Having become very numb, Shalimar's actions became robotic. She did land the Helix on shore, but only because she was about to explode with emotion. She couldn't believe she'd just allowed it to happen.

Somehow making it to the water's edge, Shalimar stared out at the distant rig.

She'd been so angry with Tony, only a short time ago and now she felt horrible for acting the way she had. Despite his poor actions towards her before, he'd been a good human being; he'd risked and given his life for her...

Shalimar? Adam's voice seemed to echo in her ears. Are you two all right?

Shalimar did not reply.

Shalimar?

It took her a moment to figure out Adam was really speaking to her.

"I'm fine Adam...but...Tony---"

Without warning Tony burst out of the water, not two feet in front of her, very much alive and grinning madly.

"Is going to be a dead man when I'm done with him!" Shalimar cried instead.

Tony recoiled. "Does this mean you're back to hating me?"

# # # # #

"I can stay underwater for at least twenty minutes at a time," Tony explained to Mutant X. "I swam as deep as I could and let them believe they'd killed me."

"You couldn't have let me know what you were up to?" Shalimar complained.

"I thought I had when I told you to meet me at shore!" Tony replied honestly.

"You could have been a little more explicit."

"The point is," Ally interjected. "you got away with the tape. Let's take a look at what's on it."

Adam transferred the camera's memory to the computer and when he played the footage back; Ox and friends were clearly visible, dumping barrels of toxic waste off the rig. The barrels were different from those storing oil. They were painted a sickly yellow with a ring of green.

"Captivating stuff." Brennan drawled.

"I'd give it two thumbs up." Jesse quipped.

"Only, the barrels have no insignia on them, no genuine connection to Xenos." Adam countered. "We need to prove that waste is from his refinery and that's he's just as guilty as those five men."

"Isn't the fact that he's paying those guys all that money enough?" Ally queried.

Adam answered in the negative. "He'd claim he had no knowledge of it being disposed of illegally. My guess is the money should have been used to pay for proper disposal. What's to stop him from saying he's not at fault if they decided to pocket the cash and run? We need to make it clear he was involved in all of it."

"How do we do that?" Shalimar asked.

"After what happened today, I expect your friends are going to want to have a talk with Mr. Xenos."

Brennan scoffed. "Adam, please, it's David!"

Ignoring Brennan, Jesse asked. "But how are we supposed to know the when and where?"

Ally smiled devilishly. "Hey Brennan, did you manage to accomplish that second mission?"

Shalimar frowned at Brennan, as did most of the others. "Second mission?"

Brennan mimicked Ally's smile. "I planted a bug in David's office. Now we'll be privy to his every conversation, in person or over the phone."

"Very good Brennan." Adam praised, genuinely impressed. "Now all we have to do is wait."

# # # # #

They didn't have to wait long. It wasn't more than an hour later that David Xenos received an urgent phone call.

Mr. Xenos, there's a matter we need to discuss with you. It was Ox on the phone. He didn't sound as dumb as he looked.

Well make it quick, I'm a busy man.

I'm afraid it's of a rather delicate nature. It's best we don't speak over the phone.

Oh, very well, meet me at the refinery, in the warehouse. Eleven PM.

Without another word, Xenos disconnected.

"He's making this too easy for us!" Brennan declared.

"That's what you think." Jesse retorted. "With this security, the place is a fortress!" Jesse had displayed what he'd taken from Xenos' office building, on the view screen. Ever since he'd started to receive threats, Xenos had beefed up his security at the refinery. "We'd barely get past the fences before tripping an alarm. And there's nowhere inside the boundaries big enough to land the Helix."

Jesse had given up it seemed, but Shalimar decided to look for herself. Comparing the blueprints to the security specs, she spotted something Jesse had missed.

"If Xenos gets any warning, he's gone and we don't get our evidence. " Ally was saying.

"I could convince them to let me in." Emma offered.

"We can't risk Xenos recognizing you." Brennan told her, knowing it was the same for himself.

"I see our way in." Shalimar finally announced, certain it could work.

Everyone gathered closer to have a look, and Shalimar touched the screen, enlarging a section of the prints showing pipelines.

"Here. This pipe collects ocean water to use as a coolant. It's just stored in open tanks until they're ready to use it elsewhere. There's no alarms to trigger and minimal staff around."

Jesse had a closer look. "It's barely big enough for a person...and we'd have to bypass the filters. Not to mention that's got to be at least two and a half miles of pipeline between the opening and the tanks."

"So where's the problem?" Tony asked with a smile.

He looked at everyone, his eyes resting last on Shalimar.

For once, she smiled back at him.