Is anyone still reading? I hope so. If you are and just don't want to admit to it that's cool. I understand. (Pity party over ;D )
Thank you so much to Hannah554, Tiana-P, Kai0707. I am so happy to make it onto your favorites lists! Big kisses to all of you! You have really made my day. Sorry it took me so long to acknowledge. I'm still getting used to how FFN works.
Thanks to Stephanie, Sara and Rachel for all of their helpful input and corrections. They have been true lifesavers.
For all those who have been waiting for the action to get started, wait no more! This is the beginning. There will be more I promise.
12 A Better Plan 12
Ian's house was nothing like what the girls expected. It was spaciously set up, and more modern then the outside and surroundings boasted. He had a computer bank set up in the breakfast nook, and a large living area with a plasma screen TV that was at least 60 inches. The furnishings were all a light oak color except for the sectional sofa and area rugs that were a dark navy blue. There was a staircase leading up to a balcony area that had doors opening up along the walk. It was very bachelor chic, but well kept.
Lexa let out a low whistle as she walked in flanked by Shalimar. Beau and Angel had followed them in Beau's truck. They had done a scan of the surrounding area, looking for any signs of an ambush or fowl play. Upon a satisfactory inspection, they followed the party inside.
Ian stood in the middle of the room and put his arms out. "My castle… It's not as nice as my old place in the city, but it isn't shabby by any means!" he said as he pointed out the coat rack. "I hated the thought of not having any modern conveniences so I had to do some improvising. I think it has worked fairly well."
"I'll say." Lexa commented, hanging her jacket on the rack and following Ian into the modern kitchen. "What were you doing before you went into hiding?"
"I worked for a lab creating computer chips and relays. I cornered the market on a few items and invested wisely. It cost me a pretty penny to have a lot of this built, but I don't have a lot of expenses anymore. I just get to ride off the interest of my investments, which are completely untraceable back to me!" He added with a sly grin.
At Lexa's look of disbelief and skepticism he put his hands up. "I used a few not completely legal ways of securing my investments, of course. Any more and you will know way too much." he said as he began to brew a pot of coffee then raided the refrigerator digging out cold cuts and cheeses to make sandwiches.
Shalimar had walked around the living room getting a feel for what kind of man Ian really was, when a thought occurred to her. "Ian?" she asked joining everyone in the kitchen. Ian looked up at her. "What's in this for you? I mean you have gone out of your way to help Adam and us but haven't said anything about what you expect in return." She and Lexa shared a look. From the look Lexa gave Shalimar the thought wasn't far from Lexa's mind either.
Ian looked slightly nonplussed, but quickly recovered and his voice held nothing but a raw tone when he spoke. "I assume you know all about Genomex and their hidden sections?" He paused, noticed the nods, then took another deep breath. "My sister is an psionic and was held in Section Five. Mutant X rescued and relocated her about 2 years ago without being given a lot of information why. A small, but important, fact had been omitted from your knowledge. She had been artificially inseminated by Eckhart to carry an elemental/molecular hybrid mutant… another one of Eckhart's wonderful pastimes of playing with genetics." He stopped as he heard Angel and Shalimar suck in a deep breath and took a moment to center himself before continuing.
"I had tried to save her twice on my own before calling on Adam for help. He sent your team in to save her two days later without another question. She is now safely in the underground with her son, who will most likely be an extremely strong mutant once his powers develop. For that I can't do enough to help Adam… or you, Shalimar and also Jesse and Brennan."
Shalimar walked over to him and put a comforting hand over his that was braced on the table. He looked straight into her eyes. "I want you to trust me, but I understand your reluctance." His eyes shifted to Lexa's and then to Beau's who both had stayed quiet for the duration for the story.
"Let's discuss what you have from Adam for us." Lexa said shifting topics to avoid any kind of talk dealing in trusting people. In her mind that just wasn't happening right now.
"Ok," Ian said picking up on the reluctance to continue the previous conversation. "He left me another disk and all of the information on how to track where Brennan and Jesse are being held. They were just moved to a new building about two days ago, and if they stick with their current pattern they won't be moving them again for at least two to three weeks. By then I plan to have them out of there and all of you to a new and safe destination. I have the plans for the building and the security schematics all loaded in my computer for you to review and take with you back to your safe house."
"Ok, let's take a look at them and get an idea of what we are up against" Shalimar said as she walked over to the terminal.
"No need I have a table version too!" Ian said as he placed his hand on a metal pad imbedded into the table and concentrated. A hover screen came up over the table with a set of blueprints diagramming what looked like an old prison. "It's about 50 miles away from here. It was an old asylum converted into a prison for a time until it fell into such disrepair that the state abandoned it.
"Satellite coverage of the place at several different times of the day shows that they have been the least guarded around mid-afternoon and heaviest at night. He put his hand on the pad again and closed his eyes. The plans switched to a different infrared picture showing several red dots. "There are about ten points of entry. Four of those have been permanently sealed so we won't have any access though those. We have to assume they have both Brennan and Jesse in these rooms here. The heat readings have been fairly stationary for the past two days. They don't appear to have moved from these cells for very long." He pointed to a section where there were two heat readings with four dots positioned around the area of the two assumed to be Jesse and Brennan. "Now when I overlay the blueprints on the satellite map," he touched the pad again and the prints came up in a rough hue on top of the existing image "we now have an idea of the entrances and exits to use. Unfortunately the Dominion has been planning well so far. They have been kept Brennan and Jesse at the portion of the building that has the least amount of access. This means that we will most likely have to storm the castle, for lack of a better term!" Ian grinned.
Shalimar couldn't help herself. She grinned right back and felt as though kicking the Dominion guards asses would be a welcome release of energy that had been pent up. She chanced a glance at Lexa and read a smile in her eyes as she looked toward Shalimar. This was the break that they had been waiting for. Shalimar looked to Angel and Beau who were studying the map intently, but Beau had caught Shalimar's eye before she turned her head back to listen to Ian's diagnosis of the facility and gave her a nod. Finally they had a plan!
Brennan paced his cell again and again. He was exhausted and hurt all over. His skin was sore and his muscles even sorer. He and Jesse had been talking through the doors for the past few hours, but after being attacked with the cattle prod for talking to Jesse, he was too agitated to continue.
For lack of any better amusement Brennan dwelled on the memories he had of his life at Sanctuary and also the life before. His current thoughts lay on the first night they spent after Sanctuary and the Dominion were blown up. He and Jesse had happened to have some money on them so they got a hotel room at a sleazy no-tell-motel. They were all exhausted, and he and Jesse had refused to share a bed, but the girls refused to let them sleep on the floor. He and Jesse had both thought about sharing a bed for a moment, just for the sheer pleasure of watching Shalimar and Lexa sleeping in the same bed. In the end, he slept in the bed with Shalimar and Jesse with Lexa.
By the time they had laid down, they were so exhausted that all of the questions and fears they had were forgotten when their heads hit the pillows. He remembered Shalimar waking him up halfway through the night tossing and turning, moaning in her sleep. He tried to talk to her in a soft voice so she didn't wake Jesse and Lexa who seemed to be dead to the world, but when that didn't work he began to softly kiss her. She had woken up with start and was totally confused. She almost punched him, but had quickly remembered her surroundings and clung to him like a lifeline.
"I was alone. They separated all of us and were hurting all of you." She sobbed softly into his chest. "They were making me watch, and I was strapped down with bindings that were too strong to break." He remembered a version of this from when they were assaulted in their dreams by Henry.
He had slowly shushed her and held her tight, letting the dream recede. He felt her clinging to him, and then she had kissed him with the raw passion that she had shown for him just hours before. He wanted nothing more then to have her again, but fear of waking Jesse and Lexa had restrained them. He worried if she was ok. He had been trying to be strong for Jesse, but three months and nothing from them was making him begin to lose the last bits of strength and hope that he had left.
Jesse sat in the next room thinking about different things. He had been trying to figure out how to send some kind of signal to the safe house system, but hadn't had much luck. He wanted Lexa and Shalimar to be able to track them, but every time he came to a way of doing it he was thwarted by some flaw in his planning. He knew that there was a terminal at the end of the hall, but without several moments, he wouldn't be able to create the signal and disable the ability to track its source or destination by Dominion.
He sighed, sitting on the lumpy cot and thinking of Lexa. They had just decided to try moving on with their relationship. They were going to combine rooms like Shalimar and Brennan had done two months or so into their hiding. Both Brennan and Shalimar had been very secretive at first and hadn't said anything to anyone about their relationship. Jesse had been suspicious about it for a few weeks before they had come out and said they were officially together. Of course he had a feeling Lexa had known almost right away. She had been the one who had made little comments about them before he even thought anything different was going on.
He and Lexa hadn't been as subtle about their actions. It didn't help that they got caught making out in the living room. How was he to know that Shalimar and Brennan would be back early from the movie because it sucked? His thoughts felt erratic, and he began to think about Shalimar.
He and Shalimar had a long talk one night just after she and Brennan announced their relationship. Lexa had gone to get groceries with Brennan. Usually the couples preferred to stay together on outings, but that night Jesse and Shalimar had needed to talk about everything going on. Brennan had offered to stay, but they had decided when they first went into hiding that no one was to go gallivanting alone. It was easier for one person to be taken then two. He laughed to himself now as realized how futile it had been for Brennan and him. Jesse had asked Shalimar how she and Brennan had made that decision, and she had been honest about that day at Sanctuary where Jesse had thought something was different. He had to stifle a grin because in the middle of all the panic and chaos, she and Brennan wound up screwing their brains out. She confessed to being nervous that the panic and the heat of the moment was all it was, but now she was starting to feel more.
When Shalimar confided in Jesse that she wasn't sure what exactly she meant to Brennan, he had to laugh. Brennan had always been good with women. Jesse had seen it numerous times and was worried himself about Brennan discarding her after he had his fun. Jesse and Brennan had gone out shortly before the incident with the Dominion and Brennan had a few too many. He had confided in Jesse about having a hard time wanting to be with a girl anymore because he kept comparing them to Shalimar.
Shalimar on the other hand was extremely nervous about Jesse being with Lexa and told the other woman flat out that if she broke his heart Shalimar would break her face. Coming from any other woman, Jesse might have been insulted or upset, with Shalimar it was her showing how much she cared. He would have threatened Brennan, but Shalimar could kick his ass from here to next week before Jesse could get off a punch. So that was a wasted threat.
In the end they wound up watching an inane B rated movie while waiting for the other two to return with food. It had been nice because they hadn't spent as much time together in the past year.
He and Shalimar had promised each other a long time ago they would never let the other one down. Jesse could hear the wear and depression in Brennan's voice lately. Jesse knew that he had to hold on and return the favor to Brennan now. It was time for him to be the strong one.
After several hours of reviewing the plans and deciding on access points that were most feasible for entry, the group began to feel the strain of the past day wearing on them. Shalimar had yawned for the umpteenth time and was trying to fight off laying her head on the table and falling asleep. Angel and Beau had proved extremely useful with their covert ops experience. They were able to discern many of the routes that shouldn't be attempted right away. However at this point, even they were starting to show some signs of wear.
They had decided to attempt a strike in three days. This would give Ian a little more time to gain information on the whereabouts of the guards at the proper intervals. They had already counted on not being able to have much help from Jesse or Brennan while they were extracting them from the facility. Most likely they would be worn and beaten. Lexa and Shalimar both cringed deeply at this, but had to keep the thoughts of saving them in the forefront of their mind rather then get distracted and depressed.
Lexa was trying to plan what would be needed on the mission with Ian while Shalimar, Beau, and Angel were reviewing alternate routes of entry and exit through the compound. The building was definitely formidable, and Shalimar wished they had Jesse's powers of phasing to assist them during entry and exit. The plans they had set up seemed to be solid though. It also didn't hurt to have three ferals on the team.
"Shalimar and Lexa, I have the other disk Adam gave me for you. Take a look over it at the safe-house and let me know what you think." Ian said as the team was preparing to leave.
Both women looked at him with almost identical expressions of inquiry.
"What is it?" Lexa said too tired to play games.
"You need to see it for yourself to truly understand. I'll help you with any questions you have about it, but take a look and we can work on the details when you come back."
Shalimar grabbed it out of Ian's hand before Lexa was able to, earning a rather reproachful look from her, but Shalimar just smiled and countered by saying, "Too slow!"
"Well at least I know where you got that one from" Lexa shot as Shalimar pocketed the disk and walked toward Angel and Beau who were waiting for them at the front door.
Ian had a secure phone set up for them so they could be in contact until they met again on Tuesday to prepare for the assault on the compound. Ian wanted them to stay Tuesday night so they could double check all of the equipment and also review the updated satellite photos. Ian saw them to the door and warned them that if any problems came up they were to contact him immediately. Shalimar grabbed his hand as she walked past him toward the door and whispered a soft "thank you" before joining the others outside. With another wave from Ian all four took seats in Beau's SUV to return home.
The ride home was mostly quiet punctuated by one main theme.
"I'm feeling a little nostalgic," Shalimar commented as she sat looking out the window at the passing scenery. "It's been a long time since we had a mission and a plan. It feels good."
"I agree, that it is a change from all of the ducking and hiding that we have been doing." Beau said as they merged onto the freeway.
"I'm not going to be a hundered percent sure that this is going to work out until we have the guys back" Lexa said, but there was a trace of hope that had belayed her real feelings lying in an undertone of her voice.
"I think we can do it" Angel said as she played with the radio to find a decent song to listen to. "This isn't any worse then the time Beau and I had to break the POW's out of a camp in Cuba. In fact I think we are better prepared now."
"I think that may have been harder," Beau said "But I see us pulling this off fairly easily. We just need to be careful and keep all of our options open."
The rest of the ride was in a comfortable silence, broken with a few comments about the new place and what they would like to do when they got the chance. Lexa wanted to go to the spa in the worst way and get a full body wrap. Shalimar wanted to go shopping and get a few new outfits. Both women thought deeply about doing things with the men they cared so deeply for but decided not to break the mood by their fears and wishes.
When the team returned home the only thing on their mind was sleep. They had debated long and hard on whether to look over the disk that night, but in the end their fatigue had decided the battle for them. After saying a brief goodnight, Beau and Angel went into their room while Shalimar and Lexa stood quietly in the living room for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts as they gazed into nothingness.
"Do you think this will work?" Shalimar finally blurted out.
"I don't know, but like you said before, it's the best plan we have" Lexa said.
"You really do care for him, don't you?" Shalimar asked as she turned to look at the moonlight reflecting over the bay.
"I do" Lexa stated simply.
"When I saw you two getting close, I would have killed you if you hurt him" Shalimar said turning and looking Lexa directly in the eye.
"I remember." Lexa quirked up a side of her mouth "I wouldn't have expected any less from you" Lexa replied looking directly at Shalimar.
"Do you think they've given up on us?" Shalimar asked now examining the toes of her boot.
It was then that Lexa did something so uncharacteristic it took Shalimar completely by surprise. She walked over and grabbed the feral's hand and looked her dead in the eye before speaking "Shal, I don't know, but if they have will that change anything?"
A few tears leaked out of Shalimar's eyes "I just don't want them to be broken forever, and I'm afraid that is what the Dominion will have done to them." Her voice was on the edge of cracking as she pulled Lexa close and clung to her.
Lexa went slightly rigid then softened and held on to Shalimar, silently praying that their fears weren't going to be true and that Tuesday would get there fast.