Gifted

  “There’s a surprise,” said Logan. He was slumped against the purple teddy bear, the oversized heart on its chest serving as a whimsical contrast.

  “What about the Professor?” said Kitty. “Do you think he knows what’s happening? Why isn’t he here weighing in? Giving us some direction?”

  Emma sat demurely in one of the chairs at the table, eyeing the plastic tea service thoughtfully. “Because he’s half a world away in Genosha, working with other mutants. And I would hope, since he’s trusting us to run this team, that he assumes we’re not about to go whimpering to him for help at the first sign of a crisis.” Almost as an afterthought, she looked to Scott to back her up. “Scott?” she prompted when he failed to respond immediately.

  “Uh…yes, I agree,” said Scott, looking like he’d just been roused from a stupor. “Um…Kitty, you’re our computer whiz. Start running down Benetech. I want to know exactly who’s funding this research. Hank, you’ll be in your lab. Emma, check the students. See whether any have come wandering back, and if any others are thinking of bolting. If nothing else, we have a duty to their parents to keep track of them. I’ll contact some of the other teams, some of the more far-flung mutants, see how far this is reaching.”

  “And me?” said Logan.

  “Have a beer. And stay away from Hank.”

  Logan nodded approvingly. “It’s a plan.”

  Hank, Logan, and Kitty headed for the door, Hank and Logan keeping a wary distance from each other. Kitty asked Logan cautiously, “Are you gonna fight everyone, Logan? I just wanna know if I’m next.”

  “Nah,” he said. “You’d go ninja on me. I can’t take that kind of hurt.”

  As they walked out, Scott allowed his frustration to show a bit. “We’re getting nowhere, Emma.”

  “Patience, darling,” she said soothingly. “You’re doing fine. Of course, Kitty thinks I’m mentally controlling everything you say.”

  Scott smiled at the notion. Then he frowned, turned to her and said, “But you’re not, right?”

  Making no effort to hide her annoyance, Emma said, “You will never see me naked again.”

  SCOTT and Emma lay in bed that night. Emma was making good on her threat, but Scott thought he might be able to dissuade her from holding firm to it. Then there came a banging on the door. Scott answered only to see, to his surprise, a quietly furious Hank McCoy.

  Scott’s first thought was a natural one: Oh God, what did Logan do now? So he was somewhat surprised when Hank said brusquely, “We have to go to Benetech. Now, tonight.”

  It took Scott a moment to reorient himself. “The cure…it’s real? It’s…what? Dangerous?”

  “It’s not about that. It’s about the body they’re running their tests on.”

  “I don’t understand…body…?”

  “Their cure, they…” He gestured helplessly. “They made it sound like they developed it in a lab, tested it on Tildie Soames, and lo and behold, they were good to go. I should have known better. My own desire to see this as some sort of miracle, handed down by the same gods who made us what we are…who made me what I am…”

  “Hank, you’re not making a tremendous amount of sense.”

  “It was tested on, and developed with, the DNA of other mutants. It’s the only explanation.”

  Scott and Emma exchanged appalled looks. “Other mutants? Being held against their will?”

  “Dead mutants, Scott. Dead, and their corpses are being utilized to further the research that would bring an end to their own kind. Mutants who…” He hesitated, clearly horrified at the very concept. “Why does nothing ever stay buried?”

  Scott couldn’t even ask the next question.

  Emma did it for him. “Any dead mutants we know?”

  She didn’t have to speak the name. It was there, right in front of them, the ever-present ghost that haunted all their lives.

  “Jean,” said Scott.

  FOURTEEN

  “JET’S prepped,” Cyclops said briskly as he walked across the hangar bay.

  Beast was already in his uniform, and Emma was pulling on her long white gloves. “The others are coming,” said Beast.

  “You didn’t say anything to…?” Cyclops’ voice trailed off.

  “Of course not. I told them Benetech might be using a mutant for tissue samples. That’s all. I didn’t specify.”

  “Because we probably won’t find anything conclusive,” said Cyclops.

  Emma lanced him with a look. “Like a warm body?”

  Before Scott could answer, Wolverine and Kitty entered. Lockheed sat perched on Kitty’s shoulder, looking a bit annoyed at being roused in the middle of the night.

  “Good to go,” said Wolverine. He looked pleased at the opportunity to create some mayhem for the very individuals who had turned his world upside down. He cast a quick look toward Beast that seemed to say: Told you so. I knew these Benetech goons weren’t right guys. Then he walked straight past the others and toward the Blackbird. “Let’s bring on some hurt.”

  “This is recon, Logan,” Cyclops advised him. “Until we know what we’re dealing with, we’re just looking.”

  “We know what we’re dealing with, Summers.” He cast one final glance over his shoulder before he boarded the plane. “Animals.”

  Minutes later the Blackbird was soaring through the sky. The moon was full, so an ordinary plane would have had very little chance of masking its presence. But the Blackbird was outfitted with holographic camouflage technology. When the plane approached Benetech, it was not only as black as the night sky, but there were small twinkling effects along its hull, mimicking the stars above it. The only time it was visible was when it briefly flew past the moon, and then only for a second or two.

  “Scott. Look,” said the Beast, gesturing toward the ground.

  Cyclops had to squint to see what came so easily to Beast’s eyesight. A mass of people were gathered outside, many of them lying on blankets spread on solid sidewalks. Some had pitched tents. Most were asleep, but some were still moving around, apparently engaged in animated discussions.

  “What do you think they’re talking about?” the Beast wondered aloud. “Purity of vision? The destiny of the mutant race? How exciting it will be to walk down the street without attracting stares? How eager they are to live a normal life?”

  “So now you’re deciding what’s normal?” said Wolverine from nearby. “Who are you to do that?”

  “Who are we to decide on their behalf?” said Beast.

  “We’re the guys who are raiding Benetech to find out how much blood is on the hands of—”

  “The Knicks,” said Emma.

  They all looked at her. “What?” said a bewildered Cyclops.

  “The people down there. They’re having an endlessly juvenile discussion about the Knicks game tonight. I listened only briefly because I could feel myself hemorrhaging IQ points.”

  There was dead silence.

  “Knicks were on fire tonight,” Wolverine finally said.

  “Hell yes,” Kitty agreed. “Did you believe that half-court shot in the third quarter—?”

  Emma stared at her, appalled.

  “What?” said Kitty defensively. “I can’t have layers?”

  Cyclops decided to ignore the entire exchange. He focused on looking for a safe landing area, sufficiently far away from Benetech to avoid detection. There was no way they were going to be able to set down on the grounds themselves, but Benetech’s blossoming success in recent years meant that a section of forest nearby was being cleared to expand the facility. At the moment the construction area consisted of a large, flat expanse that would serve perfectly. The Blackbird reached its landing point, hovered, and then descended straight down.

  Once they had settled, Cyclops powered down the plane and said, “Kitty’s on point.”

  “The canary in the coal mine. I’m game. What do I do?”

  “They’ve got the deluxe detection package in there, so you’ll want to start fro
m below.”

  “We can’t just go in the way Hank did when he went to talk to Doctor Rao?”

  Beast shook his head. “That path was more or less unique to my particular skill set. Plus we have to assume they’ve ramped things up security-wise since my visit, so we couldn’t retrace that way even if we wanted to. Security mainframe should be housed in the basement, according to the computer files you were gracious enough to hack into for me.”

  “Glad I could help the team.”

  “Think you can disable it without tripping anything?” said Beast.

  She nodded. “It’s done.”

  “When do I get to disable something?” Logan asked.

  Emma rolled her eyes. “Oh, sheathe it, will you? Inspiring costumes notwithstanding, we’re not heroes tonight. Let’s try to be subtle for once.”

  “Actually,” said Kitty, “I could use him as backup.”

  “Fine. But keep him on a leash.”

  LEONARD Tucker was still called “Sarge” even though his police days were long past him. A bullet in the leg had rendered him unfit for duty, so he’d been forced to take a job as a security guard. But he’d quickly risen to the top of the pecking order with his cool confidence and ability to adapt to any situation quickly and efficiently. A natural leader of men, he’d been placed in charge of a three-person team assigned to guard the heart of the company’s entire security system, the mainframe down in what was referred to as the dungeon.

  The facility was on high alert already because of all the damned mutants outside. Tucker had begged corporate for the opportunity to take a squad out and rid the place of them. They had no business being there. Sure, they were looking for a cure to their condition, but so what? Life was tough all over. It didn’t excuse trespassing or loitering. Corporate, unfortunately, had put the kibosh on that idea. They were concerned over the way it would play on national television, desperate people being dragged away against their will, treated violently simply because they wanted to be normal.

  It annoyed the crap out of him. Tucker was, by nature, territorial, and he didn’t want these mutants around. Especially when, for all he knew, they might at any point become sick of simply waiting and make a full-blown charge on the gate. Considering the power they were packing, there was little doubt in Tucker’s mind that they’d be able to break through, and then the guards would have a real fight on their hands. Better to clear the mutants out now while they were still peaceful, still hopeful, still vulnerable.

  He was telling all this to Jenkins, his second in command, as they stood near the monitor system, keeping a wary eye on the screens. The mutants stood outside, not budging, not causing any problems.

  “Expecting trouble, Sarge?” said Jenkins, nodding toward the rifle Tucker had tucked leisurely under his arm.

  “Always,” said Tucker. “Especially now. We have to keep our weapons at hand, because these mutants…they are their weapons. They don’t have to go for it; it’s right there in their eyes or mouths or arms or whatever, ready to be—”

  All the screens flickered at the exact same moment. It was so subtle that anyone else might not have noticed it at all. But the movement instantly caught Tucker’s eye. He stared at the monitors, studying them.

  “Sarge?”

  Tucker didn’t reply. Something was wrong. Something was strange. Something was—

  “There. That mutant right there.” He pointed to one of the monitors, which showed a mutant with scales like a fish. “The one who’s walking from the left side of the screen to the right, and then sitting down?”

  “Yeah. What about him?” said Jenkins.

  “He was already sitting on the right. Just a minute ago.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t think he—”

  Tucker wasn’t listening. He moved past the bank of screens to the guts of the system. Jenkins followed him.

  They rounded the corner and stopped dead.

  A young woman wearing a blue-and-gold uniform, her hair back in a ponytail, was standing inside the computer banks. Her upper body emerged ghost-like from a console. Her fingers darted across a keyboard. She froze in position when she saw the two guards crouched, their weapons leveled at her.

  “Oh. Hi,” she said pleasantly. “Saw me implementing the loop, huh? I knew there was a chance of that.”

  “Jenkins, sound a full security alert!” shouted Tucker.

  “Good luck with that,” she said.

  Something struck Jenkins from behind. He went down without a word, sprawling on his face. A low moan indicated he was still conscious.

  Tucker whirled and saw some manner of creature in the shadows. It seemed to be holding knives in either hand, and a feral joy showed on its face.

  “Say hello to my little friend,” said the girl cheerily.

  Tucker swung his rifle up. The knives sliced through the air and through the weapon, sending the entire front section clattering to the floor. Tucker stared down in shock at the destroyed rifle, and then a fist hit him in the face. It was like being struck by a mallet. His legs went out from under him and he collapsed. As the world turned black around him, he heard Jenkins shout a warning, followed by the sounds of metal striking metal and a bone-crunching blow. A body hit the floor…Jenkins, he suspected. Then Tucker was unconscious.

  When he came to, hours later, everything was long over.

  CYCLOPS, Beast, and Emma stood at the rendezvous point outside the back of the vast Benetech complex. Situated near the edge of what had once been a copious forest, it was relatively secluded, the building itself providing cover courtesy of lengthy shadows. This side of the fifteen-story building was devoid of windows: nothing but solid wall from top to bottom, giving it almost the appearance of a warehouse.

  “Not much for décor, are they?” said Emma.

  “Typical for a facility like this,” the Beast said. “This section is likely where they do their serious R&D work. Windows provide vulnerability for spying. Of course, limited sighting means that miscreants like us sneak up unseen, which is why they have those.” He pointed at a camera mounted on a pole directly overhead. “With any luck, however, Kitty has managed to attend to that.”

  “No alarms have been triggered,” said Cyclops, “so that’s a good sign.”

  Then Kitty emerged, passing through the outer wall. “Okay. Who’s first?”

  “Let’s do it,” said Beast. He held out his hand.

  Lockheed fluttered through the air and landed on Kitty’s shoulder. She smiled when she saw him and said, “Sure, buddy, I can take you, too. Let’s go.” Kitty, Beast, and Lockheed then melted into the wall, leaving no trace behind.

  “Wait… that’s the plan?” said Emma. “Nobody told me that was the plan, having her phase through the wall with us like spectral hitchhikers.”

  “How did you think we were going to get in?” said Cyclops.

  “Through a door, like normal people.”

  “Doors are two-way. Someone might be coming out as we’re going in, and they could sound an alarm.”

  “We could have Henry eat them.”

  “See, Emma, it’s suggestions like that that make me reluctant to take you nice places.”

  Kitty reemerged from the wall and said, “Okay…who’s next?”

  Emma stood there, unmoving. Cyclops shrugged and walked toward Kitty. She took him by the elbow and they vanished into the wall. Emma watched them go, contemplated her situation for a bit, and then said quietly, “To hell with this.” She turned to head back away from the building.

  “Going somewhere, Miss Frost? Certainly you’re not scared of trusting a naïve little half-wit like me?” Emma turned to see Kitty, extending her hand in a sweet, mock-innocent manner.

  “How do I know I can trust you?” said Emma.

  “Because I know I can’t trust you, and you’re aware it’s my goal in life to be, in every way, the complete opposite of you.”

  Emma considered for a moment, then nodded. “Actually, that makes sense.”

&nb
sp; She took Kitty’s hand. Seconds later, they were gliding through darkness and substance.

  Emma felt completely disoriented. She had no idea where she was, or in what direction she was going. Her survival instincts kicked in, and instinctively she tried to pull away from Kitty. Kitty reached over with her free hand and firmly gripped Emma’s forearm, thwarting her attempt to get away. To Emma, it seemed as if Kitty were pulling her down, down into a bottomless pit, where Kitty could just let go and be rid of the dreaded and hated Emma Frost once and for all…

  And suddenly they emerged into a basement, wall-to-wall metal, with console arrays and screens lined up along the walls, displaying security readouts. Conical overhead lamps provided illumination, casting a haze of green over the entire area where Cyclops, Beast, and Lockheed were waiting for them. Beast was saying, “Place is a bit of a maze, but the main research center is definitely up top.”

  The moment they fully emerged into the room, Emma pulled away from Kitty. “God, but that is unnerving,” said Emma.

  “Wriggle like that next time,” Kitty warned her, “and I’ll lose my grip in the middle of a wall. You’ll fuse molecules. As deaths go, it’s not the funnest.”

  “Thanks for the safety tip.”

  Wolverine emerged from the back. “Found two more guards besides the ones we already ran into. They came over all sleepy just now.”

  “Will they ever wake up?” Kitty said cautiously.

  “Probably,” said Wolverine. “No promises, though.”

  “Teams,” Cyclops said briskly. “We work every floor. Emma with me. Kitty with Lockheed. Which leaves the Hardy Boys: Beast, Wolverine, think you can avoid killing each other long enough for us to help other people?”

  They looked at each other briefly, then nodded.

  “Let’s do it,” said Cyclops. “Emma will be monitoring everyone. If you have anything to report…”

  “Think happy thoughts?” said Kitty brightly.

  “Something like that.”

  CYCLOPS was going through the files in one room, trying to find some sort of specific reference to the project they were searching for, when he slowly became aware that Emma wasn’t helping. He turned and, sure enough, she was simply standing there, leaning against a file cabinet, her right foot propped against a drawer. Had this been a scene out of film noir, she’d have been taking a slow drag on a cigarette.