Psion crossed the grounds, the sounds of burning timber and the screams of dying mutants echoed behind him, to the garage. He supposed his motorbike was there, but he wouldn't be sure until he was inside. The doors were open, ruts in the gravel showed where freed mutants had either reclaimed their own transportation or stolen from their jailer. As he rounded the corner he froze. Swan and Shift were waiting for him. He forced a look of disgust on his face, antithetical to what he was feeling, and snarled, "What the hell are you two still doing here."

"We have no where else to go." Swan said softly, Shift nodded vigorously in agreement.

"So?" Psion walked past them, making a beeline for his baby. He set to checking her over and found only a few scrapes from the night he'd been taken. It was nice of them to take such care in salvaging the vehicles of the captives. He supposed it was some part of Hassan's vulgar plan. A memory surfaced and Psion rolled his eyes, his more reluctant participants had the vehicles waved before their nose to Hassan's perverse pleasure. He was suddenly glad again for having torched the man crotch first.

"You told him you weren't going to kill him," Swan said softly and very close behind him. Psion whipped around and narrowed his eyes but she stood her ground, leveling her dark blue gaze on his. "Well?"

"I lied." Her gaze made him feel uncomfortable, forcing him to turn back to the bike.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because he deserved to die Swan. He's lived here for thousands of years and has been responsible for some of the most gruesome massacres in our history. I did the world a favor."

"Who died and made you God."

Psion rounded on her and immediately staggered backwards into the bike from the full arm slap she delivered to his face. He heard Shift gasp as she loomed over him and he snarled, "If you don't want to get hurt, back up little girl."

"I'm not a little girl, you son of a bitch." She pulled her arm back and was forcibly thrown through the air by a telekinetic blast. She caught herself mid-flight and floated, staring with both hatred and incredulity.

"You don't want to fuck with me Swan. I've killed mutants more powerful than you and Shift combined, more powerful than Hassan, more powerful than myself. If you're feeling froggy, jump, but I don't want to have to take an innocent life today."

"You've already gone back on a similar vow." She snarled. Out of the corner of his eye, Psion watched Shift try to fade into the background, cringing against the fender of a jeep wrangler.

"Hassan wasn't innocent." He lashed out with his mind, giving her a glimpse of the images from Hassan's memory. Her face turned and she dropped out of the air, vomiting all over the pristine white floor of the garage. He retracted the telepathic link as she retched and spit in an attempt to rid herself of the residue and the taste. Shift looked at both of them repeatedly and finally asked, "What just happened."

"She just saw why I killed Hassan today."

"Why did you kill him?" Shift asked haltingly.

"You really don't want to know kid."

"I'd rather know than not know."

"That's probably one of the more mature things I've heard today," Psion said thoughtfully, seeing Shift for the first time. "Are you ready?" When Shift nodded, he slipped the same images into his mind and once again was thoroughly impressed by the kid's mettle, as he winced, shifted from foot to foot, but stood solid.

Swan had recovered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she staggered to her feet, "You cheated."

"What do you want from me?"

"We have no where to go Psion. Neither of us had a home before, and as much as we appreciate freedom, this has been our home." Shift said, nervously crossing and re-crossing his arms on his chest.

"He's right and we owe you our freedom. I know you don't like the solitude and the loneliness, I can see it in your eyes."

Psion stiffened but said nothing in response.

"Let us come with you."

"Please Psion?"

He watched them, watched their eyes. Swan was right, he hated the solitude and the loneliness, but he was dangerous. He didn't deserve to be around people, he would only hurt them eventually. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, preparing to tell them off and blow out of the garage on his bike, but what he said startled him as much it startled them.

"Fine. Shift, go get that trailer and help me get the bike secured on it. Swan, find the keys for the jeep and top off the tank." He blinked several times, completely taken aback by what he'd said. Perhaps it was time…no one before had been this persistent in pursuing contact with him afterwards. Plus, his honor demanded the truth in what they said. He owed them this much.

As he and Shift wrangled the flatbed trailer into a position that was both accommodating for loading the bike onto it, and baking the jeep up to it, Swan found the keys in the torn open lock box and drove the jeep around behind the garage to top off the tank. The roar of the fire could be heard over the commotion in the garage and Psion wondered how long it would take for it to burn itself out. The garage was out of range, and the closest trees weren't close enough to pose a threat. All these thoughts were passing through his head as he strapped the bike down securely while Shift held it in place. Swan returned with the jeep, and once the trailer had been hitched, Psion climbed into the driver's seat, with Swan beside him and Shift in the back seat with their bags of clothes and personal items they'd collected leading up too and salvaged that afternoon. Without a word, only a glance spared for both of them, Psion shifted the jeep into first gear and they sped away from the burning ruin of their past's.