“I only know what was said in the email, but it doesn’t seem like it.He’ll be forced to do a demonstration of his ability, though.I don’t know what that ability is, which means I don’t have details, but from what Reed explains in the email, it means that your brother will most likely be sold off by the end of that demonstration.”
Which meant that he’d be taken away from the lab he was in right now.In turn, that meant they’d probably lose him and wouldn’t be able to find him again.
Franklin couldn’t let that happen.
“What are we doing, then?”As much as he wanted to make the decision, it wasn’t his place.That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t go against Moore’s orders if he didn’t like them.His only goal was to recover his siblings.He might have agreed to work with the mutants, but he wouldn’t hesitate to go back out there on his own if he didn’t feel like he had a choice.
“We’re contacting Reed again.We need more information.We’d like to know who they are.I’m also curious to know how they got this information, and of course, we don’t know if we can trust them.You’ll probably want to be part of the whole process, which is why I called you.”
“Hell yes, I want to be part of the process.Let’s contact this Reed and see what they have to say.”
* * * *
REED WASN’T SURPRISEDto get a quick answer.He’d figured that someone would be monitoring the inbox he’d emailed, and he’d been right.
An email landed in his inbox just a few minutes after he’d sent his.For a second, he stared at it, hoping it contained what he needed it to contain.He couldn’t rescue Garrett on his own, as much as he wanted to.Even if he used his ability as a mutant, there was only so much he could do on his own.Helped by a group of other mutants, though?They could save Garrett and every single person in this lab.They could somehow stop the guards and the scientists.It wouldn’t be the first time those people did something like that, and even though he was a little scared because of what they did and who they were, he didn’t have a choice.He needed them.
Garrettneeded them.
Reed quickly read the email.These people had questions, which again wasn’t a surprise.They wanted to meet in a public place, which would be best for all of them.It meant that things wouldn’t get out of hand and that they probably wouldn’t attack Reed once they found out that he’d once worked for the Glass Research Company.
Well, hopefully.
It really depended on what public place it was, didn’t it?If it was on their own turf, Reed might be in trouble.There was no way out of it, unfortunately.If he wanted help, this was the only way for him to go about it.
They could hurt him, or worse.They could want revenge.They could capture him and lock him up, and he wouldn’t be able to help anyone.
It wasn’t like he was helping anyone from where he was, though.He’d been gathering as much information on this particular lab as he could, and he fully intended to take it and every other lab down, but he couldn’t.For now, information was all he had to offer.Would it be enough for them to trust him?To at least let him go free?
Reed would find out soon enough, and wasn’t that scary?
He sucked in a breath and answered the email as quickly as he could.He didn’t have a choice.If he wanted to help Garrett and redeem himself for what he’d been forced to do, he had to save people instead of hurting them.He had to save Garrett.That poor man had been through enough, even though Reed had tried to make it as painless for him as he’d been able to.
Unfortunately for both of them, Reed had quickly become an asset for the lab rather than just another scientist.In their eyes, he’d been no better than Garrett.Reed didn’t care what they thought about him or his ability, and he didn’t care how they treated him, but he did care how they treated everyone else.He’d known this was wrong from the beginning, but he’d felt he didn’t have a choice, and that hadn’t changed after he’d become a mutant.If anything, it had shown him that he really didn’t have a choice.
Until he’d escaped.
He sent the email and closed his laptop.He put it on the passenger seat and looked up at the facility again.As much as he wanted to storm in right this minute and get Garrett out of there, along with every single person who was being hurt, he couldn’t.That would end in disaster for everyone, which wasn’t what he wanted.No, what he wanted was for the people in there to be safe and healthy, and that would take a little more work.Luckily, he wasn’t afraid of hard work.What hewasafraid of was what the mutants would do to him once they found out what he’d done.
But he’d tell them.He wasn’t going to put people in danger just because he was afraid.If what it took to redeem himself was getting beaten, or worse, he’d do it.
He just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
His fingers drummed against the steering wheel as he watched the facility.How many people were trapped in there right now?How many were being subjected to the same experiments that had accidentally changed him and had turned him into something he’d never asked to become?The thought made his stomach turn.
None of them had asked to become mutants.As it was, Reed had been luckier than most.He hadn’t had to live through countless experiments.He’d become a mutant by accident, and while he’d been used after, he hadn’t been hurt before.
Reed had memorized every entrance, every guard rotation, and the position of every camera.He knew where the emergency exits were, which doors required keycards, and which hallways had the weakest security.He’d worked there, then had been a prisoner.He’d managed to escape, thanks partially to this knowledge.
But knowledge wasn’t enough.He needed allies.He needed power, and the very people who would probably want to kill him once they learned the truth about him.
The irony wasn’t lost on him.He’d spent months working alongside the scientists.He hadn’t been one of them, but as a technician, he’d helped them perfect their techniques and make their procedures more efficient.He’d told himself he was just following orders, and he had.Once he’d realized what they were doing, he’d wanted out, but it had been too late at that point.He hadn’t had a choice anymore.But there had been moments when he could’ve done something different, like sabotaging an experiment, warning a subject, or simply refusing.
He hadn’t, and now Garrett and countless others were paying the price.
Whatever happened at that meeting and whatever the mutants decided to do with Reed, at least he could say he’d tried to do something right.
There was nothing more for him to do here, and since he was planning on meeting the mutants, he had to put his things in order.He didn’t know if he’d ever come back, and he didn’t want to leave a lot of work for the people who would come after him.That was why he drove back to his apartment, his heart in his throat, wondering if he’d ever see it again.He didn’t really care.This place wasn’t home.It was just a place for him to get some sleep, a shower, and sometimes eat food.He didn’t care about it, but it did hold all he had.
