Title: Not Alone

Author: Sassy

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I don't own the 4400. I wish I did.

Spoilers: For White Light

Pairing: Shawn/Nikki

Summary: Set during White Light. Nikki has to find Shawn before he gets to far away from her. Little One Parter I had to write before I could work on anything else.

Not Alone

Nikki went running up the walkway and in through the open door of the Farrell house. She ran into the living room, tears streaming down her face, anger and confusion plain on her features.

"What did you do to him, Danny?"

Danny, still on the floor from the fight with Shawn, looked up and pushed his mother away from him. He stood shakily, breathing heavily.

"What did I do to him? It's more like what did he do to me?"

"You don't know anything, Danny. What, did you come in swinging?"

"Yes. And then he tried to suck the life out of me."

Nikki paused for a minute, her mind flashing back to Shawn's haunted eyes. He hadn't touched her. Not even when he had said he loved her. He had held on tightly to the car door and talked to her. He must have been scared that he would do the same thing to her. Oh, Shawn. Why didn't you tell me?

"He doesn't know how to control it, Danny, not that you would care. You're too busy worried about controlling me to notice that Shawn's special."

Susan started to stand up. She was reaching out to Danny as she tried to understand the conversation between Nikki Hudson and her son. Danny was still pale from whatever Shawn had done to him, but he looked angry too. At Nikki?

"Shawn did something to Danny, Nikki. Something you couldn't even begin to understand." Susan offered quietly.

She faced Susan, now ignoring Danny. Nikki looked just as upset with her as she did with Danny. Susan knew she was out of the loop, but she had always chalked that up to having teenage sons. Now she was wondering.

"I think I understand better than any of you. You didn't realize that Shawn's special, either, Mrs. Farrell. You never even noticed. What did you say to him?"

"I told him to get away from Danny. He was killing him, Nikki."

"Shawn could have healed him, too, if anything had happened. But you two are so blind to him that you wouldn't have known that. You've sent him running. I don't know if he'll ever come back. God, I don't know if he'll come back."

She sunk down into the nearest chair. This was all her fault. She had come between the brothers and she had been the one to tell Danny about her and Shawn's relationship. Shawn had wanted to tell Danny. She should have let him. But Danny had cornered her, with those earrings and his desire to get back together. She couldn't lie to him. He was too sweet to lie to. And it would have just made it harder for when Shawn told him. But now Shawn was gone and there was no relationship with him gone. He hadn't even given her a chance to tell him that she loved him. She hadn't been able to tell him that her life had been better since he had returned and that he wasn't a freak, no matter what happened or what people said. She looked up, her eyes filled with tears and regret. Danny walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away from him.

"Don't ever touch me again."

"Nikki. It wasn't my fault. If you hadn't gone behind my back with my brother-"

"It was my fault. Because I told you. I thought you would understand. I don't know why. Shawn has nothing, Danny. Everyone thinks he's a freak-"

"Because he is."

"He isn't. He has gifts. That doesn't mean he's a freak. You never even tried to understand him, Danny. You labeled him a freak just like everyone else did. You did everything you could to alienate him. I don't know how I ever went out with you. You're nothing but a jerk. I'm sorry I came between you two. But Shawn and I, we didn't start anything until you and I were already broken up. You had no right to hit him. And you had no right to send him running. I may never see him again and it will be your fault. I will never forgive you."

She turned to Susan and lowered her eyes. She knew she shouldn't be treating with Mrs. Farrell with such little respect, but she had the feeling that her siding with Danny had sent Shawn even farther over the edge. Even more than hurting Danny.

"I'm going to try to find him. And I'm going to try to get him to come home, even if home is with me. If Shawn and I have to camp out on the sidewalk, I will. I'm going to go upstairs and get him a few things that are important to him in case I can't talk him into coming home. And if you have a problem with that, Mrs. Farrell, you'll have to call the cops to stop me."
She brushed past Danny and walked up the stairs calmly with a mission in mind. By casual observation, she was completely collected. But inside, she was raging. She loved Shawn with a deep seeded love that she had never felt before. He was everything to her. He had healed her, fallen in love with her. He had shared things he didn't share with anything else with her. He trusted her. And she trusted him more than anyone. He would never hurt her. She didn't even think it was possible for him to hurt her.

She entered his room and looked around. His guitar was leaned against his dresser. He loved his guitar. She had only heard him play it once since he had returned, but she knew he played it more than that. She put it in the case and put that on the bed. She went to his closet and found that jacket he wore all the time. She slid it on, Shawn's scent, cologne and soap washing over her senses. She saw the shirt that she had removed only a couple of weeks before. A smile touched her lips as she remembered their time on the lake's shore. Shawn had been her first. And it had been perfect. She put it in a bag, along with some jeans and a couple of other shirts. Then she left the Farrell house without looking back, not at Susan, not at Danny. She put it in her car and went up to her own room to pack her own things. If Shawn refused to come with her, she would go with him. If she could find him. Her eyes closed in a silent prayer before she went back down to her car to begin her search.

Nikki had never felt so desperate and alone in her life. So much had changed since Shawn had returned. She depended on having him around, his silent you-know-you-want-me-and-my-tortured-soul look ever present. She missed his gentle smile and teasing voice. And he'd only been gone for a few hours. What would she do if he was gone for longer than this? He was nowhere to be found. She had gone to the lake, hoping he had gone there to clear his head. He hadn't. She had gone to a park and the mall and even the Baldwin's house. She had gone everywhere she could think of that Shawn felt comfortable at, but nothing. She decided that it was time to find Mr. Baldwin. He would help her find him. He might still be at work, which would explain why he hadn't answered the door. She pulled into the parking lot of the Homeland Security office. She walked to the door, but was stopped by a guard. She smiled at him and spoke quietly in the darkness.

"I'm looking for Tom Baldwin. He's an agent here. I'm Nikki Hudson, a friend of his nephews. I need his help."

The guard shined a flashlight in her face and then down at the clipboard he held.

"You're not on the list."
"I didn't think I would be. But if you'll call Mr. Baldwin, he'll know who I am. My problem is concerning his nephew Shawn Farrell."

"Mr. Baldwin left the office several hours ago."
"Can you check for me? Please. I'm desperate and I hate admitting that."

The guard sighed and eyed her warily. He put the clipboard down in his booth and picked up the phone.

"Is Agent Baldwin in? He is? With the doctor. His son. Can you find out if Nikki Hudson can enter the building? She claims that she has a problem concerning his nephew. Yes, I'll hold."

The guard started to tap his foot impatiently, a feeling that Nikki had inside of her. She needed to find Shawn before he got too far away. If she didn't get in to Mr. Baldwin soon, she wouldn't find him. She had the feeling that if Shawn didn't want to be found, he would have no problem disappearing again. That worried her more than words could express.

"They say you can enter the building. Do not go past the first hall. Agent Baldwin will meet you there."

"Thank you so much!" Nikki resisted the urge to hug the burly guard, but she did reward him with a sparkling smile. The guard rolled his eyes and huddled back down into his booth. Nikki entered the building with a bit of apprehension. What if Mr. Baldwin refused to help her? He was so busy with Kyle and he wasn't exactly Shawn's biggest fan anymore. He may not have time to help her. Especially if Mrs. Farrell had called and told him about the fight. And about what Shawn had almost done to Danny. She shifted nervously as she stopped at the end of the hall. A large American flag was painted on the wall beside her and she admired it for a moment. It was a beautiful painting. She touched the wall, but pulled her hand away quickly when she heard footsteps. She saw Mr. Baldwin rushing to her. Nikki took a deep breath to calm herself. She was going to need to be calm. Hysteria would not win Mr. Baldwin over to her side.

Tom Baldwin had been called away from the doctor. After the whole ordeal with Kyle on the beach; the ordeal that had left him more confused than before; he had brought Kyle into the doctors to make sure he was all right. Kyle seemed confused at what had happened, because just like the 4400, no time had passed in his mind. There was no sign that Kyle had been shot, no bullet wound. Perhaps Kyle hadn't been shot. It may have been whatever was inside Kyle that had been shot and when it had died, the bullet wound had disappeared. But he had been sitting in a waiting room of sorts while Kyle was being examined. That's when he had been informed that Nikki Hudson was waiting for him outside. It had taken him a moment to realize who she was, but he remembered that it was Danny's girlfriend, their next door neighbor. She had said it had to do with his nephew, so something must have happened to Danny. So here he was running down the hall, wondering what was going to go wrong next. He saw her standing next to the wall, her eyes rimmed with red.

"Nikki? What's wrong? What happened to Danny?"

Nikki seemed taken aback for a minute. She watched him before speaking.

"Nothing's wrong with Danny, other than him being a big jerk. But that's not a new development apparently."

Tom's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that answer from her.

"They said you had a problem with my nephew."

"I do. Shawn. He's run away. There was a fight and something happened. His mother turned on him and Danny had already turned on him, so Shawn decided he was better off away from everyone."

"What happened?"
"Danny and Shawn were having a fight. Danny started hitting Shawn and from what I gather, Shawn tried to fend him off. He ended up sucking the life out of him or something like that. I know you know about his abilities, don't you? That he can heal things? You know he healed Kyle, right?"

"I know. But this sucking the life out of people…Danny mentioned it once."
"Yes. Well, it happened again when Danny attacked him."

"Why would Danny attack him?"

Nikki lowered her eyes as guilt washed over her. She licked her lips and then looked up at him nervously.

"Because I kind of broke up with Danny."

"How was that Shawn's fault?"

"I kind of started to date Shawn afterwards."

"They were fighting over you?" Tom was clearly surprised. The brothers had always been close, but then again, that had been before Shawn's disappearance. And it was obvious that Nikki felt horrible about what had happened, but even past that he could see the love Nikki had in her eyes. For Shawn. No wonder Danny had flipped out. He had to see it too.

"Yes. I went to find Shawn, to warn him about Danny. Shawn and I hadn't told anyone about our new relationship. He wanted to tell Danny himself, but I had had to tell Danny, but when I got over to their house, Shawn was running out the door. He said-some things to me and then he got in his car and drove away. I don't think he's coming back, Mr. Baldwin."
"And what do you want me to do about it, Nikki?"

Nikki looked up at him with wide eyes, a pleading look haunting them.

"I've looked everywhere for him. I went to the lake where the 4400 were found, but he wasn't there. I went to all his favorites places, places where he likes to be alone and places where he likes to be lost in the crowd. I can't find him. I thought maybe you could help me. You might know some place that was safe for the 4400 or some place that's special to Shawn that I don't know about. Please. I need your help, Mr. Baldwin."

Tom shifted in his spot as his mind raced. Where would Shawn run to? He didn't know his nephew as well as he had, he hadn't tried to. He'd been too busy blaming Shawn for Kyle's coma.

"I would say maybe the beach where he was taken, but we were just there. Kyle and I were. I don't know where else he would go. Shawn and I aren't exactly close right now."

"Because you blamed him for Kyle. But it wasn't his fault. Just like it wasn't Kyle's fault that Shawn was taken."

"I know that now, Ms. Hudson."

Nikki realized that she must have stepped over the line where Tom Baldwin was concerned. He wouldn't take her verbal abuse, but he had to understand that she was just stressed. And worried.

"I'm sorry."

"I wish I could help you more." Tom started to walk away, but he stopped in his tracks.

"The housing addition."
"What?"

"Arcadia Estates. It's a new housing addition that Jordan Collier has built for the 4400. I don't think Shawn knows Collier, but I can't be sure. He might have gone there. Arcadia Estates is supposed to be a haven for the 4400. None will be turned away and all that."

"Can you take me there? I have my car. I can follow you."
"Kyle's in with the doctors right now. I can't leave him here."

"What about after the doctors are done with him? Please."

"Kyle would probably like to see Shawn. He doesn't remember anything about how he woke up or his time after he woke up. The last thing he remembers is drinking on the beach with Shawn. It might be good for them to see each other."
"That would be fine. Will you take me, Mr. Baldwin?"

"Yes, I will. It may be a while before they are done with Kyle."
"I can wait."

"All right. Let me get you a guest pass and you can come on back and wait with me."

Nikki smiled gratefully for the second time that night. And she allowed a little bit of hope to fill her. She just might find Shawn now.

Kyle was still shaky from everything that had happened. He was still trying to process it. He had been in a coma for three years, his cousin and best friend Shawn had been taken by aliens or something and been returned only a few months ago. Apparently he had been awake for some time, but he didn't remember it. He didn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was talking to Shawn about girl next door Nikki Hudson. Which was what surprised him when she entered, all grown up.

"Hi, Kyle. I don't know if you remember me."

"Nikki Hudson, Danny's little friend from next door."

"Well, yeah, I guess so. Except I'm not little anymore. I'm 17."
"All grown up."
"Not much younger than you."

"Or Shawn."

He watched her as an appearance of sadness passed over her face. What about Shawn made her sad?

"Actually, Shawn still feels like he's 17, too. Some after affect of being a 4400."

"So your friends with him now? I'm sure Danny's loving that."

Nikki remained quiet and before he could ask her any more questions, his father walked in.
"You're free to go, Kyle. We can take you home, but first we need to make a stop."
"More work, Dad?"

"Not really. I see you met Nikki again."
"Yep. We were catching up."

"So sorry to interrupt."
Tom looked over at Nikki and noticed how uncomfortable she looked. Kyle must have started talking about Danny. Tom walked over to help Kyle up.

"We need to get moving. I don't know if Collier will even talk to us this late, Nikki. He may not let you enter, either."
"I have to hope. And if he's there, he'll talk to me. He has to."

"He might, Nikki, but don't get too excited. It's not even likely he's there."

Kyle cut in, feeling like he had been left out of the conversation.

"Who is he?"

"Shawn."

Kyle's head whipped around to Nikki. "Why are you looking for Shawn? And not at Aunt Susan's house."

Nikki's shoulders sagged, not wishing to explain it again. She didn't know if she could. She glanced at Tom helplessly who nodded in understanding.
"I'm afraid Nikki, Shawn and Danny had a bit of a misunderstanding. Nikki's trying to fix it."

Nikki bobbed her head, lowering her eyes, allowing her blond hair to fall in her face. She began to play with the scarf that was wrapped around her neck, the fringe suddenly interesting.
"Right." Kyle said slowly. "I was wanting to see Cousin Shawn anyway."

Nikki waited for Kyle and Tom to head down the hall before following them. They needed to take their time getting to the car. And she couldn't leave without them.

Nikki pulled in behind Tom at the gate of Arcadia Estates. She pulled her keys out and jumped out of the car, slamming the door behind her. Kyle and Tom got out of their own car and watched Nikki run to the speaker. She began to ring the bell constantly, not giving much time for anyone to answer. Finally, someone did.

"Hello?"
"Is Shawn Farrell in there?"

"Excuse me, miss, you must have the wrong neighborhood."
"No. I need to speak with Shawn Farrell or Jordan Collier. Right now."

Nikki kept ringing the bell when she received no reply. She wouldn't let this happen. She wouldn't lose now.

Shawn still sat quietly in Collier's office, sipping on a Dr. Pepper. Collier had been listening to him talk about his problems for the last hour and a half. It helped, telling another 4400 about what was happening to him. They understood. But a constant ringing bell, obviously an alert that someone was at the front gate, interrupted him. Collier ignored it at first, expecting someone else to answer it, but the ringing kept going. He finally pressed the intercom.

"Arcadia Estates. And may I ask why you are disturbing the peace so late at night?"

"This is Nikki Hudson. I'm looking for Shawn Farrell. I need to talk to him. He's a 4400 and we thought he might have come here."

Collier looked up to see what Shawn had to say in reply to that. Shawn seemed surprised to hear Nikki's voice. That must be the Nikki Shawn had been telling him about. Shawn seemed startled and worried that she had found him.

"I can tell her your not here, Shawn."

"I don't know. I -"

"Please, Mr. Collier. I need to talk to him, if he's in there. He needs to know something before he isolates himself from the rest of us." Nikki's voice came through.

"I'll talk to her. I can't really say no to her. Not when I can hear her talking."

Collier nodded sympathetically, but worry surged through him. If Shawn decided to leave, he could be losing a valuable asset. Shawn seemed to be the perfect candidate to help him trap and kill Richard, even if he had to make it where Shawn did it unknowingly. If this Nikki Hudson talked him out of staying here, he would be gone and Collier would lose access to him.

"I'm sending him out to the gate, Ms. Hudson. I would appreciate it if you would no longer ring the bell. It's quite obnoxious."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

Shawn set his Dr. Pepper down on the desk in front of him. He pushed the chair back and stood up slowly.

"Thanks, Mr. Collier."
"I'm happy to help any one of my fellow 4400 members."

"I know. But thanks anyway."

Collier watched Shawn exit the room before picking the phone up. He needed to get those private investigators on the phone. He had to find Lily and Richard and he had wasted enough time to listening to Shawn.

Shawn saw her standing in the moonlight, looking as beautiful as she ever could. Bars separated her from him, but he had the feeling that was a good thing. If he touched Nikki, he could hurt her. And if he didn't hurt her then, feeling her next to him would make him lose his mind. He would go back home with her and then he would end up hurting her anyway. He walked down the path and stopped. Nikki looked like she had been crying and he felt that twinge of guilt creep up. He had done this to her. It would have been better if he had never come back. Nikki would have been happy with Danny and his family would have had a good memory of him, instead of the memory of him nearly killing Danny.

"Shawn! God, I've been so worried about you after the way you left."

She reached out through the bars, but Shawn stepped out of her reach.

"Don't touch me, Nikki. You don't know what I could do to you."
"Actually, I know exactly what you could do to me." Nikki's eyes were glinting with mischief and Shawn nearly blushed.

"You know what I mean, Nikki."

"I'm not afraid of you, Shawn."

"You should be. Nikki, this thing I have. I don't know how to control it."
"I actually came up with a theory about it."
"I'm all ears."
"It's controlled by your emotions. Whenever you've almost killed someone, it's been when they've made you angry or upset or you were trying to defend yourself. And you being able to heal things, it's like your way of fixing the damage you could cause. You healed my burns, you healed Kyle. You can heal anything you want, but you could hurt anything you want as well."

Shawn stepped a little closer to her, wanting to be near her. He knew he shouldn't. He knew that if he was near her for long, he wouldn't be able to think clearly. That was the way it should be, if he was normal, but he wasn't. Nikki grabbed his hands before he could pull them away. She brought them to her lips and kissed them gently. Shawn could feel water stinging the inside of his eyes and he wished he could stop it. He wasn't supposed to be crying. It was ridiculous. But he didn't know how to fix things. He just seemed to make them worse.

"You're special, Shawn. You need to accept that. I have. I wish I could help you learn to accept it, but I can't. It's something you have to do on your own. But I'm not going to let you hide yourself away. Not from me, Shawn. You ran off before I could even reply, but I love you too."

Shawn pulled his hands out of hers and pulled her to them, their lips met through the bars in a ravishing kiss. He needed to feel her, needed to know that she didn't think he was a freak. But in the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn't be doing this. He was going to hurt her. He jerked away and staggered backwards.

"No. I can't do this, Nik. I love you too much to hurt you. You told me I healed Kyle. You saw the way he came back. That was no healing. I brought him back wrong."

"No, you didn't. He's fine. I just saw him. He's the same ol' Kyle. I swear."

"No. I saw him too. That wasn't the same Kyle."

"He's here, Shawn. Do you want to talk to him, so you can see for yourself?"

"Kyle's here?"

"Your uncle and Kyle helped me find you."

Shawn sighed and stuffed his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. Nikki looked at him with her pleading eyes and slight smile and he broke.
"I'll talk to him, Nikki. But this won't change anything. I'm staying here."
"Fine. You want to stay here, I'll let you. But I'm going to stay here with you. I won't let you go through this alone. I brought along some stuff, yours and mine."
"You can't stay here."
"Yes, I can. It's not like I can't leave this place. I can still go to school and stuff. But I'll be staying with you, wherever you go. I'll let you decide what you want to do while you talk to Kyle. I'll leave you two alone for awhile." She turned on her heels and walked over to the dark car that Shawn now recognized as Uncle Tommy's. He stared at her with both frustration and fascination inside of him. She wouldn't listen to him. She was positively stubborn about staying with him. Nothing he said would change her mind, so he would have to be careful with the way he handled her. And yet her stubbornness fascinated him, instead of irritating him. She didn't care what he was. She knew and she still loved him. Or at least she thought she did. But love wasn't enough. Not when he could kill her with a touch of his hand. He blinked back his tears and saw Kyle walking towards him. Kyle. It really looked like him. But it probably wasn't.

Kyle smiled at Shawn through the bars and reached through. He balled his hand into a fist and waited for Shawn to return the gesture. Shawn stared at him sullenly, unsure of what he should do. Finally, he balled his own fist and bumped Kyle's.

"Hey, man. Nikki Hudson? And you said she couldn't be corrupted."

"Kyle?"

"Do I look like someone else? I mean, I know the bars are kind of in the way, but I didn't think that would affect the way I look."
"I saw you before, Kyle. You didn't want to talk to me. You wanted to read."

Kyle erupted into laughter as if Shawn had just told the funniest joke he had ever heard.

"Not talk to you because I wanted to read. Right. You need to work on your lying skills."

"Kyle, what happened to you?"
"I could ask you the same. Disappearing and then returning in a big ball of light? Stealing your brother's girlfriend? Not the Shawn Farrell I knew and loved. Sounds kind of new and improved."

"Things changed. I changed. But you did too. Except now you're exactly the same as that night."

"Yeah, well, see I don't remember anything since that night on the beach. I guess that's a good thing."
"You'll get used to it, at least. I don't remember anything either."

"Ah, I just can't do anything without you, can I?"

"Not amnesia."

"Tell me about Nikki, man. How did you score that?"
Shawn bristled at the way Kyle made it sounded. Nikki was special. Very special. And he didn't want Kyle talking about her that way.

"I didn't score anything. When I came back, everything had changed and everyone thought I was a freak. Nikki was the only one who didn't. She was the only good thing that's happened to me since I got back. Nikki stood by me when everyone turned on me. And when I started noticing things, like I could heal things with my hands. And apparently I can kill them, too. I found that out today with Danny."
"You killed Danny?"

"No. But I almost did. I might have if my mom hadn't pulled him off me. I don't know what happened. I don't know how I did it. But my mom even looked at me like I was a freak. That's why I'm here. I didn't expect Nikki to follow me, but I should have known she would. She hasn't left me when everything goes wrong. She never does."

"You sound like you're in love, Shawn. I never thought I'd see that happen."
"Nikki's different."

"I guess so. I just thought she was hot."

Shawn reached through the bars and grabbed Kyle's shoulders to push him playfully. Kyle held his hands up in mock surrender then shrugged Shawn's grip off him.

"You think you could open the gate now? It's kind of annoying to see you behind bars."

"No, 'cause then Nikki will come in. And I have to convince her to leave me behind."

Kyle raised an eyebrow and smirked knowingly.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

The two boys fell silent as the crickets chirped in the night. Kyle finally started to walk backwards, away from the gate.

"It was good talking to you, man."

"You, too, man."

"I'll come back and see you again."

"Cool."

Shawn watched Kyle's retreating form and resisted the urge to open the gate and go home with his family. He couldn't do that. He could hurt them. Shawn wondered if maybe he should leave now, before Nikki came back to talk to him. Maybe she would get the message, that he couldn't be near her. No. She would probably just ring the bell again until he talked to her again. She was persistent.

Nikki walked back to Shawn, a hopeful half-smile on her face. She had hoped his conversation with Kyle would put things in perspective for him. Kyle was proof of the good he could do with his ability. Kyle's healing had been a major accomplishment for Shawn's powers. Shawn had to see that he could do so much good with his power, not bad. He didn't want to hurt people. He wouldn't. Nikki reached through the bars and Shawn allowed himself to grasp her fingers. The touch shot electricity through him, something that contact with Nikki did to him often. He really loved her. He'd never been in love before. But now he understood why it caused so much pain. He didn't want to hurt Nikki, so it was better for him not to be with her at all. And that was hard for him to accept, even harder than it was for Nikki to.

"So are you going to come home?" Her voice broke into his thoughts of romance and pain. He sounded worse than Shakespeare with what was going on in his head. They were a regular Romeo and Juliet with their very own take on the psycho family feud.

"I can't, Nikki. I'm sorry."

She nodded slowly and Shawn was surprised that she was going to give up so easily. Maybe he was more of a Paris than a Romeo.

"I understand, Shawn."

She turned away from him and walked away. Shawn felt like his heart had been shattered into a million pieces. He had wanted to convince Nikki about leaving, not just watch her go of her own accord. This was horrible. He cursed himself for being so petty. He wanted Nikki to leave. It shouldn't matter how it happened. Before Shawn could even process what happened, Nikki was back in front of him, holding two bags and a guitar case.

"Open the gate, Shawn."

"What?"

"Open the gate. Or I will drive my car into it until it does open."

"Nikki."

"You aren't going to be here alone, Shawn, I won't let you isolate yourself. You can hide away from who you are, you can't hide away from me. I'm proud of who you are and you should be too."

Shawn tilted his head, his brown eyes piercing into her. She didn't back off. She stood there stubbornly, defiantly. Shawn wondered if he should even bother to fight it. Nikki with her mind made up was a force to be reckoned with.

"What about your life on the outside, Nik? I won't go out there. Not for a long while. You still have school to finish. You have a reason to finish school."

"It's not like I can't still go there while living with you. I may not want to leave home, but I can."
"I don't know if Jordan would let you stay here. You're not a 4400."
"But I'm in love with one. That has to count for something."

"Nikki, I can't let you do this. You'll regret it."

"No. I think I'll regret leaving you here alone. You've been alone for so long, Shawn. I don't want you to be alone anymore. I love you too much."

Shawn pulled her to the fence and kissed her between the bars. Nikki closed her eyes, allowing the kiss to slowly spread over her body in tingles. Something about kissing Shawn, something was different than kissing anyone else. She liked it. Shawn jerked away and unconsciously licked his lips.

"You can't do this to me, Nikki."
"Do what?"

"Make me love you more. Because you'll turn on me like everyone else did. My friends. Danny. My mom."
"I won't turn on you. I'm one of the few people who know all about you."

"But what if something happens, Nikki?"

"If something happens, we'll deal with it then. Shawn, come on."

Shawn stared at her before stepping back. "It's not fair that you can do this to me. I can't say no to you."
Her grin was worth a million dollars. "I know. Why do you think I came here in person?"

Shawn sighed and pressed the button that opened the gate. Nikki ran back to her car to drive it on into Arcadia Estates. She gave Tom a half-wave and yelled a thank you to Kyle. And then she drove into the Arcadia Estates and the gates closed behind her, leaving Tom and Kyle outside of the addition, and in a way, out of Shawn's life.

Nikki stood in the office of Jordan Collier. He examined Nikki carefully, then back at Shawn. This could ruin his plans, either way. If he said Nikki couldn't stay, Shawn would probably leave. If he said Nikki could stay, Shawn might not be as willing to do what he said, with Nikki there to ground him. Collier decided he would have to take a chance with Nikki being there. Nikki may not hold him back.

"Of course you can stay here, Ms. Hudson. Any friend of Shawn's…"

"Is a friend of yours? That's kind, Mr. Collier."

"You seem to be one of the few who aren't threatened by the 4400's existence. Shawn's told me how supportive you have been in developing his gift. Arcadia Estates will be your home and refuge just as it is for any 4400."

He was awarded with two happy, teenage grins. Yes, he had made the right choice. Nikki would be grateful for being able to stay with her boyfriend and Shawn would be grateful to have Nikki with him. Yes. Definitely the right choice.

"Here's the keys, Shawn. It's on Plum, 450."

"I can't believe I'm going to have my own house."
"Your birth certificate would say that you're old enough to own your own house."

"Ah, but my mind still thinks it's crazy living without my mom. Thanks, Jordan."

"No problem, Shawn. You ever need anything, just stop in the office."
"We will. Thanks."

Shawn reached over and took Nikki's hand. The two left the office in a permanent state of ecstasy, or what seemed as such. Of course, that would come crashing down. It always did. The excitement of the new life held such promise, a new life they were starting together, even if it was in the same city they'd grown up in. Here, they thought they'd found a haven. In theory, they had. But Collier knew better. Too bad Shawn was prescient.