I know I took my time but here it is. Again thanks to all the people who stayed with me so far...

Chapter 6

The following morning the atmosphere in the kitchen was so overloaded and cold that it made Brennan shiver when he got in. Shalimar was sitting opposite to Jesse and had been nursing her coffee for half an hour. Jesse was starring at his eggs while trying to build some abstract sculpture with it. Both had avoided speaking to another inhabitant of the sanctuary since their little altercation with Adam. Quickly the elemental prepared his breakfast and sat with his friend

Emma appeared ten minutes later to prepare Luke's bottle. When it was ready, she wasted not time going back to their bedroom to feed him. She didn't want him to be exposed to the ever-present turmoil of the place. Brennan stayed with his friends to keep the peace if Adam came into the kitchen. But it didn't occur.

Their leader's weary voice came through the communication system summoning them to the lab. He had decoded the disc and based on his intonation Brennan knew it would not be pleasant at all. Quickly he drank the remaining tea and headed for his and Emma's bedroom to get ready for the briefing.

XXX

A few minutes later the couple entered the lab, only to find Adam staring at what appeared to be a list of names. He greeted them with a small forced smile before turning back to the screen.

The atmosphere changed drastically when Jesse and Shalimar entered the lab barely a minute later. He didn't even bother to look at them. Emma couldn't help but notice the hurt look in her two best friends eyes. She quickly made a mental note to talk with their leader later. They couldn't go on like that. It was simply too dangerous; divided they were vulnerable. Their leader simply started explaining what he had found on the disc, startling her.

"I found a way to decode the disc this morning. It contains addresses and medical files about young mutant girls."

Wearily he rubbed his forehead. The story he had to tell the small group would shake them, especially the girls. He might hate the way things were turning out between himself, Jesse and Shalimar but he still thought of them as his children and he wanted to protect them.

"Some kind of organization is kidnapping young girls. They are used as surrogate mothers for 'genetically enhanced' children. The babies are all new mutant of a new breed. Once the girls have given them what they want they make them disappear."

Shalimar grabbed Jesse's hand and squeezed it tightly. She couldn't understand why she was reacting so strongly to that news. Quickly they locked eyes exchanging a quick loving glance.

"Who are those people?"

"According to my contact, this organization is some kind of religious group who thinks that the end of the world is close. And obviously, they believe that only mutants will survive. I don't know how your friends are connected to this Brennan. But if James stole the disc, it only means he was or is still working for them."

Brennan and Emma looked at each other exchanging a few silent questions. The pieces of the puzzle were slowly starting to fall into places. And when the elemental let out the question that was taunting them, it didn't surprise Adam.

"Luke is one of those babies."

"Yes."

The silence hung heavily between the five members of Mutant X as they absorbed the information.

"We have another problem. Hell, we have a bunch of other problems. There is an address in the file. I hope that this place is or was one of the places where they kept their data. We need to know how many children they have with them and where they are kept. Brennan you are going to check what is there. Jesse is going with you. Emma and Shalimar will help you from here. We need as much information as we can get."

XXX

The moment they stepped in the house all hell broke loose. Jesse barely had the time to roughly push Brennan behind a wall to shield him and mass before the blast of the explosion hit him. And then everything went blank.

XXX

After having checked Luke was asleep, Emma made her way to the computer area. Shalimar was sitting there, trying to find information on Brennan's old friends and their connection to the group. The psionic watched her friend angrily typing.

"Shal! Are you ok?"

The feral growled lightly and rubbed her eyes. Troubles seemed to cling to her lately. First Adam and now Emma. This added to her worry for Jesse and the fact that she had to stay here infuriated her. She was definitely not in the right mood to talk with Emma.

"I'm ok Emma and I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm not here to lecture you. In fact, I wanted to tell you that I'm happy for you two. Both Brennan and I are happy for you two."

The feral turned her head to look at her friend. A small smile reached her lips, slowly enlightening her face, taking over her eyes. She should not have doubted her friendship with Emma. The psionic got closer and took her hand happily.

"Don't worry Shal. Everything's going to be all right. But right now, I need to put some sense into Adam's head."

"You'll need a hammer little sis."

The two girls burst out laughing. After a few seconds their laughter died.

"Thanks Emma. And I'm sorry I lied to you. But I was so afraid you would react just like Adam did."

"Shal you don't have to apologize. Now I need to talk with Adam.

XXX

Jesse opened his eyes, blinking at the harshness of the artificial light. The electrical glow coming from the ceiling was a constant painful aggression threatening to make his head explode. In a vain attempt to ease the pain he rubbed his neck only to find that he had been implanted with a subdermal governor. This was worst than what he had expected. Hearing a low groan at his right, he turned his head to look at the source of the displeased noise. Brennan was sitting in a corner one of his wrists chained to the wall his head was slightly turned on the left exposing his bruised face. He had a deep gash on his right cheekbone and blood had been dripping on his clothes abundantly leaving a trail on his grey shirt.

"Brennan?"

The elemental groaned, cursing the man who was causing his head to hammer a little more. He just wanted to get back to sleep.

"Brennan?"

The voice was insistent, bothering; he recognized Jesse's worried and strained voice. His eyes instantly opened falling on the irregular stony ground. He tugged at his right hand and let out another groan when he felt that it was restrained.

"Yeah. What is going on? I don't remember anything after entering the building."

Jesse closed his eyes and leaned on a nearby wall, trying to remember the sequence of events. Quickly he checked if he still had his comlink on and growled when he could not feel the cold metal on his finger.

"Bloody great. Now they have no way to find us."

Brennan tried to get up but his head was whirling and hammering, making him sit back on the cold ground. They needed to get out and quickly. His eyes searched the place for an exit or something that could help them. But the walls were barren, just like the floor and the ceiling; and there was no sign of a door. Nothing.

"Could you phase the wall?"

"I don't think so. They put a subdermal governor on me."

The elemental swore loudly and began to search his pockets for the knife he always kept with him. But visibly they had already searched them and taken all the objects that could help them to get out. If only his head was not hurting so much, he could at least try to contact Emma. But he could not focus. He shook his head as if trying to get rid of the headache. The sound of a door opening on their left cut through his thoughts.

"Look who we have here! Nice to see you again."

I know I'm mean leaving you with a cliffhanger but... I was in the mood