Thanks for all the reviews. Don't underestimate the power of feedback to make me feeling all warm and fuzzy. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. If I'm gonna be following plan A there shouldn't be too many chapters left. However I have just come up with a plan B...don't ask why, it just came to me. Please review this update and enjoy.

***

Shalimar watched as the men grouped around her in a holding pattern. There were eight in total and Shalimar knew she could take them all out without putting any effort into it at all. It wasn't arrogance, she was simply a better fighter than any of them and her abilities made her faster and stronger. She had never truly hated the idea of having special gifts. Her life was a hard one where she had to fight to stay alive, and the evolution thing was a bunch of unfun, but she had always liked feeling special, different. And being a feral was such a huge part of her she couldn't think of any reason why she would ever give it up. She had been willing to change for Richard because she loved him but she knew she would have regretted it, choosing a normal life over the weird one she had now.

She jammed her elbow into the gut of one of the men and heard the ensuing groan. She slammed the back of her hand straight into his nose and heard the crack of shattering bone, felt the vibrations against her skin. Her eyes flitted across to the man directly in front of her. He looked a little more anxious than he had before and took a few steps back as he saw her eyes change and heard the low rumbling growl emit from deep in her throat.

The men looked at each other, now even more aware of what they were going up against. The looks of determination made Shalimar smile. They all looked like that before she kicked their asses. Afterwards they just looked really still.

She pushed her foot into the ground and felt herself lift off the floor. Her hair whipped around her face and she saw the men pass underneath her as if the move was in slow motion. She landed outside of the circle, happy that she now got to choose where the fight would take place. Shalimar didn't mind being cornered, it just made her all the more viscous but, in her need to get away from the present, from all the crap that was happening in her real life she wanted the fight to last as long as possible and in order to do that she had to pick the most beneficial fighting ground for her.

She looked at the blue flash of electricity, bright in its intensity that was produced from one of the long sleek black plastic sticks that one of the men was holding. Taking it as the challenge it was intended to be she stepped forward and kicked at his side, a move which was too fast for him to block. He staggered and Shalimar's fist sailed over the top of his head to catch the man behind him on the temple. It was a powerful blow and the man went sailing to the floor and landed with a quiet thump on the soft grass. Shalimar span around and her foot smashed into the first mans cheek. He fell on top of his teammate, both of them out for the count.

'Three down, five to go,' Shalimar muttered under her breath. The remaining men looked pissed and terrified, an interesting combination, but Shalimar hadn't even broken a sweat. In fact, she wasn't even warmed up yet.

But she had been too wrapped up in her own triumphant thoughts and she felt the sting of the electricity working its way through her veins. She gritted her teeth, determined not to scream despite the burst of sudden pain. She doubled over but knew she had to stay standing if she was to stand any chance of getting out of the fight intact. Her hand reached blindly for the taser and after a few seconds she found the source of the electricity. She wrapped her fingers around it and yanked it towards her. The man, shocked at her response released his hold on the stick and Shalimar staggered backwards, needing some space to regroup. She looked up just in time to see the man who had been shocking her start to make his way forward. Shalimar drew her arm back and then threw the taser. It hit the man straight between the eyes and he dropped, convulsing violently to the floor. The rest of the men watched on before all deciding that there really was no 'I' in 'team'. All four of them rushed towards Shalimar. She dodged the first one by turning out of his way. He fell to the floor behind her and rolled, clearly having had a little more formal training than any of the others. She ducked out of the way of a clumsy fist and shot her leg backwards, kicking the man in the chest, winding him. She swung her leg around and knocked him to the floor unconscious. She blocked a couple more punches before deciding that the game was no fun anymore. She was hurt and although she would never let any of them know that she needed to finish the fight quickly. She backhanded one of the men and elbowed the other in the head. She crouched to the floor and swept her leg along it, taking two pairs of legs out from beneath two men. She span round to face the last guy and saw him running towards her. She bent over so her back was 90 degrees to the floor and he flew straight over, landing on his spine. She walked across to him and knelt down, one of her knees digging into his chest, her hand wrapped around his throat pinning him to the grass below.

'What do you want?' Shalimar said looking deep into the guys scared eyes. 'Apart from to beat the crap out of me,' she added as an after thought.

'I'll never tell you,' the man managed to choke out before Shalimar tightened her hold around his neck. He tried to swallow but couldn't and he stared at her with desperation. Shalimar didn't loosen her hold at all though and with a roll of his eyes he realised he was going to have to tell her something.

'I was...sent by the...GSA to take...you out,' he replied. Shalimar looked down at him, her eyebrows raised. That was something the GSA would do but she was sure that he wasn't telling her everything. Mutant X had known that Genomex would regroup in some shape or form but for them to suddenly reform and come after her didn't make any sense. They had to have some kind of ulterior motive.

'What do you really want?' she yelled.

The man looked distracted for a moment and Shalimar frowned before yanking his earpiece out of his ear. He smirked up at her and Shalimar leant down to place it into her own ear, intrigued by his expression.

She heard a female voice saying that team b had reached their target and were waiting on orders as to whether or not they should extinguish the mark.

'No,' she whispered, her eyes wide, her heart beating so fast she thought it would burst out of her chest.

She stood up fast and started running as hard as she could back across the park towards Fifth Avenue.

'You'll never make it in time,' called the man from behind her but she paid him no attention. She kept on running her heart and lungs working so hard it felt like they were almost at the point of combustion. The muscles in her legs burned and her arms pumped. Despite the pain she knew she couldn't stop. She couldn't afford to lose that time.

***

The second time round she didn't have any problem pushing the door open to her fathers room. She looked around her and saw three men standing around her fathers bed. They were wearing the same nondescript suits of the other agents and all looked up at Shalimar's flushed face.

'Get away from him,' she said forcefully, her body resuming its less energetic state quicker than most peoples.

They all smiled at each other which just led to infuriate Shalimar more. She stepped forward and swung her arm back into the first mans face. He yelled in anguish at the force of the blow but Shalimar immediately moved onto the next victim. She kicked him so hard he flew back into the wall behind him. He slumped to the floor, leaving the cracks in the plaster for all to see. Her eyes turned to the third man who had backed up against the window and who looked positively petrified.

'I don't care who sent you, I don't want to know exactly what you were planning on doing. I do however want you to go back to your boss and give him or her a message from me. Tell them that they just pissed off one of the most powerful ferals in the world and that I am going to make them regret it.'

He nodded rapidly and along with the other two men who had been struggling to get off the floor during Shalimar's speech ran out of the room, the door swinging closed behind them.

She breathed out in gasps unable to control herself. She walked over to her fathers bed and pulling up a chair sat down, allowing herself for the first time in a long time to relax. She leant her head on the edge of the bed and felt her eyes slowly drift closed.

***

Brennan handed the waiter the menu and looked over at Lucy/Gwen. So far things had been going okay. He hadn't made any major slips with information, hadn't forgotten her name, hadn't mentioned Shalimar or Mutant X. But he was still uncomfortable and he was sure that message was being conveyed like it was on a 30ft billboard. He wanted to leave, wanted to call Shalimar and make sure that everything was going okay in New York. He couldn't stand being away from her when she needed someone. She was going through something which was incredibly tough on her. Brennan didn't want her to be alone, left to deal with it by herself.

The conversation at their table had dried up ever since they had arrived at the restaurant, not that it could have been described as lively before that. Brennan was distracted and Lucy didn't have any idea how to break him out of his slump. She looked around her and noticed the other couples in the room. Some of them were laughing, sharing a joke that only they understood; some were holding each others hands across the table gazing into each others eyes; some were feeding each other which just made her wanna gag. She was so sick of people being in love, but she couldn't deny that that was precisely what she wanted. She wanted someone she could be close with, share things with, be intimate with. She wanted the Hollywood romance with candles and roses and fireworks. And she knew already that she wasn't going to find it with Brennan. She wasn't disappointed, she had never expected that kind of thing with him. He was a mark, someone she screwed over and used for her own personal gain. She didn't want Brennan, but she knew someone who did.

'So, what's her real name?' Lucy asked.

Brennan's head shot up and he frowned. Had he said something, thought something that had given the game away?



'There's no need to look so shocked,' Lucy said. 'I know you're not who you say you are and I know that there's something going on between you and her so, for the sake of my own curiosity, will you tell me?'

Brennan smirked. The game was most definitely up. There was very little point in pretending anymore. He had a feeling that Lucy wasn't quite what the Dominion had portrayed her to be. In the short time he had known her she had seemed like a perfectly reasonable person and she seemed more amused than pissed by the fact that he was screwing her over.

'Her real name is Shalimar,' he replied.

'Do you love her?'

'Yes,' Brennan said without hesitation.

'Figures.'

'What does?'

'Only people in love find it so hard to play at being someone else. I think its something to do with the fact that your life seems so perfect you don't want to leave it behind even for a second.'

Brennan nodded. 'And your real name is Lucy,' he said quietly so as not to give her up to everyone in the restaurant.

'Yes. Are you mad because I tried to screw you out of all your money?' she said with a coy smile.

'Very,' Brennan answered mockingly.

They both laughed, glad that they could finally reveal who they really were. Brennan leant back in his seat and relaxed a little. He was still anxious for news of Shalimar but the lack of game playing was distracting him.

'So where did Shalimar go?' Lucy asked. She hadn't sense her back at the mansion and had assumed that she was just out doing some shopping or looking around town. But now everything was starting to make more sense. The guy sitting in front of her had been miserable ever since she had picked him up. That kind of thing only happened when loved ones went far away.

'She went to New York. Family issues.'

'And when is she coming back?'

'I don't know. Whenever she sorts them out I guess. Though chances are she won't be coming back here. I was sent with her to trick you into attempting to screw me out of a ton of cash, but now that the plan has gone a little awry I guess I'll be going home.'

Lucy looked at him with a reassuring smile. He wasn't just worried about Shalimar's family issues. He was worried about what would happen when Shalimar got back from dealing with them. It was typical relationship anxiety and Lucy had seen it a million times before in a million different people. She had inside information though on what Shalimar was feeling for Thomas and she knew that they would probably, if there weren't too many obstacles placed in their path, end up doing the happily ever after thing.

'So are you allowed to just abandon missions like that?' she asked, wondering about her own future.

'I'll probably get a slapped wrist but what other option do I have? I can't just shop you in now that you've been so nice to me and all.'

'Thank you,' Lucy replied, knowing that he was going to get a little bit more than a slapped wrist for letting her go.

'But on one condition.'

Lucy's eyebrows raised.

'I want you to take this card, and if you ever need any help call me because trust me, the people who wanted me to get you are not gonna give up just because I did. They're gonna carry on chasing you and although I can't just turn around and give them the finger I can help you out without them needing to know anything,' Brennan said. He didn't like the Dominion and didn't trust them or their motives. He was not going to aid them in anyway if he could help it. And he was certainly not going to hand over Lucy so they could do whatever they wanted to her.

'Okay, I promise. But I have a condition as well.'

'What?'

'What's your real name?'