AN: Well, here it is - the end...
Chapter 36: Closing Time

"David? Where are you?"

David turned from where he sat in a deck chair on the third floor balcony of the mansion, a glass of ice water on the table next to him. "I'm out here on the third floor balcony," h e replied. "I'm over here," he said aloud when he saw Jesse poke his head out the sliding glass door a moment later.

Jesse ambled his way over and sat in a nearby chair. The two friends sat side by side, relaxing in the late summer sun. They said nothing, neither physically or telepathically.

Finally, Jesse let his head tilt back and closed his eyes. "Man, the sun feels good."

David smiled. "I know what you mean. I've tried to get outside at least twice a day since I've been here."

It had been only two weeks since Jesse and David had been reunited. And only one week since the deaths of Holly Jacobs and Jessica Woodbury. Life had finally slowed down. Loose ends had been tied up, and there had only been two calls from mutants on the run needing help, both of which were easily taken care of. Thus, they'd all gotten a chance to get some much needed sleep.

Shalimar and Brennan had taken the bodies of the two women back to their families. Jessica had been buried next to her father. Holly's parents had decided to have her cremated and interred in the family plot. The bodies of the four henchmen who had died in the fire had also been identified and returned to their families for proper burials. Since all four had been members of the Dominion, and had feed their families similar stories about being part of government work, it was easy to convince the families that the men had been tragic victims of a top secret industrial accident.

Lexa had followed up with the authorities' official investigation of the explosion. As predicted, the explosion had been blamed on faulty wiring too close to a gas line, and the car accident had been deemed the result of Holly's reckless driving. It only took one small hint – Lexa made sure the police found the camera outside the convenience store – to make sure the two investigations were closed quickly.

Katie and David had gone car shopping. Her car had been totaled by Josef Stalin's attack. They hadn't bothered to take the car to the insurance company. The bullet holes and massive dents and scratches would have raised too many questions. Katie was very happy with her new Honda Hybrid. Katie had also reminded David to replace the broken window and doorframe in his office. The work had been done by companies that Mutant X frequently used. They did the work and didn't ask questions, simply because most of the workers were mutants trying to live a normal life.

Jesse had started analyzing the disc and cell phone he'd found on Holly. The phone hadn't been much help. The few numbers that weren't blocked were ones they were either already familiar with, or for the local electronics or pizza store. The disc had been encrypted, and had frustrated Jesse for a good day and a half. Lexa and Adam had managed to convince him to let it go for a while, as it wasn't extremely important right now, so he wouldn't drive himself crazy. Then yesterday, during a sparring session with Brennan, Jesse had an epiphany – and nearly gotten himself clocked in the process. Later, he explained that most hackers have a signature – certain processes they prefer or tendencies they have. It was a good bet, he said, that the same person who created the virus Holly used to attack them earlier had also encrypted the disc. So, using the data he'd gleaned from the virus that had attacked their system earlier, Jesse had managed to crack the encryption. The disc had yielded its contents: locations and passwords for Dominion meeting points. The team was going to start investigating them tomorrow.

Jesse looked over to David, squinting in the glare of the setting summer sun. "How do you manage to find the time to get out that often?"

"It's not easy." David shrugged. "With all that's happening around here plus the work I've got to do for Kilmartin Enterprises, there's not a lot of spare time. But it's harder staying indoors for too long. I'm not used to the claustrophobia yet, like you are. Katie joins me sometimes," he added absently.

"You know her pretty well, don't you?"

David nodded. Peering over at Jesse, he said, "Actually, I've known her longer than I've known you. You and I are close in a different way. But, yeah, I've known her a long time." He trailed off.

Jesse smiled. "Yeah, yeah. Just treat her right. I'm not blind," he added, seeing David blanch a bit as he realized that Jesse knew the nature of his relationship with Katie. "I don't want to have to pull the whole big brother act on one of my best friends if you hurt her, Pete."

David leaned back and raised an eyebrow at Jesse as he took a sip of his water.

Jesse caught the silence. "Damn. I did it again, didn't I?"

David nodded and started laughing.

"Hey," Jesse said, sitting up. "You try learning a new name for one of your closest friends. David, David, David," he chanted to himself. "One of these days I'll get it."

"Hey, boys. There you two are."

Both Jesse and David turned at the sound of Shalimar's voice.

"I thought you were supposed to be calling David down to dinner, Jess. Not lounging around out here." She fake pounced on her friend, giving him a little punishment for not doing what he was told.

Jesse smiled sheepishly as he playfully got himself out of Shalimar's hold. "Sorry, Shal. I kind of forgot."

"Well, you're forgiven. Now, come on. We'd better get down before Brennan decides to help Lexa with the rolls."

Jesse practically leapt out of the chair. "Come on, let's go, David."

David chuckled as he lifted himself out of the deck chair. "Why, does Brennan not cook very well?"

"No, he's a halfway decent cook. It's when you throw an electric oven into the mix that things get wacky."

Jesse led the way down the stairs. "He likes to speed up the cooking time by juicing up the oven with some of his own power. End result is usually –"

Jesse was interrupted by the shrill, beeping sound of the fire alarm resonating through the house.

"Well, David," Shalimar said, putting an around his shoulders. "Hope you like your rolls extra crispy."

David laughed heartily, following Jesse and Shalimar down the stairs to his new family.

THE END


AN: Thanks to all who reviewed and read the story. I hope you all enjoyed it. And props to Alexis, who haggled me, O so much, to get this story finished. This story grew out of my earlier story, The Resurrection, and ended up much longer than I thought, so thanks again for sticking with me throughout the whole adventure.. And it's not over yet! The next step in the Trilogy (?): Murphy's Law.

Coming up in Murphy's Law (which I have no idea when I'll start posting, since I haven't even started writing it yet. Plus, there's a rather crucial element of the plot I need to decide how to write):

The reason for all the tension between Jesse and Adam;

The return of the Dominion;

The discovery of a plan so deep it goes all the way to the top;

The death of a beloved character;

And the return of a friend long since gone.