around her, the nerves beginning to grow threatening to overtake any courage she thought she had. Handon was so much more powerful than she was. Why had she ever assumed that she could be strong enough to take him on? She was so incredibly stupid and right now turning around and running away didn't seem like such a bad idea. She became pale under her even tan and her eyes were moving more erratically. She knew if she stopped walking her legs would buckle from underneath her so she kept on making her way across the concrete. She looked across at Brennan briefly. He didn't look nervous at all. He looked confident to the point of being arrogant. She didn't know whether he was so cocky he thought they could actually win or whether he was just a brilliant Oscar worthy actor, but she was suddenly determined not to be outdone. Part of beating someone in battle was breaking their spirit and there had to be something spirit destroying about seeing two people about to go up against one of the biggest meanest government agencies there was. She smirked slightly as she pulled her shoulders back and lifted her head higher. She would show Charles Handon that she was as good if not better than him if it killed her.
***
Brennan looked at the building as the door swung open. He could feel the adrenaline growing inside him, flowing through his blood stream forcing him to become more alert and aware of his surroundings. His muscles began to tingle, aching for the fight they seemed to know were coming. The breeze whipped at his hair, messy from the earlier fight and he longed to turn around. He wanted to look back at the Helix just so he could make sure that Shalimar was okay. She had suddenly and suprisingly become his top priority in everything. She was the one he thought about when they were in a fight, she was the one he worried about when she wasn't in his eyeline. He had never been like that with a woman before. They had either been extremely casual and he had not cared about them beyond one night or they had been short relationships because he had the concentration span of a small child and couldn't seem to keep himself interested in them beyond a few weeks. But he had known Shalimar for a long time and he still couldn't get her out of his head. Maybe it was the mystery aspect in that she wasn't as easy as the girls he normally went for but there was something else to it. It was much more complex than that.
He watched as a man walked out of the doorway. He was tall with ash blonde hair and fair skin. He was wearing an expensive looking suit, the kind Brennan used to wear with a t-shirt when he was on a job. The guy looked incredibly pissed off and Brennan figured it was Charles Handon, the man Lexa seemed to be scared of. That made Brennan a little more nervous because Lexa wasn't scared of anyone.
'Lexa Pierce,' the man said loudly enough for it to carry on the wind.
'Hi,' Lexa said breezily in a voice that made Brennan turn to look at her. She was way too chirpy to be about to face the Dominion. He considered the possibility that she had taken something in the Helix, and wished that she had given him some.
'And you must be Brennan Mulwray,' Handon said, ignoring Lexa's cheeriness.
'We're here to get our friends back,' Lexa said, her voice deeper and more serious.
'We don't have your friends here.'
'But you have someone who's keeping them from being themselves so that means we're gonna have to get into that building. It shouldn't take too long and we'll be out in a minute.'
Handon's eyebrows rose as he listened to the banter which didn't seem to have strayed over to kicking ass territory yet. He wasn't sure what Lexa's strategy was but he knew he had to be wary of her. She was dangerous because she was always so controlled.
'I can't let you do that.'
'Good thing you don't have a say in the matter then,' Lexa replied. She nodded her head at Brennan signaling for him to walk past Charles and into the building beyond. She didn't want to seem self obsessed but this whole thing was totally about her and she knew that if anyone could keep Handon busy it was her. She had learnt all his little quirks, all his techniques over the years and she knew how to beat him.
Brennan started walking forward and he noticed that Charles didn't even take his eyes off of Lexa. There was serious chemistry between the two of them. But it wasn't that kind of chemistry and Brennan was sorry to be missing the huge fight that was about to take place.
He walked through the doorway and watched as a number of scientists let him. The weird feeling that had been present when he and Lexa had been caught in the illusionists dreamworld, like he was involved in some sort of ambush. He shut the door behind him, wanting to make sure that Lexa atleast had a level playing field from which to start.
***
The breeze drifted across her face as she stared at him. She couldn't believe she was here again. The Dominion was not something you could get away from easily and she had known that it would be hard but her entire past was being drawn back into her present and that was something she hadn't been prepared for. She was finally ready to do the thing she had been most scared of. She was going to finish this, now. No more postponements on the fight. She was tired of waiting until she gained the courage to do something good with her life, to leave the old crap behind. She was going to end this once and for all. The Dominion wouldn't even have the opportunity to regret taking her on.
She frowned as Charles' eyes looked past her. Footsteps sounded across the concrete, two pairs of feet making their way towards her. She knew it would probably be a good idea to turn around but she already knew what was there. Jesse and Shalimar were going to wake up sometime, unfortunately it had been too soon.
'Miss Fox, in the facility behind me your boyfriend is trying to change you into something you're not.'
Lexa breathed deeply as she saw Shalimar walk past her out of the corner of her eye. She could feel the heat of the ferals gaze but stubbornly refused to turn to acknowledge her presence. She continued to stare at Charles, waiting for him to make his move although she already knew what was coming.
***
Shalimar stepped out of the sun and felt the coolness of the air conditioning engulf her bare skin. She stood still, waiting for her sensitive nose to pick up the scent of her prey. It was weird how she wasn't even thinking about him as Brennan anymore. It was like his identity had disappeared leaving behind this guy who was running from her but who, it was inevitable she would catch.
Eventually she caught a hold of his smell and walked forward. She knew he was trying to save her but it seemed that he had never even considered the possibility that she didn't want saving. She liked being who she was, she enjoyed her life and she didn't want to change or give anything up or become someone she wasn't.
She walked forward with a purpose and complete disregard for anyone in her way. She wanted to take him out and nothing was going to stop her, not even him. She had underestimated him the first time but she wasn't stupid and she wouldn't make that mistake again.
People, scientists and security guards instinctively moved out of her way as she strode past them. She smirked as the scent became stronger and she locked onto Brennan's location in the building.
***
She felt his fist hit the back of her head and fell onto her knees in the dirt. She hadn't been quite as prepared as she had hoped. A pounding feeling began in her skull and she stood up, brushing the dust off of her trousers as she did.
She turned to face Jesse and saw in his eyes an emptiness that hadn't been there before. The illusion had overwhelmed him and he was as incapable of fighting it as she was. She felt so completely helpless. She didn't want to hurt him but she couldn't let him take chunks out of her until Brennan found the source.
He raised his fist into the air next to his head, ready to take another swing at her. As his hand sailed towards her face she ducked and swept his legs out from beneath him with one kick. He lifted off the ground for a second before landing on his back in the dirt. Lexa stood up and stepped back from him. She could sense Charles' eyes on her back, blazing a huge hole through her spine. She tried to concentrate on the obstacle in front of her but it was impossible and she turned around once she thought she was far enough away from Jesse.
'Backing out of a fight?' Charles teased with a smile.
She breathed deeply, the nerves beginning to build again as she realised quite how out of her depth she was. Anxiety seeped into her eyes and she began to look around her for a way out of her current predicament.
'That's not like the Lexa I used to know,' Handon continued. He was right, she knew he was. She never used to be plagued by doubts like she was now. In a fight she would never have backed down but she had allowed herself to feel. It wasn't that she had allowed people in, she had completely dropped all her barriers and given herself up to the people around her, their thoughts, their criticisms, their personalities. She always knew that would get her in trouble.
'It looks like Mutant X has made you soft.'
She frowned and looked into his eyes. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth.
'What?' he asked, a hint of worry lacing the question.
'By that I suppose you're implying that Mutant X is soft, right?' she asked without needing or wanting an answer.
'Pretty much,' Charles replied cautiously.
'That's why Brennan, a member of Mutant X just went into a Dominion building in a desperate attempt to help his friends.'
Charles stared at her. He knew then that he had unwittingly given her the key she needed to fight back. He could have hit himself over and over again.
'And that's why you, a man who claims to be tough as nails coerced another new mutant to do your dirty work for you. Who is it?'
'Who's who?'
'The illusionist, the one you're holding in a tiny room with very little access to food or drink in an attempt to win the favour of the Dominion, the favour that you know will always be with me.'
She looked into his eyes and saw the answer she hadn't been expecting.
'Halle?'
His silence gave her the assent she needed.
'You're using your own sister to take me out?' She couldn't believe even he would stoop so low. She and Halle had been sisters themselves when they were younger, or atleast as close as. They had both grown up under the sheltering umbrella of the Dominion and they had played with Charles, the elder of the trio. They had all been as close as family and she had loved those years. But soon afterwards things had gotten serious. The competition between Charles and Lexa had grown and even though Halle was still close to the latter she drifted away from the former. The real family had fallen apart under the strain of the Dominion. Eventually Halle had broken and she had run as far away as possible. Lexa had been told the propaganda version of the affair and had been ordered to try and find her. But Halle was great at hiding. She couldn't be found unless she wanted to be and she did not want to be discovered. Charles had never forgiven her and he had always felt bitterly towards her because she had betrayed the one thing he had truly ever held dear.
But clearly he had found her. Lexa's eyes began to fill with tears. He was so cold and though she looked for some semblance of humanity in Charles' gaze she could find none. He wasn't sorry for the things he had done and that made it so much harder for her. Her past was so cold and harsh and it looked right at that moment like her future was going to be more of the same.
Tear drops slid slowly down her cheeks and dripped off of her chin before landing on the dry ground in front of her feet. She knew Jesse was moving towards her from behind but she didn't care anymore. She had wanted it to end and at the time she had been talking about fighting the Dominion, but that wasn't the only way to end it. She could give up on strength and faith and hope and love and she could give into the urge which threatened to engulf her spirit.