The Gifted: Merchanty

This story is based in The Gifted Tv Show all characters belonging to the show are not of my originality and as such, I do not claim them, enjoy the story. The story takes place on **Earth-919**

**Primary Characters**

* Jonathan B. Merchanty
* Monica L. Blonsky
* Essa C. Blonsky
* Jennifer Milena-May Bell

## **Chapter 1**

**Pilot**

**February 16th, 2002 Santa Monica**

**4:30 p.m**

"Kassandra, Dear we have to let him go," the woman held her newborn son near weeping over him knowing she would never see her son again, "I know James, I know, I just wish..." she trailed off, the man sighed knowlingly, he didn't want to give up their child either but he would be in danger with them, they were wanted for multiple attacks on Anti-Mutant Organizations their child deserved a life better than that, a life where he could grow up peacefully, go to school, love a girl, get married, have a family of his own their son deserved  that much, "I need to take him now Kassandra we're running out of time," the woman sniffed before kissing her son and firstborn on the forehead "I hope you know this when you grow up, we love you, and we always will," the woman said mournfully, she handed her son to her husband reluctantly, as the man walked out the front door the woman said oh so quietly "Goodbye Jon" and then they were gone.

**13 Years Later, Miami Florida**

**2015**

Slowly a brown-haired boy opened his dark emerald eyes, he looked over at his alarm clock, it read 10 o'clock, laid back in the bed, it was a Saturday so no school to worry about, he bathed in the golden light coming from the window, he loved the warmth it gave him, he always had, somedays it had been the only thing keeping him going, the reminder that there was a tomorrow to look to, that there was hope, he drank the warmth in eagerly a smile appearing on his face, eventually the heat woke his body up and he got outta bed. After a good shower and drying off he walked over to his closet, he slid on a black shirt with a red jacket that had Gryffindor on the back with a roaring lion emerging from it, he pulled on a pair of black jeans along with a pair of black red-bottom sneakers.

Dashing down the stairs Nathan grabbed a piece of toast off the counter, looking to the couch he saw his cousin Essa lounging on it eating a cup of pudding, rolling his eyes at her antics he called out on his way out the door "Day on the Town!!!" Essa didn't seem to hear him but he knew she did, then his phone chimed, as he closed the door he looked to see it was from Essa, "Jeez you are lazy woman" then another message came 'So R U' rolling his eyes he read her previous message 'Monie is coming home today, be back to go get her at 2' he smiled at that, he had missed Monie's general snark and sarcasm, he hadn't wanted to let her go to the Carribean alone but Essie had insisted at her side that she go alone.

Honestly, he had been pissed off that her Ex had gotten to her so much, Zac Kirby, his little cousins Ex had cheated on her at a party with her supposed best-friend, Mia Evans, Monie had nearly burned the 2 to ashes then and there but Essa had been there to get her out before she revealed she was a Mutant, for weeks after that Monie's powers had been on the fritz, her Pyrokinesis seemed to take on a life of its own burning things to ash and sparking randomly, Essa said our powers are connected to our emotions and Monie's powers were so outta wack because her emotions were the same, he still wanted to kill Zac and Mia for betraying his cousin but Essa had talked me down to only pranking them to death.

Nathan was taken from his musings when he was socked in the jaw, Nathan was taken aback, 'What. The. Heck' he thought to himself, he turned to look in the direction of the person who socked him to see Isaiah Peterson, the local bully, and pain in Nathan's rear end, sighing, Nathan stood up from the punch, he looked behind Isaiah to see his groupies which included Nathan's ex, Layla Markson snickering at him and Isaiah, already knowing what this was about Nathan asked "What do you want now Isaiah? people have things to do yah know" Isaiah bristled in anger "You hit on my girl at the party last week" Jonathan mentally sighed, 'This fool is for real, he punched me over a girl' slightly empowering himself slightly with Tactile Telekinesis, Nathan narrowed his eyes on the poor, poor, soul in front of him, oh how he was going to injure its pride.

Peterson swung a right hook which Nathan easily dodged as he went under for an uppercut, with a KRACK, Isiah was laid out on the pavement, 'At best he had a minor concussion but he was going to have a killer-headache when he woke up' thought Nathan to himself, as he walked away he heard the unholy shriek of the shallow whore sound out behind him, shaking his head in annoyance he just ignored it and kept walking, he could hear Layla insulting him but he didn't care, the girl had slept around with the entire Football Team when he quit the team, all because she didn't have the same status anymore as the 'Girl-of-the-Quitter' he sighed, it didn't matter anymore.

As Nathan walked he spotted his favorite rouge, Jennifer Milena-May Bell, he made his way to her as she was leaving the mall, he rolled his eyes at this, the woman loved black clothes like a fish loved water, as he walked up beside her she smiled at him, which always made him fuzzy and she knew it, shaking his head at her antics the 2 talked back and forth about what they wanted to do, he had met her a year ago in the back trails at the park, no one remembers the old trails so it was a good place to train, he had panicked when she saw him using his powers but she immediately blew a rock up which as ironic as it sounds calmed him down, they had been best friends ever since, Monie had not stopped trying to get them together and he was pretty sure when he broke up with Layla, Monie had secretly been cheering from here to high-heaven but at the time he was too drained to care.

Jen, as he called her was considered family by him and his cousins, her uncle, was the one taking care of her on paper though, in reality, she lived on her own getting her food, clothes, and other needs by herself, she absolutely hated it when he or the girls tried to give her anything and would downright refuse on the principle that she wasn't as she put it 'A Leech'.

Jonathan and Jennifer spent the next few hours hanging out, playing around and talking, eventually, they made their way back to Nathan's place where they ended up collapsing on Nathan's bed still dressed, Essa would come by to check on them just to see Jen nuzzled up to Nathan and Nathan with his arm wrapped around her, she texted Monie with an image of what she saw.

**XX Hours Later**

**Monica's POV**

Monie had just made her way through returning Airport Security and was exhausted, she felt her custom-made-phone vibrate, her older sister had made it during her free time for Monie, 'Sometimes that girl is scary' Monie thought to herself, she had come back from the Carribean after taking her much needed vacation from the pain that was high school, she turned on her phone to see who had messaged her and what she saw made a huge grin appear on her face, she saw Jen and Nathan sleeping together with their clothes on, clearly knocked out from talking so much, she beamed at her cousins sleeping smile, 'Finally' she thought to herself, as she walked she crashed in to someone, "Oh sorry I didn-" she froze, right in front of her was her Ex and Ex-Friend, Mia was looking at her with a sneer and Zac was wide-eyed, "Monie, what are you doing here?" her rage was flaring 'As if he has the right to ask me' she thought to herself but she forced a civil reply out of her mouth, "Just returning form a trip, and you?" she asked politely.

He still seemed out of it until he snapped back into reality, "Yeah, we're heading to San Diego" Monie smiled warmly though she was seething with internal venom, she would not succumb to her baser instincts, She. Would. Not, she nodded her head in response "Well I hope you enjoy it" as she walked away Lissa said the last thing she should've said "Run little bitch" Monica froze, her vision went red, her powers were dancing right under her skin, she could feel it reacting to her rage, begging her to let it out, and she did, the flames were orange mixed with purple, the radiation pouring off her was visibly affecting people around her, they were dying, screaming, running, begging to live, and she didn't care, all that mattered was the 2 *traitors*, she could hear the word ringing through her mind, *traitors*, *traitors*, *traitors, traitors,*the word kept ringing and the fire kept burning and consuming, she could hear the screams around her but she didn't care, she wanted them to hurt, to know how it felt to be in pain, to run and run and to still hide who and what you are.

The flames kept pouring off her, Zac and Lissa had died from the radiation a long time ago, everyone who had been there had either died from the exploding flames or the radiation, as she walked over to the now charred corpses of those who had betrayed her, she smiled, walking away she could feel her power overflowing, like an infinite tap of energy that was hers to control if she would only take it, and she did, the flames poured off her like an ocean pouring through a pipe, the flames got hotter, faster, stronger, then they erupted, the flames consumed the entire airport in an explosion of cosmic fire, from the outside one could see what seemed like a Phoenix emerging from the flames.

**A/N: Alright that's Chapter 1 everybody, hope you enjoyed it.**

## **Chapter 2**

**eXposed**

**Monica POV**

Monica groaned as she opened her eyes, she blinked spots out of her line of sight, groggily she sludged forward, as her vision came back she could see she was at home but she didn't remember how she got there, or when, or why, and then as she began to fade back into the darkness she could see a blurry woman moving to her, calling her name, then nothing.

**16 Hours Later**

Monica groaned as she stirred from her sleep, feeling sore all over her body she flexed her arm a bit, she could feel a vacancy of power, like a waterway without water, she could still feel her power in her but it wasn't running amuck like it usually did, it was like a child trying to get the praise of its mother, she just had to will it to do something and it would do it, she could feel it calling to her, begging her to command it, so she did, and it was amazing, she felt the energy course through her, heal her, strengthen her, liven her, she got outta bed and went to the living room where she saw her cousin and sister talking with serious faces on, she frowned, she looked next to her cousin to see Jen trying to ease the situation, she locked eyes with Jen who smiled upon seeing her, "Look who's up" Nathan and Essie turned to her relived looks on their faces, Essie rushed her and pulled her into a bear hug before pulling back with a scowl on her face, "What. Happened. Now!!!" Essie bit out.

Monica caught them up on what happened as far as she knew, Essie and Nathan were silent throughout the entire story while Jen held her in an embrace trying to comfort her, when she finished Essie was the first to say something "We need to go now" Nathan nodded his head in agreement, Jen looked from Monie to the 2 "Where are we going" Nathan's eyes widened "We?" he asked incredulously, Jen rolled her eyes "Really? I might as well be family at this point" Essie smirked though the tension was still thick in the air "Are you sure?" Nathan asked. Jen smirked "What? worried pretty boy" Essie hid her laugh and Nathan threw his hands up in defeat, "Good choice, now where are *we*going?" she emphasized *we*part to get her point across.

The 4 discussed possible plans, the closest country with looser mutant laws was Mexico, they had lost valuable time with Monica being unconscious and it was only a matter of time before Sentinel Services figured out who she was, Nathan suggested leaving on the hour which would give everyone enough time to get what they needed and go, everyone agreed and Jen went to her home to get packed, when Nathan asked if her uncle would be trouble she said "He's probably drunk out his mind, chances of him being sober enough to know what time it is are in the negatives" no one had questioned her after that, Nathan, Essie, and Monie all got packed within the hour and waited for Jen, as they waited Nathan began to worry, Monie teased him but Essie shared his feelings, then they all got a group text from Jen, 'SS IS HERE' they didn't need to think twice about what that meant, Nathan was going to rush over Jen's place but Essie stopped him and told him they needed a plan, they texted Jen back and she said she was at the bogs not too far from their place.

Essie sent Nathan after Jen while she took Monie to the docs, Nathan had called in a favor with a sailor friend of his from his boxing gym that would get them a free ride from Miami to Costa Maya, Mexico.

**Jennifer 's POV**

Jennifer ran from her house, Sentinel Services had been waiting for her and began questioning her on Monie, Essie, and Nathan, when she said she didn't know anything they wanted to take her in for questioning, she bolted out the door, on the outside there were agents waiting who apparently knew she was mutant because they were armed and ready, they shot at her but she blocked using a shield, jumping off the side of the porch she made a mad dash for the forests in which she was currently running through, she had blasted a few dogs killing them before she could drag her down, she was jumping over tree roots, running through water, and dodging tree branches, she couldn't hear Sentinel Services anymore but she kept moving not wanting to risk them catching up to her, she had told her family, yes she considered them family now that she was in the bogs, hopefully they didn't run into Sentinel Services, she saw someone on a trail she paused to see who it was, then she smiled and rushed towards them, jumping into his arms she hugged him tight, Nathan was smiling before he heard men calling, looking down at her, she nodded, and they took off.

**Miami Docks**

Nathan led his family that now included Jennifer to the boat that due west, when he laid eyes on Ricky he smiled at the old man, "Hey old man" he said Ricky just rolled his eyes "Not the time prat, get on everything been' handled" Nathan nodded which was reciprocated, Essie, Monie, and Jen thanked Ricky who just waved it off saying that I was a friend, from there we went to the 4 rooms he got for us that were side-by-side.

Everyone was sitting inside Jonathan's room discussing their plans for Mexico, "I think we should head for Los Cabos when we get to Mexico" those words had everyone looking at her like she was crazy, "And why would we go there" Monie asked, Essa rolled her eyes "Cartels pay good money for the help of mutants in the raids, easy pay and we're all ridiculously powerful" no one could deny that but still "Do you think that's the best idea?" Nathan looked at her intently, she nodded, "Then I'll trust your judgment" Essa smiled at that thankfully,  Monie and Jen looked at each other, "So you're the leader now?" Monie said, Essa smiled "Guess I am"

**Monica's POV**

**Last Day at Sea**

Monica stood on the bow of the ship bathing in the sunlight, she loved the feeling of the sun on her skin, the feeling of warmth and life that coursed through her when she was under it, "No wonder Nate loves this so much," silently Jonathan stood behind her "Damn straight" startled she nearly fell into the sea but Jonathan caught her by the waist and pulled her back on board, Monie punched Nathan playfully and the 2 laughed, then Nathan got serious "I know we haven't had much time to talk since..." Nathan paused looking for the word but Monica finished it "Since I killed thousands of people" Nathan looked at her and she shrugged "You don't need to soften it for me J, I can handle it" Nathan nodded "Are you okay after that?" Monica just stared out into the sea "I don't know, I know I should feel remorse for what I did but I don't, I can't bring myself to feel bad for killing them, and, and, I think I enjoyed it, the power it gave me, to destroy them, to end them, it was intoxicating" she looked at her cousin "Am I a bad person?"

Jonathan stared at his cousin before answering "No, No your not" he sighed "Honestly, my hands aren't clean either" Monie looked at him inquisitively, he sighed again "It was a little while back but do you remember Landon?" Monica thought for a moment, "You mean Essie's Ex" he nodded "Yeah I remember him but what does he have to anything?" Nathan rolled his eyes as if speaking to a clueless child (Which in this case she was), "What do you remember about him?" she thought about it before responding "I had thought he was nice but some disagreement happened between him and Essie besides that I didn't pay much attention to him, why?"

Jonathan sighed "Well that disagreement was about Essie being a mutant" Monica stared at him wide-eyed and  continued "He was a Purifier and when he learned that Essie was a mutant he and his fathers' gang tried to kill me and Essie," Monica had a furious expression on "I'm gonna kill them as-" Jonathan interrupted "Already did that" Monica looked at him in realization "Me and Essie killed the gang and Landon, we could've let the ones who ran away go but we didn't, we hunted them down, and we killed them" he turned to face her in the eyes "And we enjoyed it" Monica was stunned, her normally mature and stoic sister enjoyed killing someone and her comforting cousin did it with her, she just looked at him before smiling "Guess it's in the blood" she smiled and he reciprocated, "We're probably going to kill again if we got Los Cabos, can you handle that?" he asked her, she nodded grimly "Yeah I can handle it" he looked at her before nodding and walking off.

**Costa Maya, Mexico**

**9:37 A.M**

Jonathan gazed out at the open sea, he could see the Costa Maya Port before him, he sighed, it had been a long week and everyone needed rest, 'Maybe we can linger here for a few days before making our way to Los Cabos' he thought to himself, as he mused Essa came to his side, "What are you thinking about?" she asked, he hummed before responding "I'm thinking about us, how I'm going to protect our family, so on, so on" he said, she nodded understandingly "So" she started "Are you really okay with Los Cabos?" she asked him, he smirked, "We both have blood on our hands, Essie," he looked at her, she knew what he was referring to, she did, "Yeah I know we do, I of all people know we have blood on us" she said reminiscently...

**Flashback**

**1 Year Ago**

*Jonathan and Essa walked down the street to Little Ceasers, Monie and Lissa had begged the 2 of them to go get them so pizza, they couldn't deny their favorite little sister so they went, as they walked Jonathan asked: "You okay?" Essa just shrugged, "It's fine, if he can't handle the fact I'm a mutant then I need to move on" Jon smiled at his cousin, patting her on the back he said "Then maybe we should get you a makeover" he smirked, she rolled her eyes "You sound like a gay best friend right now" Jon recoiled "Excuse me?" the 2 bust out laughing until they heard a voice say "This is the mutant witch I was talking about" Essa and Jon froze, that sentence did not bode well for them if it was addressed to them, they looked  around to see men dressed in black coming forward with orange crosses painted on their chests, Essie and Jon synonymously thought 'Purifiers' then men were armed with bats, crowbars, and knives, the man who appeared to be the leader came forward, "So your witch who tried to get with my son" he stated more than asked, Essie's eyes narrowed "I don't know who your kid is and I don't think I'd ever get with some Purifier-Bas-" before she could finish the man forced her to duck as he shot at her.*

*"What. The. Heck?" she bit out at the man, Jonathan was seething but Essa was sending him a 'not yet' glance, the man seemed to smile at what to seemed like a culled 'Mutie' Freak' "Now I won't allow some freak to insult my son. Am I right boys?" and the men around snickered, Essa was disgusted but she hid it well, years of theater tended to allow you to act pretty freak in well in hot situations, the man finally told them what they wanted to know when he said "My sons name is Landon Gilbert, remember it well freak when your in hell with your maker" he aimed his gun at Essie but she didn't move, she was in shock, 'Landon was a Purifier' before she could react to the threat in front of her, Jonathan interfered with a Telekinetically Enhanced Punch to the man's face, which snapped his jaw clean off, this stunned everyone as they saw the boy they thought was human crush the skull of their leader, eventually the Purifiers snapped out of it and began to converge on the distracted boy.*

*Essa would have none of it, she formulated blasts of Kinetic Energy that sent Purifiers flying, then it became a bloodbath, Essa and Jonathan were possessed with rage, a trait inherent to both their families considering their history, Essa began shooting Purifiers with immense amounts of force, breaking bones, rupturing organs, twisting body parts, she didn't care, she just wanted them to suffer and die.*

*Jonathan was no better, he was like a roving Lion looking to devour someone, he physically ripped the Purifiers apart like an animal, he tore flesh spilling their guts on the ground, others he snapped necks and spines, and for others, he gouged their eyes out of their skulls, men ran screaming but neither Essa nor Jonathan were merciful, they hunted them down one by one until they had slaughtered each and every Purifier.*

*In the end, the last one to be alive was Landon Gilbert, the coward had fled the moment he realized they weren't going to win, he hid under a car but Jonathan sensed him, he dragged him from under the car and tossed him in front of Essa who had a cold expression etched on her face, staring at her betrayer she materialized a dagger out of thin air, his eyes widened and he turned to her trying to plead for his life but she spared him no mercy as she slashed his throat, his blood spirted out splattering on her face, he gurgled holding his wounded throat, he collapsed in pain or maybe shock either way Essa didn't care, she just watched as the color drained from his fear-filled face, the puddle of blood under him touching her shoes, she turned and walked away, Jonathan following closely behind checking to make sure none of the men were still alive.*

**Flashback Over**

Jonathan "Are you alright?" he asked concerned, she shook her head, "I'm fine just remembering what happened is all" he nodded in understanding, they had spilled blood without remorse and in a way, one could say the Purifiers were right, they are monsters. Jonathan and Essa stood on the bow in comfortable silence, over the years the 2 had become like siblings, after all, it wasn't that much a stretch they were cousins.

Slowly the *Carpo Marina*glided to port, once they docked Essa went to get  Monica and Jennifer, they had already told the 2 to pack up today as they would be arriving soon so they would be on their way to Los Cabos soon enough.

Monica and Jennifer stepped off the ship ramp, Nathan held Jennifer 's hand and the 2 smiled, Essie rolled her eyes while Monie cooed over the 2, Jennifer slightly blushed when she realized they had an audience while Nathan just rolled his eyes, Monica broke the silence after they had left the port and were deep in  Costa Maya, "So where we head'in from here?" Nathan looked to Essie who just shrugged before answering "If we were driving from here to Los Cabos it would be 45 hours" that seemed to such the air outta the girls "But. We're not driving for a while" Monica and Jennifer looked at Essie with curiosity, "We're crashing here for a while" Monie was ecstatic while Jennifer frowned "Is that safe?" she asked, Nathan answered "For a while but we'll have to pick up and keep moving after a week or more" Jennifer nodded slightly relaxing.

Essa went on to explain she had hacked a hotel rooming list to show that they were going to be staying for 2 weeks, she had also done them the liberty of robbing the local mayor and having him pay for it all, both surprisingly and unsurprisingly Essie was fluent in 12 languages which included Spanish, this led to her literally charming her way through people, much to the chagrin of her cute little sister who she mockingly cooed over, assuring her she was still the cute one.

**Hotel**

As the group entered their hotel room and spread out, Jonathan whistled, "You outdid yourself this time cousin" Essa just rolled her eyes "I aim to please" Monie stopped suddenly "How come I had to pay for my hotel in the Caribbean if you can do this in seconds?" Jen and Jon seemed to realize it and turned to Essa for an answer "I didn't want you guys leeching off me" everyone stares at her for a moment incredulously, then Jon just shakes his head and leads Jen off as Monie goes into hysterics about all the days she had to work for stuff when Essa could've just waved the problems away, Essie glared at Jon for leaving her but he just smirked, gave her a thumbs up and skittered off leaving her with Monica.

Jen and Nathan giggled to together ar Essa's predicament from afar, "So, where are we going to visit first?" Jen asked Nathan, he gave her a look "You do realize we're in a tourist zone right?" her eyes widened, "Oh" Nathan rolled his eyes "So intelligent you are" Jen jabbed him in the side and he laughed, she smirked, Nathan reclined on the couch laying his head in Jen's lap, she raised an eyebrow at his antics, he shrugged, "Your soft and comfortable" they just stared at each other before bursting out laughing.

In the midst of their shenanigans, Monica and Essa came into the room to see the 2 of them laughing and enjoying each others company, Monie and Essie smiled at the scene before interrupting it "So you 2 lovebirds dating now?" Monie asked jokingly, both 'lovebirds' in question rolled their eyes before saying in unison "No, Not a thing," Monie raised an appraising eyebrow before shrugging and mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like 'Just get a bed already' Nathan deemed to ignore this by asking Essie "Do you have an idea of how much trouble we're in?" Essie deadpanned "We're a  shoot on sight ask questions later kinda trouble" Monie seemed to feel guilty at this before Essie pulled her into a side hug and kissed her forehead, this brought a smile back to the youngling's face.

"Anyway," Jen changed the subject "What are we going to do  for the time being?" she asked curiously, Essie seemed to hum in response "Well this is beach town, we can hit it up" Moni suggested, Essie nodded in agreement, Nathan noticing their triumvirate rolled his eyes "Alright, Alright, I'm in, just don't get your panties in twist" he said feigning annoyance, Jen cuffed him upside the head, Nathan rolled his eyes but smirked, "Then it's settled, 2 hours we go to the beach" everyone nodded, Essie went off to prepare whatever she was doing and Monie went off to obviously prepare for the beach leaving Jen and Nathan alone, "Sometimes it doesn't feel like we're on the run from sentinel services" Jen said noncommittally, "Mmhmph" Nathan hummed his response

## **Chapter 3**

**On the Run**

Nathan, Monie, Essie, and Jen walked down the beach, tourists and locals swarmed about the beach, people laughed and smiled, children ran playing with each other, the general thrum of joy and life was everywhere and Monie bathed in it, she had always been the most social of the 4, Jonathan usually spent his time at the gym learning how to fight and increasing his base body strength so that his powers would have a bigger effect, Essa usually spent her time reading, programming, and training her body to keep herself in shape, and Jennifer was the closest in attitude to Monie as she loved the usual girl-things though she was a loner just like the other 2 preferring to spend her time alone or with close friends than to socialize with the other teens in their school.

As the group walked Essa and Jonathan kept a lookout while Jen and Monie enjoyed themselves, they didn't mind after all they only wanted happiness for the ones they loved. Essie watched a pair of policemen who were patrolling the beach. When the men looked at her she put on a fake smile and waved, they waved in return and walked off, she made sure to watch them till they were a good distance away, she turned to Nathan who was already looking at her, he nodded acknowledging what they just saw, the news of what happened hadn't yet reached the people of Costa Maya or if it did they had written it off as not their problem which was all for the better for the fugitives in question.

From what Essa was able to scrounge up from hacking, Sentinel Services still thought the group was in America and had put harsh curfews on the town in an attempt to squeeze them out, little did they know that all 4 of them had left the country via boat. This was good as it afforded them the little joys that they currently had but they couldn't rely on it for long as Sentinel Services would realize they weren't in Florida anymore and possibly they would realize they weren't in the country either but until then they had time, time to set themselves up in a gang which would get them access to things they needed, things that weren't on the internet.