AN: Yea! My computer is working again! I managed to finish this chapter and get well into the next one.. woo hoo!
Chapter 16: Battlefield Mode


Jesse and Lexa were slowly making their way through the corridors toward the hanger. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but it did seem odd tiptoeing through the hallways of Sanctuary as if it were enemy territory. They said nothing to each other, using the standard hand signals they used in the field to convey simple directions of each other's movements, checking the hallways and handful of rooms in the area.

Just as Lexa came back from investigating a small hallway, the lights dimmed for a moment, then came back up to full strength. In the restored light, Lexa saw the frown marring Jesse's features. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but he quickly slipped a hand over her mouth, silencing the sound before it even had a chance to be made.

When he removed his hand, Lexa remained silent. "What's wrong?" she mouthed.

She could see that it took him a moment to understand what she was asking. Lip-reading was obviously not the best way to communicate in situations like this.

Finally, Jesse slipped his comring off his finger and held it up. With his other hand, he put a finger to his lips.

It still took Lexa a second or two to figure out what Jesse was saying. Charades wasn't a good form of battle field communication either. Radio silence, she finally deciphered. Without knowing were Brennan was, they would have to maintain radio and vocal silence. Holding her hands up, she silently asked him, "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?"

Jesse tapped the side of his head. "David," he mouthed.

This time she immediately understood what he was indicating. Praying it was enough, she watched as Jesse's eyes focused on a distant point and become an even lighter shade of blue.

"David. David, can you hear me?"

In the computer lab, David straightened at Jesse's 'voice.'

His sharp movement captured Katie's attention. "What is it?"

"It's Jesse," was all he said, holding up a hand. "Jesse, what is it?"

"David! Okay, first, tell Katie to maintain radio silence. Brennan may not have his comring, but he could still overhear ours."

David relayed the message. "Done."

"Okay. Did you guys have a power surge up there?"

"Yeah."

"Damn. That means that it's system wide. That's a big problem. Can you guys figure out the cause?"

"Already done. Katie found Brennan on the in house monitors. He's in CF-5. It's –"

"Level C, corridor F, room 5. It's just inside the hanger where the power relays are located. Damn."

"Yeah. She replayed the past 30 seconds. He was messing around in there, but I guess something wasn't going his way because he blasted the thing. Thus the power surge."

Jesse was about to reply when the lights flashed again, and then the power went out completely. He felt Lexa's hand reach out for his arm, and was glad when they made contact. At least they knew where the other was. "Double damn. Was that Brennan again?"

"Yeah. He sent a stronger charge, and power's out completely now. Katie says the emergency hall lights should come up within 30 seconds."

"And there they are," Jesse communicated to David as the dim emergency lights flickered on "They run on batteries. We need to get the main power systems back up. Most of the safehouses are still linked to our system. We've been so busy re-establishing Sanctuary and the safehouses themselves, we haven't had a chance to get them independent security and computer systems. If we don't get power back up, they'll be vulnerable."

David recognized Jesse's worry and dipped into his friend's mind to speed the conversation ahead. "Katie and I will see what we can do about the power situation from here. Now that we know where Brennan is, I'll have Katie restrict the security grid even more around your location. You guys just take care of Brennan. Good luck."

"You too. And David?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome to the life of Mutant X."



Jesse ended the conversation with David and headed toward the hanger, all but dragging Lexa behind him. Recognizing determination in his movements, Lexa followed silently. When they reached the entryway of the least used access door to the hanger, he pulled her down behind the lip of the door. In the dim light, they could make out the Helix, its engines still humming through the cool down process.

"Jesse?"

"David. What's wrong?"

"Katie and I have done what we can rerouting power using the emergency backup systems, but there's a few blown fuses stopping an entire reboot. They need to be replaced by hand."

A fluent series of curse words crossed Jesse's mind.

"Jeez, Jess. You must have met a pirate or something since I've been gone. I don't remember you swearing like that before."

Jesse's sigh was both physical and mental as David relayed which fuses needed to be replaced. "Thanks for the info. I'll take care of it. Somehow."

He was already deep in thought when Lexa tugged on his sleeve. When he looked up, she pointed across the room. Following her direction, he saw their quarry. Brennan was striding across the hanger, away from room CF-5 and toward the primary entrance to the hanger. Knowing he was well out of range of hearing, Jesse bent to whisper in Lexa's ear. "David and Katie have done what they can to fix the power relay panels. The 15, 25, 30, 40, 45 and 60 fuses need to be replaced. There's a toolkit and spare fuses in the floor hatch. You take care of that. I'm going to take care of Brennan."

"Jesse, are you sure? Brennan's pretty mean right now, and I could sneak up on him a lot easier than you could."

"Lexa, just go!" he whispered harshly, practically growling. "You know how important those power relays are to the safehouses. And I have experience dealing with Brennan when he's like this."

Before Lexa could counter his reasoning, Jesse pushed off the wall, and headed after Brennan, leaving Lexa no choice but to do as he said.

Putting aside her desire to grumble and chase after him so she could slap him upside the head, she set off to the panel, making it there in less than 20 strides. The toolkit and spare fuses were easy to find, the small panel springing open when she pushed against it. Her agile fingers managed to find the latch for the wall panel in the dim light, quietly unsnapping the manual locks in a matter of seconds. But once the panel was open, she encountered her first problem. The open panel door shaded the fuses and wires from what little light emanated throughout the room from the emergency lighting. Snapping her fingers, she created her own pinprick of light, barely larger than a penlight. This was why Jesse had sent her. He wouldn't have been able to see to make the repairs. Damn him for knowing every hinge of this place inside out. Swearing at the realization that Jesse was right, and in a subconscious effort to stifle her concern for him, she examined the circuits. Finally getting a look at the damage, Lexa groaned inwardly. This would take her several minutes to repair. In the meantime, unfortunately, Jesse would be on his own. Reluctantly, she managed to push aside her concerns for her friend and lover, reached into the tool kit for the spare 15 fuse, and got to work.