Eighteen months out of G-Force hadn't weakened the former swan's intuition and senses at all. If anything, with the addition of her most precious bundle, she had only begun to grow stronger. She assumed that it was just another one of those side effects of motherhood. Everything; her senses, her emotional and physical strength, seemed so heightened. It was as if her implant had been given a massive upgrade.

In her most exhausted and wacky moments she referred to it as her swannie-senses tingling…

…and tingling they were right now.

It wasn't so much a sense of being watched or followed. There was no dark cloud building above her head to release a massive surge of something unpleasant. It was more of something being out of place. Something foreign that didn't belong.

That something was big, black and expensive – too expensive to be lurking in this neighborhood.

The item in question was a common vehicle in most areas of the city's outer suburbs. The 2050 Dodge Ram 3500 Mega Crew. Black as a Raven and immaculately detailed; she'd only ever seen one of them before. The owner of *that* vehicle was Shinji, Colonel Cronus' right hand wingman. As much as she hoped the owner of this truck might be him, she knew it wouldn't be.

A whisper of a vaguely familiar musky scent tickled at her nose. She tilted her head only enough to check any moving shadows behind her.

Nothing.

There was a shift in the air to her front, and she tensed in preparation for attack. "I'm armed," she warned softly into the stale air in front of her."

"And dangerous, my dear," came an equally quiet response.

All tension within her dissipated at the sound of his voice, and she grunted as she dug into her bag for the keys to her home. "Well. If you're here it can't be good."

Cronus emerged out of the shadows and leaned a shoulder against the glass door of her apartment building. "I'm not always the bringer of bad news, Princess."

Her eyes flicked to the truck across the street, now obviously identified as the one and only James "Shinji" Wilson. "You've got back-up, Sir. What other news could you be bringing?"

"Can we talk upstairs?" His eyes watched hers flick to the truck. "He's on patrol. It'll be just you and me."

She let out a sigh and nodded as she struggled with an old key in an older lock. "Sure, but please excuse the mess."

"I had a toddler once, Princess. I know …"

She shook her head. "It has nothing to do with my child, Sir. My apartment building is very old."

He followed behind, turning his nose at the various acrid smells that lingered in stale pockets of air. "I thought places like this only existed in TV shows and movies," he moaned as he removed his handkerchief from his pocket to cover his mouth.

She swallowed hard and pressed the button for the elevator. "No, Sir. They exist in real-life, too."

"But you were the Swan, Princess. You shouldn't be living like this."

She tipped her ear to her shoulder as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the tenth floor button. "I'm a single mother, Sir. There is little else I can really afford." She watched him open his mouth and cut him off with a curt: "And yes, I know. The decision to do this solo was my own choice."

"Then let me help out."

She slid her eyes in his direction. "No thank you."

"She's my grand child, Princess."

"And," she said sharply, "she has everything she needs."

"Except her father."

She shoved herself out of the elevator door before it had opened fully. Her bag caught on a jagged piece of metal and she had to grunt to pull it free. "If you're here to convince me to go back to G-Force, Cronus, I am not interested. Amanda is a lot safer if they and the rest of the world doesn't know she is."

"Princess …"

She stalked to the door and shoved her shoulder against it as she hurriedly jingled the key in the lock. "Mark has enough on his plate without me adding a kid."

"Let him decide on that."

She turned sharply to him as the babysitter quickly excused herself to leave the apartment. "Is there anything else, Colonel?" She called out to the young woman quickly slipping out the door beside them. "Thanks, Angie. How was she?"

Angie gave her a quick synopsis of the day's events with her child, and hurried off with the excuse of being late for a date.

Princess sighed in self-disgust as she set her bag and keys on a small table beside the door. "I should have told the guys I pass tonight."

Cronus closed the door behind him and leaned his rump against the door in a manner so like the Eagle Commander when he had words planned for the Swan.

"Princess, I do think it's time to talk to Mark."

"Why?" she sighed finally as she flicked on the light to reveal to the grandfather of her child the run-down apartment she currently resided in. "It's too late now."

Cronus lowered his voice to almost a whisper when he responded. "It's never too late, Princess. As much as every fibre of my being is demanding I tell you otherwise, I have to admit …" he sighed. "I think he needs the both of you."

She seemed to consider his words a moment as she slowly walked to the fridge. "Can I get you a drink?"

"At least think about it."

"For her safety, I honestly don't think I can."

"And if it's found out anyway?"

Her hand shook as she set a pitcher of water on the counter. "It won't happen." Her eyes flashed with fear as she looked up at Cronus. "I won't allow it to happen."

"You seem unsure about that."

"Of course I'm unsure!" she spat in her own frustration in herself. "God, Cronus. If you can find me, who knows who else can?"

"Then get protection, Princess." He approached her and set his hands on her shoulders. "Mark will defend the you of two with his life, you know that."

"And I also know he doesn't need the distraction right now." She backed away from him and leaned on straightened arms on the counter. "Which is why I can't go to him. He has so much more to worry about."

"There is nothing more important."

She had to laugh at the comment. "Says you; the man who abandoned his wife and son right when they needed you the most."

His lip curled. "You know the reason I left, Princess. Don't accuse me of abandoning them. I was always there for Mark."

"Not in the way he needed you though…"

He swallowed the words that wanted to explode from his mouth, and instead countered with a quiet. "At least I had the choice to be there or not."

She sighed. "It's not the same thing."

"Yes it is, Princess. You left him for the same reason my Amanda kicked me out." He frowned and tilted his head at her. "Or is that why you're staying away? Because you haven't forgiven him for that."

She groaned and dropped down into a seat. "No. I forgave him for that the moment I saw the regret in his eyes when I left."

"Yet you left…"

She nodded and clenched shut her eyes to prevent the fall of tears. "Something told me I had to go, Colonel." She pointed in the direction of the child's room. "I suppose I subconsciously knew she was coming."

"He'll kill himself over not being there for you."

"I know."

"He still loves you."

She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and inhaled sharply to compose herself. "And I, him. More than I ever have."

"Then, please …"

The urgency in his voice gave her an uneasy warning. She cut to the chase with a sudden, wide-eyed query. "Why now, Sir? What has happened that drew you out of the shadows to convince me to go back to Mark."

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"You're lying."

He stared at her for a long moment. Her eyes bore into him in frightened curiosity.

"Princess …" he sighed. "Anson and Melissa get out of jail in a few days."

She frowned in confusion. "They aren't really a threat, Colonel. They don't concern me."

"They should."

Her head tilted. "Why?"

He grunted. "I don't yet have all of the intel. Anderson suggests that you and yours are a target."

"So he sent you here?"

Cronus shook his head. "He doesn't know about Amanda."

She gasped. "But how …?"

"You saved my life, Princess. I wasn't going to let you walk out unprotected." He sighed. "I had my guys keep a close eye on you."

She groaned. "All of them?"

"A select few."

"And the Chief?"

"He doesn't know, Princess. If he did, Mark would have been here inside an hour." He took a seat beside her.

"And what makes you think Anson can?"

"Like you said. If I can find out where you are, so can they." He took her hand in his. "Princess, you know they have Spectran ties. If they get their technology, with their already extensive knowledge of all of you, who knows …"

She nodded. "I understand. But …"

Her voice and eyes implored him for more time. "I know, Princess. Look. Let my boys keep an eye on you in the meantime. You've got a few days until they're released."

She nodded and sighed a quiet word of thanks.

He slowly stood to leave and dropped a familiar communicator on the table in front of her. "I'll be around. Just call me."

She coughed and looked up at him through tear-stained eyes. "I just need time to know what to say to him. He's going to be so mad."

He rubbed at her shoulder and gave it a short squeeze. "We're here as long as it takes."

"As long as it isn't too long, right?"

He nodded. "At some point I will intervene. I'd rather he hear it from you than me."

She collapsed into her arms and nodded her agreement as she burst into tears.

And as quickly as Cronus had reentered her world, he was gone again. He closed the door to her sobbing and leaned back against it for one moment before peeling himself away.

"I may have messed up with him, Princess," he whispered gruffly. "I'm not going to with her."

~O-O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O-O~

Anderson surveyed the threesome in front of them over the rims of his glasses. He continued to slowly

chew the mouthful of tuna sandwich and wiped at the corner of his mouth with his fingertip as he raised his head to them and swallowed.

"You want me to authorize what?"

Mark pressed his hands into the table in front of the Chief of Security and smiled. "I think it's a great idea."

"You're joking, right?"

Mark shook his head. "It makes sense. Lisa could use the extra knowledge those guys could give her, and it would be fantastic PR to have G-Force working alongside the Law Enforcement teams."

Anderson put his half-eaten sandwich on his plate and eyed it longingly as he leaned his forearms on the table. "And this was so important to you that you couldn't wait until after I'd eaten?"

Lisa smiled and slouched a hip to one side as she flicked her eyes at Jason. "We have to get to you when we can."

Anderson let out a long sigh. "There are so many things wrong with this idea I hardly know where to begin."

"Then just pick the first one in your mind and let us rebut."

His brow raised at the newest G-Forcer, and he turned his attention to the team Commander. "Mark. Care to tell me why this seems so important to you?"

He tilted his head and drummed the fingers of one hand on the table. "I think it is a good training routine for Lisa. She could do with the latest information."

"Which she can get from our own training teams."

"But they don't know what is currently out there."

Anderson shook his head and gave in to temptation by taking another bite of his sandwich, he responded to Mark with a mouthful of tuna, lettuce, tomato, mayo and bread. "Yes they do. They have a direct link up to the Bomb Squad computers. Every case they investigate is immediately uploaded via Zark into our computers."

Mark pursed his lips. "How quickly is this intel gathered, Chief? And how intimate is this information?"

Anderson swallowed. "Whatever the Bomb unit reports is what we have, Commander."

His grin turned cheeky. "But do they get to see the bomb through the eyes of the investigators? Do they see the construction and the intricacies? Do they know the sweat and worry and thought processes of the one disarming the weapon?"

Anderson groaned. "Oh, God, Mark. You have to give me a more viable reason than that if you want me to authorize you to engage in competition time with the local teams."

"This isn't a competition. This is training for our team."

Anderson raised a glass of V-8 juice to his mouth and drew in a long mouthful. "Don't you think for a second they won't treat it as such."

Mark pulled himself up to a stand and threaded his thumbs into his belt. "I think they'd extend professional courtesy and be thrilled to work with Lisa."

"No."

Jason stepped up beside Mark and folded his arms across his chest. With Anderson seated at the cafeteria table, he had the advantage of being able to tower above him. "I'm with Mark. I think Lisa can get some damn good experience working with them. She needs some more training, Chief. Who better to teach her than people who actually work with this stuff?"

"I ask that you give our team a little more credit than that, Jason," the Chief snorted in response. "They are equally qualified and spend most of their time pouring over the latest intel we receive."

"And of the entire squad, only one has ever actually worked Bomb Squad. And he only lasted twenty months because he got his hand blown off on the job."

Anderson raised an offended brow. "Respect, Jason. Have you ever heard of that term?"

He leaned his palms on the table and leered with a curled lip at the project leader. "She needs hands on experience, and she ain't getting it here."

Anderson flicked his eyes between the two G-Force leaders. "Why is this so damn important to you three? What is it that you're not telling me?"

Lisa shrugged with wide eyes and a genuine innocence. Mark rolled his eyes, but was honest when he said: "No reason. I just thought it would be a great opportunity for her to get more hands on."

Anderson's eyes rose to Jason, who had retracted into his own little space. The man said nothing and didn't look at any of the other three.

This was intriguing to the Chief of Security. He pursed his lips and tilted his head as he removed his glasses. "Before I submit to any of this, I want a typed official request on my desk that is signed by the head of the explosives training unit."

Mark gave a firm nod. "Will do, Chief." He slid his eyes to Lisa and nodded for her to follow him. "Let's get to work on that now, then. Shall we?"

Her eyes glittered as she nodded. "Sure, Commander."

The trio prepared to jog off, but was interrupted by Anderson's Stern: "Jason, a word."

The man in question raised his head and groaned as Mark chuckled but continued on his way. "Catch you guys later," he called after them before dropping his gaze to Anderson. "What did I do now?"

Anderson was quick to get to the point. "Spill it."

"Spill what?"

"I take it this whole Bomb Squad idea was yours?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"Why?"

He shrugged. "She could do with the training. I don't want to get blown up on a mission because she doesn't know what she's doing."

"That's bullshit, and you know it. Lisa is more than capable." He lowered his head to gaze at Jason through his brows. "Now tell me the truth or I will veto this whole thing."

Jason curled a lip, looked around the room, and lowered his voice a few decibels. "Princess."

"Come again?"

"Princess is on the squad."

Anderson raised his head and both brows. His voice took on a tone of extreme interest, and perhaps a little excitement. "Is this confirmed?"

"About as much as it can be, Chief. I saw her with my own eyes, and she's going by the name Cassie Anderson." He shrugged. "Not much more proof is needed if you ask me."

"And she asked you to do this?"

He gave a laugh. "Hardly."

He sat back in his chair and put his glasses back on. "Then I'm not sure if this is such a good idea. I don't think she'd appreciate the lot of you suddenly appearing on her doorstep."

"Chief…"

"I mean. If she wanted back, she'd come to us herself." He folded his arms and looked down at the table. "We really have no need or reason to invade her life like this."

"Yeah, we do, Chief."

Anderson raised his eyes to Jason. "You mean Anson and Melissa's release, yes?"

Jason's mouth gaped. "They're getting out?"

"Thursday."

Jason shook his head. "Then we gotto get there and make sure she's safe, Chief. That asshole Anson has already said he's going to go after her. And his dog ass lawyer can deny it all he wants but she and he are Spectran goons."

"The team, Jason. He intimated that the team is in danger, not specifically Princess."

"And what is the best way to get at us? Through Mark. Destroy Mark, destroy G-Force." He huffed, "and to get Mark …"

"You hurt Princess." He clicked in a small amount of air through his teeth. "I'm sure Princess will be able to protect herself, Jason. If she is with Law enforcement, she'll have…."

"There's more, Chief. More you don't know about – at least I damn well hope you don't." he interrupted gently.

"Which is?"

Jason took a deep breath. "Mark's kid."

Anderson coughed. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me."

Anderson blinked and shook his head. "No. I don't think I did."

"She didn't leave because of what happened with Mark, Chief. She was pregnant."

Anderson shook his head and waved his finger through the air as if in total disbelief and was seeking clarification. "This is confirmed? Are you sure the child is his??"

He actually seemed a little defensive. "She's no slut, Chief. I know you aren't accusing her of jumping straight into another man's bed."

Anderson groaned painfully, but nodded. "Oh, Hell." He dropped his forehead into his palm. "How many of you know this?"

"Just me."

"And she knows you know?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I got the info from her Partner last night at the bar."

Anderson tilted his head and frowned. "So, what? You're all hanging with the Bomb Squad now?"

No," Jason answered as he stole a potato chip from Anderson's plate. "Just happened to bump into them at the bar. They were celebrating the Subway thing."

Anderson's eyes shot open. "Princess was on that assignment?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Dammit." Anderson bellowed as his fist hit the table immediately alarming all in the cafeteria. He cleared his throat and waved to the sudden audience to tell them all was okay. He lowered his voice to Jason. "I should have known by the intel that it was Princess."

Jason frowned. "How?"

"Oh who else could decipher that explosive. The execution of the threat had Princess written all over it."

"You read the reports?"

He shook his head. "That one was put on my desk for analysis. Suspected Spectran, I suppose."

"Was it?"

"No. Just an amateur with big dreams. But it was just …" he inhaled long. "The only person who could have diffused that one was Princess."

"Then what do we do?"

Anderson pursed his lips. He tapped his fingertips on the table and cradled his chin in his hand. "Let me discuss with Cronus."

"What? Why the Hell do we pull him in?"

Anderson's gaze rose to meet Jason's. "For her protection I've had him watching over her since she left. He knows everything about what she's doing and where she is, I'll get confirmation from him."

"How come he knows and you don't?"

"I specifically requested that he tell me nothing."

Jason curled a lip. "If he knew about the kid, why didn't he tell Mark?"

Anderson shrugged. "I don't know."

"Asshole. When I get my hands on him …"

"For now," he interrupted sharply before Jason could make the full threat. "I will send Lisa in. But she goes in alone. I don't want you … or Mark … anywhere near the lab, precinct, or anywhere Princess has to be. I also want total silence on your part. You don't say a word to anyone about this." He saw a small grin on Jason's face and realized the Condor may have found a loophole. "Tiny and Keyop are banned from the project, too, Jason. Don't you think I don't know what you're planning."

He gasped in faux innocence. "Huh?"

"You and Lisa and Tiny might keep this secret, but I know Keyop. There is no way he'll keep it quiet, so don't even think about it." He slowly drew himself to a stand. "The less of you that know …"

"Lisa will figure it out, you know."

"Then brief her. But only tell her what she needs to know, nothing more."

Jason nodded. "Good enough."

He turned his back to Jason and stalked toward the door. "Tell Lisa she starts with the Bomb Unit in the morning. I'll arrange everything."

Jason smirked in self-satisfaction. It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it was close enough. "Chief," he called after Anderson, who stopped and turned to give the condor a tired look.

"What?"

"Thank you."

~O-O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-O-O~

One thing Mala had to admit, was that the visitation rooms of the female penitentiary outside of the city was actually quite clean. She had expected something a little less maintained, like in the films she'd watched in her youth when studying all that was Earth.

Earth cinema was obviously much more fiction than fact.

She took a seat at a small booth and checked her complexion in a small compact mirror while she waited for Melissa to take a seat on the other side of the glass. On her immediate left was an attractive young brunette who appeared to stand guard, and on her right, a tall man with corn-blonde hair set in a braid. He wore black sunglasses and purple driving gloves, and seemed disgusted at even the very thought of touching anything in the room.

Mala paid him no attention as Melissa, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and sockless running shoes, took a seat at the glass. She waited for her to pick up the black telephone handset from the wall, and then took her own after wiping it with her handkerchief.

"Melissa, you look well."

Melissa smirked, looking into her reflection on the glass rather than the woman beyond it. "As well as can be expected when you're the one in jail for screwing around with the Eagle."

"Lovely choice of words, young lady."

Melissa shrugged and picked at her teeth, still unwilling to look beyond her own reflection. "I didn't say 'screwed' the Eagle."

"Although you did a delightful job of convincing the Swan of such."

Melissa shrugged. "That was what you wanted. And considering the man is my brother, it is better that I didn't."

Mala grinned through glossy red lips in response. "Yes, A delightful development."

Melissa tilted her head, finally looking through the glass at the Spectran ruler's sister. "So what do you want with me?"

"I would have thought the answer to that was obvious."

She sighed and rolled her eyes as she repeated the phrase her rehabilitation officers had drilled into her repeatedly in her 12 months of incarceration. "I am rehabilitated now. I will no longer hold any ill-will toward, nor attempt to humiliate or attack…"

"That's a line of bullshit, and you know it."

Melissa smiled thinly, her eyes narrowed almost seductively. "It's what got me out of here in record time. Thank you, by the way, for scheduling an attack during my parole hearing. Not having Mark there to destroy my application helped a lot."

"And now we call on the favour you now owe."

Melissa blinked slowly as her face fell into neutrality. "Anson is on board?"

"Your boyfriend is more than a willing soldier."

She hummed low in response.

Mala continued. "We feel it's time for you to try and mend fences with your family."

She raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"The Eagle is duty bound, and inherently good. If his long-lost sister was to try and become a part of his life, to reform to good and …"

Melissa interrupted with a shake of her head. "He's not a moron, Mala. He will know the second I show my face that I am not wanting to play happy family with him."

"But you will try?"

She laughed. "And end up in here again? My conditions of parole forbid me to come within 250 feet of him or the Federation."

The man behind Mala spoke up. "Isn't that a risk you're willing to take for the people who got you out of here to begin with?"

Melissa gasped at the voice; she'd know it anywhere. "Lord Zoltar." It took control not to lower her head at him in respect. "I wish I could say it's an honour."

He watched her eyes flick nervously to each guard, wondering if they had any inkling as to who they had in their visitation rooms. "They are none-the-wiser, young Melissa."

"For you I do hope so."

He flicked his hand and shrugged a shoulder. "I have back-up. Even if your brother was to burst in here with his team, I would still escape…"

"Can we not call him that, My Lord?"

The side of his mouth twitched in a smile. "As you wish."

She raised her head high and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Why aren't you targeting the Swan instead of him?"

"We are unable to find her at this time."

She lowered her head and smirked. "And you say your intelligence spies are second to none?"

Zoltar growled low, but Mala was the one to respond. "It would serve you well to show some respect, Melissa. You life hangs in our balance."

Melissa raised her hand to ask for silence. "I know where she is, Mala."

Both Zoltar and Mala's brows rose in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"You have spies only in the Federation. Anderson is aware of leaks and has probably asked that Cronus not give him any information as to her whereabouts. She is safe only if G-Force don't know where she is."

Zoltar seemed eager for more information as he scooched Mala off the seat so that he may sit. "And you have managed to gain this information, Melissa?"

She nodded. "I still have contacts in the Rangers who believe me to be innocent in all this." Her tongue swept across her drying lips. "I know far more than anyone at all in the Federation."

Zoltar licked at his own lips, excited by the new development. "Where is she? I owe that little bitch a slow and painful demise."

"Uh-uh," Melissa sang with a wave of her finger. "Not so fast. There is more you should know, Lord Zoltar. There are other, more painful, ways of making her suffer."

He smirked, "such as?"

She blinked slowly and purred low. "Did you know I'm an aunt?"