Chapter 13: Hesitation



"Brennan, are you sure you don't want any help rewiring that thing?"

"No, thank you, Jess," Brennan said briskly, twisting a length of wire with a pair of pliers. "I can manage. I think I know a little something about electrical wiring." He sent a few sparks into the air with his free hand to emphasize his point. Brennan had been attempting to repair Shalimar's alarm clock for the past two hours. The clock had been one of the few things Shalimar had been able to salvage from the old sanctuary and she was rather attached to the thing, despite its ratty appearance. Thus, she nearly had a hissy fit when Brennan zapped it that morning to turn it off because he couldn't reach it. And so Brennan was now trying to make amends by fixing it, and the task had proved to be trickier than he anticipated.

"If you say so." Jesse couldn't hold back the laugh as Brennan's pliers managed to slip off and strip the wire.

David laughed along with Jesse. He had spent the night in one of Sanctuary's spare bedrooms, and now he, Katie, Jesse and Brennan were lounging in the common room. There were no more leads to follow. All the mutants on the list had been accounted for and put deep into the mutant underground and the forensic evidence hadn't led anywhere. Shalimar and Lexa were in the adjacent computer lab investigating Jacobs' old research team, hoping to find some clue as to what they should do next.

David was fidgeting with one of the throw pillows Katie had insisted on adding to the couches in the common room. "You guys are sure you don't mind my staying here?"

Brennan looked up. "Dude, enough already. We've already talked it into the ground. You're staying here until we catch whoever's after the psionics on that list."

"You're willing to take the risk that I might kill you?"

"Dave, man, give it up already! All of our powers are deadly, and we're always living with that risk. Just use those control techniques Jesse dug up and we'll all be fine."

"Brennan's right, David. You said before, you weren't taught control. You'll be surprised how easy it is once you set your mind to it."

Finally, David gave up. If they were willing to take the risk, it would only be fair that he do the same.

Before the conversation could be steered in another direction, Lexa strode into the room, Shalimar on her heels. "We've got another problem, boys, which may or may not be connected to the first one."

"What's up, Lex?"

"We got a call from Monica at the New York safehouse. A psionic came in who says there are people trying to kill her. From what Monica told me, the MO matches our guy, but the girl isn't on the list.

"The whole list?" Jesse asked.

"I went through the entire list," Lexa told Jesse, referencing Jacobs' wish list that only she and Jesse knew about, ignoring the others' questioning looks. "Monica's already tried taking her to the underground, but whoever's after her caught up with them. They barely escaped. She needs us to take this girl into the underground."

"I'm on it," Brennan said raising from his seat and gladly putting aside the broken alarm clock.

"Shal, why don't you go with him," Lexa said. "I think I might have something with the search I'm running."

"Still don't want to let him out of your sight, eh?" Shalimar surmised, as Lexa followed her as she followed Brennan toward the hanger where the Helix resided.

"Who?"

"Jesse. David. Either or both."

"Okay, you caught me. So I'm worried about Jesse and I still don't know what to think about David."

"I know what you mean. But he's Jesse's friend. And Katie's. And he's a new mutant"

"He's also a mutant who doesn't know anything about the world that we live in." Lexa emphasized the pronoun.

Shalimar stopped as she reached the Helix's ramp. "Okay. So how's this. We give him a chance, but keep a close eye on him."

Lexa thought for a moment before answering. "I think I can deal with that. I'm going to head back to the lab. The mutant's name is Lisa Osman. The file on her is pretty small, so there's probably not much in the database. I'll send you what we've got while you're in the air. We do know she's a psionic, but we don't know what her powers are. And this whole thing may or may not be part of the big picture, so keep an eye out."

Shalimar nodded, closed the hatch and sat down in the copilot's seat beside Brennan. Together, they made quick work of the preflight sequence, and then headed off to New York.



"Shalimar! Brennan! Long time no see. Welcome back to New York."

"Thanks, Monica." Shalimar entered the nondescript first floor apartment, Brennan behind her. "Have you managed to find out anything more about Lisa or the people after her?"

"Not a thing. We've been laying low after what happened earlier. I was taking her to the rail station when we were attacked by a couple of thugs. Smart ones, too. I was barely able to get a fireball off at them. Fortunately, it was enough." Monica was a fire elemental. She could launch fireballs as well as ignite fires within a 20 foot radius of her person.

"They ran off?"

"Yeah. It seemed kind of strange, though. They had the upper hand, and I didn't think that one little fireball would be able to scare them away. It didn't even hit them."

"Even more reason to be careful," Brennan said his voice coming from above simply due to his superior height. "You did the right thing by calling us in."

Shalimar's brow furrowed. "Monica, how many people are staying at the safehouse right now?"

Monica had seen Shalimar in action before, so she wasn't surprised by the question. "Five. Myself, Lisa, Kura, Tyrone and Dan. Lisa's here now, but the others are out catching a movie. Why?"

"I can smell at least seven different people, not including Brennan and myself. And if I can smell them, they have been here in the last 24 hours. I didn't think there were that many people staying here."

"There aren't. We sent the last mutant out almost a week ago. You think someone's broken in," she stated.

"If they haven't broken in, they've been hanging around outside for a while. As soon as we get Lisa out of here, the rest of you should all head for a different safehouse. At least until we've had a chance to sweep the place."

"You got it. Better safe than sorry." There was a shuffling noise behind them. "Oh, here's Lisa now. Guys, this is Lisa. Lisa, this is Brennan and Shalimar. They're part of that group I told you about. They'll keep you safe and find out whoever's after you."

Lisa said nothing. She was a tentative little thing, Brennan noticed. The bio Lexa had transmitted to them mid-flight said she was 25 years old, but the lines on her face and the expression in her eyes made her seem much older. Her mousy brown hair was freshly washed and she was wearing clothes that were a size to big for her, which, judging by the style, belonged to Monica. Poor thing must have been dirty as a mud pit. Her eyes were dull, and Brennan couldn't help but wonder what had made them so. He reached out to shake her hand gently.

"I'm Brennan," he said. "We're going to take care of you."

Shalimar reached her own hand out towards the skittish young woman, but her hand paused halfway there, and her body froze. "Shh. There's someone – "

Shalimar never finished her sentence. What happened next was too fast even for Shalimar's reflexes.

There was a loud bang, followed by a white flash. Smoke filled the room, and her nose twitched at the acrid smell. Through the haze, she saw the others coughing, falling to their knees and then to the floor, out cold. In the half second that followed, as she felt her own body falling, Shalimar saw something that made her heart lurch. The petite, pallid Lisa was standing tall. Whatever had the rest of them falling to their feet and loosing consciousness was not affecting her. In fact, a hint of a smile graced her features a moment before she turned on her heel and walked out of the room. If her footsteps made noise, Shalimar couldn't hear it. Her ears felt as though they were full of cotton, and a haze filtered her vision. Damn. A trap, she recognized as the gas finally pulled her all the way under and she knew no more.