Okay! This chapter going to be mostly talking so that Phoebe can learn about Mutant X (along with non-viewers) so here we go!
PS: I've changed the history of Mutant X for this story just so you know
And Then There Were Four'Uh… We'll explain everything in a minute; just know that you're safe here,' said Jesse reassuringly.
Phoebe gave him a distrusting look as she sat up from her lying position; she was supposed to trust people who, a couple of minutes ago had been talking of detaining her!
'Look, follow me and we'll explain,' Lexa beckoned.
'Okay 'Cassandra',' said Phoebe with a venomous tone.
Lexa just smirked and walked away with Jesse and Brennan, leaving her to catch up.
Phoebe looked around, this place was huge! From what she could see, she had been in some sort of high-tech laboratory where she had recovered from the energy ball wound. Suddenly reminded, Phoebe looked down at her stomach, her wound… gone? That didn't make any sense! She remembered the demon throwing the energy ball, when a sharp pain in her stomach, then nothing else. How was she unscathed, she partially lifted her top to look for any sign of a scar or anything that would show that she had been hurt, all she saw was her smooth stomach.
She looked around the rest of the place; it seemed to be very modern. There were two computers at two of the desks and on an upper level, there seemed to be some sort of large arcing object which Phoebe couldn't even guess what was for.
As she followed the others, they came upon a sort of recreation area, filled with inviting sofas, a chessboard and a large TV.
The three people, Jesse, Lexa and Brennan, had sat in a circular pattern, leaving Phoebe to take the remaining space, which made her feel slightly uncomfortable because the rest were all watching her.
'So, are you going to tell me what's going on?' she said, while trying to keep eye contact with all of them.
'We are part of-,' Lexa began
'Uh… Why don't we ease her into things a little bit,' the man she assumed was Brennan suggested. Phoebe looked at him, he had short black hair and even sitting down he seemed to be taller than the rest of them, he was wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt.
'Cassandra's' appearance had changed as well, she wearing a short black skirt and a red top, which was nothing like the slightly geeky 'Ask Phoebe' fan she had met in the diner.
'Let's start off with our names and go from there, I'm Brennan Mulwray,' he introduced himself.
'I'm Jesse Kilmartin,' the blonde haired guy said.
Phoebe nodded then eyed the woman suspiciously, who just sighed as introduced herself
'I'm Lexa Pierce,' giving Phoebe a little bit of a forced smile.
'Well, from what I heard back there you all seem to know who I am so why don't you just explain what the hell is going on?' Phoebe demanded, crossing her arms.
Lexa took a breath, then looked at Brennan 'Can I explain now?' she said coldly.
'By all means,' he answered, unphased by her icy tone
'We are witches, although not the type of witch that you are, as we weren't born into it,' she began 'You see, years ago there was a genetic engineering facility called Genomex, it was a company that specialised in manipulating human DNA. After a while they discovered the existence of magic, and that was how it all began,'
Jesse continued from where Lexa had stopped 'they began sending agents into hospitals, doctor's surgeries, even blood donor facilities, they would test the blood they managed to acquire and if it was witch blood, they would begin experiments. Their test subjects would be desperate people who were seeking medical attention for terminal illnesses, they would merge witch DNA with the human's and monitor what happened.
Lexa then finished 'these witches were known as 'The Children of Genomex' and grew up in a world where they were considered freaks, there are supposedly over 1000 of these 'test-tube' witches
Phoebe took all this in, how could something like this have been kept from the magical world for so long? Witches without a clue what they are, are considered easy pickings for demons and warlocks, and something like this would also cause the Elders great concern. It was then Phoebe decided to ask questions.
'You said you're different, is there anything else besides your origin that makes you different?'
'Did you ever wonder why I didn't start chanting with you when you vanquished those demons at the diner?' Lexa asked
'No, I was too busy fighting evil and getting knocked out,' Phoebe retorted.
'Well, it was because I can't, the only way I can contribute to spells if a real witch taps into my power, in other words, when I rhyme, nothing happens.'
That explained why the magical community had been kept in the dark about this for so long, the only way to track a witch is by sensing their spell casting power, it is after all, what connects all witches, you could even call it their trademark.
'So you have the individual powers that witches have, but you can't cast spells?' Phoebe said, beginning to understand.
'Yeah, that's one of the main reasons Brennan's here,' Jesse said, nodding in Brennan's direction.
Brennan began to explain 'I was born a witch, so I'm was able to help cloak this place in a web of magic. I tapped into their power and along with my own, I was able to shield this place from detection,'
Phoebe nodded and asked another question 'So where are we and what so you guys so here,'
Jesse answered this question 'We call this place Sanctuary, it's our base and also our home, it's situated in the side of a mountain so that's why there are no windows. And to answer what we do, we monitor any strange goings on in the world, you know, like news reports, unexplained deaths because since so many of our kind grew up not knowing what they were, it leads them to do stupid things, so basically, we clean up magical messes and help others like us. Oh! And we call ourselves Mutant X,'
'You call yourselves mutants!? You're far from it!'
'Not really, see we're not born witches and our DNA has been modified so I think it's a fitting title, besides 'Witch X' doesn't really have the same ring to it,' Lexa said and winked.
'Okay, just one more question: how did you find me?' Phoebe enquired
Brennan answered this 'Like we said before, we monitor strange goings on, and your little bar brawl sparked our interest,' he saw the worried look on Phoebe's face and laughed 'don't worry! We wiped the security tapes before the police got there so we're the only ones that saw and if I may say so myself, you kicked ass,'
Phoebe blushed; Jesse and Lexa just rolled their eyes. They knew Brennan too well and decided to shoot him down before he went too far.
'Hey Bren! The girl's just awake! She might actually fall for your pick up lines in the state that she's in,' Lexa said
Jesse decided to quickly change the subject to save Brennan the ridicule.
'He is right, you're a good fighter, which is why we came to get you,' he said 'We were hoping that you might join us,'
Phoebe's eyes widened, Jesse quickly tried so soften the question 'there's no pressure! And it wouldn't need to be a permanent thing! It's just that, you seem to be a powerful witch and it would really help us, not to mention Lexa probably needs some female company,' he said the last part in a whisper.
'Hey! I heard that! I'll get you for that later,' Lexa said with her eyes narrowed and a tone of mock warning in her voice.
Phoebe smiled, they seemed quite friendly and it seemed like she could really fit in here, she would need to think about it, or better yet, see what they thought of it, she hoped that they wouldn't be able to sense an intruder in their mind and hearts. She decided to read Brennan last, as there was more chance of him sensing her than the others, she started on Lexa and began to use her telepathy and empathy powers.
God I hope she says yes, I've been sorta lonely ever since Shal left Lexa was thinking, she would need to find out who this 'Shal' was eventually but she dismissed it and moved onto her emotions, which were a lot more harder to access. It seemed as if she had some sort of emotional barrier around her heart, Phoebe was eventually able to break it she was hit with a powerful wave of pain and hope. She kept her composure so they wouldn't get suspicious and decided to move on to Jesse.
She was almost surprised at how easily she slipped into his thoughts and emotions, he seemed to be a person who spoke his thoughts and wore his heart on his sleeve. Phoebe almost laughed, he wasn't even thinking about the current situation! He was thinking about upgrading computer systems and repairing something called the Helix but when she breeched his emotions, it seemed he was very conflicted, Phoebe, deciding not to get lost in this tangle of emotions, left.
Now she was onto Brennan, she decided to only see what he thought instead of what he felt, as an intruder to the mind is harder to detect than an intruder to the heart. She was cautious to enter slowly, as his thoughts began to echo in her mind.
She's really powerful, I'm gonna need to ask her about her heritage later, maybe she's a… He stopped in mid-thought and turned to look at her, instead of continuing his conversation with his comrades. Phoebe quickly left, hoping he hadn't noticed his mind's little visitor.
Bringing their attention back to her 'Can I have some time to think about it?' she asked.
'Sure, we'll be around if you want to talk to us about anything,' Brennan answered and they left her in the seating area alone.
After a while with her own thoughts, Phoebe decided to seek out the members of Mutant X to see what they had to tell her, so she went to seek them out.
Jesse seemed to be the closest one; he was sitting at one of the many computers in Sanctuary and was typing furiously.
'What are you doing?' Phoebe questioned as she crossed the floor to where he was.
' Oh! Hi! I'm just upgrading Sanctuary's defence systems, we have a lot of enemies so we need to be at the peek of technology to survive, so don't being one of us is an easy gig,'
'You defeat the evils of the world, I defeat the evils of the underworld, I think I know what I would be getting myself into if I stayed,' she said before she jumped up to sit on the desk and start swinging her legs.
He laughed, and then asked her 'I'm just going to repair the Helix, want to come with?'
'What's the Helix?' Phoebe asked as she jumped off the desk.
'You'll see, come on,' Jesse beckoned and she followed him up a small spiral staircase which lead to the second floor of Sanctuary, from here you could see the rest of the area. The place really was huge, she saw the computers Jesse had been sitting at, she saw Lexa fighting air inside the arced object and she saw a series of doors that she guessed lead to the others rooms.
She followed Jesse through a door and as she entered the next room, she gasped. It seemed to be a hanger of sorts and sitting in the middle was a large plane.
'That is the Helix,' Jesse said proudly as he ran down the stairs to reach it. They entered the Helix and Phoebe was even more impressed, it was one of the most hi-tech pieces of equipment she had ever seen! Computer touch panels were everywhere, there was six seats, there also seemed to be very complicated piloting system that Jesse had come to fix.
Jesse ripped off one of the panels on the controls and handed Phoebe a small flashlight.
'Point it there,' he said as he pointed at a part he wanted Phoebe to light.
Phoebe decided to take this opportunity to ask more questions.
'So, do you need to repair this thing a lot?' she asked
'Not a lot, but frequently, mostly I just do a systems check to make sure everything is in order why do you ask?'
'Oh, no reason,' she lied; she had wanted to see if they are constantly being attacked and being put in jeopardy. She decided that she wasn't going to get anything else out of him while his concentration was split and she asked to leave.
'Listen, I need to talk to the others, can you do this by yourself?' she asked innocently.
'Oh, sure! Okay!' he answered and took the flashlight from her.
She found Lexa at the place she had seen her at earlier, but she looked deep in concentration, so Phoebe thought talking to her would be a lost cause. Instead she sought out Brennan.
She found him in what she supposed was his room that was pretty well decorated, although Phoebe saw that it had a subtle theme of lightning.
'Knock, knock,' she said, standing in the doorway.
He heard her over the quiet music he was listening to in his earphones and answered.
'Hey,'
'Look, you probably already noticed, but earlier on, I read all of you,' Phoebe confessed.
'I knew it!' he said in triumph 'You were giving me a weird stare and I felt something in my mind,'
'Yeah well, I sorta got the same vibe from everyone, and the vibe was that you're all reeling from some sort of loss, am I right?'
Brennan paused for a minute, then said 'you can't expect to know everything about us by just being a psychic intruder, we our secrets, you have yours,' in a defensive tone.
You didn't need to be empathic to know that Phoebe had touched a nerve, so she decided to leave, but before she could, Brennan spoke.
'Phoebe, you seem to be a really powerful witch, so I was wondering, was is your family line?'
She hesitated, if he was a born witch, he was probably raised on the story of the arrival of The Charmed Ones, and she didn't want her magical identity to change things so she just said
'You have your secrets, I have mine,' and she left.
10 minutes after her conversation with Brennan, she made her decision, and gathered everyone round.
'I've been thinking a lot about this, I know what you guys do, I know who you are, and for some reason, I still trust you,' her comment raised some smirks among her audience 'So I've decided that I'm going to stay,' she waited for their reactions, there wasn't any cheering, just smiles as they went back to their business
'Okay guys, I know you're excited about my staying and all, but just one question, where the hell is my car!?'
So? Tell me your opinions! Has she made the right choice? Please review!
Chapter 5 'First Mission' will be up soon!
