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Upon reaching the lab, one of the two men left while the other remained. Brennan pulled his other arm free from the iron grasp, but he made no other attempt to move. He had to submit to whatever was about to be done to him, for Emma's sake.
Two men in white lab coats entered. One was older, the other fairly young. Brennan glared at them. "Let's get this over with," he said, keeping the fear from his voice. There was something about doctors and sterile rooms that creeped him out.
"Very well," the older doctor said while pulling on a pair of latex gloves. "Remove your clothes."
Instantly biting his tongue, Brennan held back his retort. The guard still stood between him and the door, and any attempt at running would surely prove futile. Fine, if that's the way they wanted to play this. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of making him squirm.
Holding out his bound hands, he waited for the cuffs to be unlocked. The young doctor, probably just an assistant, stepped forward and removed his restraints. Upon closer inspection, Brennan decided the kid was likely younger than he was.
With his hands now free, Brennan pushed aside his modesty and stripped. He made no attempt to hide his nakedness. The young assistant watched him with a bit too much interest. Brennan stared right back. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."
Blushing, the young man turned away. But Brennan's smug attitude was short- lived as he was forced to lie on his stomach on one of the metal examination tables. It was cold against his bare skin. He struggled to keep his breathing even as his ankles and wrists were moved into position and locked with the restraints.
He pulled experimentally at them, every impulse inside him screaming orders to fight, to flee. Yet knowing Eckhart had Emma kept him frozen. And he told himself not to be afraid.
Whatever was done to him now, Adam would fix it.
He was hooked up to a monitor next, and it displayed his vital signs. Brennan seriously prayed they weren't expecting those to change. Then a scan was run over his entire body. When it was finished, somebody placed a sheet over him. It warded off the chill, yet it also meant they planned on keeping him where he was for a while.
He spotted the large needle with his peripheral vision as the syringe was being filled. Then a strong hand was placed on the back of his head, holding him securely. Flesh, not gloved, so he knew it to be his guard, not one of the doctors. They were expecting him to fight this.
"What are you doing to me?" he asked, his voice demanding an answer. Maybe he was being foolish to allow this.
He was held more firmly. "Be still."
Brennan didn't so much as blink as a slight pressure was applied to his sub- dermal governor. The needle was being inserted through it. He winced ever so slightly as it finally pierced the skin at the base of his neck. Then it was slowly pushed deeper. He tensed but managed to keep still.
After what seemed an eternity, the needle was pulled back out, and his head was released. That's when the tingle started. It increased to an unpleasant warmth which steadily progressed throughout his body. The heat was accompanied by nausea and some discomfort.
Then time skipped and he figured he must have blacked out because he was now lying on his back, and he was hooked up to all sorts of medical equipment. His head was swimming and the voices around him were fading in and out.
Something had gone wrong. Eckhart would be pissed. That fact would have pleased Brennan had it not been for the problem being with him. And he didn't have a clue how serious it was. He hoped they'd gone through too much effort to capture him for them to just let him die.
Adam wouldn't let that happen. He'd be intervening in this experiment any minute now. Adam would fix this. Brennan placed complete faith in that thought before losing consciousness.
-----
"What's the problem?" Eckhart asked into the microphone as he looked down at the lab through the observation window.
One of the three doctors looked up at the glass. "He's rejecting the strand. We need to reverse the process or we'll lose the subject."
Removing his glasses, Eckhart pinched the bridge of his nose. Hadn't they run tests to be certain Mulwray was compatible? He hit the talk button on the mike once more. "Proceed with the experiment as planned. And be certain he doesn't die."
With that, Eckhart turned to leave. He had other things to attend to. And when he returned, there'd either be four live men in that room, or four dead ones.
-----
Emma waited in her room, which was more like a prison in her opinion, for something to happen. It had been hours, and she was more than a little nervous. She wanted Brennan. What if Eckhart didn't intend to ever let her see him again?
Curling up into a ball in the corner, she rubbed her arms, feeling cold. It was surely quite late by now. Adam would have noticed that she and Brennan had never returned to Sanctuary. He, Shalimar, and Jesse were probably out looking for them.
She tried to be optimistic, fully expecting to be found. But there was a fair amount of unease at not being able to use her gift to help the others locate her. Without that, she had no idea how long a search would take.
However, she knew the rest of Mutant X would never quit trying until both she and Brennan were safe.
-----
It was 3:00am when the signals moved. The quiet beeping of his computer woke Adam from his light sleep.
Brennan and Emma were no longer at Genomex. Adam adopted a troubled expression. He'd chosen not to act yet. They'd agreed it was best to wait until the graveyard shift went home and they could enter with the morning crew. Rubbing his eyes, Adam blinked at the screen. Why was Eckhart moving his kids in the middle of the night?
He quickly pulled up a map and tried to locate the signals' current position. At quarter to four, the movement stopped. Two minutes later, the tracking devices went dead.
-----
Jesse took a deep breath of the brisk air as he leaned against the car and put his face in his hands. It had been early when Adam roused him, and now the sky was brightening with the first rays of dawn.
The search parties were just getting started. Police and the coast guard had arrived even before Mutant X. After retrieving a jacket, Jesse headed back toward the water to wait with Adam and Shalimar.
A witness had reported seeing several men dumping what looked like two bodies from a black van. Crews had spent the rest of the night working out what they called a search grid. What the red lines on the map really indicated was what area of the river they were going to drag to try to find the bodies.
Standing beside Shalimar, Jesse stared out across the water. The scene didn't look any more hopeful in the cold light of day. This was the location Emma and Brennan's rings had last been active, and according to his research, there was nothing built under the river.
One certain fact was that the two rings were indeed in the water. He could only pray that his friends weren't also.
-----
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