[noted]:

I'm gonna admit - it took me ages to write this. I got a massive case of writers block for a good week at 250 words and then I decided, after writing a number of short one shots, that I'd write this and it exploded into something i didn't think would happen. I'm so excited to share this with you guys.

Darkred101: don't worry about it, sweetpea. I'm just glad you got to enjoy something!
Guest(1): that review really brightened my day, you wouldn't believe how much I smiled the first time I saw it. Thank you so much for what you said.
Guest(2): Actually, I knew there was something else but when I was writing the chapter with Rosette in it, I was tunnel-visioned, yanno? So I didn't look back until the very end. I'll add in her other abilities as the story progresses, thank you.
Wowza03: If that's what your imagination says, haha !
FinalFanatasyCrazedGirl01: Actually, if you wanna see a little Lux shipping, because of your comment, I wrote them a one-shot in my drabble book, 'and the mouse ran up the clock' if you wanna sate your needs hehe. And don't worry, that conclusions coming up real soon.

[ chapter eight ]

emboscada

Translation - Ambush

Appropriation - "'emboscada,' 'armas,' 'no hay salida,'."

Gem's eyes wandered around the room momentarily, before pinning a shaky, half painted on smile as she gestured to the sick that coughed and spluttered. "Perhaps...we should talk about this without so many. We wouldn't want you contracting our sickness."

The Esoteric leader comments slyly, and behind the smile, there's a pinch of malice not reserved for them, but not entirely undeserved. So she steps off the platform, gesturing towards one of the many doors that exits the heart of the Esoteric hideout after visiting some of the sick, replenishing their water or giving their hands a soft, encouraging squeeze. The Ultimates follow obediently, as the dents filled with gas in the walls are lit again and a soft, croaky voice pulls the silence into pieces.

"Wha - oh my god, why does this stink? where are we? where's Ava? Guys, my nostrils, ugh," over Luke's shoulder, Spiderman's hand covers the general area where his nose would be, curling up slightly around the boy. Ava groans, cheeks blooming red with embarrassment as Gem turns, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Seriously, it smells like the sewers. Did Sam not take a shower?"

"Some of us don't have such a luxury, Spiderman," bites Gem, before she resolves back into her calm stance and fingers curling back into her pockets when they pull from their confines to form fists. It's as if she's afraid of them, but not enough to not defend her friends - she'll stay civil, until civil is off the table. Immediately, Spiderman stills at the sound of a new voice that splinters off the walls like gem shards.

"Please tell me that was Tiger."

"Sorry buddy. Can you stand?" questions Luke as he deposits the web-themed hero. As he goes to answer, nodding his head, he stumbles slightly and Ava slips a hand around his chest, prompting the hero to look at her. His shoulders un-tense from their position by his ears until his eye-panels widen and his hands touch around his own face for good measure. "Av-Tiger, your mask!"

"Don't worry webhead, our identities went down the drain when Fist's mask was ripped off. Besides, they don't know our names and they won't tell anyone," she says, turning her gaze to Gem who, with wary distance between the newly-awakened SHIELD agent, nods her support with a line for a mouth. Spiderman's shoulders drip back into a relaxed position at the agreement.

As he fumbles with the notion on whether to pull off his own mask or not, Gem speaks. "You can leave your mask on if you wish, Spiderman. Besides, who would we tell?" There's something else that leaks beneath the surface, something familiar that makes Tempest's hair stand on end. Gem continues down the hallway, oblivious to the brunette's suspicions, past rooms and windows that overlook cliff-sides and stare up towards the towering skyscrapers of New York. The sky, once a soft tinge of pink, was now breaking into blue waves and they were far from the docks now.

Spiderman leans on Ava heavily, limping on a foot, when he turns towards her ear, whispering. "Has anyone contacted SHIELD yet? I mean, this is the head of Esoteric!"

Ava peers back, and Spiderman pauses. There's something respectful in her eyes, something that breaks through every SHIELD lesson and training regime she's been pushed and prodded through; something shoves it all to the side when her hands, bare of her claws, tighten into the spandex of his suit, just above his heart. "They have rules Peter, and to hear their side of the story, we have to respect them. Otherwise..." he doesn't ask why she trails off, and he only ghosts a hand down her side when she turns her gaze away.

Finally, Gem turns down another pathway and through a door that bleeds a square of gold across the stone walkway. The room is more well-lit than the others, with stolen overhanging lamps connected to fat wires that run out of the room that seem to shudder every now and then and rounded like an bowl has been placed over them, high enough that the walls almost disappear when the light can't touch it. However, in the middle of the room, a thick oak wood tree stands proud, roots wide and aching with their weight, haphazard bricks making a make-shift flower pot over twisting and curling roots over one another, with the wide leaves, brushed with autumn, seem to press against the roof, daring it to bloat further. In front of the oak wood, a circle of pillows are thrown, like a makeshift den with a basket full of them pressed further against the bricks of the oak wood tree, just within reaching distance.

Sitting on one of the pillows, cigarette hanging lazily like a hanging brick, is Aiden.

Instantly, he smothers the cigarette into the cement they walk on when Gem enters, sheepish smile pulling his features wide as he stands. The girl rolls her eyes and continues past, pulling pillows and beanbags from the basket and placing them into the circle. Immediately, Danny lowers Nova into the pillows, cushioning his head softly and wiping away the caked blood. Worry pushes its way through his green eyes at the sight.

"We can bring in a healer if you'd like," softly murmurs Aiden, breaking the silence in two as he notices Danny's look of worry for his friend. The blond looks up, startled. From everything that's happened, that they've been trying to capture them for days, weeks, and they still offer help? Danny tilts his head.

"We would be grateful for that, thank you," he answers in return, nodding his head respectfully and Aiden, with the hope of a child, nods firmly and pulls out a phone, shooting off a quick text. The others gather around them, gingerly dropping into the cushions as Gem pulls her legs into a crossed pretzel position, huffing a breath in slowly through her lungs as she holds onto her feet.

"I'm sure...you've noticed that we aren't exactly human," there's a chorus of curious nods, and Gem gives a nod herself, seeming to be full of non-verbal actions, and swallows around her fear like it's a physical lump, something stopping her from pushing past into what she wanted to say. However, something averts her attention and she stands suddenly, turning a pillow over in her haste as she moves towards the tree.

It's hard to see at first, but when the light shines close enough - wow. Among the leaves, dotted like stars behind clouds, are small trinkets. Tied on ribbons and strings and wires, all borrowed from a life above ground. Pictures, curled and yellowed at the edges, hang subtly between the leaves that dip low and somewhere, a pair of ballet shoes dip low into sight. Pages from a book are tucked somewhere and near the top, sadly, a broken bottle is strung up, sending shards of green light across the ground.

Gem plucks a branch like picking the fluff from clouds, with careful fingers even if they shake and on the branch, a xylophone of a wind-chime falls into view, sliding gracefully down the branch, folding leaves and flicking them back up again. Some fall off, crumpling to the floor. Her hands unhook the trinket and when they clatter, the Ultimates can see that the wind-chime isn't made of metal, but rather - gem shards, shattered and cracked along the edges. They spit green and purples and pinks around them, like gem's found in geodes and the deepest caves of the ocean.

Gem.

She sits softly, staring almost lovingly at the wind-chime, no longer than her forearm before she turns to the Ultimates. Something like tears sit behind her lashes, but they aren't sad. They're angry. "I don't know if you noticed either, but the tree's decorated - like Christmas, but it's all year," when Aiden snorts at the analogy, she bumps a shoulder against his, "It's a part of us, everyone we've collected has one on there. Even, unfortunately, the one's we've lost along the way."

The way she bites around the words, the way the chimes clatter as her hands tighten sends a chord of something fear-like through the team. But her brows, as they crumple into a murderous scowl like tightened string, smooth out and she pulls a breath through her nose once more, albeit however difficult. "This tree, these trinkets and memories we've collected along the way - they make us feel more human than we've felt every since we...we joined this world."

"What do you mean by that?" questions Spiderman, curiosity pulling his raw voice to shreds as her feelings play like piano keys along her face. Gem peers up, eyes bleeding with determination and as she opens her mouth, there's a soft scuffle behind them.

The group turns, as a small child, hardly eleven years old, lugs a first aid-kit bigger than their torso into the room. Their feet echo, happy and bouncing, as they peer over the edge. Asian eyes, framed by a soft box fringe and soft, pin-straight hair to their shoulders stare at them, widening slightly in slight fear of the new-comers. However, Aiden stands, every bit a protective older brother and strides to the child, pulling the first aid kit from their hands with kind fingers.

"Don't worry, Ivy. They're friends," but as he speaks, his hands move and the child stares intently at them, somehow understanding and it hits - the child is deaf. Ivy's face breaks into a smile and they nod, signing back a reply before striding forwards, with more confidence than all the meek souls in the room have and drops gracelessly beside Nova's head, legs folding before they hit the ground, causing them to tip on her back against Luke's knees, head staring up at him. Luke smiles at the child when they laugh up at him, before they sit straight. Ivy signs a question to Aiden, and he nods, confirming it.

Ivy's small hands dip under the curve of the helmet, feeling around gently, before prodding upon the bruise and split skin on his temple. Their eyes close, lips pursed in concentration before something amazing happens. Ivy's small body, with knobbly knees and awkward shoulders, begins to hum with warmth, settling like a water-heater in the room, and from where the blood has been caked to Nova's face, it begins to recede. It pulls itself back under the helmet, showing soft tan skin and the bruise lacks it's luster of greens and purples. It's only a few moments, but Ivy drops, huffing out a breath.

Gem smiles at the child, signing out a thank you before the child gets to work, patching up any scratches and marks the boy may have before offering their services to the Ultimates. They decline the child's offer, and once again, they pack up their supplies and leave, but not before throwing themselves into a hug with Gem, both giggling as she tips back against her beanbag. However, to all with a smile, Ivy waves a hand as they walk through the door.

There's a stunned silence between them all - how a child of eleven has found themselves in a group that bombs laboratories, how a child has been tossed into a war zone they were never meant to be born into as well as with a smile to still wear. It's a moment before Gem speaks.

"The younger ones...they make us feel the most human. These powers aren't human, but our family bonds to each other are the closest thing we have to simulating the feeling," attention turns back to the leader of Esoteric, gem shards discarded by her feet, "We didn't join this world of our own accord. We were...created, into it. Some of us were physically born and captured whilst others were made."

At this point, Tempest's heart turns into a war drum for a raging battle, thumping hot and steady as she stares at the girl, whose hands pull themselves tighter into her chest, how she tries not to break under the memories and Tempest knows. She knows the feeling all to well to dismiss her suspicions of the Esoteric children now. They aren't terrorists, setting fear into the world. They're survivors, trying to save their own small part of the world. Luke and Danny share a look as Tempest leans forwards, reaching the same conclusion themselves.

"I was one of the few that was born. I lost my mother and my...father, he wasn't the best. I turned into a foster kid and one day, my powers surfaced - I could feel others emotions, I could pull knives out of thin air, that sorta stuff. And, one day...a man approached me with an offer. An offer I should have turned down." Gem pulls her gaze away, to stare at the white knuckles of Aiden. His hand loops through hers kindly, offering strength to speak.

But Gem doesn't get the chance. "Gem, may I ask you something?"

The brown-haired girl blinks, as if she hadn't noticed the shorter there. Her eyes narrow slightly, almost in nostalgia as she tries to remember something. Her voice is low, cast off somewhere else like a sea-line. "Yes..."

"Was this man's name Leon Queen?"

Immediately, everyone in the room tenses. The Ultimates seethe at the name, but Aiden and Gemstone stay seated, Aiden's jaw slackening slightly and Gem's eyebrows lifting high into her hairline, smothering the smooth white scar that sits along it. Softly, subtly, Tempest's suspicions are confirmed.

"H-How did you...?"

"I don't know if you'll believe me," the timid girl swallows around her own fear, her own demons that flare like fireworks in her belly at the memory of the man in the wheelchair, "but I've got an intimate past with that man; all of us do in a way. I guess, you could say, maybe...I'm like you?"

It's a pregnant pause before Gem begins to cry, staring in shock at the girl who loops her hands with Danny's and leans against Ava whilst holding a hand over Nova's chest, reciting his breathing softly, even whilst her mind races. Someone like them sided with SHIELD. Someone like them sided with an organization that had been hunting them down for months. Aiden stares in morbid shock at Gem - it's so terrible to watch her cry, so soft and sad, so he ties his hands with hers stronger, and turns to Tempest.

"H-How did you escape?" Aiden chokes, staring in shock, trying to figure out why someone like them would side with them. She doesn't look as tired or exhausted as the other survivors he's met, looks nothing like heartbreak in a test tube.

"I don't know. I think there was a rebel faction or the place blew up - the story's twisted but, I understand what he did to you," and the hand on Nova's chest pulls itself away, shaking like there's an earthquake in her bones, and she leans forwards to slot it carefully across the joined one's of Aiden and Gem. Gem's breath hitches, and her hand unloops itself from his to grip - tight and scared - to Tempest's own. "What he did wasn't right. You're trying to stop it, aren't you?"

"NOLE NEQUE, of course..." murmurs Luke under his breath, sighing at the anagram of Leon Queen's name that they'd missed and as Gem nods, desperate and hoping and waiting, waiting for months and years for someone to finally understand, she seems to deflate, happy sobs ricocheting out of her wheezing lungs. Aiden sends a pleased, happy smile, proud that the truth of what they've been doing has finally reached ears that could help.

"Oh god, oh thank god, I thought you wouldn't understand...oh my god, that's such -"

But the world splits down the middle, and the pleasant hope that's pushed itself between brittle war trenches of misunderstanding breaks when rapid footsteps fill the room. The oak wood tree shakes and a boy, fiery red hair and blue eyes stares in fear. He murmurs, terrified and scared, in mixed Gaelic and English, pointing rapidly down the tunnel. Gem tries to comfort the boy, even with tears on her cheeks before she catches words, snippets that send hearts skidding across the floor.

'Ambush,' 'guns,' 'no way out.'

Immediately, Gem is speeding down the corridor, feet pounding heavily but sparingly, as if her feet can't touch the ground quick enough. Behind her, Aiden follows and the Ultimates stagger after them, confusion tasting sour on their tongues. As the tunnels dig deeper, the sounds of fighting and yelling and screaming fill the air.

And then, gunshots.

Gem pauses slightly, tripping over her own feet and tears pull their way through her eyes as she bends, as if a bullet has pierced her chest. And in a way, it has as the screams intensify. Then, she's suddenly off again, bursting into the light of the cavern. Aiden follows and then the Ultimates push their way through.

It's a massacre. The wide room, that had been filled with sick, dying children is suddenly alive with skidding feet and trampled hands and fingers. There's a sickening crack of bone breaking and somewhere, the room explodes into fire. Arching high above the children, are men and women dressed in full body suits, carrying thick guns and helmets with visors over their heads. They scoop children by the ankles, knock the teenagers out with the butt of their guns and flood the tunnels that wind from the center of the Esoteric hideout.

But the worst thing of the massacre - the SHIELD emblem is stitched neatly on the breast.

Gem roars, something broken and frightened but mighty all the same, and her hands curl like stings are pulling her to the ground. Her hands throw themselves in a circle beside her head, arching towards a group of agents corralling a number of children and from beneath the cement, thick rock pulls upwards through it like spikes, decorated in greens and purples and pinks. The ground splits and throws rocks as teeth break our from beneath the cemented gums of the hideout. Gem's power.

Some agents jump out of the way, and some are unfortunately caught, the spikes pressing through their skin and the children scream but run; run just like they know how. Her anger splits on her teeth as she roars again and from somewhere, light shards propel her back. She tumbles before she can attack another agent.

She knows the name on her mouth before she see's her. "Lux."

"Nice to see you again, Gem."

As the world breaks and the SHIELD agents capture and steal and kidnap children that don't know any better than the world they've been forced into, Aiden turns. There's a rare fire in his eyes, something that isn't human and it looks, from the way his teeth grit, that he's trying not to kill them. The guilt spears them like hot iron.

"WE TRUSTED YOU!"

He throws himself into the crowd, screaming 'Kelli,' 'Kari,' 'Felicia' and 'Cornelia,' searching for his girls through the chaos. Through it all, they can see Lux throwing knives made of light, Stalker joining moments later. Shark runs rampant through the group, Rogue raises higher and dives under the darts of electricity that Bolt shudders into existence. The Ultimates stare in horror at the mess they've made.

They hadn't known - they'd thought their communicators were useless, they'd been told they were useless. They'd never turned off the tracking beacon. They'd never thought to turn off their communicators, but memories link back to where Aiden had pulled out a phone and if there'd been lead in the room, Ivy would never have flung themselves through the door, would never have even received the text. The truth weighs hard on their lungs and Nova begins to stir on Luke's shoulder.

Suddenly, their communicators blare to life.