Chapter 2:
A/N: I hope to be getting a chapter or two out every week. Hopefully you'll be seeing plenty of action, some angst and a whole lot of our favorite mutants.
Disclaimer: The only ones I own were never on TV.
"Jesse," Emma DeLauro peered down at her sleeping, blonde headed friend. "Jesse, Jess wake up." The young molecular rolled over in his bed, mumbling something incoherent. Emma rolled her eyes, leaning over to give him a firm shake. This was no time for subtlety. "Jesse!"
Jesse Kilmartin stiffened in bed, his eyes shooting open. "Emma?" Jesse glanced over at the clock by his bed. The illuminated numbers flashed 4:32 AM. He sat up, squeezing the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Then he ran his hand through shaggy blonde hair, yawning. "It's early Em, what's goin on?"
"The Chicago safe house," Emma told him, feeling out Jesse's reaction to the news, "someone torched it." At first all Emma could sense was confusion, his sleep addled brain attempting to register the information. When it all clicked, Emma felt Jesse bite back a pang of fear.
"What happened? Was anyone inside?" Jesse asked as he leapt out of bed. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a black turtleneck.
"We don't know. Adam and I only got the alert a few minutes ago." Jesse paused from grabbing his leather jacket off its hook to shoot her an odd look. Emma ignored it. "Come on, Shal and Brennan are already downstairs."
"Adam," Jesse called out, descending the stairs two at a time, "what's going on?"
"I'm not sure, but I want you four to take the Helix and head for Chicago to find out."
Brennan was grim. He was sure Gabriel Ashlocke had something to do with the attack on the safe house, he just wanted to know why. He shot a long, dubious glance at Shalimar. The pretty blonde feral already looked tired, dark circles beneath her eyes emphasizing the strain he saw on her face. She caught his gaze and frowned, "I'll be fine. Let's just go."
--
The East Side Bar was little more than a charred shell when the Mutant X team arrived in Chicago. Shalimar pulled the collar of her long, fawn colored coat higher on her neck, trying to stave off the icy sting of blowing snow against her skin. She was glad that it was late March, and the blowing snows were soon to give way to blue skies and a warm breeze. Feral eyes swept the scene, looking for anything suspicious. "I don't see anything, but the whole place smells like gasoline."
Emma nodded quietly. "Let's just hope the guys have better luck inside."
Jesse and Brennan picked their way through the rubble. Jesse toed aside a few shards of broken glass, pieces, he could only assume that had come from the bottle lining the walls. "You think it was Ashlocke?" Jesse asked. He kept a wary eye on the fire officials and detectives swarming the burned building. Only Adam's contacts with local official had garnered them access inside the police lines, and neither Jess nor Brennan felt like answering any unnecessary questions.
"Who else?" Brennan responded, his tone hushed. "Cops said nothing was taken, the cash register wasn't disturbed. And we know Ashlocke's been trying to get at the Underground for months now. You realize how many new mutants that would be for his apocalyptic army? He knows Adam has helped set up safe houses around the country, and he knows that every safe house keeps detailed records of all new mutants that pass through its doors."
Jesse shrugged. "True, but why here, and why now? He hit this safe house for a reason, and I want to know what it is."
"Me too. Think we can get into the Vault?"
Jesse scanned the crowd and gave a sharp shake of his head. "Not with all these people milling around. I don't want to risk anyone seeing me phase out the wall. We'll have to come back tonight." Brennan nodded toward the door, and they slipped out to meet the girls.
--
Meanwhile, Gabriel Ashlocke stood with a cell phone to his ear. The dark haired man's face was full and healthy, his eyes glimmering with malicious intent. He had Adam Kane to thank for his health. The fool hadn't been willing to let his pet mutants die for the good of all mankind, so now Gabriel was relishing watching all of mankind die in his place.
However, the news his man in Chicago was relaying was not making Ashlocke's night. "What do you mean she got away?" he barked. "Did you at least find Allweather?" Gabriel ran a hand over his face. "No…no excuses. Find her and bring her to me. She is an integral part of my plan. I can't proceed without her."
"Yes sir," the bald molecular said into his phone. He was sweating despite the cold. Ashlocke made him nervous, in truth made them all nervous, but he was the Links unequivocal leader. Gabriel was the new mutant's best line of defense against people and a government that would prefer to see all new mutants kept as lab rats. Gary Linsome was nobody's fuckin lab rat. He'd played that game once, doctors running all sorts of tests to see just how far his abilities to manipulate metal extended. No, he'd take Ashlocke and freedom, over the alternative.
"We'll find Allweather," Gary promised. "But look, Ashlocke, the girl at the bar tonight, you know who she is?"
"Maxine Wallace," Ashlocke replied flippantly. "According to my sources she locked horns with Mutant X some time last year. Kane turned her, made her one of his cronies. "Why?"
"Is she a feral?"
"The report didn't say."
"Yeah well, you may want to check her out. She took Jonas down pretty easy. We were tracking her for a while, trying to see if she'd lead us to Sasha, but it was a no go. We lost her half an hour back."
"Forget her, the information I need is back at the safe house. Get back to me when you have Allweather." The line went dead. Gary sighed, pocketing his phone.
--
Later that night Jesse, Shalimar, Brennan and Emma returned. Brennan overloaded the street lamps around the bar with a Tesla coil, plunging the block into darkness. Shalimar's keen eyesight told them there was no one around, nor could Emma feel a presence. Jesse took the lead, trotting up to the front door. He phased the door, letting the others pass before slipping inside himself.
The bar was dark, and Brennan flicked on a flashlight, keeping the beam low to the floor. "Over here," he whispered. "Adam said the Vault door is located on the South side of the building." He tapped the wall, and a hollow sound reverberated back. Brennan slid his hands over the wall, trying to feel for any irregularities beneath his hands that would indicate a secret entrance. After a minute he sighed and gave up. "Mind sticking your head in Jesse?"
The molecular grinned. "Not in the least." Jesse phased out and stepped through, only to have his head and shoulders appear back through the wall a moment later. Emma suppressed a grimace. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to seeing only half of her friend slide through a solid object. He raised an eyebrow, "Coming?"
One by one the team members stepped through the wall and onto a narrow landing. A twisting metal stairway led down into the hidden lower room. Brennan went first with the light, scanning the walls for a switch that might give power to what the underground affectionately called the "Vault". He found it at the base of the stairs, and lights began to flicker to life all around them. Brennan switched off the flashlight.
Jesse went straight for the computer. Practiced, agile fingers leapt across the keyboard. "This is the list of mutants that's come through here in the last year," he explained to the others. "They're categorized by age, sex, height, weight and ability, and cross referenced to any news articles or medical studies that have been made about them n their lives. It's also got a list of new identities and locations. If Ashlocke got a hold of this…"
Emma leaned on his shoulder, peering at the screen. "No kidding."
Shalimar gave a little grunt. "You know, I'd never have pegged Max as anal."
"I prefer to think about it as meticulous," Max's voice from the landing startled them all. The Mutant X whirled to face their friend. She was soaking wet, shivering uncontrollably in only a tank top, ice crystals woven into her hair. Her chin sported a nasty, dark bruise. Her left arm had been bleeding, dark blood smeared down her forearm. Her right hand clutched a tear in her shirt, and blood oozed out between her fingers. "So, what do you think of my bar?" she joked. "Really you shoulda come on a Saturday night, its much more lively."
Shalimar said first what the rest were thinking. "Geez Max, you look like hell."
Max managed a weak grin. "Nice to see you too Kitty-cat." Shalimar scowled. She and Max hadn't exactly gotten off on the right foot when they'd met, and although they bordered on friends now, the obnoxious nickname Max had given her upon their first meeting had stuck. Halfway down the steps, her knees buckled. She pitched headfirst, sliding down the steps and landing in a heap at the bottom. Jesse was the first at her side.
Max grasped his arm, eyes wild. "They're after Sasha." Then she blacked out.
Chapter 2
