Being Different

The Great Escape

A/N: And the clock is ticking...Damien gets a horrific surprise...

Undisclosed location, somewhere in the Pacific:

Damien POV

"We buried her, Marcus. You were there! How could..." My blood froze when I caught a fleeting glance of a blond-haired, blue-eyed statuesque beauty who had been quietly peering at me through the glass window.

It was as if my eyesight was toying with me, daring me to see what I could not believe. But then, as she got closer, my breath caught in my throat, as the woman whom I finally knew as my mother pressed the button, and the sliding door opened.

"What kind of trickery is this, Marcus? Don't you dare bullshit me!" I yelled, freaking out at the sight of her.

"She was never truly dead..." Marcus began.

"She died in dad's arms! That was what he told me!" I interjected, backing away from her touch as she tried to pull me into her arms.

"Yes, she did. She was clinically dead when we brought her in. The bullet was tightly lodged in her but we managed to get it out, and place her in cryogenic state, waiting for the right time to re-animate her," Marcus continued.

"Then who did we bury back in her home town?" I asked him.

"It was just an empty coffin...She has a stake in this, too, you know...for you..." Marcus shrugged.

"What game are you playing at, Marcus? What kind of scheming..." I was about to continue, when the sliding door slid open again, to reveal two 'men' if you could call them that. They resembled our other intergalactic friends, observing me as if I was some unique specimen.

"So, this is Zarynthian's off-spring? The one who possesses dual sexuality. This human is good for birthing..." One of them spoke, eyeing me from head to toe.

I glared at them for that callous remark, thinking, 'Good for birthing...MY ASS!'

"Yes, that's correct, gentlemen. Zarynthian is on his way. As soon as he gets here, you may take him away to stand for his crimes, but not before our payment. That was the deal...plus I'll throw his son in for keeps...as you said, 'for birthing'," Marcus drew out a charter, a legal document that the two-extraterrestrial humanoid-looking beings acknowledged and signed.

"Of course, you will have your payment, Marcus. You have our word. We have long awaited the capture of this renegade pirate, a citizen of New Earth. He had been extremely active, helping those who would seek to overthrow our government, in order to escape justice..." The other one noted.

"You Bastard!!! You'd no sooner turn a good friend in for some intergalactic pay-off!!! I knew there was something fishy about you from the start!!!" I head-butted the man, sending him reeling while Randy grappled with one of the beings. He had his taser on him, set to full power, sending the humanoid slumping to the ground unconscious.

Randy quickly gathered up his son, while I dealt with the other one, using the unique cuffs Kryon had given me as a gift, which I threw in direction of the fleeing alien, which caught him off-guard. The cuffs instantly locked his ankles together, sending him crashing into Marcus.

As they toppled over one another, I forced my 'mother' into the cubicle, alongside them, slamming the button shut, thus sealing them all in. Then, I smashed the coding panel so that no one could easily get them out, unless by overriding the system.

"Come on, Randy! Let's get out of here!!!" Randy nodded to me, as he strapped his son, securely to his chest. We were now both armed, having stripped the two humanoids and Marcus of their weapons.

"What's that gadget you got there?" Randy's eyes grew wide as he watched me switch on a small tablet-like device.

"It's from Kryon, one of our intergalactic friends. He gave this to me too. Never knew that it could come in handy so quickly," I grinned, as the little tablet gave me the exact co-ordinates of the exits in this compound we had found ourselves trapped in.

"This Way!!! Follow Me!!!" I ordered, as we were clearly going to work our way top-side to one of the secret hangars.

Randy nodded, watching my back, as our eyes tracked every bit of movement, since Marcus may have alerted his men to a possible break-out.

We dashed across the long walkway, which was suspended several meters above the lower cross-walk, taking great care not to lose our footing. Once we got to the other side, I slid the tablet over the panel, and it instantly granted us access to a higher section which, from the indicators on the tablet, was near to ground level.

As soon as we turned around, sure enough, Marcus' men had gotten on to us. A tactical unit was heading straight for us, so Randy provided the distraction, while I tried to figure a way out of this predicament. I saw an interlocking beam, about three feet in diameter hanging above us. It was used for the air-conditioning units. I aimed my gun towards it, firing a few short rounds until the monstrous pipe gave way, falling at an angle, hitting them in their faces full-blast with cold air.

We ducked out from underneath their clutches through the misty haze, and into the tunnel leading outside. My com-link began to crackle and I could distinctly hear a familiar voice calling my name. It was Dante informing me that they were just off the perimeter of the facility, and I sent coordinates as to our exact location.

Then I hit the button, to which the door slid open noiselessly, and we were greeted by no other than our rescue party, which consisted of my father, my brother Bron, Alonso, my beloved Dante, our engineer Zack and Arturo.

"I always knew that you could handle this on your own" My father stated proudly.

I quickly explained what Marcus had in mind, which made Dante swing into action, by sealing the entire facility in some sort of gigantic bubble, putting everyone to sleep.

Then, the rest of our men, including some of our newly acquainted galactic friends, captured the remaining units. Marcus was brought back to the compound while Zack and his retriever team searched the place for important evidence, which could help to prosecute Marcus and his men.

My father was livid, shocked to the core by Marcus' actions. It was made worse when she was found, which nearly tore my father's heart to pieces. We then discovered that the aliens had technology for re-animation of humans previously dead, but although they seemed alive, there was a coldness - as no soul remained within.

She was sent to Zack's lab, to be put under again. It had to be done, more for her sake than for ours. My father was a strong man but even this shook him quite badly. Bryant had to rely on Dante and his parents to help calm my father down from the incident.

Bryant began the interrogation of Marcus, with the aid of both Deke and Gerry, who had become our close allies. Lord Prion and Mother Gaia initiated interrogation on the alien side, questioning the two humanoids from the future, who had come from New Earth. Both Dante and I sat in on both accounts, taking notes and statements from them.

What saddened me was the fact that my father had held much respect for two men, who both had betrayed him.

Firstly, Hawkes, the triplets' father – friend and confidant, turned traitor for his son's sake. Now, Marcus, who was a staunch supporter of my father, even having nominated him for the highest position as Commander-in-Chief of The Organization. Once Thorpe had been disposed of, Marcus had been bought for the promise of some intergalactic property stakes and loads of money.

Such a cruel twist of fate, nearly had my father fighting bitter tears. I felt his pain, surging through him, and I was relieved that Dante and his family were near, guiding him through his own healing state.

He came out of it feeling much better, although the slight pangs were still present, knowing that it would take him some time to fully recover. I was just glad that no one else was injured. Later that evening, I looked in on Agent Kelly and saw that he was up and very chatty, conversing with Kryon, who was aiding in his healing as well...

A/N: Katrina...who would have thought they would see the dead alive again...but there's something sinister behind this...