AN: Sorry about the delay, but with the site's mini-implosion and being at my aunt's house were there's basically read-only internet access....well, yeah. Anyway, here's the next chapter, and I hope to get the next one here within a few days as consolation for the wait.


Chapter 22: Einstein on Toast


David looked up at Brennan as he stepped over to Jessica's prone form. "How did you know to make like the cavalry?"

"Jesse and Adam got the thermal scanners going. They used to holographic projectors in the dojo to find her. I was the only one who could attack her with out touching her or killing her."

"Yeah, well, not that I don't appreciate it, but you didn't have to cut it so close. She might have fired when you zapped her, too."

Brennan shook his head. "Nah. When I shock people, it completely immobilizes them. There are no spasmodic aftershocks for at least five seconds. By then she would be on the ground." He took a step closer. "You need help lifting her?"

"No thanks, she's pretty tiny. Besides, no offense, but it doesn't look like you could lift a blanket, much less a person."

"Hey, I'm good. The chick just wiped me out with her mind control thing. Adam says it shouldn't last long."

"Yeah, well, I still don't want you touching her. You either," he said, pointing to Lexa and Katie, both of whom had stepped closer. "She might be unconscious, but you never know when she'll wake up. She's a danger to anyone who touches her, but I've already got a shield that will keep her out of my head. I made it years ago, when I first met her. Come on," he said, hefting the small woman over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Let's get her restrained before she causes anymore damage."


"Jesse! Are you all right?" Lexa stalked to his side, looking him over, trying to assure herself that he was okay. It was hard to do so when she could see blood trailing down from several cuts on his face and arms, one of which – just above his eyebrow – looked fairly deep. And his right forearm was bent at an angle that proclaimed the limb to be broken.

He looked over from where he was watching David place Jessica on the biobed Brennan had recently vacated. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Then how come you're still bleeding?" she asked, gently gliding her fingers over a cut on his temple then showing him the blood on her fingertips. "And doesn't your arm hurt?" she asked, unconsciously trying to figure out if there was something wrong with him, something that prevented him from feeling the pain of his own injuries.

He looked over into her eyes, saw the concern. "Sorry. I didn't want to heal myself yet in case it made me lightheaded to the point where I wouldn't be able to help you guys."

"Well, we're fine now. Take care of yourself," she said softly, running her hand down his cheek, along his neck, and to his shoulder.

He shuddered at the joy her simple touch sent through his body. He couldn't help but smile at her concern. "Yes, mommy."

Lexa looked like she wanted to slap him. He cut her off at the pass, dropping a swift kiss on her lips before moving over to the nearest chair, where he could heal his wounds without falling to the floor if he got dizzy.

In the middle of the room, Adam cleared his throat to get everyone's attention from where it had been focused on Jesse and Lexa. "I'm going to put a governor on her. We need her awake to question her, but she's too dangerous without one. Any objections? Or better ideas?"

Brennan shook his head. "I hate governors as much as the next mutant, but I'll admit they're useful in cases like this." He watched as Adam put a biorhythms monitor on the girl's neck, then placed a tool at the back of her neck. He couldn't help but wince at the sound of the governor going in. "It's not too hard for me to figure out that her name isn't Lisa Osman, like she told Monica. Any idea who she really is?"

"Her name is Jessica Woodbury. She was in my test group at Genomex."

Brennan looked over at David. "Why the hell would she have a grudge against you? You were just as much a victim as she was."

"I don't know. Maybe something happened after I escaped."

Their attention was drawn back to the biobed when they heard a moan. After a quick glance at the monitor to make sure there wasn't a medical problem, Adam leaned in closer. "Jessica? Can you hear me?"

Jessica's eyes flew open. When she took in her surroundings, she began to fight against the restraints. "Hey, hey. You're okay, you're safe," Adam said quickly, trying to calm her. As her powers had been disabled by the governor, he held one of her hands to the bed, motioning for David to do the same on the other side.

"Peter, don't you touch me, you bastard. You're screwing everything up! Let me go! You'll ruin everything! I need to finish my job."

Adam looked over at David, who took the hint and backed away, showing Lisa his hands. Quickly, Brennan stepped forward, taking David's place, holding Lisa's left hand down on the bed. "I'm not touching you anymore," David said. "Talk to me, Jessica. What's your job? Maybe we can help you."

"You have to take it out."

Brennan looked from Adam to David and then back down at Jessica. "What do we have to take out?"

Her left hand tugged inward against Adam's restraining hand. "Take it out," she screeched.

Adam winced, but didn't let go of her hand. "If you mean the governor, I'm afraid we can't take that out. Not yet."

"No! You have to let me finish! Mom needs me to finish!" Jessica continued to struggle against Adam and Brennan. She began to buck her lower body, her legs flying. Lexa managed to dodge one flailing foot, before grabbing both and tackling them to the biobed. Katie moved forward to help.

"We're never going to get anything out of her this way," Lexa said loudly, trying to be heard over Jessica's screeching.

Adam sighed. "I thought as much, but I was hoping we wouldn't have to. Jesse, there's a dose of phenobarbital in the top drawer."

Jesse, his arm now strait and the cuts on his face no longer bleeding, reached into the drawer for the tranquilizer. He reached between Lexa and Adam and jammed one end of the hypodermic needle into Jessica's thigh, injecting the drug into the girl. Almost instantly, the chemical began to depress her actions and she stilled. When the thrashing finally stopped, the other four pulled back. Adam immediately checked her vitals and peered into her eyes to check her pupils.

"She's unconscious."

Brennan looked over. "How are we supposed to question her now?"

Adam looked up at the tall elemental. "The phenobarbital shouldn't have knocked her out, only subdue her. Either she's on some medication that reacts with phenobarbital – and I can't think of any common ones that would react this way – or she's just sensitive to the drug." He moved over to the medlab console and motioned for everyone else to stand back while he activated the scanners. When the scan was done, he stepped over to the console to check the results. "Einstein on toast," he said softly.

Jesse recognized Adam's version of a swear word. "What is it?"

"She's got traces of duridexol in her system. It's a depressant and stabilizing medication," he answered before anyone could ask the question. "It's commonly prescribed for people who are borderline schizophrenic."

"You mean she's a nut job?"

"Yes, Brennan, she is mentally unstable," Adam said, emphasizing the politically correct term. "The duridexol is supposed to stabilize her, but given the amount in her system, or lack thereof, I'd say she's missed a couple of doses."

Lexa considered this information. "Any chance we could make her stable by just giving her a dose of this drug?"

Adam shook his head. "Duridexol is a very sensitive drug, a combination of duridorium and hexidol. Quasi-experimental, fairly new to the market. From what I've read, it's got a 97 percent success rate when applied appropriately. The problem is that each prescription has to be custom prepared by the person's physician and pharmacologist. If there's too much hexidol mixed in, it could cause heart failure. Without her records, it would take me a week to run the necessary tests to mix up the right batch for her."

"So what exactly are we supposed to do? She was sent here for something. There might be someone else who'll try when they realized that she failed."

"At this point, Brennan, the only thing we can do for her is wait. I can get started on making her medication, but like I said, it'll take me at least a few days."

"I'll get started digging through Dominion records. I never found anything about Lisa Osman, but maybe I can find something on Jessica Woodbury."

Jesse stretched his shoulders. "Good idea, Lex. Brennan, how are you feeling?"

Brennan stood from where he had been leaning against the console, watching Adam start the scans on Jessica. "Fine. Dizziness is gone. I'm not quite 100 percent, but I could take on a dozen guys."

"How about one feisty feral?"

"Uh, sure… Oh, shit!" he said in realization.

Jesse and Lexa both laughed at Brennan's expression. "Why don't you take the Helix and pick up Shalimar. I'm sure she's prowling in circles by now," Jesse said. "I'd call her on the comm. system, but external communications went caput when you fried the power grid. I'll take me just as long to reroute and restore the system as it would for you to go pick her up."

Brennan nodded but started shifting his weight around from one foot to the other. When Lexa saw him look over at Jesse, she got the hint and stepped over to Katie, striking up a conversation about the Dominion database.

Brennan, grateful that Lexa had gotten the hint, stepped closer to Jesse. "Shalimar is going to kick my ass. Any idea on how to prevent it?"

Again, Jesse smiled. "I'm sure she'll just be happy to see you're okay."

Brennan shook his head. "I went at her pretty hard. She's gonna kill me, whether I'm under mind control or not."

Jesse's expression turned curious. "You remember what happened while Jessica had a hold of you?"

"Yeah. Don't you? And, hey, I'm sorry about attacking you like that. How's your arm?"

"Water under the bridge and my arm's fine. Jessica never had complete control over me, so I'm not surprised I remember. I wasn't sure if you would though."

"Yeah, well, I remember. And Shalimar'll drop kick me first, ask questions later."

Jesse snickered. Brennan glared at him. "It's not funny!"

"No, it's funny because you're right." Jesse calmed himself. "Okay, okay. Look, why don't you take Katie with you."

"Why?"

Jesse resisted the urge to slap Brennan upside the head. "Well, first, Katie needs to learn how to pilot the Helix anyway, and this is a short trip as good as any to start learning. Second, Shalimar knows I wouldn't let Katie go into a dangerous situation. When she sees Katie with you, she'll know you're safe."

Brennan chucked Jesse on the shoulder. "I knew there was a reason we keep you around," he joked. "Seriously, man. Thanks. You better get cleaned up before Shalimar gets back. You've still got blood all over your face and shirt. If she sees that she'll start clucking like a mother hen."

"Yeah, yeah. Go get Katie and get your ass out of here."