Chapter 1: A Bad Dream and Her Savior

A young woman stumbled towards the large cement stairs leading towards the 4400 center. Rain pounded the ground all around her, leaving huge puddles in certain spots. Fiery-red hair stuck to the woman's face as if it had been glued in place. Her white, ankle length peasant skirt stuck to her legs and had become see-through because of the rain and her white spaghetti strap shirt was soaked through and through, her red bra now visible. It was a struggle to get to the glass double-doors.

A few feet away from the door she stumbled and fell, landing hard on her hands and knees. Blood seeped through the skirt from the two wounds on her knees and her palms ached, but she crawled forward until she was at the brick wall. She tried pushing herself up, but was unable the first few tries. Eventually she was able to lift herself and press the button on the intercom. Shivering, she spoke,

"I n..need to sp…speak with J…Jordan Collier," then released the button.

After a few moments, she allowed herself to slide down the brick wall and land on the ground. Her left leg curled under her butt and her right leg was bent and she had her arms wrapped tightly around her right leg. It seemed like eternity before people exited the 4400 center. The young woman did not bother to even look up, she was so cold the only thing she could do was stare out into the darkness of the cold, rainy night. Out of her peripheral vision she could see two pairs of boots standing a few feet away from her the she heard the sound of guns being cocked.

Eventually, she looked up, her teeth chattering so loud even the men standing before her could hear them. An older man with brown hair and a beard stepped forward,

"Put your weapons down, she's too weak to be a threat at this moment," he spoke, his voice deep.

The older man kneeled in front of her, grasping her chin gently and turning her head towards him. She stared up at him blankly,

"My name is Jordan Collier."

The young woman only continued to stare,

"I'm going to help you," he nodded reassuringly before gently scooping her up in his arms like she weighed nothing at all. He carried her to the elevator, all the way up to the fourth floor, down the hall to an empty room. The room was large. In front of them stood ceiling to floor windows overlooking Washington. Rain pounded hard on the windows like the fists of angry men in a fight. Facing the window sat a large, three-person leather couch and in front of that a large wooden coffee table with a few magazines and books neatly placed at each end of the table. To the left there was a doorway leading into the master bedroom with a king-size bed. To the right was the kitchen and a small wooden table.

Jordan carried the still shivering woman into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He placed the large, black comforter on top of her, pulling it up to her chin after stripping her of her rain-soaked clothes. Minutes later a young man with light brown hair entered the room in loose clothing, possibly pajamas. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw the "lump" lying in the bed, moving.

"Jordan, what's going on? It's 3 in the morning."

"Shawn, this woman needs your help, she can't get warm," Jordan stayed by the young woman's side, "and I thought maybe you could help her."

Shawn frowned, then walked over to the left side of the bed, the side of the bed the young woman was facing, and sat down on the edge, looking up at her face. Her eyes were shut tight and she was shivering uncontrollably.

"What happened to her?" Shawn asked, looking up at Jordan for a second then looking back down at her face.

"I don't know, I found her outside of the building like this," Jordan frowned.

Shawn nodded then pulled the blanket down revealing her left arm. He gently placed his hand on her freezing skin. He frowned at how cold she was. Closing his eyes he began concentrating on warming the young woman. Slowly she began to stop shivering until she was completely still. When Shawn noticed she had stopped shivering, he removed his hands and looked up at the woman's face to see that she was staring questioningly up at him.

"Thank you," she whispered before falling into a deep sleep.