Chapter 2
"Adam we have the kid," Shalimar said at last.
"Yeah and we have a surprise for you too," Brennan added.
"Oook," Adam said, over the comlink, "well hurry up. Emma'll be waiting for you in the landing pad."
"Alright," Shalimar responded. They were a few minuted away from Sanctuary.
"You still haven't told me why I should trust you guys," Nat mentioned. Aralyn turned to him.
"The three of us belong to a group called Mutant X," she explained, "we help new mutants who have need the help."
"That's right," Nat said, "I've heard of you before from my mom. She talks about Adam all the time and says that he was the leader of a group called Mutant X."
"Okay so you have heard of us," Brennan continued, "now do you trust us?"
"Sure," Nat shrugged, "why not. I mean you know my dad and I trust him, even though I haven't met him before."
"Alright we're coming in for a landing," Shalimar reported, changing the subject. Everyone braced themselves as the Helix landed with a thud. Then, they all walked out of the Helix.
"Hey guys," Emma greeted them cheerfully, "and this must be Nathaniel." She stuck out her hand and Nat shook it.
"Just call me Nat," he said. Emma nodded and ushered them all into the lab.
"Hey Adam we have Nat," Shalimar said.
Adam, who was busy working on something, spun around and looked right into Nat's eyes. Aralyn thought she was looking in a mirror. Nat looked exactly like Adam, though younger and way cuter. Aralyn felt her stomach lurch, but she chose to ignore it. Emma, who was smiling, felt Aralyn's moment of feeling and smiled bigger. She kept her face facing forward though.
"Oh my look at how much you have grown," Adam grinned foolishly, ""I've missed you sooo much." Nat had also been staring at Adam intensly and smiled a small smile.
"I've always wanted to meet my father Adam Kane," he said. He stepped forward and hugged Adam and Adam held him close, as if not wanting to lose him.
"Well, I think we'd better go and...do something else," Brennan said. The other members of the team agreed and left father and son to catch up and get to know each other.
"So my son," Adam said, "how's your mother doing?" Nat was suddenly quiet.
"She uh....she died a few months ago," he said, "her mutant powers became too much for her and she knew she was dying."
"Why didn't she bring you here to me?" Adam asked, "why didn't she come to me?"
"I don't know," Nat shrugged, "she told me to find you when she died though. Tell you that she passed on. I've been living with my aunt who has excepted me as what I am."
"Oh, I understand," Adam sighed, "and I'm sorry for your loss."
"My loss?! What about your loss?!" Nat quizzed, "don't you think it's your loss also?" Adam looked at the boy with a deep, sad gaze.
"I suppose it is my son," Adam answered at long last, "I suppose it is my loss too."
Nat and Adam sat there and talked about a lot of things, until Brennan came in, followed by Aralyn.
"Hey we were just watching Proxy," Brennan said, "she reported that there has been a break in a nearby apartments. She hadn't said where, but Jesse's tracing the coordinates as we speak."
"Okay" Adam said, suddenly straightening up, "Brennan, you, Emma, and Shalimar go check it out. Aralyn, you stay here with Nat and Jesse. I've got some buisness to do."
Everyone set off and Aralyn and Nat stood looking at the two men disappearing.
"Now what?" Aralyn asked, sitting on a stair. Nat sat next to her.
"I dunno," he shrugged, "but I'm bored. Let's get out and do something fun."
"No. Adam told us to stay here with Jesse," Aralyn said, shaking her head, "I'm bored too, but when can we do?"
"Well, let's go hang out at the mall," Nat suggested. Aralyn looked uncertain as Jesse came up behind them.
"Hey what you guys talking about?" he asked, "anything I should know about?"
"No," the two teens said in unison. Jesse raised and eyebrow but continued on to what he was going to do.
"Okay now's our chance," Nat whispered. He took Aralyn's hand and they ran out of the entrance to Sanctuary.
Jesse came walking back in the direction and had just remembered something.
"Hey Aralyn!" he called over the comlink, "Aralyn?!" When there was no reply, he turned to the comlink ring.
"Hey Aralyn you there?" Jesse asked. There was silence and then Aralyn's voice rang all around.
"Yeah I'm here," she said.
"Where'd you go?" Jesse demanded.
"Oh we went out to get some fresh air and a snack," Aralyn said casually.
"Adam told you two to stay here," Jesse reminded them, "get your butts back here."
"Sorry Jess," Aralyn sighed, "couldn't if I wanted too. We'll check in every hour. We'll only be gone for a few anyway. Promise."
"Whatever," Jesse sighed, "just call if you need help." But Aralyn was already gone.
"Where do you wanna meet?" Adam asked, talking on his cell.
"Meet me by the dock in a few minutes," the voice said over the phone, "and don't be late." The other end went dead and Adam sped off to the dock.
Brennan, Shalimar, and Emma landed the Helix in the field just behind the apartments. The fire blazed, slowly dying out when they arrived.
"Wow that was a pretty devastating fire," Shalimar whistled, "Emma see if anyone was hurt in it." Emma nodded and concentrated.
"Yeah, there was an old woman and a young man," Emma said, "the old woman is dead and the young man is in critical condition."
"Great and were any of them new mutants?"
"Yeah. The old woman." Emma looked down and her eyes swelled with tears. "She suffered so much." Shalimar put a reassuring arm around her, and called out to Adam.
"You still haven't told me what new mutant powers you have," Aralyn noted. Nat kicked a rock on the ground and smiled.
"I'm a molecular," he said, "I can become invisible. What about you?"
"Well, I'm all of them put together," Aralyn answered, "I'm a psionic, molecular, feral, and elemental."
"Cool," Nat whistled, "that must be awesome to have all that power."
Aralyn shrugged as they reached the mall. Together they went into the mall, did a little window shopping and grabded a bite to eat. They were just chatting, when Aralyn realized the promise to Jesse.
"Oh come on, let's go do a bit more before we phone," Nat pleaded. Aralyn shook her head.
"I never break a promise to anyone," she replied firmly, "especially Jesse. He's like a brother to me, we're so close. So I'm phoning."
She stood up and went to the nearest payphone.
"Hey Jess," she said when he answered, "I'm checking in. Alright, alright, we'll be there in an hour. Bye."
"So...," Nat said, "what'd he say?"
"He said we have one more hour," Aralyn said, "then he'll come pick us up."
"Ah come on Aralyn," Nat said, "let's ditch the mall and go somewhere else."
"NO! we're staying here," Aralyn scolded, "now let's go look at some stuff."
She turned around and saw six men coming towards them.
"Damn," she hissed, "GSAgents. Jesse we need your help!"
"No we don't need his help," Nat snapped, "we can deal with this on our own." When his back was turned, Aralyn whispered, "please Jess hurry. Please." Then she darted after Nat.
"Is this your plan?" Aralyn demanded, "some plan. Mutant X doesn't run, they fight. We fight." Nat looked as if he never heard her. He kept dodging people and sometimes carts. But he didn't notice the person running towards him from the side. SMACK!! Aralyn gasped as she skidded to a halt. The impact Nat had was so hard, Aralyn thought she heard a crack.
"Ahhh!" Nat cried, gritting his teeth. His hands were clasped tightly over his side. "That hurt."
"Oh Nat are you alright?" Aralyn asked.
"I don't know," he moaned.
"Hey kid you alright?" the lady asked. She was the one who was pushing the cart. She was wearing a dark uniform and looked strict. Aralyn paid no heed to how she looked though. She was worried about Nat.
"He'll be fine," Aralyn answered, "I'll just sit him down." She looked behind her to see the GSA were coming up to them.
"Is he alright?" one of them asked. The lady looked at them.
"Do you know these two?" she asked.
"Yes ma'am," another one said, "we're their....their guards. Someone is after them and they were supposed to stay at home. Unfortunately, they escaped and we're here to escort them back." Aralyn glared at them as the lady took leave. What she didn't notice, was that the lady turned her head around and smiled at the men as they took care of the two teens.
"Now come with us quietly and you guys won't get hurt," the leader smirked. One of them grabbed Aralyn, and another scooped up Nat, who was quite capable of squirming.
Oh man Jesse hurry up please, Aralyn pleaded in her mind. She didn't sturggle when they were in the mall, but when they got outside, Aralyn was suddenly gone. And so was Nat.
"Damn I knew we shoulda put that governor on her," the man growled, "we'll find them. I guarantee it."
Jesse pulled up to the mall in time to see Aralyn and Nat disappear and saw them right in front of his car. Aralyn had one of Nat's arms over her shoulders and Nat was holding his side.
"About time," Aralyn said, "we ran into some trouble."
"What happened to you Nat?" Jesse asked.
"A lady with a shopping cart ran into me," Nat said.
"Well by the looks of you, it looks like the cart was being pushed a little too hard," Jesse observed.
"Come to think of it, the lady pushing it was running towards us," Aralyn noted, "and she wasn't dressed like someone who would want to be at the mall. She looked like she would want to be at an agency of some sort. Wait a minute..."
"Eckhart was behind this the whole time," Jesse concluded, "it was a trap. But how did he know where to find you?"
"Where does he know to find all the other mutants?" Aralyn added, "are you going to be alright Nat?"
"Yeah I'll be fine," Nat assured her, "don't worry...ahhh!" Jesse looked worriedly at him through the mirror.
"Here let me see," Aralyn said. Nat let her push up his sweater and shirt and check out his side.
"It's bruising I can tell you that much," she announced, "but otherwise I can't tell if you broke a few ribs or cracked them. I think you cracked them, I thought I heard something crack."
"I'll check it out when we get back to Sanctuary," Jesse told them.
He also noticed that Aralyn had slid her hand into Nat's. He smiled to himself as they drove back to their home.
End of Chapter 2