"Let's just cut the crap Stark, what is it that makes you send up the white flag?" asked Hobbes.

He made a stiff smile; one to match his suit. "I think you both know. Thera."

Darien shrugged under his leather jacket, "What about her?"

Stark folded his hands in front of him. "Thera is a very special girl…she wasn't a month ago, but she is now. Thanks to the help of our doctors at the public hospital."

Hobbes stepped forward and hugged his arm close to his holster, "How special?"

Stark settled comfortably back into his chair and started with a conversational tone. "In normal human DNA there are different gene strands, some are turned on, others off, others that are insufficient, and it is those that cause diseases. One of these inactive strands was replaced with an altered gene whose code name was called Niluqad. It's a specific gene that allows the brain to adapt to unknown skills 50 times faster than without it. But, like normal human DNA, this strand is turned off. In birth, she was chosen for the experiment of advanced agents for future government agencies. The gene was activated successfully, and as a way of tracking until her 'gift' –if you will– is needed for Chrysalis, we gave her the name Thera."

"So tell me- do her relatives know about this? How you plan to have their child serve an agency without any choice?"

"Oh Darien, you're making it sound twice as bad. Thera is now an orphan."

He darted forward until he was leaning over the desk, dangerously close with his pit bull eyes. "What makes you think that I'll let you even get close to her?"

Stark let the same little smile settle on his features, thoughtfulness breaking into his voice. But he shrank back slightly. "You're afraid of losing her, aren't you? Yes, the one person that you truly have something in common with; a successful government experiment that works for the greater good."

(As if you understand me; what's wrong with me.)

Hobbes glared at him, "You catwalk pansies don't know what the 'greater good' is."

"She's already finished the second stage under your agency's care."

Fawkes cocked an eyebrow and spat, "The 'second stage'? What is she doing? Evolving?"

"That's one way you could put it. I suggest you put our Thera in a sparring match with an experienced opponent," Stark emphasized the comment with a glance at Bobby who was stepping forward to parallel his partner. "See how well she fairs. I believe then you will see the true nature of her abilities, and why she is no longer fit for your agency."

Darien huffed in retort, "You're making her sound like a Jedi. Plus, you haven't seen her everyday for the last month; she's starting to look like that chic from Terminator 2."

"That's to be expected." Two men entered the room and began to escort Fawkes and Hobbes outside. Stark called out after them, "Thank you for stopping by, we'll be taking her off your hands very shortly."

"I got news for you pal, saying it and doing it are two very different things!" Darien yelled back over his shoulder as he and Hobbes were being pushed out the double doors.


"So you've never sparred before?" Hobbes was asking.

Thera strapped on the protective gloves over her knuckles and puffed a strand of hair out of her face. She glanced up at him from her hands, "No, but I've always been meaning to take defense classes."

He was stretching in loose khaki-colored linen pants and a sheer white linen shirt that made Claire look at him a little longer than usual. "Well lucky you, because you're getting the Bobby Hobbes beginners training. Don't need any of the fancy pants Chinese boxing. Better to start with experiences than breaking boards. First we'll start with the punches, move to kicks, blocking, then sequence. Ready?"

Thera had pulled back her hair in a long snake braid and stepped onto the warehouse floorboards. She was also dressed in the white loose linens that were commonly seen in karate schools across the coast. Taking off her jewelry, Thera let it roll on the counter of the nearby table where Fawkes and Claire were sitting.

She was grinning when she turned around and crossed the plateau to Hobbes. "Yeah sugar, I'm ready."

Darien and Claire were watching from the sides of the big room, eating lunch in the daylight of the enormous open loading doors. Before the half hour was up, Bobby had moved onto sequences and Darien was prying answers out of Claire as they sat around the thick, wooden spool table. "So Keep, how was it that she improved the counteragent?"

Creaking of the floorboards and Hobbes spouting instructions occasionally overlapped her thoughtful voice. "Well, it wasn't like she saw the components and pulled it out of thin air. I was working on the same goal when she came over and started asking questions. 'What's this for? Wouldn't it work better if those were fused together to make one element? Why not substitute this for this?' She just pointed out the obvious that I had overlooked, and there it was: concentrated counteragent."

"Did she say what kind of experience she had in this kind of stuff?"

Claire shrugged her shoulders and watched the two sparring. "Told me she took basic high school biology and chemistry...nothing spectacular." She turned back to Darien and spoke before he could get it out of his mouth, "And no, she can't make heads or tails of the gland. Experiencing her logic, it was the very next thing I showed her, but the construction was too complex."

She could see his heart sink in his eyes. "Now don't go mentioning this to the Official. He doesn't need to know that a guest of ours has seen the blueprints to a biosynthetic gland. I know Thera's heart is in the right place, and I made no kind of quandary by showing her. With the Chief, it takes the better part of a year to gain back his trust in the workplace."

He dropped his meatball sandwich back in the wrapper and took her elbow in an attentive gesture. "Now would be the time to tell you. When we went out on assignment, it was to see Chrysalis. He told us everything there was to know about Thera."

Claire's eyes went wide in alarm, "Oh God, what was it?"

Fawkes recounted the visit while watching the hot afternoon sun through the dirty ceiling windows. "If Stark comes by, he's not going to be stupid. He knows that Thera can take care of herself-" and watched her kick Bobby in the shin and then in the upper rib. "-sort of. He's going to be prepared, but I don't know what exactly he's going to do with her."

"Well, he said that they wanted Thera as an agent-"

He shook his head. "She would never do that."

Her eyebrows knitted down in concern. "Well, it makes sense, actually. She did have the symptoms of gene therapy, but I didn't diagnose it as that because it was so severe…"

"Gene therapy?"

Claire spoke slowly, "It's a technique where a dormant or faulty gene is replaced by a working one, so that the body can make the correct enzyme or protein and consequently eliminate the root cause of the disease. But in Thera's case, she didn't have a disease, so they acted as a sort of amplifier for her senses…is this making sense? Because I can barely grasp her condition…"

"Yeah, I follow you, but this stuff isn't hazardous to her, is it? I mean, she's not going to end up like Hobbes did that time- understanding too much?"

Claire shook her head; "I've monitored her for three weeks already…perfectly normal girl. She's well enough not to need a night nurse anymore." She then asked, "Why don't you ask her? I'm sure she'd open up about how she feels if someone shows that they want to know."

Hobbes was talking again, and Thera was in front of him in a ready stance: "Okay grasshopper, last level is instinct. Now, no matter how many sequences you use, you can't afford to think of how to-" he sent up a lightning high kick. She ducked quickly and counteracted with a roundabout in which Bobby reacted by catching her ankle. Thera was now balancing easily on one foot, her clothes blowing loosely in the breeze.

"-defend yourself." He let go of her ankle. "You think you're ready for this?"

Claire whispered to Darien, "Did you tell her? About what happened at Chrysalis?"

"Yep- she was kinda flattered, actually. And when we got to the part for protection, she was all over the idea of sparring with Bobby." He gazed across the room at the two.

"Yes, and don't be afraid to hit me, Bobby. I don't want it to be a surprise in the future."

He advanced, cutting through the long beams of sunlight and stirring up sawdust from the floorboards. Ten minutes later, after watching them grapple the dusty ropes and climbing molded crates that were riddled with rusty nails; Darien and Claire were like fans at a volleyball game, cheering for the both of them.

Finally, Thera gave up and grabbed Hobbes in a hug and twisted him, slamming them both into the floorboards. Both lay on the wooden floor of the warehouse, gasping for breath in the hot afternoon. Thera had blood running from her mouth and knuckles that were showing through the torn gloves and soaking into her linen. Hobbes groaned to sit up as Darien and Claire walked and stood over them.

"Boy, you two really know how to duke it out."

Bobby glared at him and ground his voice, "Not a word of this gets out."

Fawkes snorted a laugh at his partner and helped him up, "What? That a chick half your age and experience and twice your hair gave you a run for your money?"

Claire was supporting Thera when she stood up, checking her wounds. "Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea…"

"Nonsense!" barked Bobby. "The girl knows how to handle herself now."

He clapped an arm over Thera's shoulders and smiled in good sportsmanship, moving to the table to finish lunch.

"Strong like bull, huh?" she giggled.

"You didn't touch my rye, didja?" he asked Darien, half leaning on Thera.

"No, but it was looking pretty lonely for a while there."

Through the rest of the lunch, light laughter filtered up into the beams of the old warehouse and the four enjoyed the afternoon, almost forgetting the future that hid ahead in time.