Only a couple of chapters left to go now! This one begins at the end of 'Lest He Become', the season two cliffhanger,when the Naxcon complex is exploding about them. Thanks to all the wonderful reviewing people :) hugs Keep it up!


The world was collapsing all about her, not just mentally this time. There was fire and smoke, water and ashes, debris raining like a meteorite storm from above her. There was screaming and yelling, gasps of pain, of fear, and her own name shouted again and again into the chaos.

"Emma!"

The universe certainly had a twisted sense of humour. She had what? Maybe four hours to go till her very own personal self destruct mechanism went off? And here she was, hanging off a broken bridge unlikely to last even another four minutes.

No one could say life wasn't ironic.

Adam was calling her, he had grabbed her hands, holding her onto the slab that had previously been the floor. She could hear the gasps and yells of the others, feel the uncontrollable terror running through them. Strangely enough, it didn't affect her like it usually would have. She felt detached, isolated from the destruction around her, she'd known she was going to die today, this way was just a little ahead of schedule.

But the others, her friends, they didn't know, they couldn't. Right up until this morning Adam had kept asking her to tell them. She was a hypocrite, only hours ago she'd forced Adam to bare his secrets to them all, whilst she kept one of the biggest ones of all from them.

It was wrong, she knew that. Adam had made his last attempt just before they came here. Jesse had been starting up the helix to go save Shal and Brennan whilst Adam collected everything and anything he thought might help from the lab.

"I'm sorry Adam." She'd said, watching him configure something. He had his back to her, but she didn't need to see his face to know how he was feeling. She'd hurt him, forced him to tell them things he'd hoped he'd never have to. And because of that, Shal and Brennan were in danger. She really was sorry.

"I know." He sounded weary, "they would probably have found out anyway eventually." He carried on working, hands darting frantically over the control board. She stepped shyly up to him, wanting not to read him for this at least , "So do you forgive me?" He stopped finally, looked at her,

"Always." shegave agenuine smile, he returned the expression, before typing in a final sequence. "You should tell them you know."

"I know."

"And?"

"And I'm not going to."

"Emma-"

"Just…trust me Adam." She interrupted, "It's going to be alright, I told you."

He shook his head, only partlyfrom frustration, " I haven't found a cure."

She smiled sadly, "I know." and there they'd left it. The last conversation they were ever going to have.

He truly had forgiven her, for everything. For forcing him to confess, for refusing to do so herself. For all the bad choices, mistakes, and blunders she'd made over her life. For not being the kind of person he'd thought she was. They'd all forgiven her. And in return, she forgave them for every pang of grief and agony she'd endured from and for them, all the secret sins they thought were hidden, and for their inability to trust her every word.

Something heavy struck the floor next to her, the tremors nearly forcing her hands off the slab. Only Adam's grip kept her hanging on. She forced back tears, they wouldn't help. Shal was crying, wild sobs of fear and desperation. She had a good hold but was risking herself to help her father. Jesse and Brennan were trying to help her but they were far from safe themselves. Unless help came soon, none of them were going to make it. Broken glass rained down on them in a shower from the shattering windows, above them a fiery hell, below a cold void of seething water. No way out.

And then it came to her, a way. To save her friends, and in a way herself.

Her powers were like a muscle, she could with a lot of concentration almost completely turn them 'off''. To increase the range and sensitivity of them, she just had to allow herself to relax a little, but she'd never allowed herself to fully open her mind. She'd always been too scared that she wouldn't be able to handle it, that it would drive her mad. But when death was only a few moments away anyway, what did it matter?

She pulled her hands away from Adam, ignoring his desperate protests, and shut her eyes.

There was no fire, no bridge, no explosions. There was no sound or pain or emotion. Just herself and the air she forced tight lungs to breathe in. In and out….in and out….

And she wasn't there anymore, she was at some point deep within her mind, and she could see it. Her power wasn't something physical, it was within every her every cell. Her breaking down genetic structure was compacting it, trapping it, and it was building up inside her like a mental bomb. She could see it.

And just as easily, she could dissipate it, before it exploded. But so much power…it had to go somewhere…

She smiled unconsciously, it was all so very simple.

And there was nothing else left to do.

For a moment, she allowed herself to feel again, she visited the physical world one final time. The fear, the pain, and the love. The utter humanity of her friends. The cold stone beneath her hands, the smoky air winding around them, Adam's solid grip on her hand again. She looked up to him, to all of them…

And they were somewhere else, her mind, or theirs, or somewhere in between, she wasn't sure. It didn't matter. This was her gift to them, and to herself, this was their goodbye.

They were confused of course, Jesse, Shal, and Brennan, even Adam. They were so grounded in the physical even here they saw and felt and were as they did in the real world. So to make it easier, she took the form they knew so well here too. She did this because she loved them and to leave them with no farewell would cast a blight upon her soul. It was selfish, but she knew any sin now would be instantly forgiven.

"Emma?" Shal was 'speaking' to her, hesitantly, her eyes darting about, relaxing slightly when she 'saw' the others. "What's going on? Weren't we?…aren't we?…" she was looking to the others for an explanation, but they were just as confused. Dear Shalimar, she was so grounded in the physical this would be more disorientating for her than anyone else. She'd always been surprised at how easily they'd become friends given that their powers seemed to be polar opposites. But she supposed they weren't so different, they both saw the world in a way others could never dream of.

Until now…

"It's okay Shal," she smiled reassuringly at her friends, "I brought you all here, just for a minute."

"Why?" this from Jesse, so stoic, it was hard to disorientate him. Even pulling him out of the physical dimension hadn't unsettled him unduly, probably because he spent more time out of it than most. "I mean, no offence Emma but don't we all need to be concentrating on getting out of this?"

"Yeah," this from Brennan who seemed a lot more overawed than Jesse, "What is this place anyway?" He stared around, the 'room' looked something like the main hall in sanctuary, but the roof was gone, sunshine coating the floor which was a deep marble blue. The dojo stairs were white and gleaming, the dojo itself just a golden round platform. It was a peaceful place.

She shrugged, "Just somewhere we can talk for awhile, I have to tell you guys something." Adam was still silent, his gaze understanding and still sad. But for once, he didn't know everything. She walked off, up the dojo steps, and turning back, "Come on."

They followed her after a moment of startled looks between themselves. They'd follow her anywhere, even where she was going soon if she let them. They were her friends, her teachers, her students and her soul's closest companions. And they would miss each other so very much.

After they'd all sat down, Emma allowed herself a moment just to study them, memorise them, in this final meeting. Shalimar half sitting, half kneeling opposite her, her features a jumble of concern and affection. Next to her, Brennan crouched warily, disguising his unease as caution. She almost smiled, didn't he know he would never be able to hide anything from her? Jesse was watching her solemnly, to anyone else his expression would have been unreadable, but to her….to her it conveyed friendship, worry, support and so much more. And Adam…

He sat lotus-like, unconsciously mimicking her own style. His was the gaze of the long since bereaved. He'd made his peace. He was sad for her, yes, but he knew he'd done all he could, all anyone could do. For someone like Adam, that was almost as good as solving a problem.

Almost.

They were waiting for her to speak. Time to talk, time to share, time for many things to end. She shut her eyes, and when she opened them, she began to talk.

"It all began a long time ago…"