Night had fallen by the time Ally and Brennan returned to Sanctuary. Once Brennan had removed Ally's visual cloaks, they headed for the Med Lab.

Jesse was the first to spot them. "There you are. What took you? Did you make a pitstop for pizza or something?"

"Very funny." Ally droned flatly, obviously tired.

"Yeah, well when a mob of half the city police are between you and your escape vehicle, you try getting clear in thirty minutes or less."

"Why didn't you just forget the car? We could have gotten you with the Helix." Emma said.

"Brennan abandon a car?" Shalimar teased. "C'mon Em, you know better."

"Very funny." Brennan said, mimicing Ally's tone.

"No it was good that it ended well this way." Adam spoke up. "An abandoned car and a stealth jet would have made the situation worse. But I think it's safe to say there won't be any unnesessary outtings for you two until this whole thing is cleared up."

Ally stomped her foot, mocking a childish temper-tantrum. "Damn, just when I was starting...to..." Ally's eyes fluttered and she collapsed, only avoiding the floor because Brennan was right there to catch her.

"Ally!"

The others were too surprised to move, but Adam immediatly brought a pen-light over to examine Ally's eyes. "Ally are you alright?"

Ally tried to brush him off and broke from Brennan's grasp. "I'm fine. I just...with practicing my powers and the excitment--"

"You're exhausted." Adam interupted. "It's been more then a day since you've had any sleep."

Ally shook her head curtly, "She'll come after me if I do."

"Ally, this isn't healthy." Adam snapped, even more persistant. "In fact, it's dangerous. You NEED to rest."

"No!" Ally tried to leave but Brennan held her fast. She struggled but was already weakening again. "No I won't! You can't..." Ally started to fall again. "You can't make me..."

"Al-Ally..." As Brennan held her up, Ally finally gave up the struggle, hiding her face against his chest, tremmbling and weeping. He did his best to console her. "Shh..."

As Emma and Shalimar watched this exchange play out between the two, they noticed...some things had changed between them.

And Shalimar was surprised to find herself jealous.

"She'll come after me again, won't she?" Ally asked Adam, finally pulling herself away from Brennan.

Adam sighed. "Most likely. Which is why I want you to sleep here in the Med Lab. We'll be able to moniter you and Emma will be able to bring you out of it if needed."

"If needed?" Ally questioned.

"Ally, you've already faced Marnie once. You can do it again." Emma told her.

"Yes, but I had you there--"

"But you also didn't know you were being decieved. That knowledge gives you the power to fight back."

"We've all been through this situation before, Ally." Adam added. "We know first hand that you can fight back."

Ally looked up at Brennan. He nodded encouragingly.

After considering everyone around her, Ally conceeded, nodding herself.

"Alright." Adam smiled slightly and directed Ally to one of the exam tables. Emma brought over a pillow and blanket for her.

"Now Ally, should Marnie decide to resurface it may not be an entirly bad thing."

Ally frowned at him.

"The last time she got to you, you remembered a little something. It wasn't much but it explained why Ashlocke is after you. If you make the connection again, we may actually be able to find out everything Ashlocke seems to know about you. We don't want him to find out anymore, but anything you can come away from it with is a help to us."

Ally climbed onto the improvised bed. "In otherwords, I'm bait."

Brennan lifted a hand to cup the side of Ally's face. "Em and I will stay with you."

Ally took his hand in hers and layed back. With a final sigh of frustration, she closed her eyes.

Adam came over with a hypodermic needle. "This is a mild sedative." He explained and administered it to her.

Brennan pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ally, taking her hand again. Emma made herself comfortable nearby.

After finishing up at the computer Adam, Shalimar and Jesse left the Med Lab.

After a moment of silence, Jesse remembered something. "Oh, Adam, I found something during a net search earlier."

"What did you get?"

"Well, it seems that Ashlocke aquired some new property recently."

"Aquired?" Shalimar questioned, skeptically.

Adam nodded, sharing her silent opinion. "Knowing Ashlocke we can assume how that meeting went."

Shalimar had a snide expression. "Seeing how you found this information so easily, I think we can also assume he's not worried about us finding out."

Adam contemplated everything said. "Jesse, can you get an address?"

Jesse smiled. "Already done."

"Good. Shalimar, I want you to check things out, see if there are any obvious reasons for Ashlocke's sudden interest in realestate."

"Sure thing."

As Adam left her too it she was already planning on taking her motorcycle. "You going to come along?" She asked Jesse.

"No thanks. I've got other ideas."

"Such as?"

"I'm going to dig up everything I can on Ally. There might be something in there that can clue us in on what she knows. It might also tell us whether or not she's just one of the bad guys leading us into a trap."

"Better not let Brennan find out what you're doing." Shalimar warned.

Jesse frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Shal arched an eyebrow at him, but did not reply.

Instead she turned on her heel and headed for the garage.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

It was quiet. Too much so. Ally was all alone and surrounded by a thick grey-green fog. She thought if it were to close in on her, it might choke her it was so thick. The thought didn't help how she felt. She was upset and even worse, she couldn't remember why.

After a time, Ally noticed directly in front of her a form taking shape within the fog. She tensed and her voice caught in her throat. But she quickly found it again when the shape took a familiar form.

"Brennan!" She exclaimed, even as he appeared.

He smirked at her. You expected someone else?

Ally rushed him and hugged him tightly. "I was frightened."

We're here taking care of you. Brennan said and Ally remembered Emma. We'll always be watching out for you, even when we're not together.

Ally was still confused about what exactly was going on, and those ominous words didn't help. Ally's eyes went wide. "What do you mean?"

Aww c'mon Ally! You're not going to stay here are you?

Somehow, Ally knew "here" didn't mean the fog. "Well..."

Brennan went on. I mean, even if you could stay, would you want to, really? You'd be facing lift-threatening situations all the time.

Ally looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Haven't you ever heard the expression "Fortune Favors the Brave"?"

Before Brennan could respond, their little moment was interupted by an eerie disturbance deep within the fog.

Wait here. Brennan ordered, and he was gone to investigate before Ally had any chance to stop him.

Seconds ticked by and Ally grew upset again.

And with good reason.

Soundlessly, Marnie appeared from the fog behind Ally and yanked her into her grasp, her arm snaking tightly around Ally's neck, cutting her air supply.

"I'm through being subtle." Marnie snarled.

Like lightning, memories crossed Ally's mind and like the fog around her, the fog over her mind cleared. She remembered she was just dreaming.

"Funny..." Ally wheezed. "I was...just thinking...the...same thing!" With an elbow to Marnie's gut and a stamp to her foot, Ally freed herself and fought back with impressive moves Ally knew she might never be able to perform outside this dreamscape.

Out of Marnie's grasp, she formed a fireball between her hands. Ally smiled wickedly. "That's far enough down memory lane thanks. Emma! EMMA!" She shouted to the vast around her. "I could use a hasty exit please!"

A doorway of light appeared behind her and Ally backed into it.

Marnie could only look on in disbelief.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

Ally's eyes fluttered open and she was relieved to find Emma, Adam and Brennan looking down on her with pleased expressions on their faces.

"Congratulations." Adam said. "You've fought her on your own and now Marnie won't be able to attack you again...as long as you remain apart."

Hearing that last part faded Ally's good mood. "Oh...right..."

Adam spoke what she already knew. "Unfortunatly, any close contact could still give Marnie total control if--"

"If I'm unconscious." Ally finished.

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

"And what makes you think she'll be within our presence?" Ashlocke demanded. "You come to me, after disobeying a direct order, and demand a group of my Links to follow you into a wild chase? Why?"

Marnie thought, fearful, was adiment. "Because I have proof that what you've suspected about her all along is true!"

# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #

"The location of at least a hundred New Mutants is locked away in my mind somewhere." Ally was explaining.

Emma needed to make sure she heard Ally right. "How many?"

Shalimar, back from her hunt, jumped in. "It explains what I found. That place I checked out was huge. It could easily hold that many people. More even."

Brennan's head shook slightly. "Ashlocke's looking to recruit."

"No, not just recruit," Adam amended. "He's planning on tripling his following overnight."

"With Ally under his thumb, he could probably get most of them to join willingly." Emma added.

Ally frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"Whoever had the power to lock away your memories obviously trusted you enough to send you away to find me." Adam reasoned.

"They'd want Adam to relocate them." Shalimar continued. "They must have realized it was too dangerous to stay together much longer."

Ally balked. "But I'm not good to them if I can't remember anything. So far only the bad guys have been able to shake anything loose."

Brennan rubbed her shoulders sympathetically. "We'll figure this all out."

Adam agreed. "This'll be just like any other case of memory loss. We just need to find the trigger." After a moment he added. "Before Ashlocke gets the chance."