Elaine moved forward with such speed and agility that Jesse was momentarily taken aback. His reactions were much slower and he barely managed to dodge her thrusting fist, which narrowly missed his face. Jesse brought up his forearm and blocked her next blow, determined not to let her to even touch any part of his body. If he could help it.

Swiftly, she pulled back her fist and twisted at her waist, swinging her long leg instead. The kick caught the side of Jesse's face and it threw him heavily to the ground. With a grunt, Jesse leaped back to his feet despite the screaming protests of his muscles; and countered with a kick of his own, but it swooped harmlessly over her head as she ducked just in time. Jesse saw her draw her elbows up and flipped backward in panic, narrowly missing what would have been a painful bash in the groin.

For a second, Jesse almost forgot about his pain; calculating and planning his next moves, for some of the agents had recovered from their fall and were coming straight at him.

Hey, no fair! I'm just one guy!

Beads of perspiration dotted his forehead, his stomach cramping in protest as he lunged, thrusting a powerful punch, aiming for Elaine's throat. On reflex, she clamped her fingers around Jesse's wrists, blocking the jab which would have crushed her windpipe otherwise. But years of training had taught Jesse what to do, and in a flash, he unclenched his fist, extending his fingers forward, flexing them open-grabbing Elaine's throat. And massed. He squeezed hard, crushing her windpipe anyway.

Abruptly, Elaine released his wrists and grabbed for her throat. As she hacked away, coughing uncontrollably, one of the men rushed toward Jesse, brandishing a baton. Another man rose. Then another. And another.

Soon, Jesse found himself surrounded by six men, all armed. Damn. I'm in big trouble.

Suddenly he wished his friends were there. He clenched his fist, tempted to call for help, (what the hell was he even thinking when he thought he could pull this off alone?) but when his thumb brushed against the base of his middle finger, he froze. He looked down and saw the whitish imprint of what used to be his precious metal band on his bare finger. His com-link. He forgot that he'd taken it off and left it in the Helix.

Stupid Jesse.

Well, looks like I'd have to take care of this myself.

His gut burned. Jesse gritted his teeth against the agony, and took a deep breath. He parted his legs slightly and resumed his stance.

In a blur of movements, Jesse soon had his grip around an agent's neck, and with all his might, punched him in the lower back, The agent cried out in pain, and went down on his knees, momentarily paralyzed; Jesse drilled him to the ground with his knee, and seized the baton from the man's quivering grasp.

He leaped to his feet and nearly dropped the baton he'd just stolen as a ball of fire erupted within his abdomen. Jesse gasped, and doubled over slightly, his face deathly pale. And there were still 5 men hovering over him, one already on the move. He contemplated massing again but he doubted he could make it far enough; knowing that it'd drain his energy faster.

"Argh!" Sheer will forced Jesse to straighten himself up, and withstanding excruciating pain, he twirled the baton over his head, and with a roar, rammed himself into the second guy, shoving him hard against the concrete wall, slamming the baton against his throat. In frenzy, Jesse lifted the baton a little, freeing the guy's throat for just one second, and slammed it down again. The agent crumpled to the floor, gasping, clutching his throat.

A hard blow to his jaw sent Jesse reeling, spinning him around, and sending him staggering. Once he recovered, Jesse grabbed the edge of the heavy oak table and with a mighty push, gave it one hard shove. The edge of the table slammed into their stomachs, throwing them to the ground. And for that one moment, Jesse was the only one standing.

Elaine slowly climbed to her feet.

"Come fight me, you bitch," Jesse rasped, eyes burning with hatred and pain. He spat some blood onto the floor at her feet. "Just you and me, here, now. Let's get this over with."



"Can't this thing go any faster?" Emma asked shrilly. Brennan looked at her as if she'd gone mad.

"This is the Helix, Emma. How fast do you think it can go?" In fact, they were flying at full-speed, and if there were any other aircrafts up in the air, they would have been in serious danger of collisions.

Emma sank into her seat unhappily. "This is taking forever."

"Believe me, I know how you feel," Brennan muttered, his face grim as he maneuvered the controls. He stabbed a button. "We'll touchdown in thirty seconds."

Shalimar was staring off into space, and she was playing idly with Jesse's com-link, fingering the sleek metal edge distractedly. Jesse was the one who'd carved and designed the com-links for everyone. It was ironic that he'd be the one to finally take it off, possibly permanently.

Brennan glanced at her. He hesitated a little but at last, he reached over and placed a comforting hand on her knee. "He's going to be alright, Shal. You'll see."

Shalimar met his gaze. And said nothing.



Jesse was fighting to his death. Unlike any of Eckhart's goons he'd fought with before, Elaine obviously had had some training in martial arts and he was finding it increasingly difficult to focus. He blocked another punch, only to let one of his own but punching nothing but air. Now she was digging her elbow into his back, determined to push him down to the ground.

Against his will, Jesse slapped a hand against the cold cement floor and phased.

Elaine uttered a scream of shock and terror as they both fell through the floor; and Jesse landed painfully on his stomach and he bit his lip to keep from moaning. They'd fallen through first floor and here they were, in the basement, totally separated from her bunch of useless goons.

Jesse reared his head back, and slammed it hard against her face. He heard the satisfying crack of the back of his skull meeting her nose. Judging from her cry, he'd probably broken her nose and some teeth as well.

But his victory was short-lived. A boot slammed into the back of his head, grinding his face against the ground. A burst of pain exploded in his head and black spots danced in front of his eyes. He felt himself being turned over roughly onto his back. Jesse bit his tongue hard; nothing worse could happen to him now than blacking out.

He opened his eyes just in time to see Elaine loom over him and before he had the chance to do anything, she slammed her foot down on his stomach. Jesse screamed, his back arcing in agony.

Breathing hard, Elaine stood tall before him. "You asked for it, Jesse," she whispered regrettably, and thinking that she had won, she was just about to bend down to haul Jesse to his feet when he jerked suddenly, in pain and anger, slapping her hand away, an arm locked around his himself. He whisked the detonator out again.

"Touch me and I swear to God I'll blow you up to pieces," Jesse hissed.

"You're not going to do it." Elaine smirked. "I didn't believe you then, I don't believe you now."

Jesse stabbed on the red button. Instantly they heard and felt a loud explosion upstairs and were immediately rained by plaster dust and pieces of debris falling from the ceiling.



Brennan, Shalimar and Emma were only a few feet away when suddenly a loud explosion erupted in the safehouse, the force of the blast strong enough to knock them to the ground. There were DEFINITELY someone inside.

"Jesse!!!" Shalimar screamed, leaping to her feet and immediately raced for the door. She tried to open it but it wouldn't budge. She tried again, twisting the knob frantically, pulling at it with all her strength.

"It's LOCKED!!! Why the hell is this door locked???!!!" Shalimar was screaming now. She banged on the metal door with her bare fists. "Jesse!!!"

When that didn't work, she took a couple of steps backward and lunged. With a mighty burst of strength, Shalimar launched a devastating kick to get it to open. The metal door jarred, but the safehouse was indeed a safehouse. The door remained intact. Her eyes gleamed golden and she was about to try again when Brennan stopped her.

"Hey! Shal!" Brennan shouted, grabbing her arm and started to shake her. When she wouldn't budge, he physically grabbed her and pushed her aside. Emma wrapped her arm around her friend. "Calm down, Shalimar."

"But Jesse's-" Shalimar stared at her friend helplessly.

"Brennan, can you open the door?" Emma asked sharply.

"I'm trying," the elemental muttered. "Stand back." Blue tesla coils licked up his arm and he feverishly kept pumping more and more energy, but still, it wouldn't open. Billows of smoke started to come out from the slits of the air vents from inside.

Damn it, Jesse! Brennan knew the layout of this particular safehouse, he used to frequent it with Jesse a few years back because there was an elemental here he used to fancy. He knew there was no other way in.

Brennan began to run back toward the Helix, which was parked out in the yard.

"Shalimar, Emma, stand back!"

"Wh-What are you going to do?" Emma asked fearfully.

"Just stand back as far as possible!" Brennan jumped inside and scrambled into the pilot seat. He slammed on the controls. Instantly the engine roared to life. Through the front-view window of the Helix, he could see that Emma had pulled Shalimar to the side and was staring up at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. Safehouse 11 loomed over him, more and more black smoke coming out from beneath the panels of its narrow, closed windows.

"Hang in there, baby," he whispered to himself, patting the control panel in front of him. The ship's hull was made of hard, impervious alloyed steel. He hoped it was strong enough to withstand the force of what he had to do next. He was going to ram the Helix into the Safehouse.



"I don't want to fight you, Jesse," Elaine said slowly, shaking her head. She stared at the molecular in front of her. "I can see you're in pain. Let me help you." She took a step forward.

Jesse shook his head, adamant. "You lie. You never wanted to help me. You wanted to hurt me. Well, you know something? I'm never letting you take me back to that place." He leaped and caught Elaine around the waist, tackling her to the ground.

His face was mere inches away, and she could feel his hot breath on his skin as he pinned her down. "And you know what? I'm going to keep you here so that you won't hurt another mutant again."

"Are you crazy?" Elaine screamed in his face. She shoved him off her and scrambled for the stairs that led to the upper floor. The door was locked tight.

"Jesse, open this door! Let me out of here!"

"No." Jesse was leaning tiredly against the wall, his head lolling lifelessly. The pain was unbearable. He knew he was dying. Ironic when the only person in the world who could help was there in front of him. "This place is going to blow in five minutes, you know." As if on cue, another explosion rocked the floor above them and Elaine froze.

"Jesse, let me heal you. Then we can leave this place together," she pleaded, she was getting desperate. "Do you remember the first time we met? You'd want to kiss me again, don't you?"

"Why the sudden change of heart, Evie?" Jesse asked mockingly, his eyes beginning to close. His hand, clutching his stomach so tightly before, now hung loose. "Thought you wanted to finish me off, bitch. Better do it now when you still have the chance. I'd rather die than let you take me back to Genomex."

Elaine's eyes blazed with fury, her beautiful features now ugly as they contorted in anger. She raised her hands, and they were now flickering with red tendrils of aura. Another blast resounded through the air, this time way, way louder than the ones before, sending more and more debris falling all over the basement area where Jesse had trapped them in.

Jesse straightened himself up slowly, his legs shaky, his knees weak. His heart was beating so fast he could feel each beat slam against his ribcage. This is it. This is the end.

He closed his eyes

He felt his fist clench around the detonator.

"Jesse!!!" His eyes flew open. He thought he heard someone call his name, the voice so achingly familiar he must have just imagined it. "Jesse!" That voice called again.

"Shalimar?" He whispered in disbelief and his fist unclenched. The detonator fell from his hand and hit the ground with a thud.

But Elaine was already attacking. Jesse's eyes went wide as her hands swooped down in front of his eyes and at the last moment, he moved; twisting his body painfully to the side. The tendrils of energy licked harmlessly up the wall where he was leaning against seconds ago.

"Jesse!!!!" He could hear someone banging on the door outside. Brennan.

His friends were here! He didn't know where it came from, but Jesse all of a sudden felt a new surge of energy burst from within him; it could have been his instincts for survival, it could be his friends' voices but suddenly he could see a glimmer of hope-that this might not be the end after all.

Viciously, Elaine aimed for his face, intent to rake her fingers across his cheeks. Jesse lowered his body a little and punched her in the stomach forcefully, throwing her back a couple of steps. Glowering, Jesse leaped forward and grabbed her shoulders. With a cry of pain, Jesse massed.

With the last bit of strength left in him, Jesse drew his massed fist back and swung it around in an arc, slamming it against her left temple. The force threw Elaine violently against the wall, and she slid down gracefully. She didn't move. Unconscious. Finally.



The Helix left a huge gaping hole where Brennan had driven it into the walls of the safehouse. By the time they were inside, they were amazed at the number of bodies lying on the floor; the blasts had apparently rocked the whole structure of the safehouse and huge chunks of the ceiling above had collapsed, pinning the men to the ground.

Shalimar was relieved to find that Jesse was not among them. "Jesse!!!!"

"He's down in the basement!" Emma exclaimed, leading them down the stairs. True enough, when they reached the door, they could hear grunts and moans from inside, mostly unmistakably Jesse's.

"Damn it, she's going to kill him!" Shalimar tried to get the door to open but once again, she found it locked. "Not again!"

Brennan zapped the door. It wouldn't budge. Sweat ran down the sides of his face. They were so close, yet so far. If only Jesse were here, he would have just massed and rammed the door open with his fist. Ironically, Jesse WAS there, on the other side of the damn door.

"Let me try," Emma snapped. Brennan and Shalimar stepped to the side as Emma positioned herself a few feet away from the door. A glowing red orb began to form in the middle of her forehead and it grew bigger and bigger as she concentrated on accumulating all her energy for one huge blast. "This is going to be big," she warned.

The red ball of fire seared through the air, shooting from the center of her forehead, blasting the door open with a thunderous clang, white smoke wafting around them. Shalimar jumped inside.

"Oh no, Jesse. . ." Her eyes widened in horror. She leaped down the small flight of stairs and raced to his side, dropping down on her knees next to him. "Oh Jess-oh thank God-"

Jesse was lying on his side, both arms clutching his abdomen, his eyes glassy and glazed. They could see he was having difficulty catching his breath. Brennan and Emma also fell on their knees and tried to lift him up. The flicker of recognition in his eyes was something Shalimar would never forget as long as she lived.

"You came. . ." Jesse whispered, his voice so faint they could barely hear him.

"Of course we did," Shalimar said, her eyes brimming with tears, and laid a hand on his cheek. "Come, we're gonna get you home." Out the corner of her eyes she saw something move. She froze.

"Brennan-" Brennan whirled around and zapped, once and hard. Elaine, blood trickling down her temple where Jesse had hit her, stood frozen with her hands upheld. At last, the red tendrils of energy died out and she slumped to the floor in a dead faint again.

"I can't stand that woman," he muttered to himself.

"Gotta-get out of here. . .this place-it's gonna blow. . ." Jesse struggled to say. Blood trickled down his chin in a tiny rivulet. It hurt so much the pain was beyond imagination. As if on cue, something exploded upstairs, sending wafts of dust and dirt flying all around.

"Come on!!!" Brennan scooped the smaller molecular up in his arms. Jesse didn't even grunt; he was already unconscious.

"Hold on, Jesse. We'll get you home. Just hang in there, buddy."

"Just hang in there."



Author's Notes: Hmm, I think that's the longest chapter I've ever written for any story, ever. Please, if you feel like you've enjoyed it, even a little, leave me a review or two, huh? Last chapter coming up next. . .Peace!

Signing off,

Laily