Fic (and Art) - Mindgate: Brothers in Arms (AU J2)
A pair of green eyes blurs into focus and Jared blinks to clear his vision. He can see lips moving, but he can't hear a damn thing over the shrill ringing in his head.
Looking down he sees that he's strapped by his wrists and ankles to a single cot, and there's an IV line pierced into the crook of his arm. Frowning, he tracks the snaking tube up to a half-full bag of bright yellow liquid that's hooked above his bed.
“Wha-?” His tongue is swollen and it sticks to the roof of his mouth. Green Eyes is looking down at him with what looks like concern, before he carefully slides out the needle and removes the IV line. He's wearing a military uniform in tones of grey and blue, with matching fingerless gloves, and Jared blinks again, because there's a logo on his uniform but he just can't see it clearly enough.
A calloused but cool hand is on his forehead, and Jared watches as Green Eyes pulls away small white electrodes from his temples. He focuses hard on the stranger's voice as his lips move.
“...hear me, Jared?”
Jared? Is that his name? It sounds right, but his head is thick and everything feels like it's happening in slow motion. He tries to find a memory; like where he is, how he got here, or if he knows Green Eyes, but each one disappears like sand through his fingers.
“This is gonna help you remember. OK?” Jared looks up and Green Eyes is drawing a vial of clear liquid into a large needle.
Eyes wide, Jared pulls against his restraints, trying to twist away from Green Eyes. What is happening? What's going on?
“I wish we had more time, Jared. But you've got to trust me.” Green Eyes flicks his gaze down at a tablet computer that's on a nightstand next to the bed. Jared can't read the words from this angle, but he sees them flash from green to amber.
“Shit. They're onto us.” Green Eyes leans over him with the needle. “I'm not gonna lie, this is gonna hurt like hell.”
Jared tries to move away, but strong hands pin his head to one side. Jared feels the sharp sting of a needle biting his neck, and almost immediately liquid pain spreads throughout his body like wildfire. It burns through muscle and tissue and Jared can feel the restraints digging into his limbs as he thrashes from side to side, trying to escape the agony.
He's screaming, and then there's a hand over his mouth muffling the sound. Green Eyes looks down at him apologetically and then turns around to look at the door and large viewing window at the back of the room they're in, like he's worried about drawing someone's attention.
“It'll be over soon,” Green Eyes whispers.
The room dims, the fire burns hotter, and then the images start, stabbing into his corneas one by one; fire bursting out of glowing fingertips and setting a whole room ablaze, an armed man being thrown into a large tree by bright blue lightning, and a soldier walking trance-like off the top of a skyscraper without even a cry for help.
The assault of images keeps coming, one on top of the other, and then there's a calm voice in his head; it takes Jared a moment to place it, but it's Green Eyes, and he's telling him that's it's OK, that it's nearly over.
And then there's nothing.
Jared can taste blood in his mouth, and he swallows heavily before pulling his eyes open. Green Eyes is at the foot of his cot tugging away the last restraint from his ankle. Jared tries to move but his whole body is lead-heavy, and he only manages to lift his head inches off the pillow.
“We've got to go.” Green Eyes digs his hand under Jared's back and heaves him up into a sitting position. He slings Jared's limp arm over his broad shoulders and drags him to his feet. “We need to get to the data room. Hopefully it'll also buy us some time so that you can remember everything they've made you forget. Then you can get us out of here.”
Jared frowns at the words; who are 'they'? And what exactly have they made him forget that can possibly get them out of here? Green Eyes pulls them across the clinic, and Jared can't quite feel his feet but he tries to move them anyway; he won't be a dead weight in anyone's arms.
“Do we know each other?” His words sound slurred even to his own ears. Right now, they seem to have the same goal--to get the hell out of here--but this guy just stuck a needle in his neck, and Jared's head is more than a little scrambled right now, and he needs to know if he can trust this guy.
Green Eyes laughs, and there's something about those deep lines around his eyes that seems familiar, like he's seen them thousands of times before. But like everything else right now, the memory is just out of his reach.
“Unfortunately for me, I've had the opportunity to know you, and your heavy ass, all my life.” Green Eyes grins at him, wide and shit-eating, and then opens the door. After a quick scan, they step out of the grey room and into a brightly lit corridor.
Green Eyes looks down at the computer tablet in his hand and then steers them left. Jared tries to focus on the screen of the tablet; it's hazy, but he can make out a series of blueprints of what looks like a pretty extensive compound of some sort.
“The servers and generators are all kept in one room. We need to retrieve the data from their servers, and then destroy it all. It should also give us the distraction we need to make an escape.” Green Eyes picks up their pace to a jog and Jared tries hard to keep in step.
They pass room after room, all of which have large viewing windows. Inside each one Jared can see a man or a woman, unconscious; they're all strapped into cots, electrodes on their temples, being pumped with the same yellow liquid that Jared was only moments ago. He digs in his heels, making Jensen stop. “What's going on here?”
“The General's building an army...They're...highly skilled and drugged into submission. His prisoners become drones, and they'll do whatever they're programmed to do.” The words sound like they're being carefully chosen, like Green Eyes is trying to hide something.
“And I was one of those 'drones'?” A pit the size of Texas settles in Jared's stomach. “Programmed to… what?” His voice rises. “What have I done?”
“Nothing, Jared. Not yet. Believe me.” Green Eyes grabs Jared by both arms, forces him to meet his gaze. “At least, since they captured you, we know you haven’t left the compound.” Jared doesn’t untense though-he hears the unspoken 'But...'.
“They've been using the drug to control you so they can run their tests,” Green Eyes admits. “From what we've been able to learn, you're their end game. With their 'drone drug' perfected, and now if they can replicate your… powers, they'll be able to create the ultimate warrior.”
“Powers? What powers?” Jared wants to scream, but Green Eyes is tugging him forward again.
“Trust me, Jared; it’s almost over. We're getting outta here, and we're going home.”
“Home?”
“Mindgate. It's a government agency; we've been there since they were commissioned five years ago.”
It's a lot of information to take in and Jared has so many questions, but then Green Eyes pulls his gaze away, and opens the door at the bottom of the corridor. They enter an identical corridor, filled with yet more doors, and more drugged soldiers.
“Can't we do something for them? There's got to be something we can do.”
Green Eyes huffs out a laugh. “I see the hero complex is back already - that serum must be working, huh?”
“We can't just leave them here!”
“I have orders. And they're to get you out no matter what the cost. There's a plan in place here, so trust me. OK?”
Green Eyes freezes, his eyes tracking a man in a lab coat who steps out of one of the rooms. Jared can feel his rescuer's shoulders tense and then relax, as the white-coated man nods at them. He's carrying a metal briefcase, and he walks past them with a sly half-smile.
Green Eyes drags them forward, but Jared can't help but look into the room that the man just left. The IV line is gone, so are the electrodes and the yellow liquid, and the female soldier inside is no longer strapped to the cot.
“See? There's a plan.” Green Eyes winks at him.
They walk down three more identical corridors before they reach a set of shiny metal elevator doors.
“You OK for a minute?”
Jared nods, and reaches out his hand for the support of the wall. Surprisingly, he feels much steadier on his feet already.
Green Eyes pulls a knife out of his boot and slides it behind a metal panel to the left of the elevator doors. Inside Jared can see a nest of multi-coloured wires and power sockets, and he watches as Green Eyes pulls out a cable from one of the pockets in his uniform and plugs in the tablet computer.
How does this guy know so much about the facility? About the General's secret plans? “Who ARE you?” Jared blurts out.
“It's complicated.” Green Eyes says, his brow furrowed in concentration as his fingers fly around the tablet, frantically tapping on the screen.
Jared's about to demand that Green Eyes elaborate when the elevator doors slide open, and Green Eyes pulls the cable out of the wall and then replaces the metal panel. He turns and flashes a mischievous grin. “For now, let’s just say that I'm here to rescue you, Princess!”
The elevator's sinking, and Jared looks over at Green Eyes, at his military uniform and the logo emblazoned over his chest: four blacks arrows pointing outwards, a red circle with a triangle in the middle. Something about it looks so familiar.
“The Movement,” Jared says, looking down at his own bluish-grey shirt and green cargo trousers. “We're in their compound. We're wearing their uniforms.”
Green Eyes nods. “It's headed by the General. He used to be at Mindgate-pretty high up in the ranks too. But he wanted more-more power. So he stole our research, what he could get his hands on, and sabotaged the rest and got out. That was a year ago. He recruited people from all over the world and started The Movement. Now it looks like he's escalating his plan; they assaulted Mindgate and kidnapped some of our...agents.”
The elevator comes to a halt and the doors slide open. The room is dark, but as Green Eyes steps out of the elevator, fingers tapping on the tablet, the lights switch on automatically, illuminating a small room, filled with big industrial servers and generators, each omitting a low-pitched hum.
Jared follows Green Eyes into the room. Looking over to his right he sees a pitch-black space, but squinting, he can see that the room is bigger than he thought, with large white supporting columns. Jared watches Green Eyes walk into the black space, his feet lighting up another section of the room, filled with more servers and generators. Huh, it must be sensor lit.
“We need to shut this room down and destroy everything: all their data, research, and power. I just need to download a copy first. We need to know everything the General knows.” Green Eyes plugs his tablet into one of the servers, and Jared can see numbers scrolling on the screen: 1%... 2%...5%....
“And the name's Jensen. I was letting the whole Green Eyes thing slide, memory loss and all that, but it's starting to weird me out.”
Jared frowns. Shit, had he been saying that out loud this whole time? He's about to say something to Green...Jensen when he gets a tingling sensation in his fingertips. It spreads out quickly, crawling up his arms and neck before it reaches his head, pulling a cry from his lips.
“Jared!”
He hears Jensen call out his name over and over, but he can't reply. The images are back, like before when Jensen stuck that needle in his neck; bodies being impossibly hurled across the room by blue lightning, bright red flames sparking from his fingertips, and a soldier, whose expression is blank like he's in a trance, dropping his weapon and letting himself be captured.
Jared's fingers dig into his skull, like he can reach in and pull the images out and make it all stop. But then, just as quickly as they started, they disappear. Jared's breathing hard, his heart racing, and when he opens his eyes, Jensen's in front of him.
“You OK?” Jensen's gripping his biceps to steady him.
There's an echo of power at his fingertips, and it feels weird and yet somehow familiar, like he's found something that he didn't know he was missing. But the pain and pressure in his head, that feels foreign, and not at all familiar.
Jared pulls his arms out of Jensen's grip, eyeing him suspiciously. “What did you do to me? What was in that injection?”
Jensen holds up his hands in surrender. “I told you, Jared, remember? The serum is going to help you remember what the Movement and their drone drug made you forget. We're on the same side, you can trust me-”
“Trust you? I don't even know who you are!” Jared shouts, because shit, maybe everything Jensen said up until now is a lie. Who knows what was really in that injection and what it's doing to him!
Jared pins his gaze on Jensen, waiting for answers, when something catches his eye; farther down the room a section of light flicks on, followed quickly by another, and then another, which can only mean one thing.
He pulls Jensen down to the floor, instinctively throwing his body over Jensen's as a wave of rapid gunfire rains over their head. He can hear footsteps approaching and they're almost on top of them. Jared doesn't know if they're on his side, coming to rescue him from his abductor, or if Jensen's the good guy after all, like he claims. But he'll be damned if he just stands by helpless while they fight over him. “Gun!” he demands in Jensen's ear, because he knows he's unarmed, but Jensen must have something.
“You don't need one, Jared!” Jensen shouts over the deafening pop of gunfire. “Trust your instincts!”
Underneath his skin, Jared can feel the buzz of power growing. He rolls off Jensen, and body crawls across the floor until he's hidden by a tall server. He takes a quick look around the corner, and ahead he can see four soldiers in Movement uniforms, firing their weapons.
Definitely firing at him.
Taking a deep breath, and hoping that these visions and the echo of power he can still feel actually mean something, he darts out from behind the server and shoves his arms out in front him. He wants the soldiers gone, as far away as possible, and that's all he's thinking when blue lightning shoots from his fingers, and curls up his forearms like a snake. It hits all four soldiers, knocking them off their feet and then slamming them into a wall at the back of the room.
“Holy shit!” Jared turns around, huge grin on his face, and sees Jensen firing a weapon at the soldiers.
“We're at 52%. We just need more time to download these last few files so that... Jared! Three o'clock!”
Without thought, Jared spins around and throws his hands out, blue lightning hitting a soldier in the chest. Jared throws him up high into the ceiling, and drops him down onto the floor and then pushes him away.
The gunfire starts again from the back of the room, and now more soldiers are piling in, one after the other, and there's just too many of them. Jared's body feels sluggish, like his power levels are draining away.
“Seventy-five percent,” Jensen calls from behind him.
Jared throws a soldier face-first into the wall and then dive rolls over to him, pulling the gun out of his hands. He checks it's still loaded, and fires a stream of bullets, seeking shelter behind a bank of servers as he sprints back to Jensen's position.
Jensen's back is flat against one of the support columns. He ducks out and fires his weapon, teeth gritted as he covers for Jared who slams into the space next to him.
“We're at 89%. We need to hold them off for a little longer.” Jensen's glancing at the tablet as bullets hit the concrete column above them, showering dust onto their heads as they sit shoulder to shoulder.
Jared ducks out and fires his own weapon, taking down a Movement soldier. Using the gun is helping; he can feel his power levels slowly build back up.
“You've got to blow up the room,” Jensen yells over their gunfire.
“What?! I don't know how-”
“Just focus, and think about what you want to happen and aim. It'll come, just like the telekinesis did.” Jensen coughs as concrete dust continues to fall. “The General knows we're here now, and he'll just keep sending in more of his troops.”
Jared nods, and tries to focus on his own breathing, and then on the room; blocking out the sounds of gunfire and the cries of fallen soldiers. They need to save this data, destroy this room, and get out of here while they still can.
“Ninety-seven percent.” Jared can hear Jensen clearly even over the loud gunfire. “Now! Go!”
Jensen ducks around the column and fires a wall of bullets, giving cover so that Jared can step into the open.
He focuses on the back of the room; thinks about the thrumming generators, about the soldiers piling in, about heat and flames and how to shape it for maximum effect. He can feel the power at his fingertips, can see them glow from yellow to orange, and then he pushes out as hard as he can.
Fireballs shoot out of his fingertips across the room, each striking their intended targets. Metal cabinets explode and erupt into ceiling-high flames.
“Jared! Ninety-nine per cent..”
Jared hears Jensen's voice in the back of his head, it's so clear and calm, but he pushes it aside to focus on the fire. He shoots out more flames and fireballs, this time in the centre of room, and starts moving backwards towards the elevator.
Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Jensen crouching down by a server, the tablet still plugged in.
The fire is close, and soon Jared won't have any control over it; it's already spreading to areas that he hasn't hit. “Jensen!” he screams. There's an ear-popping boom just in front of him, and he throws himself to the floor, hands covering his head as a nearby server explodes, his ears ringing.
“One hundred percent! Get of here, now!” Jensen pulls the cable, and runs across the room toward the elevator.
Jared stands and backs up, firing all that he has left to give Jensen cover.
Then Jared feels something tug him backwards into the elevator, and his eyes widen as a huge explosion erupts and flames sprint towards them. The doors slide closed just in time. The elevator car rocks, and the lights flicker, but then they're on their way down.
“We made it!” Jared leans back against the wall, sinking slowly to the ground. He feels exhausted, his power levels drained. “I can't believe all of that just happened!”
Jensen's holding his tablet, his skin covered in a fine layer of white concrete dust. “Trust me when I say that so far, today has been a quiet day at the office.”
Jensen plugs a black flash drive into the tablet, and then a few moments later he hands it to Jared. “I can't store the data on the tablet, someone could hack it. Keep it safe, you hear me?”
Jared takes the flash drive, wondering why Jensen would give it to him, and not keep it himself. Does Jensen think they might not make it out together? That he has a better chance because of his superpowers? Looking up at Jensen now, all he sees fierce determination, like Jensen would do anything to make sure Jared makes it out of here with that data.
He tucks the flash drive into his boot. “I'll guard it with my life.”
Jensen nods, face stern, and then his fingers are tapping on the screen of the tablet, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. “I don't know how much longer I can keep this elevator running.”
With the generators gone, Jared knows that Jensen won't be able to divert enough power from other running systems for long. The elevator groans in response, but they're still sinking down. For now.
Jared's hands are shaking; tiny little tremors under his skin, so he tucks them under his armpits. Using his powers had been such a rush, and it had felt so natural. But now that he's thinking about it, other things are starting to click into place.
“I... remember. We lived next door to each other, and we played in the same Little League team.” Jared smiles fondly, his head resting against the wall of the elevator. “I punched a kid in the nose when he stole your lunch money.”
Jensen pulls his gaze from the tablet and looks down at Jared.
“We joined the military, but then our whole unit was-” Jared stops. He can remember a base in the desert, the names of each member of their team, and how they'd play poker and drink beer in their downtime. He'd trusted each and every one of them, and would have traded his life for theirs in a second. He also remembers the base exploding. “We were the only two to make it out alive.”
A flood of emotions and memories hit Jared. “I remember being recruited by Mindgate; their research into superpowers, how we've been using them in the field. Right now, there's only the two of us, and shit, you're a telepath, that's why I could hear you so clearly before. But you can also-”
“Do this?” Jensen pulls off his fingerless gloves, kneels on the floor in front of Jared, and wraps his cool hands around Jared's forearm.
Almost immediately a soft glow emanates from the palms of Jensen's hands, and Jared can feel a tingle under his skin as Jensen transfers some of his own energy and power into Jared, recharging what was lost.
“We're a team,” Jared whispers.
“You bet your ass we are! It's good to have you back, man.” Jensen grins, clapping a hand on Jared's shoulder. But then the smile is replaced with a pinched frown. “But now that we know that they can successfully combine Mindgate's superpower research with their own drone drug to create ultimate soldiers, we need to secure this data by any means necessary.”
Jared nods, knowing that this kind of sensitive information can be lethal, potentially world-ending, if it's placed in the wrong hands. He'll guard this data, and together they'll put an end to the Movement and the General.
The tablet shrieks out a high-pitched warning tone, its screen flashing bright red. Then the lights flicker in the elevator as it groans deeply.
Jensen pulls his hands from Jared and reaches for the tablet. “Initiating emergency stop.” Jensen's fingers tap frantically at the screen. “Hold on, this might get ugly.”
The elevator car shakes violently as the brakes struggle to slow them down. Jared pushes Jensen into the corner of the elevator car, hands gripping the metal railing as he tries to anchor them. The elevator lurches and Jared can feel every muscle in his body strain as he pushes them further into the wall. There's a violent jerk, and this time his feet leave the floor, and they're both thrown across car, backs slamming into the opposite wall before crashing back down.
The lights cut out, and it's pitch black for a few seconds before the emergency lights switch on, flooding the elevator in a hazy red. They've finally stopped and everything is silent.
Chest rising and falling heavily, Jared looks at Jensen. “You OK?”
Jensen nods, before looking down at the tablet. “Damnit! We're stuck in between two levels. We're gonna have to climb out of here.”
Jared lifts his head and sees a removable metal exit panel in the roof. Kneeling, he cups his hands and looks at Jensen. “Ladies first.”
Jensen rolls his eyes, and then places his boot in Jared's cupped hands and steps up. “Asshole!”
Jared laughs as he hears Jensen remove the panel, and then his weight is gone as he pulls himself up onto the roof of the elevator car. Jared stands, assesses the height and width of the hole before jumping up, and curling his fingers around the metal edge. He swings his legs and then pulls himself up through the exit hole.
“Show off!” Jensen says with a smirk.
Jared huffs and looks up into the dark elevator shaft above them. Red lights shine down a series of metal ladders to his left and they reach so far up that he can't tell where they stop.
“I think I can-” Jensen taps at the screen of the tablet and Jared can hear the snick of distant elevator doors open far above them. “You couldn’t open anything closer?” he grumbles.
The car under their feet rocks and creaks as they both step gingerly towards the metal ladder. Jared gets there first and starts climbing, testing his weight before yelling down at Jensen. “It's secure.”
Pulling himself up the ladder, he can't help but take a quick look down. Heights have never bothered him but now that he's nearly at the top, the elevator car looks so small, and a fall now would mean certain death. He steps onto the last rung of the ladder and pulls himself through the open elevator doors onto the cool floor of a dark room. Looking over his shoulder he can just see the outline of Jensen as he hauls himself through the doors.
“I don't suppose you can do anything about the lights?” Jared asks.
“Afraid not; most of the systems are down now.” Jensen pulls a small flashlight out of his utility belt and hands it Jared. “Besides, diverting any more energy will only give away our exact location.” Jensen looks down at his tablet and taps the screen, bringing up a set of blueprints that he studies carefully.
Jared turns on the flashlight and scans the area. It's a long narrow room, lined on both sides with perfectly starched military uniforms which hang on the front of dark green metal lockers, with steel-toe boots neatly paired underneath. At the back of the room there's a set of double swinging doors.
Jared walks farther into the room and opens one of the lockers. Inside he finds an assortment of weapons; handguns, rifles, shotguns, with various boxes of ammo. Hmmm... maybe Jensen picked this elevator door for a reason after all.
Remembering how useful a weapon was when his powers were drained, Jared takes a glock and some spare clips, as well as a utility belt which he fastens around his hips. “Please tell me you have a plan to get us outta here!”
“Me? Not have a plan?” Jensen snorts. “Are you sure you're not still a little scrambled?”
Jensen shows him the blueprints of the floor they're on. “We're in one of the supply areas. They lead directly down to the cargo hold, which will be our best exit.”
Jared shoves some additional ammo into Jensen's hands. “I guess you’re gonna need that, huh?”
Jensen nods. “Even if the General hasn't tracked our elevator, the cargo area is a busy part of the compound. It's a safe bet that we're gonna have company. You should suit up.” Jensen unhooks a protective vest from the front of one of lockers, as well some shin and knee guards, and a pair of fingerless gloves, and throws them at Jared.
“Yes, sir!” Jared mocks, snatching the gear midair and then putting it on.
“Come on, soldier, we've got work to do!” Jensen jogs to the back of the room, Jared at his heels.
Link to Part Two