Reposting The Extraordinary since Dana's asked me to do so

The warning is that staying out of it doesn't neccessarily make her safe. That was the entire angle Danielle had been going for.

And thanks

Okay, yeah, I should have got that And I can't work out if Amanda is actually gonna go with Hex

She is He tricked her into it.

I thought so Master manipulator

The idea of the chapter was that his deception worked, while Danielle chose to be honest and let Suzanna go. It was meant to have Elan's plan in it too, but I decided that'd make it too long.

So that's next?

Ought to be

Elan's plans are always the best.

Sick chapter by the way, like Pippy, I really liked Danielle's bits. Nice forshadowing of what the Organisation is turning her into.

Brilliant

I absolutely loved how you've made the characters your own. Keep it up.

Thanks, both of you

Suzanna: Was I right in saying no? I'm sure I was.... I know I can't fight, not like that. I'm only 13! Neither of us should be fighting, really. But that look on Danielle's face.... I don't know if I'll ever see her again.

Elan: This plan of mine.... it's crazy. Purely crazy, there's no other word for it. And the risk.... but I have to. I don't have any other option. I can't turn my back on the others now, not when I've already abandoned them once and it led to their capture. Not when they're dead without it.

Danielle: What do I do now? I know a part of it: let her go. I can't force her to join. But I'm back where I started, if I do give up. We still need more people. Should I....? No. I know I shouldn't. I know that. I need to leave.

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As soon as she'd made her choice, Elan blurred away with determination, and without any hesitancy. The thought of her own part of this plan didn't enter her mind. She didn't let herself dwell upon it. It was so much easier to just focus on the present, so much easier not to worry on her own part until she was faced by it. So she continued to run, slowing only when she reached the small house she'd learned of in a vision. She knocked upon the door and awaited an answer.

Her old friend's face was timid and anxious as she peeked through the doorway. Her expression made Elan hesitate for the first time over this, and she had to remind herself that it wouldn't be Lorna or Matthew facing any dangers. Not really. They'd be safe, with Matthew's ability, the same way they were safe right here.

"Elan?" Lorna asked quizzically. "What are you doing here?"

"I.... we need help. Can I come in?"

The hesitation was obvious, without any need for telepathy to detect it. But still she slowly let her in.

"What's happened?"

"The Company found our base.....they captured Beth and Kent and Stevens, killed almost everyone else. I was away at the time...."

"And you need help for a rescue mission," Lorna concluded correctly. She nodded.

"There isn't anyone else left.... and I do have a plan. Matthew ought to be able to get you in and out easily, with a little help...."

"What kind of help?" she asked suspiciously.

"A decoy. They won't be expecting you; they'd think I'd be the one attacking. So if you're subtle, and I draw their attention to somewhere else, it ought to work."

Lorna eyed her carefully, but she had to admit that Elan could be right. There was a chance it'd work. And Matthew and she had succeeded in such missions so many times before, before they'd been forced to retreat and hide.

"I'll ask Matthew," she offered, getting to her feet and going upstairs to search for him.

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Danielle reappeared crashing through a wall in a flash of light, and looked around her in confusion. Where was she? It was far too bright and sunlit to be the interior of the hideout that she'd aimed for. She'd gone awry, somehow. Her heart sank as she recognised the area, realising she'd only travelled a few yards outside the house.

What had happened? She shook her head, unable at all to explain it. She'd never heard of such a thing happening before. Had her subconscious interfered with her aim and made her stay nearby? Would something similar happen if she tried again?

The sound of a nearby van drew her attention out of her musings. She couldn't have explained why, since it sounded similar to every other vehicle passing in the suburb, but something about it drove a chill down her spine. Carefully, she edged closer to its direction. By now it'd drawn to a halt, and she could see the figures of people exiting it, though they were still too distant to see properly. As she screwed up her eyes to look closer, that chill deepened. Their aumas were visible now, and each one was screaming of an attack.

Her immediate guess was that they'd come for her, and she drew further into hiding, dismayed as she realised that her fear had made her lose grip on the transportation, so she couldn't escape. She tensed, ready to at least try to fight. But they didn't approach her. They didn't come near her. They were walking in the opposite direction. She watched, confused, wondering what they were doing here and why they didn't attack. But then she realised. Suzanna.

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Elan waited anxiously for her answer, forcing herself to resist the temptation to search upwards for the pair's thoughts so she'd have a clue of what they'd say. She knew she shouldn't really do that. It'd have been an abuse of trust. But still she was tempted. To distract herself, she began pacing around the small living room, breaking off only when Lorna reappeared. Matthew was with her, this time.

"What did you choose?" she asked. She winced the second she spoke, hearing the neediness in her tone.

"I think it ought to be possible...."

Her relief made her break into a grin as Matthew answered.

"Thanks," she interrupted. "Thank you. You'll save them."

"What will you do, though?"

She frowned.

"Didn't Lorna explain? I'm going to be attacking elsewhere, to cause a diversion and make it easier for you. It'll be what they'll be expecting me to do, so they'll fall for it."

"Are you sure that's your intention?"

The question, and the suspicion beneath it, riled her, so that she snapped in her answer.

"Yes, I'm sure! What do you think? Do you think I'd just run off, or join them?!"

He shook his head.

"No. It takes about a day of having known you to know that'd be impossible, Elan. But I also know how reckless you can be, how you can lose focus. Where were you, really, when the rest got captured?"

"I.....I wasn't there...."

"But you weren't on a solo mission."

"Not exactly," she admitted. "We'd learned the location of some of the Company's leaders..... I went to attack. To kill the woman. And then the trap was sprung, and I wasn't there.... but this is different! I'm not being selfish this time! You'll really need a decoy!"

"We'll help," he repeated, interrupting her self-defensive tirade. "I already said we would, and I meant it. But I'm not going to be trusting completely to this decoy of yours, Elan."

She nodded numbly, knowing she couldn't persuade him otherwise. The mistake she'd made earlier had in truth been too much to forgive.

"Thank you," she whispered. "It's enough that you'll still go. Goodbye then."

She got to her feet and let herself out.

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Suzanna didn't react to the knock upon the door when she first heard it. She thought maybe it'd be Danielle returning again, and she was too busy thinking over their earlier conversation to face her friend again. She only got to her feet when the knocking was repeated, harshly and furiously. She guessed whoever was there wouldn't mind breaking the door down, otherwise.

"I'm coming!" she called out, heading into the hall. She opened the door cautiously, just a crack, then froze. She didn't recognise any of the men outside their, in their strange uniforms and cradling their weapons, but she could recognise danger. She tried in vain to slam the door closed.

Hastily she backed away from the entrance, as the nearest man stuck his foot in and prevented her from closing it. She'd ask what they wanted, but she already suspected she knew. They were from that Company. And they'd come for her - or for Danielle - it didn't matter either way.

The first sound of gunfire paralysed her for a second. She hadn't thought they'd really fire.... she was just a kid, they wouldn't.....but she was obviously wrong on that. She flinched, too late to dodge, awaiting the searing pain. But it never came. It took her a moment to realise that she'd reflexively used the air to deflect the bullets. By the time another round came, she was more aware, and deflecting them consciously. The multitude of various energy attacks which came, too. She backed away further into the hall, too frightened to think of attacking them back. And she doubted she'd have been able to face doing so, anyway. If she'd killed one of them.... it was half of the reason she'd refused Danielle earlier. She didn't want all of that. She wanted to be as far away from that as she could be.

Timidly she curled up with her back to the wall, trying to present as small a target as possible. She was still shielding herself with the air, but slowly fear and worry was making her lose her grip upon it. Her entire mind seemed to go numb when she realised she couldn't protect herself forever. What'd happen then? Would they simply kill her? Or would she be taken captive? Which of those would in truth be the worst option? Her despair slowly rose as those questions echoed over and over in her thoughts, leaving her unable to do anything. Her defence slowly fell.

She didn't understand what had happened, at first, when suddenly it all changed. She didn't need to understand, and she didn't have room in her to understand. All that despair seemed to fall from her, and her mind was so filled with aggression and confrontation that she didn't have room to think. She was acting on pure instinct. Quicker than possible, she raised the air shield again, simultaneously reaching out a tying everyone else up in bindings of air, holding them captive. It might not have worked, if not for how they too seemed to have changed, hesitating a moment as their emotions ignited. She span around, her eyes scanning the area, recognising the one small figure that was out of place.

"Danielle!" she gasped. "You came back... why?"

"I didn't intend to," her friend admitted. "I was aiming to return to the Organisation, but somehow the transportation didn't work. I found myself outside in the street instead. And then I saw these coming... I couldn't let them get you."

"Thanks," she whispered breathlessly. Danielle laughed, seeming to find it funny that she'd think she needed thanking.

"I couldn't let them," she repeated. "But I'm not sure what you'll have to do now... go into hiding, I guess. They'll know about you, they'll find you again..."

Suzanna hesitated, unable to believe the road her thoughts were going down. Why was she considering....? She couldn't.....and yet...maybe she'd have to.

"No, wait," she called out to Danielle's retreating back. The girl's face was amazed as she turned around. "Wait. Take me with you. I'll join."

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Elan continued to run onwards, but Matthew's parting accusation was echoing in her mind. Was she really being selfish? Abandoning, again? No....she wasn't....she didn't think she was. Her intentions were really to cause the distraction she'd described, anyway. She wasn't doing this for her own personal revenge.... but it was so close to that, it unsettled her. She'd known about the nearness from the first. It was essential - the whole idea was that the Company would believe she was continuing her personal assault, and wouldn't think of expecting a separate one. But as she ran, she began to suspect that their assumption would be half-true, and the thought chilled her.

Despite these doubts, she didn't falter or slow down at all. She ran true. And she only slowed down when again she'd reached the edge of her target, looking down at another home, another location of a Company founder. 2 of them, this time. The house radiated the same sense of indulgent richness as Hancock's had, but there the similarity ended. This one was modern, without the acres of accompanying land, and heavily guarded. This one would be a battle.

She shook her head, continuing to look down towards the building. Wasn't that what she wanted? A battle? A diversion? Her assault would force the defence to call for backup, drawing their men away from the prisons, making it easier for Matthew and Lorna. That was what was important. This move was as predictable as her earlier one had been, but this time she'd be using that predictability to her own advantage. She'd be forcing them to be predictable, too.

With that thought focused in her mind driving her on, she left her hiding place and fired the first attack.

Great chapter Can't wait for the next bit

Thanks Not quite sure when I'll be writing or posting the next section, though. I'd like to get more of a reaction to this one first.

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't generally expect many people to react to stories on this site. Don't be dissapointed if you don't get as many readers as you like, because your a fantastic writer but I've found when writing mine that I've only really got 3 regulars, you, Pippy and Mr_Isaac.

More people on this site should be encouraged to read your stories because they're excellent

Really enjoyed the latest chapter. Sorry it took so long for me to read it, exams at the moment.

Have you thought of a title yet?

Thanks, and no problem. I understand people are busy, have exams and coursework etc. I still haven't thought of a volume name, though.

And I know, there's only 4 readers of fanfic here, really. I understand why people would find it hard to get into this one now, though, with over 2 volumes already gone.