Chapter Twelve - What Tomorrow Brings

Jack Power held a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Ventilation was not the best down here and the smoke from the many campfires hung in the air. It was making his eyes water, but he could not work out what to do about that. Other than leave, of course, but he could not do that. Not yet, anyway. Leech was a friend from way back and, if Franklin was to be believed, he needed their help.

Leech was wandering through the cavern towards the Power siblings. He was taking his time, making sure that he stopped at each and every campfire, sharing with each member of his tribe a few words of encouragement, of friendship. Jack shook his head. He barely recognised his friend anymore. Leech had grown into leadership and now it fit him like a tailor-made suit.

Of course, his procession across the floor was not entirely regal. Every step was dogged by a little girl who skipped along behind him. As they approached, Jack got a good look at the girl's face. He looked away, fighting to keep his guts under control.

'Alex, Jack, Julie, Franklin, Katie,' Leech began, 'Leech sorry to have kept you waiting.'

'That's okay,' Alex replied. 'It looks like you've got your hands full.'

'Leech is very busy these days,' Leech conceded. 'Many mouths to feed.'

'Who'd have thought you'd be the responsible grown-up,' Katie put in. 'Now, aren't you gonna introduce your friend?'

Leech beamed.

'This is Dawn,' Leech explained. 'Leech look after her after her parents passed away.'

'Aren't you just a bundle of joy,' Julie said, scooping Dawn up in her arms.

Jack couldn't understand how she could touch that girl. Her face was just so…so wrong. It made his skin crawl just to look at her, just to think of looking at her. And while he hated himself for it, it did not make it any less true.

'Maybe we should go for a walk,' Julie suggested. 'What do you say, Dawnie?'

'It might be for the best,' Franklin told Leech.

Leech frowned, but nodded. He ruffled Dawn's hair with his pudgy fingers.

'Dawn be good for Julie, okay?' he said.

'I will, Daddy,' Dawn promised.

'I'll take good care of her,' Julie assured Leech.

'And I'll take good care of Julie,' Dawn agreed.

They laughed, though Jack's voice sounded false to his own ears. Then Julie turned and walked away, Dawn waving back at them over her shoulder.

'Follow Leech,' Leech said, gesturing to his tent.

The tent was not a large structure, quite modest when you considered it belonged to the Morlock's 'king', but it did provide some protection form the smoke outside. Bundles of rags formed makeshift cushions that the group could sit down on.

Leech folded his hands uncomfortably in his lap.

'Well,' he said.

'Well,' Jack agreed.

'It's been a long time, Leech,' Alex said.

'Too long,' Leech agreed. 'How have Power Pack coped since…'

'We get by,' Alex replied. 'We're not mutants so the Sentinels leave us alone.'

'But…'

'But we're still unlicensed parahumans - or whatever word the government have got for us this week - right?' Katie said. She shrugged. 'We've had some run ins with the law. We keep on the move, can't stay in any one place too long. But we don't have I anything like as bad as most mutants these days.'

'It's true,' Jack added. 'We can pass the genetic screening so it's not hard to find work, at least until someone spots one of us using our powers.'

'Our lives seem to be an endless procession from one burger joint to another,' Katie agreed.

'But why do it?' Leech asked. 'It sounds to Leech that if you stopped using powers you would all be okay.'

'The world still needs heroes,' Franklin murmured darkly.

Leech shook his head.

'Sometimes Leech wonders if the world deserves them.'

'You and me both, Leech,' Jack said. 'You and me both.'

Franklin cleared his throat.

'Much as I hate to interrupt,' he said, 'but we are here for a reason.'

'Franklin had a dream,' Leech said. It was not a question. 'Leech assume he was in dream.'

Franklin nodded.

'It started out like a lot of dreams I've had lately,' Franklin began. 'I was small again and Mom was holding me in her arms. And the she let go and I fell and I reached for her, but my hand passed straight through her like she wasn't there.' Franklin cleared his throat. 'Then I was alone on a road at night. My feet were bare, but the road felt soft underneath them. Spongy. I had nowhere else to go so I followed the path.

'I walked for what seemed like hours until finally I could see a city up ahead. Thinking that there might be someone there who could help me, I started to run down the hill towards it. Then there was an explosion and the city was engulfed in flames.

'The heat was intense, but in spite of that I ran forward, through the burning buildings. The flames lapped up against me, but they did not burn either my hair of my clothes. Thankfully, I could not see and bodies. It was as if the city had been evacuated before the explosion, but something made me carry on searching, looking for…I don't know what. And then I found them.

'A square in the heart of the city was full of dead bodies. I couldn't tell how they'd died - they weren't burned, that was for sure - but they were definitely dead. Most of them were people I didn't recognise, but I rolled one over and…and it was you, Leech.'

'Did…did Franklin recognise anybody else?' Leech asked, his voice wavering.

'Not many,' Franklin admitted, 'but I'm pretty sure I saw Jubilee.'

'Jubilee,' Leech repeated. 'She was here recently, asking for Leech's help. Franklin doesn't think…'

'Let's not jump to any hasty conclusions,' Alex warned. 'We don't know what any of this means yet.'

'Alex is right,' Leech agreed hastily. 'Did Franklin see anyone else.'

'Well, I don't know,' Franklin began guardedly. 'I thought I saw, well, Illyana.'

'Illyana?' Leech repeated.

'Yeah, you know,' Franklin confirmed, 'Illyana Rasputin. Magik.'

'Leech knows who Illyana is,' Leech replied. 'Leech also know that Illyana is dead. Dead in the real world.'

'I know that,' Franklin replied defensively, 'but I saw what I saw.'

Leech looked away.

'Leech sorry,' he said. 'Leech did not mean to doubt Franklin. It's just…'

'Believe me, I know,' Franklin replied.

'But what does it all mean?' Leech asked.

'I wish I knew,' Franklin replied, 'but whatever it is, you're caught up in it.'

'And we're here to help you deal with it,' Alex said.

'Whatever it may be,' Katie added.

'Leech appreciate the help,' Leech said, 'but Leech do not know what to do about this. It is all so vague. Maybe Leech could try finding Jubilee…'

'Bad idea,' Jack put in. 'The two of you were together in Franky's dream and look how that turned out. Best way of making sure it doesn't happen is to keep the two of you as far apart as possible.'

'Jack has a point,' Alex agreed.

'Rare though that is,' Katie remarked.

'But Jubilee's a friend,' Leech protested. 'If she is in danger…'

'Maybe on of us could…' Alex began.

He was cut off by the sudden return of his sister who burst into the tent trailing a rainbow of coloured light.

'Julie, where is Dawn?' Leech demanded, bounding to his feet.

'The infirmary,' Julie replied. 'She's…'

But Leech did not hear the rest. He had already sprinted out of the tent.

* * *

'No way,' Robin said, blocking the entrance to the infirmary tent.

'But…' Leech began.

'You are so not going in there,' Robin told him. 'We don't know how contagious this thing is.'

'But she's Leech's daughter,' Leech said, then corrected himself. 'Leech mean she is Leech's ward.'

'I know how you feel about her,' Robin said, 'but for now she's got to remain in quarantine. This disease is spreading fast enough as it is, even with all the precautions. Trust me, Leech, we're doing everything we can.'

'How many people have you saved?' Leech asked.

Robin could not answer.

'Leech think that maybe everything Robin can may not be enough.'

Leech turned his back on the healer.

'I'm sorry, Leech,' Robin said softly.

'No, Leech sorry,' Leech replied. 'Sorry and angry. The Morlocks have survived so much. They are free of the extermination camps. The Sentinels cannot scan for them down here. Even when the humans tried to fumigate the tunnels, they were warned in time to be elsewhere when it happened. So many attempts to wipe them out and so many narrow escapes and now it looks like the Morlocks will be wiped out by a disease. Leech does not think that is right.'

'It isn't right, Leech,' Robin agreed, 'and if there's anything we can do…'

Leech shook his head.

'Leech understands.'

Robin might have been about to reply, but any words she may have said were drowned out by the clanging of a large gong.

'What the-' she began.

'The alarm,' Leech explained. 'There is an intruder.'

'It's a Seeker,' someone shouted. 'There's a Seeker down here.'

Leech ran in the direction of the voice. The Sentinels could not scan down into the Morlock tunnels so every so often they sent scouts, Seekers. The only way for the Morlocks to stay safe was for them to destroy the Seeker before it had a chance to report back to its masters.

Leech spotted it, slithering snake-like towards an exit. Its bucket-shaped head bristled with sensor equipment.

'What is it?' Julie asked as she flew past Leech.

'A Sentinel,' Leech said. 'It must not get away.'

'On it,' Alex shouted as he swooped down from the ceiling.

The Sentinel was fast, its serpentine body was supported by dozens of rapidly moving mechanical legs. It was all Alex could do to brush his fingertips against its carapace. But that was enough. Alex had nullified the effect of gravity upon the robot and now it hovered in mid-air, its legs scrabbling for non-existent purchase.

'Nicely played, bro,' Jack said as his mist-form began to fill the air around the Seeker.

Leech hefted a rock from the ground and smashed it against the Sentinel's shell. He pounded at it again and again and cracks began to appear amid the metal and plastic. The Sentinel howled in protest and a cable shot out from the side of its head and coiled around Leech's wrist. The cable tightened, drawing blood, but Leech did not let up in his attack.

Jack concentrated and condensed, increasing his density as he decreased his size. As he solidified, he began to fall towards the Seeker and by the time he landed on it, he was small enough to slip inside its mechanical skull. Then, with a grim smile, he returned to his original size, shattering the robot from the inside out.

The wreckage fell to the ground, still twitching, and Leech fell to his knees, still hammering the components with his rock, fighting to turn the metal to dust. Then he felt a hand on his arm. Another took the rock away from him.

'It's dead, Leech,' Jack said. 'It's dead.'

'Why do these things keep happening?' Leech moaned. 'Why can't they leave Leech be?'

'We know about Dawn,' Julie said, putting a comforting arm around Leech as she helped him to stand. 'We're sorry.'

Leech turned to face her and Julie had to take a step back. There was something in Leech's eyes that she had not seen there before. Fury.

'She's not dead yet,' he said.

* * *

Dawn found it difficult to sleep in the infirmary tent. She had a hard time settling in any bed other than her own and he chances of sleep were not helped by her fever. However, after much tossing and turning, she had finally managed to drift away, at which point someone put their hand on her shoulder and shook her back into wakefulness.

She turned crossly to face whoever it was who had disturbed her, ready to unleash the full force of a child's temper. Then she saw those big round eyes and her annoyance melted away.

'Daddy!' she began to say, but Leech put a hand over her mouth to silence her. Her skin was so hot it frightened him.

'Hush, Dawn,' he whispered. 'Leech and Dawn need to be very, very quiet. Can Dawn do that for Leech?'

Dawn nodded solemnly and Leech took his hand away.

'Get dressed,' he told her. 'Quickly.'

'Are we going somewhere, Daddy?' Dawn asked as she climbed out of the bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes with the backs of her tiny hands.

'Yes, Dawn,' Leech told her. 'Leech is going to make Dawn all well again. Now hurry up.'

'Will we be gone long, Daddy?' Dawn asked.

'Maybe,' Leech conceded. 'Leech not know.'

'Than can I bring my train?' Dawn asked hopefully.

'Leech do not think so.'

'Please,' Dawn begged.

Leech remembered Robin chiding him for the way he spoiled Dawn. Could there be a worse time for her to be proved right?

'Okay,' Leech agreed reluctantly, 'Dawn can collect train on the way out. But Dawn must hurry.'

'All done,' Dawn said proudly as she finished tying her shoelaces.

Leech inspected them, then bent down and retied them for her. Then he scooped her up in his arms. He half-walked, half-ran from the infirmary, wincing at the sound of every footfall. Someone was going to hear. Someone was going to wake up and challenge him. But by the time he reached his tent, no one had.

'Here it is, Daddy,' Dawn said, jumping down from Leech's arms and retrieving her new toy train.

'Now can Leech and Dawn go?' Leech asked her.

'I don't know,' said another voice. 'Where were Leech and Dawn thinking of going?'

Katie Power stood at the flap of the tent.

'Katie,' Leech said.

'Leech,' Katie replied, arms folded across her chest.

'Leech has to try and save Dawn,' Leech said. 'Franklin is not the only one who can see the future. Leech sees it to. He sees a future where his daughter dies and he will not let that happen.'

'I know,' Katie responded.

'The X-Men will help Dawn,' Leech continued. 'Leech knows they will.'

'So you're going to take Dawn to the Xavier Institute,' Katie reasoned.

'Don't try to stop Leech, Katie,' Leech warned.

'I'm not here to stop you,' Katie told him. 'I'm going with you.'

She indicated the backpack Leech had not even noticed she was carrying.

'It's dangerous out there,' she continued, 'and, let's face it, you're not exactly carrying much in the way of firepower.'

'How did Katie know?' Leech asked, incredulous.

'How do you think?' Katie replied. 'Little Franklin had a dream.'

'Franklin,' Leech murmured, shaking his head. 'He knew. This morning, he knew, but he did not say anything.'

'He's scared,' Katie protested.

'He's scared?' Leech replied. 'Leech is one who ends up dead in dream.'

'You know what happened, Leech,' Katie continued. 'He saw his mother's death in a dream. So he tried to change the future. He told his father, because there's nothing Reed Richards couldn't do, right, and Reed immediately raced off to save his wife. And instead of losing one parent, he lost two.

'You don't know Franklin like we do. You didn't see what that did to him. He still blames himself, you know. If he hadn't tried to change the future, maybe his father would still be alive.'

'So Franklin's answer is to do nothing?' Leech queried.

'Of course not,' Katie retorted. 'There's too much of his father in him for that. But he's seen what can happen if he gets it wrong so he has to be very, very careful, that's all.'

'Leech understand,' Leech said.

'Really?' Katie asked.

'No,' Leech admitted, 'but if Leech say he does can Leech go now.'

Katie smiled.

'Yeah, we'd better get started,' she agreed. 'It's a long walk to Westchester.'