CHAPTER SEVEN
He remembered holding her that day. Rocking her lifeless body back and forth for what seemed like eternity. He didn't know what time it was when they finally found them like that. He didn't care. His sister, his whole life, the one person that understood him and accepted him for what he was, was dead and it was by his doing.
Fresh tears started streaming down his face. It surprised him. He hadn't cried for a while now. He didn't know he still had tears to shed but no matter how he tried to push back the memories of that day to the far reaches of his mind, the constant heaviness in his heart and the guilt he still carried served as a painful reminder of that day. More than a decade had passed and the pain of it sliced through him as deep and as painful as if it had happened yesterday. He raised a hand to wipe the tears from his face.
Swallowing down a sob that threatened to surface, he took off his com-ring and fingered it in his hands. The lifeline that had kept him going when there was no place else he wanted to go. At a time when he felt that he would serve no purpose in the world, Adam and Mutant X had come to his life. His one chance at redemption, a chance to right a wrong. He knew that nothing would bring Ellie back but he desperately needed to believe that he could do good in the world. Now his greatest fear had come true. It had finally caught up with him and he couldn't run away from it.
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Sanctuary - Morning Emma awoke with a start. She looked around her a little confused and found that she was in her bedroom.
Jesse! She gasped as she suddenly remembered the events of the night before. The experience had left her drained and she remembered crying herself to sleep after she broke the connection, the events replaying itself in her mind.
The look on his young face as he had held her. It was heartbreaking. He had been so young! She thought. And in one instant his youthful innocence had been so cruelly taken away from him.
At that age Emma didn't know how far he had control over his mutant abilities but from what she saw in his determined face as he stepped in front of his sister, she knew he had not meant to stop the bullet. He had meant to take it. To save his sister's life, he was willing to give his own. The ultimate sacrifice and a choice he had made without so much as a second thought. A testament of his love for his sister, a testament of the boy he was and the man he would be.
Emma doubted he even knew massing would have stopped the bullet that took his sister's life. She didn't even think that Jesse knew that holding his breath would trigger his ability. Her heart was overtaken with sadness at the way he had to find out.
Emma understood now. His reluctance to use his mutant ability, his fear of hurting somebody with it, his closeness to Shal and his guilt over her fall.
Sadness crept over her as she thought of the many times Jesse had stepped in front of a person to act as a human shield. What a cruel punishment it must be that the very thing that brought him so much pain, would be the very thing that became his destiny. And yet he did it. Over and over again, determined in his quest to save a life and .to right a wrong maybe...
A loud commotion from outside startled her from her thoughts and she scrambled to her feet to find out what it was all about.
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"Oh my god Adam. Jesse!" Shalimar exclaimed as she saw the news report on the screen. The report was of a horrific accident in the outskirts of town where a car had careened off of a deep ravine. The car, which was reported to be a make of an Audi, apparently had exploded upon impact. There was no way to tell whether there were any fatalities as yet but authorities were still investigating.
"He, he didn't come home last night. You don't think."
"Shalimar. Lets not get away with ourselves. It could be any other car." Emma heard Adam trying to appease Shalimar whose worry was turning to what closely resembled panic.
Emma entered the room just as Shalimar rushed to the nearest computer screen. "I'll check for a signal on the Audi's transmitter" she said quickly as she typed in some commands on the computer. Shalimar had had a bad feeling since the night before and had been unable to sleep all night. She swallowed hard when she found that the Audi was transmitting no signals.
"What's going on?" Brennan asked as he sauntered into the room obviously having just woken up.
"Check for the latest reading on where the signal came from. I know the Audi's transmitter was on last night because I checked it before I went to bed." Adam said ignoring Brennan, as he himself was beginning to worry.
Shalimar gave a loud gasp as she looked at the screen she just pulled up. "What is it Shalimar?" Emma ventured worriedly. "It's the Audi," Shalimar said as she looked up pale faced, her eyes filled with fear and dread. "The last transmission.its.its from the same place where the accident occurred!"
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Emma felt dazed. No! It couldn't be!
Brennan who had come up to speed with what was going-on, broke the silence of the room. "What about his com-link? Is it still active?"
Adam quickly recovered and spoke into his com-ring. "Jesse? Are you there?" Silence. "Jesse?" He tried again. "Can you hear me?" The entire room waited with baited breath. . No answer. "Damnit Jesse!" Adam yelled, his frustration uncharacteristically taking over him. He turned to the computer screen and harshly typed in some commands.
"Wait a minute. The last reading from his com-link is about fifteen miles away from the accident site." he said as he looked up a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Alright." Adam said all business again. "Shalimar, you and I will go check the accident site. Emma and Brennan, you go the location of the last reading of his com-ring. Keep in touch at all times and let's not think the worse." Adam added firmly as he got up and exited the room with the others in tow.
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"We're glad you came, Mr. Kane, we got a badly burnt partial plate from the crash and we've been trying to track down the registration" said the officer at the accident site, as Adam and Shalimar finished introducing themselves.
"Have you found anything yet?" Adam asked anxiously, as he and Shalimar, stood behind the yellow tape of the police trying to peer down the ravine at the accident wreck.
"No sir. The deep ravine is delaying all rescue and extraction work. We couldn't get a chopper down because of the strong winds and the nearby cliffs, so we had to send our people and equipment down by rope. So far there doesn't seem to be any sign of a body but with an explosion like that it's really difficult to tell without further investigation of the wreckage."
Shalimar, who had been clutching Adam tightly by the arm, finally spoke "How did it happen?"
"I can't answer that question yet mam, it's impossible to tell from the wreckage whether there was anything wrong with the car, but we did check the parameters surrounding the accident site as well as on the road before the car fell down the ravine. So far, we've found that the ground prints indicate that there was nothing wrong with the tires of the vehicle."
Shalimar saw the officer frowned as he looked down at his notes as he continued. "Unlike most accidents of this kind, we also didn't find any skid marks to indicate speeding or something wrong with the brakes of the vehicle or even that any other vehicle was involved. But again, these are only preliminary findings. We shall keep you informed as soon as we find out anything else," he added as he excused himself leaving Shalimar and Adam peering down at the wreckage.
Shalimar felt Adam's arms around her, holding her tightly, as if sensing the inexplicable feeling of dread that filled her to the very core.
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"It's somewhere in this area", Emma said to Brennan as she read the reading on the mobile transmitter, that was linked to their com-ring. Brennan stopped the car at the side of the road looking around the area. "Yeah, but where?" he asked as he and Emma got out of the car to look around them.
"Oh my god" Emma exclaimed softly. "I think I know. Come with me" she said to Brennan as she led the way across the street through the entrance of the public cemetery.
"Why would Jesse come here?" Brennan asked curiously as he looked at the headstones around him.
"Eleanor A. Kilmartin" Emma read, as her heart skipped a beat. If there was any doubt as to what she had seen yesterday, it was gone now. This was Ellie's grave.
From the crazy reading of the transmitter in her hand, she knew that Jesse had been here.
"This is it." Emma said quietly to Brennan as he came over to her.
Reading the headstone, Brennan asked "Whose .?"
"His sister" Emma answered before he could even finish his question.
"Jesse has a sister?" Brennan asked in surprise.
"Had" Emma corrected him silently as she knelt down beside the grave.
Swallowing down a sudden lump her throat, she picked up Jesse's com-ring that was sitting neatly at the base of the headstone.
He remembered holding her that day. Rocking her lifeless body back and forth for what seemed like eternity. He didn't know what time it was when they finally found them like that. He didn't care. His sister, his whole life, the one person that understood him and accepted him for what he was, was dead and it was by his doing.
Fresh tears started streaming down his face. It surprised him. He hadn't cried for a while now. He didn't know he still had tears to shed but no matter how he tried to push back the memories of that day to the far reaches of his mind, the constant heaviness in his heart and the guilt he still carried served as a painful reminder of that day. More than a decade had passed and the pain of it sliced through him as deep and as painful as if it had happened yesterday. He raised a hand to wipe the tears from his face.
Swallowing down a sob that threatened to surface, he took off his com-ring and fingered it in his hands. The lifeline that had kept him going when there was no place else he wanted to go. At a time when he felt that he would serve no purpose in the world, Adam and Mutant X had come to his life. His one chance at redemption, a chance to right a wrong. He knew that nothing would bring Ellie back but he desperately needed to believe that he could do good in the world. Now his greatest fear had come true. It had finally caught up with him and he couldn't run away from it.
************************************************************************
Sanctuary - Morning Emma awoke with a start. She looked around her a little confused and found that she was in her bedroom.
Jesse! She gasped as she suddenly remembered the events of the night before. The experience had left her drained and she remembered crying herself to sleep after she broke the connection, the events replaying itself in her mind.
The look on his young face as he had held her. It was heartbreaking. He had been so young! She thought. And in one instant his youthful innocence had been so cruelly taken away from him.
At that age Emma didn't know how far he had control over his mutant abilities but from what she saw in his determined face as he stepped in front of his sister, she knew he had not meant to stop the bullet. He had meant to take it. To save his sister's life, he was willing to give his own. The ultimate sacrifice and a choice he had made without so much as a second thought. A testament of his love for his sister, a testament of the boy he was and the man he would be.
Emma doubted he even knew massing would have stopped the bullet that took his sister's life. She didn't even think that Jesse knew that holding his breath would trigger his ability. Her heart was overtaken with sadness at the way he had to find out.
Emma understood now. His reluctance to use his mutant ability, his fear of hurting somebody with it, his closeness to Shal and his guilt over her fall.
Sadness crept over her as she thought of the many times Jesse had stepped in front of a person to act as a human shield. What a cruel punishment it must be that the very thing that brought him so much pain, would be the very thing that became his destiny. And yet he did it. Over and over again, determined in his quest to save a life and .to right a wrong maybe...
A loud commotion from outside startled her from her thoughts and she scrambled to her feet to find out what it was all about.
************************************************************************
"Oh my god Adam. Jesse!" Shalimar exclaimed as she saw the news report on the screen. The report was of a horrific accident in the outskirts of town where a car had careened off of a deep ravine. The car, which was reported to be a make of an Audi, apparently had exploded upon impact. There was no way to tell whether there were any fatalities as yet but authorities were still investigating.
"He, he didn't come home last night. You don't think."
"Shalimar. Lets not get away with ourselves. It could be any other car." Emma heard Adam trying to appease Shalimar whose worry was turning to what closely resembled panic.
Emma entered the room just as Shalimar rushed to the nearest computer screen. "I'll check for a signal on the Audi's transmitter" she said quickly as she typed in some commands on the computer. Shalimar had had a bad feeling since the night before and had been unable to sleep all night. She swallowed hard when she found that the Audi was transmitting no signals.
"What's going on?" Brennan asked as he sauntered into the room obviously having just woken up.
"Check for the latest reading on where the signal came from. I know the Audi's transmitter was on last night because I checked it before I went to bed." Adam said ignoring Brennan, as he himself was beginning to worry.
Shalimar gave a loud gasp as she looked at the screen she just pulled up. "What is it Shalimar?" Emma ventured worriedly. "It's the Audi," Shalimar said as she looked up pale faced, her eyes filled with fear and dread. "The last transmission.its.its from the same place where the accident occurred!"
************************************************************************
Emma felt dazed. No! It couldn't be!
Brennan who had come up to speed with what was going-on, broke the silence of the room. "What about his com-link? Is it still active?"
Adam quickly recovered and spoke into his com-ring. "Jesse? Are you there?" Silence. "Jesse?" He tried again. "Can you hear me?" The entire room waited with baited breath. . No answer. "Damnit Jesse!" Adam yelled, his frustration uncharacteristically taking over him. He turned to the computer screen and harshly typed in some commands.
"Wait a minute. The last reading from his com-link is about fifteen miles away from the accident site." he said as he looked up a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Alright." Adam said all business again. "Shalimar, you and I will go check the accident site. Emma and Brennan, you go the location of the last reading of his com-ring. Keep in touch at all times and let's not think the worse." Adam added firmly as he got up and exited the room with the others in tow.
************************************************************************
"We're glad you came, Mr. Kane, we got a badly burnt partial plate from the crash and we've been trying to track down the registration" said the officer at the accident site, as Adam and Shalimar finished introducing themselves.
"Have you found anything yet?" Adam asked anxiously, as he and Shalimar, stood behind the yellow tape of the police trying to peer down the ravine at the accident wreck.
"No sir. The deep ravine is delaying all rescue and extraction work. We couldn't get a chopper down because of the strong winds and the nearby cliffs, so we had to send our people and equipment down by rope. So far there doesn't seem to be any sign of a body but with an explosion like that it's really difficult to tell without further investigation of the wreckage."
Shalimar, who had been clutching Adam tightly by the arm, finally spoke "How did it happen?"
"I can't answer that question yet mam, it's impossible to tell from the wreckage whether there was anything wrong with the car, but we did check the parameters surrounding the accident site as well as on the road before the car fell down the ravine. So far, we've found that the ground prints indicate that there was nothing wrong with the tires of the vehicle."
Shalimar saw the officer frowned as he looked down at his notes as he continued. "Unlike most accidents of this kind, we also didn't find any skid marks to indicate speeding or something wrong with the brakes of the vehicle or even that any other vehicle was involved. But again, these are only preliminary findings. We shall keep you informed as soon as we find out anything else," he added as he excused himself leaving Shalimar and Adam peering down at the wreckage.
Shalimar felt Adam's arms around her, holding her tightly, as if sensing the inexplicable feeling of dread that filled her to the very core.
************************************************************************
"It's somewhere in this area", Emma said to Brennan as she read the reading on the mobile transmitter, that was linked to their com-ring. Brennan stopped the car at the side of the road looking around the area. "Yeah, but where?" he asked as he and Emma got out of the car to look around them.
"Oh my god" Emma exclaimed softly. "I think I know. Come with me" she said to Brennan as she led the way across the street through the entrance of the public cemetery.
"Why would Jesse come here?" Brennan asked curiously as he looked at the headstones around him.
"Eleanor A. Kilmartin" Emma read, as her heart skipped a beat. If there was any doubt as to what she had seen yesterday, it was gone now. This was Ellie's grave.
From the crazy reading of the transmitter in her hand, she knew that Jesse had been here.
"This is it." Emma said quietly to Brennan as he came over to her.
Reading the headstone, Brennan asked "Whose .?"
"His sister" Emma answered before he could even finish his question.
"Jesse has a sister?" Brennan asked in surprise.
"Had" Emma corrected him silently as she knelt down beside the grave.
Swallowing down a sudden lump her throat, she picked up Jesse's com-ring that was sitting neatly at the base of the headstone.