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Legal Disclaimer- The characters in the fanfic that you are reading are property of Alliance Atlantis, Marvel and the crew at Tribune Entertainment. The situation is mine that is why it's called Fanfic people. Thank you.

Author's Note- So…You like the past chapters? Muhahaha….This one's a doozy. Thank you again to all of my reviewers. You all rock. No, really, you do. MX fan-Addicting? Try writing it. My recent inspiration is a picture I found of Jesse with a jacket and a scary, yet mournful look on his face. Remember, this is a Jesse centric story, but, I did…well, read on and find out. Reviewing also helps. It helps keep me sane.

Chapter 13

Emma DeLauro Kilmartin sat in the center of their rented hotel room watching the scene unfold before her. Her friends and her husband were having a heated discussion about the state of Lexa Pierce. Jesse had heard a whisper of Lexa in the room, almost like she was speaking to him, about light and darkness. She hadn't made much sense, but to Jesse, it was the first contact he had heard from her in weeks. She loved him for his passion to help his friend but it was overpowering to be in the room with him when he was like this.

Shalimar gave her a glance as Brennan and Jesse loudly discussed the situation. She knew that they would work it out, but, they needed to figure it out. The mere thought of their friend here, a friend that her feral senses could sense on overload was making her jumpy, she wanted to help, but busting in there wasn't the right way. There was another.

Emma tried to shut all of it out and cast out for Lexa. If she was in the hotel, she would find her. It wasn't going to be easy, but she was going to find her.

It hurt more than she thought. Jesse was radiating frustration while Brennan was projecting it. She forced herself to clear the room mentally so that she didn't hear or feel anything that the group was doing until she could focus on the hotel. The sun was setting outside, so she concentrated on the lights coming up from the city.

As she looked at them, she realized that she was looking at them in currents and waves. Somehow she had gotten through to Lexa.

Shalimar noticed the change in Emma and watched her as she got up and headed for the window. Emma was glass-eyed, like she was in a deep trance. Jesse stopped as well, motioning to Shalimar not to touch her, but to follow what Emma was doing. Brennan caught on quickly and watched as well. Emma had walked to the window and touched it, tracing the light from the city with the barest tips of her fingers.

The part of Emma that stayed in control in these situations continued to monitor everything that she saw. She found herself taking mental notes of how she felt, what the room looked like and if she was alone. She wasn't, and the mood coming off Lexa's room monitor was one of guarded suspicion. Looking in the reflection of the window, she realized she was looking at Lexa's reflection, but her eyes weren't hers. The irises were clouded beyond color recognition. Emma shuddered. Lexa looked frightening.

Talk to me, Lexa, Emma prodded with her thoughts, I want to help you. I'm worried about you.

The response was chilling and immediate.

Stay worried, Lexa's reply was hollow, There is no hope for me. Protect yourselves.

Where are you, we want to come get you, Emma continued, We want to help you.

Lexa's reflection started to shimmer.

You won't find me, don't even try, Emma, Lexa's reply was empty of emotion, Tell Pierce I died.

Emma found herself coming to in Jesse's lap once again. He looked down at her, his face full of love and emotion. She knew that he had been in her thoughts, he had wandered in when she first saw Lexa in the reflection, but he hadn't made his presence known to Lexa. He just stayed in the background, making sure he was there for Emma if she needed it. When she had passed out, he caught her and gently laid her on the bed, putting her head in his lap. His fingers had gently stroked her face until she came to, only emotion coming from him being love and extreme tenderness. She could sense the sorrow, his voice catching at the raw emotion behind Lexa's last statement.

Brennan had watched the scene in silence, grateful that Jesse had softly told them everything that Emma was seeing, but realizing that while their being at the hotel only brought them closer to Lexa, it didn't bring them to her.

"We have to stop her," Shalimar said, "We need to find her and stop her."

"We need to, but," Emma replied, sitting up, "She's surrounded. She's also very much not herself. Her eyes were opaque."

"Opaque?" Brennan asked, "Is she being controlled?"

Jesse leaned back against the headboard. It was beginning to make sense.

"Yes, and not by drugs like we thought," Jesse admitted, "You guys remember when the Dominion had that device in her? I almost lost her when I tried to remove it."

Brennan thumbed his ring.

"Adam, what are the chances that Lexa's being controlled by mechanical means?" he said, bringing their mentor into the conversation.

"High," Adam replied, "We are talking about a group with the means and the motive. You guys manage to contact her at all?"

"Emma just got a hit off of her and it looks like we're dealing with Lexa in lethal mode," Jesse said, "From what I remember, the dampener that they had in her blocked all knowledge she had of her actions, but, she was pretty freaked when she found out about it. This time I think she knows."

"And she doesn't care," Emma added, "Jesse, she's in so much pain. They overloaded her so that all she wants to do is sit in the dark, the light hurts her but she's like a moth to the flame."

"So we can use light to get to her?" Shalimar asked aloud, "I don't like fire, but I went toward it when I needed to, is this what she needs?"

"Possibly," Adam said from the commlink, "Pierce has been asking about her, Jesse. I'm monitoring him in case she reaches him."

Jesse was silent. The little boy had been on his mind since they had left him in Haven, one small hand wrapped in Adam's. He knew he needed to go, but he hated to leave him behind. If Lexa was as far gone as they all feared, Pierce needed to never see that. The child had enough scars to deal with. His mother in assassin mode was something he wasn't going to permit.

"Thanks Adam," he replied, "Give him a hug for me, will you?"

"Already done," Adam smiled, "Guys do what you have to do, but proceed with caution. Lexa isn't herself and you already know she doesn't feel like she can be saved. You guys have to save her."

"Already done," Shalimar echoed the rooms' thoughts, "We're out."

Brennan had watched the proceedings and found himself staring out the window.

"We know she's in the building," he began, "We know they've paid off the staff to keep her location hidden. We also know she's awake. Guys, I say we move on it, now."

"I'm with Brennan on this one," Jesse replied, "We have got to get her out of here. If we can get her back to Haven, Adam can hopefully remove whatever is in her head. Emma?"

"She's here alright," Emma's voice had grown cold; "I would say penthouse level."

"Have all of your forgotten that it's nighttime?" Shalimar asked, "She's functioning better in the dark, guys, and she'd be the first to admit it."

"Then I suggest we go in, now," Jesse's response was cold.

Minutes later Jesse was on an elevator heading up to the top of the building. He came up with a simple recon plan of just going up to see what the top floor of the building looked like presently, and the maintenance uniform he had obtained from the closet was the biggest help he had. Emma had gone downstairs to convince the front desk that a maintenance man needed to be sent to the roof for an inspection, so there would be no confusion if the security staff upstairs had a question.

Shalimar had taken the stairs to the top of the adjacent building, her plan to have Jesse help her cross over to the hotel's roof. Jesse was heading for the roof first to retrieve Shalimar, and then heading for the most logical location to put Lexa.

From all of his training he knew that the top two floors of a building were usually the best place to have any sort of operation. A staff, be it government, military, or even press, had a tendency to buy out at least two floors of a hotel to make sure that the floors could be secured. At least that was what his gut was telling him. From his observance of Emma's experience with Lexa, he knew that they had put her on an upper floor. He leaned back against the wall of the elevator and closed his eyes for a moment. He knew he was running on empty, but he had a little more energy for this mission than he wanted to admit. The guilt he felt for getting into all of this was still nagging at him, and his early attempts to contact Lexa had bothered him more. He couldn't believe that she had blocked him out of her thoughts, but the idea of her being controlled electronically had made so much more sense now. He should have seen it, but emotions had clouded his judgment. He was ready to admit he missed Mutant X and knew that this was a life he still needed to be in.

He was surprised to see that no one was on the landing to greet him at the top floor. Maybe his hunch was right. He turned for the stairs he knew were at the end of the hallway to make it to the roof to find Shalimar. It was an empty hallway that met him and the eerie silence of the whole floor led to him to believe further that he was alone. He got up to the roof and opened the door. Shalimar had cat-footed the jump between buildings and was waiting for him at the door. They were fortunate that the hotel didn't have a roof camera, which Jesse said a silent prayer over, then moved down the stairs. Shalimar stopped him at the bottom of the stairs and then slowly opened the door.

While Jesse had scanned the floor only briefly, Shalimar's senses went on high alert. The smell of adrenaline, while naked to human senses screamed at hers. She could almost feel someone on the floor, and one sniff seemed very familiar.

Using hand motions that Jesse barely remembered, Shalimar motioned for him to move down the hallway. He shifted to thought mode.

What are you thinking? he gently asked, his interior voice an easy switch.

She's on this level, Jesse, Shalimar nearly screamed in his head, I can smell her.

Shal, wait, if she's here, we need to have Brennan here, and Emma, Jesse calmly replied, You know that.

Shalimar stopped. She could smell the edge of Lexa's frustration. She was there; she could feel it in her bones. Her eyes went cat yellow and she looked down the hall. The usual outline of Lexa went she refracted light wasn't where she thought it would be. There wasn't an outline, but there was a vibe. Jesse felt it as well, something was screaming Lexa, but he couldn't put a finger on what it was. It hurt to think.

Center on my thoughts Jesse, came Emma's calm voice through his thoughts, we're on our way up.

Meet you at the elevator, he replied.

Switching to his own voice he whispered to Shalimar.

"Let's go," he said, "They're meeting us at the elevator."

Shalimar nodded and followed him. She still let the scent of Lexa flow over her settling in a trail that she could see. Jesse pulled her in the hallway across from the elevator, hiding in plain sight. Brennan and Emma were on the elevator, but they were playing the confused tourist by their looks at the floor. Jesse popped out for a moment then motioned for them to join him and Shalimar. Brennan slowly did and Emma followed her hand grabbing Jesse's to get a quick assessment of the situation.

"Go to it, honey," he whispered, "See if she's here."

"Shalimar was right," Emma replied, her eyes going wide, "She's here, three doors down, and she's guarded."

"I can take care of that," Brennan smiled, "Let's do it."

The plan seemed simple, but it was going to take the four of them working as a team to make it perfect. Jesse and Shalimar quickly headed down the hallway to the room just beyond the one that Emma identified as Lexa's. One touch and Jesse had the door phased to allow all of them access into the room. The room was quiet and untouched.

From the layout of the room they were in Jesse planned their attack. One hand on the walland Brennan could poke his face in and hit the guards. The next question was Lexa. The chances of killing her were high if Brennan hit her with several volts. Shalimar could immobilize her if she wanted, but they didn't want to cause her harm, and since Jesse would be busy with phasing the wall, Emma would have to hit her with a blast.

Emma knew it before it was suggested.

"I'll do it, and I'll try to keep her peaceful, but guys, we're fighting electronics here, I don't know how far I can go," Emma admitted and Jesse started breathing deep to center himself for phasing the wall.

"Emma honey, go broadband if you have to, I'll protect everyone," Jesse said, "Just do it."

Emma stared right back at him. The mention of broadband made her wince, but he was right. She nodded.

One hand brought the wall into a state of atoms. Brennan peaked through, put one hand out and in seconds had the guards twitching from sudden electrocution. He quickly stepped through and ducked, hoping not to scare Lexa who he knew was in the room. Shalimar came in right behind him as did Emma, with Jesse closing up the wall behind them like a zipper.

Lexa had her back to them, her silhouette outlined by the city lights. When she turned, her face was full of fury.

"I told you to leave me alone," she seethed, "Why did you come for me?"

"Lex, you aren't yourself," Brennan began, his voice even, "You don't want to be here."

"What do you know about me, lover?" she asked, "You don't know me, Sparky."

"I know you're tired of killing," Shalimar chimed in, "C'mon Lexa, you don't belong to these guys."

"I belong to myself, thank you," Lexa replied, "They're keeping me out of pain, Shalimar, can you do that?"

Shalimar met the blank gaze. She shook her blond head no.

"Then," Lexa replied, her hands going into the ready position, "Why don't you just take your friends and…"

Jesse grabbed Brennan and Shalimar's hands quickly and breathed in. The atoms in all three of their bodies went solid as the molecular massed them.

"Go."

Lexa's bolts bounced off Jesse, but his sudden expulsion of breath took Emma by surprise. She turned and tried to blast Lexa with all that she had, but it didn't seem to work. Lexa tried again with another bolt as Jesse breathed in, missing again, but hitting Emma as she tried to get into Jesse's protective grip.

Knocked unconscious, Emma fell limply at Jesse's feet. Horrified, Jesse screamed.

"EMMA!"