Merry Christmas! Now since it's such a special day I wanted to give you guys this gift. All I ask is that you leave a comment and if you like it favorite and follow! This chapter is longer than the last, your welcome!
Now enough talk on with the story!
Chapter 5 Complications
After Clarice left, John stayed where he was thinking about everything she had just told him. He knew the minute she was taken that he had to track her down. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe that for three years she was in Kenya, he was happy to know that this Selene whoever she was didn't harm her in anyway. But Clarice had said something about a tracker, he needs to know it she got it removed. For her safety as well as the Undergrounds. He gets up going to ask her about it, but he hears Marcos calling him. That conversation will have to wait. He races downstairs to find Marcos, Caitlin, Sage, Sonia and Shatter waiting for him in the vault. John already has an idea of what Marcos is about to say. "Marcos don't start." Marcos says it anyways. "So, what, we just forget about Lorna 'cause she's behind bars?"
"You know that's not what I'm saying." John says. "God knows what she's going through in there." Marcos says. "You're talking about breaking into a jail. 20-foot walls. With guards. With guns." John says addressing everyone not just Marcos. "We have a way past all of it: Clarice. You saw what she can do." John shakes his head. "I saw her tearing through the fabric of space. She almost destroyed half the building. She almost died." And after what she just told me I won't have her overworking herself. "She's fine now."
"In your expert medical opinion." Caitlin chimes in. Marcos shrugs. "Yeah, well, she's better than she was." John shakes his head again. "Even if she is, she's nowhere near ready to take on what you're proposing." Marcos doesn't stop. "Then train her. Just like you trained most of the people in this room. You train her." John sighs. "Johnny, Clarice did get herself out of jail. I mean, maybe she can do this." Sonia says John looks at her slightly annoyed. "So, you're on his side." Sonia stands. "No, I'm on Lorna's side she's my friend." John sighs looks at the ground then at Marcos. "Alright." He says after a while.
"W-Wait. We still live in a country of laws. H-Have we tried calling a lawyer? Some members of Congress are sympathetic to mutants." Caitlin says. "You're really overestimating-" John gets cut off. "Why not try? We can assault a building, but we can't talk to a person?" Marcos sighs. "You said you wanted to fight." Caitlin nods. "I do. But there are ways to fight that don't involve battles. I have connections. I can reach out." John shakes his head. "We can't have contact with the outside world while you're staying here. Sentinel Services will be looking for you. We can't risk the exposure." Caitlin moves a bit closer. "Even if it could help?" Marcos crosses his arms. " Much better odds they turn on us. I'm sorry, Caitlin. No, it's too dangerous." Then he walks away. Caitlin looks at John with pleading eyes, but he leaves too.
He heads upstairs with a slight hope that Clarice is up so he can talk to her about training. He finds her not on the bed she was in earlier but the lounge area. He walks over and sits on the table in front of her. "Hey, I know your still recovering, but we still need your help." Clarice nods. "This Lorna chick went to jail saving my ass. I owe her. But it won't work. I can't do anything." She opens her hands a bit and tries to make a portal, but only a small one is made. "See? Nothing. And you want me to help you get into a jail? You'd be better off with a couple glow sticks and a hacksaw." John chuckles. "Something changed after I got sick. I woke up with this new beauty mark here. And my powers I don't know they're they're broken."
John leans over a bit. "Hey, abilities don't break. Most mutants first access their abilities from strong emotions. Fear, anger, pain. But those are all unreliable. The challenge is to tap into something positive." Clarice scoffs. "Positive." John nods. "Like, what, we do some hot yoga and find my spirit animal?" John shakes his head. "Um no, thanks. I'm pretty sure your spirit animal would bite me." Clarice shakes her head. "No. It'd rip your head off." John smirks. "No, it's impossible. Clarice, you know my head can't be ripped off. Hey, we're gonna work on it. See you in the morning." He pats her gently on the leg then gets up leaving her to her thoughts. He walks downstairs headed toward his room when Sonia stops him.
"Hey. How'd it go with Clarice?" She asks. "Um it's-it's gonna be a process. Her power has always been fueled by fear. She needs to find something she cares about enough to get past it." Sonia shakes her head. "Johnny, Lorna doesn't have time for us to make mistakes. Let me help." John shakes his head when he sees her pink smoke. "No." Sonia persists. "I can give Clarice memories, make her think Lorna's her best friend." John's voice lowers. "You're talking about planting stuff in people's heads. That goes bad, all right? Remember Walker? Eve? Me?" Sonia looks at the ground. "Yeah." John nods. "I forgave you and moved pasted it. But I don't want to take shortcuts on this." Sonia takes a step back. "Alright Johnny. She's all yours." Then she leaves John sighs then continues on his way to his room. Laying on his bed he thinks about his last conversation with Clarice he smiled when she rolled her eyes at his last comment. He turns on his side getting some sleep, knowing he has his work cut out for him.
The following morning, he gets up early and showers before everyone else wakes up. He gets dressed and ties his hair back. He then goes downstairs to the little dining area and sees Sage and Trader talking he waves and then gets some coffee and breakfast. After a while everyone files in including Clarice. She doesn't eat much but has two cups of coffee he decides now it the best time to train. Walking over to her table he asks. "Are you ready?" With a sigh she nods and they walk out to the entrance and get to a clear path with an old taxi on the right of them.
"Did you think about what I said last night?" Clarice nods. "Yeah, I did. But what I can do, I mean Literally, I have the power to bail out of bad situations. So being scared is just a big part of it." John shakes his head. "It's not all of it. In the marines when you want to give up, they train you to focus on what you care about most. To hold onto it like your life depended on it. Because at some point, it will." Clarice nods. "Okay so, besides me. What did you care about?" John stops walking. "Back then I had a lot to prove. About being Apache, a mutant." She nods. "But what if I don't have anything?" John takes a step closer to her. "Think about what you love now." Clarice shrugs. "I don't know, can it be a warm jelly donut?" John hides his pain through a forced smile. "Sure. For today, sure. Look that way. Maybe put the coffee down. Good. Just relax. All right?" He places a hand on her lower back. "Okay." She says.
"Breathe. Picture that thing. That thing you care about." With her eyes closed she holds her hands out. "A warm jelly donut." She looks at him and smiles. He rolls his eyes. "Picture, it and go to it." A purple spark begins to form. "Look at that." John says with a chuckle. Clarice lets out a frustrated groan the spark is gone. "See, this is exactly why I shouldn't be doing this. Last time I tried, I nearly took down your entire-" John stops her. "No, no don't focus on the fear. You focus-" he stops when he notices some footprints. The Struckers are gone. "John, what's wrong?" He turns to look at Clarice. "We have a problem. Training is over for now, but keep at it." He leaves her to go find Marcos.
"They left last night and didn't take much with them." John says. "Why the hell would Caitlin do this?" Marcos asks though he knows the answer. With a sigh, John says. "She believes she can help. That whatever connections she has can make a difference. She spent her whole life believing in the system." Marcos rolls his eyes. "How could she be so naive? No, I talked to her about this, I thought she understood." Johns pat him in the shoulder. "Ah, some people have to learn the hard way. We need to go after them." He says then starts walking to the entrance. "Aw, John, we don't have time for this. Lorna could disappear into a federal hellhole any day now." John stops and turns around. "If they get arrested before they come back here, they know where this place is. They get caught, we get caught, and we don't get Lorna back." Marcos nods and they head out. After changing the plates, they leave. It takes them some time before they pick up the Struckers trail.
Back a HQ Clarice does her best to try and make her portals bigger, but no such luck. Sonia comes and sits across from her. "I keep getting close, and then I just I lose it." She says. Sonia nods. "I know it's hard, but Lorna's counting on us." Clarice nods. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just she's my best friend. What did Johnny say?" Clarice sighs. " Some Mr. Miyagi stuff about focusing on something that's meaningful to me." Sonia nods. "Well, there's there's got to be somebody. An old boyfriend, maybe, or girlfriend?" Sonia looks at the ground. Clarice rolls her eyes knowing this Sonia chick had a thing for John. "Sorry. There's nobody. So, you can tell your boyfriend that this plan isn't gonna work." Sonia looks confused. "What makes you think he's my boyfriend?" Clarice shrugs. "Oh, I don't know, the way you look when you talk about him. The fact that you're the only one here that calls him Johnny." Sonia smiles, then it fades. "I came here as a refugee. When I decided to stay on and help, we agreed that if we were gonna work together, we shouldn't be together." Clarice nods. That's harsh John, even for you. Though you probably only told her that because of me. "Look, about your portals." Sonia shakes her head. "Johnny usually knows what he's talking about, so just keep at it." She gets up and leaves.
"Great, awesome pep talk!" Clarice says then sighs. Food sounds good right about now. She gets up and heads to the dining area to get something to snack on till later.
Meanwhile...
It's midmorning when John finally tracks the Struckers down. Marcos uses his lock pick to get in through the backdoor. Once inside they lock it behind them. John finds Caitlin sleeping on the couch downstairs he gently taps her shoulder. Caitlin gasps and pulls a sharp knife out from under her pillow. In a whisper he says. "Caitlin. Caitlin, listen to me. I don't have time to explain right now. You are in danger here. Where are Andy and Lauren?" Instead of answering she gets up. "What are you doing here?!" She yell/whispers. John shushes her. "You can't just break in." John tries again. "You don't understand-" She cuts him off. "Yes, I do. I understand that I am trying to help my husband." Marcos stops eying the stairs to look at her. "What, with favors and phone calls? We discussed this." Caitlin rolls her eyes. "No. I distinctly remember. There was, in fact, no discussion." She says point the blade at Marcos so he backs off. John shakes his head. "Guys, we need to go. If we can find you, others can, too." Caitlin's eyes widen. Then footsteps followed by a voice come downstairs.
"Cait? What's going on? What-" The man says looking from Marcos to John. "Relax." John simply says. "Danny. Danny, please. Everything's okay." Caitlin says putting the blade on the couch. Danny quickly picks it up. "No, it doesn't look okay to me." Caitlin holds her hands up. "No. These are the people who are trying to help us." John inclines his head hearing tires screeching out front. "What the hell? Caitlin, what You bring mutants into my home?" Marcos moves past the man to look out the window. "Mutants? Seriously, Danny? The only mutants I brought into your home are your niece and nephew."
"Save your family spat for later. Right now, we got bigger problems." Marcos interrupts. "Get the kids." John says sternly. Caitlin practically runs upstairs. She comes back moments later with her kids and one more. "Jeez. Who did you tell that you were coming?" Danny asks. "No one." Caitlin defends. "Well, obviously one of your friends here did, 'cause-" His son cuts him off. "Dad I think-" Danny shakes his head. "Scottie, not now. Please." Scott does so anyway. "I texted a pic of a trophy Andy tore apart to one friend." Everyone looks at him. "What?" Andy says clearly shocked. "Oh, Scott." Danny says rubbing his temples. "He swore he wouldn't show anyone. He swore."
Marcos looks back out the window. "They're seven deep out front. Anything around back?" John nods. "Yeah, there's four of 'em, and then more outside the kitchen door. We're surrounded. Look, I can get us through a wall, but if they start shooting while we run, there's gonna be a fight." Andy looks agitated. "Run? Why should we have to run?" Lauren with mild fear in her eyes says. "Didn't you hear them? There's an army out there." Andy shrugs. "Yeah, so what? We can take those guys." John nods. " Yeah, of course we can take them. But we do that, people are gonna die." Andy gets frustrated. "Well, maybe it's time these people learned." Caitlin looks at him with disappointment in her eyes. "Andy, you don't mean that." Andy doesn't back down. "Yes, I do. Listen to them, Mom. They hate us."
The men outside continue their chatter and threats. "I'll go. It's Chuck Sanders." Caitlin eyes widen. "Chuck? I was on swim team with him. We went to church." Danny holds his hands out to stop her. "I- I know, I know. I don't think you're quite understanding how people how they feel about all this." John nods. "You guys should move." He pushes Andy and Scott over to the left side then stands in front of them. "Come on, Caitie." She and Lauren move to the right with Marcos. Danny goes out and there's a struggle Caitlin and Lauren gasp. Andy has had enough. He uses his power and shatters the front door. "LEAVE US ALONE! Leave us alone."
The Chuck guy recovers and picks up his rifle. John sees it and lifts Andy out of the way. Marcos shoots his lasers and Chuck drops his rifle. "Leave it!" He says hands still raised. John with his back facing the men says. "Stay behind me. Get into the car. Come on. Come on." They exit the house heading to the car. "Back off. Back off." Marcos says. "Danny." Caitlin says. "GO!" Her brother yells. John opens both the front and backseat doors. Once Marcos is close enough to the car he drops his hands and dashes in the passenger seat. John already has the engine going and their off with the mutant welcome committee right behind them.