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"It's been two months, Bea. Where the hell have you been?"

Dr. Sutter had the grace to look ashamed across the connection. "I'm sorry, Adam, I really am. The serum worked wonderfully. You could see the intelligence in Benji's eyes, and he simply devoured all the education I could throw at him, faster than ever. By the time he fell asleep each night, book in hand, I was too worn out to do anything more than collapse in bed myself."

"Then the serum worked?"

"Well, yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

Bea Sutter sobered. "The formula is correct in many aspects. Benji's IQ was higher than it has ever been. Previous attempts have raised him to anywhere from dull normal to average intelligence. This time I measured him at close to genius level."

"You can't be certain of that, Bea. Those tests were designed for people with a more normal upbringing. There are certain cultural biases that can't be erased from the testing process. There's a degree of error."

"I allowed for that, Adam. And I'm telling you that within a statistical degree of probability, Benji now has an intelligence approaching yours."

Adam declined to be distracted by the oblique flattery. "And what about those men at your place, Bea? And the weapons?"

"What men?" She sounded genuinely puzzled. "You mean Joe? He's the farm hand. There's no way I could run this place by myself and do all the research, Adam. Besides, getting out into the fresh air was never a high point on my agenda."

"There were men there, Bea, at least half a dozen. My people saw the evidence. Who were they?"

"Men?" Bea tried to think. "Oh, you must mean the migrant workers that Joe hired for a few days. Were they there? That must have been it. Joe does it, and I don't pay any attention. Spending so much time with Benji, I haven't been able to do anything else. But listen, Adam; Benji needs more serum. It's wearing off again. The decline is slower this time, but the signs are there. That tweaking that you did was on the right track. Can you do more along those lines? This next batch might do the trick permanently."

Adam considered. He wasn't getting any answers. He came to decision. "I'd like to help, Bea, but under the circumstances I don't think I can. Not until you can come up with a satisfactory explanation for why you're keeping a crate of AK-47's at your place. I'm sorry."

"AK-47's?" Bea put horror in her voice. "Machine guns? At my place? Adam, you must be mistaken! I don't keep anything like that here. A shotgun or two for the coyotes, but nothing more."

"Don't lie to me, Bea. My people saw them, right there in your barn. That's not something they're likely to make a mistake about."

"They must have." Bea grew hard. "That's not something I allow around here. Remember, Adam, that up until two months ago I had a son here with the intelligence of a four year old. And four year olds sometimes get into things they shouldn't. Do you really think that I would keep something like that around here where Benji could hurt himself? I've spent my life trying to help him, Adam. And what were your people doing snooping around the barn anyway?"

"It's a good thing they did, since you don't seem to know what going on underneath your very nose." The answers Adam was getting were something less than satisfactory. "I'm sorry, Bea. Until I have a better understanding of what is happening at your place, I'm not going to be able to help you."

He could see the panic in her face. "Adam, you can't do that! Benji needs that serum! He—"

Adam cut her off. "I'm sorry, Bea."

"Then come out here and see for yourself!" She shouted that across the connection, trying to forestall Adam's severing the call. "See for yourself, Adam Kane! You come out here and bring Jesse with you. Once you're satisfied, we'll prepare the serum right here in my lab." She scrunched up her face, trying to prevent the tears that threatened to leak down her cheeks. She swallowed hard. "Please, Adam. If not for me, then do it for Benji. He doesn't deserve to be a moron, Adam. And only you have the power to prevent that."

Adam hardened his heart. "I'm sorry, Bea. Those men at your place weren't farmhands, and they weren't migrant laborers. You have some major firepower at your place, and I'm finding it difficult to reconcile for someone as smart as you. You escaped from Genomex's clutches by noticing everything, Bea, and making use of it. You did the same working in the lab here at Sanctuary with me. You're right; Benji doesn't deserve what's happening to him. But like it or not, he was designed to be a super-soldier and I can't risk loosing someone like that on the world without being certain that enough safeguards are in place to prevent a world disaster."

"Adam—"

"I'm sorry, Bea." Adam cut the connection, to find his team had silently filed in behind him. They stood in an irregular row, regarding him with sympathy and understanding. Adam cocked his head. "What are you doing here?"

Shalimar elected herself spokesperson. "You did the right thing, Adam. None of us could trust Dr. Sutter's motives."

"I know it was hard for you," Emma added. "She wanted very desperately to help her son, and you wanted that, too. But she was hiding something. I could feel it all the time she was here."

Adam smiled wanly. He had a good team. They were behind him one hundred percent. "Thanks. No matter how you look at it, someone is getting hurt. And in this case it's an innocent man. Bea is right about one thing: Benji doesn't deserve to live like that."

"If there's one thing I've learned," Brennan put in, "it's that life isn't fair. You did the best you could, Adam. You and Jesse both."

"Just loved getting needles shoved into my back," Jesse announced, lightening the mood. "So sorry to hear that won't be happening again. Although I am sorry that Benji's gains won't be permanent," he added soberly. "I got to know Ben as an adult, and he was an okay guy."

Adam sighed. "Maybe Dr. Sutter will come up with an alternate solution. She's not the type to give up easily."

But he waited until the team filed out of the room before tapping in a few more messages to various contacts that Mutant X knew nothing about. And waited for the responses to trickle in.