Author: scarypuffringo

Author's note: Hey there people!!! I wanna thank you all for reviewing this story. I loved all the comments. I wish I could thank each one of you separately but I can't. I don't have a computer and I only connect to the internet when I'm going to post a new chapter. That's one of the reasons why I take so long in updating the story. But I wanna thank Dorothy for being so kind with me and Brigitta too. Thank you both. You guys are awesome. All of you are. Raquelle, I tried to be more careful with the spacing thing. I hope it's not too much confusing. I wasn't sure if I should post this chapter today or not because it didn't end the way I wanted it to. But it would take me about three more days to finish it the way I wanted and if I did that, the chapter would be even longer than it already is.

Okay, I gotta go now. Thanks again!!!!

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Chapter Three

Shalimar, Brennan and Jesse, none of them would ever forget that day. Later, after the rain had stopped, Jesse found the strength to go back inside the Sanctuary. He walked in; he looked around with his blood-shot eyes and saw nothing. The place was empty and to him, right then, it felt like no one lived there. He made his way up to his room and stayed there. He locked himself in, safe from the wickedness of the outside world… … …

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Lexa was trying to fix one of the computers when Shalimar and Brennan walked in. "Hey, good morning." She greeted them with a smile.

"Hi." Shalimar lowly replied, placing herself sat in a chair right next to the other female. Brennan only mouthed a reply and stood there, staring into nothing.

"So?  How is he?" Lexa asked. She needed to know what was going on with Jesse.

Brennan spoke this time. "He's still in his room."

"But it's been two days now. He hasn't even come out to eat. You gotta do something about it." Lexa sounded concerned about Jesse's health. And in fact, she was a little concerned; she wasn't some kind of a monster or anything. "I mean… … … … … … There must be something that you can or even we can do to help him."

"Jesse has to deal with this on his own. We can not interfere." Shalimar sort of explained. "It's not the first time that he blames himself for someone's death. He never got that bad before. True enough. But… he'll come around. He always does."

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Adam walked into Eckhart's office, shooting fire from his eyes. "Would you mind tell me what the hell is going here?"

Mason Eckhart, putting on a very calm face, pretended he didn't know what Adam was talking about. "What's with all the attitude, Adam?"

"You know perfectly well what this is all about. Where is she? Where's Emma?" Adam went straight to the point. He had traveled abroad for a few days and when he came back, he went to check if everything was okay with Emma but he didn't find her pot.

"Oh!" Eckhart ironically sighed. "Let's say that she's been removed to our best room. I mean, she is one very special guest. She needs to be treated like that. Don't you think?"

Adam could not stand Eckhart irony, it was annoying him to his guts. "Just tell me where she-"

"Those past few days were quite interesting, Adam. You should have been here to witness  everything."

"What are you talking about?" Adam frowned, fearing something bad had happened to Emma.

"Lexa gave us some good information on your team." Eckhart went on.

"I'm listening." Said Adam, paying attention to what Mason had to say.

"It looks like your precious Emma was trying to get in touch with one of her friends."

Adam got confused by what he heard. "It's impossible. She's unconscious. And I have stabilized her mutation. There is no way she could be using her powers to contact any of them."

"Adam, Adam, Adam. You and I know that anything and everything is possible in this world." Sarcasm was the weapon Eckhart was using against Adam. He knew how much Adam cared for Emma and the others. To Eckhart it was simply a game, which for the very first time, he was winning. "I could tell you what happened but I think you need to see it for yourself." Eckhart searched for a file in his computer and opened it. He turned the screen so Adam could see it too. Adam's eyes widened in surprise when he watched  the Sanctuary surveillance video. He felt chills going down his spine when he had to watch Jesse claiming that he had seen Emma. A smile grew on Eckhart's face just to see how much it affected Adam. "I think you've seen enough. Right?" He turned the screen back to him and closed the file.

"What Jesse is going through can mean a number of things… … He's just grieving for his friend." Adam tried to find a reasonable explanation for what he saw.

"After all this time? No, I don't think so."

Adam heard Eckhart's words and didn't want  to deal with him anymore. He just needed to get out of there and find Emma. "I don't care about what you think. What you did to my patient is what concerns me the most. You had no right to interfere in my research, in my work. Whatever it is that you did to her, it might have jeopardized everything."

"Come on, Adam. You think I would do such a thing? Jeopardize your work?" Eckhart disputed as Adam still stared at him with anger in his eyes. "You and I are in the same team here."

"You forgot one thing, Mason. You're in this 'project' for the money, for the power. I'm in this to save lives." Adam corrected Eckhart but his words only gave the other man in the room the opportunity to taunt him about it.

"You mean, correct the mistakes you've done in the past. Isn't that right?" Adam had to swallow his pride right then. He knew Eckhart was right. Adam indeed blamed himself for what happened to all of those kids that now were known as new mutants. "You're a fool, Adam. Don't you know what you have in your hands? What we have in our hands? We have created the most powerful human beings on the planet. Some lives had to be sacrificed to achieve that goal. I'm well aware of that. But everything has a price. And we have to pay the price if we want to succeed. You and I are very close to reach perfection, my friend. And I wouldn't do anything to keep that from happening." Even though Eckhart's words were cruel, they somehow assured Adam that Emma was safe. "Now, I need to know everything. Tell me… … What kind of relationship Miss Delauro had with Mr. Kilmartin?"

That question didn't sound too good at Adam's ears. "They were friends." He shortly answered.

"Friends with benefits?"

"What are you implying, Eckhart?" Adam knew where he was trying to get but he needed to hear from his own mouth.

"I'm not implying anything, Adam. I'm simply trying to figure out why Miss Delauro would contact Mr. Kilmartin and only Mr. Kilmartin. Why she wouldn't try to get to the other female as well?"

"I'm as confused as you are. Brennan should be the one Emma would try to contact. Supposing she has tried to do that or even that she has the ability to do that which I doubt she has." Adam stood, he began to walk around the place with his hands on his hips as he tried to understand what was going on there. "Brennan and Emma were very close. The same way Shalimar and Jesse are. I don't see why she would go to Jesse instead of Brennan."

"Maybe there was more between Miss Delauro and Mr. Kilmartin that you know about."

"I doubt that. Emma and Jesse knew that getting romantically involved with their team mates could cause serious problems. If there was something going on between them, I would know about it. They would never keep such a thing from me." Adam was getting tired with all that questioning. "Eckhat, I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't see why you're doing this, why all the questions. Remember when I accepted to work with you and your team? There were some conditions… I have complete freedom to do whatever I wanna do. My methods will be never questioned. And no one, absolutely no one is allowed to deal with Emma Delauro, except me. You knew that. Now, tell me where she is."

Eckhart heard Adam's demanding but didn't  give the man too much credit. "She's safe… Isolated… And about your conditions, I had some of my own when I considered having you back in my team."

"Don't you dare to turn this all around. I've kept my part of the deal so far. And you know that. You wouldn't even be alive if it wasn't for me. Don't you ever forget that."

Eckhart snickered at himself then stated. "Miss Delauro wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for me. I hope you remember that."

"Tell me where she is." Adam demanded one more time.

"You'll be taken to her." Eckhart called a lab technician to take Adam to where Emma was but before he said a few more things. "I've known you for the longest time, Adam. Don't go thinking that I don't know what you're planning  on doing." Adam stopped by the doorway and listened to him. "They can not know that you are alive. At least, not yet. You'll put their life in danger if you try to warn them. I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Now it was Adam's time to laugh at his statement. "I wasn't even considering the possibility. And Mason, you're not me." With that Adam left the office and was taken to a room. It was very guarded. Emma's pot was locked in there. Once Adam was inside, he demanded to be left alone with his patient. He said that he had work to do. Two other men that were accompanying him left and after the door being locked from the outside Adam whispered some words to Emma. "I'm sorry Emma. But I'll fix this. I promise you that."

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Things at the Sanctuary were not the same. All of them were acting very quietly, minding their own business, pretending they didn't feel the immense awkwardness and restlessness that hung in the air. Shalimar and Brennan were dreadfully worried about Jesse. They just had no idea of what they were supposed to do to help him. So the two just agreed in letting him be on his own, assuming it would, somehow, do him some good. But another day had dawned and Jesse still remained locked in his room. As for Lexa, she was always sneaking around the corners, paying attention to every single move they made then reporting everything to Eckhart. In fact, she had a personal meeting with him later that day… … …

Lexa came down and shortly announced. "Hey! Mmmm, I'm gonna go do some shopping. You guys wanna come?" Lexa lied, knowing that, under the circumstances, neither Shalimar nor Brennan would say yes to her invitation. Both of them just shook their heads no. "Come on, you guys!! I'm sure that spending money we don't have on gorgeous leather pants, maybe some new black boots, is gonna cheer you up a little. What do you say, Shal?"

"Thanks but no thanks. Next time, maybe." Shalimar forced a smile out.

"Are you sure?"  Lexa had to play it through an through. Again Shalimar politely said no. "Alright, then. I'll see you guys later." She waved them goodbye, took her car and drove off.

After Lexa had left no words were spoken between Shalimar and Brennan. Shalimar just sat on the stairway and Brennan stood on the other side of the room. Once and a while he played with his electricity but he did that only when the silence was too much to stand. "Shal, Bren, I need you to do a research for me." Shalimar and Brennan were startled up by the sound of Jesse's demanding voice. The young male invaded the scene, disturbing the silence as he firmly ordered. "I need you to get me the name and location of every single psionic and telempath new mutants that Adam has ever kept record of. Each and everyone of them. And I need it now."

Shalimar and Brennan were complete and totally lost to say the least. "Wh- wh- wha- what you're talking about, Jess? Are you okay?" Asked Shalimar in total surprise to see him acting as if nothing had happened. Jesse didn't answer, he only kept walking. Shalimar and Brennan just rushed after him as he made his way into the lab… … …

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Adam was done with Emma that day and got ready to leave. But before he cold get to his car, he walked up with an old friend. "Lexa!" He exclaimed, strategically placing himself in front of her so it made her stop and face him.   

"Adam!" Lexa lightly smiled then watched him in an awe. "It's been a while."

"You know? When Eckhart first told me you were working for him… I have to confess that it was hard for me to believe it was true." Adam took the opportunity and began to talk to her.

Lexa held her chin up and said. "Well, as you can see, it is true."

Adam snorted a laugh and she observed him. "I remember when you moved to Sanctuary. You were only a scared fourteen year old girl." He went on, using past memories as an excuse to keep her there. Lexa could tell he was up for something. "And I also remember the day you left. It took me a long time to accept that. I never really understood why you left Mutant X."

"What do you want, Adam?" Lexa knew better. Adam was tip-toeing around her and she had to find out why. She knew it must had had something to do with Jesse and Emma. But what exactly? "Come on, Adam. Tell me what you want. Remind me how great my life was when I lived at the Sanctuary and was part of Mutant X , surely is not what you're trying to do here."

Adam quietly nodded as he closed the distance between them. Without any warning, he pulled her into a very eerie embrace; his left arm went over her shoulder and his right one slid under her coat. Lexa frowned in confusion and didn't know what to think of his sudden act until he whispered to her. "Open up your mind, as well as your heart. Building up walls are for cowards. And cowards we are not. Don't forget that." He let go of her and left in silence. Lexa only watched him get into his car then take off.

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Back at the Sanctuary, Lexa was warned about Jesse. Brennan told her that Jesse had come out of his room and that he was pretending everything was fine. He also told her that Jesse was in the lab, non-stop working and that he didn't want anyone there with him. Lexa nodded, paying no mind to that, she only muttered something about being tired then excused herself, going to her room. Brennan found odd the way she reacted but shrugged the thought off. He had more important things to worry about.

Lexa waited until she was sure that there was no one around. She snuck into Jesse's room, leaving the door half opened so she could hear anyone approaching. She pulled up a chair and began to go through Jesse's private computer. She opened a new window and typed a password. In less that ten minutes she was done with her work in Jesse's computer. She quickly stood up and when she was with one foot out of the room, she bumped into something hard. She looked up and fear crossed her eyes. "Jesse!"

"What you're doing in my room?" He asked behind a frown. The idea of Lexa being alone in his room didn't please him too much.

Lexa was trapped. What she would say to him? Her mind was racing as she tried to come up with something to say. She didn't expect to get caught or in this case, almost caught. She looked up at the man standing right in front her and knew she had to say something really fast. "I, I came to check on you" She stammered a lie. "Brennan told me you were… you were… out. So I thought … I mean, I came to see how you were doing." Lexa could tell by the serious look he was giving her, that he didn't buy her words. But there was no way to go back so she acted on. "So?? How are you?"

"I'm fine. Thank you." Jesse sharply answered.

"Good to know. I didn't mean to bother you or anything. So, I'm gonna go now. See you later." Lexa fled out of there in a heartbeat. The minute she disappeared, Jesse went into his room, closed the door and went checking his things. He opened his drawers, his closet, looking for something, anything unusual in the scene but found nothing.

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Later that day, after the first hours of the evening, Jesse locked himself  in his room again. Shalimar and Brennan had given him all the names for each psionic and telempath they could find. Jesse placed himself in front of the computer and began his work. He was sending those mutants a message. He had figured that only another mutant like Emma could help him to find out what was really going on. When he was writing the message for the twentieth mutant of the list, something happened to his computer. The screen went total black. Jesse began to panic right away.

"No, no!" He growled, believing all his work was gone. "Damn it!!!" Jesse cursed angrily, releasing a punch against the desk. Reasoning it was no use in being mad at the world, Jesse closed his eyes and took a deep breath to contain his temper. He did that a few more times and when he felt his body less tense, he slowly opened up his eyes. He eyed the screen and something caught his attention. Something was written on screen.

'Knock, knock!' Jesse looked at it, he blinked a few times, shook his head, making sure it was not a dream or that he wasn't imagining all that and to his surprise, he watched it appear on his screen again. 'Knock, knock!'

Jesse feared for an instant but he knew what he had to do, so he typed. *Who's this?* He waited for the answer to appear and it did. But it wasn't exactly what he expected. A serial of scrambled numbers, words and letters decorated his screen… It was a code. Jesse quickly grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and started to work on it. He changed the disposition of the numbers and letters, discarded what he thought was useless and after almost an hour, he had the real answer. He needed to put it together so he began to note it down. When he was done, his face fell in shock as he looked at the small paper in his hand. "Oh my God!" It was all he managed to say through the fog of shock. Jesse's eyes shifted from the screen to the paper then from the paper to the screen as his brain tried to grasp everything. Until he saw popping up on his screen again.

'Knock, knock!' 

He quickly typed back. *I'm here.*  Apparently that was what, whoever was sending him those messages, expected because in the next second his screen was filled with a really long message. It was crypted, though. Jesse looked at it and sighed, predicting he had a long night ahead of him if he wanted to discover what was in that message… … …

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Next morning Jesse was the first to get up and when the others went looking for him, they found that he was already gone. They tried to get his location by tracking the signal of his comlink but it was useless. Jesse had left his comlink in his room.

"I don't like this, Brennan." Shalimar said.

"Me neither, Shal. But there's nothing we can do. I have no idea of where Jesse might be." Brennan sort of snapped. Lexa only observed them, the look in her eyes showing something they could not put their finger on…. … …

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Jesse pulled over; he was on a desert road. At the minute he got out of the car, four men appeared from nowhere, grabbed him, tied up his hands and feet, covered his face with a hook then threw him in the back seat of a black car. Almost two hours later, Jesse felt the car stop. The men pulled him out and untied him but the left the hook on. They told him not to take it off until they told him so. Jesse quietly obeyed. Two of the men led him through the way; it was small forest. They made him stop walking and removed the hook. Jesse looked around, there was a cabin right in front of him and its door was opened. Jesse figured he had to get in and so he did. The minute his feet touched the floor of the old cabin he heard a man calling his name. "Jesse."

Jesse turned around and wasn't sure if he believed his eyes or not. He looked at the man, standing in front of him then stated. "Adam…"

TBC