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A Matter of Honor	By : purenightshade Category: M through R > Mutant X Views: 1578 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
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Title: A matter of Honor

Author/pseudonym: Nightshade

Author websites: http://www.angelfire.com/anime/makosmusings

Characters: Adam, Jesse

Rating: The ratings vary from chapter to chapter, but it�s intended to be NC-17

Pairing: Non-shipper, non-slash, involves original characters

Status: incomplete

Series/Sequel: series

Spoilers: As of yet, no spoilers

Disclaimers: All Mutant X characters are copyright to their respective owners. Honor and Claudia are my original characters and should not be taken or used without my permission.

Summary:A New Mutant�s powers start to evolve out of control and it�s up to Adam and the team to help put them back under control. An old friend of Adam�s returns to haunt him. The song used in this chapter is �My Immortal� by Evanescence.

Send all comments to nightshade@catlover.com
Episode 12: The last party
Laughing at some joke, Claudia and Adam walked into the living room of the upscale apartment a short walk from the main campus. Greg Peters, one of Adam�s classmates and the owner of the place, walked up to them with a tall glass of beer in one hand. He greeted them warmly is somewhat drunkenly.

�Glad you could make it Adam. Who�s the babe?�

�Babe?� Adam blinked in confusion and looked at Claudia. �Oh. Greg, you�ve met Claudia. She�s my best friend. She majored in anthropology and mythology.�

Greg wasn�t really paying much attention as he sauntered up to Claudia and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her right up close to him. �Hey there sweet thing. You lookin� for a good time?�

She wrinkled her nose at the reek of the beer on his breath. �Yes, but not with you. Now, get your hand off me if you�d like to keep it.�

Greg pulled away and looked very offended. �Ah, you probably wouldn�t be any good, anyway,� he drawled as he moved off and repeated the same thing with another woman, this one a tall blond in a skirt so short a cheap hooker would have been embarrassed to be seen in.

Adam blushed. �Sorry about that. Greg�s a jerk and a womanizer, but he can be nice on occasion.�

�Something tells me that this isn�t one of those,� she replied, running a hand through her long hair. �Come one, I think I see Daryl and Karen over there.�

Adam sighed and followed her to the other end of the room. Daryl McManus and Karen Ross were two of Claudia�s friends and were a little too weird for his taste. They were always talking about some ancient culture or another. As soon as they got there, Daryl immediately got Claudia involved in a heated discussion about whether or not Heinrich Schliemann had or hadn�t actually discovered the lost city of Troy.

Knowing full well that they would talk about nothing else for a while, he wandered over to a couch and sat down and immediately wished he hadn�t, as he wound up beside a couple engrossed in making out. When the girl braced her foot on his shoulder, he figured it was time to move.

There were people going in and out of the kitchen with snacks and drinks, but mostly drinks. Figuring that he deserved it after all his work at school, he headed into the kitchen to grab himself a large cup filled with some very odd smelling beer. While he was sipping at it, another one of his classmates, a short and very plain looking man by the name of Terence Hill, came over.

�Having a good time?� he asked cheerfully.

�I guess so.�

�Weren�t you coming with your friend? The hot one with the hair?�

�Claudia�s over there with a couple of her friends.� Adam indicated the corner they were in.

Spotting Daryl, Terence grinned. �Let me guess. Troy?� At Adam�s surprised look, he shook his head. �It�s all he�s talked about all night. He keeps telling people that one day he�ll debunk it and prove that it isn�t Troy at all but some as yet unknown civilization. It�s all crazy talk if you ask me. I�d much rather deal with genetics. It�s a lot more definite than digging through dirt and wondering who lived there.�

Adam laughed. �Claudia enjoys it, so it can�t be all that bad.�

�Y�know, Adam, I�m surprised at you. Claudia is one of the most attractive girls on campus. Do you have any idea how many guys would kill to sleep with her?�

�No clue,� he said, taking a big drink.

�Lots. If it weren�t for the fact that she insisted on hanging out with guys like Daryl, she�d be up their on the level of girls like Sharon Terwilliger.�

Adam looked over at Claudia. �I think you�ve had too much to drink, Terence. Besides, what�s wrong with her friends? Sure, Daryl�s a bit of a nutcase, but he�s still alright.�

�Let�s just say that when it comes right down to it, most of her friends are lower on the popularity scale than I am, and that�s saying something.� Terence followed his gaze. �Frankly, I�m surprised that you two haven�t�you know.�

Chugging the last half of the glass of beer, Adam managed to keep from blurting out Claudia�s opinions on sex and breaking a promise that she�d asked him to keep. �We�re just friends,� was what he told his friend instead.

Terence snorted derisively. �Sure, Adam. I believe you.�

�What?�

�You two do everything together. You�re always at each other�s houses. It�s very rare to see you without her nearby unless one of you is in class. You never did hear about the pool, did you?�

�Pool?� Adam blinked in confusion.

�There�s a little pool going on in our department regarding when the two of you are either going to get together or sleep together if you hadn�t already. Personally, my bets are on the second option.�

Adam shook his head. �You guys are going to be waiting a very long time for this. I�m not attracted to her.�

Terence studied him carefully. �Why not?�

�Oh come on! I�ve known her for my entire life!�

�That�s no reason not to. For all you know, you could be but just don�t realize it yet.� He shook his head. �Get a clue Adam. A babe like that isn�t going to wait around forever, waiting for you to wake up.�

�What makes you think she�s waiting for that?�

�Why else would she be hanging around you so much? I�m telling you, she has to be feeling something. You�ve said it yourself. She�s very good at hiding things, even from you.�

�She rarely hides things from me,� Adam pointed out. �The biggest thing she did was when she broke my yellow crayon when we were five and didn�t want to tell me because it was my favorite.�

�I�m telling you Adam, this is a typical girl thing. They never tell a guy that they have feelings for him, especially if they�re close to the guy in question. Think about it.� Terence walked back into the kitchen to grab himself some more beer and headed to join a group of guys he�d taken a forensics class with.

Adam shook his head and moved a little closer to Claudia and watched her. Despite his claims to the contrary, he�d started to notice Claudia a lot more in the last month and a half. She hadn�t done anything different in her appearance or actions, which puzzled him greatly. She was the same person she�d always been, but there was more there now. He went out of his way to be around her and used any excuse he could to make contact. Before Terence had brought it up, it hadn�t occurred to him that his behavior was anything unusual.

He leaned against a wall, watching her. As she talked, she gestured with her hands, a habit her mother despaired of breaking her of. Her hair fell in her face and she absentmindedly pushed it back behind her ear. On the thumb of her right hand, the friendship ring he�d give her flashed in the light as she made a gesture to emphasize what she was saying. He wore an identical one on the middle finger of his right hand.

So engrossed was he in watching her, that he missed seeing Terence talking to Greg, his roommate Mark Davies, Drew Clarke, and Josh Button. They were huddled around a coffee table, speaking in hushed tones. Drew looked up and glanced in Adam�s direction briefly before turning back to the others. A few minutes later, Greg joined Adam holding a half drunk beer in one hand.

�Enjoying yourself?� he asked.

�Huh?� Adam looked at Greg. �Oh, yeah, great party, Greg.�

�Not hanging out with Claudia?�

�She�s having an intellectual argument with Daryl and Karen. I don�t like getting involved.�

�Don�t have a clue as to what they�re talking about, you mean?�

�Something like that. I don�t understand the appeal it has for her.�

�They look like they�re winding it down. Say, why don�t I go get you both something to drink.�

Adam looked skeptical. �What for?�

�I was rude earlier. Take this as an apology.�

Adam was still doubtful, but he accepted it anyway, and went over to sit down on the couch beside Claudia.

She turned and smiled. �Hey you! Where�ve you been?� she asked, poking him in the gut.

�Talking to Terence, having a drink.�

�Right. I�d wondered when you just took off like that.�

�Troy isn�t really my debate topic of choice.�

Daryl looked at him. �What is your debate of choice?�

�Genetics,� was the simple reply.

Karen rolled her eyes. �And people say that what we do is pointless. Look, Adam, just because we study myth and ancient civilizations doesn�t mean that we�re nut cases. What�s so great about genetics? Sure, it�s in the here and now, but that�s what�s so boring about it. What we do, digging into the past, tells us where we came from. The thrill of uncovering an artifact or excavating a ruin, adding new pieces to the puzzle of life and history is unimaginable to someone like you.�

�Interesting argument, Karen, but I enjoy what I do.�

Daryl snorted. �I fail to see the mystique in the double helix of DNA.�

�I fail to see the mystique in looking at pottery shards,� Adam countered.

�Let�s just say that we don�t understand each other�s choice of profession and leave it at that,� Claudia suggested.

Karen looked at her in shock. �Of all of us, you�re the one disapproves of this genetics thing of his the most.�

�My disapproval has nothing to do with this. We all have our interests. I don�t like it, but he enjoys it and that�s enough for me. Just don�t ask me to get involved in any studies. I hate doctors.�

Adam�s heart skipped a beat as Greg came back with two cups of beer and handed one to Adam and the other to Claudia, who stared at the foamy liquid. �I�m sorry for how I behaved earlier,� he said simply. �Enjoy the party.� He walked away.

�Relax, Claudia, it�s perfectly safe,� Adam assured her.

�You know I don�t normally drink.�

�You deserve it after all that work studying for your finals. It�s just one night. What harm can one drink do?�

�You do have a point after that,� she admitted, taking a sip.

�There you go.� Adam smiled. �Cheers.�

�Cheers,� she repeated, tapping his glass with hers. Some of the beer in his glass sloshed into hers. Some of the droplets landed on her left thigh. She shrugged and had another sip. �I�ll be right back. I�m just going to go clean this off to keep it from staining my pants.� She set her glass down on the table beside Daryl and headed off down the hall.

Daryl looked at the glass with a calculating look while Karen slid across the floor to put her chin on Adam�s knee.

�So. Do you have any plans for after the party?�

�For the future or just for tonight?�

She fluttered her eyelashes and smiled. �You know what I mean.�

Adam blushed and stammered. �Not really, no.�

Karen got up onto her knees and leaned forward, toying with the collar of his shirt. �Want to come back to my place?�

Adam stared at her. Karen smelled very strongly of beer and had a glassy look in her eyes. He figured she was drunk, as she�d never expressed an interest in him before. She had an on again off again relationship with Daryl. Everyone knew that.

�No, thank you.�

�What�s the matter, Adam?� she teased. �Are you afraid you might enjoy yourself?�

�With you? Not likely,� Claudia snorted, sitting back down on the couch and picking up her drink.

�You�re such a party pooper, Claudia.� Karen made a face and turned back to Adam, kissing him deeply. �Think about it. You don�t have to make a decision right now.� She stood up and sauntered away with Daryl following right behind her.
Adam turned to Claudia, who was glaring at him while tapping her fingernails on her glass. �Well?� she asked. �What was that all about?�

�I think she�s drunk,� he said simply.

She looked down her nose at him. �That�s obvious. What was she talking about? Inviting you back to her place afterwards perhaps?�

�Is it such a bad thing that a woman is showing interest in me?�

�Adam, she�s seven years older than you. I think it�s more likely that she�s playing one of her games.�

�You�re not jealous are you?�

She recoiled in shock. �You�re out of your mind.�

�It�s a simple question.�

�Me? Jealous of Karen? In your dreams Adam,� she said, getting up and stalking off.

Again, his heart skipped a beat. Little did she know that in his dreams she would be jealous. In his dreams, she would tell him that and say that she had feelings for him. Things got really graphic after that. He simply nodded and chugged a good portion of his drink.

Half an hour later, and after he�d had a good deal more beer, Adam got up from the couch and went in search of Claudia. He hadn�t seen her since she�d left him there, spending his time lost in thought, only getting up to get himself more to drink. There had been many of those trips as, for some reason, he was quite thirsty.

Adam wandered around Greg�s apartment and still didn�t find her. Frustrated, he turned to Dana Strom, Claudia�s best friend. �Dana, have you seen Claudia?�

The brunette blinked owlishly at him before she recognized him. �Last I saw, she was out on the balcony.�

�Thanks,� he said before rushing off to the glass doors separating the balcony from the apartment.

There, leaning on the railing with her long, straight black hair blowing in the gentle breeze, was Claudia. An empty glass sat on the patio table beside her. His head felt very fuzzy as he walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She straightened and turned to look at him. There was a very odd look in her eyes, almost like she was half asleep.

�There you are, Adam,� she said. �I was wondering where you were.�

�Right where you left me; on the couch.�

She frowned. �You were supposed to follow me,� she pouted.

�I did, it just took me a while.�

She considered this. �I guess so.� She looked at her watch. �We should probably go home.�

Adam enveloped her in a hug. �What�s the rush?� he whispered hoarsely into her ear.

�None, really.�

�Good.� He kissed her. When she didn�t pull back, he let all of his budding feelings out, running his hands over as much of her cloth covered body as he could. He preferred to keep his hands on the silky skin that was exposed by the shortness of her top, enjoying the electric feelings it sent up his fingers. Under his hands, she was quite pliable, relaxing into his every move. It was too much for him. He grabbed Claudia�s hand and dragged her off to his car, managing to restrain himself long enough for them to get to his single dorm room.

Once inside, he slammed her into the door and picked up where he�d left off, grabbing her wrists and pressing his body up against hers, probing her mouth with his tongue. She gave in just as easily as she had back at Greg�s apartment, clutching at the loose fabric of his shirt and pulling it open, popping some of the buttons off. Not that it mattered much to him.

Removing each other�s clothes, they slowly made their way over to his single bed. He lowered her down onto it and she scooted over to make room for him. They snuggled up, reveling in each other�s nakedness. His clouded mind couldn�t cope any longer and he rolled her over onto her back. Claudia�s hair spread out around her like a black silk shawl as he went inside, causing a slight wince from her. It was completely unlike anything he�d ever felt before and it was all over faster than he would have liked. Exhausted, he rolled off and wrapped his arms around her before falling asleep. She soon joined him.
The next morning, Adam woke up with the worst headache he�d ever had in his life. Groaning, he tried to roll onto his back, but hit the wall. That made him pause. What was he doing sleeping against the wall when there was a lot of empty mattress in front of him? He scooted over to sprawl over the mattress. He looked around him.

How did I get back here? he wondered. The last thing I remember was talking to Claudia on the couch and finishing off that beer. I must�ve drunk too much. My head feels like it�s going to fall off, but there�s no nausea. Odd. I guess I got lucky. I must have passed out. I think one of my friends brought me back here, probably Claudia.

He smiled and buried his head in his soft pillow, taking a deep breath. There was a scent there, a very familiar one. Lavender. Why would my pillow smell like lavender?

He froze. The only person he knew of with this particular scent was Claudia. She had several pots of lavender growing in her room, so she perpetually smelled of the lovely purple flowers. How�?

He sat up and looked around. There, on the floor by the door, was a long purple scarf with the initials CFD embroidered on one end in grey thread. It belonged to Claudia. His mind went immediately to the unthinkable, but he decided against that. There was no way he could have ever betrayed her like that. In the end, he figured that she brought him home the night before and stayed with him long enough to make sure he would be ok. That would account for the scent on his pillow. She must have forgotten her scarf on the way out. This explained the unlocked door.

Adam resolved to return her scarf and thank her for her help the next time he saw her; however, he never got the chance. On the news the next day was some footage of a car crash not far from Claudia�s home. The car matched the description of Claudia�s car, a car that she rarely drove as it was a pig on gas. The body of a Caucasian female of approximately nineteen years of age was pulled from the wreckage, but the coroner was unable to identify it. Frantic, he picked up the phone and called her parents. Claudia, it seemed, had vanished, taking her car and most of her irreplaceable belongings with her. Adam�s mind jumped to the conclusion that the victim was Claudia.

He collapsed to the floor after hanging up the phone and cried at the loss of his best friend. He held the scarf and fingered the embroidery, deciding to keep it as a physical reminder of her. Taking an empty shoe box out of his closet, he placed all but one picture of her inside along with the scarf and the friendship ring he wore. He couldn�t bear to look at it.

A month later, he got a job working at Genomex.
Back in the real world, the song ended and there was a brief pause before she started another unfamiliar song. It had the same sadness to it that the first one had. After a few bars, she started to sing.

I'm so tired of being here/Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave/I wish that you would just leave

'Cause your presence still lingers here/And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal/This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears/When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

I held your hand through all of these years/But you still have/All of me
You used to captivate me/By your resonating light

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind/Your face it haunts

My once pleasant dreams/Your voice it chased away

All the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal/This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone/But though you're still with me/I've been alone all along
When the song ended, Claudia stopped playing, but didn�t move her hands away from the keyboard. She sat there, staring off into space. A tear leaked from the corner of one eye. That was the last straw for Adam. He opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind him before heading straight for Claudia.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. It took her a few moments to realize who he was. Her eyes narrowed. �What do you want? For that matter, what are you doing here?�

�I figured it out,� he told her, crouching beside her. �I know what I did.�

She stood, pulling away from him. �You think so, do you?� she asked coldly. �Well, then, if you�re so intelligent, why don�t you tell me what you did and I�ll tell you if you�re right.�

Adam stood up. �You should have a seat,� he said, moving towards a couch and taking a seat.

She folded her arms and glared down at him. �I�ll stand.�

He cleared his throat. �I remember you telling me your thoughts on sex just after your sixteenth birthday, after Dave Matheson tried to feel you up in the back of the library. You told me that you felt very strongly against the casual sex that our schoolmates were consumed by. You said that you wanted to care for the person you chose to sleep with and not do it on a spur of the moment thing. As I recall, you also mentioned something about drunkenness and sex as well, that the two don�t mix at all. I promised that I would never tell anyone how you felt and to never act against what you�d told me.�

�So far so good.�

�Based on that conversation and what you said about betraying trusts, I can only assume that I broke that promise while I was drunk at the party. I tried to�to�� He chocked and had to stop, breaking eye contact with her for a brief moment before looking back up with pain filled eyes. �I tried the same thing that Dave did, didn�t I?�

�Well, it sure took you long enough to figure that out,� she said softly, sitting down in the armchair opposite the couch, crossing her legs and resting her hands on the arms of the chair. �You don�t have all of the details, but the basic idea is there.�

�I�m right, then? I�d hoped that I was wrong, that it was the other alternative of me having told someone about your feelings.�

�Your luck isn�t that good.�

He stood and walked over to her, kneeling down to one side of her legs. He looked up at her cold eyes. �I know better than to ask for any kind of forgiveness from you. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what I did. I wish I could somehow tell you how badly I feel.�

�You don�t have to. I�m telempathic in addition to my telekinesis.�

�You can read me?�

�Not clearly, but yes, I can.�

�So you know?�

�As soon as you broke my concentration, it was quite obvious.�

He shook her head. �How much did you get from me?�

�Enough to tell me that you�d figured it out.�

�If that�s so, then why make me go through all of that?� he asked crossly.

�I had to hear you say it. I�ve waited a long time for this.�

He stared at her, not quite believing what he was hearing. Her tone of voice was calm and soft as opposed to the hard, cold tone she�d used earlier. �So now what happens?�

�I�ve given that a lot of thought over the years. My original plan had been to make you suffer as I�ve suffered and then kill you. There�s just one small problem with that.�

�And that is?�

�You need to help Honor first. After that, we�ll see.�

�I can�t believe that you�d really kill me.�

�You know how strongly I felt about this back then. I still feel the same now. What did you expect? Did you honestly think that once you told me you�d figured it out that I was just going to let it drop and pick up our friendship where it left off?�

�I�ve been called a lot of things but naive isn�t one of them. I�d only hoped to blunt some of the pain.�

�You failed.�

Adam stood up and looked down at her with a deep sadness in his eyes. �I�m sorry for the pain I�ve caused you. If you�re really set on killing me, if it�ll make it better, then it�s fine with me. Anything that will help you make you happy is fine with me. If there�s anything I can do, let me know,� he said, turning and leaving the room.

After Adam left the room, Claudia sat looking at the door. She allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction. If she was lucky, she�d managed to scare him off. If she was extremely lucky, he�d be so wracked with guilt over what he�d done that he�d be pathetically easy to manipulate with her gift. It would be easy enough at any rate, but guilt would make him more susceptible to what she had in mind.

She crossed her arms behind her head and put her feet up on the footstool. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait.
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A Matter of Honor