"My turn," Jesse announced. "I haven't done a pick up in three months, Adam. Everyone else gets to leave Sanctuary and pick up stray New Mutants for transfer to the Underground. Everybody except me. I get to stay home and monitor the computers. The last time I left Sanctuary was three months ago when we went to go see Dr. Sutter and her son Benji."

"That's because nobody else can monitor the computers as well as you, Jesse," Adam told him. "Face it, that's where your talents lie. I use the computer as a tool, but it becomes a work of art in your hands."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Adam," Jesse said firmly. "I'm bored. You've found things for me to do inside Sanctuary for months, and I need some fresh air. I need sunshine, Adam."

"The pick up is at night."

"I need the light from a street lamp." Jesse quickly changed his tune. "I need time out in a night club, drinking up the sights."

"Drinking up the beer, more like it."

"Please! I have expensive tastes. Something with a little more potency is important, given how long I have gone without. A martini, for example. Or a Long Island Ice Tea." He offered his arm to Emma. "Care to join me for a night on the town? Pick up a mutant or two while we're at it?"

"Jesse, I need you here," Adam disagreed. "Look, I know you need some time off, but I've got some important experiments going on. I don't have time to monitor the computers while the team is doing the pick up and—"

"Adam, listen to me! I'm going crazy in here!"

"Better hear what he has to say, Adam," Brennan advised. "Last time in the dojo he nearly took my head off with excess energy. We need to get this boy out more often."

"Adam, it's been three months! Please!" Jesse pleaded, an edge in his voice.

Adam set his mouth into a line. "Just a little bit longer, Jesse. Just until I can do it. I promise, I'll get you out of Sanctuary. Just another week."

Jesse closed his eyes, fighting to keep control of his anger. He clenched his fists. Little ripples of mass flickered over his hands before he could make himself relax. Then, not trusting himself not to say anything more, not trusting himself, he walked out of the room.

Adam sighed again. "Would somebody go after him for me? Look, guys, I know that it's tough right now, but he has to understand that—"

"Adam, that's the same line that you fed him last week," Shalimar said gently. "And the week before that."

Even Brennan agreed with her. "Jesse's always the one who gets to stay behind to monitor the operation. Not that I mind, understand. I really appreciate having someone as talented as him watching my tail, and I especially like the fact that it's not me doing it. But I can see where he could go crazy watching the same four Sanctuary walls. How about a night out on the town, if you don't want him doing the pick up?"

"There's more than four walls in Sanctuary."

"Whatever. You know what I mean, Adam. He needs to get out as much as the rest of us. I know you can be perfectly happy staying in your lab twenty-four/seven, but Jesse isn't you, Adam." Brennan was trying to be reasonable. "Let him do a pick up for a change. I'll even volunteer to monitor the screens." Which was a generous offer, Adam knew. Brennan hated the job, and would do anything to get out of it including tricking Jesse into another stint.

But that wasn't the point, and Adam said so. "I need Jesse here. You three will have to convince him of that."

"No."

It was Emma. Adam stared at her.

"He needs to hear the truth, Adam," she said gently. "You owe him the truth. No more lies."

Adam looked away. "I haven't been lying. I do need him here."

"But not for the reasons that you've said. Jesse's not stupid, Adam," Emma added. "He can see through all the busywork that you've given him. He knows that your experiments aren't what's keeping him here. And you know he always needs to prove to himself that he's just as good as everybody else. Right now he thinks that you don't trust him, that you're keeping him here because he can't hold up his end of the team. You need to be honest with him. With all of us, Adam. Why are you keeping Jesse locked up?"

"He's not locked up," Adam grumbled. Emma merely looked at him. The other two shared a bewildered expression, not certain what to think. "Oh, all right. You're right, all of you. I haven't wanted Jesse to leave Sanctuary so I've been coming up with reasons to keep him here, safe."

"Safe from what, Adam? Or who?"

"Beatrice Sutter," Adam responded bitterly. "You remember her?"

"How could we forget?" Shalimar said. "You told her not to come asking for any more help until she could explain why she had armed men at her place and had been teaching Benji how to fight. But it's been three months since we've heard from her…" Her voice trailed off, as understanding took place.

"Right." Adam nodded. "Now you see my dilemma. Bea and I worked side by side on the serum that could help her son Benji. She has all of my notes, and I have all of hers. We can do each other's work. The one missing piece, though, is the protein base to make the serum out of. The raw materials, if you will."

Emma grasped it instantly. "The spinal fluid sample from Jesse. That's why you won't let him leave Sanctuary. You're afraid that she might try to get at him."

Adam nodded. "The word to describe Bea Sutter is tenacious. She won't give up until she gets what she wants, and right now she desperately wants to cure her son. Three months is nothing to her. She won't quit. There's no doubt in my mind any longer that Shalimar and Brennan really did see a military training bunker in her barn aimed at teaching Benji the art of war. All Dr. Sutter needs is another sample of Jesse's mutant proteins and she may very well be able to effect a permanent cure. Benji will be a super soldier in reality, and the training facilities suggest that there's a backer that has a use for him. I can't keep Jesse here forever, but I can't afford to let Bea kidnap him."

"There's more," Emma accused.

Adam glared at her. "Stop reading my mind."

"Then stop broadcasting so loudly."

"I'm not—"

"Don't change the subject," Brennan insisted. "What else is there? Adam?"

This time Adam looked angry. "There's a similar route to a cure for Benji, this one with a better chance of success. It takes a lot of the same chemicals, the same laboratory techniques."

"So why didn't you try it?"

"It was too dangerous. I refused to even consider the option, even though Dr. Sutter pushed for it."

"Dangerous for who? Benji?"

Adam looked them straight in the eye. "No, for Jesse. It would require a sample of his brain tissue. Not just a spinal tap, which is safe if done properly. This would be a brain biopsy, as in 'bore a hole into his skull and scoop out some of the innards', leaving him with a very good chance of permanent brain damage if we aren't careful and he isn't lucky. Now you see why I haven't wanted Jesse outside of Sanctuary?"

But Emma's empathic powers were working. "Uh, oh."

"Uh, oh?"

"Elvis has left the building."