Alternate Universe "Haven"
Disclaimer: Mag 7 doesn't belong to me.
Author's Note: Thanks to Brate for creating this AU and Enola Jones for being an awesome beta .
“Ezra, have you seen Buck?”Looking up from his book, Ezra frowned. “I thought the two of you went out to pick something up from the store?”
JD slumped down into a nearby chair. “We did. We got back here, Buck got a call and took off, said he would only be an hour or so. That was last night.”
Ezra, placed his book down. “He is most likely fine. It's just taking longer then he thought.”
“I thought of that. That's why I waited till now. I've tried his cell phone. He didn't answer.”
“He might have been busy.”
“Even if he was, he would have called back by now. He would be worried that someone got hurt.”
Opening his mouth to protest, Ezra closed it. JD was right, Buck would have call back just to see if anyone was hurt. “Do you think you can find his cell phone?”
Pulling out a sheet of paper, he grinned slightly. “I have the information already. Can we go?”
“Shouldn't we tell Chris at least?”
“Let's wait until we find him. I don't want to bother Chris if he's fine.”
Nodding, Ezra grabbed his jacket and headed towards the door. “Let's go find him.”
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Reaching the spot that the cell signal was coming from, the two sentients got out of the car. Looking around the alleyway, JD frowned. “This can't be right.”
Taking a few steps into the alleyway, Ezra had to agree. Buck wouldn't have left his cell phone in an alley.
Finding the phone, he knelt down and looked at the area it was near. “JD, can you get anything off the phone?”
Walking over to Ezra, the young man bent down and picked it up. Lowering his shields, he shook his head at Ezra after a few seconds. “Nothing, at least not involving what happened last night.”
“I think it's time to let the rest of the team know what is happening. I think our resident pyrokinetic is in a lot of trouble.” Ezra stated.
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The first thing he came aware of was the fact that he was soaked. The second was that he was tied up. Blinking the water from his eyes, he tried to bring his arms to his face. All that happened was that he started to choke himself. Stopping the movement, he tried to catch his breath. Finally, he was able to look around the room.
He Spotted several men standing a few feet in front of him. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. “What's going on? Where am I?”
“Good, you're awake. As for where you are, you don't need to know that. All you need to know is that we'll be the last faces you'll ever see.”
“Thought they would be prettier.”
The punch that he received to his jaw was not a surprise. Rotating, his jaw, he looked up at the man that hit him. “So, are you going to give me your name, or do I get to call you thug number 1?”
The leader stared at the man. “You can call me Stan. Not that you'll get much of a chance to use it.”
Before Buck could open up his mouth, he was jabbed in the shoulder by one of the henchmen. “What was that for?”
“That was a cocktail of drugs that will keep you from using your power. We wouldn't want you to escape the ropes, would we? At least not until we're done with you.”
Concentrating for a moment, Buck tried to burn through the rope. When nothing happen he looked up at Stan. Seeing the look on the captured sentient's face, Stan smiled. “I told you that it won't work. Course this isn't the worst of this little drug.”
“What do you mean?”
“It seems whatever control you had on your ability will be shot. “
Tugging on the ropes, he stopped when he started to choke himself. Clearing his throat, the sentient had to ask. “Why are you going to all this trouble? Why not just kill me and get it over with?”
The man hit Buck in the stomach this time. Watching the tied up man struggle to get back in position so he could breathe, the man took a deep breath. “You don't need to know, nor do you deserve to know, but I'll tell you so you can ponder it. How your kind will destroy the world.”
“You mean sentients..This is all because you hate sentients.”
Grinning rather madly, he shook his head. “No, not sentients. Just you. The pyrokinetics. Your kind can kill millions, destroy whole forest, communities, just because you can't control your powers. Good people die who know nothing about what your kind to do. It's better for the world to kill you all.”
“Just because I can create fire. A person with a match would be as dangerous.”
Stan moved closer to Buck, leaning into his face. “You're worse..much worse.. Your kind kill innocents and don't think twice about it. You can hurt others just because you sneeze. You all deserve to die.”
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“What do you have, JD?
Glaring at his laptop, the young man shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing, Chris. There isn't any reason why someone would take Buck.”
Rubbing his eyes, he turned to Vin. “You got anything?”
Vin sat heavily into a chair. “No, its like he's not there.”
Ezra frowned. “Mister Tanner, what would be the reasons you couldn't find one of us?”
“Don't know. If he was unconscious or block ed somehow or too far away.”
“Josiah, you have any idea?”
“No, he seem to have disappeared. I talked to the person that Buck was going to see, she said he stopped by, helped her out--- then left again. “
“Get anything from her?”
“She was telling the truth.”
Before Chris could say anything else, Nathan came charging into the room. Stopping himself, he looked at the group. “Anyone seen Buck?”
“No, he's missing. Why, have you seem him?”
Looking over at Josiah, Nathan shook his head. “No, I just wanted to warn him, some of the people at clinic were talking. Seems that pyrokinetics are going missing from some nearby towns. I wanted to warn him to be careful. He's missing? When?”
“From what we can figure sometime, last night. Do you have any more information about this man?”
Sitting down in a chair, Nathan frowned. “No, just the rumor that people were being taken. They didn't have any more information.”
“JD, do a search through police databases and newspapers. See if you can find any truth to these rumors.”
Nodding, he turned to his computer and started to search.
Turning to Nathan, Chris took a deep breath. “Tell us everything you heard.”
Nodding, the healer started to talk.
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Hearing footsteps, he wearily raised his head. “Thought you left for good.”
The man smiled. “No, not yet. But soon. The drug I gave you should be wearing off soon. I won't want to be around when it does. Though you don't have to worry. You'll have other things to worry about. I've seen the aftermath of the loss of control of your kind. It isn't pretty.”
“Thought you would want to see it.”
“Oh, I will, just from safety. There's some nice cameras set up. They're heat resistant. They won't be melted by you. But don't worry, I'll tape it.”
Staring at the man, Buck lunged at him, though he was brought up short by the rope around his neck choking him. By the time he got himself under control, he noticed that Stan had left. Cursing his luck. Buck concentrated on the ropes, hoping that he would have enough power to burn through them before he lost control.
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As he was leaving the warehouse, Stan and his bodyguards spotted two dark SUV's pulling into the warehouse. Frowning, he motioned for his men to take up positions. He didn't like the looks of things.
As the group of men barreled out of the cars, the lead man of the group -- a blond-- spoke up. “Where is he? We know he's here. Give him up before we kill you.”
With a snort, Stan hollered back. “Never! his kind need to die. They're a menace.”
“We know he's in the warehouse. Give him back now.”
Looking down at his watch, he smiled. “You are too late.”
He smiled, ducking down. The side of the warehouse seemed to explode in a ball of flame. With a look at the bodyguards, they opened fire. Staring at the six men, Stan would teach them a lesson. No one could stop them.
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Ducking behind a dumpster, Chris looked over at Nathan. “Can you get to Buck?”
Cautiously peering around his cover, Nathan nodded. “If you can lay down some cover, I can get to him.”
Looking over at Vin for a few seconds, the telepath nodded. Looking back at Jackson, Larabee nodded. “On the count of three.”(Nathan, Chris)
Shifting his position slightly, Nathan waited to hear Chris say three. When he heard it, he bolted from the cover to where he could see Buck kneeling next to a wall.
Stopping just short of the brick wall, before his nose would of hit it, he crouched down next to Buck, who seemed to be holding his ears.
Buck shook his head. “I'm fine.”
“You're not fine. You have rope burns on your throat and you're holding your ears like there's something wrong. Let me see.”
With a sigh, Buck lowered his hands. Staring at the ears for a second, Nathan sighed. “I need to get you out of here. Vin and Chris are going to lay down some cover. Then we can get you back to the house and take care of your burns.
Taking a very good look at Buck, Nathan knew he didn't like what he saw. Placing one hand on each of Buck's ears, he started the healing on the ears. “You ears will be all right. We need to go.”
Taking a deep breath, Buck nodded. Nathan looked over towards Vin. When he heard the telepath in his head, he warned Vin that they were coming. Grasping Wilmington's arm, the two men hurried as fast as they could toward the rest of the team as the pre-arranged signal was given.
Reaching the other side and in safety, Nathan gently laid Buck down. Chris looked over at the injured pyrokinetic, “Is he going to be all right?”
“He should be all right. I need to get him out of here. I need time to check him over. Find out what happened to him.”
Chris nodded. Sharing a glance with Vin, who grinned in agreement. Moving over to Chris, he settled his hands on Chris's shoulders and boosted Chris's power. With a grin, Chris concentrate for a moment, and the guns that Stan was using were ripped from his hand, then his men's weapons were.
Moving towards the now defenseless men, the rest of the team, took care of the lackeys. Chris used his telekinesis to slam Stan against the still standing wall of a warehouse. “Tell me why I shouldn't rip your limbs from your bodies!
“You won't. I didn't hurt anyone.”
JD spoke up from the place where he was standing. “You hurt Buck.”
Frowning ,Stan finally realized who the young sentient was talking about . “You mean the pyrokinetic. He's a dangerous animal that needs to be caught and killed. He's nothing like the rest of you.”
Growling slightly, Larabee was about to kill the man when Josiah spoke up. “Chris don't kill him.”
“Why not?”
“We have to find out what others ones he killed. Those families should know. Besides if we kill him, we aren't any better then him.”
After several minutes, Chris finally nodded, making sure he rammed Stan's body and head into the wall a couple of times. “Ezra, can you call Travis and have him get someone to pick this group up? We'll stay till they get here. Josiah, go help Nathan with Buck. Get him out of here. We'll meet you both back at the house --- when we're done with the trash.”
With a nod, Josiah headed back towards Nathan and Buck. Ezra was busy on the phone. Chris turn to look at Stan, wondering if anyone would notice if the man was missing some limbs or other parts that he wouldn't need.
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“Its been two days.. When is he going to wake up?”
“Chris, we don't know what he's been through. All we know is that the drug that was used on Buck should of killed him. We don't know how he survived that. We need to wait. He'll wake up when he doe.”(should have)
A sleepy reply from the bed, interrupted the two that were arguing. “I'm awake, and would like to go back to sleep.” (bed interrupted)
Both men rushed over to the pyrokinetic. Nathan was the first to speak. “How do you feel? Anything hurt?”
“I'm all right, just tired.”
“How did you survive the drug? Everything I've read and studied about the drug --- it was made for killing you.”
Buck shrugged his shoulders. He didn't want to talk about what had happened in the warehouse.
Chris motioned for Nathan to leave. Settling down on a nearby chair, Chris sighed. “Are you going to tell us what happened or just keep quiet about it? We know he tied you up and that he didn't like you because you were a pyorkinetic?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. He drugged me with that stuff then used me as a punching bag. I wasn't really in the mood to listen to the man sprout off about why I needed to die.”
Shaking his head, Chris knew this was going to be hard. “How about I guess what happened and you correct me.”
A grunt was the only response he got from that.
Grinning slightly at that, he started to speak. “He tied you up, hooking a rope around your throat that was connected to the other ropes and every time you moved you started choking yourself. Every time you spoke, he punched you. Gave you a reason why he was doing this. Stabbed you with a needle, injected you. Then left you to your own devices after he told you what it would do.”
Buck didn't answer for a long moment, his mind running over that time. With a heavy sigh, he spoke up. “If you you know it all already, I don't see that I can add anything.”
“Sure there is. You want to tell us how you survived something that was unsurvivable?”
“I got lucky. Burned my ears though.”
“You want to explain that?”
Buck closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't wanted to add that part. Knowing that Chris wouldn't drop it until he did, he answered the question. “I don't know. One minute I was fine, , the next my ears hurt and the ropes and wall were gone.”
Eying the tired man, Chris stood up. “All right, I believe you. Maybe you'll remember more later. Right now you should be getting some more sleep. Otherwise Nathan might try to kill me for keeping you up.”
Chuckling at the thought of it. Buck waited till Chris was out of the room. Then the laughter stopped. Shifting slightly, he stared at the ceiling. He didn't want to talk about what had happened in the warehouse. He knew the reason why Stan wanted to kill all of the pyorkinetics he saw. It was because of his brother.
Stan's younger brother was a pyrokinetic. Stan learned of this after his brother had lit their house on fire. He barely escaped. His parents died. His brother taken away, never to seen again. His world was destroyed by his brother.
He had snapped and sworn revenge on fire starters. Buck wondered idly how many fire starters died. On second thought, he didn't really want to know. He just wanted to forget about the whole thing. Shivering slightly, Buck eyed the door, making sure it was shut all the way.
Thinking for a second, he called forth a small fireball. Which appeared where he wanted, but was much bigger then he wanted. Banishing it, he frowned. He thought the drug was gone from his system. His fireball shouldn't have been that big.
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Walking into the living room of the house, Chris sat down into the closest chair. “Find anything out?”
Looking up from the file he was reading through, Ezra sighed. “This Stan Wetherfork, has marched across the country killing any pyrokinetics that he came across. So far we have at least ten that he killed. Who knows how many we won't find out about.”
“That many?”
Looking over at JD, Ezra shrugged his shoulders. “It appears that the police departments are not that concern with sentients going missing.”
Vin look up from the files. “Do we know anything more about what he gave Buck?”
“No, not much, they haven't found his stash yet and what was left in Buck's blood makes no sense. Josiah, you have any luck with this guy?”
Looking up from his notes to Nathan, the empath shook his head. “No, he thinks he is doing the right thing. He only hates pyrokinetics. He's indifferent to any other sentients. He won't talk about it. Just raves about how fire starters will kill us all.”
Chris finally spoke up. “Finish up with what you find. Nathan, have the search teams send you a sample when they find it. I have a feeling we won't know what happened or what the drug did until Buck decides to tell us.”
Vin grinned slightly. “That would be never?”
Smirking slightly, Chris had to agree. Buck wouldn't talk as long as everyone else wouldn't get hurt. But that didn't mean they couldn't try to get him talk.
Getting up from his chair, Chris looked over at his team. “For now, shelve it. We aren't going to go anywhere but circles. If we learn something new, we may take another look at it. For now, I think we could all use some sleep.”
Nodding in agreement, the rest of the team put away the information and headed to get some sleep.
The End
Continues in Wild Fire