𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎, the gifted [1]

chapter nineteen

By the time they had made it back to headquarters, the pain in Winona's chest lessened to a dull ache. Caitlin had given her painkillers, after assuring her that nothing seemed to be broken, and Winona was still waiting for the pain to subside. She was stood with Clarice, Lorna, Sonya, Marcos, John, Sage, and Reed as the Asian woman was in a cage.

"So she was sent here as a spy?" Sonya asked. "Something between a spy and a suicide bomber. She had a beacon in her bag she could've activated when we brought her in. It would've sent Sentinel Services right to our front door. She had weapons too," Marcos replied. "Yeah, it sounds like the station in Perry was hit by another one of these, uh, things," Lorna said.

The spy sped over to the bars and slammed against them. "If Sentinel Services is planting these things out there, we may need to stop taking in refugees," Sage said. "You don't turn your back on desperate people because one of them might be dangerous," John said.

"John's right. There are a lot of mutants out there that still need help. It's our job to help them," Winona said. John sent her a nod of appreciation and she nodded back before looking away from him. "Reed, we should get on the road. Try and figure out whatever we can from your dad before it's too late," John said.

"Yeah," Reed replied, pushing himself into a standing position and walking over to John. "Hey, what about Little Miss Vicious?" Lorna questioned. "We got to get what we can out of her. See if you can figure out who she is," John answered. "That doesn't seem like an easy task," Winona pointed out. Sonya nodded in agreement. John looked at Marcos and Lorna.

"Do you think you can handle this?" He asked. "Yeah," Marcos answered. "We'll be fine," Lorna replied. John didn't seem as though he believed them but he left anyway.

Winona pulled out her phone as it rung obnoxiously. She looked at the number before picking up the call. "Hello?" She said. "It's Edward," the person on the other end replied. Winona began to walk away from the group who watched her curiously. "What's up?" She asked.

"I think I know where Elaine is," came Edward's reply. Winona stopped abruptly, her eyes widening. "You think or you know?" She questioned. "I'm not a hundred percent sure. But, you told Renee that your friend told you that she was in some prison far away, right?" He said.

"Yes," she replied, unsure of where this was going. "So I was out at a bar with some friends a few nights ago. One of them works for the Sentinel Services. I got him drunk and asked some questions and I was able to find out where that prison is," Edward said. Winona could feel hope swelling up within her.

"Well then where is it?" Winona asked. "It doesn't matter because she's not there anymore. Around three weeks ago, Elaine was transferred to a different facility though it wasn't a prison. It was Trask Industries," Edward said. Winona's breath hitched in her throat at the information. "Trask Industries? Are you sure?" She asked. "That's the last report on where she was. Whether or not she's still there, I'm not sure," he answered.

"Well, where is this lab?" Winona asked him next. "I'm not sure yet. But I'm working on it," came his reply. Winona took in the information. "Thanks Edward," she said before hanging up.

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Winona walked around the beds in the Underground's infirmary. She was checking up on the mutants that were there. At the same time, she was keeping herself distracted from her thoughts as well as her feelings. She really hated that she felt the way that she did. Unfortunately, she couldn't help it.

It's times like these that she wished that Elaine was here. Elaine was good with feelings and relationships and drama. Whereas Winona didn't know anything about it. That was partly because she closed herself off to people and also because she didn't trust easily. Her parents were the cause of that. Both biological and now adoptive.