Melissa leaned lazily against a police cruiser in the carpark of the division she believed Princess to be a detective and checked at her watch for the tenth time in twenty minutes. She was well aware of the varying shift times of local enforcement agencies, and also aware that their start times were staggered for whatever reasons, but she still felt annoyance at having waited so long for confirmation that it was the correct location. Sure, it would have been easy to feign trouble and seek out information on the young woman, but with recent events she felt it better to just lie in wait.

She felt a pang of paranoia and looked over her shoulder for any sign that there were birds or Spectrans on watch, but quickly dismissed that at ludicrous. A source in the Rangers squadron had assured her there were tactical meetings at Neptune planned, and Zoltar had definitely sent her out alone. Any police officers that passed her merely tipped their caps at her and wished her a good day.

And a good day it appeared to be. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and she was still alive to cherish another day.

She felt as though she may burst into some pathetic broadway song, but found her commonsense when she heard the rumble of a Harley Davidson bike pull up only a few feet away. Believing it to be the vehicle of the Ex-Swan, she peeled herself off the cruiser and took a few steps forward.

The rider, although female, did not end up being the swan, and Melissa grunted in annoyance. She rolled her eyes and turned, bumping into the actual target of her surveillance.

"Princess," she gasped suddenly, half panicked and half thrilled that her search was over.

Princess looked up from her handbag and let out a short, startled, yelp. "Melissa?" Her head flicked from side to side as her body tensed in preparation for a fight. "What are you doing here?"

Melissa caught sight of the familiar #3 shirt and grimaced. It was tempting to pull the small firearm she had holstered in her belt jeans, but hesitated when she saw the large frightened eyes of a girl caught unaware. "I was looking for you."

Princess fought every instinct she had to hog-tie the woman in front of her. She held off only because she knew there were over 200 innocent people inside the building that didn't need to become a part of a war between two enemies. "I warn you, Melissa. I will not come quietly."

Melissa took a hasty look around them and roughly took hold of Princess' upper arm. "We need to talk."

"No. You need to leave."

She tugged her toward a quiet area beside the wall. "That's an impossibility for me."

Princess did her share of looking around them. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Melissa waved her hand to dismiss the question and seemed to look hesitant as she leaned against a wall and flicked her eyes to each person wandering the car park. "I'm here with a warning."

Princess found her inner courage and narrowed her eyes. "I really don't want to hear whatever speech Zoltar forced you to memorize for me. I've lived his damn warnings for most of my life."

"This one's from me."

The softness with which the words left her enemy's mouth forced Princess to flap her lips together once, and then twice, in mild confusion. She twisted her head to one side, which forced her to look upon Melissa with a side glance. "I don't understand."

Melissa hugged herself and watched an officer call out a hello to another. "You need to evacuate everyone from this building and stay as far away from it as possible."

Princess gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. "Why?"

"Zoltar learned a couple of hours ago that you were likely part of the bomb squad. He sent me here to confirm."

Princess furrowed her brows, not hiding her perplexity at the situation. "If you are Zoltar's current go-to, then why are you here?"

Melissa sniffed. "I don't know."

"How much time do we have for an evac?"

"He won't have confirmation from me for another twelve hours." She let one side of her mouth twist up in a rueful smirk. "About five minutes after that he'll attack this building and obliterate everything."

Princess shook her head in panic. "But this is a forensics building. It'll take days to get everyone and everything out." Her hand rose as if to indicate the door. "Do you have any idea how many murderers will go free if this building is destroyed? This is where we hold evidence to their cases."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "And you really think Zoltar really gives a shit about that? He wants you and G-Force dead. If it means a few bad guys get a break, then sobeit." She leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at her. "It isn't like your old team ever gave a thought for anyone else on the ground when it came to your own victories."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Princess huffed angrily. "We did everything we could to get people clear. It isn't us who sends out giant machines to crush everything in sight."

"Then it should go without saying that the one sending the machines won't care this time either."

Princess scraped her fingers through her hair and held her hair around her face in worry. "God."

"I don't think he's going to help you much."

She ran her palm heavily down her face and looked through the carpark. "Can't he just …?" She shot her gaze back to Melissa. "Why are you telling me this? Why aren't you just running back to him and telling him where to find me?"

Melissa's face contorted into one of confused regret. "I don't know."

"Do you even know which side you're on?"

She shook her head. "I have a side, Princess. I just don't particularly like it too much."

"Then don't tell him." She tried to offer a reassuring touch of her hand on Melissa's shoulder, but was shrugged off.

"Don't try to be my friend, Princess. I have no choice. If I don't give him this information I die." She inhaled hard. "But I won't forgive myself if I don't give you a warning first. This won't be something you'll walk away from."

"But if you tell him, so many people will die."

Melissa laughed. "Are you suggesting I commit suicide to protect the greater good?"

Princess shook her head. "No. I'm suggesting that you defect. I am sure that Mark will make sure you're protected if you tell us what we need to know."

Melissa actually laughed. "Why? Because he's my protective big brother?" She flicked a hand ad her. "I'm pretty sure he and I are well beyond playing happy families." Her voice lowered. "After everything we've done to him he'd probably prefer to kill me himself."

Princess shook her head in pleading. "No. He's not like that. He'll forgive and …"

"No," she boomed to interrupt. "I will not look for protection or anything from him. This warning is not about me wanting to play family time or look for his forgiveness. This is about the mother of my niece and making sure she has a chance to go home to her child." A guilty look passed by her eyes. "I wouldn't let Anson hurt that little girl, and I sure as hell won't let Zoltar do it."

The admission flew at Princess, and the ex-swan inhaled it with a gulp. "You took that shot?"

"I thought it obvious when your ETF snipers couldn't get the solution."

Both Princess' hands flew to her mouth. "How did you know about that?"

She shrugged. "I knew their locations. Mark kept moving into their target range." She let out a breath. "You'd think he'd know there were snipers ready to save that baby and that he'd back off."

"I really don't think it was on his mind." She grimaced. "It definitely wasn't on mine."

Melissa blinked and took a deep breath to clear her mind. "Just heed the warning, Princess. You get your teams out of here because in a little over twelve hours Zoltar will storm this building."

"Don't tell him, Melissa." She sounded desperate and made no attempt to hide it. "You have already gone against him to give me this warning. Tell him another location and I'll have G-Force meet him there."

Melissa gasped. "Don't tell Mark and the boys. Zoltar has people on the inside who will alert him to it and you'll have less time to get everyone out."

"But…"

"But nothing. I know Mark and Jason. They're too damn hotheaded for their own good. They'll make sure the entire Federation knows." She saw the look in Princess' eyes that told her Princess would call them anyway. "For the safety of everyone in here, don't do it."

Princess could only blink. "How did he even know I was here?"

"I told him."

Princess couldn't help but react in exasperation. "You? Why?" She shook her head unable to form an actual sentence in her mind. "I don't understand."

Melissa bit on her thumbnail and shrugged. "Neither do I." She stepped back just a little. "I have to go. Just. Just get these people out of here and get everyone to safety."

"Help me, then." She looked to the doorway of the building. "If you bring yourself in, I'll give you protection." She looked back at her. "I promise you. I won't have time to get anyone out if we get a call."

Melissa's eyes shot open. "Oh no, Princess," she gasped with a shake of the head. "You can't get called out to any site."

"But that's my job."

"No. No." She held onto Princess' upper arms tightly in warning. "If it's Spectran you'll be killed."

Princess didn't move, nor try to pull out of Melissa's hold. Instead she gave a frown. "But I've handled his bombs before."

"Not these ones." She pursed her lips for a brief moment and raised her hand to tap a finger at Princess' temple. "With that thing in your head." She sighed. "It's designed to detonate the second a sensor in the bomb picks this thing up."

Her eyes shot open wide and she tugged herself back. "No."

"You remember yesterday."

Princess let a tear escape her lashes. "No."

"I've got to go." She turned and walked briskly into the carpark. She looked around uneasily and held herself tightly as though cold.

Princess found composure and jogged between the cars to find her. "Melissa, please." At the woman shrugging her off, Princess' voice took on a low growl. "Then I'll arrest you."

Melissa turned sharply. "Try it and I will …"

"Cassie."

Both woman turned toward the voice of Princess' partner as he jogged toward them. It was Princess who breathed out his name. As she turned to look back at Melissa, however, she was stunned to find the girl had disappeared. She immediately looked around her in horror both in search of her and to see if there was danger near them.

"Damien," she breathed worriedly. "Damien, did you see where she went?"

Damien looked around with her and gave a short shrug. "Who?"

She shook her head and waved her hand at him to tell him not to worry about it as she unclipped a cell-phone from her belt. She gave a grunt as she thumbed through the list of numbers. "I think we have a problem, Damien."

He looked upon her with a curious frown as she held the phone to her ear and set the other hand on her hip. He knew that stance well. "Cass. What's wrong?"

Her eyes held pain as she answered him with only a look. "I just hope this number is still active. It's been a while since I've …" she hiccupped as a chipper Australian voice answered. "Shinji, it's Princess. Tell me are you with the Colonel?"

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

Mark couldn't help but feel awkward as he juggled a tiny little girl on his hip, a giant diaper bag on his shoulder, and an arm full of files as he elbowed the button for the disabled control of the door to the team recreation room. As he waited for the gentle "whoosh" of the doors to open he wondered how women did it and made it look so easy. He was desperately under trained for such a maneouvre and actually considered forcing the tactical heads to add such training to his regular routine when the file of papers fell and scattered onto the floor just inside the room.

"Dammit," he cursed under his breath as he tilted to one side in hopes of picking everything up without having to put everything down.

Lisa's voice chirped excitedly from the other side of the room to eliminate the need to do so.

"Oh. Gimme gimme gimme," she gushed as she swept across the floor to him and drew the giggling little child from him. "Oh come to auntie Lisa you snuggly little munchkin."

Jason's brow was firmly skyward as she breezed past him pulling strange faces at the child. "Don't go getting any ideas, Lisa," he muttered dryly when she flopped onto a beanbag and promptly began blowing raspberries on Amanda's belly.

She looked up and grinned in a manner that immediately had her looking like an anime girl with arches as eyes. "Oh but she's so cute." She looked back down at her. "I just want to eat you all up."

He shuddered and stooped beside his commander to help him pick up his papers. "Why is it women turn into strange creatures around babies?"

Mark chuckled and shook his head. "I know some guys who do the same."

"Yeah, well not me, man." He stood up and thrust a handful of papers into Mark's chest. "I just don't like them."

"Neither did I until I saw her little face," Mark admitted with a shrug as he set the diaper bag against the wall. "Now that I have her, I don't want to let her go."

Jason thumbed his chin. "Which explains you bringing her in today, when we have tactical meetings booked all day."

Mark smirked. "Cynthia has volunteered to baby-sit. I don't trust Princess taking her to a daycare centre right now."

He nodded, and then winced at a short wail from the baby in question when Lisa stopped blowing raspberries. He was thankful when she went straight back to it. "So how's Princess doing?"

"Okay," he answered as he attempted to shuffle the papers back into order. "All things considered." He didn't look up from his file as he continued. "She went to the lab today to see if the CSU have retrieved the device yet."

Jason let out a sharp groan. "Damn. Now they've got you talking in acronyms."

He chuckled. "It makes me appear as though I know what they're talking about."

"Do you?"

He shook his head. "I have no idea, man."

Their heads shifted slowly to the hallway as the Ranger's Australian recruit, a young man the Colonel's Japanese contingent had nicknamed "Shinji" wandered slowly by talking on his cellphone. They thought nothing of the conversation as the boy appeared to try and calm who they both assumed must have been one of his many female callers, and merely offered nods of greeting.

Jason flicked a brow at Shinji's customary greeting of a flip of the bird and held his crotch in reply. "Suck me, Wilson."

Shinji blew him a kiss and sped up to wherever he was heading.

"Cocky little bastard, isn't he?"

Mark slapped him across the arm and pointed to the couch. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

"Oh I am not like him."

Mark flopped into a chair and spared an adoring glance at the little girl trying to stand up next to Lisa. "I take it my father is on the premises."

Lisa chuckled as Amanda fell onto her butt and pulled her up onto her knee. "His whole team got called out to some emergency in Japan last night. Turns out it was some hoax."

Mark nodded. "Princess told me that Anson had said something to that effect last night in her apartment."

Jason sucked in a breath through the side of his mouth that sounded off like a tick. "I hate to say it, Mark, but I'm glad that asshole's dead."

"I'm not," Mark admitted through a grimace. "If we had him we could interrogate the hell out of him and this could all be over with." He raised his eyes. "And then I could kill him." He raised his hand as if a claw. "By my own damn hand."

Lisa giggled and blew air into her cheeks to entertain Amanda. "Princess might have preferred that option."

Jason smirked. "Nah, not Prin. She'd beg to try and rehabilitate. She's not a killer."

Lisa raised her eyes. "Well she was in the wrong profession then, wasn't she?"

Mark ignored the comment. "We still have Melissa to worry about."

Jason agreed. "Yes. Melissa, your baby sister."

"By birth only," Mark countered with a grunt before Lisa could ask the question. "I wouldn't think twice in using my birdrang against her the next time I saw her."

Jason picked at his teeth. "I'm wondering why she wasn't there with Anson last night. It seems pretty odd that Zoltar would only send the one of them in. Princess wouldn't give a second thought about wiping the floor with Anson, but Melissa?" He shrugged. "The girl's all about family, she'd actually worry about harming one of yours."

"I know," Mark agreed. "Which is what worries me. If she faced off against that woman…"

"She'd come off second best only to try and repair your family."

Mark rubbed at his knees with his hands. "Well. I'm not interested. Melissa is nothing but a Spectran goon in my eyes."

Anderson's hurried entrance into the room ceased the discussion immediately. The Security Chief, followed by Shinji and Cronus, pointed a strong finger at Keyop, who was asleep and drooling in a lean over his drum kit. "Wake him up and find Tiny. You are all on standby until further notice."

Mark stood quickly. "What is it, Chief?"

Jason checked his fingernails and smirked. "What is it ever, Mark; Spectra."

Anderson gave a firm nod. "Potential threat, team. Something we need to look into first." His head flicked at the gurgle of a small child. "Is that?" He looked toward Mark.

"Cynthia will be taking care of her, Sir," Mark answered quickly. "I apologise for bringing her in, but we had no other…"

"Good," Anderson answered quickly. "Keep her onsite and under guard. I will make permanent arrangements for her care later." He turned sharply. "Commander, you're coming with me."

Mark raised his brows and shot a hopeful look toward his child. "Lisa, are you okay with her?"

She nodded. "Go. Go. I'll take her to Cyn."

He winked and jogged behind Anderson to take up position beside Shinji. "What have we got?"

Shinji gave a shrug. "Looks like it's invite the heroes to work day."

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

Dave Barron walked briskly through the station, slightly unnerved by an evacuation notice that had just been faxed from the Police Headquarters downtown. While there had been no specific reason for such, it had been asked that everything be secured and the personnel leave as quickly and as quietly as possible. He had yet to act on the order, but was on his way to his secretary to ask her to snap up a friendly memo to all staff. He took his eyes from the paper and raised his eyes to the door to witness the arrival of four men – one he knew personally though his investigator, one he knew only through news reports and one … One he recognized from a long long time ago.

"You have got to be shittin' me," he bellowed at a man dressed in a red leather flight suit. "Matthew Fly me to Paris Cronus."

Colonel Cronus turned sharply at the voice. His rigid frame actually dropped in relief when he saw the big Sergeant. "The Red Fucking Barron," he boomed back immediately as he strode swiftly up to Barron and punched him against the shoulder. The two men quickly came together in a man-hug, which ended with both punching at each other's backs before pulling away to shake hands. "What the hell are you doing in this precinct? What'd they arrest your sorry ass for this time?"

Barron set his hands on his hips and curled a lip in a smirk. "Oh I don't get arrested these days, Matt. I am the one pulling the punks of the streets." He took a moment to shoot a stare at the surprised looks of the three men with him. "Why are you hanging with the Feds? You make deal or something to dig yourself out of that shit in Rio?"

"That was twenty five years ago," he laughed. "And if you recall, that mishap in the airfield was all your doing."

"Really?" Barron scratched at his jaw. "The way I recall it was that you were the one flying the jet without authorization." He looked across at Mark. "This asshole only had a prop license and figured he could take an F-15 for a joy ride."

Mark nodded with surprised interest. "I take it the Colonel crashed the jet."

Barron laughed a booming negative. "Couldn't get the damn thing off the ground. He couldn't work out how to shut off the thrusters – damn well ended up buried inside a tin hanger. Took 'em, what, four hours to pull you out?"

"Three and a half," Cronus corrected with a guilty thumbing of his nose. "I still have dreams about you laughing standing at the nose of the jet demanding the $100 I owed you for losing the bet."

"I never did get it, you cheap bastard." He flicked his hand. "But I'll take it off your hands now."

Cronus shook his head. "I think I paid that to you with interest when I convinced Leanne to go on a date with you." He smirked. "You and she still together?"

Barron gave a nod. "Married 22 years and counting, Matt. What about you and Amanda? And what's that boy of yours doing these days?" He looked toward the curious Eagle. "Still can believe a woman let this guy procreate with her."

Mark cleared his throat in discomfort. "Yes. I have wondered about that, myself, at times."

Barron focused back on Cronus. "So. How is the family?"

Cronus tipped his head back toward Mark. "You've already met my boy. He's commanding G-Force and is a pilot like his old man." Those present could have been mistaken, but there was a hint of pride in Cronus' voice.

Barron shook his head at Mark. "You're Matt's kid? Damn, boy. I was changing your diapers when you were this big." He pressed his hand down through the air to indicate a small stature.

Cronus smirked at the comment and then lowered his voice a little. "Amanda. Sadly she passed fifteen years ago."

"Ahh shit, Matt," Barron said softly. "Sorry to hear that. She was a hell of a woman. Beautiful, beautiful lady."

Cronus raised his head and closed his eyes with a smile. "A real lady."

Chief Anderson, although mildly intrigued that Cronus actually did seem to have at least one friend in the world, found himself getting somewhat irritated at the wasted time. He thrust a hand into the pocket of his light-blue sport coat and adjusted his glasses.

"Colonel. Do you think you can save the tales of juvenile delinquency until later? We have a situation at hand that requires immediate attention."

Barron's eyes snapped up rather angrily, but Cronus seemed to agree. "When the day is done, Dave, we should catch up with a scotch and cigar."

"I'll warn Leanne." He stepped around Cronus and approached Anderson warily. "Dare I ask what has warranted a visit from the Security Chief?"

Anderson gave a short nod. "We have reason to believe that Spectra is targeting this building for an attack somewhere inside the next twenty-four hours."

Barron held up the memo in the air in front of his face. "Well that explains this, then," he grumbled. "How reliable is this information?"

"That's what we're here to assess," Anderson answered sternly. "I need to talk with one of your investigators."

Barron nodded. "Cassie Anderson, yes, I expect you do. She's with Knight in ballistics right now." He flicked his hand to invite all to follow him. "We received the evidence from yesterday's explosion this morning. She's analyzing the fragments at the moment."

"Is she okay, Sir," Mark asked gently only a second before he lurched to one side with his hand covering one side of his head. "Oh Jesus."

Anderson immediately reacted to his Commander's wincing and in-pain stance. "Commander, what's wrong." He raised his wrist to communicate to the main base facility. "I'll call Zark."

Mark shook his head and waved Anderson off. "No. No, Sir. It's alright." He blinked hard and straightened himself up. "What the hell was that?"

Anderson looked into Mark's eyes as if diagnosing a mysterious illness. "Are you hurt?"

Mark shook his head and lengthened out his jaw as if trying to stretch out the last of whatever had hit him. "It wasn't so much pain, Sir. It was a weird charge in my head – like someone had attached an electrode to my temple."

Cronus flicked his eyes at Anderson. "Don't tell me that damn implant's malfunctioning, Anderson."

"I'll have all team members assessed as soon as we get back to Neptune."

Mark assured them all he was okay. "I wouldn't worry about …" He winced and stumbled again. "What the hell?"

Cronus growled low. "Get him out of here and back to Neptune. The Lieutenant and I can take it from here."

"No," Mark grunted. "Not until I make sure she's okay."

The She in question appeared through the doorway and was holding at her head in much the same manner Mark was. Backing out of the door, she stood side on to them. "Damien, I don't care. Just keep it juiced, I want to see what range it has."

She turned sharply and held at her head as she strode toward them. She ignored the presence of anyone else ahead of her as she practically knocked shoulders with Chief Anderson as she passed. "Keep it up, Damien," she ordered firmly as she turned mid-stride to walk backward to keep her eye on the door.

Mark stared after her with only one eye open, and was finding it somewhat difficult to stand straight with the buzz raging down into his shoulders. "Princess?"

Barron silenced him with an upward lock of his fist. "Let her work through it, Commander. She's in the zone." He stood still in the middle of the hallway with his arms locked across his chest. "She's obviously on to something."

All watched as she suddenly shook herself and straightened. She rubbed the buzz out of her head and looked at the floor as if examining the exact spot. "Is it still reading, Damien?"

He popped his head out of the door and nodded. "Yeah, Cass. The sensor is still going nuts."

"Shit," she cursed under her breath. "Is it locked on, or still sensing?"

He shrugged. "You're the electronic genius, Cass. You tell me." He noted the figures in the hall and waved. "Oh, hey Mark. What're you doing here?"

Princess' head snapped up to look toward the group. She immediately noticed Mark's discomfort and rushed him. "He's in range, no wonder it's still reading. Damien, keep looking at it while I get him out."

Mark gave her a shocked stare as she tugged him by the arm back toward the position she had originally taken. "It's okay, Mark," she cooed softly. "It's kinda scary isn't it?"

He let out an almost exhausted breath when he felt the energy suddenly cease. "What the hell was that?"

She petted his chest to ask for a moment to answer. "Damien, now?"

He popped his head back out of the room and gave her a thumbs up. "You got it, Cass." He looked at the tiles on the floor and counted. "Fifty-yard range. The sensor has a three-second delay on it." He walked out of the lab with a clipboard and jotted down the new information. "I say if you or the G-Force team feel that shudder, get the Hell out of Dodge within three seconds. I'll go turn it off."

Princess nodded and took a moment to look over Mark. She smiled as she ran her latex gloved hands over the sides of his head and face. "Are you okay?"

He quickly snapped her into a hug. "I'm here to ask you the same thing." He pulled back to look into her face. "Did she hurt you?"

"No, Mark," she answered on a breath as she pulled away from him and strode toward the group of four still standing in the middle of the hall. "Colonel. I thank you for keeping this to yourself."

Anderson read the annoyance in her facetiousness and spoke before Cronus could react. "The Colonel had no choice but report this to me," he answered sharply. "You should know perfectly well that anything of this nature is to be immediately brought to my attention."

She pursed her lips to shield a smile. "Oh. Okay. He was in your office when I called, right?"

He held out his hand to invite her to shake it and gave her a smile. "Indeed."

She smiled and ignored his extended hand to launch into a hug. "Oh I missed you, Sir." She took both his hands in hers and walked backward to pull him toward the lab. "Damien and I have stumbled onto a threat you really need to know about."

He followed without hesitation. "So it appears. However that is not the purpose for this visit."

She shook her head and released his hands as they all stepped into the room. She indicated for all of them to gather around the workbench. "No, Sir, but this is related to the current problem."

Barron was the lead in the questioning. "So what have you found, Anderson?"

She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear as Mark took up a protective position beside her. "Well it all starts with yesterday's explosion." She looked between Mark, Barron and Damien. "I mentioned to you guys last night that before I stepped into the building I felt a buzzing in my head."

Mark pursed his lips. "Like what I felt just now?"

She nodded. "Well…" She took a long breath. "Melissa, a Spectran agent, and former employee at Centre Neptune," said merely to give a small explanation to the members of the room who didn't know, "approached me today in the carpark."

"Why didn't you call me?" Mark interrupted softly as his hand grazed against hers.

Princess wasn't exactly welcome to the interruption, but gave him a smile anyway. "She told me not to, Mark. Besides, I didn't want to concern you."

"That's my job," he whispered.

She looked back toward the team. "Melissa approached me to give warning that 12 hours after our meeting that she would inform Zoltar of my involvement with this particular department."

Anderson was quick to interrupt. "Did she give indication as to why there was a warning?"

Princess shook her head. "She said she didn't know herself why she came forward, just that she felt she had to."

"Would it be fair to assume that the time she gave was incorrect in order to ensure you would be on the premises?" He caught the questioning glare from Barron. "I am sure you know your investigator as well as I do, Sergeant. If Princess here thinks she has a viable timeframe to safety she will remain onsite until roughly seconds before the danger strikes."

Barron gave a nod. "That is her job, Mr. Anderson," he replied smoothly. "She will stay by the explosive until the very last second if she thinks she can disarm it."

Princess looked at them both with wide eyes and a cocked head. "Um. When we are done with my glowing reference." She merely blinked at the hot glares from both men. "I have faith in her 12-hour warning, Sirs. Her body language suggested to me that her being there was by choice, and could well land her in serious trouble with Zoltar."

Anderson pushed his glasses back up his nose and spared a glance at Cronus. "What do you think, Colonel? They held you captive for a number of years. Would this be a new tactic?"

Cronus shook his head and set his hand on the table to lean. "That would suggest a level of brilliance I wouldn't dare assume that asshole has."

"Language," Princess warned softly with a smile. "I don't see it as just a tactic, Sir. Zoltar is a strike fast kind of guy. If he had absolute confirmation I was here he wouldn't waste time and go to that trouble."

Mark nodded. "I agree with Princess. We've all experienced it first hand and I am sure that Sergeant Barron will agree with me when I say that a killer rarely changes his MO."

Anderson pursed his lips and drummed his fingers on the table. "Then we need to make sure everyone within 12 blocks is clear of this location and have our team in place to greet him." His eyes shifted to Mark. "I expect you to brief your team and have them in place at least two hours before the end of the twelve hours. I will have Zark and Cronus' teams on sweep. Tiny should standby in the Phoenix in case Spectra pulls out all the stops and shows up in one of his metal carriages." His attention fell to Barron. "Sergeant. I would advise you make preparations to move what you can inside this time frame. We can only do so much to protect what's in here, but with Zoltar on a rampage, I can't guarantee anything."

Cronus grunted in approval of the order and flicked his fingers to tell his Lieutenant to follow him from the room. Barron was close behind in the move to obey command. He unclipped his cellphone from his belt and thumbed through contacts. Mark was already on his communicator giving launch codes to the Phoenix dock staff.

Princess frowned as she watched them all move. She sheepishly raised her hand like a child in the classroom wanting to talk to teacher. "Uh. Guys?" She shrugged at Damien, who watched on in rapt fascination of the proceedings. "Typical men. Ignorant in the presence of a girl."

Mark caught the insult and dropped his wrist from his mouth. "What was that, Princess?"

"I said you're all ignorant." When their attention finally fell on her she set her hand on her hip and swept the other across the table over the top of the remains of the bomb. "Maybe you'd like to let me finish what I was trying to say in the first place before you run in half-cocked with no intel."

Barron gave a snort of approval at Princess' snark. "Go ahead, Cass. Spell it out for them."

She didn't think about it, she just let it slide smoothly as though she was giving a lecture. "This device, the one used in yesterdays fatal blast, has been fitted with an electronic sensor. This sensor has been set to pick up and isolate the electronic frequencies of the implants those of us in G-Force have in our heads." She tapped near her temple. "It uses a low-level frequency that seems to cause a small part of the chip to vibrate. This movement is then picked up by a small sensor, which then trips a switch to detonate the explosive. This explosive compound …" She took a breath. "…is far more potent a charge than anything we've seen here in a while – at least outside of Nuclear weapons research."

"So what you're saying," Mark breathed, "is that we are the detonators for these bombs?"

She nodded. "That's it exactly. It wouldn't matter if G-Force flew in there with the most brilliant explosives engineer on the planet. If they couldn't disarm in under three seconds then … boom."

Anderson grunted. "These things have been specifically designed to destroy G-Force."

She nodded with wide eyes. "Pretty much." She looked into Mark's stunned face. "When it comes to this, G-Force have absolutely no way of helping. They're the triggers."

Mark was obviously distressed by the revelation. "Good God, Princess."

Anderson folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the device in an attempt to work through the new information. "Just how bad is this substance, Princess?"

Damien answered the question for her as she seemed more concerned with assuring Mark it would all be okay. "It's hard for us to break it down compound by compound for you. Most of the active ingredients are alien, so our mass spec couldn't provide us with specific breakdown information other than unknown results."

Anderson didn't seem to mind Damien answering on Princess' behalf; in fact he seemed to encourage him. "Go on, Detective Knight."

He nodded and grinned somewhat excitedly. "Well this stuff is a mix of combustibles, oxidizers, and just plain nasty stuff. If I were to create a similar combination using what we have here on Earth, then it would be unstable, but not very effective. This stuff…" he let out a breath. "Terrifying."

Anderson nodded. "I have had our analysts examine the reports that your department have submitted on the particular substance. As yet we haven't found the exact compounds ourselves."

Princess tilted her head. "Well, would you like me to look into it, Sir?"

Anderson thought on it for a second before he shook his head. "I doubt we have enough time to break it down before more of them are put in place. It may be easier to find a way to block out any of the waves the implants might send out."

Cronus seemed to dislike that idea. "Won't that make your kids deaf and mute to base?"

Anderson ticked air in through his mouth. "Worst case it may cause interruptions in their uniform transitions. But that isn't something the team haven't dealt with before." He pointed at Mark's communicator. "Those transponders work under different principals. They would remain uninterrupted even if the implants were removed completely."

"Good to know," Cronus grunted through the side of his mouth as he watched Princess remove her gloves and place them in an evidence bag.

Princess pressed her palms into the table and blew a long breath of air out of her pursed lips. "Meanwhile, I want to look into a fast neutralizing agent."

"A what?" Mark asked softly as his eyes fell to his mother's ring and the reminder that this woman was soon to be his wife. He felt a jolt of worry for her having to stay a single second longer than necessary. "Is that something that can be done back at Centre Neptune?"

She shook her head. "It's easier to work on it here where I have everything already set to go. If Damien and I work on it without interruption for a couple of hours, we might get lucky and find a compound that can render these explosive compounds useless." She looked at her partner. "That is, if you're willing to stay with me, Damien."

He set a hand on her arm and gave her a wink. "We're partners, Cass. Whatever trouble you get into I'm right there with you." He smirked. "And besides, Mark over here needs to know that someone's got your back."

Anderson gave a firm nod of thanks. "Princess, I want you off the premises and at Centre Neptune no later than five hours from now. I ask that you bring along your immediate team members with you to ensure their safety. Mark and Colonel Cronus will dispatch and be in position following your departure." He looked to the other parties in the room. "Is this acceptable to all?" With several nods to affirm, Anderson stepped back from the table. "Then we move. The less time wasted the better." His eyes flicked to Mark, who looked unwilling to move. "Commander?"

"Just a minute," he breathed in request. "I'll meet you outside, Sir."

Anderson gave a nod, grabbed the sensing apparatus of the bomb, and followed the senior officers out of the room. Once they were out of sight, Mark pulled Princess' old transponder band from his pocket. "I need you to wear this," he ordered softly as he snapped it onto her wrist. "Call me if you need us for anything, and we'll be here in a heartbeat."

She looked down at it and stroked the yellow faceplate tenderly. "I will."

"Promise me," he warned again. "No games or trying to do it alone. If anything happens you punch in a scramble as hard as you can."

She raised her eyes to his. She saw the absolute adoration and desperation in his expression and let the smallest whimper pass through her lips. Without thought she threw her arms over his shoulders and drew him into a long, deep and wet kiss. She gulped hard swallows between each roll of her tongue against his. Although desperate, hard, and full of need, the kiss was just that: a kiss. There was no promise of long hours of lovemaking or heated lust; it was just a desperate kiss of assurance that she would be okay. A kiss that would bring tears before sex, but one both of them sorely needed.

With a loud smack of separating mouths, Princess drew Mark in for a tight hug. When his hold tightened around her waist and she could feel his heartbeat against her breast, she tightened against him yet further.

"Tonight we go home together, Mark. Don't worry about that, okay?"

He nodded against her shoulder. "Promise me that and I'll let you go."

She pulled back and nudged her nose against his. "I promise."

He pulled back quickly as Anderson called his name impatiently from the hallway. With a last stroke of her face with his fingers, he walked out of the room.

Damien blew out a breath when he and Princess were finally alone. "That, is a man in love," he commented with complete honesty. "I pity anyone who tries to come between you."

She gave a small smile and slid a chemical breakdown report of the explosive toward her. "I doubt you would have said the same thing eighteen months ago, Damien."

He pulled a row of test tubes toward him and shrugged. "Sometimes you need to lose something before you can realize how much it actually means to you." He looked at the departing group of military geniuses. "The Eagle is perfect proof of that right now."

She giggled. "Oh that's deep, Damien."

He winked. "And you only get one of those kinds of insights every year from me, so embrace the moment."

She rolled her eyes and ran her finger down the list of components. "Okay, then. Chemical disarmament, let's see how we go with this."