I'd like to say thanks to all the people who took the time to read, enjoy, and, most of all, review all the little fic's that I've put out here. You have no idea how much that means to those of us who slave over a hot computer, trying to make the words match the intensity of what goes on inside our heads. I think this is going to be the last fanfic that I write for a while—my own SF universe is calling again, and it won't be ready for publication if I don't put the time and effort in. I've had a good time playing in someone else's world, but it's time to go. Thanks to all, and keep on reading and writing! Regards, OughtaKnowBetter

"Lexa," Shalimar called out, "I need more light over here."

"Pretty well tapped out," Lexa told her. "This is the best I've got." A slender glow emerged from her hand, about the sparkling effect of a twenty watt bulb. So the chromatic moved closer to Shalimar to give her what help she could. Brennan joined the pair; of the group, the three combatants were in the best shape.

Not so with the innocent and not so innocent bystanders. All had been directly behind the impromptu human shield that Jesse and Ernest had raised but the results were far from perfect. Lady Esther's gray bun was in disarray, and she was holding her wrist in an awkward fashion, suggesting that it was sprained at least. It was a toss-up as to which condition distressed her more. Tess had gotten dumped on her backside but otherwise seemed unhurt. Jesse was prudently staying flat on the cave floor; after his trials with the specter, standing upright was not a viable option. Shalimar pulled him from the pile-up, the specter's faux-Maguire collar still around his neck.

Both Tom and Ernest had gotten the worst of it. They, along with Jesse, had connected violently with the cave wall. Jesse had instinctively protected his head with long years of practice; the other pair had not, and now both were out cold, nearly identical goose eggs rising on their temples. Jesse almost envied them. But not for long.

"We have to get out of here." Lexa finally took a moment to look around at their surroundings. "The air is getting stale. There's no circulation."

"How?" Brennan slammed the cave wall where they'd entered, courtesy of young Ernest. "If we couldn't blast our way in, we can't blast our way out. The wall's too thick."

Ernest was not going to be of any help. The eleven year old was unconscious. They looked at Jesse, his head still resting on Shalimar's lap; the older molecular was hardly any better off.

Brennan looked back at Lexa and Shalimar. "You up for digging?"

"Right. Let's use up what little oxygen we have faster by working hard." Lexa gave him one of her patented don't be stupid looks. "Come up with a better idea. One that doesn't include dying."

"Use the collar." The words came out more as a breathy whisper from the molecular, but they were there. Shalimar looked down at Jesse in horror. The molecular still had the black leather piece tightly around his neck, and the box lay next to the wall.

Brennan snorted. "Right. I wouldn't use that thing on my worst enemy. Go back to sleep, Jesse. We'll get us all out somehow."

"No, wait." It was Lexa. "Brennan, he may be right."

"Are you kidding? You've been on the receiving end of that thing, Lexa, and you can even think of putting him through that? Again? Look at what that ghost thing did to him, Lexa!" Brennan was getting angry. "You want to kill him?"

"No, you look, Brennan." Lexa matched him spark for spark. "Look around very carefully. How do we get out? The molecular that got us in isn't going to wake up for another few hours, and probably not ever when the air runs out. You and I together with a bulldozer couldn't knock a hole in these walls and certainly not after crunching that specter." She put her hands on her hips. "Come up with a better plan, and I'll listen." The glow that she deliberately emanated from her body got a little brighter with annoyance.

"She's right, Brennan." Shalimar stroked Jesse's forehead, big-sister fashion and scared, not sure how she could protect him any longer. A feral's strong points were not best used inside a cave with no way out. "We're trapped in here."

"Not the collar." Brennan was adamant. He hunkered down beside Jesse and Shalimar. "Jesse, I don't want to use the collar. I won't put you through that. I need you to try to get us out without it. Phase the wall, Jess. You can do it."

"You've got a better opinion of me than I do." Jesse's voice wasn't working particularly well after the specter's own collar session with him. He coughed hoarsely.

"You can do it," Brennan insisted. "C'mon. Try, Jesse. You can do it." Brennan gave the man no chance to object. He hoisted Jesse bodily to his feet, helping him to lean against the cave wall. "Remember how you phased the Helix, over a year ago? All of it? You thought you couldn't do it, but you did. This is just a little bitty wall, Jess. You can do it, no sweat."

The cave felt cool and damp beneath Jesse's fingers, just short of slimy. Jesse tried to ignore the sensation, tried to ignore the dizziness that sent black spots dancing in front of his eyes. He really wanted to ignore the black spots—they threatened to make him lose whatever was left in his stomach. No matter; it wasn't much. Just an oil tanker's worth of coffee.

"Hey, c'mon, let's keep those knees underneath you."

Jesse hadn't even realized that his legs were giving out. He hoped that warning would tell Brennan not to expect too much. He closed his eyes, trying to sense the thickness and the texture of the stone under his fingers, and trying equally hard to put his physical miseries behind him.

Basalt and granite. Thick stuff. Close molecular bonds, tightly lined up and solid. Difficult stuff to weaken and phase. Well, he'd do his best. He'd promised Brennan he would. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

The wall quivered.

"C'mon, Jesse," Brennan urged quietly. "You can do it."

The words barely registered. The molecular attractions stiffened when he lost just a bit of control; Jesse exerted more power, pushing himself, pushing at the forces. He could almost feel each individual strand straining to remain intact, the millions upon billions of bonds with a vested interest in staying whole. The cave wall was thick, thicker in this spot than a hand's breath over to the right. He shifted to that thinner area, sensed more than felt Brennan's strong arms holding him upright and helping him to move over.

There, that was the spot! The place in the cave wall where the mass was the most slender and closest to outside and freedom. It was here, or nowhere; now or never. Jesse pushed at the wall, phased, desperately begging the molecules to do his bidding one more time. Phase, dammit!

"Jesse! Jesse, it's okay, man. You can stop trying. Jesse, stop."

I'm on the floor. Jesse stopped struggling and levered open his eyes. The dim Lexa-light cast weird shadows on Brennan's worried face just inches from his nose. "It didn't work."

"You did your best, man." Brennan was already scanning the area, trying to find another way out, another technique to try. "We'll make it out."

"Don't be stupid, Brennan," Jesse whispered, wishing his voice functioned better. "Use the damn collar."

"No."

"It's the only way," Jesse insisted. He cast his gaze around, and lit on the one person that he could trust to do the right thing no matter how hard it was. "Lexa. Get the black box."

"No." Brennan snatched up the black box, the control box to the pseudo-Maguire collar that Jesse still wore, and held it close so that Lexa couldn't touch it. "Take the damn collar off."

"Alternate plan, Brennan?" The look on Lexa's face suggested that she'd zap him to get the control box. Jesse didn't know if he wanted her to or not, and decided it really didn't matter. He didn't have the energy to affect the outcome one way or the other. Lexa moved closer, her own light casting eerie shadows on her face.

"Give me the collar," Brennan said almost desperately. "I'll put the collar on. I'll do it."

"You know that won't work, Brennan." It was Shalimar, and Brennan gave her an et tu, Brute? look. "This rock won't carry electricity, and if you do blast it hard enough to break through the backlash will kill us all. The same goes for Lexa. It's Jesse, or death by asphyxiation."

"But the collar will kill him!" Brennan protested angrily.

Jesse smiled crookedly. "I'm a dead man already, if we stay in here," he said, voice cracking. He sniffed theatrically. "Little stale, don't you think?" Then the molecular turned solemn. "Don't make one of the women do it, Brennan. Use the box on me. For me. Please. Let me do this for you all."

Reluctantly, Brennan gave in. "Don't die."

"I'd rather not," Jesse admitted. "Feel free to turn the damn thing off as soon as everyone's through the wall."

They got ready. Tess hauled at the unconscious Ernest, while Shalimar and Lexa each hoisted half of Tom over their shoulders. Lady Esther, clutching her damaged wrist, brought up the rear.

This trick didn't take finesse. Jesse remembered the sensation as soon as Brennan flipped the switch, remembered the exhilarating feel of a mutant gift stretched beyond normal reckoning. He also remembered in painful detail how each nerve felt with that stretching, realized yet again why his throat was so sore from screaming—

—and then it was over. They were through. The cave lay behind them, and they were collapsed in the overhang of The Rock, safe and secure with no specter menacing them. It was already dark night, with a half moon shining down over them, a cool light to brighten the scene instead of Lexa's worn out glow. Jesse went limp against the tree stump where Brennan had dragged him. The bark felt rough under his back; he didn't care. The air was fresh, and the specter gone. He let the stump support his head and neck, and closed his eyes.

Shalimar appreciated the fresh forest air. "Wasn't at all certain that I'd see that again," she mentioned, jerking her thumb at the moon. "Looks pretty good."

"Let's get everyone back to the house," Brennan said harshly. Lexa eyed him understandingly; it had taken raw courage to pull the switch on the black control box that sent waves of unrelenting agony through his best friend. Could she have done the same? Lexa decided to lie to herself and say, of course. And rubbed away some excess moisture that had gotten into her eye—allergies, no doubt, or a piece of dust from the cave.

Brennan leaned Jesse up against his knee, fumbling at the buckles on the black collar. It finally came loose, and Brennan held it dangling in the air like a poisonous snake that might decide to strike at any time. "I think frying this would be a very good idea."

"No," Lexa objected, coming to her feet. "Let me have it."

"For the Dominion?" Brennan didn't move, only half for fear of disturbing Jesse whose eyes were now closed. "Not a chance, Lexa."

"No, I—" the chromatic stopped, suddenly unsure of herself. "I just think we ought to hang on to it, in a safe place. Where no one can get to it." She fumbled to find a reason. "We may need it as a valuable bargaining chip some day. I hate giving away an advantage unnecessarily."

"No. Unequivocally, undeniably, without a doubt, no."

Shalimar considered. "Much as I hate to admit it, she may be right, Brennan." The feral flashed a white smile that gleamed in the moonlight. "You can always fry it later." She too came to a standing position, surveying the rest of the group, most of whom where sprawled in various positions on the cold ground. Lady Esther was not, though her bun remained disheveled. She vainly tried to push some of the strands back into place. Shalimar indicated the non-ambulatory members. "I'll head back to the house and see what I can rig up for a stretcher. Some of us are so not going anywhere fast."

"I'll go with you," Tess started to say, when something caught her eye. "What was that?" With fear and squeaking; too much had happened too recently.

Shalimar—also with a bit more adrenaline flowing than usual—turned and pounced. She came up with a lizard.

A rainbow-colored lizard. With another one growing from Ernest's unconscious fingertips. It skittered away into the underbrush.

Tess began to cry, tears leaking silently down her cheeks, and Lady Esther gathered her close. The others stared in shock: it was beginning all over again. Tom's unconscious, freed from the bindings of alert decisions, was acting once again on the moleculars that it knew. Another lizard jumped away from Ernest's hand, and another started to grow.

Lexa put two and two together faster than the others. She jumped at Jesse. "Wake up! Jesse, wake up!" She shook him.

"Huh?"

Brennan started to object to the harsh treatment—until he saw the small cloud of smoke seeping from Jesse's fingers. The smoke broke loose. In a half-panic, Brennan zapped it, using more power than he had to but needing to destroy the thing completely before it could grow any further. He too grabbed Jesse. "Wake up. Jesse, talk to me."

"What now?" The message was plain: go away and let me sleep.

"You can't go to sleep," Brennan told him. "Tom's still working on you and Ernest."

"What?" That woke him up. Jesse winced as the sudden movement pulled at sore muscles, and cried out.

"What are we going to do?" Shalimar voiced their fears. "Lizards we can handle. But if Jesse falls asleep, that specter will return."

"And Tom, with a probable concussion, could be out for the next day or two." Lexa looked grimly at Jesse. "Jesse won't last another five minutes, let alone forty-eight hours." She snapped her fingers; a bare photon of light emerged. "I'm tapped out. You, Brennan? Wait, don't answer that. Because then we'll have to proceed to the next logical step in the chain of events."

"Which is?" Shalimar's voice held a dangerous note.

Lexa was unfazed. "We have to stop these things somehow. We have to destroy them at the source: Jesse and Tom. Lizards I can live with, although I'm not eager to see what that fertile little eleven year old mind will come up with when he's eighteen."

"So you're saying we have to do something to Jesse or Tom."

"Face facts, Shalimar." Lexa remained unapologetic. "That specter thing nearly ate us all for breakfast, and it's now looking for lunch. It's just waiting for Jesse to crash so that it can grow again. Want to bet that it'll kill us all this next time?"

"No!" Tess broke in. "I won't let you harm Tom or Jesse! You can't!"

"This isn't your affair, Tess. Let the grown-ups handle it."

"No!" Tess insisted. "I won't let you hurt them!" She turned a tear-streaked face to Brennan. "You won't let her, will you? Granny Esther?"

But Brennan's attention was drawn to the black slime that was creeping away from Jesse's hand. He shook the molecular awake even as Lexa flashed the beginnings of another Maguire-specter into non-existence. "We have to do something, Tess. We can't let this go on. And I'm open to any and all ideas at this point." He shook Jesse. "Wake up, Jess. Don't fall asleep on me."

"Go away," Jesse muttered, letting his head loll tiredly against the elemental's shoulder. "Really shouldn't come to see Tess and Ernest. Get crunched every time."

"Up," Brennan decided. "Walk." He hoisted the molecular to his feet. "Gotta stay awake, Jesse, until Tom wakes up to relieve you. You can sleep in shifts."

"Coffee," Shalimar added, "strong and black. That'll keep him awake. And keep the specter things away."

"You're dreaming if you think you can keep Jesse from drifting off," Lexa told them, the expression on her face haunted. "Face facts." She eyed Tess doubtfully, then looked straight at Lady Esther. The older woman had finally straightened her bun. "Lady Esther, please take Tess back to the house. We'll bring Ernest along in a few moments."

Lady Esther gave Lexa her full attention. "Are you going to do what I think you're intending?"

Lexa had the character not to lie to the woman. "Yes."

"That is not an acceptable mode of action."

"There is no better option."

"There is." At Lexa's beginning protest, Lady Esther held up an imperious hand. "The neural inhibitor."

Lexa shook her head. "Not unless you have a spare one in the attic."

"Don't be ridiculous, young woman. The neural inhibitor needs to be created by a molecular in vitro and immediately phased into Tom's head." Lady Esther indicated Ernest. "I had hoped that this sort of situation wouldn't arise until Ernest was older and better prepared, but that is obviously not to be. Now we must make do with the resources that we have at hand."

"What are you talking about?" Lexa was getting perplexed. "What do you know about this? Are you saying that Ernest can cure Tom, and stop these things from happening?"

"Not at all. Do listen, and pay attention," Lady Esther scolded. "Ernest is too young to perform the necessary actions. Mr. Kilmartin, however, is not."

"Lady, you're out of your skull." Brennan stared at her over Jesse's head. The molecular declined to take part in the discussion. Breathing was enough activity for him at the moment. Let the others argue. "How do you expect Jesse to do anything right now?"

"A young man's life is at stake, Mr. Mulwray," Lady Esther said sternly. Tess was trembling at her side. Events had gone well beyond what a fourteen year old could be expected to cope with. "Two, actually—Tom and Ernest—and three if you wish to count Mr. Kilmartin into the equation."

"We do." Brennan wished he knew what she had in mind.

Lady Esther didn't make him wait long. "The collar, Mr. Mulwray. With it, and the knowledge of how to use it, Mr. Kilmartin even now will be able resolve this situation to the satisfaction of all concerned."

"Not a chance," Brennan told her. "I've already put him through that once, just to get us out of the cave. He can't take another jolt like that. It will kill him."

"Not if wielded by a knowledgeable user."

"And where are we going to find this knowledgeable user?" Shalimar wanted to know. "The guy who designed it is locked up with a bunch of guys who are barking like dogs."

Lexa was either a little quicker on the ball than the other two, or more devious. It didn't matter which: "Tom."

"Tom?"

"Tom," Lexa said with quiet certainty. "He read Maguire's mind, back at Bushwhacked Central. He knows how it can be done. It's why he was so silent on the drive back, so unwilling to talk. He knows what it would do to Jesse."

Brennan indicated the gangly youth sprawled ungracefully on the ground. "Tom is out cold, and will be for some time. And how is he going to do it, with himself as the recipient of this neural inhibitor?"

Deviousness again prevailed; Lexa knew the answer: "Tess."

"Uh-uh." The girl back away, trembling.

"You read Tom's mind, trying to find where Jesse and the specter were. That wasn't all you learned, was it, Tess?"

She didn't answer. Her features stood out, stark and white, fear naked on her face.

"Do you know how to save Tom?" Shalimar wouldn't let her escape.

"It could kill Tom! And Jesse!" The words came out in a half-wail.

"Not if you do it properly, child," Lady Esther told her. "There is a good chance that both will live. Your father was an expert at wielding the device. The fact that both Tom and Mr. Kilmartin are alive and here with us is proof of that."

"But what if I screw up?" A tear leaked out from Tess unbidden, and unleashed the torrent. "My father killed a bunch of mutants before he learned how to keep them alive. And I've hurt so many people! I've hurt Jesse, now I'm hurting both Tom and Jesse just 'cause I loved them. And now you want me to hurt them some more!"

A subtle alteration came over Lady Esther. She looked at Tess and opened her mouth as if to tell her one last thing, then seemed to change her mind and stepped back into the woods, stepped away from Tess, and a shudder passed through her. When she looked back up, a ghostly white presence floated free to dangle gently in front of Tess. It started as an amorphous and billowing cloud, then gradually slimmed down into a silhouette of a woman. The ghost's face took on feminine features.

None of the others could, but Tess recognized the ghost immediately.

"Mommy?"

Yes, Theresa, it's me. I've been here all along, watching over you and Ernest with Lady Esther's help. You've been a good girl, Theresa. I'm proud of you, the way you've looked after Ernest. But now I want you to do something else for him, and for Tom as well. You can use your father's device to cure Tom.

"But that will hurt Jesse!" This in a frightened wail.

That can't be helped, Theresa. Lady Esther and I had hoped that this day wouldn't come for many more years, but Tom misinterpreted your fondness for Jesse as love. He struck back in the only way his subconscious could do. Had this happened when you both were older, we could have dealt with it in a more organized fashion. The spectral figure sighed imperceptibly. You must do this now, Theresa. For all three of them. Your friend Jesse won't be able to stay awake much longer, and Tom's nightmare of your father will again emerge, stronger and more able to defend itself against the others. You cannot allow that to happen, not if you want them to live.

"But…" Tess still seemed lost.

The ghost of her mother smiled sadly, drifting over to her son to caress his sleeping face. I cannot stay in this form any longer, my daughter. But with Lady Esther's help, I will never be far. I love you, Theresa. Tell Ernest I love him as well.

"Mommy, don't go!" But the ghostly figure had already faded into nothingness.

Lady Esther shook her head, her bun flying loose again. "There, there, Tess. It will be all right. Your mother is still here, with me, at my invitation. She will always be looking out for you." She hugged the girl hard. "But now you have a task to do, one that only you can perform. Are you ready?"

"No." Snuffling.

"I didn't think so. We'll go ahead anyway." Lady Esther indicated the collar. "Mr. Mulwray, if you will be so kind as to place the collar back onto Mr. Kilmartin?"

"That's not being kind," Brennan grumbled, but he complied. There was precious little other choice. The ghost had been right: Mutant X wouldn't be able to best the specter a second time. If Jesse didn't put in the neural inhibitor now, they would have to murder Tom in cold blood. And not one of them was certain that they could.

"What are you doing?" Jesse mumbled, his eyes staying closed despite his best efforts. "That thing itches."

"Gotta do it, Jess." Brennan couldn't meet his team mate's eyes, grateful that they were closed. "Go to sleep, man. It'll all be over soon."

"Good. 'm tired." Jesse relaxed trustingly into Brennan's grasp. Brennan felt even more guilty at the complicity.

"You can do this, Tess?" Shalimar stood by the shaking girl.

"I don't know. I've never done this before, Shalimar!" Tess all but wailed, trying to stay quiet for the sake of the sleeping mutants. "What if I don't do it right?"

"That's not going to happen," Shalimar said stoutly. "You've got all your father's knowledge that you found in Tom's mind. You can do this." I hope, she added mentally. Because the alternative is unthinkable. "Here's the control box. It looks the same as the ones your father built."

"Yeah." Tess turned her attention to the black box, snuffling and wiping the tears away from her face so that she could concentrate. She swallowed hard and tried to steady herself. "Put Jesse's hands on Tom's head. Both sides, on the back, near the back of his neck. That's where the inhibitor has to go."

"Hurry," Lexa said. "The specter is trying to re-form." She sent a quick flash at a tiny smoke puff, destroying it. It was small, but a warning: more would be coming, unless they acted quickly. The next smoke puff might escape.

Tess bit her lip. "Hold his hands there. The last time my father did something like this, when he had Jesse phase the old inhibitor out, Jesse kept trying to pull his hands away. You can't let him, or it won't work. There needs to by physical contact between them."

"How long?" Brennan too was dreading what was to come. He held Jesse in place, maneuvering him closer to Tom while Lexa kept the molecular's hands to Tom's head. Shalimar helped position Tom's skull. Neither subject would be able to squirm away no matter what. Brennan repeated, "how long?"

"Too long." Tess wouldn't be any more specific. More tears trickled down her face. She ignored them. "You ready?"

Jesse wasn't, but the pulse from the control box seared through the collar anyway. The first scream was wrenched from his already hoarse throat, and there was no breath left for another. Lexa held the molecular's hands tightly against Tom's head, the unconscious teen-ager unaware of the procedure going on.

Tess was right; it took too long. None of Mutant X would be able to say exactly how many minutes the process took but even one flash of that hellish device was more than enough.

Yet Tess continued to adjust the controls, responding to some unseen guidance and somehow directing Jesse's tortured efforts through the collar. Tears flowed unbidden down her face but she remained focused, intent on accomplishing the task she had been given. Anything less would be to give in to her father's insane inheritance; Absalom Maguire had created this disaster, now it was up to his daughter to undo it.

It was over. Tess flipped the final switch, cutting off the power. Jesse fell back limply, and Lexa allowed his hands to fall away from Tom's head. She tasted blood, and realized that she'd bitten through her own lip. A small price to pay for success. But was it successful? "Are they breathing?"

"Tom is." Brennan had to take a second look at Jesse, his own heart skipping a beat. But Jesse finally took a deep sigh.

"Why don't they wake up?" Shalimar asked harshly. "Did it work?" She too dashed away a tear. Both Tom and Jesse were terrifyingly still.

"We'll find out." Tess seemed strangely mature. Torturing someone who had saved not only your brother's life but yours as well could do that, Shalimar decided. Tess added, "we can take them back to the house now. There's nothing left to do but wait."

"And hope," Lady Esther added quietly.

"Tell me again what she looked like," Ernest demanded.

Shalimar couldn't help but do as Ernest asked. "She was a ghost, but a pretty ghost. She had a nose like Tess's, and a chin like yours. And even though she was all in white, her eyes were brown and warm. She had a big smile, and rosy cheeks. How I could tell that her cheeks were rosy, I have no idea because she was all white and ghost-like, but the image that I got was of rosy cheeks. She wore a long gown, exactly like what you'd think that a ghost would wear. She floated about six inches off of the ground, and her gown swayed in the breeze."

"And then what happened?" Although Ernest knew perfectly well. He had demanded the same story a minimum of six times daily for each of the past three days.

"She hugged you. You couldn't feel it because you were sleeping—" unconscious with concussion was left unsaid "—but she hugged you, and then faded away. She said that she'd always look out for you. That she'd always be there for you. And that she loved you."

Ernest sighed in half-contentment. "I miss her." He really wished that he could have seen his mother for himself. But hearing Shalimar tell about her was the next best thing to being there. Tom sat there too, in the recliner, pretending that his head had stopped hurting and enviously wishing that he could remember his own mother. Listening to the story about Ernest's only partly made up for it.

Stair treads creaking caused them all to look up and grin: Brennan was hauling Jesse down from the guest room for the first time since they'd stashed the molecular up there and prayed that he wouldn't stop breathing. Ernest himself had spent a couple days upstairs in his own bedroom with a headache from knocking himself silly before they'd gotten out of the sealed-in cave. But it was worth it, Ernest told himself over and over. He'd saved Granny Esther and Tess and Tom by getting Mutant X inside of the cave. He'd proved himself to be worthy of joining Mutant X someday when he was grown up, like Jesse and Brennan and Shalimar and Lexa.

Brennan supported Jesse under the arms, maneuvering them both down the last few steps of the staircase, Jesse hanging on to his team mate and hoping not to fall down. Jesse managed a grin for the group, an expression that faded suddenly as the color drained from his face. His eyes rolled back up into his head, and he slumped in Brennan's grasp. Shalimar leaped to Brennan's aid, and together they man-handled the molecular into a supine position on the sofa. Ernest pulled a blanket off of the rack by the fireplace for Shalimar to tuck in around Jesse to make him more comfortable.

"Thanks," Jesse whispered, face pale and sweat beading out on his forehead. "Didn't think it would hit me this hard."

"What is it about smart guys that makes them so stupid when they're sick?" Brennan asked Shalimar over Jesse's head. "You'd think he'd know better than to insist on getting up when he can't even walk to the bathroom without help."

"Hey." Tess entered the room, a tray in her hands. "Are you dissing my second most favorite mutant type guy in the whole wide world?" Tom flashed her a surprised glance, then edged a self-satisfied smirk in Jesse's direction. "'Cause nasty things happen to guys who do."

Brennan tossed up his hands in mock surrender. "Not me, Tess. Innocent until proven guilty. What 'cha got there?"

"Chocolate chip cookies," she informed him smugly. "Granny Esther and I made 'em. They're easier to make than I thought," she added. "Want some?"

"Sure."

"Tough. They're for Tom and Jesse. You get the leftovers," Tess grinned.

"Aw, Tess—!" Brennan made it big and broad and dramatic.

"Don't worry. There's like forty thousand dozen of 'em, so you'll probably get one or two. That is, if Ernest can keep his hands off!" Tess couldn't manage to slap her little brother's hands away with the tray in her hands, but she tried. Brennan jumped up to rescue the tray before the cookies could slide off and hit the floor.

Tom grabbed a handful, cramming the first one into his mouth before anyone else could snatch some. He choked, causing Shalimar to come to his rescue, swatting him on the back while he coughed. "They're good," he gasped valiantly.

Tess beamed, and offered some to Jesse. The molecular tried to put on a game face, but his white pallor deepened.

Fortunately, Lady Esther came up behind with a pitcher and glasses. "I think Mr. Kilmartin ought to confine himself to lemonade right now, Tess dear," she said. "Perhaps later, when he's feeling better." Jesse threw her a grateful look, letting his hand fall back down to the coverlet.

Lexa sauntered into the room from outside, tossing her windbreaker onto the coat hook. "All clear," she reported. "Third day in a row: no rainbow lizards, no smoke clouds except for the few coming up out of the local chimneys, and no black-cloaked specters. Looks like we have a mission accomplished, folks. Feel free to cheer."

"Not too loud," Tom begged, holding his hands to his head. "Some of us still have the mother of all hangovers."

Lexa grinned, although she didn't indulge in the threatened applause. "Getting better?"

"Yeah. At this rate, I'll be ready to go back to school when summer vacation's here."

"Don't count on it, young man," Granny Esther put in dryly, although the twinkle in her eye suggested that Monday would be a day off from school for someone. "You did tell me that you passed that math test, didn't you? You wouldn't want to let up now, would you?"

"Yes, ma'am. No, ma'am," Tom said, not one bit fooled. "What am I agreeing to, ma'am?"

Granny Esther shook her head in mock sympathy. "Whatever Tess and Mr. Kilmartin did to your head, it destroyed what little brain power you had left. I'll have to put Ernest in charge of tutoring you."

"No, no, not that! Anything but that!" Tom mock-screeched, then screwed up his face. "Ouch. Remind me not to do that again." Tess immediately moved in on him, rubbing his head with gloved fingers. Tom sighed in relief, a little smirk on his lips. He'd gotten what he'd wanted: the exclusive attention of his girl.

Lexa, however, was not satisfied. She continued to eye Lady Esther, watching the older woman as she set the tray with lemonade down on the coffee table, pouring out the glasses for all present. Lady Esther finally took notice. "You look puzzled, Miss Pierce."

"I am."

"Over what?" Lady Esther settled herself in her chair, setting the glass of lemonade on the table beside her in a coaster, and picking up her embroidery. Eyes twinkled merrily over wire-rimmed glasses. "Hasn't everything worked out for the best?"

"Yes, well…" Lexa couldn't find the words at first. She cocked her head at the older woman. "How did you know that Tess knew how to use the collar to cure Tom without killing Jesse? Did Tess's mother tell you?"

"No, dear. Tess's mother passed away before Dr. Maguire had finished even the first prototype of that horrible collar. She was a lovely woman, and devoted to her children, but her gifts were more in the realm of artistry than science."

"Then how did you know?"

"Wasn't it obvious?"

"Not to me. You seem to know more than most people about genetic science," Lexa accused.

"Really? Such as what, dear?"

"Such as how the Maguire collar works. And what Absalom Maguire was working on," Lexa challenged.

"Perhaps. Perhaps I'm merely very good at helping people to figure things out for themselves."

Shalimar got interested in spite of herself. An inkling of a thought occurred to her. "How long did you know Adam Kane, Lady Esther?"

Lady Esther smiled. "A very long time, my dear."

"And I guess it wasn't just coincidence that Adam asked you to look after Tess and Ernest."

"No, dear, it wasn't. Adam knew exactly what he was doing. Though I must admit, I had my doubts. I'm long past my child-rearing years." She smiled at the three children that she had accepted responsibility for. "But it's turned out for the best, hasn't it, children?" Ernest nodded his head enthusiastically, and Tess grinned. Even Tom hid a shy smile at that.

Lexa still wasn't satisfied. "But you knew that Jesse could put a neural inhibitor into Tom, even before Tom and I saw Absalom Maguire. How?"

Lady Esther smiled gently. "How old is genetic science, Miss Pierce?"

"I don't know. Ten, twenty years. Maybe more."

"A great deal more, Miss Pierce. Genetic science, in the modern sense, had its origins before World War II. If you'd like to be truly precise about it, you can go back to Mendelev. And before that, mankind has been breeding dogs and cats and farm animals for centuries, trying to obtain the perfect specimen. Even that can be considered as early attempts at genetic manipulation."

She paused, and one more enigmatic smile crossed the elderly lady's lips. "Shalimar, you are quite right. I've know Adam Kane almost all of his life." Her smile broadened. "Who do you think it was that got six year old Adam interested in genetics?"