A half hour later Mutant X was back in Sanctuary. Adam and Emma were in the lab with Matt, making certain that he didn't have an overdose of sedatives, while Jesse was tracking down Alanna's comlink signal using the computers.
"Is he going to wake up?" Brennan asked; his arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. Adam nodded, "In about an hour." He affirmed, moving out of the lab and walking towards the computers where Jesse was working, Brennan and Emma walking beside him. Shalimar was standing by the desk, both she and Jesse looked up as they walked over. Jesse and answered before Adam could ask. "From the signal I'm getting off of her comlink she's at Genomex." Brennan looked around at their faces for a moment, "What are we waiting for? Lets go." He stated, looking at Adam expectantly and clearly got angry when Adam shook his head. "Eckhart is going to expect that." Shalimar glared at him fiercely, "So what are we going to do?" She asked, daring him to say nothing.
Jesse glanced at a computer monitor quickly, noticing something flash on the screen. "There's a call coming in." He said after walking over and checking. Adam nodded, turning around and facing the screen as Eckhart's figure appeared. "Hello Adam." Eckhart said coldly, his presence radiating a smug and grim hint of pleasure to Emma. "What do you want?" Adam asked sharply. "Adam, you know well what I want. I will settle for the new mutant database, for now." Eckhart said, smiling as he talked. Adam's eyes narrowed, "You know I'll never give you the database."
Eckhart's smile widened, "Then I'm afraid Ms. Phillips will have to enjoy Genomex's hospitality. And let me assure you, there will be no chance of her escape." He responded; stepping aside to reveal an examining chair with a redheaded figure strapped onto it as a brown haired man walked over with a governor gun. He lifted her head and placed the gun at the base of her neck. A millisecond later they heard the gun drive the governor into her neck and the man let her head drop with a thud. Emma watched the screen, feeling the fury coming from her teammates crash against her shields as her own anger built. "As I said, the database and your records." Eckhart said, stepping into view for a second before the link was severed.
Alanna groaned softly as she opened her eyes, feeling stiff and sore as she tried to raise her hand, but was stopped by the restraints placed on her hands and feet. "Welcome back Ms. Phillips." Eckhart said coldly, walking briskly over to the chair Alanna was strapped to as she fought against her bonds furiously. "I assure you, it is useless to fight. Mr. Drake is quite capable of blocking any escape route even if you manage to break your restraints." Alanna stopped struggling and glared at him as the pyrokinetic from the warehouse stepped into view. "If I ever get my hands on you..." She snarled at Eckhart.
"An idle threat Ms. Phillips." Eckhart interrupted, cutting off her threats. "I am going to offer you the chance to work for me once more." Alanna narrowed her eyes, unmistakable disgust ingrained in their steel gray depths as she replied in a cold, even tone. "I will never work for you." "I am quite certain you will." Eckhart replied in a soft and threatening tone. She suddenly lunged against her shackles, breaking them in her rage and grabbing Eckhart's throat. A second later she was on the floor, pain racing down her spine from the sub-dermal governor's location. Alanna was roughly dragged back onto the table, and she felt a needle prick her arm and an instant later she was fighting sleep. "Keep her drugged until she is moved into her previous quarters." Alanna heard Eckhart say as sleep blurred her vision. A moment later she was unconscious once more.
Shalimar had stormed out of the room after Eckhart's ransom demands. Brennan had gone to the dojo and Jesse was on a computer, hacking into Genomex's camera monitoring systems. Adam was in the lab watching Matt, and Emma was in her room, lying on her bed and letting the aspirin fight her migraine. She looked over at her dresser, her eyes running over the pictures sitting on it. One had fallen over so she walked over to it and picked it up, smiling at the memory the picture prompted.
It was the last group picture they had all been in, it was Halloween and everyone had piled on the couch in the rec room, watching old comedy movies and pigging out on junk food. Everyone had squished Adam in the middle to keep him there and he was glaring at the camera. Everybody else was laughing because Alanna had slipped an Einstein wig on him just before the picture was taken, so he looked like a mad scientist with a bad temper. She put it back in its place, walking out of her room to see how Jesse was doing with the camera system.
"Hey," Jesse said as she approached, looking over his shoulder at her briefly before he turned back to the monitor. "I just got in." He said, moving aside a little so Emma could see. She peered over his shoulder, looking at the figure on the chair and two people in stark white lab coats moving around her. After a minute a brown haired man walked into view, picking up the teenager and carrying her out.
Adam's voice called over their comlinks. Emma straightened and walked to the lab, finding Matt awake and groggy on the chair with Adam standing nearby. "You're Mutant X?" He asked Adam, looking over at Emma as she entered. Adam nodded, looking behind Emma as she felt Brennan come up. "What happened back at the warehouse?" Emma asked, walking over to Matt as his vision looked to be clearing up. "Some people came in, agents I think, and they shot at Alanna and me. We fought back until there was one guy left and he shot at me, that's the last I remember." Matt told her, rubbing the back of his head and looking around.
"Where is Alanna anyway?" He asked, looking at Adam. "She's at Genomex." Adam replied, looking at the doorway. Matt looked a little shocked, then slid off of the chair. "So lets go and get her!" Matt stated, turning around at the approach of Shalimar. Jesse said over their comlinks. Everyone walked out of the lab and out to the computers, where Jesse put it on the larger screen so they could all watch.
Alanna groggily opened her eyes, finding herself in a white paneled holding cell. "Smart move, real smart move Alanna." She muttered to herself, bitterly looking at the camera in her cell. She got up and walked over to the sink, tossing some cold water on her face to wake up. She moved back over to her cot and sat on the edge, putting her head into her hands and trying to plan her escape.
Glancing over at the door she watched Drake as he leaned against the outside corner of her cell, shifting his weight slightly from one foot to another as he stood on guard. Something colder than her hand was against her head, Alanna carefully made it look like she was curling up on her bed and facing the wall as she 'cried' so the camera and Drake couldn't see her face, while looking at her hand in amazement and hope. Somehow she still had her comlink, right on her finger. "Hey guys?" She called softly, hoping that she would get an answer and sticking the ring under her head so she wouldn't be overheard.
Everybody had watched Alanna sit up and glare at the camera, then get up and go to the sink before collapsing back onto the bed, curling up and facing the wall. Shalimar had spotted the confused expression on Emma's face. "She's not," Shal heard her begin softly. Alanna's voice asked over her comlink, cutting off whatever Emma was going to say. Everyone was shocked and didn't respond for several seconds, Shalimar recovered faster than the rest and was the first to respond. "We're here Alanna." She spoke into her comlink, using a reassuring and comforting tone. Alanna responded a moment later, and Shalimar heard an under-note of desperation and despair in her voice. "We're going to get you out of there." Adam said immediately, and everyone looked at him. There was silence for a minute before Alanna replied. There was silence for a moment before Alanna's voice came from their rings again. Her voice wavered slightly at the end. Shalimar saw Emma's eyes fill and open her mouth to reply when the door opened to Alanna's cell and two people came in, one plain looking brown haired man and Eckhart.
There was silence in Sanctuary as they watched Eckhart enter and talk to Alanna briefly, Alanna looking ready to rip his face off. A small black-haired woman entered the cell with a tray, setting it down on a tiny table and quickly fleeing the area. Emma looked at the screen silently, and feared for Alanna when she felt Eckhart's calm, exactly like he already had plans for her and they were already in motion. "Adam," Emma started, her eyes still glued to the screen.
"Get the Helix fixed and prepped." Adam stated, having already watched Eckhart's expression and was walking off to his rarely used room. Jesse got up and started walking to the hanger with Brennan when he noticed Matt tagging along. He coughed, getting Brennan's attention and nodding back at the feral youth. They both stopped and turned around. "Kid, you can't come with us." Matt walked up to Brennan, looking ready to fight over the issue as they faced each other off. "I got her into the mess, and I'm going to help get her out." He said, looking ready to pummel Brennan if he said differently.
Emma came up behind them. "Adam said we're dropping you off at a safe house on the way Matt." He turned around, "I'm going with you guys." Shalimar approached them at a brisk walk, stopping and glaring at Matt when she heard his sentence. "You're going to the safe house." She said told the teen. "What is going on here?" Adam asked as he came up behind them, looking at them in turn. Emma looked at Matt for a second, "He wants to help." She answered, gazing back at Adam. "We can't afford any mistakes Matt." Adam said after a moment, looking up at the slightly taller youth. "Then I won't make any." He replied, looking straight into Adam's eyes. "We don't have time to argue. Let's go." Adam said, starting to run towards the Helix, the others quickly following.
Alanna glared at the smiling man in front of her, wishing she was free from the governor. "Enjoy your meal Ms. Phillips." He said, turning around and briskly exiting her cell, followed by Drake, who resumed his place outside her cell. She heard the door's locks slide into place and walked over to the table and tray. With narrowed eyes she looked suspiciously at the contents of the tray: a medium rare steak, spinach salad, and mashed potatoes.
She couldn't decide whether to eat it or not until her stomach growled at her, reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day. She carefully sniffed the food, checking to see if she could smell any drugs in it. Finding none, she sat in the chair that was bolted to the floor just in front of the table and pulled the tray closer. She looked at the food suspiciously for one more second, and then took the flimsy plastic cutlery that was on the tray and wolfed the food. Within five minutes every scrap of food was gone from the plate, and Alanna was pacing her cell.
Ten minutes later Eckhart was back with her watchdog, she was taken out and was led down Genomex's hallways. Eventually she was taken into a room that had two chairs in the center that faced each other, surrounded by some electronics and lab equipment. One auburn haired woman was already in one of the chairs, gazing at Alanna with piercing hazel eyes framed in a pale, oval face. Alanna was forced into the other chair that had metal restraints built into it and held into place by one around her waist. She felt a needle prick her neck, and something like ice slowly made it's way through her body as terror gripped her. "Ms. Stone, everything is ready." Eckhart said, seeming devoid of any emotion as Alanna's vision blurred rapidly, her other senses quickly following until she could only feel her heartbeat, and that too slowly stopped as she slipped into a black pit of nothingness.
It had been twenty minutes before they had flown out of Sanctuary, and another forty before they reached Genomex. Brennan was using the cloaking device as they approached, a few seconds later they were landing in the dark and empty parking lot. The ramp was put down and they quickly ran out, "We have ten minutes before the freeze Jesse put on the security system wears off." Adam said as they rushed into the building, quickly finding the indoor holding cells. They were all empty. Fanning out they searched the building, avoiding Eckhart's office, and found no one. Shalimar opened a door and they walked in, the center had two chairs in it, the one facing the door was empty.
A lock of bright copper hair was hanging off of the side of the other chair. Shalimar ran to the other chair, furiously trying to pry the restraints off of the pale figure clamped onto it. "No! She can't be!" Shalimar half-yelled. Everyone rushed around, and Brennan grabbed Shalimar. Emma took a step back from the still figure; Alanna's vibrant hair was pinned behind her back, her face having a peaceful look on it, like she was just sleeping. Then she saw that her chest wasn't moving as Adam stepped forward to check for a pulse. He looked up at her a minute later and then shook his head, his eyes wells of anguish.
Shalimar looked over at the silent figure and sobbed as tears flowed down her face. Brennan stared at Alanna's still form, hugging Shalimar. Jesse just looked shocked, and Matt looked bewildered as he gazed at the lifeless girl. Emma looked at Alanna a moment longer as her grief started to overwhelm her, and tears spilled over, rolling down her face. Adam got up, looking for a release for the restraints. Jesse looked up, and walked out of the room. "We have to go! Agents are coming, lots of them." He said urgently, running back into the room. Adam desperately searched for a release, but couldn't find any.
"Jesse, get them out!" Adam yelled sharply as he searched a moment more, and then took the com-ring from her finger. They ran out into the hall, fleeing to the Helix, as Adam came out and caught up. "I couldn't find a release." He said as they ran, looking back over his shoulder at the agents that were quickly catching up. Shalimar, Emma and Brennan slowed so they could hold the agents off so the others could reach the Helix. Matt, Adam and Jesse ran into the cloaked Helix and Jesse started the engines up as the agents forced Emma, Brennan and Shalimar outside. Shalimar darted into the agents, taking out her rage on them as she kicked and punched furiously. Emma sent Psionic blasts into the mass of agents, knocking out several at a time.
Shalimar ran back to Emma and Brennan, as more and more agents streamed out of Genomex's doors. "Go!" Brennan yelled at them, flinging out both hands and sending tendrils of blue electricity at the mob of agents. Shalimar and Emma ran, followed by Brennan a moment later. As soon as they got in Jesse pulled up the ramp and the Helix soared out of the parking lot. Everyone just sat in their chairs as Jesse and Brennan piloted the plane back to Sanctuary, no one spoke a word.