Title:
Author's Note: This is my first Mutant X fic. I'm writing a couple other fanfic stories at the moment, plus readying to move for college, so it may take me a while between updates, but I almost always update, unless you all, you know, hate it.
Disclaimer: I don't own em, cept for my OC, Max.
~*~
"be careful," Adam's voice cautioned from the other end of Jesse's comm. "There are GS agents crawling all over this place."
Kilmartin grinned. "Aren't we always?" he responded jokingly.
"No," Adam returned dryly. "And that's what worries me. Just go, find the new mutant and get out of there before all of the GSA catches wind of you.
"We can handle it, don't worry." Brennan assured the older man fro the seat across from Jesse, all the while well aware that telling Adam not to worry was like telling a PO'ed pit bull to stay. It just didn't work.
"Anyone else feel the testosterone in here just jump?" The blonde Shalimar queried, one eyebrow shooting up into her hairline.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Brennan said as they landed their craft and made their way for the exits.
"Well sure, it's fine if you're not the one being suffocated by it. personally, I'm with Shal."
Brennan nudged Jesse with his elbow. "Women, always stick together." with that, he and Jesse burst out in raucous laughter, while Emma and Shalimar simply rolled their eyes. Their light hearted teasing ended however, as they neared the door to the warehouse. Shal motioned with one finger to the roof before quickly scaling the brick sided building. Emma positioned herself just behind the other two as Brennan and Jesse led the way through the double doors.
Upon entering the main floor they were met by the sight of seven GS agents. They had a girl, a dark blonde, surrounded, each of them eyeing the box lying at her feet. the new mutant stood her ground, not giving the slightest indication that she would give up without a fight.
"Hey!" Brennan shouted. "Mind if we even the odds a little?" Electric current sparked from his fingertips, drawing the attention of several agents. The moment he threw the first bolt, Shalimar dropped from the roof, landing squarely atop the shoulders of one startled agent. Jesse and Emma both rushed forward into the fray. The new mutant used the distraction well, landing a well delivered roundhouse kick to the head of the agent nearest to her. Her eyes were wild, moving quickly amongst the people in the building.
Emma focused on the girl. She was unsure, scared, and....annoyed? She didn't have time to ponder it as the girl quickly spun and high tailed it out the back. Emma considered the situatin briefly. The others had the GS agents well in hand, though one had grabbed the box the girl had been standing over and was getting away, but Emma was more concerned with the girl than the box. Adam hadn't mentioned anything special about a box. With a small sigh, she darted after the girl.
Jesse blocked the man's side kick, taking it in a glancing blow off his hip. he grabbed the man's ankle and pushed him away, off balance. He saw Emma rush after the new mutant from the corner of his eye. He sensed the agent regaining his step and phased, taking odd satisfaction in the bitter scream of the man clutching his now broken hand. he laid him flat with a sharp left hook. Brennan and Shal were just toying with the last two agents now, so he took off after Emma.
--
Emma rounded a corner of the building and found herself standing between the new mutant and the only way out of an alley. The girl found herself facing a wall and spun on her heel, raising her fists in a defensive posture. "It's okay," Emma said soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Yeah well, I'm not gonna give you that same guarantee," she snipped. "Get out of my way."
Emma held up her hands. "Wait. We just want to talk to you."
"I'm not feeling terribly conversational at the moment honey. So move." On first glance Emma had thought her a mere girl, perhaps no older than eighteen, but on further inspection she figured her age at closer to her own. A shock of hair fell across her face, but there was no mistaking the deliberate intent in her eyes. Her eyes were a stormy gray, a jagged scar moving down across her eyebrow to just above her cheekbone.
"You have to come with me."
"I don't have to do shit." The girl barged forward with a jumping side kick, surprising Emma just enough so she couldn't block or counter. Emma involuntarily clutched at her stomach and sucked in a quick breath.
"That's how you want to play this, fine. I tried to be nice first." Emma brought her hands up, wishing, and not for the first time, that hers was a more active power, like Brennan or Shal's. She and the other mutant circled one another slowly. Emma attacked first with a sharp jab that the blonde ducked. Then she tried her luck with a front kick. It wasn't the best idea. The new mutant grasped Emma's ankle firmly and launched her, sending Emma flipping head over heels.
She landed hard on the pavement, scraping the heels of her palms on the asphalt. She didn't even have time to get up before the other girl was on her, sitting squarely on her chest with both knees. Emma grunted.
The girl swiped at her hair, grinning widely. She shrugged. "Better luck next time girlie." Then she cocked back her fist and smashed it into Emma's face. The brunette slumped, unconscious. The new mutant was just climbing off her chest when Jesse burst out into the alley. "You must be joking," the girl mumbled to herself.
Jesse's features stiffened when he saw Emma lying still on the ground. His lip curled in distaste and his eyes flashed. The girl watched him. She saw the way the muscles in his back tensed, the way his hands fisted, the way he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, ready for anything. It wouldn't be so easy to beat this one.
Her hands dropped to her sides and she sighed deeply. "What did you do to Emma?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry. I thought she was one of them. I didn't even realize....I just...reacted," she raced through the words fast enough to stumble over one or two. Convincing, she thought to herself. "I just was trying to get away. But you're not like them are you?"
Emma's chest rode and fell evenly, a comforting sign. It was possible, he reasoned, that the girl had just been scared. But then, it usually took a lot more than someone 'scared' to take down a member of Mutant X. It took someone with training, someone lethal. but Emma was alive, testament enough that this girl was at least not the latter. He relaxed just a little. "Who are you?" he asked, taking another few cautious steps closer.
"Max," the girl replied. "You?"
"Jesse Kilmartin. I'm a new mutant too." He needed to get to Emma, but he had to get by the girl to do it, and he didn't want her trying anything rash. He held out his hand. "I can explain everything later, but right now...."
"Right. Sorry." Max grasped Jesse's hand in a firm shake even as she stepped away from Emma. But she didn't let go. Jesse's eyes flicked back to the girl, who was once again grinning. Suddenly he realized his arm felt warm, a slight tingling rushing up it. Her hand was glowing. he tried to pull away, but couldn't. The tingling reached his ears, whereupon it became a full blown buzz. The alley started to spin. Dark spots swam in front of his eyes. Then he was falling straight into darkness.
--
"Jesse?" A soft voice questioned from a distance. The voice was distinctly female, but he couldn't quite distinguish who. "Jesse?" There it was again. Was he dreaming? He suddenly found it more than irritating that he was having a dream where he could only hear, but not see anything. "Jesse, can you hear me?" Shal, that was definitely Shal.
Adam, and the other three members of Mutant X exchanged glances. At least he was finally coming out of it. Jesse's lips parted slightly, and a low groan filled the room. Shal leaned over her friend and touched his arm. "Jesse, can you hear me?" she asked again.
It was bright, too damn bright. He wasn't all too keen on opening his eyes when it was this bright. Besides, it wasn't fair to have this much of a headache when he wasn't even awake yet. he blinked slowly. Four concerned, blurry faces suddenly came view, slowly sliding back toward focus. "What happened?" he finally managed to grumble.
Brennan grinned. "He speaks! He'll live. Had us worried there for a while buddy."
"Why? How long have I been out?" He blinked again, giving his head a small shake to clear the cobwebs. This was definitely not an alley. How had he gotten back to Sanctuary?
"A little more than 24 hours," Adam informed him.
"A day? A whole day? You're not serious." Adam's face remained passive. "Okay, maybe you are serious. SO I repeat, what exactly happened?"
Shalimar shrugged. "We were hoping you could tell us. Brennan and I found you and Emma knocked out in the alley behind the warehouse. We brought you both back here."
"Oh my God Emma! Is she okay?" Jesse sat up hurriedly and immediately wished he hadn't as a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his chin to his chest and willing away the urge to wretch.
"I'm fine Jesse," Emma soothed.
He turned to face her. She looked basically normal, if one simply discounted the brilliant black eye she sported on the left side of her face. He winced in sympathy. "Ouch."
"Looks worse than it feels. I'm more worried about you. You don't remember anything?"
"Max. Her name was Max, but that all I can really remember right now."
Adam gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "Okay, just relax. It doesn't really matter. We should get the test results back soon. For right now, just rest. So everybody out."
--
Two days later Jesse was up and about, acting as if nothing had ever happened. He and Brennan were in the simulator, practicing against the holographic GS agents. He was no longer dizzy or nauseous, blocking, kicking and punching just like always.
"You don't seem to be suffering any ill effects," Brennan commented after Jesse blocked a particularly quick series of attacks from the hologram.
He shrugged. "Guess not. I just wish I knew what she hit me with is all. It's weird to just lose a day."
"Uh huh. Heads up," his fried warned.
Jesse tore his attention from the conversation to focus on the agent approaching him. He stood his ground, unwavering and went to phase out. Or so he had planned. Instead the hologram struck him flush in the solar plexus. He doubled over, trying to suck in a breath of air. Brennan turned off the simulation.
"You know, if you weren't planning to use your powers I'm thinking a block might have been in order," he teased.
Jesse straightened slowly, a mildly panicked expression in his eyes. "That's just it. I did try to phase. I just couldn't. My powers are gone."
End Chapter 1
Hope you enjoyed. I wasn't too sure on the details of Emma's powers, so I don't know what she sees/feels etc. more to come. Please leave a review, even to leave constructive criticism. Thanks.
Author's Note: This is my first Mutant X fic. I'm writing a couple other fanfic stories at the moment, plus readying to move for college, so it may take me a while between updates, but I almost always update, unless you all, you know, hate it.
Disclaimer: I don't own em, cept for my OC, Max.
~*~
"be careful," Adam's voice cautioned from the other end of Jesse's comm. "There are GS agents crawling all over this place."
Kilmartin grinned. "Aren't we always?" he responded jokingly.
"No," Adam returned dryly. "And that's what worries me. Just go, find the new mutant and get out of there before all of the GSA catches wind of you.
"We can handle it, don't worry." Brennan assured the older man fro the seat across from Jesse, all the while well aware that telling Adam not to worry was like telling a PO'ed pit bull to stay. It just didn't work.
"Anyone else feel the testosterone in here just jump?" The blonde Shalimar queried, one eyebrow shooting up into her hairline.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Brennan said as they landed their craft and made their way for the exits.
"Well sure, it's fine if you're not the one being suffocated by it. personally, I'm with Shal."
Brennan nudged Jesse with his elbow. "Women, always stick together." with that, he and Jesse burst out in raucous laughter, while Emma and Shalimar simply rolled their eyes. Their light hearted teasing ended however, as they neared the door to the warehouse. Shal motioned with one finger to the roof before quickly scaling the brick sided building. Emma positioned herself just behind the other two as Brennan and Jesse led the way through the double doors.
Upon entering the main floor they were met by the sight of seven GS agents. They had a girl, a dark blonde, surrounded, each of them eyeing the box lying at her feet. the new mutant stood her ground, not giving the slightest indication that she would give up without a fight.
"Hey!" Brennan shouted. "Mind if we even the odds a little?" Electric current sparked from his fingertips, drawing the attention of several agents. The moment he threw the first bolt, Shalimar dropped from the roof, landing squarely atop the shoulders of one startled agent. Jesse and Emma both rushed forward into the fray. The new mutant used the distraction well, landing a well delivered roundhouse kick to the head of the agent nearest to her. Her eyes were wild, moving quickly amongst the people in the building.
Emma focused on the girl. She was unsure, scared, and....annoyed? She didn't have time to ponder it as the girl quickly spun and high tailed it out the back. Emma considered the situatin briefly. The others had the GS agents well in hand, though one had grabbed the box the girl had been standing over and was getting away, but Emma was more concerned with the girl than the box. Adam hadn't mentioned anything special about a box. With a small sigh, she darted after the girl.
Jesse blocked the man's side kick, taking it in a glancing blow off his hip. he grabbed the man's ankle and pushed him away, off balance. He saw Emma rush after the new mutant from the corner of his eye. He sensed the agent regaining his step and phased, taking odd satisfaction in the bitter scream of the man clutching his now broken hand. he laid him flat with a sharp left hook. Brennan and Shal were just toying with the last two agents now, so he took off after Emma.
--
Emma rounded a corner of the building and found herself standing between the new mutant and the only way out of an alley. The girl found herself facing a wall and spun on her heel, raising her fists in a defensive posture. "It's okay," Emma said soothingly. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"Yeah well, I'm not gonna give you that same guarantee," she snipped. "Get out of my way."
Emma held up her hands. "Wait. We just want to talk to you."
"I'm not feeling terribly conversational at the moment honey. So move." On first glance Emma had thought her a mere girl, perhaps no older than eighteen, but on further inspection she figured her age at closer to her own. A shock of hair fell across her face, but there was no mistaking the deliberate intent in her eyes. Her eyes were a stormy gray, a jagged scar moving down across her eyebrow to just above her cheekbone.
"You have to come with me."
"I don't have to do shit." The girl barged forward with a jumping side kick, surprising Emma just enough so she couldn't block or counter. Emma involuntarily clutched at her stomach and sucked in a quick breath.
"That's how you want to play this, fine. I tried to be nice first." Emma brought her hands up, wishing, and not for the first time, that hers was a more active power, like Brennan or Shal's. She and the other mutant circled one another slowly. Emma attacked first with a sharp jab that the blonde ducked. Then she tried her luck with a front kick. It wasn't the best idea. The new mutant grasped Emma's ankle firmly and launched her, sending Emma flipping head over heels.
She landed hard on the pavement, scraping the heels of her palms on the asphalt. She didn't even have time to get up before the other girl was on her, sitting squarely on her chest with both knees. Emma grunted.
The girl swiped at her hair, grinning widely. She shrugged. "Better luck next time girlie." Then she cocked back her fist and smashed it into Emma's face. The brunette slumped, unconscious. The new mutant was just climbing off her chest when Jesse burst out into the alley. "You must be joking," the girl mumbled to herself.
Jesse's features stiffened when he saw Emma lying still on the ground. His lip curled in distaste and his eyes flashed. The girl watched him. She saw the way the muscles in his back tensed, the way his hands fisted, the way he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, ready for anything. It wouldn't be so easy to beat this one.
Her hands dropped to her sides and she sighed deeply. "What did you do to Emma?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry. I thought she was one of them. I didn't even realize....I just...reacted," she raced through the words fast enough to stumble over one or two. Convincing, she thought to herself. "I just was trying to get away. But you're not like them are you?"
Emma's chest rode and fell evenly, a comforting sign. It was possible, he reasoned, that the girl had just been scared. But then, it usually took a lot more than someone 'scared' to take down a member of Mutant X. It took someone with training, someone lethal. but Emma was alive, testament enough that this girl was at least not the latter. He relaxed just a little. "Who are you?" he asked, taking another few cautious steps closer.
"Max," the girl replied. "You?"
"Jesse Kilmartin. I'm a new mutant too." He needed to get to Emma, but he had to get by the girl to do it, and he didn't want her trying anything rash. He held out his hand. "I can explain everything later, but right now...."
"Right. Sorry." Max grasped Jesse's hand in a firm shake even as she stepped away from Emma. But she didn't let go. Jesse's eyes flicked back to the girl, who was once again grinning. Suddenly he realized his arm felt warm, a slight tingling rushing up it. Her hand was glowing. he tried to pull away, but couldn't. The tingling reached his ears, whereupon it became a full blown buzz. The alley started to spin. Dark spots swam in front of his eyes. Then he was falling straight into darkness.
--
"Jesse?" A soft voice questioned from a distance. The voice was distinctly female, but he couldn't quite distinguish who. "Jesse?" There it was again. Was he dreaming? He suddenly found it more than irritating that he was having a dream where he could only hear, but not see anything. "Jesse, can you hear me?" Shal, that was definitely Shal.
Adam, and the other three members of Mutant X exchanged glances. At least he was finally coming out of it. Jesse's lips parted slightly, and a low groan filled the room. Shal leaned over her friend and touched his arm. "Jesse, can you hear me?" she asked again.
It was bright, too damn bright. He wasn't all too keen on opening his eyes when it was this bright. Besides, it wasn't fair to have this much of a headache when he wasn't even awake yet. he blinked slowly. Four concerned, blurry faces suddenly came view, slowly sliding back toward focus. "What happened?" he finally managed to grumble.
Brennan grinned. "He speaks! He'll live. Had us worried there for a while buddy."
"Why? How long have I been out?" He blinked again, giving his head a small shake to clear the cobwebs. This was definitely not an alley. How had he gotten back to Sanctuary?
"A little more than 24 hours," Adam informed him.
"A day? A whole day? You're not serious." Adam's face remained passive. "Okay, maybe you are serious. SO I repeat, what exactly happened?"
Shalimar shrugged. "We were hoping you could tell us. Brennan and I found you and Emma knocked out in the alley behind the warehouse. We brought you both back here."
"Oh my God Emma! Is she okay?" Jesse sat up hurriedly and immediately wished he hadn't as a wave of dizziness and nausea washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his chin to his chest and willing away the urge to wretch.
"I'm fine Jesse," Emma soothed.
He turned to face her. She looked basically normal, if one simply discounted the brilliant black eye she sported on the left side of her face. He winced in sympathy. "Ouch."
"Looks worse than it feels. I'm more worried about you. You don't remember anything?"
"Max. Her name was Max, but that all I can really remember right now."
Adam gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "Okay, just relax. It doesn't really matter. We should get the test results back soon. For right now, just rest. So everybody out."
--
Two days later Jesse was up and about, acting as if nothing had ever happened. He and Brennan were in the simulator, practicing against the holographic GS agents. He was no longer dizzy or nauseous, blocking, kicking and punching just like always.
"You don't seem to be suffering any ill effects," Brennan commented after Jesse blocked a particularly quick series of attacks from the hologram.
He shrugged. "Guess not. I just wish I knew what she hit me with is all. It's weird to just lose a day."
"Uh huh. Heads up," his fried warned.
Jesse tore his attention from the conversation to focus on the agent approaching him. He stood his ground, unwavering and went to phase out. Or so he had planned. Instead the hologram struck him flush in the solar plexus. He doubled over, trying to suck in a breath of air. Brennan turned off the simulation.
"You know, if you weren't planning to use your powers I'm thinking a block might have been in order," he teased.
Jesse straightened slowly, a mildly panicked expression in his eyes. "That's just it. I did try to phase. I just couldn't. My powers are gone."
End Chapter 1
Hope you enjoyed. I wasn't too sure on the details of Emma's powers, so I don't know what she sees/feels etc. more to come. Please leave a review, even to leave constructive criticism. Thanks.