Quick note: I went back and changed a few scenes in the chapter "Traps" because I realized that I wanted this part of the story to still be placed before Padmé's pregnancy.

Countdown Discovery

"Sir, I have some bad news." Griffin scowled at the bemused guard who had just burst into his office. "The girl's gone. I went to check on her just a minute ago. She was gone and the vent in the bathroom had been removed."

Griffin cursed and grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"Douglas, come in. Douglas, do you copy? Looks like we had a double breakout, but they haven't escaped us yet."

With a grim smirk, the man got up and moved over to a control panel to utilize the building-wide speaker system.

Kim fell rather ungracefully out of the air vent, only being prevented from having her head cracked open on the floor by Jake. They had found themselves in a storage room or rough-around-the-edges lab of sorts. They had yet to see any sign of the exit, but at least no one was around to catch them.

"How big is this building?" the male grumbled, popping his neck and massaging his right shoulder. While it was the safer route, the vent had indeed been a tight squeeze for him. "Do you think we took a wrong turn?"

"I don't know, but look at this stuff – computers, files, vials of chemicals… They have a pretty nice setup here."

"Great. You can copy their decorating choices when we get out of here."

The young people froze upon hearing the live voice coming from the speaker overhead.

"I hear you two got out of your cells. Commendable. However, now that we are aware of your little jaunt, I've doubled the security around the perimeter of the building and we're doing a room-to-room sweep; so, if you think you've won, think again."

"Doubtful of this mission am I. Not ready was Mistress Lerann."

"She has been progressing impressively in her training. Is it not right that we should encourage her progress with something that doesn't involve her being cooped up in the Temple?"

Yoda, floating down the hallways in his little hover chair, looked thoughtfully at Mace Windu.

"Troubled am I that Chancellor Palpatine was so supportive of her taking this assignment. Face her trials she may while on Corellia."

"But Sheena hasn't even finished her training to reclaim her title as Jedi Knight. What threat could she yet pose to anyone connected with the Chancellor?"

"Clouded is Sheena's past and future. Still we do not know the reasoning behind her body switch all those years ago. Once this mystery is solved, the culprits behind Sheena's original abduction may be revealed."

Jake smiled at his friend's stormy expression even as Griffin continued to talk while they dug through the lab to find any more weapons. His smile disappeared when he saw the computer records.

"Looks like Griffin and his scientists have been working on something big…something about introducing a mutant gene into a normal human DNA strand."

"Didn't they already try that a few years ago?" Kim responded, looking at the data over his shoulder. "It failed miserably, if I recall correctly."

"Yes, but these guys have been trying to fix whatever went wrong. And it looks like they are close."

"Too close. They're planning to start animal testing next week."

Griffin's voice finally hit a nerve:

"Isn't this just like old times, Jake? Me and my junior partner in a secret lab together playing mind games…except, now the game is cat-and-mouse and I have sensitive materials that I don't want getting out of this facility. If you're just wandering around harmlessly, then we can just go back to where we were a few hours ago. If not, however, I can't let that information get out, regardless of how much you talk. By tomorrow, you'll wish you were dead."

Jake refused to look at Kim, even though he could feel her eyes burning holes in the side of his head. For the moment, she left him alone and discussed what was before them.

"Not exactly the most tactful fellow. If we hadn't known about this stuff before, we would have now. I think these are the vials that should contain the serum they were planning on testing. We'll take one for study."

Jake shook himself and turned off the computer.

"They should have a self-destruct trigger somewhere…maybe in the security room I saw a little ways back."

In silence, they crawled back into the vent.

Five minutes later, they were in the security room with two guards on the floor – one dead and one unconscious. Jake stood aside as Kim accessed the computer to the find the self-destruct sequence.

"Kim…I know you're wondering about what Griffin said."

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about," she deadpanned, brushing a strand of hair out of her face and keeping her eyes focused on the computer as she continued to type away.

Jake pushed away his frustration while accessing the security cameras on the second computer. Ever since the switch, Kim was, while understanding and helpful, somewhat slow to trust and closed off. A year ago, he knew he didn't stand a chance with the old Kim – she never showed any interest in being anything more than friends – but this was something else. She was a good person with a kind heart and he wanted more than anything to ask her on a date, but every time she got close to telling him anything about her personally other than her background, she pushed him away again. There was something that had to do with her teacher that she didn't want to let go.

"When I was in med school, before I got connected with the X-Men, Griffin approached me as a representative of a secret government organization that was trying to study mutants – why they got certain abilities and not others. I was fascinated with that at the time and we started working together for nearly a year. He was my mentor, I guess. One day, he told me that our boss wanted us to start working on ways to control the mutations. I found out that it was another attempt to control the natural way of things and left before they could stop me. I sought out the X-Men and found that they were more than helpful and worthy of my help. Griffin is a bad guy and needs to be stopped. It's partially my fault that he got this far with his research."

The typing finally stopped.

"I think I found the code for the self-destruct…either that or someone's social security number."

"So…?"

Kim looked at the black-haired man with sympathetic eyes and put her hand gently on his.

"I'm sorry, Jake. I know it's hard to lose someone you look up to and then try to move on. I'm still trying to do that myself." He thought she might offer something more about her own experience, but he was wrong. "Okay. Self-destruct is…counting down. We have five minutes to get out of here."

"Where, in the name of all sanity, am I?" groaned Sheena upon waking up with her face on the floor. "Must've drank a little too much last night or… Oh."

Small room. White walls. No visible exit. What looked like a metal dentist chair with bindings in the middle of the cell. …and her Force abilities were being suppressed.

Brilliant.

Self-destruct in five minutes. Evacuate immediately.

Griffin cursed under his breath and instantly ordered the four technicians nearby to grab whatever files and computers they could salvage. There was no time for anyone to retrieve the serum or the formulas.

He was going to destroy Jake and that little girlfriend of his, one way or another.

Anakin and Obi-Wan walked in comfortable silence following a rather grueling, yet successful, negotiation with a Separatist planet interested in rejoining the Republic. The young Jedi Knight could not be happier being partnered with his former Master so often on missions.

"How is Sheena Lerann progressing in her training?" Obi-Wan queried kindly. "I suppose being suddenly dropped into this galaxy wasn't exactly easy for her."

"We only train a few times between missions; however, she's a hard worker and it's paid off. She has naturally good instincts and the attention she gave to her previous visions gave her a head start. Every time I see her, she's more comfortable with her own self, her surroundings, the Force, and the people. It still surprises me every time she smiles; she never used to do that so often."

Obi-Wan nodded.

"She'll make a good Jedi. I hope one day to become more acquainted with her, perhaps after you get yourself another…" Kenobi went quiet, not wanting to bring up the memory of Anakin's lost padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who, after her trial and near-conviction, was now wandering that galaxy in pursuit of her own path. "I'm sorry, Anakin."

"Don't be. I'm sure Sheena would be more than happy to get more acquainted with you. She's mentioned you a few times."

"Has she now? Hm."

"I think she's bit starstruck by the great General Kenobi," Anakin teased further.

"Anakin, Sheena, unlike you, seems to understand the concept of professionalism." Anakin simply smiled at the jibe. "Ever since she first came here, she has worked tirelessly to become the best Jedi possible…and she seems quite content with it."

"I'm not so sure."

"Run. Run. Run!"

"Shut up! I'm running!"

Self-destruct in thirty seconds.

"Jake!"

"We're almost there."

"Come on! Hurry up! We don't have all day."

Kim caught sight of the exit sign ahead and gave another burst of speed. A few seconds later, she burst through the double doors into the glaring, boiling sunlight, continuing to stumble forward despite her impaired vision. Behind her, she could faintly hear the countdown.

Self-destruct in ten…

As her eyes adjusted, Kim looked around behind her.

Seven, six…

Where was Jake?

"Jake!"

Three, two…

She ran forward.

One.

The blast knocked Kim backwards and sent metal fragments flying every which way. As soon as the shockwave died away, the woman bounced back up, screaming,

"Jake! Jake!" Her voice cracked with the effort she put into the call. "JAKE! Ja…"

Through the smoke to the left staggered a coughing figure.

"Kim!" he hollered back, jogging with her a little ways away from the burning structure. Like her, he had a few cuts and was covered in dust. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Are you? When I didn't see you get out, I…" She cut off as tears came to her eyes at the thought of losing her dearest friend.

"I saw another security room just before you lost track of me…thought that, since it was near so many labs, it might have something obviously useful. I grabbed a stash of security recordings and literally jumped out the closest door. This…" He waved a small case with a label that said 'Research Tapes'. "…might just answer a few questions."

"You about gave me a heart attack," the girl growled.

She flinched as Jake wiped some blood away that was dripping down her cheek from a cut under her eye.

"I'll need to stitch that up. It'll probably scar."

"Brilliant…"

"Hey." The young doctor caught Kim's eyes with his own sparkling ones. "You wanna get some coffee on the way to Rick's? I'm sure he'll want an update on what happened to us."

Kim's eyes softened, but she didn't smile.

"Sounds good."

"Are you all right, sir?"

"Yeah. Were you able to preserve anything?"

The pretty blonde scientist held up a pile of CDs, folders, and external hard drives for him to see.

"There wasn't time to go to the main labs. This is mostly just preliminary research on the serum. I was going to move a sample of it this afternoon, but obviously that didn't happen. There's also some recordings of your interrogations and…"

"Did we get anything on Kim Weaver?" he interrupted with a hiss.

The scientist narrowed her eyes in offense.

"I was just getting to that. We were monitoring her all through her questioning and we were able to get a read on something I've…well, I've never seen anything quite like it before. Some sensors indicated that there was an…energy field of sorts emanating from her."

"A power source for her unique traits?"

"Not like that. If I adjusted the scanner a certain way sometimes…it seemed like she was almost glowing. Ever thought she could be an alien or something?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Penny."

The girl shrugged and walked towards the nearby SUV, pulling back her singed hair with her free hand.