Birdhouse in Your Soul

[Jamie Morrigan]

Jamie Morrigan desperately wished her hospital room had a window.

It had almost everything else. There was a bookcase sagging with young adult novels and magazines and huge hardcover books with big pictures of exotic animals and foreign countries. There was a chest full of toys and dolls and stuffed animals and games you could play by yourself. There was a TV, and though it only played DVDs, there were plenty of those.

But she'd already seen the DVDs and read the books, and when it came to toys, there wasn't anything in the world that could be better than her own imagination. If there had been a window, at least she could have seen something every day that wasn't predictable, wasn't under her - or their - control. At least she would have had something to look at that wasn't an illusion.

She sat cross-legged on the edge of her bed in her pink hospital smock and loooked longingly at the opposite wall where the window might have been. Jamie could see it clearly - a beautiful, tall window with diaphanous (she'd read that word in a book, what a wonderful word) curtains trimmed with lace. They were blowing in a little, because it was a nice day outside, and she had the window open. The breeze was coming in from a valley overgrown with wild forest, and she could hear lively birdsong in the distance...

But, no, wait, it was winter, wasn't it? So there was snow outside in the valley. And a window with lace curtains was something you'd find in her bedroom if she lived in a mansion. And this wasn't a mansion. It was a prison. She knew because she could only leave the room when the nurses came for her, and there were guards outside the door.

So her window shrank and was covered with a cage of iron bars. She jumped off her bed, which had a lumpy straw mattress, and walked solemnly across the dirty stone floor to the narrow window, which overlooked a misty, snowbound hillside. Jamie shivered and pulled her smock tightly around her.

She turned around to take stock of the room. The floor, the walls, and ceiling had all become slimy, rough flagstones, and the toy chest was a pile of straw where the rats nested. But she didn't mind the rats - she always shared her gruel with them and was training them to fetch things for her. And just this morning the largest of the rats, a coal-black rodent with a wedge out of one ear, had brought her a token from a band of adventurers who were coming to rescue her from her dungeon cell and take her to live with her real family.

Jamie grinned secretively as she looked around at her new cell. Yes, this was perfect.

The heavy wooden door opened with a suitably resonant crash, and in walked a dowdy, middle-aged woman in a blue nurse's uniform holding a clipboard and a metal tray. She stood gaping at the gothic dungeon and said, "Jamie Morrigan, what is the meaning of this?"

Jamie scowled, offended that her reverie had been interrupted. "I was just making stuff up, Ms. Harmon," she said.

"Well, this seems like a pretty grim fantasy to me," the nurse said importantly. "You're to put it back at once, young lady. I would hate for Dr. Roken to see something like this."

The girl sighed, and the hospital room's pale yellow wallpaper and razor-thin carpet returned. She hoisted herself back onto the edge of her bed and eyeballed Ms. Harmon's tray uncertainly. "What's that?" she asked.

"Dr. Roken wants some more bloodwork done," Ms. Harmon replied.

Jamie wilted. "Again? What's he do with it all, water his pitcher plants?"

She could tell from the nurse's expression that she had no idea what a pitcher plant was. Ms. Harmon tore open a fresh swab of alcohol as she launched into her favorite mantra. "Jamie, you know you're a sick little girl, and we're doing everything humanly possible to help you get better. But I've got some good news for you."

Jamie stiffened. Ms. Harmon's idea of good news was rarely the same as her own.

"There's a new treatment that's come up," the nurse continued, taking the girl's arm and sponging it clean. "It was invented by a woman named Dr. Zajeda. You're going to fly to Montana tomorrow morning to try it."

Jamie wrinkled her nose at the smell of the alcohol and stared worriedly at the syringe on the tray. The blood sticks were bad enough, but it was worse when they were putting stuff in. "What're they going to do?"

"They're going to make it so your imagination doesn't leak out of your head anymore," Ms. Harmon said brightly. "You're going to be better. Just like all the other little girls. Now, hold still."

Jamie looked away from the needle and focused on something else. She decided to focus on Ms. Harmon. Surreptitiously, her uniform acquired a black cape with a high collar, and pointed fangs grew down from behind her jutting upper lip.

"What are you smiling about?" Ms. Harmon asked.

The girl winced at the prick in her arm and said, "Nothing." Her additions to Ms. Harmon faded away.

The nurse pulled back the filled syringe and laid it on the tray. "There, that wasn't so bad, right? I'll see you get an extra brownie with dinner tonight. Eat up and get your rest. You'll need it tomorrow."

Jamie didn't bother smiling back. Ms. Harmon didn't even look at her on her way out of the hospital room. As the door swung open, she saw the green-uniformed guards with rifles resting on their chestplates, and it shut again, not with a dramatic, metallic crash but a stale, clinical click. She was imprisoned just the same.

With a deep sigh, the girl rubbed her arm and laid back against her pillow, wishing desperately her daydream about heroes coming to her rescue were true.

[Dragon]

At the Jericho Center for Genetic Medicine

11:46 PM

Dragon was perched at the crest of a hill overlooking the compound that comprised the Jericho Center, which was nestled in a steep, rocky valley with only one route in or out. He lifted a pair of night-vision binoculars to his face and scanned the complex - it was made of several solidly built concrete structures of varying sizes, a sheltered roundabout for deliveries and emergencies, a spacious parking garage, and a sturdy fence with several outlying security posts. On the face of it, it was not at all dissimilar to most moderately sized hospitals, aside from the apparently elevated security, but the Korean mutant knew better. He'd seen facilities like this in his home country, but there they didn't have to hide behind the guise of legitimate medicine. The Jericho Center was little more than a concentration camp for involuntary genetic research; its patients were no better than laboratory specimens. He wanted to tear the place down brick by brick. Unfortunately, that wasn't in his power.

He swept over the main hospital wing and administration building and found a squat, rounded building tucked toward the rear of the campus. Two Humvees were parked outside, and a squad of masked guards patrolled its perimeter. Even at this distance, Dragon could tell they were wearing no rank or insignia authorized by the U.S. armed forces. He had a guess whose soldiers they were, and it boded very badly for a little girl who, he'd been told, was trapped somewhere deep beneath that building.

Dragon tucked the binoculars into his utility belt and quickly charted a course through the darkest parts of the security perimeter. In moments he was rushing through the dense underbrush around the rim of the valley and then descending the rocky hillside toward the Jericho Center.

He'd chosen the point where the foliage came closest to one of the elevated guard posts - he could see a sleepy-looking security guard in the lighted window with his feet propped up and watching something other than his security monitor. John sprinted from his cover across the no-man's-land strip of illuminated grass and directly to the foot of the guard tower. The concrete surface was sheer without a hint of handholds. But that wouldn't deter him.

He placed his hands against the guard tower wall and extended a set of ethereal talons from his fingertips. They split the concrete easily and gave him just enough purchase to haul himself up, hand over hand, until he cleared the top of the fence. Then he swung his legs over the barbed wire coils and landed effortlessly on the other side.

Dragon pressed himself back against the shadow of the guard tower as another Humvee rumbled down a nearby service road toward his target building. He knew he was in a race to find the girl before she was moved somewhere with even higher security. What he didn't know was that he wasn't the only one racing the clock.

[Spectre]

Jericho Center - 11:50 PM

The Humvee stopped. A masked soldier opened the passenger-side door. One long, white-nylon clad leg stepped out, followed by it's match. Serviceable looking nursing shoes graced the soles of the woman who emerged, matching the equally no-nonsense uniform and cap perched atop her blonde head. She wore a white lab coat and a placard hung from around her neck bearing all manner of identification and credentials.

"Dr. Ellen Dunwich...?"

She nodded, providing proof of her identity, as far as the armed guard was concerned.....

"Yes, I expect Colonel Vasher has made it clear that I will be present for the removal of the specimen..."

"Yes, doctor.. This way."

Several levels of locks and clearance codes were required by the guard to open the doors to the building, but it was not getting in that concerned her though..

It was getting out again.

It was not difficult on her, so far, controlling one of them at a time. First the good doctor, who's mind she had fairly pulled apart for information on the girl, Jamie... and her location within the Jericho Center. A sub-basment housed beneath this very building..

Then there had been the driver of the military escort.. He had been childs play.. most eager to assist the lovely doctor from Montana. Now she only needed to reach the girl....

Spectre steppped into the building..

[Dragon]

The Humvee's arrival drew enough attention to the front of the building that Dragon was able to slip around to the rear. There were no first-floor windows, and the second-floor windows were reinforced with steel wire, and the ground around the building's base was planted with shrubbery that was more than ornamental - it was a thick tangle of pyracantha, flying dragon, and other woody bushes whose thorns could tear through flesh and clothing like razor wire.

Dragon surveyed the building from his hiding place behind a dumpster and located a darkened window. He waited for a pair of patrolling guards to pass by and made a run for the wall.

His legs shimmered with energy as he picked up speed and made a flying leap. He cleared the wicked thorns and dug into the building's cement wall with a crunch, then quickly climbed his way to the window.

He reached over to the top pane of the window just above the latch on the inside. Then he forced his fingers cleanly into the glass, punching four neat holes as if the glass were no more than gelatin. Working the latch was simple from there. He thrust the window open and tumbled inside.

It was a chemistry lab; the counters were cluttered with tubes and vials and flasks of every description along with centrifuges, microscopes, and a host of instruments he couldn't begin to identify. A dish of milky liquid fumed evilly in a nearby sink.

Dragon closed the window and folded down the blinds. There was a lightly singed lab coat draped over one of the metal shelves, so he pulled it down, shook it off, and shrugged it on over his blue and black uniform.

The bottom hem fell all the way to the floor. Frowning, he rolled it up and found some pins to hold it just above his ankles.

Then he made his way to the door and listened. The hallway outside was silent. Dragon pushed open the door and strode down the hall toward the nearest stairwell.

[Spectre]

Upon entering the building, 'Dr. Dunwich' was shown to a set of elevators. The military liason unlocked another control panel on the wall and called one of the elevator cars to their floor. When the doors opened, she stepped within and waited for the correct level to be selected. There was no need for idle conversation. This was not a pleasure visit, it was business.

"Dr. Roken's nurse, Patricia Harmon will be aware of your arrival, doctor."

Spectre nodded, but did not say anything.

They'd be aware of her departure as well.

The elevator doors opened once more into a sterile white hallway. It smelled like any other hospital setting, bleachy clean with the faint scent of antiseptics in the air. The only thing to differentiate this setting from any other pediatric ward, was the presence of the armed guards, and the overwhelming feel of sadness in the air.

Misery.

Loss.

She slammed her mind shut, not wanting to feel any of it, it would only distract her. She could not save them all. Tonight she had to focus on one, a girl named Jamie Morrigan. Perhaps in the future they would return to this place and rip it all down..

[Dragon]

The elevator doors had scarcely closed when an Asian-looking lab tech came jogging toward them. "Couldn't you have held the elevator?" he complained.

The two guards flanking the elevator gave him withering looks. "What's your business in the sublevels?" the senior of them demanded.

The tech took a step forward and lifted a manila folder. "Time-sensitive data for Dr. Roken," he replied. "If I don't get there in two minutes, it'll ruin the whole experiment."

The guard furrowed his brow. "That doesn't even begin to make sense. Where's your identification?"

The tech took another step forward and very calmly punched the guard in the chest, shattering his chestplate and dropping him to the floor.

The other guard raised his weapon, but the man in the lab coat moved far too fast - he snapped out his hand and broke the barrel in half, then laid out the guard with a flurry of punishing blows.

Dragon opened a nearby closet and dragged the two limp forms inside. He liberated them of their keys, sidearms, and radios. One radio he switched off and dropped in a nearby garbage can. The other he clipped to his belt. Then, locking the closet door behind him, he returned to the elevator.

He quickly found the key that fit the elevator control panel and opened it. But he didn't bother calling another car. Instead he forced the outer doors open, leapt into the empty shaft, and slid down the center cable to the roof of the car below.

He pulled up the ceiling hatch, dropped down into the car, and hit the "open doors" button. Then he walked serenely after the retreating doctor and her military escort. It was an easy thing to catch up without either of them noticing his soft footfalls.

[Spectre]

There were not any coloring book drawings on the walls bearing the proudly scrawled names and ages of little children. Just plastic bound charts hanging outside doors, most with numerical identification on them, as if they belonged to lab rats and not kids. It turned her stomach, but she pressed on unaffected. The rounded a corner into another hallway, exactly like the first, save for the semi-circular desk at it's center..

"Dr. Dunwich, we've been expecting you. Right this way."

She approached the woman in the blue nurses uniform, without cheer. The woman, apparently Patricia Harmon, reached through the space between the nusing station desk and the glass window suspended above it, and retrieved one of the patient charts, handing it over to Spectre, who opened it and at least made a pretense of perusing the contents. She nodded, satisfied.

"I'd like to see the girl, before we continue with the transfer.", she said.

"Yes, of course. We anticipated that you would. This way please..."

[Dragon]

Dragon waited out of sight around the corner, ostensibly reviewing the pages in his file folder, but he was listening to the clipped conversation between the nurse and the doctor in the next hallway.

But when they began moving again, he realized they were walking back toward him - they must have already passed the girl's room on the way in.

He stepped back against the wall to allow them to pass. Once he'd incapacitated the guards, it wouldn't be difficult to deal with the doctor and the nurse, leaving him only with the problem of smuggling the girl out of the facility -

But as soon as they turned the corner, his eyes met Dr. Dunwich's, and he realized his problems were just beginning. And from the look that crossed Spectre's face, however briefly, it seemed that she'd just had the same revelation.

Dragon couldn't afford to let her out of his sights. So he fell into step with her as if he'd been waiting for them.

"Dr. Dunwich!" he said. "I was afraid I'd missed you. My name is Dae-Jung Park. I just transferred here from the Seoul Genetics Institute, and Dr. Roken suggested that I observe the transfer of the patient. Is that all right with you?"

Ms. Harmon, who'd fallen behind Spectre's lively stride, hastened to keep up and scowled at the newcomer. "I'm sorry - I wasn't informed of this. This is very irregular."

"Dr. Dunwich and I have worked together before," Dragon said cheerfully. "I'm sure she can vouch for me?"

He turned back to Spectre with a highly meaningful glint in his eyes.

[Spectre]

Ms. Harmon was even then reaching for a phone to check-up on the validity of the situation. She could not be allowed to complete the call.

Put the phone down.

She set it down.

Spectre smiled almost too warmly. "Ahh.. Dae-Jung, I had not expected to see you until morning. Your expertise in this situation will be most welcome.."

She reached into the patient chart for Jamie Morrigan, and removed a lab result sheet. Nothing more routine than a basic metabolic panel, which had all normal range results.

"Ms. Harmon. This is a correspondence from Colonel Vasher explaining the presence of my colleague. He is a specialist in genetic medicine and his presence is required."

"Yes, of course." Ms. Harmon looked a bit blank. She handed the lab result sheet back to Spectre, who returned it to the chart.

Spectre shot Dragon a warning glance. This was getting messy..

I'm getting the girl out of here. Don't get in my way.

[Jamie Morrigan]

Jamie lay curled up on her bed, staring at a fixed point miles beyond the far wall. She didn't know what direction she was facing, but she liked to think it was west, toward Montana, wherever it was she was going to be staying for the next however-long-it-took before they got tired of her there and shipped her somewhere else.

What would it be like there? She didn't know much about Montana except... mountains, pine trees, and grizzly bears. And she was going to see someone named Dr. Zajeda for some sort of experimental treatment?

The wall turned into a distant panorama of jagged mountains, and crouched on the side of the tallest mountain like a barnacle was a mad scientist's castle, covered with antennae and bizarre instruments. A bolt of lighting split the clouds overhead, and a woman's maniacal laughter echoed through the cold air.

Of course, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting as that. But the problem was, the real world might not have been as dramatic, but it was always scarier.

Jamie closed her eyes, and the mountains vanished. She clutched the thin blanket close to her chest and tried her hardest to think of a way out.

But then she heard the footsteps coming down the hallway outside and voices along with them, and she bolted upright in fear. She wasn't ready yet! She didn't have a plan!

Someone laid a hand on the doorknob, and Jamie did the only thing she could think to do - she disappeared.

[Dragon]

Dragon smile back just as cordially. He was grateful Spectre hadn't tried to do anything rash - his cover was her cover now.

And though John wasn't telepathic himself, he knew now that he was there Spectre would be keeping her senses open, and he thought, very directedly, I don't intend to get in your way. I intend to be long gone before you get started.

They approached a door manned conspicuously by two guards, and Ms. Harmon pushed her way between the two mutants. "Here we are," she said, opening the door. "Jamie, you have visitors..."

She fell silent as soon as she stepped inside. She glanced back and forth, then hurried around the bed. "Jamie! This is not a time for games!"

Spectre entered the room as well, and Dragon stepped in before she could close the door.

[Spectre]

Dragon's opinion on the matter didn't warrant an answer.

She was here to do a job, get the little girl out of here before she could be packed off to the 'slaughter and rewiring factory'. Her abilities were already incredible for her age and with training, she would be a force to be reckoned with, shaking the cage of reality for all around her. Spectre wanted to pick her up and swing her around and tell her how special she was, but she couldn't see her.. Which just delighted her more.

She cut the facade of merciless doctor, to Ms. Harmon it would seem like an act, but this was actually the dropping of the act. Spectre stepped into the middle of the room and crouched down, then lowered herself to her knees.

"Jamie..? I'm going to be going with you to your new home. Would you please come and say hello to me?" She spoke to the room, at large, but in her mind she lightened it up a bit, and tried to coax the child out..

Jamie? I know you're here. Ms. Harmon doesn't know I can talk to you like this, so don't tell her. Let's play pretend.

[Jamie Morrigan]

Jamie nearly gasped and gave herself away when she heard the voice in her head. But she hadn't really heard it, it was like someone was gently pressing the words onto her mind. And she knew at once it was the fair-haired woman who'd done it.

Was she... was she somehow like her?

She was curious, but still cautious. The little girl materialized sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hi," she said shyly.

And then her identical twin materialized next to her. "Hi."

Both Jamies sat staring uncertainly at the newcomers.

And, just in case the channel went both ways, she added, with all the mental strength she could muster, Who are you?

[Dragon]

Dragon put a hand over his mouth, ostensibly in surprise, but it was really to hide the smile creeping up on his face.

Ms. Harmon looked at the two girls aghast. "Jamie, this..." She looked at the other one. "This is really uncalled for! I'm sorry, Doctor, she's stubborn sometimes..."

[Spectre]

Ignoring both Ms. Harmon and Dragon for the moment, Spectre gave her full attention to the little girl, the first one that had appeared.

"Hello, Jamie.."

I'm a friend. I heard that you were stuck in the hospital, even though you aren't really sick. Doesn't seem very fair to me.

For a moment she turned to the nurse, serious concern once more in place on her features. Quietly, she opted to send the nurse off on a timely errand. "It is fine, Ms. Harmon. Perhaps a collar for the transfer, to avoid any unwanted incidents?"

[Jamie Morrigan]

Ms. Harmon looked very worried. "Oh... well... I could have one sent in..."

"It's okay, you can go," said Jamie #1.

"I'll be good," said Jamie #2, and both girls smiled beatifically.

With a great deal of reluctance, Ms. Harmon backed away toward the door and slipped out, careful not to leave any gaps that an invisible little girl could slip through.

Jamie #1 turned back toward Spectre. "Do I have to wear a collar? I really hate wearing it. I can make her disappear if you really want me to."

Jamie #2 made an indignant sound and slid away from Jamie #1.

[Spectre]

"No, you don't have to wear it."

She smiled at the antics of the perfectly matched duo.

Spectre got up and sat on the bed beside the girl, crossed her legs at the ankle, and kicked her feet the way a child would.. "Ms. Harmon doesn't want you to go. She really believes that you are sick, but I know that you aren't."

She picked up her chart and wiggled it like an official document reading 'clean bill of health'.

"You're fine. You're just special.. Like I am. Like... he is." She nodded over toward Dragon, reluctantly. She didn't want Jamie getting buddy-buddy with him, but until they could get out of here, it was best to keep it friendly.

"Now listen close. We're here to rescue you. We don't want them to make you go to Montana, to the hospital there. It's not a good place for little girls."

She grinned, like she had a great idea. "Jamie, I think together.. you and I can play the best game ever.."

[Jamie Morrigan]

"Really?"

The voice hadn't come from either of the girls - it came from beside the TV, where a third girl had just stood up from her hiding place in the corner.

Jamie #1 sighed theatrically. "Nice going."

"We had them completely fooled," said Jamie #2.

But Jamie #3 was walking toward Spectre with wonder in her wide eyes, and the other two girls faded away. Jamie glanced between the two strangers, wondering for a terrible, brief moment if she'd just imagined them and hadn't realized it.

She rushed forward and grabbed Spectre's hand, then squeaked and released it. "You're... you're here!" she said. "You're really here!"

[Dragon]

"Yes, we are, Jamie," Dragon said, crouching down to her level. "And we're going to get you out of here. And take you someplace safe."

He aimed a pointed glance at Spectre.

[Jamie Morrigan]

But Jamie didn't notice the exchange - now that her dream had come true, she was positively trembling with excitement. She pulled her hands back to her chest as if she was afraid that if she tried to touch Spectre again, she'd fade just like all her dreams did.

"What game are we gonna play?" she asked at a whisper.