"It's dark, Jesse." Denise's voice shivered.
"I know," Jesse whispered back. "Keep your voice down." He tucked her closer to him, enfolding the girl in his arms in a mute appeal for quiet. They listened for the trio seeking to capture them, almost holding their breath, Denise trying not to give in to panic. She shivered in Jesse's arms.
Footsteps echoed outside. A deep voice rumbled, a voice filled with determination. "They're close. I can feel them."
"Yeah? Where?"
"I'm a feral, not a magician. Look around, genius."
"Not my job. I've got the neural governors in my pocket. That's my part in this little jaunt." Jesse and Denise heard the man slap his pocket. Something rattled. "They're not here."
"Oh, they're here all right," the feral laughed nastily. "Won't take me too long to find them."
"Yeah? It already has." The footsteps moved off.
Jesse released Denise, putting his mouth close to her ear. "Follow me. And don't make a sound."
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Kenny squeezed himself out of the computer console, his body taking shape like a hologram out take onto the floor of Sanctuary. The others crowded around him, barely giving him enough room to re-materialize. Shalimar took hold of Brennan's arm, seeking tactile comfort.
"Well?" Brennan demanded.
Kenny grimaced, shaking the kinks out of his shoulders. "Gonna take a while, Bren. Like I said, kids don't leave too many traces in cyber-space."
"You can't find Denise?" Adam asked, disappointed.
"Didn't say that, boss," Kenny corrected. "Just that it's gonna take some time. I stopped back for an update and a cup of coffee. Computers are great, but the one thing they can't do is create a decent cup of caffeine in cyber-space. Stuff always comes out tasting like thermal interface."
Brennan started to ask what thermal interface tasted like, and thought better of it. "No Denise? No Jesse?"
"Neither one." Kenny gratefully accepted the mug that Emma pushed on him. "What happened to ol' Stonewall himself? He get himself captured by Genomex? Need a rescue?"
"No, nothing like that," Adam said. "At least, I hope not. No, this time he walked out on his own two feet. A misunderstanding, I think. We'd like to work it out."
"Bottom line, he's not here and not expected back any time soon. Too bad." Kenny sipped at the coffee, then set it down. "Let me get back to work." He paused. "You guys might not want to stick around here. Like I said, this is gonna take a while. It's gonna get boring just standing here, waiting for me to show my ugly mug again. We may be talking hours, here, guys. Later, dudes." With that, his form wavered into holographic flexibility, and slid into the Sanctuary mainframe via the nearest USB port.
"Adam?" Emma looked up. "Hours?"
"He knows his business, Adam," Brennan added. "Maybe we want to be productive somewhere else?"
But Adam shook his head. "I'm not comfortable leaving him here all alone, Brennan. I know he's a friend of yours, but I haven't had the opportunity to check him out myself yet. I want someone here at all times for when he comes back out of the computer system."
"We can take shifts," Shalimar suggested. She wrinkled her nose. "I volunteer to be first and get it over with."
"Thanks, but no," Adam replied. "No, I want you and Emma out looking for Denise and Jesse in the real world. Brennan, you take the first couple of hours. Go get a magazine or something. I'll relieve you at two."
"Plan," Brennan agreed. "See you later."
"We'll call in if there's anything to report," Emma said.
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"Jesse!" Denise screamed.
Okay, so it was a lucky blow. If pushed, Jesse later would swear that he landed it because of training so frequently with Shalimar Fox, that luck had nothing to with it; pure skill, all the way. End result: the feral went flying back against the brick wall of the alleyway and crunched. He slid down the wall, momentarily stunned.
Jesse spent no time contemplating his luck. Swiftly exhaling, he grabbed Denise by the arm and shoved her through the other side of the walled in alleyway through the quickly de-substantialized surface into a machine shop. Jesse ignored the heavy machinery, dragging Denise after him, heedless of her squeals of dismay. "C'mon," he urged. "Move!"
They dashed around the equipment, Denise scraping skin off a large sawblade-like contraption. Damn! Broke a nail! ran irreverently through Jesse's mind, and then he squelched the uncharitable thoughts at the tears that threatened to spill down the kid's face. Not her fault that she's a mutant. Not her fault that she's stuck here with me, being pursued by Genomex with the sole intent of turning us both into experimental popsicles.
They burst out through the back wall and into bright sunlight. But not for long; Jesse steered them into a large department store, darting through the crowds of people. It was mostly women, intent on dismembering the lingerie rack in honor of the one day half price sale going on. They dashed on past the panti-hose and brushed by the silk lounging pajamas that had Denise's tongue hanging out and drooling.
Right now Jesse didn't care about why, he just cared about who. Feral: tracks by movement and smell. Okay, cover the movement by the massive crowd of jostling women who are all hopefully wearing as much perfume as possible and jockeying for position around the items for sale. But, just in case…Jesse deliberately knocked the arm of a young salesgirl as they dashed by, causing her to spill several samples of the stinking stuff. The cry of 'oh, no!' followed them out the side entrance of the store along with a whiff of Eau de Whatever.
Scratch one feral sense of smell.
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Brennan idly toyed with the magazine in his hands. Bored. Bored out of his skull. Nothing to look at, nothing to watch. He didn't dare touch the computer in case Kenny needed to exit and re-materialize on the floor next to him, and he'd already run through all the kata he could manage in the small room. Sometimes having long legs was not a good thing. And he was on the third re-reading of the 'zine, which wasn't any better this go around than the last.
A squelch-y, pulling noise grabbed his attention. Brennan leaped to his feet to see Kenny squirm out of the USB port and re-materialize. The computer mutant staggered, catching himself against the console. "Whoa."
"Kenny?" Brennan grabbed the man before he could fall, forcing him into a chair. "Kenny, what's going on, dude? What's wrong? What did you find?"
Kenny exhaled. "I think I've been around the world at least twice in the last hour, man. Bunch of spy-catchers that were a bitch to avoid."
"But you got something?"
"Maybe." Kenny eluded the question, allowing Brennan to hover over him. He reached down to scratch an itch on his leg. "Where is everyone?"
"The girls are out doing legwork on the street. Adam's in his lab. What did you find out?"
"Just you and Adam here in Sanctuary?"
"That's right. He's—"
"Call Adam down here," Kenny ordered. "I want you both to hear this right now."
Brennan obediently tapped on the internal comm. link and summoned the older man to the computer room. He turned back around to face Kenny only to find the computer mutant almost in his face. "Okay, bro, Adam's on his way—what's that?"
Kenny rammed his hand into Brennan's gut. He also rammed the knife in his hand into Brennan's gut. "That," Kenny said with a certain satisfaction, "is a knife." The computer mutant slid his pant leg back down over the blade sheath that he had strapped to his calf. "I wasn't sure I could get this into Sanctuary, but your running interference for me smoothed the way. Thanks, brother." He twisted the blade, widening the slice in Brennan's torso, making certain that his former partner felt every centimeter of steel cutting through him, his smile widening at the shock on Brennan's face.
Damn. How did he get to his knees? Brennan didn't remember bending them. But the agony between his ribs did a fine job of removing his ability to string two thoughts together, let alone coherent verbiage. "Wh-why?" he gasped. His hand came away, covered in blood. Lots of blood.
"Why?" Kenny mocked. "I told you, Brennan. I've gone legit. I'm an incorporated business, with contracts and everything. My latest contract was to kidnap Adam Kane for some interested parties. Getting him out of Sanctuary is almost impossible, so they turned to me. And you fell for it; hook, line, and sinker."
"Ke—" Brennan couldn't go on. The edges of his vision wavered. Damn, was he on the floor already?
"Ah. Now you're asking, how do I expect to get old Adam out of here? Simple, and you helped out there as well." Kenny gestured to the mainframe computer of Sanctuary. "The CAMS chip. My design, not Merriwell's. That guy was just an actor that I hired to play the part, and you and the rest of Mutant X bought it without so much as a whimper. Thanks, bro. I really appreciate the help. The CAMS chip will enable me to turn your old boss into a bunch of computerized electrons, just like me. One little jaunt across the Internet to another CAMS chip that I installed at home for just this occasion, and I will have one extremely brilliant yet trustingly foolish scientist for sale. Dr. Kane will never know what hit him." Kenny leaned over the dying man on the floor, noting the blood that was spilling out. "I'd better hurry if I want you to appreciate just how much assistance you've given me. You look like you're going under fast. Gee, and here I thought that you'd last at least ten minutes or so before bleeding your life onto the floor. There are only two people in Sanctuary who could have stopped me: you with your electrical powers and Jesse Kilmartin's knowledge of computers. And Jesse is so conveniently out of the way. That just leaves you, bro. Well, maybe not any more."
Brennan tried to say something, tried to call out. Adam was on his way down here to disaster! But Brennan's voice had decided to stop working. He only wished that that the nerves carrying the messages of pain to his brain would do the same thing. Adam…
Adam Kane strode down the corridor, ready for action. If Brennan had called, then Kenny must be back with news. They would need to put a plan into place at once, depending on what the computer mutant had found. Was it Jesse that he'd found, or Denise, or both? Adam couldn't help but wish for the whole pie. He hustled into the computer room.
Kenny looked up, dismay on his face. "Adam! Thank God you're here! Brennan needs help!"
A horrifying sight greeted the older man: Brennan, lying on the floor in a pool of blood, eyes mutely begging for help, gasping for fleeting breath. What had happened here? Who had attacked Brennan in the safety of Sanctuary? Who could have gotten in past the security?
Adam dropped to his knees; the hemorrhaging needed to be stopped now! "Kenny, what—?"
"So glad you asked." The dismayed expression had dissolved into one of triumph. Kenny seized Adam by the arm, yanking him back to his feet. "We're going on a little trip, you and I." His form quivered, preparatory to entering the computer, shaking Adam's own molecules in sympathetic vibration. Adam cried out.
There wasn't much that Brennan could see. Shock had narrowed his field of vision to a very small area, one that still included the sight of Kenny and Adam struggling. Jumping to his feet and lashing out at his former friend would have been a welcome thing to do. Wrenching Adam from the computer mutant's grasp would likewise suffice. Unfortunately his body responded with a very painful are you out of your freakin' mind? We're going into shock, here! Instead, Brennan had to watch the whole horrifying scene unfold:
Kenny, dragging Adam out of Sanctuary the only way possible.
Adam, going onto the auction block to the highest bidder for that impossibly brilliant brain of his.
Kenny, saying, 'there are only two people in Sanctuary who could have stopped me: you and Jesse Kilmartin. And Jesse is so conveniently out of the way. That just leaves you, bro.' And stabbed him beneath the ribs.
Him? How could Brennan possibly stop Kenny? How could an elemental take down a computer mutant? Unless…
That he himself was a dead man, Brennan never doubted. Knife in the gut, losing blood faster than a spigot on full force? Intellectually, Brennan was amazed that he wasn't dead yet. But how could he stop Kenny?
What was Jesse always grousing about? That Brennan had crashed yet another program just by sheer force of his electric personality?
Time to put that into action. In what Brennan fully expected would be his last performance on the face of this Earth, he summoned up the electrons. Fashioning them into a spear of lightning, he hurled the bolt of electricity directly at the computer that Kenny had just squeezed himself and his captive into.
The computer exploded into a shower of sparks.
Sanctuary went dark.
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"Here." Shalimar sniffed. Not 'sniffed' as in gee, what a lovely deodorant you have but 'sniffed' in the fashion of a true feral on the hunt. "Jesse was here, and so was Denise. What was a sixteen year old doing in a bar? And why would Jesse take her there?"
"He must have had a reason," Emma replied doubtfully. "Find him, and we'll find out what it was. Shall we go in?"
The bar was a little hole in the wall, with little light and less air to breathe. Leftover cigarette smoke stained the ceiling and floors and the only item that the girls had to be grateful for was that the jukebox had apparently died a final death sometime last evening under the onslaught of a flying body and would no longer inflict its pain and suffering—AKA 'music'—on the patrons of the bar.
The bartender had already waddled in for the day, intent on washing the glassware and preparing the place for another night of beer and smoke. Today he had obviously come in early to clean up from last night's mess. Chairs needed replacing, one table would have to be discarded altogether—apparently someone, or someone's, had had a good time.
Shalimar and Emma exchanged looks. Starting a fight in a bar was Brennan's style, not Jesse's, but there was always the possibility that the molecular had made an exception in this case. And if he had a sixteen year old kid to protect, that too would have changed the circumstances. They approached the bartender.
He looked up, his disinterest evaporating in the presence of the two lovelies. "What can I do for you ladies?" And leered.
Shalimar managed not to grimace at the bad breath. She smiled as though she was delighted to be hit upon by this overweight, underwashed slob of a man. She leaned across the bar. "We're looking for someone."
"I can see that," the bartender replied, licking his lips and trying to angle himself just that little bit more to peek down the feral's blouse. "Got just the man for you, doll."
Shalimar restrained the urge to shred the man into little tiny bits of rotting flesh, suspecting that she was getting a psychic boost from her teammate for self-control. "This man." She offered a picture of Jesse, face wide and eyes smiling out at the world. Happier times, Jess.
The bartender himself had to exercise self-control to keep from spitting and ruining his image before the two ladies. "Him?" he all but snarled. "That's the guy that ruined my bar last night! You two know him?"
"Not all that well," Emma soothed. Shalimar could tell that she was projecting for all she was worth: calm for the bartender and heavy-duty anti-nausea for herself and Shal. "In fact, we want to find him very much."
"Owes you money? Get in line, lady. Me first." The bartender gave a vicious swipe of his grimy cloth against the equally dirty bar top. "And that goes after I get a piece of his hide. Filthy mutie."
Emma pressed in a bit harder. "When did you see him? We'll bring him back," she lied.
"Last night. He picked up a girl. Hooker, by the looks of her. Probably underage. Only type guy like him can get, got to pay for it. Girl's probably dead by now. He's probably some loony, gets off on killing little girls. Does unspeakable things to their bodies..." He dragged the words out as if unwilling to let them go, savoring their taste in his mouth and begging for more.
"Where did they go?" Emma leaned much harder. The bartender kept dragging himself onto tangents, putting in his own fantasies.
"Don't know. He dragged her outta here after getting beat up by my guys. Little pansy," the bartender groused. "Headed north, I think. Wimp."
"Thanks," Emma oozed oily. The bartender beamed—was this young and dainty thing gonna pursue this any more? He had this little room in the back, could shove the stuff around so that it didn't look so grimy…
"Listen, girly, how 'bout you and me—"
"Maybe another time." Emma detached herself from his grasp, trying not to gag. "See you around." She hustled Shalimar out before the man could throw any more disgusting thoughts in her direction.
Shalimar breathed deeply of the clean air in the sunlight. "I need a shower," she complained.
"And that's just on the outside," Emma agreed. "All those things he said, about Jesse and Denise? I don't ever want to be caught at his mercy. He's just…" She cast around, looking for a word horrible enough.
"North." Shalimar cut off the episode. "If we're lucky, we'll never be back here again." She sniffed again, this time going for the high route, the scents that lingered on the brick walls around them. "I can't be sure, but I think they went this way."
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All it took was a little twist, and the comm. link in Jesse's ring came back alive. A specter of light flashed across it, encircling his finger, promising that he still had this one connection to Mutant X left. Hah. As if they wanted it that way. They'd probably forgotten to delete his codes after he'd left. Well, that would work to his advantage. Do this one last chore—after all, Jesse needed to be able to look at himself in the mirror every morning—and he could leave Mutant X behind. Jesse steadfastly ignored the pang that raced across his chest at the thought. They're the ones who wanted it this way. Not me.
Jesse brought the ring up to his mouth. "Adam? Guys?"
No answer.
"Adam? Anybody there?"
Still no answer.
Damn. Maybe they had deleted his codes after all. But if that were so, then why did the ring still activate? It was as if Sanctuary itself wasn't accepting calls, had powered down for the night and then not bothered to flip the switch back on in the morning. Except that it was already almost noon, and Adam at least would be up and about and puttering in his lab. Sure, the others like to sleep in whenever possible and Shalimar was positively nocturnal as only a feral could be, but noon?
There was something wrong.
What to do, what to do? No, he wasn't part of Mutant X any longer, but neither was Jesse Kilmartin the type to turn his back on friends. Well, no, they weren't really friends any longer—they'd made that clear—but still…
First things first. Step one: get Denise to some place safe. No, actually, that ended up being step number two, because some place safe was Sanctuary and then the Underground, neither of which he could access sitting here in this abandoned building waiting for Genomex to find them.
Decision made: they'd head for Sanctuary's back entrance, hopefully avoiding the Genomex goons. Those guys had a feral with them, and while Jesse knew that he could defend himself, he wasn't so certain that he could pull a young girl along with him. No, avoiding Genomex all together sounded like a much more workable plan. He rose smoothly to his feet. "Denise? Get your stuff together. Time to get out of here."
"What stuff?" came the grumpy reply. Clearly the thrill of living on the run was wearing off.
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It wouldn't be so bad if the pain in his gut didn't so damn muchhurt! There were so many things Brennan Mulwray wanted to do: call the girls back to Sanctuary for back up, haul Kenny's ass out of the Sanctuary computer and demonstrate just how seriously pissed off he had made Brennan, and the Miata really was overdue for its tune up. Oh, yeah, and somewhere on that list he ought to include I want to live!
But for the time being he was confined to lying on the floor and making a nasty red mess that was staining the carpet. Movement was out of the question, and even breathing was getting to be in doubt. He wondered if they'd try a professional carpet cleaning company for the blood stain or just give it up as a bad job, rip the carpet out and replace it with high end linoleum. Ceramic tiles with a sturdy sealant might be nice; they'd resist blood the next time this sort of thing happened.
Too bad Brennan wouldn't be around to see it.
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"They spent the night here." Shalimar looked around the little cubby hole, her eyes golden. "Together."
"Really?" Emma arched her eyebrows.
Shalimar sniffed a moment or two longer, then sniffed in relief. "Just close. For warmth. Nothing more."
"Ah." That sounded more like the Jesse Kilmartin Emma knew. "Are they close by?"
"No, I don't think so." But Shalimar suddenly went on point. "Emma, someone's after them."
"Genomex?"
"No way to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised." Shalimar closed her eyes and inhaled the surroundings. "There's a feral with them. Canine, maybe wolf. Two others that are human."
Emma looked around, despite the fact there was nothing to see. "I think we'd better hurry."
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They probably would have been okay if Denise hadn't had such an aversion to snakes.
The zoo had seemed like a decent place to hide out for a while, at least until Jesse could figure out how to contact Mutant X and Sanctuary without getting killed or captured by either Mutant X or Genomex. Lots of people, lots of crowds to mingle with, lots of nooks and crannies to meander around. Looking at the zebras went well, and even the bats didn't fluster the girl. Jesse would have enjoyed the excursion more if he hadn't felt the need to watch out for a trio of dark suits, one of whom frequently looked like he was sniffing the air for the scent of his prey. And, since that's exactly what the suited feral was doing—hunting for Jesse—the molecular felt obligated to make the trail as difficult as he possibly could. Which meant deliberately stepping in the remnants of the elephants strolling by to mask the trail. Surreptitiously and thankfully cleaning off his shoes in the water sprayed over the crocodiles was another option that he took advantage of.
Denise stayed oblivious.
Which was fine with Jesse. They needed to throw Genomex off before heading off for Sanctuary's back door, and the less worry he could give the girl, the better. She was finally having a good time—enjoying yourself? With Genomex around? Serious mental aberrations here!—and clung on to Jesse's arm, playing the role of his girlfriend for all she was worth. This was the one time that it was worth while that Denise looked older than her years, Jesse decided. Nobody hassled them for ID of an underage girl. No problems.
Until Jesse caught sight of a trio of black suits at the far end of the pathway, next to the camel exhibit. As in: far too close for comfort. He swiveled her around and headed in another direction.
"Jesse?"
"We don't want to go that way," he said quietly into her ear. "No, don't look; you'll attract attention. Just walk. Fast." He urged her forward, judging the speed at which she could go before needing to break into a run, trying to decide if it was fast enough.
It wasn't going to be. The trio had spotted them. Time for stronger measures. Jesse glanced around, looking for a locked door, something that would slow their pursuers.
There it was, a moderately large door with a large padlock on it to keep out visitors to the zoo from areas where they shouldn't be. Just the thing; Jesse could slip them both inside and cause their pursuers to waste minutes if not an hour trying to figure out where the two had exited to. In the meantime, Jesse and Denise could hightail it out of the zoo and leave the dangerous feral and his handlers behind.
"C'mon." Jesse de-solidified the door and pushed Denise through.
They found themselves in a cage; literally, a cage. There was straw on the floor, and a whole bale of it in one corner. It was dusty, and smelled dusky. It was dark because the windows were on the opposite side of the enclosure. And, thankfully, there were no occupants of the cage.
Those were located behind the next set of bars.
Cold eyes stared back at the two with the disdain that only a member of the Order Reptiliae could manage. The snake was a magnificent specimen and he/she/it—Jesse was not about to inquire as the sexual orientation, not under the circumstances—knew it. The scales on the creature were large and black and shiny with just the hint of a ruby glow to them. Jesse hadn't a clue as to the exact species. The little placard on the crowd-friendly other side of the cage from the snake undoubtedly would inform him, but Jesse declined on the spot to traverse the distance. He suspected that the scaly creature weighed more than he did, and getting into its loving embrace would probably not be the wisest course of action. It would, however, quite possibly be his last.
Unfortunately, there was no other way out of the cage that Jesse and Denise found themselves in. Or, rather, there was. It involved phasing. It involved phasing back out of the building into the arms of Genomex. Great choice: phasing into the non-existent arms of Friend Snake in the cage next door or handing a business card to Genomex.
Jesse looked at the door behind them.
Jesse looked at the snake.
Jesse looked at Denise.
"C'mon," he decided, taking her arm.
"No way!"
"Denise—"
"There's a freakin' snake in there!"
"Yes, I know." Jesse tried to keep his temper. "And there's three outside, all hired by Genomex. With legs."
"Better." Denise was terrified. "Go beat 'em up!"
Reality was not part of this girl's scene, and that without benefit of drugs. What a waste.
"Not going to happen." Jesse might be foolish sometimes, but this was not one of them. Three Genomex agents against one molecular on his own? "Look, the snake is on the other side of its cage and won't bother us. We can slide on by, along the side. It's probably well-fed, won't care that we're walking through."
"Yes, it will!"
"Keep your voice down. They'll hear us!"
"I don't care! I'm not going into no cage with no snake!" Grammar was deteriorating along with rationality. And the decibels were rising.
"Denise—"
Too late. Jesse made the discovery that one of the other suits along with the feral was also a mutant. As it turned out, the man was a chromatic, able to use light for his own purposes. And, at the moment, the chromatic's purpose was to eliminate the barrier between himself and his prey.
The locked door that Jesse had recently phased them through turned molten under the onslaught of a mutant-generated laser. A long, lean red line traced the outline of a new door. A booted foot kicked the new door down.
The Genomex suits grinned.
"Going somewhere?" the feral inquired.
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"Planning on taking them with us."
A new voice inserted itself into the conversation. The voice came from behind the trio of Genomex goons. And it was feminine. And very determined.
And very unexpected, since it belonged to Shalimar Fox.
The three from Genomex whirled around and gaped. Jesse didn't have to whirl around since he was facing in the proper direction, but he gaped anyway. Can't let the Genomex guys feel left out. "Shalimar? What are you doing here?"
Shalimar took time out for a glare. "Couldn't you ask silly questions later?" She ducked as the feral leaped at her, gliding smoothly out of the way. The canine feral would have crashed into the ground had he not been a feral. Instead, he bounded back from the dirt to the wall and again at Shalimar.
That was disturbing. If elegant acrobatics weren't going to be effective, Shalimar was perfectly happy to try something else—say, dismemberment. The next go around collected the canine feral a swat across the nose. The effect was approximately the same as a cat slapping a dog with claws out-stretched. A reasonably sensible dog would learn to let an angry pussycat alone. This feral couldn't—or wouldn't, since the alternative was facing Mason Eckhart. So he ended up with yet another blow, this one that knocked his brains in one direction and his tail in the other. He collapsed in a heap.
Except, Shalimar reasoned, that this feral, stupid as he was, clearly kept his brains somewhere other than his head. Oh, well. Maybe he'd learn from this encounter anyway. You don't mess with Mutant X.
There was very little that was faster than the speed of light, and the chromatic mutant knew it. He gloried in it. He was damn good, and he would be pleased to share this knowledge with the members of Mutant X. He was faster than sound, he was faster than a speeding bullet, and he was a whole heck of a lot faster than the snake in the next cage over. Speed was his element, for almost nothing could match the speed of light that would be emitted from his fingertips.
Nothing, that is, except the speed of thought.
Emma was not in the mood for dallying. Women who threw a dirty look toward a man never quite knew whether or not the man would abide by the unsubtle signal thrown his way. Emma did not have that concern. The look that she threw could have pole-axed an ox.
The chromatic wasn't quite as large as an ox, but that didn't matter. He slumped to the ground, right on top of leftover horse manure. Emma didn't care about that either. There was a sixteen year old girl to defend and Emma was in no mood to be polite.
Jesse, relieved of responsibility for two of the Genomex goons, turned on the third one. He lifted his eyebrows, and massed his fist. Mutant?
The man shook his head. Normal, you freak.
Too bad.
For you. The man pulled out his pistol and took aim.
Jesse massed entirely.
The bullets bounced like silver balls dancing around the old pin ball machine that Brennan had rescued from the junk heap several thousand years ago. The elemental always swore that he was going to restore it, but hadn't yet. The only restoration that Jesse, on the other hand, was concerned with was restoring the balance of power in his favor. Thus, the rock hard pile driver that his fist became bare moments before connecting with the man's head was entirely warranted.
Having disposed of the man to his satisfaction, Jesse turned to the next pressing problem: "What are you guys doing here? How did you find us?"
"It wasn't easy, Jesse." Shalimar punched him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Shal—"
"Why did you run out on us?" Shalimar demanded. "Are you crazy?"
"I—"
"And when were you going to tell us you found Denise?" Emma wanted to know. She punched him in the other shoulder. "Adam's been frantic with worry."
"Ow! Emma, I—"
Shalimar turned to Denise. "Get your things. We're taking you to Sanctuary."
Denise's eyes lit up. "Really? For real?"
"For real. Get your things."
"Haven't got any." Denise snuck a look at Jesse under long dark lashes. "I lost it all."
"Way to go, Jess." Shalimar punched the sole male member of the group in the arm again.
"Ow! Shalimar—"
"Shut up, Kilmartin, before I tell you what I think of you," Emma told him, aiming a significant shrug at the chromatic moaning on top of the dung heap. "We're going home. Well?" she demanded, as Jesse hung back. "What are you waiting for?"
"I…" For the life of him, Jesse couldn't think of what to say. Did they want him, or not? The phrase 'mixed messages' didn't even begin to cover it. "You…"
"Tongue-tied. Again." Shalimar turned to Emma. "What I do for my team." She turned back to Jesse. "Let me put this in words of one syllable, Jesse. Get your ass in the car. Now."
Jesse gulped. "Right." They wanted him back! "Right!"