*15*

It was with the feeling that something was chasing her; that its clawed hand was reaching for her, about to grasp her and pull her into its deadly embrace that Alyx twitched awake.

"Whoa, easy there, sweetheart," Darien soothed, his hand upon her back holding her steady as she returned to consciousness far faster than she liked. "Bad dream?"

"I think so?" Alyx grumbled as she shifted to look at him and noted the book he'd set aside when she'd woken abruptly. "Didn't you sleep?"

"Yep, woke up about an hour ago when Dani poked her head in to check up on us," he assured her. "Said we should be doing something more carnal." Darien laughed softly when she blushed bright red. "Anything in the dream I need to know about?"

Alyx thought about it, but the impressions were vague at best and didn't seem to have the insistence that typically came with a Quicksilver inspired dream. "Nah, just a dream." She slid up his body and gave him a quick kiss. "We will have time, you know."

"Huh?" Darien blinked at her in confusion and she reached out to tap the book. Heinlein's Time Enough for Love, one of her favorites, which is why the much dog-eared copy lived on the nightstand.

Darien picked it up and thumbed through a few pages. "I haven't read this one in years, I'd forgotten how good it is and how very differently he saw the world." He closed it and set it back in its place. "Not a wimp in the lot... well, the few there were died off quick enough. Nominees for the Darwin Awards." He buried his hands in her hair, his thumbs brushing along her temples and making her sigh softly. "Course we'll have time. It's what makes all of this worth it, right?"

"Definitely," she agreed, then looked over at the clock, noting it was well after 11 am. "Crap, we've got work to do."

"Yep, but at least now we're a bit more awake and hopefully less grouchy." This time Darien kissed her, his lips barely brushing along hers as if unsure of the reception. "Sorry about earlier," he apologized, sounding truly contrite. "Graywolf is your partner, and I'll do my best to give him the respect he deserves. He just..." He trailed off with a headshake.

"I know, and I won't expect you to not react, but keep in mind I don't need you to defend me, okay?" She pushed herself slowly into a seated position; pleased she was nowhere near as stiff as she had expected to be.

He closed his hand about her left one. "Wish I had a ring for you," he murmured. "Can't even manage to do the proposal thing right."

"It was wonderful, Darien, and you know I don't need a silly ring. I'd much rather have you." Alyx waggled her eyebrows in parody of lasciviousness and was graced with a warm chuckle from him.

"Hey, we could always do like that couple in Spy Kids and retire for a decade or so," Darien suggested with amusement lighting up his eyes.

"Hell yes," she asserted, even though they both knew it was nothing more than an idle fantasy. Being able to spend time together without worries or constraints was a rare event, and wouldn't get any easier as time wore on.

"Work?" he asked, the grin still in place.

Alyx sighed dramatically. "Work," she agreed. "To the not-so-secret office, I-Man." She slid off the bed and stood there while Darien collapsed in laughter. The smile that crossed her features felt wonderful, hell, she felt wonderful. Being here with Darien made it so. Time enough, indeed.

***

The phone rang three times before being picked up some 3,000 miles away with a cool, "The Agency." And once again Alyx was thankful for being able to dial the Official's office direct and not have to go through the Fish and Game runaround to talk to the right people.

"Hey, Ebes. How's it hanging?" Alyx knew what effect that would have on the shy man at the other end; she could picture the blush creeping up his cheeks and across the top of his balding pate.

Eberts sputtered for several seconds before managing to string enough words together to create an entire sentence. "Miss Silver, nice to hear from you."

"Same here, Ebes, playing musical e-mail just isn't the same. I'm afraid it's business this time. I need a favor." Alyx got right to business, knowing there was little time to waste if they were going to solve this mystery.

"We need a favor," Darien corrected, from where he sat in front of a nearby computer playing a rousing game of Klondike.

"Yes, sir," she snarked back at him, getting a profile of his tongue as he stuck it out at her. "As Darien has so sarcastically pointed out... we need a favor. It has to do with this assignment we're all on and I'm pretty much cut off from my usual sources."

"Of course, Miss Silver. How can I be of assistance?" Eberts responded without hesitation.

"Thanks, Eberts. I'll be sending you the detailed info in moments." She tapped a few keys, calling up the information she'd uploaded from her laptop and onto the main system at her house. "Short version: we need to locate Harrison Keller's family."

"Oh, is that all?" Eberts questioned with obvious humor in his voice. "Can I assume you have no leads?"

"Not a one, but if anyone can ferret out a cold paper trail, it's you," Alyx said persuasively, knowing that a little ego stroking would go a long way with Eberts. Besides, it was true enough. Not only could he squeeze money from granite for the Agency's terminally withering coffers, but he could follow the barest of hints from off shore accounts to holding companies and right back to the original source.

Across the intervening distance Alyx heard the Official ask, "Who's gonna pay for this?"

"Bill it to the Special Task Force. If they won't cover it, I'll take it out of my unit budget. Will that do?" Alyx offered with a look that made Darien chuckle.

Eberts passed the offer on to the Official, who grunted his approval. "I should have something for you in 24 hours. If that is all right with you?"

"That'd be great, Albert. I owe you for this," Alyx told him with all due sincerity. She knew that her old friend was going to be pulling extra long hours in order to gather whatever data there was to find so quickly. "Call any hour, Ebes, we never close here."

Darien snorted, quit the game and swiveled his chair about to watch her.

She gave him a mischievous smile and spoke up again, "Darien says 'hi'." Alyx tried not to laugh at the feigned anger on his face. "And says he can't wait to get back to San Diego." She hit 'send' to transfer the data to the Agency and slid the chair backward across the floor as Darien came after her. She held him off until she ran into the file cabinets lining one entire wall. A short battle for the phone ensued, with Darien eventually winning and prying the cordless handset form her while she laughed.

"Hiya, Ebes, just ignore her. All the medication is making her delirious again." Darien's eyes widened much to Alyx's surprise. "No, no, no. Really, she's fine. Some bruises and some... Sir." He groaned and mouthed 'the 'Fish' at her. "Yes, sir, a full report." He yanked the phone away from his ear, and even she could hear the Official bellowing from across the country. He tried in desperation to hand the phone to her, but she backed away shaking her head in an emphatic no. He'd made this bed and he could lie in it. When the sound died down he gingerly moved it back towards his ear; his look making it plain he was ready to yank it away at a moments notice. "Sir... Crap," Darien muttered, pleading with Alyx by look alone for help.

Taking pity on him she faked a handset with her fingers and said sotto voce, "Another call... important."

Darien brightened immensely at that idea. "Gotta go, boss-man. Got a call on the other line. No, no it's from Franklin and I gotta take it. Bye." He pressed the disconnect button with a sigh of relief and eyed Alyx. "Gee, thanks for the rescue there." He moved back over to the desk and placed the handset back in its cradle.

Alyx stood and rolled the chair back into place. "You're a big boy." She grinned, enjoying his remaining discomfiture. "'Sides, it was fun watching you squirm."

"'Chele," he whined, doing his best to look pitiful.

"Awww, poor puppy," she mimicked his tone perfectly, and went to him. Going up on her toes she kissed him. "How about brunch, bub? Looks like we got time to kill."

"Feed me and I'm yours forever," Darien responded with a look of ecstasy on his face.

"What happens if I feed you after midnight? Do you turn into something nasty?" Alyx joked as they left the office and headed back upstairs.

Darien showed her his right wrist, the snake still a brilliant and unchanging green. "Not a chance."

"Darn," she mock complained. "Your inner gremlins can be fun to play with." She trotted up the stairs, but stopped about three-quarters of the way up when she realized he hadn't followed. "Dare?"

"So my permanent Gizmo status not good enough for you?" he asked, and she could feel that he was mildly upset about her comment, which was not what she had intended to have happen.

Alyx walked back down the steps until they were eye-to-eye. "Of course it is. I couldn't be happier for you, but I just... I want you to know you can be yourself around me. Sometimes it feels like you're holding back, trying to make up for things that happened between us in the past. When you... used to do the gremlins routine." She set her hands on his shoulders and slid them back until her forehead rested against his. "You've never hurt me before and won't now." She made certain he could feel that she meant every word; that whatever had happened before had done nothing to cause her any real pain, and had in no way affected how she felt about him.

Darien sighed, the tension draining from his body. "You sure?"

"Very," she answered.

"Good," he whispered, "'Cause I got a few ideas I've been wanting to play with."

"Oh really?" Alyx arched an eyebrow, her body reacting to the mellow huskiness of his voice.

"Really," Darien assured her, his breath warm on her cheek. His hands found her hips and gently caressed them. "I have these silk ropes I've been saving for a long weekend."

Alyx's heart began to pound in response to what he was implying, partly out of fear she had to admit, but far more out of excitement. "I can't wait to break them in," she told him, which caused him to growl deep in his chest and pull her close for a quite thorough kiss. If it weren't for the fact her back was still not up to an energetic horizontal mambo she'd have marched him right back down the stairs and made an impromptu dance floor amongst the tables. His stomach rumbling loudly broke the moment, and she leaned back a bit to look down upon the offending organ. "Food?"

"Ummm, yes. We'll have other chances, sweets."

"Yes," she agreed. "We will."

***

Brunch dragged on until nearly two in the afternoon, as people woke up and wandered out to the kitchen for food. There was a little bit of everything: pancakes, eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, toast with jam and fresh fruit. Alyx and Darien handled the majority of the cooking and cleaning with a surprising coordination and a comfortable companionship that she reveled in. When everyone was pretty much settled and the dishwasher doing the really hard work, the four agents made their way out onto the snow covered deck for a semi-private conversation that would allow her to pass along her little revelation of earlier that morning.

"So you really think the kid is alive?" Hobbes inquired.

"It fits, man," Darien pointed out, his breath fogging on the chilly air.

"That it does," Graywolf agreed from where he stood a few feet away as he looked out over the yard. "Is this... Eberts, reliable?"

Hobbes snorted, his overall opinion of Eberts well known to Alyx. "He's an annoying geek, but, yeah, he'll get us the info... if it's there to get." He turned to face her. "What if even he can't find the trail?"

"Plan B?" Darien suggested with an irrepressible smirk.

"Which would be..." Hobbes prompted.

Alyx sighed. "Head back to DC and do a little invisible sneak and peek." She hated that it might become necessary to go poking in other people's minds on this mission... Hell, on any mission, but she knew it was part of the job to use all of her abilities in order to achieve the best resolution possible, even with man and Murphy doing their level best to screw things up. Her unique talents gave her an extra edge in the fight to keep the world safe, or at least she kept trying to convince herself. Good thing there was one person who understood and that she could commiserate with when she was indeed forced to go prying into others' minds. As if he'd heard that thought, Mike stepped through the doors and onto the deck with a cup of coffee held between his hands.

"Almost warm today," he observed, tipping his head up to glance at the watery sunlight filtering its way through the thin layer of clouds. His heavy black sweater obviously intensified the effect of what little heat the sun was giving off. Of course, the fact that he had a very high tolerance for cold had nothing to do with it.

"Oh you," Alyx huffed, shivering in her turtleneck, sweater and Gore-Tex jacket. "I swear you could walk through a blizzard in your shorts and complain it was too warm."

"And you feel chilled if it drops below 80 degrees." Mike chuckled. "It's sad, really."

"Sounds like a good reason to move back to southern California, if you ask me," Darien casually mentioned in perfect innocence.

Hobbes rolled his eyes and shook his head with a grin that Alyx forced herself not to emulate. There'd been many a cold winter's night that she'd entertained that very idea.

"Good thing no one did, isn't it." Gray at least attempted to keep his voice bland, but it was obvious he was just spoiling for another fight with Darien. "And I doubt our superiors would approve of such a move."

"That's putting it mildly." Alyx was forced to agree. She had a fair idea of the backroom maneuvering and knee breaking that had taken place for her to end up at the CIA instead of a half-dozen other agencies who had wanted her. Some well known; like the NSA, DOD, FBI, DOJ, and even the DOI. Others were so under the table that they made the Agency look like daily front-page news. Given what she was, she was able to make a few demands of her own, and though she'd been unable to wangle her way back into the Agency, she had gotten her second choice - the CIA - where her brother worked.

This allowed them to alternate schedules and reduce reliance on outside security to watch the kids. Oh, there would always be security about; they were always watched, but there was no longer the need for a live-in agent cum housekeeper. Just subtle patrols and a security system most small countries would go bankrupt paying for, and that even Darien had approved of.

"CIA's not so bad," she finally admitted. "But it wasn't my first choice, by any means." She rubbed the side of her face, where an odd tingling sensation made her head buzz in a very irritating manner.

"So we are to just sit and wait for this Eberts to do our work for us?" Gray questioned, plainly not liking the idea of doing nothing for yet another day.

"Well, we could head down to DC and try to stir up some trouble. Plane or driving, it'll still be a good six hours before we got there. By then it'd be the middle of the night and we'd have to wait 'til morning to get anything of value done. About the same time we finally started banging on doors Eberts, would be calling here with the intel," Hobbes pointed out.

Graywolf grumbled under his breath, but didn't have a comeback for that one.

Alyx walked over to him, her feet kicking up the couple of inches of snow that had been blown onto the deck and set a hand on his forearm. "Look at it this way, I get an extra day to rest and recover."

"Yes, and you need it," Gray declared, plainly not about to allow any argument from her on the matter.

In truth, she wasn't about to give him any; her back was killing her and she needed at least two days before she was running up to par. She would just have to make do with the single extra day she was going to get. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as the buzz upped its volume and tossed in some dizziness for added flavor.

"'Chele, you okay?" Darien queried in concern.

"Uh, huh," she responded, not entirely sure what was going on in her head this time. It felt like she had grabbed a hold of a high-tension wire and was getting a power high off it.

She was determined to not let it distract her from the task at hand.

"Agent... Michael, I understand the use of a false name in the field - Alyx uses one as well - but why... Corvan?" Gray sounded truly curious and interested, for which Alyx was eminently thankful. Maybe some normal conversation would give everyone a chance to get to know each other better. At the very least he should find the answer amusing.

Mike brushed some snow off the patio table and set his coffee cup down. "Believe it or not, it's a typo."

"A typo?" Hobbes repeated in disbelief.

"Yep," Alyx agreed with a chuckle. "But considering they wanted him to use Prometheus, Corvan is a vast improvement."

Mike shot a mock glare in her direction, making her grin unrepentantly. "Prometheus... Could they have been more over the top?" Alyx was prepared to answer, but was prevented by his, "Don't bother; we all know they could." He turned back to Graywolf. "It was supposed to be Corban. Greek name for 'a gift devoted to god.' I tossed in Mikas as a first name, but accounting screwed it up. So I've been 'Mikas Corvan' ever since."

Graywolf nodded in apparent understanding. "Greek names seem to a running theme for this QSX Project. Alyx uses Cassandra when we are in the field."

Hobbes did such an impressive double-take that Alyx very nearly laughed out loud.

"You're Cassandra?" Hobbes blurted out the question in honest-seeming shock.

"You didn't know?" Gray frowned, clearly wondering if he had made an error in judgement.

"Hell no. Damn, kid, your exploits are swiftly becoming the stuff of legend." Bobby sounded far more impressed than he should as far as she was concerned. She'd just been doing her job after all.

Darien poked his hand up. "Umm, at the risk of learning someone else's secret identity, I gotta ask... huh?"

"Fawkes, your girl here has gotten into the bad habit of freakin' her targets by leaving warning messages lying about," Hobbes explained with more than a touch of awe in his voice. "Several have reportedly mentioned the notes and the fact that they didn't believe them when finally caught."

"Oh jeeze," Alyx groused. "It's not that big a deal, and has been blown way out of proportion."

"The first occasion she used the tactic, she was trying to warn Russian scientist Dimitri Lebrofsky about his impending arrest. It has worked on other missions with equal success," Graywolf added, plainly not about to let Alyx downplay her achievement.

"Cool," Darien stated simply and with sincerity.

"So you have no complaints that you didn't know she was Cassandra?" Gray seemed to find this hard to swallow.

Darien glanced over at Alyx before meeting her partner's eyes and answering. "It's part of the biz, right? Keeping secrets when needed?"

"Yeah, it is, my friend," Hobbes acknowledged. "An' it ain't always easy keeping your trap shut, even when you know it's necessary, but you do it or you get out quick as you can."

Alyx wanted to add her own two cents, but instead found her concentration torn away from the men about her and focused on the sudden overwhelming roar of noise in her mind. She closed her eyes; her hands coming up to press against her temples, as she tried in desperation to increase her shielding... with no obvious results whatsoever. If anything, it had the opposite effect, and instead of blocking the rush of sound caused it to increase tenfold and resolve into voices... thousands of voices; a mumbling, muttering cacophony all vying for her immediate attention and all wanting it right now.

She whimpered, blindly staggered away from Xavier and went to her knees. In a vague sort of way she heard him ask if she was all right, but was completely and utterly unable to focus enough to answer. "Get out of my head," she pleaded, not sure if she had managed to say the words aloud or not. She was rewarded, but not in the way she had hoped. Everything she was hearing she unwittingly began to broadcast to everyone nearby. Her eyes snapped open in time to see Mikey stagger back at the unexpected onslaught.

"Shit," Hobbes swore, one hand going to his forehead in reaction, while Darien grimaced in obvious pain.

"Mikey?" She had no idea what was happening, and even less of one about how to stop it. Nothing she tried had an appreciable affect on quieting the multitude that had invaded her mind.

Mike could feel Michele trying to stop her rogue abilities, with no success. Whatever was happening was completely outside her realm of control. He waved the others away as they all surged towards her in a vain attempt to help, regardless of the discomfort or the potential danger. "Don't, she'll just pull you in if you get too close." He turned to Darien, certain he would understand what needed to be done, even if it was with a decided sense of resignation. Darien only made it a couple of steps, as Dani appeared in the doorway as if by magic; her eyes wide in shock and holding a pre-filled syringe.

"Sedative," she announced, her doubled shielding doing little to silence the teeming masses yearning to be free in her head courtesy of her mother, at least based on the high level of unhappiness the girl was broadcasting. She held the syringe out to Darien. "It should quiet her a little."

"I hope so," Hobbes grouched, his eyes squinting in reaction. He was clearly not used to this type of thing, which was more than understandable as dealing with high-powered psis was rare enough to begin with.

"Mike..." Darien paused a few steps away from 'Chele, the obvious question not needing to be voiced aloud.

"You're more used to dealing with this than me," Mike pointed out. He was actually afraid to go anywhere near 'Chele at the moment, out of fear of having his mind swallowed up by hers, and perhaps never finding his way back out. Darien, Hobbes and even Graywolf didn't face the same risk, as their psychic abilities were limited at best.

Darien nodded and strode right over to her with no hesitation. He went to his knees beside her, seemingly impervious to the powerful broadcasting of Michele's mind. He pulled her to him so that her forehead rested against the curve of his shoulder and spoke softly to her. "Easy, babe, don't fight it."

She shuddered violently for a few seconds, and then relaxed a bit, which did indeed help to reduce the volume in Mike's aching skull. He watched as Darien gently moved her hair aside and deftly injected the contents of the syringe into the large vein in the side of her neck. In second's she had sagged in his hold, and the voices faded to a tolerable level. She was still out of control, but her now unconscious body was no longer able to broadcast as effectively. Her enforced relaxation eliminated the backlash effect of her trying to control the power and failing, which would then cause her to try harder to stop the broadcasting... an endless cycle that wouldn't stop until the power itself chose to release her.

"What is happening to her?" Graywolf demanded, plainly worried for his partner.

"That's what I hope to discover," Mike admitted to the taller man.

Darien had set the syringe aside and shifted Alyx until she was curled up against his chest. "It's coming more and more often lately."

"So Lincoln wasn't the only time?" Hobbes inquired, which was effective in having everyone's attention suddenly focus on him.

"Hobbes..." Darien began, only to be interrupted by Dani.

"The med lab's all ready for her, you can talk on the way," she pronounced, taking momentary command of the situation that Mike was anything but surprised at. When no one moved she waved then to the interior of the house, making it plain dallying was not an acceptable option.

"Darien, can you..." Mike didn't bother finishing the sentence as Darien was already getting to his feet with the sleeping woman held firmly in his arms.

"Is that how she hurt herself that night?" Darien asked of Bobby as they all trooped into the house and down to the basement where the small, but necessary, medical lab was located.

"Yeah, but it was nothing like this. That night she was doing the light show thing," Hobbes answered as he made sure the way was clear, and shoving chairs out of the way when it wasn't. "But it was weird, y'know? There was all this power coming outta her like crazy, but when I touched her she didn't fry me. Almost like... the power was using her as a way out."

Mike began setting up the necessary equipment, while Darien got 'Chele on the bed and began stripping off the excess winter wear with Graywolf's stunned assistance. Michele's sudden... breakdown creating a truce of sorts between the two men. Since Darien had some experience around medical equipment, thanks to his own adventures with the Agency, Mike made use of it and handed over the blood pressure cuff to be placed around her biceps. Mike set about attaching the numerous electrodes for the modified EEG machine and other monitors to her forehead to get some baseline readings that would, hopefully, clue him in as to what was going on.

"Anything else we can help with?" Hobbes asked, the concern for his friend swirling about him.

Mike tapped a few keys, brought up the full diagnostic on the screen and frowned at the initial readings. "Keeping the kids distracted would probably be best, otherwise they'll be pinging me every couple of minutes."

"Of course," Gray agreed. The perfect team player for the moment. "If I may ask... 'pinging'?"

Hobbes snorted and answered, "Poking him for attention... up here." He tapped his temple to demonstrate. "Feels like someone knocking on a door, kinda. You hang out around here enough, you'll get used to it."

Gray shook his head. "I keep expecting to wake up," he confided to the entire room.

Darien, who was hovering worriedly over Michele, fired off a typical response. "Pleasant dream or nightmare?"

"Just ignore Mr. Worry-wort there," Hobbes advised and motioned for Gray to vacate the room to let Mike get to work, for which he was grateful. Gray hesitated for a moment, and then followed along, the mood lightening once the two men were gone. Darien's mind was dark with concern, but Mike knew it would take a few minutes to convince him it was best to leave.

"Why is it we can never seem to catch a break?"

Mike knew Darien was asking the whims of fate as much as the unconscious woman lying before him, but chose to answer anyway. "To test your resolve?"

Darien sighed heavily. "I'm finally getting things on track with my life and this happens," he expressed bitterly. "She agreed to marry me this morning, Mike. Could... could that be why she... It seems like when she's upset it..."

"No, Darien," Mike interrupted. "We have no idea what is causing this overflow of power or what triggers it. So stop blaming yourself." Mike made a few more adjustments to the machines and then sank into the lone chair. He gave Darien a wan smile. "I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you to ask her. Guess this explains the kids' giddiness last night; you checked with them first, huh?"

"I'm startin' to think I waited too long," Darien muttered as he brushed the stray curls back from her face.

"Darien, we'll get her through this," Mike tried to reassure his twin's fiancé, but with little luck based on the waves of misery and guilt coming off the man. "What, if anything, are you getting from her?" He gestured at the hand Darien was holding.

Darien closed his eyes and tipped his head to the side in an eerie imitation of 'Chele when concentrating. Mike knew that her training had paid off and made Darien amazingly sensitive to not only her, but also other telepaths and empaths. "A buzz, like a thousand people whispering in my head." He opened his eyes to focus on Mike. "I can't even begin to imagine what she felt, or how much it must have hurt." He leaned over to give her a kiss on the forehead; the decision to leave her side, and not potentially affect the test results, a necessary one, even though it was plain that he hated it. "Mike..."

"As soon as I know anything, I promise." That assurance was enough for Darien, who nodded and stepped away from the still figure on the bed.

"Thanks." With his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, Darien shuffled from the room, leaving Mike alone with his charge.

It took Mike 30 minutes to run through all the basics. He took and ran blood samples, put in an IV in case he needed to dose her with more sedative, or anything else, watched her blood pressure and heart rate rise to near dangerous levels for her. He tried to impose shielding from the outside in order to stop the flood of voices invading her mind, only to have her shatter them without effort. He tried to ignore the increasing headache caused by her channeling all those thoughts and emotions within a 10-mile radius into his head even with the sedative muting the sound. He had trouble believing what the wave form monitor was showing him and adjusted it three times before he was convinced of its accuracy. The sharp spikes meant the output from her mind was off the scale in comparison to the gentle curves and waves that were considered normal. It made no sense whatsoever, though tests run by Claire Keeply at the Agency seemed to suggest that Michele's potential was far greater than her apparent abilities had displayed prior to these incidents.

The thought that she might actually be far more powerful was a frightening one, while at the same time it tickled... something at the back of his mind. Some memory trying to make its way to the surface, and he seriously debated taking a few minutes to track it down as, unlike his sister, his recall was not near instantaneous. Instead, he headed back to the computer as it beeped to let him know that the latest round of tests were complete. He growled in frustration at what was revealed. "Damn it, 'Chele, what is going on with you?"

"She's breaking down the door," a soft voice replied, startling Mike.

He spun about to see his nephew standing in the doorway; the boy's eyes glazed over and a virtual blank to Mike's senses. "Chris?"

"They were afraid and wanted control." Chris blinked, as if suddenly waking up from a deep sleep and looked about. "Hey, Mike. How's mom doing?"

"I wish I knew," Mike muttered as he looked over the young man who appeared to be unaware of the cryptic statements he'd just made. It would appear he was gifted with more than just mild telepathy and empathy; it was looking like there was another intuitive in the family. A very strong one.

"Mike?" The worry was heavy in the boy's voice.

"She's all right, though if she doesn't stop spiking soon, I'll be forced to dose her with inhibitor or risk her getting lost in there." Mike went to his nephew; the boy's words helping to make the connection to that elusive memory, and it might very well be of great importance in this situation. "Thank you, Chris."

"Thank you? I did something?" Chris was truly confused, but Mike chose not to explain what had transpired right at that instant.

"Yes. Now, go upstairs and tell everyone she's okay." Mike set a hand on Chris' shoulder and encouraged him out of the med lab and towards the stairs. "I should know more in an hour."

Still unsure of what he'd done, Chris nodded. "I'll let them know."

Mike made a beeline for the secure phone in 'Chele's office and dialed a phone number he'd memorized over a year ago.

"This is the Keeper."