So Dawn Goes Down Today... - [Liam||R]

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

March 3rd, 2009


Perpetual white, that was what he could see from his side of the helicopter and the irony of his Grandfather making his home against a pure backdrop was not lost on him. Joshua had been summoned from his home in New York to the MacArthur Estate in Colorado, the 'ancient' castle was tucked deep within the Rocky Mountains against Mt. Elbert and inaccessible to all forms of transport...except aerial. "Tell me again why the old man wants to see me? And why the hell you're not allowed inside?" he said to Steve and looked directly at the man for the first time since they left his condo, it was evident to anyone who knew Joshua that the telekinetic was afraid that this could be the time that his Grandfather would end it all for him. His eyes shifted quickly away from Steve when the man failed to answer him and then back to the view of the castle coming closer to them.



"Levi..." the sudden pitch of the helicopter as it hit some rough winds shook Joshua from his inner thoughts and back to reality, his jad coloured eyes locking onto the imposing structure that housed one of the most if not the most dangerous man that had lived. Finally after what seemed like hours, the chopper set itself down safely and its occupants headed towards the massive doors leading inside to Liam MacArthur's home. "Look princess, this is where we part ways and you go on down that rabbit hole so just be sure to keep your head." Steve said to his charge and had to keep his hands away from the boy's face, the need for what maybe his last chance to touch the kid almost overwhelming him. "If i see you again, i'll..." his words were cut off as the large oak doors suddenly opened signaling that Joshua was to enter at once, the boy gave his bodyguard a soft smile and entered through the darkened entryway. The first thing that registered to his senses after the doors closed immediately behind him was the smell of crisp air that had been filtered up the ass, it made him feel like he should be wearing a face mask to prevent some gnarly infection "What a freak." Joshua continued down the flight of stairs to his left and entered a long corridor that would take him to his Grandfather's library, finally he was alone with his thoughts and took the time to raise his mind's shields to what would come. His footsteps the only sound as they stepped upon the stone floor and took him to his certain doom he so thought, it was funny that not a month ago he had begun his task of gathering all information that he could for Levi and now he may never see his lover again. A sudden chill ran down his spine and he quickly stomped on that fear that he wouldn't return home to New York...to Levi, the only thing that made it bearable was that if anything happened to him the information would be sent safely to Levi. "Oh! I'm here." he said shocked to find himself outside his Grandfather's library and knocked loudly.

At once the computer terminal lit up and requested he identify himself, the fingerprint and retinal scan were commonplace in most high security areas yet it was the full DNA scan which always creeped him out. There was no fear that the man would find out about his powers as that had been disclosed back in Ohio when Neil decided to play games with human lives, and now as the computer approved him for entrance he said a silent prayer to whoever was listening to get him out safely. Joshua's eyes pin pointed Liam MacArthur instantly and never left as he walked closer to the older man, looking at his only surviving family member staring out at the massive mountain range surrounding them he couldn't help but wonder if it would be better to throw the man out the tall window he was looking out of. "You sent for me...Grandfather?"

[Liam A. MacArthur V]

The world was ever changing towards a new status quo that would eventually rival anything that had been seen in the past, and he for one had seen a lot throughout his years walking upon this earth that his immortality had afforded him. From the rise and fall of empires to the establishment of his dominance in the world as its key player in the 'war' to come, and now as he watched the pure white snow upon the mountainsides his thoughts shifted to the task pivotal to his reasearch. Liam had received reports just yesterday of the completion of his finest creation to date and that the researchers in charge of its development at their facility in Kansas had requested a specimen to test the limits of project Helios, it was also the reason for summoning his grandson here. The ancient man's ears picked up the sounds of footsteps echoing within the corridor beyond his library's doors and smiled beguilingly at the sound of heavy knocks, there would be little time to act out his plan and ease the boy into a false state of security knowing full well Joshua would never let his guard down without extreme measures. "You sent for me...Grandfather?" he hard coming from behind him and with a slow turn faced his only living descendant with a cool, calculated look on his stoic face "Of course i sent for you foolish boy, if not then you would have had no reason to grace me with your lovely face...you do look more and more like your mother as the days go on don't you." Liam couldn't simply act sweet to the child if he wanted Joshua to drop his guard and acting kind would have raised alarm bells, yet his appraising eye couldn't help but notice the beauty held in his grandson and let the occassional compliment slip from his mouth.

Liam had long ago made the decision to tap Joshua as the only specimen at hand that would give Helios a run for its money and not die in the process, this did not mean that the boy would come out unscathed yet this would not constitute a problem in their research into Helios' limits. The child before him was one of the few Omega-level power users in existence and perfect in his creation "Yes well, we have much do discuss and so little time to do so and then we can also go over your new role withint the company. The teams that you have spearheaded in your missions to aqcuire new genetic material have reached the point of no longer needing your presence any longer, it was actually painful for me to explain to them that they would no longer have you with them...some of them have obviously taken a shine to you. Now as your new duties need some explaining and due to the flawless understanding i am going to ask from you, i'm going to have tea brought in." He could see the boy's confusion on his face and new it would be soon for him to act or else risk Joshua being able to throw off the attack, the plan was really simple that he could have let Steve do it yet knew that a betryal like that would break his grandson. And he still needed him...later on the boy could be broken.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Joshua sat still in his highbacked leather chair facing his Grandfather as the man sipped his earl grey tea and took note in the calm demeanor of the older man, it had been a while since had had been in the presence of the imposing figure before him and couldn't remember when they had sat down for tea. He could almost see them laughing over some joke with the way things looked and it threw him for a loop that had unknown to him dropped his guard, the young telekinetic picked up his tea cup to raise it to his lips and sipped quietly "I'm sure that the expedition teams i trained will be more than ready to aqcuire any more genetic samples you request, i for one can say i'm glad to not have to leave my home for the most uninhabited areas with exception to the one at the beach in California. If i may ask Grandfather, what is this new role you have designated me for and why does it sound complicated?" Joshua kept his questions simple and forced he babble threatening to spew forth back into his head, he knew that any sign of weakness in the man's eyes would wind him up doing some fucked up assignment in Alaska...or the Territoire Foncé. A shudder raced down his spine thinking about the facility appropriately nicknamed The Dark Territory in french and the rumors that swirled around that went on there, to most sources within the company it seemed his Grandfather kept a personal army of the dead locked deep within one of the sub-basements. Of course he never believed that rumor.

It seemed like ages before Liam explained to Joshua all the intricacies of the new job and that it meaned he would be able to stay at his condo more, yet it also meaned that he'd need added security for the work he would be doing was top secret enough to have him killed should he lose it. There was also some mention about how the government had been sniffing around the Ivory Tower which was unusual as they had allowed the company free reign in it's company doings, what had both men collectively bothered was that most certainly this meant that the military would soon find out about their research through some damned leak and come swooping in for their own slice of the pie. It had happened to his great-grandfather during WWII when he was 'researching' at Auschwitz and had to protect his findings from the Nazis then the Allies, not much was really known about the man seeing as his Grandfather never kept pictures of their family aside from his mother and father. "We may have to bring them in to circumvent a total breach in research and only show them a selective side of our operations making it seem as if that was the whole, if we were to allow the US government access to our reaearch there would be no way to prevent it from leaking to the rest of the world. Public panic would escalate to chaotic proportions and we'd be to blame ultimately...i wont see that happen. What are you going to do?" It was times like these that he was greatful to have the old man around since he hadn't the knack for underhanded ways, his stance at the company since joining Levi was to undermine operations while gathering intel yet he couldn't allow a breach like this. Even Levi would have agreed that allowing this stuff to leak to the masses would endanger them all.

[Liam A. MacArthur V]

"What do you take me for, a fool? I have seen this company to where its at by playing the game wisely and no fucking United States government is going to ruin things now, i will also demand that you remember your place and never order to to answer you." Inwardly he smiled at the reaction from his grandson knowing that the boy was ripe for the picking from the expression on his face after that blowup, all it would take was for him to get into position without the child taking his focus away from what was in front of him instead of behind where he would strike. Getting up from his leather chair, Liam walked back over to the spot Joshua originally found him in and looked out into the world and could see in his mind the way things would be shaped due to his actions. He had already known to involve the US government to an extent before having his grandson try to explain it to him as that tactic had been old hat to him, and so with some final decision he carefully chose his words to try and explain to Joshua why it was he was really doing. "Your father was the first thing in my life i had been proud of and no offense to your dearly departed grandmother but she was bitch so she never counted, i was devastated when he and your mother died in that plane crash and for a long time couldn't accept the truth. They were indeed dead and now i was responsible for you but never really showed you love, it as for the mission you see?" Liam's hands had slid into the right pocket of his dress slacks to feel the syringe resting there and made sure that it would be ready to use instantly, he was glad that the boy couldn't see the beguiling grin on his face or he would have known that something was terribly wrong.

As for the performance he was doing for his grandson it couldn't have sounded more sincere, inside his darkened heart he knew that this conversation was causing Joshua pain and still he pressed on for that sake of his goals. He went on to explain that the company's focus shifted from making bio-weapons to saving lives and then to shaping the destiny of man, that it was necessary to force evolution that would have saved his parent's lives if they had the added protection that the specimens they collected had. Liam had finally found himself behind the chair his grandson was sitting in after walking around the room during his ravings, the entire time Joshua's eyes had not left the gaze he held at the snow falling beyond the plains of glass and Liam knew that there would never be a more perfect opportunity to act other than now. "So you see my little one, this is why i do what i do and it is why i must also sacrifice somethings in order to see it through. I know you will do me proud and when you return to us my dreams will begin their final stages..." Reaching into the right pocket of his dress slacks, he pulled out the syringe and carefully pulled off the cover protecting the needle to ensure that nothing else other than Joshua was pricked by it. His face remained stoic as he raised the needle to neck level and like a cobra struck Joshua pushing the tranquilizer into the boy's bloodstream.

[Joshua D. MacArthur]

Pain exploded from the side of his neck as the needle slipped the drug into his bloodstream and instantly started to take effect, he jerked away from his grandfather's grasp and stumbled out of the chair towards the window. His mind fired off thoughts ranging from betrayal to utter rage at the act just done to him, and as the drug flowed through his body and as the walls in his mind fell...the rage won. Joshua had mere moments to lash out against Liam to kill the older man before he had a chance to kill him and as his eyes bled into a darkness beyond blackest pitch and deeper than the deepest night he gathered his powers to the surface. "Tut tut. Bad move Grandfather." and with a thrust of his right hand sent an indescribable wave of psychic energy straight at his grandfather sparring the castle to ensure he would not get crushed if it were to collapse, with the energy gone his body shook with exhaustion and his eyes faded to jade. His mind clearer than ever before and deep within he knew that something had changed for him, that there would be no holding back anymore for his power limits had now increased exponentially.

Joshua slowly collapsed to his knees on the carpeted stone floor not paying attention to his dead grandfather, and like a slow motion effect in a movie he fell onto the ground completely letting his eyes gaze at the snow falling outside. His eyes slowly glazing over and beginning to close allowed many emotions to slide over their jade depths: rage, fear, betrayal, love. There was no reassurance that he would wake from this and Joshua could only hope that Levi would be spared from this but knew it to be false, the other man would feel exactly what had happened and if he did indeed die then the bond would snap in two. Any information he had amassed would be sent out to Levi using the company he had hired to deliver it, the stipulation was that Joshua had to contact them each day in order to ensure he was alive for if one day was missed then they would assume he had died and deliver the intel along with a note to Levi. And so his eyes closed as he finally slipped into the depths of Morpheus' embrace...

[Liam A. MacArthur V]

A sudden intake of air. Liam Alexander MacArthur V had 'died' for an instant until his stored deposits of people's life forces had kicked in and used some of itself to bring him back from the edge, already the energy had reformed his nearly destroyed body only depleting a drop in his stores. Steadily the immortal got to his feet and staggered only a bit to the left as he regained his balance, it had been more power than he had dreamed of yet knew that an Omega-level like Joshua had much more deep inside. Indeed he was the perfect condidate to take on Helios and maybe survive. "Chronus!" he called out and instantly a man stepped out from a portal to god only knew where, the blonde haired man that resembled Havok from the X-Men comics was the first successful project the company had and code named him Chronus due to his powers. "I need you to take Joshua to the staging facility in Utah and there i want him put in cryostasis to heal him back to normal...nothing more than that. I know you'll take care of him as i also know the reason for that is that longing look in your eyes for him, he'll be going up against Helios after healing and then hopefully he'll live." Chronus nodded his head looking at Liam for only an instant before going to Joshua's unconscious body resting on the stone floor and picked him up tenderly in his arms, not sparring anymore time or a glance at Liam he stepped back into a newly formed portal to disappear with his precious cargo.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Liam summoned a cleaner to pick up the mess made from that struggle and returned to looking out at the falling snow wondering just how much longer it would be before his master plan went into full effect. His eyes furrowed at the feeling of cool metal in his hand and upon looking down saw his pocket watch in his right hand opened to the picture of Joshua, he spared a moment to contemplate something and as soon as it had came it went.