CHAPTER TWO: Out With The Old, In With The New

London, England

The punching bag was suffering under the pounding fists that wreaked havoc across its vinyl surface. Alex had been beating up the poor defenseless bag now for thirty minutes. It was supposed to have relieved her stress, but her anger was at such a high level, she found it was taking every ounce of self-control to keep her beast contained.

She had spent the last couple of weeks discussing, pleading and then arguing with the Council, stopping only long enough to attend Jorge's funeral. The council had been adamant in their refusal to allow any changes in what they considered an institution built on tradition and principle.

Thoroughly disgusted, Alex drew back and threw one last punch, sending the 150 pound bag sailing through the air. It hit with such force, large chunks of plaster broke off from the wall and ceiling.

Sterling, Daniel and Malcolm choose to enter the room at that exact moment, all three stepping back as they witnessed the extent of Alex's anger. They waited a moment; letting the dust clear and making sure no other objects were sent flying through the air. When the coast seemed clear, they made their way further into the training room.

Looking over at her sardonically, Malcolm called out, "We thought we'd find you here."

They watched her as she stood with fists planted on her hips and her head dropped forward. She was breathing very heavily, almost panting. Their concern was quickly replaced with a thread of fear as she held up one hand, warning them to come no further.

"Now is not a good time to be around me," she snarled in a near growl.

The three of them watched in fascination as she slowly lifted her gaze until it met theirs. Her normally amethyst colored eyes had bled to a black so dark, it seemed as if they were bottomless pits. Her mouth now held razor sharp canines, both upper and lower; and a maze of black and gold veins pulsed beneath her skin. They had never seen her alternate form; and even though the change wasn't complete, she was damn scary.

Sterling moved closer, talking to her calmly, "Now little lady, I know you can control this. And if you can't, then I have faith in you not to go psycho on us and make me take your ass out,' he said in his slow southern drawl.

Then thinking a moment, he turned to Malcolm and Daniel, "Do we even have any idea as to what might kill her…or hell, even slow her down" he asked belatedly.

This question, above all else, brought a harsh bark of laughter from deep inside her; allowing Alex the opportunity to momentarily overcome her anger and bring herself under control. Concentrating, she focused on her human side and resumed her natural form. She now looked back at her friends with the same purple colored eyes she had always possessed; but anger still glittered in their jewel-like depths.

"What the hell just happened here?" Daniel asked, his Irish accent thicker than normal.

"I believe we have just witnessed Alex nearly loosing her temper," Malcolm replied sarcastically.

"If that's what happens when she nearly looses it, I don't want to be around when she really blows," Daniel replied, only half jokingly.

"What's it feel like?" Malcolm asked curious as he watched her struggle to conquer her overwhelming rage.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Alex dropped to the floor. Trying to relax, she bent her legs and held them to her chest as she rested her chin against her knees. "I don't know how to explain it," she finally answered, her voice back to hits normal husky tone. "I have only shifted three times now; and only one of those times was a complete change.

"I thought only the oldest ones had the power to shift at will," Sterling stated.

"Whatever Lucian managed to create, it is obviously more powerful than a lycan or a vampire alone," Malcolm said, with both anger and envy evident in his voice.

Alex's head jerked up sharply at the mention of Lucian's name. This wasn't a particularly favorite topic of hers, but she knew it needed to be discussed.

"No one, not even Lucian, is aware of what are capabilities and limitations are," she said speaking carefully, trying to disguise the hurt in her voice. "It is something that will have to be tested and tried before we can even begin to understand what we are."

Snorting in disgust, Malcolm retorted, "And he was making others so that he could test his theories out on them! You and any other unfortunate soul who got in his way were to become his human guinea pigs," he spat out.

Anger surged up in her, but she quickly tamped it back down. "Malcolm, you have no idea what you're talking about," she told him. "Lucian bit me in a last ditch effort to live. We don't really have the time to go into his long history with the vampires, but suffice it to say, he was and is justified in his anger," she told him coming to stand on her feet. "He combined the species because his vampire wife and unborn child were murdered by her father, Viktor. The vampire elder couldn't stomach the thought of his daughter slumming with the lycan slave, and the idea of a hybrid grandchild was the straw that broke the camels back. He had no intentions of practicing on me or any other crossbreed. He would have only experimented on himself," she finished angrily.

"I can't believe you're defending that…animal," Malcolm bellowed loudly in her face.

"You know what Malcolm, I would have volunteered to participate in any experiments he may have wanted to conduct," she said lashing out in him in anger.

"Obviously…it didn't take much for you to climb into his bed," he sneered.

Alex's arm snaked out in the blink of an eye, her closed fist connecting solidly with Malcolm's jaw. She had held back, but only because he was human. He slumped to the floor, out cold.

"Alex," Sterling called out sharply.

"What!? He deserved it!' she uttered in self-defense. "Anyway, I didn't break anything…. I don't think," she mumbled under her breath.

Daniel went over and tried to rouse the downed Australian. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting up anytime soon. He checked the man's face, looking for any serious injuries.

"He'll have a nice shiner, covering the entire right side of his face," he confirmed with a withering glance in Alex's direction, "But there isn't anything broken."

"Good," Sterling replied. Then turning to Alex he started in on her. "You can't go around slugging everyone that pisses you off, Alex. Obviously, a high emotional state is a side effect of the gene alteration; because you're normally very good at keeping your emotions in check,' he observed. "That's one of the first things we need to work on," he said continuing his speech. "The second thing we need to figure out is what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. This way we are all aware of what can and cannot hurt you, especially when we're out in the field," he assured said speaking more to himself than to her.

Ashamed of her earlier reaction to Malcolm, Alex had kept her mouth shut up to this point. "None of that will concern you anymore," she told him quietly.

"And why not?' Sterling calmly replied.

"Haven't you heard?' she replied angrily, "the council wants nothing to do with me, and they have absolutely no intentions of changing ICOSA policy. They will continue to keep the human populations best interests at heart and seek to destroy any lycan or vampire that poses a threat of any kind to man," she said, quoting the members of the council verbatim.

"Yeah, so what," Daniel retorted.

"Did you not understand me?" she asked sharply. "They want me gone; I have been officially relieved of duty. The only reason I'm still here is because Aaron is in there arguing with them on my behalf," she told them despondently.

"Did you really think they were going to welcome you with open arms?" Daniel asked. "I mean really Alex, you exposed a traitor from within the upper echelon of the council. You're bitten and turned into something no one knows anything about, and you expect them to change hundreds of years worth of rules and policies because you don't have the heart to hunt down those you came to know. That's a little unrealistic don't ya think," he said questioning her.

Flustered and at a loss for words (which was a first), Alex stood there realizing Daniel was right. She had just assumed the Council would automatically see things her way and change everything because she had said so. It had been arrogant of her; Lucian must have rubbed off on her during their brief time together.

"Yes, it was," she finally admitted.

"Ah darlin, don't be so glum," Daniel said coming over and wrapping a brotherly arm around her. "You have a right to be angry, and yes Malcolm stepped over the line. But he's jealous, so go easy on him," he suggested with a grin.

Sterling took this opportunity to speak. "We have an idea, one I think you will be very interested in," he told her. "In fact, this idea of ours was why we had come looking for you. We figured it would only be a matter of time before those old fashioned, narrow minded bastards gave you the boot."

After a moment of self pity, Alex motioned to Sterling with her hand, "Well, go ahead, fill me in on this outstanding plan yours."

"What do you think about the four of us going into business for ourselves?" he asked.

Alex opened her mouth to speak but Daniel interrupted her.

"Uh uh, let us finish before you dash our hopes," he told her wagging his finger in her face.

Alex quickly closed her mouth shut with a snap, and let Sterling continue where he left off.

"The three of us have discussed it at great length. We know we could never hope to have the kind of financial funding ICOSA does, but we don't see why we couldn't find some sort of backing. In the meantime, we would all be willing to invest some of our own money," he said, looking to Daniel for confirmation. The Irishman shook his head firmly, agreeing with him.

Turning back to Alex, Sterling continued, "We would work for and with anyone needing our help, regardless of their species. But it would be on our terms; we would only take on cases or assignments that everyone agrees too. We could base ourselves out of the States, a whole ocean away from the Council," he said pausing for a moment. "So what do you think?" he asked, he and Daniel both curious to hear her reaction.

Alex was floored, speechless for the second time today. These guys had obviously put a lot of thought into this. And the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. It wasn't what she had envisioned on that long flight from Budapest to London, but it could be better. She was ready to agree with them when a voice from behind them beat her to the punch.

"I think it's an outstanding idea, one I had been considering myself."

The three of them turned; finding Aaron had entered the room without any of them knowing. So much for their superior training and Alex's highly developed senses.

"What's Malcolm doing on the floor?" he asked stepping around plaster and debris.

"Well sir, ya see, it happened like this…" Daniel began, but Alex quickly interrupted his version with one of her own.

"He ran into my fist. It was all…accidental of course," she said with a straight face.

"I'm sure," he said skeptically. "Anyway, it appears he's beginning to come to," Aaron noted seeing the tall Australian moving around and groaning. "Someone had better tend to him,' he suggested.

"I got it," Daniel offered. He went over to the injured man and helped pull him to his feet.

"What happened?" Malcolm asked, moving his jaw back and forth making sure it still worked.

"Well, we walked in at a bad time," Daniel explained. "Alex was a little frustrated and you got hit in the face with a punching bag."

"It feels more like I got hit by a Mack truck," Malcolm noted, gingerly touching the bruise that had already begun forming on his face.

"Let's go get some ice on that," Daniel suggested, directing Malcolm out of the room.

Aaron watched the two men as they left then turned back to face Alex and Sterling.

"Well, I couldn't talk them into allowing you to stay," he told his one time student. "It wasn't unanimous, we have a couple of very good friends still on the Council, but there was enough that wanted you gone to reach a vast majority," he said sadly.

"I didn't figure you could, but thank you anyway," she told him, appreciating his effort.

"I quit", he informed them both.

"Aaron, you shouldn't have done that," Alex told him emphatically. "This has been your life for over twenty years."

"I no longer see things in the same light as the Council does," he told her. "I don't want to be a part of something I can't believe in," he explained.

"I take it then that you heard all we told Alex," Sterling asked Aaron.

"Well, apparently I missed some of it," he said looking pointedly at the mess on the floor, "But I heard the bit about opening your own facility."

"And you think it's a good idea/" Alex asked.

"Enough so that I would be willing to invest both time and money into the project myself," he told them both honestly.

"What about you Alex, how do you feel?" Aaron calmly asked.

"At first, I thought they were crazy, but ya know, I'm definitely beginning to warm up to the idea," she answered.

"There is so many things we'll need…" she began saying, but Aaron put his fingers to his lips, motioning the need for secrecy.

"I tell you what, let's go find out how Malcolm is faring, gather up the last of our things, and go have some lunch," Aaron strongly suggested.

"Good idea, I'm starved," Sterling commented, "But if you don't mind waiting a few seconds, Daniel, Malcolm and I need to drop off some paperwork with the Council," he said striding to the door.

"It will work out, Alex," Aaron whispered to her as they followed in Sterling's wake.

She looked up at her former mentor, turned business partner, "I'm beginning to agree with you," she said with a smile. Then as an afterthought, she asked, "Hey can we go eat someplace that has dessert?" she asked as they exited the room.