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Title: Discarded Potential
Author/pseudonym: cono
Author websites: n/a
Characters: Jesse, Shalimar, Emma, Brennan, Lexa, and a few bad guys I created
Rating: PG-13 for violence and language
Pairing: no real romantic pairings, just the feeling of the team being a family like they used to be in season one
Status: new and complete
Series/Sequel: nope
Spoilers: takes place near the beginning of season 3, when the team is still dealing with the loss of Adam and Emma, and Lexa is still not officially part of MX
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the original characters from the show, but the bad guys in this story are mine.
Notes: Well, this actually started off as an assignment for my Creative Writing class! I got to read it to them on Thursday, and they all said they liked it! And believe it or not, I got the idea from a dream I had. Try to catch the puns I used. I'd really like to know what you think of not only my ideas, but how it was written and any other constructive criticism for my first ever fanfiction, as it will most likely help me with my other works and my aspirations to become a producer/director of movies/televsion. Maybe tell favorites and least favorites if possible? (Also note that when I transferred the document to the boards the spacing got a little messed up, but I think you can still follow it).
Summary: An ordinary day at Sanctuary turns out to be one that the team, or what's left of it, will never forget.
Warnings: At least one death, but the rest is all on how you interpret it. This is my idea of how they should end the show. I tried to take what was left of the storyline, some fast-paced action, and whatever writing ability I think I have and combine it in a way that the show would still go out with a bang...literally?
So, here it is...
Rays of the sun were caught by Shalimar’s towheaded locks, the beams translucently streaming between fibers of gold. The morning brought a rare calmness and serenity to the feral, who had just gone prowling amongst Storm King Mountain’s numerous hills of never-ending foliage, recently brushed by a sheet of dew, to clear her mind of thoughts of the past that haunted her as if she relived every rich moment with each memory. Her hip-cropped leather jacket was heard creaking as she crouched down, Shalimar’s every movement in syncopation with the natural surroundings. A feint clink sounded as a comlink-wielding hand grasped a minute glass mason jar. Water from the shallow stream to which she was bending down explored the interior of this unknown see-through prison, not knowing this containment would be its new home. Breaking what silence there was beyond the churning of uncaptured, ocean-destined flows and the aleatoric songs of feathered aviators perched on nearby branches, Jesse spoke. “This is good, Shal.” A trace of that infamous smirk lingered on a facial expression of none other than pure happiness. Tucking one of the stray winding strands behind her ear, Shal, still crouching, turned to face her undeclared brother.
“What’s that, Jess?” She, too, smiled.
“I dunno, just—this. We’re following Adam’s wishes.” A somewhat more serious tone was present in his previously content voice.
“Yeah; it’s the least we can do.” Shal’s tone had also grown less cheerful at the thought of their mentor. “It’s a good thing you found Adam’s notes on the variations of water quality. Now we can keep his studies going.” Closing the jar with a bronze cap, then sealing it with a handheld air decompressor swiftly pulled from her pocket, she gave a lengthy, concerned glance to Jesse before speaking again. Not even a psionic could see how much Jesse hurt from their friends’ departure, but Shalimar could sense it. Trying to offer some form of consolation, Shal added, “I think that’s what he would have wanted.”
An awkward moment of the absence of words came upon them. Shal knew not to hit a nerve, but she felt as though there was something Jesse wanted to say. Without having to ask, he answered the question that loitered in the instant. “I think Adam’s alive, Shal.”
“Jess, we were all there at Naxcon…”
“I know, I know. And every sensible feeling in me says to just accept the facts, but I don’t think I can do that. Before we even met Adam, he’d gone through so much. I guess I just think that, that an explosion couldn’t have stopped him.” Jesse was getting worked up over the reminiscing of the incident where two team members were lost, not knowing whether or not to believe that that’s just what they were… lost, and not dead. Well, the sharp recollection of Emma’s stiff corpse was not a sight that he would forget soon enough, if ever.
Shalimar, seeing that her comrade was in need of comfort, placed the jar on a level spot of ground between a dual entwisting of the giant oak tree’s roots, jumped down the gently sloping bank, and parked herself to the right of Jesse on the massive boulder on which he was sitting, watching the current run continually across the rapids as similarly as did the thoughts racing throughout his mind. He had taken his heavy leather boots off to allow the icy spring water to run through his toes, even though it was a rather nippy morning without the accompaniment of the liquid fire brushing against his skin. Jesse’s mocha-colored suede jacket draped easily over his pensive form as Shalimar outstretched her arm and slipped it around his. “You okay?”
Jesse surveyed his companion’s caring face before answering. Peering back down at the water, he replied. “Yeah.” Just as Shalimar was about to rest her head on Jesse’s shoulder, her eyes blazed in feral alertness. “What is it, Shal?” Jesse whispered, knowing to trust her primal instincts with his life.
“Someone’s coming,” she answered in a soft, attentive voice, peeking over the bank’s edge from below, trying to view the origin of the sound that she acknowledged.
Tripping over a protruding rock and falling a few inches from Shalimar, Brennan arrived. His face was blotched with smears of dirt and grim, and his face was in an emotion of uncontrolled panic. Dried blood covered patches on his arms; his faded jeans were harshly torn and were covered in briers, his Arizona t-shirt matching the condition of his pants. With calloused hands, he exclaimed, “Sanctuary is under attack!”
Shalimar shot a worried momentary look at Jesse, who was also alarmed by their teammate’s condition and the situation. “We gotta go, guys. Come on!” Brennan reached down and grabbed Shal’s arm around the wrist securely, pulling her up onto the bank. Next was Jesse. With all three now on the mound by the stream, they stood waiting for Brennan to inform them of more. He repeated, “Come on! This way.” As he went to lead the team into the woods, Shalimar stopped him in protest.
“Wait, Brennan! What are you talking about? What’s going on?” Before he could answer, the team watched as the jar of water that was on the ground ahead of them erupted in a line of raining bullets. Jesse massed, bounding in front of the others, mainly Shalimar, to protect them from the fire. It stopped abruptly. Taking a breath, Jesse inquired, “What’s that about?”
With those words, a shower of artillery fell onto Storm King Mountain. Magenta, teal, and canary lasers hit the ground, displacing particles of the forest bottom. F16’s soared over head, unleashing more destructive power.
Shalimar directed, “Split up!” The trio scattered into the woods in different directions, their only thought being to return to Sanctuary for cover. Shalimar was at an advantage. A complete feral control commanded her every move; there was no human left in her. Fluidity was in her actions as none had ever seen. A fallen tree and brush cluster were no obstacles for her. Brennan on the other hand, well, Brennan did not possess as much grace. A slight projection of a root caught his foot like a defending football player seizing the ankle of the opposing team’s quarterback two feet before passing the line for a touchdown. Standing up, not bothering to brush off the soil he collected from the fall, he continued his sprinting. Jesse had problems of the weaponry kind. It seemed as though more frequently the firing was aimed at him because of his particular mutant ability. Jesse massed as shots ricocheted off his solid figure. The enemy knew them too well.
Jesse and Brennan met up at the above-ground portion of Sanctuary, at the entrance to the massive home’s garage. “Whaddaya say, Bren?” Jesse held out his hand. Without having to reply, Brennan placed his hand in Jesse’s. Becoming thinner than vapor itself, the two walked through the tan, zen-styled garage door.
“I’ll never get used to that,” Brennan remarked with a grin of troublemaker charm. He propped himself on the black Mustang, which was parked next to Adam’s cream-colored Lexus. “How the hell did they find us?”
“That doesn’t matter right now, Brennan,” Jesse said as he walked aptly to a diminutive window overlooking the endless woodlands where the battle they just escaped was taking place. He was distracted.
“Then what does?” Brennan queried.
“Shalimar’s still out there.”
Back in the woods, a huge cluster of earth was airborne as Shal ducked behind a small drop-off. She had been hit. There was no blood, no wound, in sight. Her eyes turned a bright, fiery yellow, then a foggy white, then their normal chocolate brown. Shalimar felt a sudden tiredness growing over her, a weakness she had never known before. Side stitches traveled up her abdomen, and she was breathing heavily. Peering down at her thigh where she supposed a gaping hole would be, there was nothing. Not even a scratch. It didn’t make sense. Shalimar did not know that she was no longer a feral.
On the flipside, in Sanctuary’s oriental-flared kitchen, Brennan and Jesse bickered about what was to be done. “Ok, Brennan, tell me what’s going on.”
“I got no idea, Jess. I was in my room, and I heard a bang. Lexa said she didn’t hear anything, so I went outside to check things out. That’s when the firing started. I had to let you guys know about it, so I ran to the stream. You know the rest.”
“Where is Lexa anyway?
“In the living room, I think. She was watching TV when I left.”
“She was watching TV?” Jesse questioned in disbelief. Brennan nodded. “TV?! Now?! At a time like this?!” Jesse stormed into the living room. Two stories of lush crimson walls were decorated with some of the finest abstract artwork in the world, leather furniture in multiple colors cascaded the layered bamboo flooring, a grand fireplace in front of which was resting a pallid shag rug was letting off a mild cherry wood tang, and a big screen plasma TV was perched in the corner. Lexa was on the couch. Jesse, biting at the bit to control his anger, walked in front of the television.
“Hey, Jess, could you move? You’re blocking the view.”
“Aren’t you just a little concerned about what’s going on here?”
“No.” Lexa took a handful of greasy, orange cheese curls out of a crinkly bag that was shoved between the cushions of the sofa, quickly shoving the entire bunch into her mouth. She then did not take a moment to hesitate before wiping her oily hands off on whatever pillow was closest. Lexa placed her socked feet on the expensive coffee table with no respect, almost knocking her glass of soda onto its surface. “Should I be?”
“It’s about time you start. You may not be a part of our team, but you are here, which means that you’re also under attack.”
Lexa ignorantly replied, “What are you talking about, Jess?” Fed up, Jesse threw up his hands and walked out of the room in a hurry, headed to his room where he could think, not perceiving how much time was left before all that he knew would blow up in his face.
Shalimar had made it to the other end of Sanctuary’s outdoor portion, a trex deck and catwalk which lead to the living room where Lexa was still zoning out watching the TV, as if nothing was happening. The only thing that kept Shal from the inside was a rock wall that had been built to support the deck and to act as yet another safety measure for Sanctuary. It must have been over four stories tall. No sweat for a feral; a big problem for Shal.
After realizing that her attempts to hurdle the obstacle in one cat-like leap got her nowhere, she glanced down at her hand to call for help from one of the team. Her com-link had fallen off in her struggle in the woods. She had to do it the hard way. Four stories later, Shalimar collapsed in exhaustion on the deck after using all that was left in her to get over the railing. Her head was throbbing, and she thought she was delirious. Breathing was almost too much work. Through a series of blinks, she saw something - something that gave her a sudden burst of energy to survive. Something that seemed so impossible but so dear it was worth every movement of every aching muscle to pursue. It spun around the corner of Sanctuary’s wrap-around deck. Red hair.
Typing frantically, Jesse accessed as many satellite images of Sanctuary as he could from the computer in his room under the radar of whatever was out there. Military forces were moving in, thousands of them. Tanks, Hummers, A10 bombers, more than he had ever seen. He had to warn the others.
Shalimar slowly walked in total apprehension of what she might find around the corner of the deck. Her stomach was in her throat, and her palms were shedding gallons of a cold sweat. The hair that was matted to the back of her neck did not bother her; all she could think about was what might be around that turn.
Jesse stood up and raced out his bedroom door, his computer chair still swirling in the scurry. He ran into Brennan in the hallway, who was about to check on Jesse and see what they should do. “Brennan, they’re all around us.”
“How long do we have?”
“Half an hour, max.”
Shalimar did not believe what was being shown to her; it was a beautiful portrait which she thought could never again be painted. Sitting, propped up against the fortification with her knees tucked up to her chest and a hand resting thoughtfully on her forehead, was the lost teammate. Choking out the name as if it were the most arduous task possible, Shalimar questioned in total disbelief and complete happiness, “Emma?”
Her tongue was broken. No words were right for this moment.
“Shal!” Emma stood up and rushed to her baffled friend. She placed her hands on the edges of Shalimar’s shoulders to try to console her and convince her teammate that it was really her. With that wild psionic smile, Emma uttered, “It’s me, Shal.” Without anything else needing to be verbalized, the companions hugged in a long embrace that spoke volumes. Even without her feral powers, Shalimar instantly recognized the small things which she adored about Emma, like the smell of her hair. Pulling back from the hug with so many questions, Shalimar was dazed at the sight of the practical sister who she thought she had lost forever.
“Emma… I… we...thought that…”
“I’m here, Shal.” Emma raised her hand to wipe the tear that explored the surface of Shalimar’s flushed cheek. Shal moved slightly at this, still completely shocked but accepting the dream come true.
“Emma, we saw you… your body... your lifeless body at Naxcon.”
“Shal, in the explosion, I had another mutation. I… I don’t know what caused it, maybe the chemicals or something that went up in the flames… or something else—I don’t know, but I mutated again, in that instant.”
“How?”
“Whatever happened to me caused my heart to stop. Everything shut down. To any doctor, I was dead. I woke up in the morgue, I was just glad it wasn’t a coffin. That would have been a little harder to get out of…” Emma laughed. A feeling of overall thrill was present in both of the disbelieving friends.
“So we buried an empty coffin?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Those liars! But… how did you get out of the morgue?”
“Well, I made them think that my body never existed, so I wouldn’t be considered missing and they wouldn’t come looking for me. But I also used my new power. I found out I can not only make people think, see, and feel certain things, I can make them real. Anything too, even with non-living objects.” Emma could tell that she still did not answer Shalimar’s question by the puzzled look on her face. “There would have been no way for me to get out of that sardine can they had me sealed in. I sent a vision to the lock on door to the stretcher they had me on to unlock, and it did. If it weren’t for my mutating at that moment, I might not be standing here today.”
“Emma, that’s incredible! But why did you wait so long to return?”
“Because I had another vision. A vision of today. And I knew that I couldn’t, not until now.”
“What’s today?”
“Bad news,” informed Lexa, now obviously much more involved with what was happening around her, stepping out of the sliding glass door and onto the deck. Not liking the tone to Lexa’s voice, Shalimar stepped in front of Emma to protect her. She did not need a feral’s cunning to decide that she would give her life to save Emma’s. She would not be robbed of her once more.
“What are you talking about, Lexa?” Shalimar demanded. Lexa, ignoring her, directed her attention to who she was protecting.
“Hello Emma.”
“Hello Lexa.”
“Well, now we don’t need to waste time on introductions. You two know each other?”
“I know enough to tell you that that’s not the real Emma.”
“What are you talking about?” Shalimar snapped.
“Shal, don’t be blind. Emma’s dead. I don’t know what that thing is, but it’s not Emma. It was probably planted here by whoever’s attacking us to divert us from escaping their fire.”
“What—didn’t the Dominion inform you?” Shal said with words cynically bitten.
“I’m serious, Shal. Please. For your sake, just trus…” Emma’s psi-blast quieted Lexa as she buckled to the ground.
“I was waiting for you to do that,” Shalimar smiled. Emma really was back.
“Shal, we got problems…” Jesse stopped in amazement at the sight of Emma as he walked out onto the deck. Taking a long blink, not even in his wildest dreams had he expected her to ever return. “Emma?” He ran up to her and gave a gigantic hug, then held her back from him. “I don’t believe it.” He hugged her again.
“Hey Jess,” she murmured as loudly as she could, since Jesse’s hug slightly cut off her airflow. Surprised by Jesse’s joy, Emma beamed in a comical happiness at seeing her family, not by blood, but by heart, once more.
“I… I don’t understand…”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well, I’d love to hear it, but right now, time is the last thing we’ve got.” Jesse motioned to go inside. The team hesitantly walked through the sliding glass door and into the living room, not sure if they wanted to know what was really out there, waiting for them, watching their every move.
“How’s it feel to be home?” Shalimar asked Emma, who was now glowing with wholesome pleasure to be back at Sanctuary. Her radiant smile answered the question.
Jesse moved up to one of the flat screen monitors inlayed in the living room’s wall, accessing the same images he obtained while in his bedroom. Multiple boxes and warnings appeared faster than he could control. “There’s thousands of ‘em.”
“Looks more like millions,” Shalimar said as more icons flashed onto the screen.
Emma looked around, observing the slight changes made to her residence. She noticed something. “Where’s Brennan?”
“Hey guys,” Lexa said as she slammed open the door leading to the deck. She had Brennan by the back of the neck, his weary state the only reason she could control him. She had to have given him something, some sort of drug; this willful giving-in and giving-up was not like Brennan. Her other hand was concealed to the team as it was forcefully placed in the direct center of his muscular back. Before Shalimar, Emma, or Jesse could even react to what they were seeing, a lucent blade located where Lexa’s hand and forearm should have been was propelled through Brennan’s chest, entering from behind, a power they did not know she possessed. His over six feet of strength fluttered to the ground like a falling leaf, eyes rolling back into his head and mouth seeping clumps of blood.
“Brennan!” Jesse roared at the appalling sight. As he ran to his fallen teammate, Lexa raised her hand, displaying before quickly dropping a smoke bomb. Jesse flew back with this detonation, landing a few feet from Shalimar and Emma who speedily rushed to his side.
Wrapping her hand around his chin and propping his head on her lap, Shalimar tried to get a response from Jesse. “Jess… Jess, you alright?” Drowsily Jesse opened one eye, then the other.
“Brennan…”
Emma looked out onto the deck. She envisioned the smoke was never there, and it parted. They had disappeared. “He’s gone, Jess.”
“No…”
Shalimar took lead. “Guys, I know this is hard for all of us, but we have to get out of here, if we want to make it through this.” Emma and Shal helped Jesse to his feet. He rushed back to the computer to check the incoming force’s status and position.
“Oh no…they’re closing in from every angle. Now we got about twenty minutes before they’re on top of us. We gotta get out of here.”
“And go where, Jess?” Shal nipped.
“The woods,” Emma replied.
Objecting, Jesse remarked, “Nah, that’s where they’d expect us to go. We’d never make it past their fire again.”
“Yes we will. Jesse you remember how I connected with Brennan to straighten out his mutating?”
“Yeah, but I don’t see how that…”
“If you phase all three of us, I can send you images of you breathing so you don’t actually have to take a breath. We can make it to the Helix’s cave the back way through the forest; they’d expect us to go through Sanctuary to get to it and I’m sure they already have that entrance barricaded. We hop in the VTOL and get off this island.” Jesse nodded.
“How do I help?” Shalimar inquired.
Emma countered, “You lead the way.”
The lofty poles of bark and pulp flickered past them like scattered puzzle pieces that had been thrown into the air and never fit correctly together. Their world only consisted of quick glimpses, not made for understanding.
Jesse was in the middle, with Shal on his left and Emma on the right, tightly grasping their hands, knowing it was the only thing that was keeping them alive as both lasers and bullets passed through the trio with ease. Trees were falling on top of them. Explosions occurred under their darting feet. Jesse felt a sudden pride in his usefulness to the team. “Guys,” he panted, “when we get done with this, whaddaya say we go on a nice long vacation to the Caribbean or somethin’?” The girls laughed, not only at Jesse’s optimism in such a, well, quite pessimistic situation, but also at his naïve charisma that exuded sincerity. They reached the cave. To the group’s surprise, the firing ceased as they bounded out onto the open cliff, stopping only inches before a fall which would have paralyzed the wind that was pushed over the edge by a breeze. Jesse materialized, as did the others. Shalimar’s voice seemed to have a certain power to it as it was caught in a sensual moment beyond imagination when she questioned, “Where did everybody go?” Someone spoke back-- her oblivious echo from the sea.
The triad regally stood with an heir of such pride and thrill that they had reached the Helix. Emma drew in a deep, relaxing breath, but before she was able to exhale, she felt as though she could not only not breathe, but move as well. Terror filled her eyes, as it did to the rest of the triumvirate as well. They were falling.
The tank fired again. From the shores of Storm King Mountain, Jesse, Emma, and Shalimar were still under attack. The volatile shot had blasted the ground right out from underneath them.
Somehow they managed to catch themselves, hanging by whatever might was left in their hands and arms, on a slim piece of rock jutting out from the crag. Looking up, along the edge of the remodeled precipice, was a line of their pursuers, each in a full black S.W.A.T.-resembling suit and bearing both a laser and an assault rifle in each hand. The sun glittered in a reflection on their full-faced masks. They were all identical, a cloned energy with only disgust for anybody who was different. A mutant. Peering below, as if measured by a ruler, tanks and Hummers lined the beach with only three feet of space between each damaging machine, akin to specs of mold perfectly, yet disappointingly, placed on the slice of bread you wanted to use for your sandwich. A strange beauty presented itself in the montage of death.
As Emma’s right arm slipped from the rock, Jesse grabbed her around the waist with his right arm, giving her enough support to hold on with both hands once more. “I won’t lose you. Not again.”
An Apache glided down as if owning the sky, leveling with the location of the overhang-stranded marionettes. A man over a loud-speaker implanted in the aircraft’s technologically advanced system spoke with such arrogance in his voice. “Mutant X: do not take this personally. We must save mankind by destroying mutantkind.”
The man who had made the announcement was questioned by the Apache pilot. “Sir, my radar says that the blonde one is not a mutant. She doesn’t deserve this.” His broken up raspy voice cracked through the headset.
“Kill her anyway,” he replied with no remorse.
Jesse nervously looked back at the metal bird of prey approaching. “Déjà vu, anyone? I gotta admit, guys, this doesn’t look too good.” The unanimous click of weaponry being set and aimed sounded from above. Gears shifting could be heard in succession from the ground unit below. The ‘copter swerved as it crept grippingly closer, like a cheetah, slowly crouching and inching forward, alternating distinct summits of shoulder blades, heals ready to scream of a lethal stride, a smirk on its teary face.
Shalimar, with the last scrap of anything left in her heart, bellowed over the consuming propellers, “Emma, in your vision, what did you see?!”
THE SCREEN GOES BLACK.
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The Sun Never Sets on PureMX.net
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