Melissa wasn't sure if she was exactly thrilled to have been summoned into a meeting with Spectra's ruler so soon after a failed mission. She had barely a moment to change her clothing before there were goons at her door demanding she leave with them immediately.

She honestly didn't expect any tears for the loss of her fellow Rigan Aviation Institute graduate. While she was most definitely close enough to him to have called him family, she couldn't find it inside her to shed a tear. She wondered if that meant she'd finally lost what it meant to be human; that she was officially an emotionless robot ready to answer to any whim of her new leader.

She didn't know what to think as she was led through the labyrinth of tunnels under the city subway system. Part of her figured it would probably be her final tomb; that Zoltar had ordered her death because of the failure. It would make sense, although he was more apt to find some way of forcing one to take their own life in the name of Spectra. He was prone to ordering such fates only if it meant the death would cause many more along with it, but for him to take a more Mafia style approach of covert murder wouldn't exactly surprise her.

She was surprised, then, when she was shoved into a small alcove for safety as a train roared down the tracks full of passengers racing home from work. Once the ten-car train had rumbled through, the small group of goons tugged her out and back along the hot line. She saw the lights of the station ahead of her and angled her head curiously to one side to see one of Zoltar's key operatives dressed in civilian clothing marching toward it carrying a trendy backpack over his shoulder. Before he stepped around the barrier to wait amongst the gathering crowds on the platform, however, she was pushed by one the goons through what appeared to be a utility room door.

She gasped when she passed through the door to see an elaborate staging room full of lab equipment and computers inside.

"What is this?" she asked herself softly as the door clicked behind her.

Zoltar's voice snarled impatiently from beside her. "I asked for your presence over an hour ago, Melissa."

She flicked her head to him and gave him an arrogant look up and down. "Perhaps if your lair of the week was more accessible, then I may have arrived sooner."

He rolled a shoulder and flicked his hand to tell her to follow as he made his way through the lab. "We were forced to eliminate our previous warehouse due to the inappropriate presence of the city's enforcement teams. This section of the underground will prove more effective for our operations for the time being."

She shrugged of only to appear disinterested, but found herself completely fascinated by the bustling energy. "I take it the explosion downtown today was that warehouse."

Zoltar gave a single sharp nod and stepped ahead of her into an elaborately decorated office. "It allowed us the opportunity to sample some of the new compound and destroy any evidence …" he paused with a grin as he poured himself a glass of red wine. "And to eliminate a few loose ends."

She wondered if he would offer her a wine, but was disappointed to find him simply walk away from the bottle and sip gently on his glass. "Would a loose end be the dead member of the Bomb Squad?"

He bit on the edge of the glass in a smile. "Oh no. That was purely accidental. The device was both timed and set with a trigger to sense any electrical stimuli." His brow rose slightly. "The technician who erred with the sensor has since been dealt with."

Melissa tilted her head. "What kind of electronics are we talking, sir?"

"It is quite possible that the logistics behind such a detail are beyond your intelligence, Melissa. However, as you seem interested, and I feel like talking, the sensor was set to the G-Force wavelengths that their uniforms seem to carry. We have isolated that particular wave and had it applied to our sensors."

She really didn't understand what he was on about, but feigned complete apprehension with a breath. "As in their implant technology, Sir?"

He nodded in surprise. "Impressive, Melissa."

She shocked even herself that the bluff worked. "So you say the sensor was a failure?"

He drew back long on the wine and hummed appreciatively at the smooth burn of the alcohol. "Unless Chief Anderson and his men are sharing the technology, Melissa, then yes. It was a failure. The bomb detonated upon the arrival of the city bomb team."

Melissa frowned. "But according to the news reports, G-Force was there."

He shook his head and tilted the glass at her as if pointing at her. "They did not arrive until after the explosion."

Her head twisted uncomfortably to the side. "Are you sure about that?"

"I was there, Melissa," he growled quietly. "I witnessed the arrival of the team from the city. G-Force did not arrive until nearly fifteen minutes after the explosion."

Melissa pursed her lips and frowned in thought. "All five members arrived late?"

"Indeed they did."

Melissa took a moment to consider the events of the evening, of the attack at the apartment and the sudden arrival of the entire police force and G-Force at the ex-Swan's defence. She knew of the face of the young man with Princess and Mark from the news reports of his team's latest exploits. He was the overt member of a pair of investigators whose female member was camera shy. All she ever saw of the girl was her braided black hair and vaguely familiar innocent gait.

It fell into place.

She actually smiled when she looked back at Zoltar. "Have you considered the possibility that the Swan may have been onsite?"

Zoltar did little more than raise a brow at her suggestion. "Why would the Swan be with G-Force, Melissa. You, yourself, said she had abandoned them."

She smirked and shook her head. "Perhaps she found herself a new job with the local police force."

His brow flicked curiously and he took an attentive position in a chair behind an ornate oak desk. "Continue."

She slouched in her stance, uncomfortable with his rapt attention. "You have to admit that it makes sense. G-Force never work alongside law enforcement. They show no interest in the small stuff."

He laughed lightly. "Not enough glory for the Eagle."

She snorted in agreement. "Well for them to show up at a low-level event is strange, then. Even you have to admit that."

He growled. "I'll ignore the implication there, Melissa."

She shrugged. "You say the sensor was set to pick up the wavelengths of their implant technology." At his nod she continued. "The Swan obviously has the same implant regardless of whether or not she is on the team. If she were the one to walk into that building, it goes without saying that your sensor would have picked it up and reacted accordingly."

He rubbed thoughtfully at his chin and smirked. "It is a possibility we can explore, young lady."

"It fits with the mess at the Swan's home this evening."

His lip curled into a snarl. "This is something we need to discuss." He drew back on his wine and admired the glass for a second before he set it down on the desk in front of him. "How did Anson fail what was supposed to be an easy assignment?"

She shrugged and curled her lip shortly as she assessed what her fate might be when she explained the details. "She's the Swan, Sire. Do you honestly believe it would be so easy?"

"Yes. She is one woman. I sent twenty men with him."

"You forget she was one woman who obliterated a base with almost a thousand men."

His eyes narrowed in disgust. He reached forward to hold the stem of his glass of wine. "Of that I don't need a reminder."

"Perhaps you do," she breathed carefully as she let her eyes scan for the closest exit. "If she can single-handedly destroy an entire base, what makes you believe only twenty men can bring her down?"

The stem cracked in his hold, which made the bulb of the glass topple loudly onto the table. Zoltar ignored the crimson puddle of wine as it rolled toward the centre. "You don't question me, Melissa." He lifted his hand and rolled his fingers slowly into a tight fist. "I can squash you like an ant."

"I don't doubt it," she hissed quietly.

"Yet you question me." His fist flicked out as he finally registered the wine before him. The puddle displayed a clear reflection of his mask and he let his narcissism calm him. "I will be ruler of this world, young lady. You will be well inclined to learn to respect me. My men have died at my hand for far less insolence."

"You need me," she tried arrogantly.

"Only for as long as your brother breathes." He raised his eyes to hers. "It the moment his last breath leaves his body you will no longer have any use to this organization."

"Then it seems I live for another day."

His glossed lips stretched across his face in a threatening smile. "But do you really live?" He pressed a gloved finger into the puddle and swirled it lazy before raising it to his mouth. "Or is it just a meager existence of servitude?"

She shuddered as she watched him bring his finger to his mouth to sweep his tongue along the wetted tip. "I live only to serve," she growled obediently. "As you wish."

"Then you will tell me where you believe the Swan to be." He rose and walked to the wall to pour himself another glass of wine. His back was to her as he spoke. "If she is with a new team, then she has a new base." He turned slightly to look at her over his shoulder. "You will unearth this location for me and report what you find."

"And you will do what, Sire?"

He gave a laugh and turned with enough force to splash contents the half-filled glass of wine onto the wall. "Why I will destroy it, won't I?"

She gave a slow blink. "Would it not be easier to simply plant something new and have her team brought to you?"

"No." He took a stride toward her. "If there is threat her identity is known, they will not send her in." His stride took him only to his desk and he pressed a hand down on it in a lean. "If I know anything about these humans it is that they protect their own. You say the Eagle came to her rescue this evening. He will ensure she is kept from any harm."

She smiled and shook her head. "Then why am I going to find her new base? If he is keeping her under wraps then she probably won't even be there."

His face froze in an expressionless glare at her for calling his mistake. "Just go, Melissa. Get me the information I need. Only then will I forget about your failure in retrieving a little baby." He flicked his finger at the doorway. "How you were defeated by a woman and an infant I have no idea."

She swept by him and offered him a glare as she passed. "Maybe it was because of G-Force, and the entire city police department."

"Just leave," he snarked in reply. "Bring me what I need by evening tomorrow."

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

As much as Princess had appreciated her team rushing out and buying her baby some necessities, she felt a little left out at them not having considered her own needs and at least purchasing one outfit for her. She tried hard to feel completely grateful at their thoughtfulness. But as she analysed her current attire in the mirror above Mark's dresser, she felt a tiny dip in her stomach. Her jeans had survived the fight relatively intact. A quick trip through the washer and dryer had eliminated much of the blood and mud, leaving only light rusted stains on the hip and knees. Her sweater, however, was a total write-off. Mark had tried to clean it for her, but had neglected to consider that it was cashmere, and therefore wasn't exactly washing machine friendly. It had now become something that would fit little Amanda somewhere beyond her second birthday.

Mark watched with a smile as she stood in front of the mirror wearing only a low-rise pair of Parasuco jeans, a white bra and a pout as she assessed whether or not she might actually be able to squeeze herself into the sweater. He peeled himself from the door and lowered his head to hide the smile.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I probably should have waited for you to wash them, but you were asleep and I didn't want to bother you."

She let out a long breath that was a mix of disappointment and humour and folded the small sweater in half against her belly. "That's okay, Mark. You tried. I can't complain about that."

He stepped toward her and raised her chin with the crook of his finger. He smiled in mock guilt as her eyes met his. "So I'm forgiven?"

He couldn't help but grin and stepped around him. "This time I'll forgive you," she warned jokingly. "Next time I'll request blood."

"Oh such a dangerous girl is my Swan," he chuckled as he underhand threw a familiar shirt to her. "I hope this will suffice until we can either get you to a mall or stop by your apartment."

She contracted with the catch as though it were a heavy package and narrowed her eyes at him. "At least act intimidated, Mark."

He shrugged and flopped down into a seat on the edge of his bed. He leaned back on an arm and crossed his legs at the knee. "The mountain does not bow down to a mortal man, nor does it fear the wrath of…"

"Oh can it," she groaned painfully as she opened the shirt and took a long look at it. "My number three shirt."

He smiled. "I have four of them."

Her eyes closed gently as she shook her head and brought it to her nose as if to smell it. "My old perfume."

"My new softner, actually." He smirked at her sudden shocked look and shrugged. "Okay, I sent Cynthia out to buy me some supplies last week. That was what she picked out."

"How is Cyn?"

He nodded. "Still the left side of my brain. I swear I'd be lost without her."

She held the shirt out in front of her and breathed out hard as she stared at it. "Should I be jealous?"

He ignored the joke through being too focused on her reluctance to slip on the shirt. "Is there something wrong with it, Princess?"

Her eyes rose to look at him over the top of the shirt. "I just don't feel right putting it back on. This is a G-Force uniform and I'm not G-Force."

He rubbed his knees with his hands and pushed himself to a stand. "It takes only one word for you to be on my team again, Princess. Just say it."

She pulled the shirt into her chest. "What's the word?"

"Yes." He strode to a space only two feet away from her and paused. He pulled her communicator from his pocket and held it out to her. "Just say yes when I ask if you want to come back."

She backed off and shook her head. "No, Mark. I can't."

"Yes you can." He flicked his arm to tell her to take it. "Just take the communicator and you're back with us."

She shook her head again. "No. Not now that I have Amanda." She cast a gaze into the hallway toward the room where her daughter slept. "I can't put myself in a situation where she can lose her mother." She flicked her head back when she heard him clear his throat. "Mark. It's bad enough that you're out there risking your life with every mission. If we put both ourselves out there and she loses both of us …" She shuddered. "I don't want to orphan her."

"But Princess. You know we'll keep you safe."

She hugged herself and nodded. "I know you will try, Mark, but what if something takes down the whole team?" She stepped forward quickly as his lips pursed into a frown and cupped his face with both hands. "Ask me to do anything else and I will, Mark. Ask me to move in with you, marry you, give you more children. Hell, ask me to make myself a personal slave to all of G-Force and the Rangers and I will say yes without thinking twice." Her head followed his as it dropped. "But I can't go back to G-Force. At least not yet."

He gave a defeated exhale and drew away from her. "I understand."

Her arms flopped heavily down either side of her hips as he walked out of the room with a lowered head. She screwed up her face to curse herself and huffed as she hurriedly pulled the old shirt over her head. As she smoothed the shirt down over the low rise of her jeans, Mark stepped back into the room.

"Mark. We can discuss…"

He shushed her gently and took her left hand in his. Smoothly he slipped a glistening ring onto her finger and then kissed her knuckles. His head snapped up quickly at a soft wail from the adjacent room. "Mandy." He dropped her hand and walked quickly to the door to retrieve his daughter.

Princess called quickly after him. "Mark?"

He stopped at the question and smiled when he looked back at her. "You've already said you will, Princess. I didn't need to ask."

She looked down at her hand. "Does this mean?"

He nodded and gave her a wink before walking out into the next room.

"But, Mark. This was your mom's ring."

"Now it's yours."