Sorry its taken a while. I've only got one exam but revision has definitely become a priority and I'm havng to fit studying in between work so have been a busy person. There are only 2 more chapters I think so not much more to go. Thanks so far for the reviews, its always so cool to read what people think.
The Republic Plaza rose up out of the ground before them, majestic, overwhelming. The setting sun had long since disappeared over the horizon of the world and the lights of the city created an orange glow across the sky. The building in front of them was lit up, lights shining from windows, people still moving around inside.
Jesse glanced across at the three people standing next to him. A range of emotions were displayed on their still faces, a variety of feelings, the whole spectrum of human sentiment. He didn't think he had ever been so proud of them all. The Dominion had split them apart, had ripped them all from everything they knew, but four years after Mutant X had crumbled they were all working together, interacting with each other just like they used to, just like the good old days. And now they were all about to overcome the last obstacle on their mission. The last Dominion building was literally in sight and they were mere minutes away from invading it, finishing everything off, giving the fat lady a chance to sing.
It did pose a major question though. The Dominion was the biggest force they had ever gone up against, it was the be all and end all of bad guys. What would happen once it was gone? Would everything go back to the way it had been? Would Shalimar reclaim the normal life she had fought so hard for? Would Brennan leave once he had nothing to stay for? Jesse and Lexa had been left once before and he wasn't sure that he could do it again; he knew Lexa couldn't. She would never admit it but she relied on them, she was dependent upon the people around her. He couldn't, he wouldn't watch her suffer like that again.
But now was hardly the most appropriate time to broach that particular subject with everyone. They hadn't even won yet and Jesse silently berated himself for thinking so far ahead. He needed to focus on the situation at hand. He needed to force his mind to concentrate on the present, on the moment.
Shalimar's eyes traced the entire height of the building, the intense fear that had been resting over her diaphragm all day increasing in weight. She wasn't sure that they could win. She wasn't the most optimistic person in the world, she had no real reason to be, but that wasn't why she was being so doubtful. Daveigh had already died, her and two other CIA agents. They were all highly trained and now they were dead. The future hardly looked bright.
But she did want to win so badly. Not for the sake of winning, not because she wanted to taste victory. It was for the same reason that she had always fought for so long with Mutant X, it was the same reason why, when Adam had picked her up off the street she had agreed to help him. The world deserved to be a little safer. A lot of bad things happened, there were rapists, drug dealers, murderers, child molesters walking the streets; but everybody knew about them, knew that they existed so Shalimar figured that the least she could do was deal with the things not everybody could see, the things people thought were confined to science fiction.
The slight heroic streak however, did nothing to alleviate her pessimism over the outcome of the mission. She wasn't sure they could win.
'So what, we're just going to walk in through the front door and take everybody we see into custody? I didn't think the CIA wanted anybody to know about this operation.' Brennan asked, his eyebrows raised as he stared at the impressive building.
'They don't. Our failures are fodder for the international media; our successes are need to know, why do you think we're the only people involved in this last stage. But walking through the front door…pretty much what we're gonna do,' Lexa replied. Sneaking around had never really been her style. Keeping things secret from the rest of the team, having to carry out missions behind their backs had aggravated her more than they could know. She had always preferred a more direct approach. And after sneaking around for the entire past couple of days she was fully prepared to walk in through the revolving doors, in full view of the security cameras. She was finding it very difficult to care what happened once they got in. It was going to be dangerous but she had always loved a little danger.
Unfortunately the CIA had disagreed with her a little bit, especially the part about walking into a building to face their almost certain deaths.
It seemed to him as if people hadn't stopped walking in and out of the room for hours. There was an almost constant stream of firemen, policemen, office workers checking out the damage. He had left the room only briefly, to call the other members of the Dominion Council but that had left him feeling uneasy. All of them were unavailable. Was it possible that something had happened to each of them? On the same day? At almost exactly the same time? He had never believed that such a thing could be possible. There was no way that anybody would do that, finish off the Dominion. But the involvement of Mutant X, which had been known as soon as Pierce and Kilmartin went to see the two runaway members had offset the balance. Things weren't as they should be.
He looked around him, noticing for the first time in a few minutes that the room was emptying out. There were only a few firefighters left, all of them completely covered by their chemical suits, one of them standing over the patch of charcoal covered carpet, the source of the blaze. He had no idea what to tell the authorities about the fire or how it had started, not that he had to. The Dominion was a powerful force and he could easily solve the slight problem of an explanation without too much trouble. But he felt that he needed to come up with something just to tide over the few people still in the room.
He walked across the floor, looking around him, unease in his eyes. The ceiling no longer looked quite as stable as it had previously and he for one did not want it to fall on his head. He skirted around a desk that looked like one touch would turn it to dust. As he approached the firefighter staring down at the patch on the carpet looked up, their face obscured by the regulation mask. He didn't like just staring at the eyes of the man. Without seeing the entire face it was difficult to know what a person was thinking and control was important to him.
A shiver ran along his spine. He had security on full alert ready to take out any intruders but he still didn't feel all that safe. Having still not heard from the other Council members he felt like he was in the dark. He shook the thoughts from his head and observed the room once more. The only people left were four firefighters, they were bound to be waiting for an explanation. He turned sharply as one of them pushed the door closed.
'What's going on?' he asked, his voice some indicator of the fear that had suddenly encapsulated his body.
'Hostile takeover.'
He turned again and came face to face with her. The blonde feral whose file was as large as the room he was standing in. She looked up at him, the chemical suit lying discarded on the floor next to her. As he stared down at her he watched the transformation from woman to feral. Her eyes seemed to burn within their sockets and a low growl emitted from her throat. He took a step back from her, walking straight into Brennan's strong figure. The blonde smirked as full realisation of what was going on hit him, like a punch to the stomach.
She could feel Jesse and Lexa behind her, their combined presence giving her confidence. It was almost like she could feel their emotions, like she was experiencing what they were going through at that moment in time. Her feelings were theirs and theirs belonged to her.
'Unless you hadn't yet realised, we're Mutant X. And just to refresh your memory, you've been pissing us off for at least the past five years,' the brunette woman said, her lips curling upward into a sneer.
'I know this,' he bit out, looking nervously around him.
'Then you'll also know that we're gonna have fun doing this,' Lexa continued, her voice harsh, cold.
'You're going to kill me, just like that. I didn't think Mutant X liked killing people, bad or otherwise,' he said, knowing that he was grasping at straws. They had every right to be angry with him, if he had been at the other end of the Dominion's attention he would have killed the Council a long time ago, or died in the attempt.
'We did a lot of things for the Dominion that we didn't like so for you we can make an exception,' Brennan said into his ear.
'But instead we thought we'd allow you to rot in a cell for the rest of your life. Sound good?' Jesse said, taking a step forward to stand next to Shalimar.
'Not really,' the man said, his teeth gritted together. He was not going to allow that to happen, he would not be confined to a small room to live out his years. He would rather die.
Pain shot through Brennan's head as the mans elbow slammed into his temple. He staggered back before recovering quickly. He stepped forward and tried to grab his arm but material slipped through his fingers.
Jesse landed on his back, caught off guard by the hefty shove the man had given him. His back ached and he knew he would be feeling it in the morning. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked up at Lexa's concerned face. He nodded, a reassuring gesture and her frown disappeared, a smile appearing briefly before their attention was drawn in another direction.
She felt her hand grab hold of his wrist, his weight dragging her with it but it was like she was powerless to let go, she had to keep a hold of him because if she didn't then what was it all for. She could feel her feet dragging across the floor, no friction capable of stopping him. She watched in horror as he launched himself into the plate glass window. Cracks appeared before her eyes but she maintained her grip on his arm, shocked into paralysis. The glass shattered, some of it scratching against her skin as she squeezed her eyes closed. She could feel herself moving forward, unable to stop her momentum and she opened her eyes in time to see him disappear over the edge of the window, his body falling through the air, his weight wrenching her arm as she fell with him, the world spinning in front of her eyes, the height of the building swaying before her.