Chapter 19
Legal disclaimer-The rights to these characters belong to Marvel, Fireworks and Tribune.
Author's Note-I fully believe that this is the story that will not end. I need to go watch the DVD's again. Much of this is from "Nothing to Fear". I blame those guys and the intense desire I had to run in and get Jesse out of the pod in that...the rest, is my mind going beserk....Thank you for your reviews, gang. Love you all for them.
Two hours later, Emma Kilmartin checked in on her exhausted husband. He had taken a shower, dressed in the clothes she remembered from his nap in the meadow, and promptly fallen asleep in the room that Adam had prepared for them. He slept soundly, her senses picking up both his outward and inner calm. He had been through so much she was worried about his reaction to the trauma. She wanted to make sure that he didn't have any nightmares. He needed the sleep. Adam had warned her that he was worn out, the torture of the pod and his newfound powers being a drain that he wasn't adjusted to yet. Time was going to be the great healer.
Brennan watched her from the hall. Emma was his friend, he worried for her as well as for the rest of the team. Not being able to get the children out was not the outcome they wanted, but they had Jesse back and they had the arrival of Pierce. It was one of those times when 70 wasn't all that bad. He walked up behind her, put an arm around her shoulders and together they watched Jesse sleep. He finally looked peaceful.
Silently they turned and walked toward the main hall of the warehouse that Adam built. Shalimar and Lexa were talking with Adam, keeping their voices low for young Pierce who had mercifully passed out on the couch. Emma pulled the blanket over him again, seeing that he had kicked it off in his sleep and headed toward the conversation that was going on.
"How's Jesse?" Adam asked, looking up as Emma walked in.
"Asleep, pretty much dead to the world after his shower," Emma replied, "I think he'll be that way for a while."
"Needs to be is more like it," Adam replied, "Pierce should sleep that long as well, he's been through a number of things that Jesse has been through as well. Lexa, Emma, has Jesse spoken to you two about Pierce at all?"
"No," Lexa replied, "Why? You said he was okay?"
"He's fine," Adam said, taking Lexa's hands in his, "Don't worry. He's in great shape. He will probably take some time getting used to things and ask all of us a number of questions, but he's going to live a long time. His genetic structure is sound, he'll grow just like the other kids, act like them most of the time, and even grow into his abilities, much like all of you did."
"Why do I sense there's a but coming," Shalimar interrupted, "What are you not saying Adam?"
"I was going to have this conversation with Jesse, he wanted to talk to all of you about it before hand, and I don't really know what can be done," Adam said, "Pierce is physically about four years old, but his mind is that of a 10 year old. His power is at that level as well. His control is invasive. I know that Lexa and Emma had him run around in their minds, Jesse told me that he even showed him where he was in his own mind. This is a power that in a four year old can be extremely dangerous."
"No, you're not going to suggest it Adam," Lexa said, "Not on my son."
"I don't want to suggest it, Lexa, but you have to face the fact that this child is strong," Adam continued, "When I created the subdermal governor, it was to help new mutants, not leash them. That was Genomex's doing."
"I know, I know," Brennan stated, watching Lexa's reaction, "We're not saying that. All of us grew up knowing that we are different from everyone else, Pierce can have five of the greatest teachers to show him the right way to do things, Adam. All of us have been there. You've done a good job with us minus the governors. Don't do this."
Shalimar looked at Brennan, then looked at Adam. She knew logic would win with Adam, but the there was the one thing that would happen if Adam did do it.
"You do it and we'll take it off of him," she said simply, "He's a smart kid. He'll do the right thing by his power, Adam, just remember that. Not only did he get parents, he just got six teachers to help him with life."
Adam nodded, he was going to be outvoted. Pierce didn't realize he had just gained six parents. Adam looked at him sleeping and knew the child would sleep for hours.
"Okay, I give up," Adam said, resigned, "We have a pressing matter as it is. There are over 500 kids in the warehouse. I managed to get their names, so contacting their parents should not be a problem, but how are we going to get them out? I am out of ideas."
Brennan looked at Adam. It was rare for the man to be out of ideas, but, he did rely on them for many plans.
"First off, are the kids still there?" Brennan asked, heading for the map that Adam still had up on the monitor behind him, "Lexa, you still have contacts in the dominion, can you ask them?"
"Yeah, but I don't know if they..." Lexa followed him, "What are you thinking Brennan?"
"Well, here is what we have to do first and foremost," Shalimar gazed at Adam, "We need to find out about the parents of these children. If they want them, let's get them home. If not, they need homes. Now. Adam, can this be set up?"
"Carefully, yes. I managed to swipe those files as we got out of there," Adam replied, "Brennan, you want to go in there full assault?"
"Yes," Brennan said flatly, "We can go in and get the kids out one by one. The hardest part is that they are in these pods and they aren't awake. It took a while to wake Pierce up and he wasn't into running out of there. If they decided to transfer these kids pods, that would be easier to do."
"Okay, so we're going to be looking for large transport vehicles to that part of Pennsylvania, go on," Shalimar said, "You thinking trucking company?"
"Yeah, why not?" Brennan answered, his gaze going from her to Lexa then Emma, "It makes sense. We check the area, get in with the trucking company, and then get the kids that way. Call it our own underground railroad of sorts."
"I like it," Adam said, a smile starting to form on his face, "Lexa, can you set up the employment papers?"
Lexa looked at him. That was usually Jesse's job.
"Consider it done," she smiled turning back to the computer bank that Adam had set up, "I'll also run a search to see if any sort of activity has been set up already with them."
"They're going to need a large number of trucks," Brennan continued, "So, don't be surprised if we can't get them all, but if we can get some, we can decimate this future army."
"And that is the plan," Adam turned back to them, "Now, another thing we do have to discuss is Jesse, if you're okay with it Emma."
Emma nodded. There was no time like the present.
"He's going to be okay, isn't he?" Shalimar asked.
"Yes, he will be, over time," Adam began, pulling up his genetic test for the group, "He's been modified by the Creator though, and this might pose some differences to all of you."
"Modified? How?" Shalimar gave Adam a panicked look.
"He's a telepath now," Emma said, her look more of frustration and anger, "He's pretty strong at it as well."
Adam put a hand on Emma's then continued.
"Pierce has this ability, but I think it was more from work that the Creator did to him invitro. Sadly, all of you wound up becoming experimental DNA when the Dominion seized my records from Sanctuary. I thought the lab had blown, but they recovered bits and pieces from all of you in that Lab."
"Great, so you mean that some of those kids could be from all of us as well?" Brennan asked.
"Actually, from what I have in the files, no," Adam replied, "Jesse though is the person we might want to think about. Emma's been working with him to get some form of control of this ability, but he might scan you guys without realizing it. It's not his fault, just let him get a handle on it."
"He's actually doing pretty well with it, but Adam and I both thought you guys should know," Emma said, looking back toward the couch where Pierce lay, "Pierce has similar abilities, but he doesn't know how to scan. He'll learn, but he doesn't have the instinct to it that Jesse is showing. That's why he was so freaked out on the plane in. He's trying to get a handle on it."
"Got ya," Brennan said, "Weird to think of him as a telepath though."
"He's looking at as just another power though," Adam said, watching Emma's reactions, "It's different from what Emma possesses though, just keep that in mind. It could become a very useful tool for you guys."
Lexa chimed in at that moment, her concentration being partially on the conversation, the other half on setting up a rival transport company.
"Jesse's a telepath?" she asked stunned, "How strong is he Emma?"
"He's stronger than Pierce," Adam said, "The tests I ran show his brainwaves adjusting to this new power very quickly. I was worried that it wasn't going to be stable, but it seems to have stabilized and cemented. The work the Creator did is amazing. His wound is healing rather fast as well, so his telepathic strength will probably grow."
"He heard all of the children in the lab, Lexa," Emma replied, "Not being able to get them out is really bothering him. He would be up here with us but he's out cold. The stress and injury put him out. He was too tired to fight me."
"Get him up in four hours, Emma," Adam said, meeting her look, "He'll be raring to go and peeved if we don't include him."
"Amen to that," Brennan said, "I'm not going anywhere without him."
"Okay everyone, get some rest, we'll be on the road as soon as we can, and god help anyone who gets in our way."