Cadmium Sun (CC AU WA MATURE) part 5 06-12-06[WIP]

[Drogyn]

Title: Cadmium Sun
Author: Drogyn


Banner by behrsgirl77

Couples: CC
Category: AU with Aliens
Rating: Mature

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters of this story. They are a mix between the characters of the TV series of Roswell and the PC game Renegade, which is a part of the Command and Conquer series. Roswell is owned by Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, the WB and probably a bunch of other people. Renegade is owned by Westwood Studios. The story will have some overlap with the Renegade game, as well as a few identical lines, but will generally be different.

Summary: Earth has unknowingly become the main battleground between two alien races. The Skins, under the leadership of Lord Khivar want to take control of Earth as soon as possible and then eradicate the humans. The Silver Hand is an organization set up by the kind-hearted Antarians under the leadership of King Maxwell Zanathan Evans, who are making it their job to protect Earth and its population. The Silver Hand is small but so far managed to do a good job as Earth is still safe. But for how long?

Special thanks to all the people from RoswellianChronicles.com for helping me getting started with this and solving some small problems I had with this fic. Special thanks to Tanya (behrsgirl77) for the truly amazing banner. Seriously, I find it an honor that my story comes with a banner this beautiful.

I'm still recovering from several rounds of surgery so don't expect too much too soon, but I already have several parts written. Feedback is very much appreciated.

Prologue

There are these kind of days when it feels like the sun is shining brightly on my face, even when the sun has already set; days when I feel at peace with myself and when I’m overly friendly to everyone around me. And there are days when I just want to pound the living shit of everything in sight because I just can’t stand this whole pathetic goddamn dictatorship system we’re in! Three guesses what kind of day this is. And the day started out so well.

“Didn’t you hear me, Michael? Give me a fucking explanation… now!” Tess shouts at me with force, emphasizing her anger by slamming both her hands on the small table separating us. I’m telling you, sometimes that woman has a temper that’s worse than mine, and this isn't even a PMS-day. Honestly, I don’t know how Kyle puts up with it… and no, I really don’t wanna know. I’m just hoping this table won't collapse; I need some sort of barrier between Tess and me if I want to survive this conversation.

“I told you, Max Evans is the bloody problem. I swear, one day I’m gonna do a hell of a lot more than just hit him.” And I mean every single word of that. Bloody dicktator!

“Start at the beginning.” Tess orders. You know, if anyone other than my sister gave me an order in such a tone, I would have leaned over the table and clocked him… or her. Some people say that I have a problem with authority but that's just not true; I just don't let people tell me what to do. Except my sisters apparently.

“Fine, it all started yesterday morning. I was sent on a mission to retrieve some intel from a Skin in Utah. Our fearless leader was busy drooling over Aves again so he didn't wanna go himself. Typical Max Evans behavior I guess. Anyway, the mission went off without a glitch; I killed a few Skins here and there and returned here with a disk that Alex was supposed to decreep or something.”

"It's decrypt, but whatever." Tess comments.

"Whatever. Anyway, after I got the disk down to the comm-room and had a little chat with Alex, I went to the strategy room to confer with our exalted king."

~~

The second I open the door to the strategy room, I turn to Max. "Yo Maxie, where's my medal?" And with that, I walk into the room and sit my ass down on one of the good chairs. I guess you can argue about whether or not a room with a computer and a few maps should be called a strategy room, but I don’t really care one way or another.

Heh heh, I seem to have ticked his royal highness off already. That must be a record, even for me. He looks at me with an angry expression. Oooh, I'm so scared now. "I'm your commanding officer, Rath; the least you can do is call me sir." he says without any sign that he’s kidding.

What the fucking hell?! That stick up his ass just gets bigger and bigger every single day. But I really don't feel like starting a whole argument over it. "You got it… sir." I say through gritted teeth.

"Well, good job on retrieving the intel. Alex already decrypted the information on the disk and we found something disturbing", he says quickly. Did he just say I did a good job? I didn't really hear the rest of the sentence.

"Huh?”

"I said that we found something disturbing. What do you know about Cadmium-X, Rath?" Max asks

"Isn’t that the stuff that forms on people when I blast them?" I’m not really good with the whole science thing.

"True." Max says as he motions me to get the hell out of his chair and gestures me to take one of the other six empty seats around the table. "Cadmium-X is an element that's deadly to both aliens and humans. The intel we aquired…"

"You mean, the intel I acquired?" I interrupt. I don't even know why I said that.

"Whatever! Anyway, it had files of a Skin research facility where they experiment with Cadmium-X. They kidnapped dozens of humans and they're using them as guinea pigs for their experiments. Tess, Ava and Kyle are scheduled to return in six hours. When they get here, the four of you are going to the facility and take it out." Max orders in a definitive tone.

"They're torturing humans; we can't wait six hours. I'm going!, I say loudly as I stand up and walk towards the door. I don't get far.

"Six hours Rath! Until then, you will stand down. You are part of a team now and it's time for you to start acting as such. Are we clear?" he shouts as he stands up. "Are! We! Clear?!" he repeats when I don't answer fast enough.

Is he insane?! People could die in six hours. Screw him. "Crystal… sir." I say with as much venom as I can. He actually thinks I'm intimidated by him and that I'll wait here like some kind of chump. Well, I think it's time to get Max out of the dream world he's living in.

I quickly walk out of the room before Max can give me any more lectures. There are innocent people that need to be saved. I walk down to the garage where I spot the perfect ride; Max’ Harley. Oh man, I wish I could see the look on his face when he discovers I borrowed it.

~~

“You did WHAT?!” Tess yells at me. Maybe I should have left that part out. Ow! Yeah, I definitely should have left that part out.

“You wanted him to lock you up or something?” she shouts.

“Yeah, because this is how I want to spend my time; playing tic-tac-toe with myself all day long… ten more minutes of this and I’m going to blast my way out of here.“

“That won’t be necessary. I’m sure Ava can make a deal here.” Tess says with a big smirk on her face. She knows me far too well; she knows I can’t stomach the thought of Maxwell Evans with my sister.

“If he lays one hand on her, it won’t be the cell door I’ll be blasting.” God, I wish I wasn’t so easy to taunt.

“Michael, you are going to listen to me…” Tess says sternly in her patent don’t-even-think-about-arguing-with-me look "…I don't like Max Evans any better than you do, but I'm sure he's just trying to do what he thinks is best for us all."

"I think it would be best for us all if he surgically removes the stick up his ass." But I really don't see that happening anytime soon; that stick is far too embedded by now.

"Well, I can't disagree with that." Tess snickers "But he's our leader whether we like it or not and we're going to need his help"

"With what?! He's busy sharpening pencils in his office while you, Ava, Kyle and me are doing all the dirty work! A monkey could do his job, and a monkey wouldn't hit on my sister while doing it!"

"Will you let it go?! Ava is a big girl… metaphorically speaking that is… and she's more than capable of telling Max to take a hike if when she wants him to bugger off." Tess says. I hate it when she's making sense like this.

Then, all of a sudden, the cell door opens and Ava steps in. "Max wants to see you." she says with a serious expression on her face. I don't like that expression; it means trouble, and not in a good way.

~~

After quickly following Ava to the strategy room, I take a deep breath before stepping in. After I do, Max almost instantly turns his arrogant expression towards me. "I hope you've had some time to contemplate your actions." he says

"Won't happen again, I swear." I casually say with a smile as I walk into the room and take a seat.

"Well… good." he says. Obviously, he expected me to put up some argument and to tell you the truth, I think it’s pissing him off that I’m not putting up and argument here. "We have a problem, Rath." he says with a very serious expression.

"What kind of problem?" I'm definitely not liking this; I can sense the difference between a problem and a big problem. I see Alex sitting behind the main computer and he has the same grim expression on his face. This is definitely a big problem.

"A few hours ago, three of our leading scientists on Cadmium-X were abducted from our facility in St Louis; dr Amy DeLuca, her daughter Maria and dr Liz Parker." he says while Alex shows a picture of each of them on the big screen.

Max then gestures to Alex, who presses a few keys and a video starts playing on the big screen on the wall. It's obviously a taping of the abduction. "A hidden surveillance camera spotted them as they left the facility." Max says as the screen freezes and zooms in on a bald man in his mid-forties, "We've been able to identify this man; he's known only as Nasedo; a dangerous mercenary, available to the highest bidder." He then gestures towards Alex again who zooms out and then zooms in on a small guy; more like a boy. "We've never seen this man before. We know that Khivar's second in command is a Skin named Nicholas. This might be our first look at him."

I know that guy. "Peewee and I have already met."

"Don't underestimate this Rath." he warns. "Nicholas involvement means that it's very likely that the abduction of our scientists has been ordered by Khivar himself."

I take a few seconds to take that information in. If Khivar is directly involved, it means that this is important; very important.

"We have intel that the scientists have been taken to a hospital about a hundred and fifty miles north from here." Max says.

"A hospital?"

"It is actually a Skin research facility. I want you to go there and get them back. Take Kyle and Tess with you. All the information we have is in there." he says, pointing at a large brown folder on the table and for once, I couldn't agree more with him… well actually, I would have agreed more if he didn’t strategically leave Ava with him, but I’ll worry about that later.

"One more thing, Rath", he says as he gestures towards Alex again who zooms in on a woman on the screen. She looks kinda familiar.

Oh my God… that's… "Lonnie?"

"Did you know that your ex… squad member, has joined the Skins?" he asks.

I don’t know what to think. "She's a mercenary. She follows the money." I don't even believe that myself.

"As long as there isn't any… conflict of interest?" he says cautiously.

I can't help but smile. "Conflict of interest? No, I have interest in conflict." And with that closing comment, I leave the room.

I have a bad feeling about this. That video; I don’t know what it is, but something’s not right. There’s something we’re missing. I just don’t know what.

Oh well… let’s get our people out and we’ll marinate on the rest later.

TBC… any good?

[Drogyn]

Hey everyone. I'm glad that you all seem to like this fic.
I'm feeling better each day but I'm still under heavy medication.

I'm really not that experienced when it comes to canon fics or fics with aliens so I hope I won't dissapoint you. I plan to update every Friday, but I'm terrible at keeping a schedule like that.

To answer the question regarding the picture; I have no idea why some of you can't see the banner.
Maybe pasting this link in you address bar will work:
http://www.avasol.nl/banners/cadmium.jpg

And to answer Eve's question; all the people mentioned are in the fic. As for the others, wait and find out.

Okay, enough talk. Enjoy part 2 and don't forget to leave some feedback... pretty please?

Part 2

Kyle and Tess give me a headache sometimes. Yeah, you guessed it; they're late. Again! Those two have no sense of responsibility. When they’re together, it’s like being stuck in a bad Meg Ryan movie; that’s how mushy they are when they’re together, and any sense of time goes straight out the window. Max told them to get their asses in gear over twenty minutes ago and while I’m not opposed to the idea of ignoring everything he says as a rule, this mission is kind of important.

Kyle and Tess have been locked inside their room and something tells me they’re not playing chess. I swear, those two have sex so often that I’m starting to get worried for their health. A typical day for those two would include a before-breakfast-fuck, breakfast, after-breakfast-fuck, work, coffee-break-fuck… well, I think you get the jist. How I know? Well, here’s your two-word answer: shared wall. Yes that’s right, my room is right next to theirs and the wall we share is way too thin. You know, hearing your sister scream fuck me harder in the middle of the night is not exactly my idea of fun.

Before Kyle moved in with Tess, I could delude myself into thinking they were making cross-word puzzles or watching reruns of Gilligans Island or something. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Tess and Kyle is one of my best friends, but the thought of my sister having sex is just nnngh! As I was saying, I managed to delude myself for a long time, which I was quite content with, until that fateful day that Max sent me to get them because they were late for a meeting, again. I didn’t even think about knocking at that time, and what I saw then, it scarred me for life… and not just because Tess threw her alarmclock at my face, which by the way hit and required three stitches. After that happened, I made a deal with God that I would always knock before entering Tess’ room and in turn, he would never let me watch that again. So far, me and God both kept our words, but that doesn’t mean he made the walls any thicker. Maybe I should just soundproof the wall with my powers.

Well, I’ll worry about that later. Right now, we’ve got bigger things to worry about. This mission feels so different from the ones we’ve been on before. The kidnapping of Cadmium-X specialists, the involvement of Nicholas; this is bigger than anything we’ve dealt with before and somehow, I have a feeling that we’re gonna be right in the thick of it.

And then there’s Lonnie. Honestly, I have no idea what to think of her. Lonnie was a member of our little faction; the Silver Hand, and everything seemed to be going great with her. And then one day, she just left without a word. And now I find out she’s working with the Skins. I know I told Max that she’s just in it for the money, but I just don’t believe that. I honestly don’t know what to believe. Max actually had a point earlier when he hinted that my relationship with Lonnie was more than just professional… I mean, it’s not like we were in love or something, but we hung out a lot together and we had sex every once in awhile, mostly when we were both drunk. But that can’t possibly be why she left… without a word… and joined the Skins.

Well, when I find her, I’ll be sure to ask.

~~

It took those two fuckbunnies another fifteen minutes to get ready. When they came out of the elevator, the both of them had this look on their faces; this immensely satisfied grin that didn’t leave much to the imagination. As much as I hate the idea of my sister having sex, that satisfied look on her face was something I silently thanked Kyle for. Before she met him, she never looked like that. Not that I would ever tell Kyle such a thing; he might get cocky, in a completely different sense of the word, but still…

The two of them got in the back seat together; something I’m used to, and I drove the three of us to the hospital described in the mission folder. The two lovebirds fell asleep only two minutes after we left; also something I'm used to. Some soldiers, huh?

Now here we are, Harvik Memorial Hospital. People are constantly moving in and out of the hospital and in the twenty minutes we’ve been observing the hospital from a distance, I’ve counted four ambulances that arrived and dropped off a patient. “This doesn’t look much like an evil lab. Are you sure Max didn’t screw up his records again?”

“Harvik is an anagram of Khivar. This is the place.” Kyle claims. He can’t tell me in what city the tower of Pisa stands but he can decipher an anagram. Go figure!

“Okay Rainman, any plans on how to find that Maria girl and the other two scientists?”

I hear Tess snicker. “That Maria girl?” she laughs. Shit, I really said that, didn’t I?

“I heard Maria DeLuca has a temper worse than yours.” Kyle adds.

“She would eat you alive.” Tess says with a wide grin. What is this, pick-on-Michael day?

“Enough! Save the sarcasm for after the mission.” God!

“Okay…” Tess says as her expression turns serious again, “…let’s assume that the section the scientists are being held in is restricted from public access.”

“Sounds like a safe bet.”

“Then all we have to do is find out which area is restricted.” she says. You know, that actually makes sense. Intelligence must run in the family. Too bad they forgot to include me.

“So we just supposed to walk to the counter and ask them what area of the hospital is restricted?” Kyle asks sceptically. “Hello, I’m just wondering what areas are restricted. And if you can also tell me how to avoid security, you’re a doll.” Kyle says in a fake sarcastic voice.

“Then why don’t we just send someone posing as a new employee. The first thing you tell a newbie is what he can’t do.” Tess says.

I look at Kyle for a second and we both grin. “That’s a good idea, Tess. Three guesses who gets the honour?”

Her eyes growing wide when she notices me and Kyle staring at her. “Why is it always me?” she complains.

“Karma. Now stand still.” I quickly wave my hand from Tess’ shoes up to her hair, changing her outfit into a genuine nurse’s outfit.

“Jesus Christ, man!” Kyle shouts, grabbing his jaw with his hand to keep his mouth from falling open.

I give Kyle a hard push to snap him out of it. “Don’t even think about it!” I don’t have to be a mindreader to know what he’s thinking right now.

Tess looks down at her outfit and frowns. “I look like a whore!” she shrieks before waving her hand over her clothes again to return them to normal. I really don’t see the problem; all the nurses I saw in a Penthouse magazine wore them. Those are real nurses’ outfits, right?

“Well, I wouldn’t mind if you dressed like that tonight” Kyle says with a grin on his face.

“You wouldn’t mind if she was dressed in a garbage bag. Besides, it's not like she's gonna wear it for long.”

“Guys!” Tess shouts “I’m going in. I’ll find out where the scientists are being held. You two figure out a plan to bust them out.” And with that, she turns around and walks towards the hospital main entrance.

“I love it when she takes charge like that.” Kyle mutters.

“Kyle, we need to talk.”

“Are you breaking up with me?” he asks with a grin.

“Kyle, I don’t fucking care what you do in your own time…”

“But?” he asks

“What?”

“Sorry. I felt a but coming.” he grins

“When we’re on a mission, could you at least pretend not to think with your dick?”

“Look who’s talking. Didn’t you bang Lonnie one time with five Skins in the next room?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Shit, I told him about that?

“No you didn’t tell me.” he says as if he’s reading my mind. “Lonnie told Alex, Alex told Max, Max told Ava, Ava told Tess and Tess told me.”

“WHAT?!” I shout a lot harder than I intended to.

“Just kidding dude! Of course you told me.” he says, holding his hand up in defense. Jesus fucking Christ, he almost gave me a heart-attack. “I don’t know what you’re getting your panties in a twist for anyway; it’s not like we’re groping each other in front of you.”

I’m getting a headache here. Like I said before, that happens sometimes. I suddenly hear the familiar tone of my cell phone. Without looking, I take my cell phone out of my pocket and answer it. “Yeah”

“Rath?”, a very familiar, very annoying, voice asks on the other side.

“No Max, it’s captain Picard on the Enterprise.” Why does he always start his phone conversations with a stupid question? He calls me so of course it’s me.

“Rath, Alex ran a background check on the hospital you’re targeting. Apparently, the FBI has the hospital under surveillance; they think that the hospital is being used to create a new generation of drugs.” he says.

“Okay thanks.” I say as I break the connection. I actually just thanked him, didn’t I? Today might be a good day to buy that lottery ticket. I quickly turn towards Kyle. “The Feds have an eye on this place too. We gotta be careful.”

~~

We wait for two very long hours before finally, we see Tess coming out of the service entrance. “What the hell took so long?”

Tess shoots me an angry glare. “What? You think they tell you which area is locked off and then send you home or something? That head-nurse bitch watched me like a hawk”, she says.

“Where are the scientists?” Kyke asks.

“The basement is the only area that’s off-limits.” Tess explains. That must mean the scientists are being held there.

“Then the basement it is.”

Tess leads us to the service entrance where she uses her powers to open the door. We quickly make our way to the staircase and walk down towards the basement. We're bloody lucky that no one seems to spot us. When we reach the bottom of the stairwell, there is only one door, which is closed off. When we hear footsteps coming down the stairwell, I quickly open the door with my powers and the three of us quickly step through, silently closing the door behind us.

It's only a few seconds later that I look around the room we stepped into. It looks like a second stairwell, and it goes further down... a lot.

Why do I suddenly feel uneasy about this whole plan?

TBC

[Drogyn]

Sorry for the small delay everyone. This is one of the parts that I'm really unsure about, but several people told me it's fine so I will dare post it . Candies, we will see the first interaction between Maria and Michael in this part. I know it's what you're all waiting for .

If you have any feedback; positive or negative, let me know.

Enjoy!

Part 3

“This sucks! Why couldn’t those stupid Skins just build an elevator like everybody else?” Tess complains as we not-so-silently descend the narrow stairwell. The only light is coming from the several small lightbulbs placed on the ceiling about every thirty feet, and they enimate some kind of eerie red light that can make a guy seriously consider turning around and getting the hell out of here. And let’s just say that cleaning is not something the Skins care about much; the spiderwebs make that more than clear.

“Tess, for God’s sake be quiet!” I hiss towards her. A little stealth is not too much to ask for, is it? This narrow stairwell is not exactly the best place for a smackdown with the Skins.

“Well excuse me!” Tess hisses back sarcastically.

When we finally reach the bottom of the stairwell, I look around and notice a large grey door with no doorhandle and a fire extinguisher. “What the hell do they need a fire extinguisher for? Can’t you aliens just do that handwaving thing to put out fires?” Kyle whispers. Honestly, he’s been with us for over a year and I still have to teach him the basics.

“We can, but the Skins’ powers are different from ours. And to tell you the truth, I think telekinesis, throwing energy, nightvision and mindreading is kind of bad enough on its own.”

“Are we going to stand here all day?” Tess asks nervously. Oh right, I almost forgot that Tess is a bit anal when it comes to small dark spaces. It makes her uncomfortable, which makes everyone around her uncomfortable if you know what I mean.

I walk towards the handleless door and open it with my powers, allowing a bright beam of light to enter the hallway. It’s definitely a lab, and it looks huge. I take a few steps inside the lab and almost immediately, a woman who seems to be in her mid-forties walks towards me. She’s dressed in a white lab coat like everyone else I see around me, and she’s wearing the ugliest pair of glasses I have ever seen in this life and all my previous ones. “Good morning. What brings the three of you here?” the woman asks, a little too politely.

I suppose I could just blast her, but that would alert every Skin in the entire facility and by the looks of this place, that could be a lot. “I’m Micah and these nitwits are Tessina and Kevin.” What?! I had to say something. Besides, I just had to grab the opportunity to call Tess by the name she absolutely loathes without having to worry about a slap in the face. Well, not until the mission is over anyway.

“Nicholas asked us to come.” I hope I´m not bluffing my way into a corner here. A few glances around show at least twenty Skins in this room and there’s probably more in the adjacent labs. Thankfully, ugly-glasses woman seems to buy my story and she smiles slighty.

“Next time, just use the elevator, dear.” she notes. “Nicholas is not here yet, but you can wait for him in his office.” she says, pointing in the direction of a small door at the far end of the room.

The three of us quickly move towards the door in question and walk through it, entering a large square office with a large hard oak desk in the center of the room. Other than the desk and the accompanying chair, the room is pretty much empty. Like the woman said, Nicholas is not here. Finally we’re having a bit of luck here.

“I don’t like this, Micah.” Kyle says with a snort.

“Why the hell are you calling me Micah?”

“I agree with Kyle.” Tess states. Big surprise there. “This is going far too easy.”

“Well, if we’re still here when Nicholas arrives, we don’t have to worry about things being easy any more.”

Tess and Kyle look at each other for a moment and silently agree with me. “Point taken. So what’s the plan?” Kyle asks.

“We’re gonna find the scientists. That’s what we’re here for.”

“Good plan Eisenhower, but I’m missing the large neon signs that say kidnapped scientists this way.” Kyle says sarcastically.

“And there’s no conveniant map placed one of the walls in this room either.” Tess adds to the sarcasm.

“This place can’t be that big. Tess, use your powers to make a small hole in that wall.” I say as I point in the direction of the left wall while I walk to the opposite one. “What do you see?”

“It’s a bathroom. Whoa, those Skins should really consider some air freshener.” Tess informs me.

“I’m looking at an empty lab here.” I say as me and Tess walk towards the other wall and use our powers again.

“I see the scientists!” Tess whispers.

She’s right, but they’re not alone. While the two of them are busy with some sort of machine in the center of the room, a Skin is guarding the doorway. Suddenly, the door in that room opens and Nasedo and Lonnie step into the room, accompanied by two more Skins, and walk towards the scientists.

I take a minute to look at Lonnie’s form. “Looking good.” I whisper which causes Tess to glare at me.

They’ve turned their backs towards us. This is a chance we’re never gonna get again. I look at Tess and she nods in approval. The two of us quickly widen the hole in the wall and step through. As soon as I’ve stepped through, I aim for Nasedo.

A blast of power erupts from my hands and hits one of the Skins who stepped in the way at the last moment. As the Skin disintegrates, Lonnie, Nasedo and the other Skins jerk their heads towards us.

Everything happens so fast after that. Before I get a chance to fire again, Nasedo charges towards me. Kyle jumps through the hole as well and charges right at Nasedo. Before Nasedo knows what hits him, Kyle already lands a series of punches on Nasedo’s face.

I never mentioned that Kyle was a third degree black belt, did I?

The two remaining Skins in the room just stare through the room looking very confused. A quick glance towards Tess shows me all I need to know on that front.

I turn back towards the action and suddenly stare right in the barrel of a gun; not exactly the best position to be in at the moment. I don’t even have to look to see who it is. “Hey cutie. Miss me?”

“Not at this range.” Lonnie quips. When the sound of Nasedo crashing through the back door distracts Lonnie for a second, I quickly take my chance and kick the gun out of her hands before sending her flying back across the room. That was a little too close for my taste.

“Didn’t they ever teach you stealth?” a female voice sounds across the room. I look towards the direction of the voice and spot the two scientists who just stood by and watched the battle.

“What?”

“Are you retarded or something? You make more noise than my mother does when she’s upset.” the blonde; Maria, says.

“And that actually means something.” the other one; Elizabeth, adds with a small smile.

At the exact moment sat says that, a loud screeching sound fills the room. Somebody sounded the alarm. Fuck! I quickly turn my attention to Maria. “Hey pixie, one of the Skins mentioned an elevator. Where is it?”

“How the hell should I know?!” she shouts back “And don’t you ever call me pixie again!”

“It’s in the back of an empty lab. I heard the guards talk about it.” Elizabeth says quickly.

“Okay everybody, move, move!” I shout as I run back into Nicholas’ office.

“Wait! We still have to rescue my mother.” Maria demands, not moving from her position

I quickly run back towards the crazy girl and look straight into her eyes. “Look here blondie, either we go now or we all die.”

“Are you incompetent or something? Your orders are to rescue all three of us. I won’t leave without my mother!” Maria shouts at me.

Without further warning, I grab her head and use my powers to send a series of shocks through it. “Sorry goodlooking; this hurts me more than you.”

“Oh, it sure will.” Elizabeth says with a snicker as she helps me to carry Maria’s unconcious body towards Nicholas’ office where Tess already managed to create a doorway into the empty lab.

“What the hell happened with her?” Tess asks as me and Liz carry Maria through the empty lab towards the large elevator door we couldn’t see from Nicholas’ office.

“She didn’t wanna come.” That should be enough of an explanation.

“Goddammit Michael!” she hisses.

“Don’t start with me. I didn’t have time to convince her.”

“They’re here!” Kyle shouts as he runs from Nicholas’ office towards the elevator where the rest of us are already waiting and hops in the elevator with the rest of us. The last thing we see before the doors close is a group of at least ten Skins bursting through the door.

~~

”The elevator went straight to the top floor. We then borrowed the emergency helicopter on the roof to get the hell out of there and I flew it to one of our safehouses…”

“You stole the hospital’s emergency helicopter?” Max asks with a frown. You know, this is why I hate debriefing.

“Well, I didn’t really feel like strolling through the hospital with an army of skins on our backs, especially with an unconcious scientist and the FBI watching.” Ok, his expression shows that he gets my point. I know that Max would rather have me write a report for him, but I’m not really the writing kind of guy.

“Well, good job Rath.” Max finally says as his expression changes to a satisfied smile. What? No (insert whiny voice) Why didn’t you rescue all three of them?

“I dunno Max. There’s something not right here.”

“Yeah I know; I’d rather have all three scientists back here too, but you rescued two and nobody got hurt, and that’s good.” he says. Okay, who are you and what did you do to Max?

“That’s not what it is Max. Oh well, I suppose it’s nothing.”

“You’re right; it’s probably nothing. You’re dismissed.” he says in a definitive kind of way. There’s the Max we all know and hate.

I suppose I could go grab a beer with the guys, but I can’t shake the feeling that something is terribly wrong…

And I’ll find out what it is.

TBC

[Drogyn]

Sorry for the delay everyone, but here’s the new part.

Part 4

Have you ever had the feeling that you were missing something; that you know that there is more than meets the eye, but you can’t place your finger on what it is exactly? Well, I’m having that feeling right now and I just know that the answer is somewhere on this tape but I can’t figure out what it is. So, for the tenthousandth time today, I’m watching the camera footage of the scientists’ capture. I have examined everything: I noticed Maria DeLuca elbowing Nasedo in the gut and him not even flinching, I noticed Liz Parker almost tripping over a small pebble, hell I even noticed Nicholas wiping his nose on his sleeve; something I really didn’t need to see, but I can’t find that one that thing I know is there.

Suddenly, the door to my room flies open. “I want to kill somebody.” Ava says bluntly as she walks into my room and throws herself face-first on my bed. I’d ask her to knock next time but that’d be a waste of my breath.

“Are you referring to a certain scientist who is now having lunch with our fearless leader?” I don’t think Ava appreciates the big grin on my face but I can’t help myself.

“He just met her and he’s already giving her the look. That’s my look!” she says with a desperate expression.

“You’re not jealous, are you? I thought you weren’t interested in Max.”

“I’m not! I mean, I don’t know.” she says hesitantly and in case you didn’t know, that is Ava-talk for I think I’m in love with him. You probably didn’t catch that but if you grow up with her, you catch on soon enough. “He always makes me feel special; like I’m the only girl on the entire planet, and now when I went by his room, he didn’t even look up from his papers.”

“Aves, I’m not gonna pretend I like Max, because you know I’d be lying.” I say with a smile “But if you really want him, just talk to him.” Personally, I think he’s just trying to maker her jealous.

“Can’t I just kill her instead?” Ava pouts. “No wait, I can mindwarp her to make her think she’s a pig or something.” she continues, suddenly smiling like a mindless idiot.

I know her well enough to know that she’s just kidding, but you can’t be too careful these days. “Ava.” I say warningly.

“Yes yes, I know. I’ll talk to him.” she says, throwing herself back on the bed. I don’t move at all and just stare at her. “What? Now?” she asks, a little shocked.

“Well yeah! Unless you rather wait for their first child to be born.” I say which has her sprinting out the room in no time flat. It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long while. Ava is so much easier to rile than Tess. Well, finally I have some peace and quiet again so I can watch my tape. Some people say I’m obsessive… like, that’s a bad thing?

Before I get a chance to concentrate on the screen, another blonde girl is standing in the doorway. “Was that Ava sprinting through the hallways?” Tess asks and I simply nod. “So, whatcha doing?” she asks.

“Watching the abduction tape.” I say dryly. She’s gonna lecture me again.

“Michael, this is officially not funny anymore.” Tess says, frowning like my obsession is physically hurting her.

“It’s here, I know it.” Why can’t she see it too?

“If you wanna look at Maria DeLuca, just go to the infirmary and do it in person.” Tess quips. Alright, I did not see that one coming. I admit that Maria DeLuca is indeed moderately attractive but it’s not like I haven’t been cool about it. I’m not Max.

“Actually…” Kyle says as he enters the room with a large bruise around his right eye “She woke up a few minutes ago.”

“Jesus Christ Kyle, what’d you do?... And, doesn’t anyone knock?”

“Ask your girlfriend.” he spits out before falling back on my couch, gently rubbing the sore spots around his eye.

“You’re not saying a short blonde girl did that to you, are you?” Because that would be beyond funny.

“Hey!” Tess says loudly. Damn, I forgot she was here.

“She did and guess who her main target is.” Kyle says

“Michael Sedrath Guerin!” a loud voice echoes through the room. Somehow, I know I’m not gonna like what happens next. I look towards the door just in time to see a fist flying towards my face.

You know how you always think you can hold your own, especially against a woman? Well guess again; I don’t even get a chance to object before she hits me in the face again and I’m telling you; she does not hit like a girl.

“You son of a bitch! You left my mother there, you jerk. And then you knock me out! How dare you? Imbecile! How could you, you… alien!” she shouts as she continuously tries to hit me. Thankfully, I manage to block most of her punches this time.

Aaaah! I feel a sharp pain in a place where a man should feel only pleasure and I feel my legs giving in as I fall on the floor. Man down! Goddammit, that hurts!

“You’re gonna get my mother back; do you hear me?!” she demands. Woman, I’m not really in a coherent state of mind right now.

“Didn’t you hear me?!” she shouts after a few seconds.

“You might wanna give him a minute.” Kyle says with a small smile… the traitor!

“Are you on steroids or something?” Using the chair for leverage, I manage to get to my feet again.

“Is this some big joke to you. You left my mother behind and you’re going to get her back!” she says loudly but, thankfully, without physical violence this time.

“You know, I don’t know where she is and even if I did, how the hell do you propose we get her?” Why didn’t I just agree and dump this load on Max; that’s what he’s there for? I just have to take the hard road with her, don’t I? I guess she brings it out in me.

“I know how to find her.” she states.

~~

“No! Absolutely not!” Max protests, but I can see in Maria’s expression that she’s really not taking no for an answer here.

“I agree with Max; even if we managed to find out where they’re keeping her, we could never sneak in like we did before. They know us now and they’re gonna be prepared.”

“Am I surrounded by idiots here?” Maria says as she makes a dramatic gesture by standing up and towering over the table.

“Miss DeLuca, please sit down.” Max asks patiently. Quite frankly, I don’t know how he can be so calm around her; I’ve been around her for half an hour now and I’m just about ready to scratch my ears off.

“Don’t Miss-DeLuca me! If you’re not helping me, I’m going alone.” Maria said

“She has a point.” Liz Parker finally says from the other end of the table. “If nothing else, Amy DeLuca is the leading expert on Cadmium-X.” Max seems to genuinely consider her opinion. Hmmm, maybe there is something going on with those two.

“Doesn’t anyone listen here? It’s. Too. Dangerous!” What the hell is wrong with those two?

Maria doesn’t even take the trouble to answer anymore and simple storms off, slamming the door behind her. She’s gonna do something stupid; mark my words.

“Christ.” Max mutters “Kyle, get her back.” he sighs.

“What? Are you kidding me?” Kyle says with a defiant look.

“I’ll get her.” Bloody wimp! With that, I quickly exit the door and run after Maria.

“Maria!” I shout as I see her walking towards the exit.

“Michael, don’t try to stop me. I have to save my mother. She’s all the family I have.” she says in a defeated tone and I can already feel words forming in my mouth that I really don’t want to say.

“If you go in there alone, they will kill you on sight.”

“Then help me. Please!” she begs, staring at me with those big green eyes. Oh Jesus, I was afraid of this. I can’t stand a woman begging like this; something Tess and Ava have milked for all it’s worth.

“Fine.” I relent. Who wants to live life in the fresh air when they can rot in a Skin jail cell for the rest of their lives anyway?

Without another word, she walks towards the exit and I follow her. Since when did I let myself get used like this? Women!

~~

“So what exactly does that thing do?” We’re at the lab where the scientists were abducted from and Maria has just took some sort of weird orb-shaped device from a hidden compartment in her mothers quarters.

“The CadmiumX-experiments have a unique radiation signature. With this device, I can locate the place where the experiments are being held.” she says. That device looks so weird; almost alien. As I reach out to touch it, she literally slaps my hand away and gives me a look that needs no explaining; I am not to touch it, ever.

“You know, a simple please don’t touch that goes a long way.”

“Sorry, but this device is important; without it, there’s no chance of finding my mother.” Maria says. She presses some part of the orb and suddenly, a small light emits from the bottom-left of the orb. I’ve seen some weird things; shapeshifters, alien spacecrafts, Marilyn Manson… but this takes the cake.

“This some freaky shit. What the hell were the three of you working on?”

“Me and my mother were working on neutralizing Cadmium-X radiation by destabilizing the atoms with a particle accellerator. Liz was studying the effects of Cadmium-X radiation on lifeforms.”

“Can you say that again in English?”

“God, can you be any more of a caveman?” she whines “I said, me and my mother were trying to neutralize Cadmium-X radiation.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you just say that to begin with?”

“I did, you ape!” she snaps before looking at the device. “Damn, it’s not picking up anything.”

“What’s the range on that thing?”

“About a hundred miles.” she says before realizing something terrible. “What if they moved her to the other side of the world? I’ll never find her then!”

“Let’s get back to the lab where the three of you were held before. Knowing Nicholas, he’s just about arrogant enough to stay where he is.” I say in a comforting tone. I never knew this side of me, but at this particular moment, all I wanna do is hold her and tell her it’s gonna be okay.

I’m in such big trouble here.

TBC

[Drogyn]

Okay, it took me over a month, but I finally made a new chapter. It's kind of an action-based part again, so it probably sucks. But since this fic is based on an action-based PC-game, it's kind of necessary. I hope you all like and don't forget to tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is appreciated too. Have fun.

Part 5

The ride over here was definitely something I will never forget. I expected the ride over here to be uncomfortable and silent but I obviously didn’t know Maria DeLuca very well; from the moment we stepped into my car until the moment we stepped out, the only silence I got were the fractions of seconds she needed to breathe between each sentence. And she definitely tested how short she could make those pauses; there had been a few times that I thought she was gonna pass out from lack of oxygen. That woman is a danger to herself.

In the hours it took to get here, I learnt a lot about ‘important topics’ such as women’s clothes and toiletries, a scientific explanation as to why the toilet seat should be down, why men should be more understanding about women’s periods, the phases of a butterfly, the cutest baby names, monster trucks… no wait, that last one was a topic I thought about while she was rambling. Anyway, I feel like shit!

Well, now we’re sitting in the car, watching the hospital from a distance and I’m having a really strange feeling. It wasn’t that long ago that I stood here, at this very spot, bickering with Kyle and Tess. And you know what they say about returning to the scene of the crime… you know: don’t do it!

I quickly push that feeling away and direct my attention to Maria. This is the moment that she should tell me if and where that parental of hers is, and for the first time in hours, she’s not saying a word. Typical! “So what does it say?” I ask, pointing at that weird device in her hands.

“It… it says it’s here,” Maria says in a very confused tone.

“Call me crazy but wasn’t that what we were hoping?”

“No, you oaf! Here, as in within ten feet.” I don’t know why she’s snapping at me here. That was a normal question, right?

“That device-thingie is wrong; there’s nothing here!” I say right before the ground starts to shake and a green color surrounds the car. I just had to say it, didn’t I? I take it back, I take it back!

The last thing I remember is Maria elbowing me in the shoulder. I know, I deserved it.

~~

Ow. That was definitely not my idea of fun. I have no idea what happened exactly but I’m definitely not in the car anymore. It’s dark, cold and dank, and it’s not Max’ bedroom. The bars in front of the window don’t leave much to the imagination however; I allowed myself to get captured. Nobody at home is ever gonna let me forget this one; if I ever get out of here that is.

“Maria, are you okay?” I get no response and I quickly scan the small jail cell which appears to be empty aside from me. That’s just great. God, could this day get any worse?

“Well well, if it isn’t the trusted second in command.” A soft voice suddenly sounds through the room, probably through an intercom system. Who was I kidding; of course the day can be worse.

“Good morning Nicholas. Did your stretching exercises today?” I say in the calmest voice I have. I’m not sure where he is, but I know he can hear me.

“You’ve always been the funny one,” he says calmly.

“Yeah, I’m a hoot. Now why don’t you show yourself so I can blast your ass to whatever hell you spawned from?”

“I’d rather not.” Okay, he’s being way too calm here. It’s bugging me, and not in a good way.

I get an uneasy feeling and quickly decide that I don’t wanna be here any longer. I stretch my arm towards the exit and a bright burst of energy hits the cell door.

Whoa!

Jesus Christ, that hurt! The cell door doesn’t have a scratch and all energy was forced back my way. Good thing I was standing on the other side of the cell.

“Problems?” Nicholas asks with glee. You know, sometimes I feel like strangling that little dwarf.

“Yeah, that cell door seems to be immune to my powers. I’m guessing you don’t want to open it for me?” I don’t know why I bother trying to psych him out. It’s not like it’s gonna work.

“You guessed right. And I’ll save you further embarrassment; the walls are blast-proof too.” Maybe it’s time to panic now… no, don’t panic!

“Why not just kill me?” Why on earth did I just ask that? Contrary to what everyone might think, I don’t have a death wish.

“Khivar wants to kill you personally. It’s really an honor.” Khivar? He’s such a mystery that I’m almost honored to meet him… almost. He’s like a ghost and never leaves a trace of who he is. Well, at least it’ll buy me some time to figure a way out. Nicholas doesn’t say anything after that. I think he left.

~~

It feels like I’ve been here for hours. I’m cold, I’m hungry and I’m considering panicking just to give me something to do. Even though Dwarfman warned me, I tried blasting just about everything, but it just gave me a killer headache. Suddenly, a bright light fills the room as the cell door is opened. I shield my eyes from the blinding light and expect to be either shot or blasted. Instead, nothing happens.

“Are you gonna just sit there?!” a voice asks forcefully. I know that voice.

“Lon? What the hell?”

“I don’t have time to explain. In about twenty minutes, the scientists will be relocated to a Skin facility somewhere in the Mediterranean. If you want to find them, now might be your last chance.”

“Why should I listen to anything you say?”

“I didn’t have a choice Michael… and neither do you. I have business on the bottom level… the scientists are two floors up. You’re gonna need this,” she says as she throws a small keycard towards me, which I catch with one hand. When I look at the doorway again, she’s gone.

I don’t trust this whole thing, but she had a point; I don’t have a choice. I quickly jump up and run out of the jail cell, entering a long hallway. I look around and notice two piles of ashes just outside the jail cell; Lonnie obviously took care of the guards, but she is nowhere to be seen. I’m confused, I’m pissed and I have a headache. Someone is gonna pay.

Lonnie said two floors up, and even though I don’t really trust her, I still think she was telling the truth. At the end of the hallway, a large steel door blocks entry to the stairwell. Just as I’m ready to blast it, I notice a small card reader next to the door. So that’s what the keycard is for.

I wonder why everything here is immune to my powers. I have a feeling that the word Cadmium-X is gonna be an important part of that answer.

I flip the keycard through the reader and the door immediately swings open. Without overthinking everything, I run up two floors and use the same keycard to get access to what appears to be the sixteenth floor. I step into the room and close the door behind me.

The entire sixteenth floor is one large room without any walls except the outer walls and bright light streams in from every direction through the numerous windows. In the center of the room is some weird device with Nicholas, Nasedo and the scientists standing around it. I may have been a little rash because I wasn’t exactly quiet when I entered. Nicholas turns his head and looks straight at me, the smile on his face quickly disappearing.

“What’s the matter junior… didn’t think I would make it out?” For a second there, I see a confused expression on his face before Nasedo grunts loudly.

“I told you we should have killed that bitch! Both of them!” Nasedo shouts in anger. Okay, I get that he meant Lonnie… but what does he mean by ‘both of them’?

“Kill him and kill her too!” Nicholas hisses to Nasedo, pointing at Amy DeLuca. Nasedo grins widely at that order and without any warning, he takes a handgun out of his pocket and shoots at Amy DeLuca, who just barely manages to jump behind one of the oak desks.

“No, mom!” Maria shouts but is immediately silenced as Nicholas places his hand on her head and she instantly passes out. He then picks her up, throws her over his shoulder and carries her out of the room. He’s stronger than he looks, but that statement really isn’t saying a lot.

“I don’t know why I bothered blasting people all these years when a gun works so much easier,” Nasedo says as he starts firing away in my direction. I duck away behind one of the supporting pillars. One shot scrapes past my shoulder but all the other shots miss. When I hear a clicking sound, I smile; he’s out of bullets.

I come out of hiding and look at him with a smile on my face as I step into the open. I’m so gonna enjoy this. Suddenly, he reaches under his coat and takes out a second gun. Oh fuck!

This is it; I’m dead. He won’t miss from this distance. When he points the gun at me, I instinctively close my eyes and prepare myself for the inevitable. Instead, I hear a loud screaming and I quickly open my eyes again.

The sight before me is something that would be entertaining if it wasn’t so dead-serious. Amy DeLuca just kicked the gun out of Nasedo’s hands and now backs away as Nasedo turned her attention to her. “Blast him! Blast him, you idiot!“ she shouts desperately. I like her already.

I quickly do as she says and stretch my hand towards him. He tries to get away, but within a second, he’s nothing but ashes. “That’s why we don’t use guns,” I say with a grin.

Amy DeLuca immediately runs towards the door Nicholas escaped through. “Come on, we have to get my daughter!” I don’t feel like disagreeing and run towards the door. I flip my keycard through it, but nothing happens. What the fuck does it mean by ‘Access denied’?

“Hold on, I’ll blast it!” I shout, indicating Amy to stand back.

“Wait, you can’t!” Amy shouts back. “This entire facility was radiated with Cadmium-X. You’d get us both killed.” Yeah, I was afraid of that.

“Okay, we gotta think this over. Where do you think he’s t…” I say, abruptly stopping my question when Amy runs towards the stairwell I came from. She didn’t listen to a word I said. I let out an involuntary sigh.

Like mother, like daughter.

TBC