𝐄𝐂𝐇𝐎, the gifted [1]

chapter thirty

Four years ago.

"I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe we let them leave," Carolina Martin said as she paced around the living room. From his seated position, Warren Martin lifted his head out of his hands and looked at her. "We had to, Carolina. It was the only way to keep them safe," he said.

"We were supposed to keep them safe. That was the one thing that we had to do," Carolina said. "We didn't know that this would happen," Warren tried. "How did this even happen? Elaine's powers were never supposed to manifest like this. We made sure of that," Carolina said. Warren sighed and rubbed his temples. "There are a lot of things about the X gene that we still don't know or understand. But we knew that there was a chance that her abilities would grow stronger and that Winona's would still become present," he replied.

"Winona's powers are gonna come now too," she muttered. "Most likely, yes. You know who her mother is. How powerful she is. The possibility of Winona having that power is high, especially after, you know..." he trailed off and Carolina nodded. The two were quiet for a few minutes, immersed in their own thoughts. "What if they find them? What if us doing what we did will put them in even more danger? We shouldn't have let them go," Carolina said.

"We had a plan in case this happened, remember? The chances of them finding the girls was higher if they stayed. We did the right thing," he said. Carolina sighed heavily. "I hope you're right."

····

"I just want to make something clear.
We're working with you on this because the Hound program is a threat to all of us. But if any of you think that being here means—" One of the Frost sisters cut Marcos off. "We're friends now?" She asked. "Oh, you made it clear we're not," another said. "We're just here to get a job done, same as you," the third added.

Winona rolled her eyes at them. She pushed herself off of the metal bars of the cage that she was leaning against and went to say something but Renee placed a hand on her arm. Winona halted and turned to look at her. Renee shook her head and Winona sighed. From beside her, Clarice was glaring intensely at the Frosts. Elaine remained indifferent with the conversation going on, almost bored with it all.

Edward and Dominic stood watching the Frosts carefully whilst Marcos, John, and Lorna did most of the talking. "Marcos, they're right. Stay cool," John said. Winona wanted nothing more than to slap him in that moment. "I don't see a move here. The Hounds are already out there. They're kicking our asses," Lorna said.

"It's a secret program. We can kill it, but it has to happen soon. Our sources tell us Dr. Campbell is working his political connection to take it national," the triplet in the middle, most likely Esme, said. Winona's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?" She and John asked in unison. She kept her eyes on Esme when John turned to look at her, ignoring his gaze. He returned his attention to the sisters when one of them began to speak.

The other two had watched the exchange between Winona and John with knowing smirks on their faces. "He's attending the Humanity Today Summit in Charlotte, tomorrow," the blonde said. "'Humanity Today'? That's seriously what they call it?" Clarice asked. Someone hummed. "I guess it sounded better than 'Kill the Muties'," Esme said. Winona pursed her lips in distaste.

"Every major anti-mutant figure will be there.
Politicians, business leaders," the blonde continued. "Purifiers," the three said simultaneously before looking at Clarice. Winona crossed her arms. "Security will be massive. All right? There's gotta be a better—" John was cut off.