"I realized long ago that there are factions of the government, and a few privately owned companies which act as government factions, which the general public cannot know about at this point in history. The only question in my mind, Monsieur Eckhart, is which are you; government, or faking it?"

"Yes, well, it would seem that neither of those questions apply to you, Ms. Banner."

"Why not?"

"Because we here at Genomex do not repair our mistakes by hiring them."

"I - what? What in the Nine Hells are you talking about?"

"We have encountered people in the past with you abilities, not to mention your reluctance to offer a blood sample."

"Alright, so you've met other needle phobic ex-stunt people before."

"That, however, is not what we believe you to be." He presses a few buttons on a control panel, as I remain standing directly in front of the desk he's sitting at. I have the sudden, bizarre thought that if he pushes the right buttons; the floor is going to go right out from under me. "Naria, send in two security guards, unarmed."

"No need for that, I'll leave quietly."

"I'm afraid not." Eckhart says, as two guards dressed entirely in black appear to either side of me. "Take Ms. Banner down to the med labs and put her in hard restraints."

"Yes sir." One of the guards says, and they rather roughly lead me out of Eckhart's office.

"Do the two of you really think you can contain me alone?" I ask as we walk down a hallway.

"Yes."

"I don't." I say, lining myself with orange and blue flames. I know the flames don't hurt, don't even give off heat, but the guards each released the arm they had been holding and stepped back. I spin to my left and kick that guy in the head and, continuing my spin, I swing my fist over into the second guy's gut. The first guy is down for the count, but the second just had the wind knocked out of him, so I turn to run, but feel a sharp sting in the back of my knee. I take off anyway, though a bit slower. I'm running for about fifteen minutes before slamming into some unsuspecting scientist.

"Whoa. What's?" He starts to ask.

"I'm being chased by security." I say breathlessly in my best French, maintaining my character. "Would you like to help me, or"

"This way." He says, in French, pulling me into a room and closing the door behind us. "One of these days I'm going to shut this place down." He mutters in English as he leans against the door.

"Marvelous. When you do, I'll help." I say taking off the straight, dark brown wig I've had on all-day and shaking out my long, wavy, amber-ish hair. I take off my mask, remove my voice changer and contacts, and start to examine the back of my knee.

"Who are you?"

"Depends. Whose side are you on?"

"Not theirs." He says I smile a bit in spite of the dull, throbbing pain in the back of my knee. "I'm a doctor, can I take a look at your leg?"

"Sure. I'm Kelly Tyler, what do I call you, doc?"

"Adam."

"Nice to meet you." I say, exposing the back of my right knee. "Mind telling me what you people are doing here?"

"Originally, we were a genetic research facility, but due to some mistakes, the goals have changed somewhat. What's funny?"

"You sound like a P.R. statement." I say, chuckling a little. "Ow! Hey,"

"If I really sound like a P.R. guy, it's only because I don't really want to be here."

"So why don't you leave?"

"I can't. It's complicated, but ultimately I can't."

"What's stopping you? A piece of paper with a couple signatures and a paycheck?"

"No, nothing like that." He says. "I've done all I can do with this."

"Thanks." I say, flexing my knee a bit. Alarms start going off, Adam jumps, and I simply tense. "So what is it really that's keeping you here?"

"I've made some pretty serious mistakes that effect people's lives in some fairly serious ways, and staying here is the only way I can make reparations."

"Oh, please tell me it's not the equipment that you need."

"Well, yeah. The mainframe especially."

"Oh, my god. The computer is understandable, but really. C'mon, I gotta bust out of here anyway, c'mon, we'll talk on our way out."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I'll quite regrettably have to give you a black eye and save you some trouble. Keep in mind that there's also secret door number three, but that can be positively humiliating depending on your reputation."

"I wanted out anyway, let's go." He says, after some serious thought.

I look around the room, just now noticing that we're in a storage room with a window. "Do you know if the windows in this place are specifically alarmed?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Great. You afraid of heights or falling?"

"No, why?"

"Here." I hand him a coil of grappling rope I had been hiding in the hem of my skirt. "We're going out the window, you'll need something and my harness is custom."

"What about you?"

"Oh, please." I scoff, as I tie a knot near one end of the rope. "I've jumped higher."

"Is this going to hold me?" He asks, as I tie the end of the rope with the grappling hook to a piece of exposed pipe connected to a radiator.

"Of course." I say, as I look over at him. "Need some help there, doc?"

"Uh. okay."

"Ms. Adrian Banner. We have you located and surrounded. Exit the supply closet peacefully or we will have no other choice but to take violent action. You have two and a half minutes to decide." I hear Eckhart demand from the other side of the door.

"Damn it." I mutter.

""Adrian Banner"? I thought you said your name was Kelly Tyler." Adam days as I secure the rope around his waist and over one shoulder, making sure the rope wouldn't tighten by clipping the steel clip into the knot.

"I'll explain later." I say, and I gently push Adam further back to give myself some room.

"Yeah, but who are you lying to?"

"Figure it out; who was I wearing the mask for?" I say, as I kick out the glass and the bottom frame of the window. "Hope you have a strong stomach."

"Why's that?" Adam asks, as I shove him to the floor so that he can avoid being shot. A bullet zings by my elbow and I start for the window.

"Come on! Let's not make me throw you!"

"That's a seven story drop!"

"Get your ass out that window, or I won't bother catching you after I toss you off that seven story drop like a bloody football!"

"I'd rather take my chances here!"

"Forget it, you stay here you're either dead or dumb, you don't strike me as either!" I yell over the gunfire. I grab him by the shoulder and drag him towards the window, keeping us both low all the way.

"No no no no no."

"Easy or hard, take your pick. I told you that we were going out the window, and I intend to stick to my plans."

"Yeah, but wait, can't - "

"Hard way." I say, as I push him through the window. I quickly step into the window frame and jump out, doing somersaults in the air as I go. I land and go into a quick back-roll a few seconds before Adam gets within six feet of the ground. I notice that he's still falling head first as I get to my feet. Moving as quickly as I could while maintaining my precision I snag him by one shoulder and the waist and flip him over so that he's head up as I pull him with me into a roll. I come out of the roll on my feet, but he's on his back with a dazed look on his face. "I offered to be nice."

"Yeah." Adam says breathlessly.

"You okay? I mean, I don't expect you to be great, but are you seriously hurt?" I say, crouching over him.

"Yeah, I'm only jokingly hurt." He says sarcastically.

"Dear gods, I've rescued a funny one. Shoot me now." I joke in return, as I help him up. "My car's this way, I drive faster."

"What about mine?"

"Yeah, just what I wanna get away in. A scientist's car. What do you drive?"

"A red Corvette."

"Ooh, so you're that Adam. Right. Got ya covered." I say, taking out a small remote. I flip a switch and hold down a blue button, then I quickly coil the now grapple-less rope. "Let's go. Your car will catch up. I'll explain it all in the car if we aren't being chased."

"What's so spectacular about your car?" Adam grumbles, as we run for my car. I push another button on my remote as a cobalt blue '99 Doge Viper comes into view. My Viper. "Oh."

"Soon as you get in I'll answer any and all questions." I slip into the driver's seat as he jogs around to the passenger's side.