Disclaimer: I own nothing except Jezebel who I created and cannot be used in other stories without permission! Everything else belongs to Vince.

Rob was reading a magazine when it happened. A shriek pierced the silence, shocking even him out his cool demeanour. He turned quickly to check that Jeff wasn't trying to escape. No, he was still out cold. He turned to his other side to see Eternal collapsed on the floor. Throwing the magazine aside, he quickly scooped her up into his arms roughly and dumped her onto a chair. Her eyes opened, full of pain and shock. Something had gone wrong with the slow burn on Mark.

There was a slam and Jezebel stumbled into the room with a hand to her tousled hair. She looked as though someone had knocked her out. This was not good.

*

For a brief moment Mark had seen him. Dumped in a tangle of pale arms and messy green hair in the corner of a room, his wrists and ankles taped together with thick black tape, eyes closed, breaths shallow. Jeff was completely out cold and frozen. They had gotten to him again.

For a few seconds, his mind had connected to his twin's as she watched what Eternal was doing. He had seen what was happening. He didn't feel that pain anymore; someone had wiped it out of him. A strange tingle of warmth had penetrated his skin; he could feel it surrounding him. Sara had done something. He could see her, happy and worried at the same time in front of him.

He tried to speak, his mouth felt swollen and dry. He moved his tongue around for a second before swallowing and trying again.

"I saw Jeff, they've got him"

"How?" Sara asked, not bothering to ask who 'they' were since it was pretty obvious

"Don't know, I'm guessin' Reckless had something to do with it but they've got him somewhere here, all taped up and pale" Mark replied, rubbing his head absently with one hand. "why the hell do I feel so warm? It sure ain't normal"

"She locked Eternal out" offered Trish "Eternal had tried drawing power out of you again so we had to stop her somehow, Sara poured power into you and kept her out"

Mark looked at his wife questioningly. She nodded happily back. He frowned, a little dazed from everything. He looked around and realised he was sat on the cold hard floor again

"How in the hell did I end up on the floor again?" he demanded, getting to his feet on shaky legs

"You fell when Eternal got you again" replied Sara, helping him up "Maybe me putting power in made you see Jeff for some reason, some collision of powers or something"

"Maybe" mused Mark, sitting back in the chair

He then noticed Matt and Amy sat together. They were both looking at him. Amy's face glittered with tears, her body shaking. Matt looked sad and helpless. Something had happened

"I know it was bad but there ain't no need to cry about it darlin" he cracked

Amy smiled sadly at him and nuzzled against Matt's chest slightly, unwilling to speak. Mark turned his gaze to Matt questioningly. Matt sighed before speaking

"We think Eternal's attacks on you are affecting Amy as well, she's been feeling weird and sick since they started" he explained

"Sick? As in stomach bug sick?" asked Trish, frowning

"It's more like my stomach's empty" Amy finally spoke, her voice thick and wet from the tears "I haven't got anything inside, I don't like it Mark"

"I don't doubt you" Mark looked at her carefully, she looked defeated, he turned to his wife with a rueful smile "anything you can do about it Lightning?"

Sara smiled at him and walked up to Amy, crouching down in front of her. She took one of Amy's hands in her own.

"I can try blocking you off like I did for Mark but I don't know if it'll do anything" she offered gently

"Want to give it a go Ames?" Matt asked softly

There was a pause as Amy smoothed her hair out of face, revealing tear stained skin and red eyes. She gave a watery smile

"Why not? I'm willing to try anything" she said

Sara nodded and held Amy's hand with both of her's, closing her eyes to concentrate. Amy looked puzzled and a little embarrassed, like she wasn't sure what to do. She settled on watching Sara. Then a heat wave coursed through her like an electric shock. She gasped as it flowed through her, filling every pore. Sara's frown deepened, it did feel to her like Amy was empty, like there was nothing there anymore. She tightened her grip on her and pushed onwards, filling Amy with white heat and light. Then, when she felt her core start to ripple with pain, she let go and fell backwards onto the floor.

Trish hurried to her side, helping her to her feet. Sara shook her head to clear it of the white pain and then gave a breathless smile, slapping Trish lightly on the shoulder as a way of thanks and winking at her husband who was looking at her in amazement. She was continuing to astonish him with these powers. Maybe she could do something to Jezebel. They'd certainly stayed away after he saw Jeff. After he'd seen Jeff? Hmmm.

"Well why the hell are we sat here when we could be grabbing your insane brother from them? I think Sara's probably hurt em when she injected me with her light stuff so they won't be ready, we have to get him back before they go, otherwise we ain't got a chance in hell of getting him back any quicker than we got Matt back" Mark rumbled, getting to his feet "any idea what room they're in?"

Trish picked up the sheet of paper that was in every room, quickly scanning down the names until she found the one they wanted. Her breaths were quickening as she did, making her unable to concentrate as well as usual. It was Jeff they were rescuing this time, Jeff. Someone she cared about more than she liked to admit. Maybe it was time to say something. Shaking the thought out of her head for another time, she found what she was looking for.

"Eternal and Jenny are in 3, down the next corridor" she announced, tossing the paper away

Mark regarded Amy for a few seconds. A warmth radiated from her. Whatever was eating her up from the inside out had stopped now but for how long? They had to work fast to wipe Jezebel out before she kidnapped anyone or caused more fatal damage.

Matt gently released Amy from his arms and got to his feet. Amy stretched and then shakily joined him, taking one of his hands in her's, intertwining their fingers. Mark stretched his arms out above his head, pulling all the stiffness out before moving out of the door, the others following silently. They had work to do.

*

"What the hell happened?" Jezebel demanded

"I don't know" Eternal replied weakly "one minute I'm slow burning Mark and then next this head-splitting pain erupts, knocking me out"

"Well I sure as hell felt it!" muttered Jezebel

"Since you were linked to me watching Mark, you could feel everything I felt, whatever happened just then you felt too" Eternal answered, beginning to sit up

"Could Mark have done that?" Reckless said

"Unless he's learnt something real fast then no, more likely it's his bitch of a wife who we have got to get out of the way" growled Jezebel "she probably touched him by accident or something, the heat got to us and blasted us out"

"I feel like a ten ton weight dropped on my head" murmured Eternal

"Get used to it, we have a long way to go before we get everything we need from Mark" declared Jezebel darkly "as well as a full collection of friends to gather"

"Want me start the burn again?" Eternal asked, sounding more like herself

"Don't chance it, wait a while, then when all his defences are down, get in there" instructed Jezebel

"Got it" Eternal answered "consider him siphoned"

"Let's start to move outta here" muttered Jezebel, beginning to pick up her bag "and make sure the rainbow kid gets locked in the boot, it's more suffocating in there"

*

"Found it" whispered Trish, pointing down the corridor to the second door.

Mark nodded when motioned for everyone to stay still. No one dared to breathe. It was as though they were afraid Jezebel would sense their presence. It wouldn't surprise them if she did. How were they gonna get it and Jeff out without getting destroyed?

"What are we gonna do? Break the door down?" Matt asked impatiently at last, eager for some action

"Yeah, that'll give us the upper hand Hardy" said Mark sarcastically

"Any better ideas?" retorted Matt

"None as yet" replied Sara, before Mark said something he regretted.

"Why not just send some of your light stuff in to stun them so we can grab Jeff before they know we're there?" suggested Amy quietly

There was a pause then they all turned to look at her in surprise. She had kept quiet since Sara had filled her. Now she looked more bright-eyed with colour to her cheeks. Matt squeezed her hand gently before grinning. She had a point. Mark rolled his eyes as his wife looked challengingly at him.

"Gonna say that's a bad idea?" she asked

"Ok, ok, fine but if ya get hurt..." he began

"You'll kill whoever did it, I know" replied Sara with a flap of her hand as she took off down the corridor towards the door

"That wasn't what I was gonna say!" Mark hissed after her

It was too late. Sara counted down and then blasted light through the doors. It exploded into the room, filing it with startling white light. Mark paused for a second, frozen in his astonishment at her powers and the slight tingling in his skin from sensing her powers working. Then he ran down the corridor after her, the others close behind. Matt stopped just before entering and held Amy back. She glared at him in annoyance and impatience, eager to get inside. He took a breath, hating what he had to do but knowing it was for the best

"Ames, keep look-out will ya? I don't want you getting hurt"

He dived through the door before she could reply. She bit back a nasty retort and ducked through the doorway, making sure to keep back close to the door. She hated being left out, it made her feel like a wimp. She hated not being involved and unable to help Jeff.

"Keep look-up" she muttered under her breath in disgust, digging her hands into her cargo pants pockets

Once inside, it was hard to see because of the light. It settled on everything making it near impossible to see anything let alone anyone. Mark was beating on what appeared to be Reckless while Sara was throwing Eternal across the room. Jezebel was nowhere to be seen. That was worrying.

Trish looked around wildly for Jeff. He had to be here. Then she noticed a dark mound in the corner. With a burst of relief, she raced towards it only to be clubbed in the back. She knew who it had to be. She kicked out with her feet behind her before rolling out of the way.

"You can't hide Stratus, no matter how you try" a cool silky voice stated

"I can damn well try" muttered Trish, diving behind the relative safety of a chair. It all felt very familiar, too familiar.

She crawled over to Jeff who appeared to be sleeping unless you saw his taped wrists and feet. She shook him hard, looking over her shoulder hastily to check. Matt was trying to keep Jezebel occupied which meant he was taking a lot of punishment. Amy kept an eye out of the door, checking that no one was coming to find out what was happening.

Suddenly there was a shriek and Sara fell to the ground crumpled. Eternal stood over her, dusting her hands off smugly. Mark turned at his wife's voice and hastily gave Reckless a knock-out uppercut before grabbing Eternal by the hair and throwing her down. Jezebel's friends weren't fighting back as well as usual since the light seemed to have blinded them and got to them someway inside. They were more vulnerable and he was taking full advantage of it. Sara was already getting to her feet, her eyes blazing. Mark backed away, sensing somehow he was not gonna like what was about to happen. He appeared next to Trish who was stumbling to her feet, trying to lift Jeff at the same time. His skin felt so cold to her, like death. It was a thought she was having trouble erasing. Mark picked up Jeff with a grunt and slung him over his shoulder.

Before he could warn anyone, warm yellow light blasted through the room. Jezebel screamed an unearthly sound before staggering backwards. Matt quickly shot out the door, grabbing Amy's hand as he did. Mark followed soon after, accompanied by Trish. The heat sat on their skin, feeling like it would melt it. Sara leapt out of the door, practically glowing.

"Lets get our asses out of here and to the hotel, I dunno how long that'll hold em" she gasped, shooting off down the corridor.

"My wife" muttered Mark under his breath as he began walking after her "why does she have to be my wife?"

Matt grinned and turned to Amy to comment but she seemed miles away, a frozen expression on her face. It seemed to be happening a lot recently, like she wasn't comfortable in her own skin. He touched her shoulder lightly, causing her to jump a little in fright. He winced; he hated seeing such fright in her eyes.

"Are you ok, Ames?" he asked as they began walking after Mark

"Sure, just a little jumpy, like normally I'd be in there helping you guys but because of my frickin' neck I can't do anything" she sighed, the anger clear in her voice "I have to play look-out while you guys play the superheroes"

"It'll get better soon Ames, I promise" tried Matt helplessly, wishing he could understand her pain

"Yeah soon" sighed Amy bitterly "but not soon enough

Matt went to say something but decided against it, instead slipping an arm around her shoulders as they quickly made their way outside to the car lot. Mark and Sara had the pick-up revved up ready for them all to leave in since Sara wasn't sure how long she'd knocked them out for.

Trish was silent as she reached the truck. She slipped into the back so that she could be with Jeff, cradling his pale cold form in her arms. She wished she wasn't so helpless. Gently she bent down and kissed his chilly forehead. When was this all gonna stop? Unfortunately, she knew the answer and didn't know how to get to it without things getting more and more desperate with more and more injuries and kidnappings. When Jezebel was destroyed