Disclaimer: I do not any an all characters from Mutant X, they do belong to their respective owners.

A/N: This chapter should be read with care, and probably twice!!

No this is not a joke. Even while writing it I had to re read it several times, (silly me I had confused myself in my own writing!!! LOL.)

Ruffyan: I hope this clears things up a bit.

Britt: Glad you're enjoying this so far.

Jar: Thanks for the advice through all this madness!!!!

Shout outs: Laily, Lyza, Deb and everyone else keep those reviews coming people!

Chapter 9

"Ouch that hurts." she grumbled as Emma tried to wipe away the dirt from the open wound above Cody's left eye. "I'm sorry but if you would sit still it wouldn't hurt so much." Emma replied taking a glance at where Shalimar was tending to Jesse's sprained wrist.

"Ok let's go over this one more time." Adam said decidedly as he motioned for Brennan to take a seat. "You two were arguing, and than the shelve exploded. How did that happen?" he glance at either wounded.

"I don't know Adam, it just happened, I mean I can't even remember why we were arguing about." Jesse replied, as Shalimar finished wrapping his wrist. "It was the weirdest thing."

"The temperature in the room was way up there." Emma said. "And it felt like someone else was in their with them as well."

"How could you tell?" Cody asked.

"Emma's a Tel- empathic, she can sense other people's emotions. At times she can also sense their consciousness." Adam replied.

It was than that Cody saw the images on the screen, the two darts and the codes running up and down one side. Her face showed no emotion whatsoever. "Where did you get those?" she asked without turning away from the screen. The group exchanged looks before Adam answered. "The first one was the one that Brennan found in the alley where they first found you, this second one was the one you were shot with."

"That can't be right."

"Why not." Shalimar asked.

"Because it's not mine." She replied automatically, than cringed at her own mistake.

"What do you mean it's not yours?" When she didn't answer furthermore the feral had grabbed her by her arms and turned her around forcefully.

"Back off." Cody practically growled, her dark brown eyes flared up again with what looked to be like red orange flames. It was an old defense mechanism that she had been taught as a child. This caused the desired effect, and the feral indeed backed away right into Brennan. He placed a protective arm around her.

"Cody, we're not here to hurt you." Adam began. "We just want to help you."

"You can't help me, that explosion in Jesse's room says that much."

"That wasn't your fault." Emma said taking a cautious step forward. "Someone else was provoking both you and Jesse."

"All the more reason for me to leave." she said getting off the table and walking past her, but was stopped when Jesse grabbed her arm. "Jesse get the hell off me."

"No, you're not going anywhere. If Emma is right about this other person, than this is exact reaction this person wanted from you. You walk out there and you're as good as dead."

"Like you care…" she ignored the flash of pain that came across his face, and continued. "I can't stay here, that little fire back there. Isn't the first time that's happened." she retorted trying to twist out of his grip. "Compared to the others that was a tiny flame."

"We can help you to control your abilities. Protect you from those that wish to bring you harm." Adam said "In return all we ask is for your trust in us, and help on what ever it is you know about these weapons and the people that are after you."

"No way." she retorted slipping out of Jesse's grip and walking out of the med-bay.

"What are you so afraid of?" Brennan called over his shoulder.

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"Cody wait…" Jesse walked out after her.

The older elemental snorts at her remark, he remembered using that tone when he was younger. When he had first come off the streets and into the first place he could ever call home. At the time he too had been afraid to let people get close to him, but he wouldn't have ever admit it aloud. Not back then anyway. He wondered if this would be a place that she could call home as well.

"Hey would you just wait a minute!" he called after her.

"If I stay here it will only endanger you guys. You don't need that not now." she said not bothering to stop as she continued down the corridor.

"What are you talking about, look you need help whether you want to admit it or not." Jesse grabbed her and spun her around to face him. "Your powers are unstable and you could hurt others as well as yourself. These guys who are after you, they're not going to stop until they have you in their hands, and than what are you going to do then huh? When your powers go awry?"

"My powers are fine!" she yelled as nearby a chair slid across the floor tumbling as its legs broke apart. He gave her a pointed look. Cody sighed, dam telekinetic powers. "Please don't run… Just trust us." Jesse had loosened her arm go but his hands slid into her own, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "We won't let anything happen to you."

Shalimar had fallowed the two out of the lab and were a few feet away listening. The Feral was wearing a questionable expression, as she listened in on the two. She was picking up on something from the two mutants that she couldn't quite put into words.

Cody felt like she wanted to throw the room into flames. Why did this guy have this strange effect on her, if she didn't know any better she would have thought… NO, not gonna go there. It won't happen again, not if I can help it.

How would she know if they were reliable enough… trustworthy.

Just because they took her in and patched her up didn't mean anything… did it? No Shalimar didn't want her here… and if those bounties were anything like the ones that had been back in the clinic than they were in a hell of a lot more trouble. They didn't need that; Mutant X didn't need any more problems, especially not her kind. She couldn't put them in any more danger than they already were in. She couldn't let history repeats it's self… Excuses. She told herself. Cody couldn't believe she was coming up with sorry ass excuses to leave…

No, no more running, she said internally. "Ok…" Cody said after a few minutes, she looked into his eyes they had such determination, and at the same time they were pleading with her to stay. "Ok… no more running."

"Good." he replied with that same smile.

"Alright, just stop looking at me like that." she said as the two walked back into the med-lab.

"Like what?"

"What's the verdict?" Emma asked as soon as they stepped into the room.

"I'll stay for as long as I need to." Cody said. "Than I'm out."

"Good." Adam said. "Now, if you're up to it what can you tell us about these?" he indicated towards the screen with the darts.

"Give me a minute." Cody told the older man, before departing the med-lab. A few minutes later she came back with something in her hands. It was a gold disk. "May I?" she looked at Adam.

"By all means." he moved away from the computer terminal, she sat on the wooden stool.

"I'm assuming they way you knew about me was by scanning old records." she said inserting the disk and typing up a series of commands. She knew that this was a big risk, but she had to try.

"How'd you know." Emma asked.

"It's the only way anyone would know about me. My uncle before he died made sure those were there were no records of me. The rehabilitation programs were the only one he missed. Those darts you found, they were designed to kill you from the inside out with your own abilities. Not control, as you would assume. Control devices were different, they were these annoyingly tiny, things almost invisible to the naked eye." her eyes were still on the screen, the images changed so that now you could see a variety of darts, in different shapes and sizes.

"If you don't me asking how did you wind up there?" Adam asked as the others begun to take seats around the room.

"A trusted member of my family turned me in." she replied rather bitterly. "I was in that hell hole for more than a year, and less than 24 months, with kids my age maybe a little older… all with certain abilities, but now that I think about it. Most of them were like me and…" she seemed to be away in thought.

"Elementals?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, and Molecular's…" Cody shook herself awake. "Anyways, everyday kids were brought in put through a series of test. You past you live… in hell that is."

"If you failed?"

"You were sent into the field." she replied with a bit of sadness. Emma and Shalimar glanced at one another knowing the full meaning of those words. Unfortunately the guys didn't, Emma couldn't stop the question that came out from Brennan. "What's so bad about the field?"

Cody didn't reply right away she seemed to be lost in thought as she narrowed the images down to two darts. "You never came back alive." she finally said.

"I'm sorry."

Emma could just get a bit of emotion from Cody, although it was hard to define it, there was still something preventing her from getting inside of the young Elemental. It was the first time in a long time that she wasn't able to feel something from someone. She had to rely on something that came relatively easy to others. Trust. It wasn't that she didn't trust her, no far from it.

"Here we go." Cody's words broke through to everyone. The images were now clear as everyone gathered around the screen. The dart that had been shot at her was small narrow and silver that seemed to be missing a piece. The second one she had to enhance the image, it was way smaller than the first one and transparent.

"The small one is a control device, one of many, the second one you said was shot at me… but this can't be what they shot me with." she said mumbling to herself.

"Well that's what Jess pulled out of your shoulder." Brennan said.

"It doesn't make sense." she retorted.

"Again why not?"

"Because it wasn't designed for me!" she snapped at him. Sighing she ran a hand through her dark hair.

"Look I was in that program for a long time, enough to know that you don't hit an Elemental with Atomic shot unless you intend on controlling them."

"Is that why you want to leave? You're afraid that's what you got shot with?" Emma asked

"But I didn't get shot with it!"

"Ok lost here." Brennan said.

"I got hit with an Ability inducers." she indicated towards the silver dart. It was like she had gone into a panic state.

"What is that?" Shalimar asked.

"Each kid had certain power alright, and when ever the good doctors were set on getting rid of you they took your genetic code placed it with a sort of biological detonator. Along with a control subtle substance if you got shot with it, it was only a matter of hours before you got burned out by your own powers. Now this…" she indicates towards the dart she got shot with. "Is what hit me, breaking down the substances inside, there is nothing in there that indicates it was for me."

"If it wasn't intended for you, than who was it for?" Jesse asked.

"I don't know…"

"So than you're safe right." Brennan said. "I mean you didn't get hit with that control device so, what's there to worry about?"

Cody turned to face them fear evident on her face. "What is it?" Jesse asked her.

"I got hit with someone else's DNA, that's what the Ability inducers are made of got it. This one was designed for someone else but since I go hit… I don't know the side effects, and I am pretty sure they haven't showed up on the scan you took on me, my first day here." she said directed to Adam.

"You're right, there was nothing in the first scan. We can take another scan, if you're willing." He said remembering what had happened the first time he tried to scan her. He was afraid for her reaction towards the beams.

"I don't know, I mean I'm not entirely ok with those… things."

"You get hit by darts and dodge bullets but you're afraid of a little scan?" Brennan said not taking notice of the hurt look in her eyes. Emma glared at him. "What'd I say?"

"Anybody ever tell you you've got a knack for words." Cody said.

"It will only take a few seconds." Adam assured her.

"And if I freak?"

"We'll be right here." Jesse said.

A few minutes later Cody was lying on the chair with her heart pounding away in her ribs. She was trying hard to push away at the bad memories, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of her head telling her it was going to go bad. She shut her eyes tight against the light of the warm beams going over her, she tried to will the nauseas feeling rising within her tight stomach, to go away. It was no help at all, fingers dug into the edge of the chair until she was practically ripping into the leather. Breathing was anything but easy here, it was hard finding away to let the air into her lungs. Painful was the wrong word for it. It felt as if her lungs were on fire and she could feel the flames tearing at her throat.

"Adam get her out of there." Jesse said abruptly noticing the change before the others.

"Jesse just calm down now, she's doing fine." Adam replied.

"No she's not fine." Jesse's voice was rising, partly with fear that she would leap off the chair again.

Adam and Emma were looking at the monitors when Emma noticed the spike in the girls' heartbeat, and the temperature change in the room. "Oh my god, Adam look at this her body temperature just shot up more than 20 degrees."

"Adam I really think you should listen to Jess on this one." Shalimar said as her eyes shifted into feral mode.

The heat in the room as well as outside of it had grown to a tropic state. "Something's wrong."

Cody could feel herself slowly coming apart from the chair, almost as if every part of her were being pulled away from her very core at the same time.

"Is she…" Shalimar stared at the younger elemental.

"No…" Emma said glancing up from the monitor.

"She can't be…" Brennan's mouth hung open.

"Adam she's phasing!" Jesse yelled before running past the others and into the room.

"Jess!" Brennan shouted.

"Jesse wait a minute!"

Shalimar and Brennan came out of their shock state and grabbed the molecular holding him back. "No!" Jesse yelled struggling against the two.

Cody let out an ear piercing scream as her entire body dispersed right before their very eyes.

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