Thank you for the reviews! Believe it or not, the "jaunting belt" injoke in the last chapter was a last minute addition. It was only when I was about to sit down and write the chapter that it occurred to me the belts were the perfect way for the Tomorrow People to be able to still use their powers, at which point the line became irresistible.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

John and Astrid were lying in bed together. John grinned. "So…impressed?"

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "I'd be more impressed if you'd actually paid for this hotel room."

John shrugged. "What can I say? I'm an impoverished fugitive."

"But you still do your best to show a girl a good time."

John took her hand and looked at her seriously. "I just wanted to spend a night with you as myself, not as some puppet of Jedikiah's."

Astrid swallowed hard. "We should be headed back to the Refuge soon."

"You don't have to come."

"I think we both know I do. How long have we got?"

John glanced at the room's clock and at the communicator sitting on his bedside table. Then he looked back at her and grinned. "Long enough,"he decided. He kissed her and they sank back into the bed.

A long line of Tomorrow People were passing through the Refuge's armoury, where Mike was handing out weapons. "Keep moving!"he called. "Got a lot of people to get through."

Luca and Sophie were standing next to each other in the line. "You nervous?"Luca asked.

"Terrified,"Sophie confirmed.

Luca enveloped her hand in his. "I'll watch out for you, okay?"

"Oh, please tell me you two aren't flirting,"Andrew complained from just behind them.

Luca glanced back at the boy; they were about the same age. "You been told which group you're in?"

"B Group."

"Same as us,"Sophie noted.

"You want to go with us?"Luca asked. He noticed Andrew's surprised look and shrugged. "Us newbies have got to stick together."

"Yeah, sure,"Andrew agreed, seeming pleased to be included.

Mike thrust stun guns and belts at them. "Cut the talk and move along."

John and Astrid were just finishing getting dressed, strapping their booster belts into place. John gave Astrid a quick kiss. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

John spoke into the communicator. "Teleport us back to the Refuge, Tim."

"Right away, John,"came the response.

John turned back to Astrid. "You go ahead and join the others when we get there. There's someone I need to see."

Charlotte was sat on her bed, twirling a stun gun about in her hand, when John entered. "You going to use that thing on me?"he asked.

Charlotte looked at him, slightly wary. "Do I need to?"

John sat down on the bed next to her and placed a hand over hers. "I'm sorry I scared you."

Charlotte gave him an awkward smile. "It's okay. I know it wasn't really you. Jedikiah."

John nodded wearily. "Yeah. Jedikiah."

"I hate him. All he does is hurt people. Everyone at the Citadel, you. And now he's coming here to hurt us?"

"We think so." He looked at her, so young and vulnerable. "You don't have to be a part of this, you know. If you stay in your room, you should be safe."

Charlotte shook her head. "I want to come."

John helped her to her feet and put his arm round her shoulder. "Let's go then."

Stephen was in the office, staring out the window. Cara approached him. "You okay?"

Stephen sighed. "You get that this could go wrong?"

"It had occurred to me."

"If I get us all killed…well, I doubt anyone will ever forgive me."

Cara gave a slight smile. "You're a very forgivable person."

Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to give me a peptalk?"

"Do you need me to?"

"Maybe. It just seems like…whenever I need one, you're there."

Cara took his hand. "You know I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so don't laugh. But…whatever happens now, I'm glad I met you. I'm glad I fell in love with you."

Stephen smiled, then kissed her softly.

The kiss broke and Cara sighed. "See, that's what I should have done."

Stephen glanced out of the window. "They're here." The pair suddenly became businesslike. "You go and get the others ready. I've just got to make a phone call."

Cara looked at him sceptically. "Isn't that kind of cheating?"

"Just being a responsible citizen."

Jedikiah got out of the land rover and watched as his troops disembarked. He gestured to two of the soldiers. "You two?" He gestured to a point on a map of the building, where John had told him the rec area was. "See if you can teleport in there." The two men sparkled with teleportation energy but failed to dematerialise fully, eventually solidifying again. "No? Okay, we'll do it the old-fashioned way. Move in."

The group entered the entrance hall. Suddenly, a voice called out to them. "Hey, Uncle Jed. Nice of you to drop round. Would have been nice if you'd knocked on the door though."

The troops stopped and looked up. There was no ceiling immediately above them, meaning all the other levels looked down on the entrance. Stephen was standing on the next level up, with John and Cara on either side of him. "Stephen!"Jedikiah called out. "Why don't you come down here and we can discuss this sensibly?"

"With the men with guns standing next to you? No, thanks."

"I have…a proposition. You can come with me, work for the government. You want to help people, right? I'm giving you that chance."

"So long as I get lobotised first?"

Jedikiah's composure started to slip. "We need to be sure. We can't have your people wandering around doing whatever they like. They're dangerous."

"Then no deal."

"And what are you going to do to stop it, Stephen? Your people must have deserted in droves once your assassination failed. Who have you got left, just John and Cara there?"

"No…actually there's a lot more." Stephen called out defiantly,"A team, stand ready!" At the call, several Tomorrow People stepped into view, stretching out either side of him so they covered the whole of the area around the edge. Astrid, Charlotte, Mike and Lucy were among them.

"B team!"called out Irene and another group of Tomorrow People stepped into view on the ledge to the troopers' left.

"C team!"called out Russell and another group appeared to their right. All had stun guns raised and ready to use.

Jedikiah looked at them with cold fury. "Kill them."

The troops fired their weapons upwards but the Tomorrow People had the high ground and the cover. They opened up with their stun guns and the troops began to fall. "I think it's working,"Cara told Stephen.

"Don't jinx it,"he warned her.

One of the troopers opened up at the B group. Sophie flung up a forcefield that blocked the shot. Luca telekinetically knocked the weapon from the man's hand and a moment later Andrew stunned him. "Teamwork,"he commented.

"Don't let up!"Irene shouted. "Pick your targets carefully."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"Russell asked her telepathically.

Irene locked eyes with him on the opposite side before sending a telepathic reply. "It is quite satisfying."

In the front row of Group C, Piper glanced at Troy. "Bring back memories?"

"Don't start,"he replied gruffly.

Somehow Jedikiah was still on his feet, even though almost all his troops were down. As the last one fell, he turned and ran back out the entrance. And it was only then that he heard the sirens, as three police cars came speeding to a halt in front of the building and officers jumped out. He stared at them incredulously. The Tomorrow People had called the police? Then he composed himself. He could talk his way out of it. He had official contacts, after all.

Suddenly his arm, the one that ended in the hand holding his gun, lifted up involuntarily, until the weapon was pointing at the officers. Try as he might, he couldn't move it…and then he realised what was about to happen. "No, wait!"he shouted.

The officers, seeing a man pointing a gun at them, opened fire. Several rounds hit him in the chest. His arm was the last thing to hit the ground.

The Tomorrow People had made it to the entrance hall in time to witness Jedikiah's last stand. "I'm not imagining this, am I?"Russell asked. "He didn't raise that arm himself."

"Someone moved his arm telekinetically,"John confirmed.

"Assisted suicide by cop."

"But who?"Astrid asked.

The group looked at each other…and slowly all eyes fell on Charlotte. "He was mean,"she said simply, and walked away.

Cara looked amused. "You always have to watch the quiet ones."