'Well, I can't be sure,' Jesse said looking at Lexa, unconscious in his arms, then up to Shalimar and Brennan. 'But, I…I think we just travelled at the speed of light.'

'We what?' Stuttered Brennan. 'How is that possible?' He knelt down next to Jesse and felt Lexa's neck for a pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief when he did. It was slow and a bit weak, but it was weak.

'Well, Lexa has the ability to control and manipulate light. It makes sense that see can travel in it I suppose, right Jess?' Shalimar asked.

However, Jesse did not reply. He was staring down at Lexa, stroking her hair. He was gently trying to wake her but to no avail, the sight made Shalimar's heart melt. Sensing her staring Jesse looked up to meet Shalimar's gaze.

'She's going to be fine man,' Brennan said, trying to reassure his friend. 'She's just out cold. The uh...trip, must've taken a lot out of her.'

Jesse thought about it. Brennan was right, the usage of power of such a magnitude must require a great amount of strength. Lexa must've just passed out from exhaustion. He brightened a little at the consolation

'Well, I don't know about you guys but I'm getting frostbite out here. How about we try and find somewhere where we can clean up and get a good nights rest?' Shalimar suggested.

'I'm all for that,' Brennan replied, moving over Shalimar and rubbing her arms, trying to warm her. She smiled up at him for his attempt. 'Being near such a big city like Vancouver, there must be some motels near by. Which was do think we should head?'

'Well, I can hear noises coming from that direction, a buzzing sound, like the sound that motel signs make.' Shalimar gestured towards the right.

'Right it is then.' Jesse rose slowly to his feet, still holding Lexa in his arms.

'You want me to help you with Lexa?' Shalimar offered kindly.

'No, it's ok. I've got her.' Jesse replied starting to walk in the direction Shalimar had motioned.

'Ok then.' Brennan said rubbing his hands together. 'Lets find us a motel!'

The group began their walk up the road. They had been walking for around twenty minutes when a row of buildings came into view just ahead of them, visible by the light of a single streetlamp and a strange pink hue. As they got closer they saw that, to their delight, the pink glow was emanating from a neon sign that read 'The Mermaid Motel: Vacancies.'

'Hallelujah!' Brennan exclaimed with delight. 'I need food, a shower and a bed.'

'Amen to that!' said a quite, croaky voice. Shalimar and Brennan turned to see Lexa stirring and Jesse gently lowered her to her feet.

'Hey,' Shalimar said, relieved to see that Lexa was awake.

'Nice of you to join us.' Brennan playfully mocked, resulting in a sarcastic smile thrown in his direction from Lexa.

Jesse reached out and stroked her arm. 'Are you ok?' he asked her, concern etched in his face.

'Yeah I'm ok.' Lexa replied smiling at Jesse. 'Well, I mean my head hurts like hell as though someone's trying to split it open with a hammer and chisel…' she laughed half heartedly, 'but other than that I'm ok.' Jesse's face softened slightly.

'Lex, I've got to ask, what happened back there?' Shalimar piped up.

'Well, we…we kind of travelled at the speed of light.' Lexa responded.

'Ha, said so!' Jesse exclaimed triumphantly, causing the rest of the group to chuckle at the abruptness.

'So, how come we didn't know about it before now?' Brennan enquired.

'Well, I hardly ever do it. Its difficult and it takes a lot out of me so I try to avoid it. I've never done it with passengers before. I'm just glad it didn't go wrong and that there were no side effects.' Lexa finished.

'Wait a minute, side effects?' Brennan said.

'Well, I suppose that a part of you could've been left behind or something, I've heard of that happening before.' Lexa said.

Shalimar and Jesse laughed seeing the look of utter horror on Brennan's face.

'Left behind? And you didn't think to mention this beforehand? He continued their banter and grimaced at the though.

'What, would you have preferred me to leave you behind to get captured by the…..' her voice trailed off. What with her recent power display and her playful exchange with Brennan she had temporarily forgotten about their situation. She looked to the ground, the memories from earlier that night flooding back; Adam, the Creator, the explosion at the Dominion, Sanctuary and the Helix being destroyed. The thoughts came cascading back down, almost crushing her.

'…by the Dominion.' Shalimar finished the sentence for her.

The four of them stood there, none of them saying a word, each reflecting on the night's events.

'What are we going to do? We need to get Adam back. We need a game plan and…'

'Come on Shal, lets not get into this now.' Jesse interrupted.

'Not get into this now? Shalimar said somewhat angrily. 'Jesse, the Dominion is going to be sending all available agents to find us, who, if you haven't noticed, have no home, no transportation, no money. We need to talk about this, we need a plan.'

'I'm not disputing that. I'm just saying that I think we should, as Brennan said, get cleaned up and take a breather before we decide upon anything rash.' Jesse shot back irritated.

'Ok, lets just all take it easy,' Lexa said attempting to break up the quarrel. She looked at Brennan for help. Her and Brennan were not used to being the mediators, it was usually them doing the fighting.

'Jesse's right Shal.' Brennan said, lifting Shalimar's head up so as to look her in the eye 'Let's get ourselves a room and rest for a bit before we decide anything ok? Everyone agreed?'

'Agreed.' Jesse and Lexa said in unison.

'Agreed,' Shalimar mumbled disgruntled.

'Good.' Said Brennan satisfied. 'Now I don't know about you guys, but I could do with mars bar and a sit down!' He said, trying to lighten the tone.

The others nodded in agreement. Brennan took Shalimar's hand and set off in the direction of The Mermaid, with Jesse following close behind.

Lexa remained rooted to the spot for a moment, staring out into the darkness. Shalimar was right; they needed to find Adam, as soon as possible. In her mind, the words of the Dominion suit played over and over again; 'Your expiry date is… fast approaching,' he had said. Fast approaching? What did that mean? Was it in a month, a week…a day? Did the Creator, in fact, have a cure? Her mind was filled with questions, ones that she had no answers to She was scared; there was no denying it.

'I'm not ready to die,' she thought to herself. 'There are so many things I still have to do. So many things I still have to say, to Brennan and Shal…to Jesse.' What if I die before getting to tell him how I really feel?' She felt the sting of tears in her eyes thinking about it. She had to take down the Dominion and she had to find Adam, and she didn't have much time to do it in by the sounds of it…

'Lexa,' her thoughts were by broken by his voice, 'You coming?'

'Yeah.' She replied. And with that, she took one last look out into the darkness before hading after the rest of the team.