After kidnapping Agent Turner, the guilt of leaving Gus behind was continuing to eat at me. I needed to do something to help him, but I didn't know what. If Sentinel Services could make Gus forget me, what else could they do? It's a thought that scared me. I decided to keep my mind busy by helping mutant refugees and occasionally checking on John's progress on finding out what they did to Gus.
I was just about to enter the control room when I saw Sonya coming out. I sent a smile her way as I entered to talk to John.
"Hey, did you find anything?" I asked curiously.
"Yeah. I figured out that Pulse may not be the only one Sentinel Services turned against us. There are rumors all around of mutants working with Sentinel Services." John said leaning against the table with a stressed look on his face.
"Maybe you could take a break for a little bit. You deserve one." I said approaching him.
"No, I can afford to take a break. Not now. I need to figure out a way to get into this building. We need that information." He said still not looking me in the eye.
"John, you can't do everything. Let Marcos take a look at it. Rest." I said, but he still didn't listen to me. "Do you want to go somewhere with me?" I asked and he finally looked at me.
"I don't have time for this." He said.
"It's a place Gus used to take me. I haven't been there since he died, or went missing." I said realizing that Gus was still, in fact, alive. I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and I knew that made him crumble.
"Fine, but only for a few minutes." He said following me out of the room. I began walking to where Gus took me when I was stressed. The grassy fields and beautiful trees made it impossible to think about anything but the landscape.
"Gus brought me here whenever I was overly stressed or needed some time away from headquarters." I said turning around to walk backwards as we headed towards the spot.
"I guess if you want to get away this is a good spot." John said as I suddenly stopped and put my arms out at my side with my face towards the sun soaking in the heat. "What are you doing?" John asked.
"I always tried to soak these moments up. We didn't come here often, but he always seemed to know when I needed it." I said dropping my arms to my sides and approaching John.
"Yeah, Gus always put others before himself." John said.
"Come on, let's dance." I said grabbing John's hands and trying to get him to let loose.
"No, Dylan. We should head back." John said trying to walk away. I used my powers to put a wall up in front of him to stop him. "Really? How old are you?" John asked rhetorically.
"I'm not letting you leave until you come over here and dance with me. You need to get out of your head and stop feeling guilty." I said wiggling my hips and holding out my hand.
"There's no music." He pointed out.
"You don't need music to dance." I said.
"Fine, but then we're going right back to headquarters." He reluctantly said.
"Fine." I said still holding my hand out. He came towards me and took my hand. We began to slow dance and he broke the silence.
"Do you feel guilty?" He asked.
"All the time." I said into his shoulder.
"How are you this happy while feeling guilty?" He asked.
"I try to keep myself busy, but you took that too far. Everyone needs a break." I said.
"Yeah, I know. I just couldn't stop. Pulse is my best friend." He said.
"I know that better than anyone." I said looking into his eyes. He looked down ruining the moment.
"We should probably head inside." John said breaking away.
"Yeah..." I said looking down.
"Thanks for this. You were right, I needed it." He said and began to walk away. I followed him into the compound and he went toward the control room. I went the opposite way to help the mutant refugees.
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Everyone gathered in the common room to discuss our plan to find out all we could about Sentinel Services turning mutants against us.
"Listen, everybody needs to understand something here. This isn't just about hiding mutants anymore. We are taking the fight to the enemy now. It's a matter of survival." John stated with complete transparency.
"We're still helping mutants, but now, we won't cower in fear. We'll fight back and win. Show people that we are strong, but also have mercy. Show them that they don't have to be afraid of us." I added to make sure everyone knew the motivation.
"That's right. Reed, can you tell us about this building?" John asked as we gathered around the table to see all the plans.
"I wish I knew more. Some of my cases were transferred to Baton Rouge. There's a judge there, James Kresge. He dealt with most of my cases." Reed said picking up the picture of the building we needed to hit.
"And how many folks you prosecuted disappeared through this place?" Shatter asked with his arms crossed.
"It was rare. All they told me was that some of my cases were being prosecuted under a special federal program." Reed explained further.
"And you never asked for more information why?" Shatter asked accusingly.
"We're not debating this Look, what matters now is getting those files. If Clarice can get us in, then... " Marcos interrupted Shatter to suggest Clarice's role in the plan.
"That's not an option. Clarice, uh she left. She's gone." John said glancing in my direction knowingly.
"What, she just left? Why would she do that?" Lorna asked surprised that Clarice left without saying goodbye.
"It doesn't matter. We need another solution." Dreamer said trying to get back on topic. Her and John shared a knowing look.
"I could try to get us into the back of the building." Marcos said pointing at the blueprints.
"That's reinforced concrete. Cutting through this is gonna take at least half an hour." John pointed out.
"Then I'll have to do it a lot faster." Marcos shrugged.
"It's not possible." John said being the optimist that he is.
"I can move the wall." I said leaning against the table.
"Yeah, but the whole building could come down." John said.
"That happened one time and it was forever ago." I said annoyed that he brought it up.
"It's not happening, Dylan." He said sternly.
"I can get us through." Andy said entering the room.
"Andy." Reed said surprised.
"What? It's a wall. I can handle a wall, no problem." Andy shrugged. "You and I should talk - about this when..." Reed said, but was cut off by Andy.
"Are we really gonna do this again? Talk about how only the adults can do anything? You said it yourself. It's a matter of survival, right? Yeah, so, if the Sentinel Services did track us down, the kids would be just as screwed as the adults, if not more. I can get us through that wall quicker than anybody else here. It's time you let me fight." Andy said passionately.
"Wow, that was one hell of a speech kid." I said clapping his shoulder.
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Marcos, Reed, and Andy were getting ready to pack up the truck and leave. I wanted to talk to Marcos before he left. It was important.
"Hey, Marcos. Can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked pulling him away from packing the truck.
"Yeah, Dyl. What's up?" He asked.
"Listen, I know that this is Andy's first mission and he's excited, but please keep an eye on him." I said looking to where Andy and Reed were talking.
"Yeah. Of course. Why are you so worried about him?" He asked curiously.
"It's just... Andy reminds me of me when I was his age. A lot of confusion and trying to prove myself. I got caught up in the wrong crowds and I was dangerous. Teenagers are scary and reckless. Just don't let him make the same mistakes that I made." I said referring to the stories I told him about my past.
"Don't worry, Dylan. I'll keep him on a tight leash." He said hitting my right arm as he began to move away.
"Hey, Marcos." I said and he turned around. "Thanks." I said sincerely.
"No problemo." He said whistling while throwing a bag in the back of the truck.