Hostility, fear and nerves rocked Chris's senses on the flight out of the tiny University town. East to a small landing strip, and then a transfer. To a 747 waiting nearby.

Immediately upon entering into sight of the large vehicle, Chris felt himself riding on waves of awe mixed with fear from almost everybody, except for four. Dave, comfortable yet possessive, but tense. Sarah, comfortable as well, but her comfort derived from love fulfilled at her side. Mitch. Relaxed, and in a calm state that even he couldn't comprehend. And Cass. Comfortable...and in control.

As the plane took off, he found himself sitting next to Cass, his stomach tight, his eyes shut. Willing himself...."You afraid to fly?"

He swallowed, remembering his own sense for the first time since he'd joined the group. Shocked that she somehow was able to...read him? "Not particularly used to it," he admitted.

He reached out to her and couldn't feel that odd tingling he remembered when he'd tried to sense another of his kind. So what...made her able to read his senses. He wasn't sure, but he felt a deep confidence emanate from her. A calm and ...a concern. "Don't worry," she replied, smiling as she patted the hand he'd forgotten was gripping the armrest. And then he sensed confidence. "One thing I do best," she continued, now grinning broadly. "Is fly."

He held back a gasp and raised his eyebrows. Not dubiously because he knew she was telling the truth. Shocked.

She laughed, and he could tell the compassion hadn't left her. "Don't worry," she said softly. "I'm Airforce trained."

He swallowed, leaning back, trying to calm himself somehow. "So you've been training for a while then?"

She nodded, crossing her legs, staring out the window at a view he'd been told was beautiful, but would make him nauseous if he tried. Comfortable. He'd give anything to be as comfortable as she was in the air. "Yeah." She smiled and he could feel the pride in her voice. "You could say I was born and bred for it."

"You mean," he replied. As lightly as he could. "The decision was made for you without regard to..."

She laughed. "Heck no..." She sighed, and the shock she concealed quite well was obvious to him. "I think it was more of the question of what could shock my parents the most. You know...parents wanted me to be a beauty queen. I wanted to be Tom Cruise...well no." She closed her eyes and he drew comfort from her smile. "I wanted to be Kelly McGillis...in the movie Top Gun....wanted to be her but I wanted to fly next to him too. Combine Anthony Edwards with Kelly McGillis and that would be me. But then I decided I wanted nothing to do with the navy, though." She continued, conspiratorially, somehow drawing a laugh out of him. "But if you tell Joe..."

He raised his eyebrows. "Joe?"

She laughed and he caught some...amusement from her. "Don't worry about it," she pointed out, laughing. "Joe Washington. An upstanding navy guy, and a friend. So you know..."

He found himself sighing...relieved. He shook his head and tried to block her. Tried to...

"You know," she interjected, her green eyes dancing. "You're cute when you're flustered."

Teasing. He was a mess. He..."I..."

She laughed and he sensed amusement from her. The first thing he could sense without...falling. "You're more flustered than I thought you'd get. But," she sighed. "You're still cute."

**

He'd not known what to say for the rest of the trip, and the fact that he'd grabbed tighter to the arm rest made her think that it was, in fact, because of his flying fear. And not because of his anxiety about her. So, she chatted about different things...from her friends, from the year she'd spent as president of the Air Force Academy which brought her to meet her friends. Who needed her help. No matter how much it scared her that... "I could be next."

He felt her pain, more than he'd wanted to and took her hand. He held it once the plane landed, through the short trip to DC, as they walked into the large glass building and into the elevator. He saw her blink her eyes, blinking back tears.

He smiled at her as they walked in to the conference room in the depths of the building, side by side, grabbing seats next to Sarah and Mitch. Sarah raised her eyebrows, but he sensed admiration, thanks and friendship. Mitch pulled his hands through his hair and Chris saw him smile in his own way.

He was so wrapped up in the small little group he'd spent time with that he didn't notice Tom Daniels walk into the room and sit down at the foot of the table, as far as he could get from everybody else. But he sensed him, and held onto the table, trying to physically protect himself from the mental onslaught sent his way.

It was the way his people did things, Chris noted wryly. Daniels, 5'10 with short hair, almost buzzed, a build developed by years of systematic and relentless physical and mental training did not want to make a scene. He wanted Chris to pay for what he'd done, but he wouldn't ...

Almost immediately, Chris felt the immense pressure on his senses lessen as a woman, most likely Sloan, joined Tom. His messages grew lighter in focus, and soon after, all Chris could feel were her pangs of concern. He turned to her and smiled. She nodded in return as she sat back in her chair.

"I've brought you all together for two reasons," Dave Forrester began as he quickly raced into the room, Ed and Walter following him. He grimaced slightly as the two unseated members of their party found seats. When they'd settled, Forrester smiled and got right to the point. "Circumstances forced all of you together; and reality is going to help us get out of the situation we're in." He swallowed. All Chris could sense was control. Supreme control. And the light pressure of Cass's hand on his. "I'll be blunt. The burglary and various high risk hostage taking episodes were, in fact, masterminded by one person."

"Lewis." Tom Daniels said it, but Chris knew the reality of the situation as if it had been his deduction. Lewis. The man who trained the Chameleons, the covert operatives. Tom Daniels had been one of them, subject to the man's brutal training methods. And views of life. Before Daniels, like Chris, had switched sides.

Dave nodded. "He's been keeping informed and has discovered that there are humans more dangerous to him than Ann Coulter ever was." Control it, Chris scolded himself. He blinked his eyes and looked up, catching a wan smile from Sloan. Coulter had been her mentor too. He nodded briefly at Cass's whispered question, and forced a breath somehow, feeling oddly comforted at her squeeze of the hand he'd forgotten she was still holding.

"And who would that be?" Daniels' question cut deep. And then it occurred to Chris. Daniels had no idea what was going on. He didn't know who'd been taken by Lewis. Only that Lewis himself was involved in some plot, as was his wont.

Dave sighed before continuing. "The Military Academy Coordinating Committee is an organization that up until two years ago was known more for what it didn't do than what it did. Two years ago, the group banded together to stop a terrorist attack, and simultaneously garnered themselves an international reputation." Forrester swallowed and Chris breathed deeply. "They also aligned themselves with some elements of society that already had an international reputation."

Mitch smiled, somewhat confidently, and Chris felt the...ego he oozed. "Dave is politely referring to me."

Across the table, Ed Tate raised his eyebrows. Dubious. "An international reputation?"

"He's dangerous," Cass said with a laugh. And then she swallowed. "God..."

Chris put his arm around her and she relaxed against him. "So the individuals that Lewis has..."

"The Vice President's daughter," Dave began, trying to hold back his emotions. But they were open and clear to Chris. Pain, fear. He wanted to say...to calm someone, that it wasn't their fault. But before he could get a word in edgewise, Dave started to speak again. "And...."

"My best friend," Sarah shouted, angrily. Chris lay back against the chair, trying to use something to buffet himself, his emotions, his senses. His fear. Trying to read her. Trying to block her. ".Dammit," she bit out. She was trying to be strong, but Chris could tell it wasn't working. She clenched her fists, and he felt Cass reach out to her. "I'm going after him...."

Mitch shook his head, pulling his bangs out of his face, meeting Sarah's emotional, barely controlled fire with ice. "I don't want you getting hurt," he made out, his voice clear. Chris felt his uncertainty, as if the words Mitch wasn't saying marked his speech more clearly than what he did . It was as if he'd clearly said he was going in. And then he felt nerves, fear. "I don't want you used to make me jump through hoops."

Anger. Ire. Fire. Chris hated what he'd felt from Sarah. As if she was...a possession rather than a person. And then there was something else. A familiarity. As if she and Mitch had played this argument over before. Done it more than once. Just this time, it seemed to have started on strange territory. "You're going to go in and do god knows what," Sarah shouted, only buoyed by the fear in Mitch's eyes. Chris felt it...how they couldn't help but go through this. Playing roles, walking through territory already marred by footsteps from previous incarnations. "You have a death wish…" Sarah proclaimed, her boldness attempting to hide fear that was clear to only Chris. She swallowed, trying to push her terror further inside of her, but didn't succeed in changing Chris's perspective. Sitting there, concerned, Cass's arm around him as he could only watch what went on in front of him. "Just don't go by yourself," she finally concluded, her resolve barely covering her fear. " DON'T make me go in after you to yank you out of whatever situation you may get yourself into…"

In the silence that followed, Chris oddly found himself looking in Tom's direction. He sensed protection. Of Sloan, and comparing that with what Mitch and Sarah were discussing, going through. There wasn't even a pause as their eyes met briefly before Daniels turned towards Mitch. "I'll go with you," he said, solemnly. Chris could sense the truth..the depth behind the words. Doing it so that someone would not permit Sloane to make that kind of a journey unprotected in the future. "I know who we're dealing with and you know who we're bringing home." Logic. Clear. A protective oath

Sloan let out a cry, and Chris rubbed his temples for the umpteenth time. "Tom…" A plea. She didn't want to see him face Lewis again. It was too soon, Chris figured...was somehow able to deduce. Chris turned towards her, and he saw her wipe away tears.

"It's the only way, Sloan," he said, calmly softly. Not betraying the fear, nerves, feelings of doubt he projected. Chris caught both and thanked Cass yet again for not asking him what troubled him so.

"Just be careful, everybody," he made out, calming his own fear in some way. And then realizing he was afraid