Shalandra opened her eyes. Once again she wasn't in her bed. She looked around. She was in an exceptionally clean white office. In the wall in front of her was a window. There were no alarms going off this time though. She breathed a sigh of relief wondering where she was. She was behind a desk. Out of curiosity she looked at the nametag on the desk: MASON EKHART.
"Oh shit!" She muttered to herself quickly realizing where she was. Frantically she looked around again and saw a vent. She opened it and hid in the air duct and replaced the grate. Just then the door to the office opened and a man with white hair walked in and sat at his desk.
Shalandra's heart was beating so loudly she was surprised that no one else heard it. She quietly crawled in the vent until she couldn't hear or feel anybody nearby. She turned on the ring and spoke into it, hoping someone would be up to hear her.
"Is anyone up?" She whispered.
"Seeing if the ring works?" Shalimar said in return.
"Um no, not really. I showed up somewhere else again."
"Do you know where you are?" Shal asked.
"Unfortunately yeah I do. I appeared in Mr. Ekhart's office this time. He doesn't know I'm here; I'm hiding in an air vent." Shalandra said.
"Are you near anyone?" Shalimar asked.
"No, I crawled until I didn't feel anyone near me." Shalandra answered.
"Hang tight, I'll wake everyone else up." Shalimar said yelling for the rest of the team. After a few minutes everyone ran in looking half asleep.
"What's going on?" Adam asked.
"Shalandra's astral projected again. She's hiding in an air vent at Genomex. They don't know she's there yet." Shalimar told him.
"Is she still awake? She fell asleep on us when she showed up here." Emma asked.
"She was as of a few minutes ago." Shalimar answered.
While waiting to hear back from Shalimar Shalandra started getting really tired. Determined not to fall asleep she pinched herself.
"Where in Genomex is she?" Adam asked looking at the computer.
"Near pod storage." Shalimar said.
"Hey guys, what's going on over there?" Shalandra asked.
"Shalandra, are you ok?" Adam asked.
"Other than really wishing I didn't have this ability right now and being scared, I'm just peachy." Shalandra answered sarcastically.
"I'm going to tell you where to crawl until you get up to the roof. Don't go on it until I tell you though, because there'll be guards." Adam said and then looked at Brennen, Shalimar, Emma, and Jessie.
"You guys get the Helix over there." He said.
While crawling in the directions Adam gave her, Shalandra got a really familiar feeling. The redhead was in the building.
In her office Ms. Edmonton looked up and grinned. The girl from the club was nearby. Smiling wickedly she alerted security that there was an intruder in the building. The alarms started going off. She then started walking toward the direction she felt the girl was at.
"The redhead from the club is here in the building." Shalandra said into her ring.
"Is she nearby?" Adam asked.
"No....Oh shit!" Shalandra said in reply.
"What's wrong?" Adam asked.
"Alarms are going off. They know I'm here." Shalandra replied fighting off a wave of panic.
"Don't worry about the alarms. Keep crawling towards the roof." Adam said.
In his office Mr. Ekhart watched the action unfold.
Elsewhere in the building Ms. Edmonton's smile grew. She could feel how scared and tired the girl was getting. "This should be an easy catch." She said to no one in general as she started going towards the roof.
In the vent Shalandra stopped crawling for a second to catch her breath and focus on something other than her fear. "Now where?" She said into the ring.
"Turn right, the end of the vent should lead to a small hallway. The door to the roof will be at the end of it." Adam said.
"Are their any other vent's nearby, just in case?" Shalandra asked.
"There should be one near the door." Adam answered.
Shalandra crawled out of the vent and ran for the door.
As Jesse landed the Helix Emma looked out the window. "Looks like we're in luck. Only one guard." She said.
Shalandra turned the handle to the door. It was locked. Nearby she heard footsteps.
"The doors locked!" She said.
On the roof Shalimar knocked out the guard. Jesse ran toward the door.
"If your going to pay us a visit you should stay for a little while." The redhead said from the end of the hall where she was standing with a bunch of guards.
"I don't think so, if this were a planned visit I would've kicked your butt by now." Shalandra said, freezing in her place.
"Oh but I do, and I always get what I want." The redhead said shooting an image of another wall of flames.
This time Shalandra was too drained and scared to react and passed out just as Jesse opened the door. Jesse picked up Shalandra and ran for the Helix, while Brennen shot a bolt of electricity at the woman and guards.
Back in the Helix Brennen flew them back towards Sanctuary.
"Adam, we've got Shalandra. She's out cold." Jesse said.
"She's probably sleeping." Adam replied.
A little while later they were all back at Sanctuary. Shalandra was sleeping on a bed in the lab where she could be monitored while her body recovered from the nights adventure. She slept for the next thirty-six hours. When she woke up she looked around quickly. Last she remembered was that the redhead was about to capture her.
"How are you feeling?" Brennen asked. The others had gone to bed while he volunteered to sit with Shalandra.
"Tired. What happened back there?" She asked.
"You passed out while Jesse was opening the door."
"I hate this stupid ability." She complained.
"Have you ever been able to control it?
"Nope. I never even know when it's going to be used either. I go to bed and a few times a year I wake up someplace else." Shalandra answered.
"How long have you been doing it?"
"Since I was fifteen, I think, but I'm not really sure. I'm surprised I managed to stay awake as long as I did."
"I think the fear of being captured and adrenaline had a lot to do with that." Brennen said smiling.
"Probably it did. I don't think I'm going to be sleeping much for quite a while after this, though."
"Why's that?"
"Because the last unpleasant experiences lead to insomnia. When I sleep for less than five hours a night my body and my mind are too tired to do anything like this." Shalandra answered.
"So by not getting enough sleep you run from it." Brennen concluded.
"I don't run from anything for very long." Shalandra said.
"It's ok. Fight or flight is a natural survival instinct."
"I don't run from much of anything." Shalandra said again and rolled over to go back to sleep hoping the subject would be dropped.
Brennen was tempted to keep the subject up. He thought that maybe if she got frustrated enough then she'd try to learn how to control the astral projection ability just to prove she could. Tonight however he decided that what she needed the most was rest.
Shalandra was so tired that she couldn't pick up stuff with her mental abilities. She was also making harder attempts to stay out of people's heads without permission. However tired she was though, she was determined not to go back to sleep until morning. So far she had never shown up elsewhere during the daytime.
After Mutant X and the girl got away Ms. Edmonton did reports and such. She was scared that because of this latest failure that she might not get another chance. She strongly thought of running and going into hiding. Though tempted she decided against that idea. Running would only bring her even more problems. For some reason Mr. Ekhart wanted the girl and she knew that until he got her then there was nothing to worry about.
This gave her yet another idea. Mutant X had one feral with them from the beginning. The girl was afraid of fire, which meant she was probably also feral. Instead of capturing just the girl, Ms. Edmonton was going to capture both. Maybe that would even get her another promotion. With that thought in mind she started thinking up ways of getting just the two ladies in one spot by themselves. After she had a few ideas she went to her apartment for a few hours of rest.
That morning after Adam checked Shalandra's vitals she went to her room. She didn't really feel like being around others. Once again she had the urge to move and this time it was extremely strong. When the opportunity arose she was going to walk to the city, which was about ten miles away. From there she was going to find a job, and then eventually move further away. She fell asleep making plans.
When she woke up again she was hungry and went to the kitchen for something to eat. She noticed the others were out somewhere. After she ate she went to the lab. The others were in the middle of a mission.
"What's going on?" Shalandra asked.
"Our redheaded friend and several of her buddies found one of the safe house." Adam said.
"Need some help?"
"No, everything's under control now. You woke up just in time to hear her get her butt kicked again."
"Cool, I love waking up to good entertainment." Shalandra joked. Adam smiled at the comment.
"Have you slept off your adventure the other night yet?" He asked.
"I think so. That one's going on my unpleasant list that I keep upstairs." She said.
At the scene of the safe house another three vans of agents showed up, right before Ms. Edmonton got her but kicked.
"Don't these guys ever give up?" Brennen complained.
"I think they just like getting their butts kicked." Shalimar said fighting two of them.
"Adam, another three vans of agents showed up" Emma said shooting a psionic blast at one of them.
"Get out of there." Adam said.
"We can't. They've got us surrounded at the moment." Emma replied.
"Sounds like they need help after all." Shalandra said.
"Feel up to it?" Adam asked.
"Yeah I do. Besides, I'd love it if I got to kick the redheads butt this time." Shalandra answered with a grin.
"Take the mustang. Their at the safe house in the library." Adam said
Shalandra grabbed the keys to the car and headed out. At the safe house Ms. Edmonton slipped to a corner where she could watch the action. If everything went as planned agents would keep showing up until the girl came to help her friends.
Ten minutes later Shalandra showed up. Ms. Edmonton smiled evilly. From what she had seen so far the girl had a tendency to tire quickly. She would wait until then to make her move.
"Need some help?" Shalandra said taking on one of the agents. A third round of vans had shown up while she was on her way over.
"What took ya so long?" Jesse asked. He had just turned solid and head butted one of the agents into another.
"Our fearless leader didn't want me out in the action quite yet." She said kicking an agent. This was fun and thrilling yet scary at the same time. Ms. Edmonton chose this moment to try sneaking up on Shalandra.
"Watch out!" Emma yelled knocking an agent out who had tried sneaking up on her.
Shalandra spun around and blocked the punch. "Your not going to get what you want, so live with it!" Shalandra said kicking her. This woman was really starting to annoy her.
Ms. Edmonton threw a wall of fire towards Shalandra. Shalandra grinned. She had put up strong mental shields on the way over. "It's not going to work this time." She said getting a bit tired and angry.
When Shalandra was angry two things usually happened. Usually a storm would start nearby and she'd start throwing fireballs. This time however it didn't quite go that way. A storm did start quickly building above the city. Instead of shooting balls of fire she shot a streak of electricity that threw Ms. Edmonton into a wall and knocked her out. The fight was finally over and the five mutants headed out of the building.
"Whoa, way cool." Shalandra said with a huge grin on her face.
"I'll drive back with you." Brennen said.
"Actually a large storm is brewing. You better take the Helix back." Adam said.
"Told ya. I get mad and storms brew nearby." Shalandra said.
"It's ok. We needed the rain." Brennen joked.
"I'm going to drive back with her." Jessie said.
"You two are as bad as school boys bickering over the girls." Shalimar kidded.
Emma laughed at the comment. "No, those two are worse." She added.
"You guys are horrible, picking on the school boys, er guys like this." Shalandra said giggling.
"Hey this isn't fair. Three gals picking on two guys." Jesse protested.
"We'll just have to even the odds when we get back to Sanctuary." Brennen kidded as he, Shalimar, and Emma got into the Helix.
"I'm not getting into this one you guys." Adam's voice came through their rings.
In the mustang Shalandra burst out laughing, while Jesse drove. Shalandra kidded around with him the whole way back. Everyone got back to Sanctuary and was in a fairly good mood. They decided to go back to Dragon's Claw that evening.
Ms. Edmonton came to with a pounding head. She had failed again. She looked around as the other agents came to and headed back to the vans. Mr. Ekhart was going to be very pissed off at her. Ever since she was 16 Ms. Edmonton had worked for Genomex. Now she had one idea in her head. She was going to run. Her brother ran Dragon's Claw and would gladly hide her for a while. With luck maybe she'd even figure out a way to make some good come out of this. She slipped out the door, down an alley, and headed to her brothers club.
Shalandra spent that afternoon thinking and meditating. Earlier that day she had been ready to leave. Now she wasn't quite sure. It was fun helping others and filled her with pride to be a part of it. She had also thrown electricity, which was something she had never done before. That ability both frightened and scared her at the same time.
Deep in her thoughts a smile came to her face and she snickered at an idea. Maybe if she could learn how to control her astral projection she could have a bit of fun with it. She wondered how the guys would react if she appeared in one of their rooms while they were changing or something similar. The thought made her giggle even more and put her in a really playful mood. Before joining the rest of the team in the kitchen for dinner, she set out the outfit she was planning on wearing to the club.
Shalandra headed out of her room and caught up with Emma who was walking down the hall to the kitchen.
"You seem to be in a good mood. What's up?" Emma asked, having never felt Shalandra in such a playful mood.
"Oh nothing." Shalandra answered grinning.
At the dinner table Shalandra couldn't stop grinning. During her short time at Sanctuary she had already pulled a few good practical jokes on her fellow teammates.
"Who's the prank on this time?" Adam asked looking around for anything out of place before he sat down. A week before he had sat on a whoopee cushion that his daughter had placed in his usual chair.
"I'm not saying yet." Shalandra replied the twinkle in her eyes.
"What ever it is this time, it must be really good. Her eyes are twinkling." Shalimar said giggling.
"Uh oh." Jesse said having fallen under one of her pranks, unsuspectingly walking through a door when a bucket of water fell from above.
Everyone ate with a watchful eye knowing their latest addition of the team was either up to or planning yet another practical joke on one of them. After they got ready to go out.
Back in her room Shalandra eyed the outfit sitting on her bed. In the town where she had grown up she would've been caught dead in anything like that. Here she had decided to be herself and a bit more daring. She had always been a bit larger, due to her large bones, than her friends growing up and hid her figure. However, she had always been a large tease and tonight was going to be no different. She went into her bathroom and got ready while humming to one of her many favorite songs.
Shalimar and Emma had already gotten dressed and were sitting on Shal's bed talking.
"Do you have any clue who she's going to play a joke on next?" Shal asked.
"Nope, I think she's got that first fight high." Emma said.
"I still think she's up to something." Came Shal's reply. She was wearing a pair of tight black leather pants and a red shirt. Emma was wearing a light blue dress.
"Lets go see if she needs help getting ready." Emma suggested as they both headed for Shalandra's room. Shalandra had just finished changing in her bathroom and was looking at the outfit in her mirror. She was wearing a light violet halter style top with a black leather skirt that fell just above her knees and had a slight slit at the sides. Finishing the outfit off she had matching boots and her leather jacket with the frills. Her hair had been pulled in a tight bun.