6 months later
Chloe strolled into Adam's office and plopped down across from him. "Here's the red top." She tossed it to him.
"Thanks," Adam put it down and turned back to face her. "Hey Laila, I have something very important to discuss with you. Can we have dinner?"
Chloe nodded, "No problem. The usual location?"
Adam smiled. "Of course! I'll see you in about an hour, okay?"
Chloe agreed and excused herself. She crept down the hall to her office and switched on her computer.
"Hello Ms. Anderson," her contact was cloaked in darkness on the screen.
"Hello," Chloe drawled. "Tonight is the night, I think."
"Excellent."
"Have you chosen the two mutants to come with us?" She questioned, spinning in her chair.
"Yes," he responded.
Chloe stared at him, an expectant look on her face. "Well?"
"Taylor March is an 18 year old ice elemental and Scott Harding is a 17 year old telekinetic psyonic. They are both in Genomex's holding facility."
"Okeedokee," Chloe nodded, yawning from boredom. She checked her watch and began to stand. "I have to go. One of Adam's patients has an appointment."
The computer screen went black as Chloe strolled quickly out the door and to the lab. She threw on her lab coat, whipped the door open, and snapped on her gloves. Slightly disheveled, she looked up and locked eyes with Nick, who was looking at her in bemusement. "Hi," she offered, a tiny grin spreading across her face.
"Hi," he returned, chuckling.
"Sorry I'm late," Chloe apologized.
"It's fine," Nick shook his head.
The two settled into easy conversation as she took Nick's vitals. For Chloe, the male feral had helped her grab hold of a part of herself she thought she had lost. She called him an acquaintance but she knew she was floatin' down a long river called "De Nile." She felt a painful aching in her chest when she realized this might be the last time she saw him.
"What's up?" Nick suddenly stopped talking and was looking at her in concern.
"Nothing," Chloe shrugged.
Nick raised an eyebrow, "Cat."
Chloe cracked a half-smile at his nickname for her, but the ice the Dominion froze around her heart wasn't easy to melt, even for the kind-hearted feral sitting across from her.
"I have to go," Chloe quickly stood and practically ran to the door.
Nick was quick too. Chloe's hand rested on the doorknob as Nick pressed the door closed.
"Nick, let me go," Chloe demanded quietly eyes cast downward.
"Look at me," he requested.
She met his eyes confidently, daring him to challenge her further. Whatever Nick was looking for, he didn't find. He shook his head and let out a soft sigh of disappointment as he stepped away. Before she swung open the door, she let out a plea, "Don't come back here, ever. Okay?"
Nick grabbed her and roughly kissed her. Heat swept through her body and the beating of her heart was almost overwhelming. Then it was over. He let her go.
"Bye," she whispered before disappearing through the door.
She arrived at dinner with a tight smile and in no mood for facades.
"Laila, hi, what's –" Adam's face portrayed a look of utter confusion.
"Look Kane, I could care less about whatever cute little anecdote you're going to tell me because I promise you it's insignificant compared to what I'm going to say. And I'm in no mood for small talk," Chloe spouted.
"Um, okay Laila," Adam gaped at her.
"Firstly, it's Chloe. Chloe Anderson," she leaned over the table to talk more privately. "I work for an organization called the Dominion."
"That really exists?" Adam asked incredulously.
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Yes. I was sent to Genomex to confirm your unhappiness there. We're prepared to offer you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" Adam replied coolly, suddenly seeming to have two feet on the ground.
Chloe smirked, amused at Adam's new found confidence. "You know that mutant sanctuary you want to create?"
"Yeah, I know. How do you know?"
"Small minor details," Chloe said with a flick of her wrist. "The point is, the Dominion is prepared to fund that project."
"What's the catch?" Adam questioned cautiously.
"You manage a team of mutants – a team of four – to be used by the Dominion as a well, we'll say investigation team," Chloe explained. "This team, and you, will be monitored by me."
Adam was silent for several minutes. Chloe shifted impatiently in her chair. "So, then you are a mutant."
Chloe looked at him blankly. "What? Yes, a feral. Did you hear anything I just said?"
"Do I get a chance to consider my options?"
"You can think about it on the way back to Genomex in my car and while my agents escort you to collect your belongings," Chloe reasoned.
"Wonderful," Adam stood. "Ready?"
"Oh, I'm ready. I don't think you know what you're getting into," Chloe replied, facing him across the table.
Chloe strode purposefully down the hallway and down to the holding cells. She broke the guards' necks with one quick snap and took the keys. Chloe found where Taylor and Scott were being held. She unlocked their cells and barked, "You two, let's go."
"Who the hell are you?" Scott snorted.
"Loose the attitude kid and get movin'," Chloe gestured to the stairs.
Taylor and Scott glanced at each other in momentary hesitation. Chloe let out a feral growl and the two of them raced up the stairs like a shot. Chloe followed at an even pace.
Adam was standing in front of his office between two of Chloe's burly agents. Chloe was mildly surprised at Adam's lack of fear. He was looking at her with a slight smirk and a twinkle in his eye. "So, who are your friends?"
She cast him an impatient look and spoke, "This is Scott and Taylor. They're coming with us." Chloe signaled to the agents to watch the mutants, and as they began to walk towards the car, Adam fell in pace with Chloe. "Are you…" Chloe paused, "excited?" She glanced at him in disbelief.
Adam remained quiet, but a tiny grin blossomed on his face.
"Well, be thankful you can still be excited," Chloe said.
"What do you mean?" Adam asked in confusion.
This time it was Chloe who stayed silent. You'll find out.
The scene was all too familiar. Black and white. Cold. Dull. She made her way down the hall to the holding cells. It had been about two weeks since she had brought Adam and the two young mutants to the Dominion headquarters. Finally they were satisfied that Chloe was still completely devoted to the Dominion. It was time to begin their mission.
Chloe found herself in front of a less exuberant Adam Kane, who was sitting dejectedly in his holding cell. He glanced up at her with eyes full of an understanding not present at Genomex. "What? Not what you expected?"
"I thought I was being freed," he whispered, his voice depicted his sorrow.
"We will never be free." Adam watched as a single tear slid down Chloe's cheek before she stiffened and caught his eyes with hers, cold as steel. "We will be flying out to the site of the safehouse tomorrow. Taylor and Scott too."
He nodded.
"Your dream will still happen," her tone was almost sympathetic.
"I think you understand that I just can't believe that right now."
3 months later
"We're making good progress," Chloe suddenly appeared, as if out of thin air. Adam was used to the feral's stealth abilities by now.
Sanctuary, as Adam had penned, was nearly complete. Chloe, Adam, Taylor, and Scott had been aided in the construction by a slew of Dominion controlled mutants. With the construction of Sanctuary came the crumbling of Chloe's walls – a little. Adam knew the feral had a dark past that he would most likely never learn of, and he was okay with that.
"You think we're going to be okay?"
Adam had asked Chloe this question frequently over the past few months. She always dodged the question or rolled her eyes because it was a stupid question – but a question she wasn't willing to answer. But this time, when he saw the honesty and openness in her crystal blue eyes, he knew he would get his answer.
"I think that you will be fine Adam, as long as you don't get sucked in."
"And you?" He replied.
She shrugged. "I think it's too late for me. The Dominion is my life and always will be. It was my choice."
Adam was satisfied with this little insight into Chloe, and a usual, comfortable silence settled over the two.
Taylor shyly peered around the corner.
"Hey Tay," Chloe greeted, recognizing the elemental was asking for admittance.
Taylor disappeared quickly behind the wall before reappearing with Scott. He was holding a brightly lit cake.
"What's this?" Chloe questioned, an eyebrow raised.
"It's your birthday cake," Scott replied.
Chloe's expression conveyed her confusion and surprise.
"The mutant database is running finally and we were checking all of us and we noticed that you turned twenty-one today," Taylor explained as Scott held the cake out.
Chloe looked at the two affectionately and blew out the candles. "Thanks for the thought you two."
They ate their cake in silence and everyone drifted away from Chloe. And the feral, so old at only twenty-one, found her feet carrying her away, down a dusty path she didn't want to travel. They took her outside to breath in the fresh mountain are, to reminisce about another time only a few years ago.
And she ran. Her feet took her away.
She whipped past the tall woody pines under the pure blue sky. She ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. She flung her body down on the dewy grass and could almost feel Darren's warmth next to her. And Angie standing to the side with her quiet presence. And Ashley giggling at Darren and Chloe's antics. And Michael rolling his eyes as a tiny smile betrayed him. She could almost feel them but they weren't there and they would never be again.
And then she remembered how to cry.
LOOK FOR PART 2 COMING SOON