HEROES Chapter 2

"Aw shucks ... Morgan ya jus' hang in thar an git yur powrs strengthened. Ya listen ta yur Aunt, I figure she'll be a talkin' at ya. Yur critter friends 'll hep ya and ya r surronded by friends. Zoe 'll come 'round in her own time." Tim said as he sat next to Morgan looking to the woods.

Back at the Detention Center…..


Yelena reached a juncture in the hallway and carefully peered around the corner. The corridor was empty. Knowing this was one of the places she had to get Killswitch, she hoped no one was the wiser yet as to why she hadn’t left the cell with the young woman. Hesitating just a moment longer, Yelena said a silent prayer and stepped out into the full view of the corridor. Still in the guise of Killswitch, she prayed that what ever was about to happen would be quick.



In the control room, Sara-Lynn watched the monitor closely. Seeing Killswitch move along the corridor she urged the young woman along, “Come on…just a little further…” needing her to be in the right place at the right time for her weapon to work. Finally, Killswitch moved that last little bit and her leg triggered the alarm that told Sara-Lynn she was in position.

“Now!”

The instant Sara-Lynn gave the order, a strange noise erupted in the area Yelena, disguised as Killswitch, sood. The sound so loud it hurt her ears. Pulling her hands up to cover her ears, she tried to turn and run but found the corridor has been closed off by a large steel door that fell heavily into place. She tried to run forward but was blocked by the same kind of door slamming down from the ceiling.

Still not knowing what was about to happen, she tried to get out as best she could but it was no use. The next thing Yelena knew she felt and incredible electrical shock coursing through her. Her body convulsed and twitched uncontrollably causing the gun to drop from her hand. The intensity of the shock increased the instant her gun was dropped and she heard herself scream as everything went black.

Back in the control room, Sara-Lynn saw the form slump to the ground but didn’t call for a halt on the weapon. Even as Vacily walked up behind her and furrowed his brows.

“Don’t you think she’s had enough, Sara?”

Sara didn’t bother to take her eyes off the monitor to look over at him.

“We don’t know what her abilities are other than what she can do with the computers. We can’t take any chances.”

Another few moments snaked by before Sara-Lynn finally called for a halt on the weapon. Keying the mic in front of her, she gave instructions to the Marines waiting to retrieve the prisoner.

“When the doors are lifted, approach with extreme caution. We don’t know what she’s fully capable of.”

The steel doors were raised and four Marines from each door rushed forward cautiously. Weapons ready and trained on the body on the floor. After the initial assessment, it was determined the person was indeed incapacitated. Quickly gathering her up, the practically carried her to the location Sara-Lynn had ordered them to take the woman prior to their assignment execution.

Yelena was out cold. Fortunately she had trained her mind to hold Zoe’s form so even when she DID lose consciousness she would still retain that form for a little longer than usual. Of course the Marines had secured who they thought was Killswitch and left the room when the illusion finally faded away and now left only Yelena in her true form for Sara-Lynn and Vacily to deal with.

After Morgan left and Tim went after her he shifted into shadow form, melting down to the floor. He then slid across the floor in the direction that Zoe had gone. In a short amount of time he finds Zoe in her hidden area and rises up in his solid form. "Hello."

Special Agent Jameson leaned against the black crown victoria in a classic FBI pose, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses and arms folded against his chest, but at the moment all he was impressing were a few pigeons. He was parked at the corner of Burdett and Detroit avenue in Troy at a used car lot, appropriately named 'Detroit Avenue's Use Cars'. Henkel came walking out of the building talking on his phone and ended his conversation just as he reached his partner.

"Looks like this is probably the end of the line for us, 'J'." Henkel told him.

Jameson wasn't that surprised. "So Birkshire is taking over then?"

"Yeah, looks that way." Replied Henkel as he joined his partner against the car. "He's allowing us to follow up on our current lead though."

Jameson smirked. "Of course he is. Lazy bastard. We do all the foot work and he gets all the glory." he then looked over at Henkel, "So did the salesman, verify our man?"

Henkel nodded."It's him alright. Seems the Frank Shepherd that the Silverado was registered to, came here and purchased a black, 2002, Chevy Tahoe, then headed east."

Jameson looked eastward and raised an eyebrow. "Nothin' much that way." He commented, then asked about the girl, "So what did Birkshire say about the daughter?"

"Morgan Shepherd is an unregistered meta-human, who according to her father caused the death of her cousin over five years ago, but this story is not supported by her aunt, Jackie Running Wolf." Answered Henkel as he started to make his way around the other side of the car, "This is why R.A.I.D., is the case over. Apparently they've been after her for some time and let him know that we believe that she is second shooter that he suspect had been accompanying, Wrangler."

Jameson got into the car with Henkel and started it up. "So what about McMannus?"

"I never mentioned his involvement and we're not going to." Ordered Henkel.

"But what about the car? You know he has it." Countered Jameson.

Henkel shook his head. "Look, even if he does, he's not going to give it up and the guy's registered. R.A.I.D., can just up and destroy his life if they want, and for what? A piece of evidence that will lead no where. Have a little bit of respect, Jameson, the guy was once on our side and I sure as hell don't enjoy kicking anyone when they're down."

Jameson bit back any further comments he had and turned east onto Hoosick Road. He and his partner commonly disagreed on the meta-human issue and so it wasn't worth the debate. "So you think this Frank Shepherd is trying to rescue his daughter or what?"

Henkel had been trying to figure that out for the past hour. "Certainly looks that way, but —" he paused in thought, then decided not speak his mind.

"But, what?" Urged Jameson as he proceeded up Hoosick, otherwise known as Route 7.

"Well I can't figure out why the guy hasn't involved the cops. If your daughter was kidnapped wouldn't you call the police?" Considered Henkel.

Jameson nodded in agreement as he headed south on Town Office Road then turned into a small, rustic ten room motel called 'Sleepy Trails'.




Even before the Marines cautiously closed in on the unconscious form of Yelena that maintained the guise of Killswitch, Vacily had taken note of the 'Data-Disrupter's' settings and quickly realized that something was wrong.

"What the hell is this?" He questioned as he brought Sara-Lynn's attention to the machines settings.



Sara-Lynn smiled maliciously, as she had expected that he would notice her modifications sooner or later. "When I first tried the disrupter on her it didn't work." She explained, her beautiful eyes probing Vacily's as he struggled to make sense of what she was telling him. "There was only one reason, Killswitch wasn't scrambled and that was because it wasn't her. I told you not to trust that sneaky Russian."

It then became clear to Vacily that when the disruption wave that should have incapacitated Killswitch had not effect, Sun Storm immediately concluded that Yelena had pulled a switch. She then altered the frequency of the beam, which in a short range could be modified to produce to an electrical charge that could kill a person. His eyes widened when it occurred to him that she may have killed Yelena, at Vacily tore out of the room to where his men and taken her. Without taking any precautions he opened the steel door of the cell and rushed in to the side of blue skinned meta-human laying still on the floor. Kneeling beside her, Vacily carefully checked her vitals and breathed a sigh of relief when he found her pulse to be strong. His face softened for a moment but then returned to it's cold and hardened state when he had to accept that she had betrayed his trust and for that he had no choice but lock her away with the others.



Toril had been going crazy. He had heard the commotion and feared the worst for the others, but so long as the steel wrist bands were in place he could not assume his wind form and so he was powerless to help. All he could do was wait and as time passed the lights in his cell returned to normal and shortly after that the door to his cell began to open. As it slowly rose, his first thought was to rush whoever was on the other side and take his chances, but he was stayed by the appearance of the one person that was being revealed. The body was not that of a uniformed marine, but a beautiful woman and the door moved past her shoulders he recognized who she was.

"Sara-Lynn?" Toril whispered.



She grinned pleasantly and gestured gracefully for the big man to leave his cell and stand by her, which he did cautiously. "It's been over ten years and look at you." Sara-Lynn commented, taking a step forward and tracing a finger along his chiseled features. "Still as handsome as ever."

Toril couldn't help but notice that she was as beautiful as he remembered but that present moment he was more concerned about Cassius. He noticed that the cell beside his, that would have been Cassius' was open but he was no where in sight. "Where's the boy that was in here?" he demanded.

Sara-Lynn's trilling laughter echoed down the corridor. "Still playing the hero, Toril. I had hoped that by now you would have realized that there is so much more to life. Are you not happy to see me?"

Toril looked down the corridor seeing that she was in fact alone and realized that Vacily had purposely sent her, knowing that he would not hurt or endanger Sun Storm despite her allegiances. "I am glad you are well, Sara-Lynn, but this is hardly the time and place for catching-up, now where is Cassius, Yelena and Shawn."

Sara-Lynn's eyes were surprisingly saddened by Toril's lack of concern and he couldn't help but be captivated for a brief moment by the woman who a life-time ago he would have walked through fire for, but no longer. "This way." she told him and began to walk down the corridor. Silently she lead him to the room where, Yelena was left lying on the floor, unconscious.

"Yelena!" Gasped Toril as he ran to her side.

Sara-Lynn trying to force back a sneer at Toril's concern for the shape-shifter relayed Vacily's ultimatum while he checked her condition. "You have two choices, Toril. Stay with us and return to Beacon or you can carry that traitor to the cell where we have the boy, where you can rot with them."

Toril didn't even take a single second to make his decision. He gently picked up, Yelena and cradled her in his powerful arms. "Lead me to Cassius."

Sara-Lynn clenched her teeth angrily. "You stupid fool! You don't even know these people! They don't even trust you! Stay with us, Toril, stay with me."

Toril thrust he eyes to the floor, forcing himself not to look into Sara-Lynn's face, else he feared that he might change his mind and walking out the cell with Yelena asked, "Where to?"

Sara-Lynn shook her head and marched ahead, leading Toril through a winding route of hallways until they arrived at an older underground section of the base where there were a few cells with steel barred doors. She opened the door and inside the darkened room was the unconscious, bloodied form of Cassius curled up on one of the cots. With no hesitation, Toril proceeded into the community cell and placed, Yelena on one of the four remaining cots before checking on Cassius. Inspecting his face, it was evident that he had been severely beaten and there were bruises extending over his whole body.

"I'm giving you one last chance, Toril." Offered Sara-Lynn, "Once I close this door you will receive no others."

Toril's eye's began to glow a soft blue as he threw an angry glare over his shoulder. "I expected so much more of you, Sara-Lynn." He told her then turned away as she slammed the door. "Hey, kid. Can you hear me?" he whispered to Cassius, "You're gonna be just fine. If who ever did this to you comes back here, they'll have to go through me. You just rest and get your strength back."

Agent Kaleb Mitchell had enjoyed a rather pleasant night at the Embassy Suites in Lubbock which had turned out to be a far grander city that he had imagined. The area was beautiful too, located where the northern Panhandle Plains, Hill Country and Big Bend Country all converged, at least that's what the brochure said. He had even thought a few times that if there was field office in the city he would apply for a transfer but there was no way the Bureau would waste their resources in such a place even though Lubbock did have a few scandals in her closet that had involved the FBI.

Kaleb in his stylish steel blue suit smiled at the pretty blonde clerk as he strode past the front desk counter and as he caught her eye and prompted that flirtatious smile he knew he was in. He stopped at the counter and introduced himself as 'Agent Mitchell' at which the girl literally swooned. "I've never been out this way before and I was wondering if you might be able to provide me with some directions?" He asked in his distinct Chicago accent. The clerk responded by producing some maps. "I have maps." he told her, "I was thinking more of a personal tour of Lubbock's night life." The clerk smiled and playfully put on a regretful expression as she flashed an engagement ring before Kaleb's eyes, to which the Agent flashed a million dollar smile. "Ouch! Well you can't blame a guy for trying." he said and confidently made his way through the lobby and out the front doors.

Agent Mitchell then jumped into his black SUV and headed west along State Loop 289. After stopping at a convenience store to pick up some water and road snacks he drove southwest along Route 62 then turned on to a the hard packed, Farm-To-Market Road, which took him straight west. Half of an hour later he passed a large slough on his right then a few minutes after he reached Arnett which was really just a crossroads where Chickadee Road intersected the main line. The tiny community was considered to be part of the township of Levelland, but had retained its identity like some many others of its kind in cattle country.

Kaleb had pulled along side a dusty pickup truck where an old man was leaning across the hood and staring out into the horizon. He couldn't be sure what he had been staring at so intently but he eventually got the man's attention to ask him where he would find Rural route 3218. After some directions intertwined with some cryptic advice about the weather and maybe rattlesnakes, Kaleb couldn't be sure, he made his way north on Chickadee and turned west on the second grid road after Farm-To-Market. He drove down the dirt road, the invading branches of trees scraping along the large black truck as he bounced along the rough trail and eventually he came to driveway that intersected it. Beside it on a wooden post was a sign into which was engraved the name 'Timble', so Agent Kaleb proceeded northward down the creepy winding road, wondering just where the hell he was going as each bend turned into another. After fifteen minutes he came upon a brook and on the other side of it was an old farm.



As Kaleb slowly crossed a rickety old bridge and drove up to the ranch house he wondered if this little piece of paradise was indeed the home of the infamous, 'Wrangler'.

THE CIRLE T RANCH - Arnette, Texas:

As the black SUV pulled up to Henery's porch, he road up behind the SUV, to the drivers side. "Howdy stranger." Henery , a weathered, suntanned man in his earliy forties, wearing a light blue western style shirt, a white and brown range jacket, brown jeans, a white cowboy hat, bushy mustache, riding a chestnut cattle horse, leand down and said. "What kin I be hepin' ya with thar son?" he then straightened up and sat tall in the saddle.

"Hello." Zoe turned calmly, a cigarette still dangling from her mouth as she stared unfazed at the solid shadow that formed in front of her. Removing the cigarette, she spoke through a puff of smoke that clouded around her head and drifted up into the rafters where it dissipated.

"Can I help you?" she asked in her cold, monotone voice.
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Cassius's eyes fluttered open to a tall and broad blur standing over him. His entire body ached as though he'd been thrown off his bike and then run over with it a few times. Squinting through it, however, his eyes managed to focus on Toril and, despite his obvious pain and his muscle's sheer reluctance to move, a crooked grin slid across his shaggy face.

"Dude..." he said in a weak, raspy whisper, "you gotta cigarette?"

"Not really. Mostly just curious." As it seemed kind of dark in this room Sean removed his hood and sunglasses and revealed those white eyes of his. "Wanted to see where you snuck in from. If I'm intruding just say the word and I'll go somewhere else."

Zoe snorted, sending two jets of smoke from her nostrils before she crushed the cigarette out into the ashtray by the computer. Leaning back, she brought up and closed over a dozen windows on the two computers in front of her at lightning speed before she replied.

"Intruding?" she said, "you don't know who I am do you?" She turned now, looking over at Sean out of the corner of her brown eye before she continued, looking back at the screens. "I'm part of an underground network fighting for meta freedom. We give safe haven to metas on the run. This house is hidden in many ways. Metas stay here as long as they need to before they move on or get back on their feet." Her speech was cold, metallic, almost robotic, as though she were trying to take the compassion out of what she was saying-- and she could have been successful. Her gaze was icy and distant, the monitors reflecting inside her irises like two tiny, flashing bulbs.

"Underground network?" Sean was a little shocked to hear that. He knew things were getting bad but not that bad. "Sounds like I should have come out of the shadows sooner." He looks down at Zoe but is forced to turn away by the glare of her monitors. "Look. If there is anything I can do to help while I'm here don't hesitate to ask."

Zoe didn't turn, the computers still whizzing at her silent command. "I'll let you know," was all she said.

Sean watches her a moment then replaces the hood and glasses before melting down again. No one would hear or see him until the next day. In fact there would be no sign of him until he found his way into the kitchen that morning looking to see if anyone else was awake.

Toril smiled at Cassius' request. "You got spirit kid." He commented, then he quickly sprang to his feet and folding a wad of paper towels into a compress wet them down with some water from a rusty old sink. He returned and lightly dabbed the soothing cool over Cassius' swelled eye and jaw.

The marines had really worked him over. Toril knew the drill, they were just softening him up, breaking his spirit so even if he had the opportunity to escape he'd be hesitant. Cassius was strong, but in time even he would break, everyone did.

"You just try and relax kid. Those bastards won't lay a hand on you again, I promise you that."

Toril looked over the old metal door and took note of the rusty hinges and a plan began to formulate in his mind. It would be risky, but he didn't know when the others might try and rescue them so he had to act.

"Cassius." Toril whispered. "Yelena is going to be out for some time and I can't pull this off alone. I know you're hurting, but when the marines come back I am going to need you to watch my back. Think y'can pull it off?"

Pressing the cool cloth against his face, Cassius grimaced slightly but managed to grin and flash Toril a thumbs-up. "Dude," he replied.
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The next morning, Zoe awoke with her head buried in her arms, folded over her desk. Slowly lifting her aching neck up, she yawned and wiped a small trickle of drool from the corner of her mouth as she squinted at the computer screens. Only a blank window was up on one of them and the other had gone into hibernate. Though she was unsure of exactly when she had finally collapsed to sleep at the desk, it did little to distract her from the data she had stored in her mind.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a battered packet of cigarettes and shook the last one out between her two fingers. She then looked down at the empty package with an aggravated sigh before tossing it into a small garbage can that was threatening to overflow. Shutting off the computers, she leaned back and stretched her tense and tired muscles, pausing only slightly when the smell of coffee reached her. Taking the cigarette unlit between her fingers, Zoe ascended the ladder and padded silently into the kitchen where she found a pot of coffee and a huge stack of pancakes. Furrowing her brow, her lip curled as she headed for the stack muttering "Martha Stewart."

Confident that Cassius would come through when needed, Toril nodded and walked over to iron gate of the cell and looking through the bars checked to see if there were any guards. To his right the hallway ended at a dead end and to his left there was another gate, and no guards, and for that matter there were no cameras as well, at least none that he could see. From the looks of their cell and area beyond they were in a very old part of the base that probably wasn't used anymore.

Toril grabbed hold of the bars and threw his weight against the gate, testing it's strength and at the same time stretching his back and limbering his muscles. His arms flexed, and he focused his telekinetic powers to enhance the power of his pull as he tugged on the gate. Winds began to blow and stir the dust in the cell as Toril pitted his heightened strength against the rusty iron door. The old hinges began to bend under the strain and when Toril felt their integrity weaken, pulled with all is strength at the side of the gate until the hinges snapped, the weight of the gate resting in the large meta-human's exhausted arms. As tired as he was, Toril managed to push the gate back in place and slip the broken pins back in enough to ensure the the door would not fall apart when opened.

Breathing heavily, Toril walked over to the sink and splashed some cool water on his face. He drank some, and ignored the tinny taste of the old pipes as he gulped down several hand-full's, drinking so quickly that he began to choke. Coughing, he leaned against the sink and felt his strength returning. The over-use of his power, especially utilizing his raw telekinetic abilities drained his electrolytes, giving him an incredible thirst for water to replenish them.

Toril noticed Cassius' questioning look, obviously curious why he didn't just bend back the gate so they could escape. "There's another gate and we need key cards and uniforms to get out of this place." he explained as he sat back on to a cot beside Cassius. "Now we wait."

A little over an hour later, the three marines that had previously worked Cassius over opened the gate at the end of the hall and stood before the doorway to the cell. One of the marines pointed his weapon at Toril and told him to get to the back of the cell. He reluctantly complied and then the marine told him to kneel down and place his hands behind his head. The marine then opened the cell door and he and another entered the room.

Toril hardly noticed the two men enter as he was completely focused on the hinges as they creaked against the strain of the heavy door as it swung open. One marine stayed behind and secured the door and as he slammed it shut, Toril could see one of the loose pins slip, and nearly fall to the floor.

One of the two big marines walked over and kicked Cassius' cot while the other kept his weapon trained on Toril. "Rise and shine, Cassy." he ordered.

"Leave him alone." Said Toril, defiantly.

The guard spun around angrily, his rifle raised to the ceiling. "What did you say, boy!"

Toril cleared his throat. "I said, leave him alone, you piece-of-shit, jar-head."

The guard looked at his partner and laughed. "Well, well. Looks like we have ourselves a real hero here. Doesn't it seem that way, Bull."

"Bull?" Questioned Toril looking at the large marine still pointing his weapon at him, then he glanced over at the other, "So does that make you, 'Shit'? Bull and Shit, how fitting." Mocked the big meta-human.

"Hey!" Called the third man outside the barred gate. "The Colonel specifically ordered us not to engage the big one. We're just supposed to shackle him."

Toril could see the rage boiling in the eyes of the marine and knew it wouldn't take much to push him over the edge. "So, 'Shit', is that a family name or just a nick name the boys gave you?"

The marine flew at Toril and kicked him full force in the abdomen with his thick soled combat boot. Pain surged through Toril's body from the force of the blow, but he kept his hands behind his head and only buckled slightly. Straightening up, Toril laughed. "Is that the best you can do?"

"%$@&, I hate mutants!" Growled the marine as he reached back and threw a solid round house punch across Toril's granite jaw causing the man to shake his hand out and check his knuckle against the force of the impact.

Blood trickled from the corner of Toril's mouth but he continued to smile.

"Bull." Called the marine, "How 'bout you take a crack at this 'mutey'."

"My pleasure." Replied Bull who shouldered his rifle while the other stepped back and kept his weapon trained on Toril in case he tried to fight back.

As Bull lumbered toward him, Toril could see that the other marine had turned his back to Cassius. Now was the time to strike. As Bull wound up and threw out a hulking right hand toward Toril's face he lunged at the man with incredible speed driving his shoulder into his body and taking him off the floor. As he picked up the large man and drove for the gate, he was protected from the third man but not the second marine standing with his back to Cassius. He aimed his rifle at Toril as he prepared to throw Bull through the gate and into the last marine who didn't expect that the door to the cell was off it's hinges. Toril just hoped that Cassius could take down the other marine before he got off a shot as he hurled the big marine through the air and into the open gate.

When the 'cowboy' came riding up along side his SUV, Kaleb suddenly felt as if he were in some old western movie and had the sudden desire to respond back with a 'Howdy' and 'I'm the law round these parts'. Instead he stepped out of his vehicle and flashed his badge. "Agent Mitchell, FBI. Are you Henry J. Timble?"

The cowboy nodded and remained seated on his mount, his leathery face impassive.

Kaleb tucked his badge away and pulled out a piece of paper. "I have a warrant here to search your premises, Mr. Timble. It seems that a black 1967 mustang, driven by a suspected felon — ah, shit!" Kaleb exclaimed as he stepped into something squishy and leaped back shaking his foot. "Crap!" he groaned when he saw that he stepped in horse droppings. "These are Italian." he said referring to his shoes.

Kaleb walked over to a pile of rocks and proceeded to scrap off the sole of his shoe and continued, "Do you have knowledge that License Plate DPDCD1 is registered in your name and that the car it was on was driven by a wanted man in the state of New York, we are calling the 'Wrangler'?"

Tim, stepped around the side of the barn and saw Morgan standing at the door. "Morgan, don't move." he said calmly as he stepped behind her. "Step back from tha thar door, direc'ly back. Ya keep backin' up srait one step at a time, till y ar har in front a me."

Morgan stepped back as if she were on a tight rope, only stoppinng when her back was against Tim's chest.

Tim wrapped his arms around Morgan, holding her close to him, "Well now darlin' sum traps ya just can't see, by lookin' 'round." Tim pressed the button on a remote he held in one of his hands, and said calmly "Ya see this har? This har is aremote tha' activates a laser beam, that laser beam shines on a triggerin' device. Ifin' that beam is broken it triggers two claymore anti personell mines thata blowd ya ar anyone else, clean ta the moon. Ya was about a coyote's wisker frum breakin' that beam."