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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
- 13
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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.

Send all comments to nightshade@catlover.com
Episode 14: Lean on me
Claudia found Adam out in the backyard sitting on a bench. He sat with his elbows resting on his knees, his head buried in his hands. The silver ring on his right hand gleamed in the fading light. For some reason, he insisted on dressing all in black. She stood off to the side watching him carefully for a while before walking over and sitting down beside him.

He jumped and looked at her. �Are you planning on killing me with a heart attack, Claudia? If so, you almost succeeded.�

�Don�t be stupid, Adam. There are better ways than that.�

�Well, if you�re not trying to kill me, what are you doing here?�

�You forget that I live here.�

�What do you want?� he asked hoarsely. �Come to make me pay?�

�Honor told me to come down and talk to you.�

�Did she now?�

Claudia nodded. �Well, talk or read you. Whichever.�

�Read me? You said that you had.�

�She means the deep, invasive kind of read that most telempaths won�t do.�

�I have no problem with that.�

�Of course you don�t. I don�t remember you being this submissive.�

�I�m not submissive. I just want to fix this, help you hurt less. I�ll do anything to make you feel better. I told you that already.�

She looked off into the distance. �What�s the last thing you remember from the party?�

�I have a vague memory of having a conversation with you about Karen and you being jealous of her. Why?�

�I don�t remember anything after coming back from the bathroom and having some beer. Everything between that and waking up the next morning is a complete blank.� She took a deep breath and continued. �When I woke up, I had no clothes on. You were lying behind me in a similar state, sound asleep. I hurt in places I�d never hurt before, but had heard stories from other girls about similar pains from sex. I got out of there as fast as I could. My head was killing me. It took me most of the day to recover from the pain. As soon as I could think clearly, I packed some stuff, put it in my car and left. The accident was a nice coincidence with the bonus side effect of making everyone think I�d died. It gave me time to think about what had happened. The more I thought about it, the more certain I became that you were entirely responsible for what had happened. I couldn�t figure out how I�d gotten to your place or why I couldn�t remember anything. I learned something about ten years ago that helps to explain. I think someone slipped Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid into my beer that night.�

�GHB?� Adam stared at her. �Why do you think that?�

�In the seventies, the technology that could find it in a sample hadn�t been invented yet, so it�s a logical choice. The symptoms of drugging were consistent with a lot of what I felt. All of the sources I�ve gone to just confirms my suspicions.�

Adam stood up and took a few steps forward before turning to look at her. �I know you don�t think much of me right now, but I can assure you that I never had any GHB in my possession. Never! Taking a drunken girl back home with me is one thing, but drugging someone? The thought makes me physically ill.� He paused. �You say your head hurt? Mine did, too. I�d thought it was just from too much to drink the night before, but with what you just said, I�m not so sure anymore.�

�If you didn�t drug me, then who did?�

�You say the last thing you remember is the beer after the bathroom?� Adam walked over to stand in front of her. �Greg gave us that beer. I remember tapping glasses with yours.�

�Some from your cup spilled, landed on my pants and into my cup. I set it down to go clean up. I came out and saw Karen draped all over you. Things get fuzzy after that.�

�There are two possibilities that I can see. Mine could have been spiked and contaminated yours when some spilled. It�s either that or yours was spiked.�

�There is a third option,� Claudia said slowly, looking him right in the eye. �Both our drinks could have been drugged.�

They stared each other in silence, letting that sink in. �Adam, I�m going to read you. I just need to figure something out.�

He nodded. �Again, whatever you need to do is fine by me.�

She took a deep breath and reached into his mind. It was all there in the mental equivalent of bright, flashing neon colors. His feelings were made blatantly clear to her. In some ways, it made her pain fade, but in others, his feelings caused it flare up more than before.

�Well, you weren�t lying about the drugging thing. You�re not trying to mislead me.� Her voice was hoarse with barely suppressed rage. She clenched her fists.

Adam watched her, taking a cautious step back. �What? What�s bothering you?�

�Damn it, why didn�t you tell me?� she demanded, standing up. She stood very close to Adam.

�Tell you what?�

�Don�t play dumb, Adam, it doesn�t suit you. Your feelings, the ones you�ve been hiding in that thick head of yours for the last thirty odd years. Why didn�t you tell me?� She slammed her fists into his chest. Her eyes had a look of intense pain in them.

He reeled, but managed to stay standing. She was stronger than he remembered. He placed his hands over her fists. �What was I supposed to do, Claudia? You�ve made your own feelings perfectly clear to me. It would have done me no good to reveal mine.�

�How long?�

�How long have I felt like this?� He exhaled and shook his head. �Always. I didn�t realize it until Terence pointed it out to me at the party.�

�You should have told me. That is, if you really still consider me to be your friend.�

�What good would it have done?�

�I like to know what I�m dealing with, all of the little details, before I do something.�

He hesitated before placing one hand on her cheek. �You have no idea how badly I want to hold you right now, but I�m afraid to. I don�t want to hurt you anymore than I already have.�

She blinked, fighting back the tears she knew were there. �That�s irrelevant. You should have told me.�

He nodded. �In retrospect, yes, I should have, but I was doing what I thought was best at the time.� He ran his thumb over her skin. �You look like you�re going to cry.�

�You�re imagining things.�

�Am I? I know you better than anyone. I know what your crying face looks like. It�s ok,� he said reassuringly. �If you need to cry, I�m here for you. I always will be. That is, unless you do actually kill me.�

Part of her wanted to give in, to cry on the shoulder of her oldest and best friend, but the part of her that had been in pain for so long wanted nothing more than to hit him to wipe that gentle smile off his face. �Crying accomplishes nothing.�

�You once told me that crying was one of the best forms of emotional release. Why are you so afraid of crying? Or is it that you�re afraid of crying around me?�

�I�m not afraid of anything.�

He rolled his eyes. �Right. You were the kid who was terrified of jelly doughnuts. Looking at raw fish made your stomach turn. Remember when we went to that Japanese restaurant? The wasabi gave you nightmares.�

�Oh come on. Those are completely different!�

�How?� When she didn�t reply, he shook his head. �Claudia, there�s nothing to be afraid of. You trusted me enough to put your head in my lap yesterday. What�s so different about this? Trust wise, I mean?�

Claudia stared at him. �You�re serious?�

�Would I be offering this if I wasn�t?�

She took a quick read. Seeing no ulterior motives there, she slowly stepped towards him and lowered her head to his chest, putting it in between her hands. Her head rested just under his chin. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers.

Her short black hair had a faint lavender scent to it and it was very soft. It was very hard for him to not tighten his arms around her like he wanted. He had to content himself with just holding her in a light embrace. Her hands grabbed handfuls of his shirt as she relaxed a little, enough that she felt comfortable moving closer.

She didn�t cry, but stood there. It was the first time in a very long time that she�d placed complete trust in anyone and that was more therapeutic than any amount of crying would be at the moment. She closed her eyes and opened her mind to what he was feeling. The warmth in his mind was like a soothing balm on her soul.
Emma got up off the soft couch she�d been sitting on in the house�s large living room and went over to the window. She pulled the curtains open to let some light in. The large window offered a good view of the backyard. Her eyes wandered over from the flower garden on one side to the lawn furniture on the other. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Adam? Claudia?.

She signaled for Brennan and Shalimar to come over. �Have a look at this.�

Shalimar stared at them, watching as Adam put his hand on Claudia�s cheek. �That�s odd. I thought Claudia hated him.�

�That was the impression I�d gotten as well,� Brennan said, looking as confused as the other two.

�What�s up, guys?� Jesse asked as he walked in.

�You might want to have a look at this,� Emma told him, gesturing at the window.

The molecular�s eyes widened in surprise that turned to shock when Claudia put her head against Adam�s chest. �Did we miss something here?�

�That�s certainly what it looks like,� Shalimar agreed. �Are you getting anything from him, Emma?�

Emma shook her head. �Nothing. He�s happy, but that�s a given from the look on his face.�

�I wonder what Claudia�s game is?� Brennan mused.

�What makes you think she�s playing a game?� Emma asked.

�Think about it. She hates him. She�s made that perfectly clear and even tried to hurt him when we brought her back to Sanctuary. Is she just trying to lower his guard so that she can kill him easier or what?�

�I�m not sensing any malicious intent from her,� said Emma as she leaned her forehead on the glass..

�That doesn�t mean anything,� he countered. �She�s telempathic just like you. We have no idea what she�s capable of doing with it.�

�Brennan ha a point, Emma,� Shalimar admitted. �She could be misleading us.�

�You guys won�t even give her the benefit of the doubt, will you?� Jesse asked and then shook his head. �We don�t know the story there. Frankly, it�s none of our business.�

�She�s trying to kill Adam. That makes it our business, Jesse,� Brennan pointed out.

�Look, all I�m saying is that what caused this happened a long time ago. She�s had plenty of opportunities to kill him and yet he�s still here. Let them work it out.�

Brennan narrowed his eyes. �You�re saying this because she�s Honor�s friend, aren�t you?�

�Leave Honor out of this,� Jesse snarled. �I�m not saying any of this because of her. I just want to let them work it out like adults. They were friends once; maybe they can be again.�

Shalimar stared at him �You�re being very optimistic about this.�

�It could work.�

Brennan snorted. �Right.� He turned back to the window. �Hey, where�d they go?�

That got their attention. They all turned to look at the now empty yard. �Did any of you see them leave?�

Emma shook her head. �No. We were so busy debating the issue that we missed it.�

�Where could they have gone?�

�Let�s go see if they�re inside,� Shalimar suggested. The others nodded and followed her out into the hall.

The door was closed and there was no sign of Adam or Claudia. Jesse looked out the front window. �Do either of you remember the garage being open?�

�It was closed when we got here,� Emma said.

Honor walked out of a doorway to join them, closing the door behind her. �Don�t worry about the garage,� she said with a smile. �Claudia just borrowed my car for a little. Hers is still in the downtown area.�

�Do you know where she went?� Shalimar asked anxiously.

Honor shook her head, looking unconcerned. �No clue.�

�Is Adam with her?� Brennan asked.

�Couldn�t tell you. Claudia just asked to borrow my car keys and left. Why? Is Adam missing?�

�They were in the back yard, talking about something. We turned away for a minute, but when we looked back they were gone,� Emma explained.

�Hmm.� Honor looked thoughtful. �When she talked to me, she looked and felt completely calm, not like she was about to get rid of Adam. I�m sure they�re fine. If you�re so worried, try calling him. You do have those fancy comrings after all.�

Emma looked really embarrassed as she activated her ring and brought her hand up to speak into it. �Adam? Adam, are you there?� Her inquiry was met with silence. �He�s either ignoring us or something�s wrong.�

�I think he�s just ignoring us,� Jesse put in. �In any case, there�s really nothing we can do about it. By the time we tracked him down it would already be too late if she has any malicious intent. This is also assuming he�s with her.�

�It�s a safe assumption to make.� Emma sighed. �I guess we wait and see.�

�So what? We�re just going to sit around and do nothing?� Brennan demanded angrily.

�Jesse�s right,� Shalimar said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. �Honor doesn�t look worried. We�ll just have to trust that everything will be ok.�
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A Matter of Honor