Okay, here is the action chapter that took me like forever to write! I have always been pretty good at the angst, smut, and romance end, but this was new territory for me. I hope it is well done. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks to Stephanie, Sara, and Rachel for all of their help and support!

Welcome all new readers. Slshadowfox - I'm so glad that someone else is familiar with the work.

The poem was from when Pony Boy and Johnny were standing at the back of the church watching the sunrise. - if anyone is looking for where it is in the book.

Thanks to Three Days Grace for the Chapter title. It's definitely more then fitting.

16 Getting Out Alive 16

Jesse heard more then felt his elbow pop as he landed on the cold concrete of his cell. He lay on his side until he heard the door shut and lock closed before he attempted to move. When he finally moved, he sat up slowly and tested the offending limb cautiously. It was a little sore but not broken or out of joint, which was a good thing he mused to himself.

He had just endured a good two hours of being poked with a cattle prod and then strapped to a chair while a telepath tried to read his thoughts. He smirked to himself as he remembered the huge 'Fuck You' she read right off the bat. They were trying to get all the information about the safe houses out of him. He didn't know why they thought he would be able to remember all of the locations and ID codes. He was smart but no edict memory whiz.

"Jess?" He heard Brennan call through the door.

"Yeah." He winced at the raw feeling in his throat. He didn't remember screaming, but it was a possibility.

"You ok?"

"I'll be alright." Jesse said, making sure that the rest of his body was still intact and not badly injured. Finding only a few sore spots as he stood and stretched, he contented himself with the idea he would heal.

"You scared me, man. I heard you yelling." Brennan said hearing the failed lie in Jesse's voice.

"I kinda blacked out for a little bit, but I'll be alright." Jesse said lying down on his uncomfortable cot, wondering if the floor would be more comfortable.

"Get some sleep and let me know when you wake up." Brennan said as he paced his cell.

"Alright."

Brennan had been back in his cell for about two hours and was a little better then when he had been thrown in there. He was pretty sure he had at least one cracked rib, and he had to reset one of his fingers that had been popped out of joint. He'd had problems with that finger before and was glad that he had the cold stone to rest it on in the cell to keep the swelling down.

When they had dragged him from his cell this time, he was instantly thrown in the chair and belted down. That damn bitch of a Madam Cleo wannabe fortune teller grabbed his head and just started flashing images of everyone he had ever cared about being tortured. He tried to keep his feelings for Shalimar buried deep. Tried to group her memories in with other conquests so he could avoid seeing her in pain but the 'Tell Tale Heart' gave him away. Once they'd found his love for Shalimar in his head, it was a horrible torture of watching her being beaten and hurt…sometimes at his own hand. The mind was a dangerous playground. He realized that, even though he tried hard to focus on the fact that it wasn't real, it felt like he was standing there beating her with the club and whipping her porcelain back till it was ravaged red. It almost made him want to just give up the information they wanted…anything to stop those images. When that hadn't worked they'd started to physically injure him. He was hit with a bat several times and they popped one of his fingers out of its joint. They'd threatened to break the rest but it had almost been relaxing. He didn't mind the pain…as long as it wasn't Shalimar's. Finally they gave up and dumped him into the cell again moments before he passed out.

Brennan had come to hearing Jesse's screaming down the hall. He wished desperately to be able to help or do something for the younger man. He felt inadequate and useless so he reset his finger as some sort of atonement for his failings.

He breathed a sigh of relief that he was pretty sure the telepath hadn't caught the dream or, if she did, that was written off as his subconscious desires for his love and his freedom. He stood from his position by the door and walked over to the end of the cot and sat. He scrubbed his face with his hands wondering silently how much more he could physically and mentally take before he cracked. He'd held himself strong for so long, but each time was getting harder. They had given them a break for a few…days, he guessed… before messing with them again. Brennan wished he had a better measure of time, but he hadn't been able to see a sunrise or set in a long time and lost track of the days all together. He lowered his upper body onto the mattress with his feet still on the floor and stared up at the cracking paint on the ceiling. Silently he said a prayer that it hadn't been just a dream and the girls were coming for them soon.

Jesse's thoughts were almost a mirror to Brennan's as he lay in the next room trying to get comfortable. He had never really acknowledged any higher authority in his life, but lately he'd taken to praying to whoever would hear him that they would be rescued soon. Sometimes he wondered if he should just pray for a quick death, but hadn't surrendered that far just yet.

The cool weather had finally forced Lexa to return to the house. She had stayed out for a little over an hour before she'd began to feel too numb. Her mind was still whirling with the prospects of different lives that she could have. In the end, she decided to put all thoughts of possibilities off until Jesse and Brennan were safe.

Lexa walked into the house and went to her room to find some warmer clothes. She found an old sweater of Jesse's that she'd grabbed when they had moved and contented herself with putting it on, feeling a slight comfort in his smell that had remained embedded in the fabric. She walked out of her room and walked by Shalimar's door, contemplating whether or not to go in. In the end she decided that she would give the feral time to come out on her own.

Lexa gathered that Beau and Angel were down in the basement from the fact that she hadn't seen them upstairs when she came inside. Lexa decided to see what they were doing in hopes of keeping herself motivated and hoped they might be reviewing the schematics of the facility that Brennan and Jesse were supposedly at. Descending the stairs, she found both of her friends sitting at the computer terminal looking at the 3D image of the compound. She smiled to herself as she realized that her new teammates hated the idea of a failed mission as much as she did.

"Hey, Lexa." Angel said, turning to face Lexa as she came down the stairs and turned towards them.

"You guys are still working on that?" Lexa asked. She wasn't quite sure when she began to accept the two ferals as friends and teammates, but realized that she did. The thought almost surprised her but in a pleasant way.

"Well we went over the existing plans and have been crafting alternatives just in case one falls through." Beau said turning his head away from the computer. He looked up at Lexa with mild interest before asking, "Are you going to be okay?"

Lexa stood next to him and nodded but answered slowly, "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. We just need to focus on saving the guys now and worry about the rest later." She felt herself smile. It was a little tight but not completely false. But even that made her uncomfortable so she decided to quickly change the subject. "Wanna show me what you've got so far?"

"Sure," Angel said as she flipped the schematics around to show an old sewage access tunnel that they'd over looked. "We found this. It's not our first choice obviously…" She shuddered delicately at the thought of the smell. "But it's there to use if we need it." Both women looked at each other and wrinkled their noses then laughed at the similar expressions. The three continued to evaluate the plans that they had set and look for any alternates that could be used.

Shalimar left her room and joined the trio about an hour later. They talked for a while about the different points of access they had noticed and began packing and planning the equipment that they would need. Much of the night was spent in silent apprehension of what the following days would bring. When they had finally finished packing, it was edging on midnight and the four decided that it would be better to try to sleep tonight.

Shalimar lay awake in bed, staring out the window for a good two hours before finally giving up and marching into the kitchen to make something warm to drink. Her mind ran to the nights when she and Brennan would sit up talking and drinking mugs of peppermint hot chocolate. Brennan was a horrible cook but had found this recipe for peppermint hot chocolate that was amazing. So that became a treat he would make them from time to time, more often than not, it was when neither of them could sleep.

She mixed the milk and the chocolate with some peppermint extract. She wasn't sure if it would turn out as good as Brennan's, but it was something to soothe her. As she poured her mug, Lexa came out and plopped down at the table with lines of frustration marring her face.

"Can't sleep either?" Shalimar asked, pouring another mug of the chocolaty mix and placing it in front of Lexa.

Lexa looked like she was going to bite out a remark before something flashed across her face and she took a deep breath "I almost never have trouble sleeping. This is so aggravating."

"Welcome to my world." Shalimar said with a wry grin. "I haven't slept more then a few hours at a shot in a while. It gets annoying to say the least."

Lexa sipped the frothy mix and looked up at Shalimar as she took the seat opposite her. "It's good… definitely not Brennan's, but close."

"Thanks, I'd hoped it wouldn't turn out bad."

"Shal, Brennan made it," Lexa said with a look of disbelief. "I'm pretty sure a trained seal couldn't get this recipe wrong."

"Just don't tell him that. He was excited when he discovered he could make something without the fire alarm going off." Shalimar took a sip of her cocoa and sat thoughtfully for a moment. "Trust me… Jesse was not always the chef that he is today."

Lexa's eyebrow shot up in a quizzical look. "Really?"

"The first time he tried to cook us a meal he made grilled cheese but forgot to put any grease in the pan and put the heat on high. He then left the kitchen to talk to Adam. I smelled the fire from my room with the door closed!" Shalimar smiled as she reminisced. "Sanctuary smelled like burnt grilled cheese for a week. It was horrible."

Lexa and Shalimar sat talking about stories of old times for a few hours. They both avoided asking what the other thought about restarting Mutant X, but instead Lexa told Shalimar about some of Adam's follies and Shalimar telling Lexa of what it was like when Adam had first found her. Eventually they felt the ease of sleepiness come over them and decided to try to sleep again.

When Lexa laid down this time, she imagined how good it would feel to have Jesse by her side again, hopefully in less then 36 hours. She had no idea when she had developed this power of positive thought but enjoyed the feeling. Slowly she slipped into a blissful dreamless sleep.

Shalimar was not so successful, and eventually falling into a restless sleep with dreams of past horrors. Then sometime during the course of her dreams she felt a presence in her life that made everything brighter and she felt safer. Finally the presence took on Adam's face. She held his hand as he told her, "Things will be different and you will find your way. Just remember to keep true to yourself." These words he had spoken to her when she had made the cut for the team and Nikki had been placed with her foster family. Slowly the horrible dreams faded and she dreamed of memories from happier times.

The four arrived at Ian's house in mid-morning. The weather was brisk and the sky was a beautiful sapphire blue. It had been a quiet drive to Ian's, everyone absorbed into their own thoughts. As they carried their packs into Ian's home he met them with a grin and aided them in carrying in the supplies.

Once they had all settled in, they began to look over the plans from the other night and checked over the infrared maps again. "Beau and Lexa will gain access through the sewer tunnels," Ian started as they looked over the maps and the plans.

"Why me? Again?" Lexa asked more then a little unhappy about this plan.

"Lexa, this is the best entry and exit we have. It is the only access point not directly on site. We need you with your laser light show to get through those grates and locks. Otherwise we will be toting oxygen tanks and acetylene… and that's just too much to carry around when we need stealth and speed." Ian answered calmly.

"I understand, but just for the record I'm not happy about it!" Lexa grumbled.

Shalimar and Angel tried to hide their grins as Ian turned to them. "You two will be the diversionary force."

"Does that mean we get to kick ass and take names?" Shalimar said with a growing grin as she turned to Angel, who had a similar smile plastered on her face.

"The taking names part is optional, of course, but essentially you two will be there in the kick ass capacity. You are both going to be going right through the front door. It will be fairly easy going once I disabled the generator."

The four laughed and continued their planning into the evening before relaxing and mentally preparing themselves for the tasks at hand.

Jesse looked up as a guard by the name of Ryan opened his door with a wicked smile on his face. "It's time for you to come out and have some more fun."

Brennan sat in his cell and cringed as he heard Jesse's cell door open and began to bang on his door in an effort to make them choose him instead. He tried to taunt the guard through the steel but was only met with the echoes of his threats reverberating off the walls of his concrete prison.

As Ian's SUV arrived a few miles out from the site where Brennan and Jesse were being held, no one spoke. Different thoughts were running through each mind yet all focused in on the task at hand as soon as the vehicle came to a stop. All five exited the vehicle and pulled out the equipment they had packed in near silence, only murmuring and giving short nods to each other in clarification. After strapping on their gear, they began to jog through the woods on the course that they had plotted to ensure them coming around the west side of the building where the one sewer entrance was.

When they reached the entrance, both Beau and Lexa worked on opening the grate while Ian, Angel and Shalimar moved around the side of the building. There were a few cameras at this section, but they skirted the outside of the barbed wire fence until they came to the section containing the generator. The box was about 100 yards away against the side of the building. Ian began to make an entry through the fence and plot his course to the box.

Ian looked at Shalimar and Angel. "Eight minutes. Be in position." Angel set her watch and nodded. Both Shalimar and Angel took off in the direction of the main entrance. They all had their tasks memorized as much as they could by heart. The two female ferals crouched low by the right of the front gate using some rocks and bushes that had probably been once for decoration but now were so overgrown that they made a good cover. There was a black suburban parked to the right of the entrance, blocking the view of the guards they could hear just beyond the vehicle.

Angel glanced at her watch. Two minutes to go. Shalimar listened to a few guards outside and counted the voices to know there were three talking. She signed to Angel who agreed in the assessment, and Angel glanced at her watch again. Thirty seconds. They began to creep closer to the gate.

All at once there was a huge electrical crack and the power dimmed in the building. Shalimar and Angel used the distraction to sneak up behind the guards who were now looking into the facility noticing the distinct lack of lights. Shalimar flipped over the hood of the truck and hit two of the guards in the head with a split kick while Angel grabbed the third from behind and threw him headlong into the windshield of the truck.

The two men Shalimar kicked both shook off their daze and picked themselves up off the ground, turning to face Shalimar who grabbed one by the hair and bent his face up to meet hers "Can I have this dance?" she sneered. He only smiled and grabbed at her knee, pulling her down, forcing her to release his hair as he grabbed for his gun. He didn't plan on her catlike reflexes as she pulled herself into a crouch and pushed them both forward into a roll, landing him on his back with one of her knees in his throat and the other on the hand that had grabbed his gun.

The second thug that she had hit was now on his feet and lumbering toward Shalimar. Angel grabbed the guy, trying to extricate himself from the windshield and kicked him hard, pushing him into the guy making his way toward Shalimar. Both men fell only a few feet away from where Shalimar was disarming her opponent and choked him with direct pressure to his throat. Shalimar had spent enough time in hiding, and enough time being scared of these people. She felt almost as she did after Emma had died and Adam had disappeared, letting them think he was dead. A darkness came over her, and Angel could only watch as Shalimar rolled off of her victim and knocked both of the other men's heads together as they tumbled toward her, and leapt to her feet.

Angel looked at Shalimar for a moment before Shalimar gave her a look that said this was all business. Shaking her head, Angel followed her lead as both women's eyes took on the telltale feral glow and made their way into the darkened interior.

Jesse sat in the chair as the psionic tried to pick apart his brain and his memories. He felt like his head was ready to split open. His captures had strapped him tightly into a chair, making sure the governor on his neck was still activated. His only thought was to try not to cry out in pain as the psionic fished through all of the memories she could find to get anything the Dominion could use.
Even though Beau and Lexa had taken sewer access tunnels much to her disdain, she had cut easily through the lock on the grate guarding the opening with her laser, and they followed the tunnel in. Once inside, Beau checked his watch "Nine minutes" he grunted.

They began to silently move toward the access point that had been decided on. They were going to be on the far end of the complex when they emerged. By the time they reached the sub-basement door, they only had three minutes to spare. Lexa began to cut the locks and Beau kept an eye and ear out for any unwanted company. When she had finally cut through the lock on the door, they only had twenty seconds left by Beau's watch. As they counted down, they tensely waited in silence. After what felt like 20 minutes, the lights went down and the generator was disabled. They made their move.

The two proceeded into the facility and noted the lack of guards in the hallway as they made their way down the abandoned corridor. At the first junction, they encountered the first of the guards. Lexa bent the light around her and Beau so that the two were invisible to the century doing a patrol. As he passed, Beau grabbed him and knocked him unconscious and grabbed his radio. Lexa looked quizzically at Beau for a second when she dropped the invisibility.

"Monitoring the enemy, tactics 102." Beau said simply as he pushed past her down the hallway.

Lexa just shot him a look that said 'Duh' as he passed and followed him down the hallway. As they approached the next intersection, Lexa bent the light around her again and ducked around the corner to see if anyone was coming. There were another three guards at the end of the hall. As she ducked back behind the wall, she became visible and told Beau who was already preparing a few gas canisters to knock them out.

Shalimar and Angel plunged headlong into the darkness of the front entrance. Both pairs of eyes glowed in the darkness as they came across the next group of five guards on their way out to see what was happening. Shalimar leapt into the air and grabbed the first guard around the neck with her legs locking them behind his neck and using the momentum to flip him forward and onto his back.

Angel grabbed the second guard who attempted to use a tazer prod on her and grabbed the stick butting it into the guys face breaking his nose. The next guard grabbed both of Angel's arms as she brought her head forward and then slammed it back into his face. He relinquished his grip momentarily, but more then enough time for her to move and throw him into the guy with the prod.

Shalimar kipped up from the floor where she left the other guard and met the next two headlong. She smiled as they brought out the neck restraints. They had no idea how feral she could really be. She waited for both to spring the braces and grabbed both ends just before the clamped on her neck. She then swung the guards still attached to the ends of the clamps into the walls. She was immediately on the closest grabbing him by the shirt with both hands to pull him up. He took advantage of both of her hands being occupied and kicked out at her knee and punching her in the jaw. She saw the leg move at the last minute and managed to avoid having her leg removed from under her, but missed the punch to the face. She dropped him and shook off the pain with a roll of her neck.

Angel had grabbed one guard, pushing him into the other. As both were momentarily stunned, she pushed off the ground doing a flying round house into both of their heads. Both were out cold before they hit the ground.

Shalimar leered at the guard who got in the punch and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, barely noticing the blood on it. The guard advanced on her, trying to grapple her around the neck again. She only smiled and bent herself backwards as he got the clamp close to her. She sprung into a backwards flip kicking him in the face as she went around. As she landed the other guard grabbed her by the throat with his hands, having lost his clamp when he was flung. He missed Angel coming around to the side to snap kick him in the side of the head dropping him to the floor. The two ferals grinned at each other as they took off down the hall to the main room.

Once Ian had disengaged the generator he took off back into the woods. He ran until he got to the car. He looked at his watch and cursed under his breath that it had taken him longer to get there then he intended. He got in the truck and took off toward the sewer entrance.
Lexa and Beau snuck down the corridor under the cloak of Lexa's light bending. They approached the three guards who were wondering about the strange occurrences when their radio crackled.

"We've got two at the main entrance. The one is definitely one of the girls we're looking for." Then the transmission was ended with a grunt.

Lexa dropped the cloak and looked at Beau. "Guess the gigs up. Do you want to hand over our friends now?"

The one guard reached for his radio, but was knocked out by Beau before his hand even reached the mike. The second squared off with Lexa for a moment before making a well placed kick toward her abdomen. She stepped to the side just in time to avoid it, and grabbed his leg propelling him into Beau's waiting uppercut. The third fumbled with his radio and was grabbed by Lexa from behind while he had focused all of his attentions on the larger man before him. Lexa put him in a choke hold and waited as he dropped to the floor. The two smirked at each other as they continued down the hall to the back section where they were hoping Brennan and Jesse were being held.

Shalimar and Angel ran into the main room to see six people in the room and Jesse strapped into the chair. The lights had been knocked out, but the windows had let enough light through to see the layout of the room well.

As the guards noticed the two newcomers, they smiled. "We've been expecting you." Said the overly large one and grabbed a table that was close by, picking it up by one leg and hurling it at Angel and Shalimar. They both managed to dive out of the way just in time. They were then met with an onslaught of the other guards.

Jesse was drained, but on seeing Shalimar he had his hopes renewed and began to struggle in his binds. He tried to mass and phase without any success. He looked up just in time to see a guard who had the ability to create sonic disruptions at Shalimar and yelled to her, "Shal, behind you!"

Shalimar turned just in time to see the mutant pulling his arms back. She needed no motivation to find out what he planned on doing, and quickly jumped from her position to a ten foot high ledge and before the attacker realized she moved, she was already grappling him from behind. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to pick on girls?" She bit scathingly in his ear as she pushed his legs out from underneath him and brought his back crashing onto her knee.

Angel was attacked by another guard that looked normal until she blinked with a vertical set of eyelids. Angel watched as the woman approached waiting to see what she planned on doing. The woman lunged at Angel with a fierce and dexterous attack. The fight was on as Angel and the woman threw a flurry of punches and kicks. At one point the woman grabbed Angel's arm and tried to twist it up behind her, but Angel was too good for that move and threw the woman over her shoulder. The woman hissed as she landed and looked up into Angel's face and spat a gooey substance that fastened quickly to Angel's mouth and neck with a stunning property. She was still able to breathe through her nose, but was distracted and stunned enough to let her assailant get in several good punches before she fell back to the floor.

Shalimar watched the woman spit on Angel and then hit her several times. She now had three others taking her on as she looked around. The big guy and two others that were carrying stun sticks. She let the two with the sticks rush her and leapt up right before they reached her, then kicked both legs out pushing them toward the oversized behemoth. He was able to avoid the two fumbling guards and charged her. She had just landed and wasn't able to move quick enough before he caught her and shoved her back into the wall. She fought the wave of dizziness that accompanied the hit and jabbed him in the throat. He winced momentarily, but still had her pinned to the wall and adjusted his grip to her throat as her feet dangled precariously off the floor, choking her as the two guards approached from both sides. She felt her air supply being lessened and knew she had to act fast. She saw Angel on the other side of the room trying to gain her footing and retaliate, but taking a beating in the process. She looked at Jesse's pained hazel eyes as they connected with her own.

Suddenly something snapped in her, and Shalimar felt as if her fight for everything the past few years had come down to this one moment. She felt an animalistic impulse come over her in a kill or be killed sense and everything began to come into sharp focus. Her eyes glowed amber as she looked down at her attacker and used the wall to brace her back off of bending her legs up before he could stop her. She wrapped around his neck while prying his hands away from her neck, breaking four of his fingers in the process. She squeezed her legs tighter then she thought was possible until he slumped to the ground and then turned to face the other two men. She reached quickly right and grabbed the closest, punching him so hard in the gut he almost retched on her and then threw him headlong into the wall. She grabbed the stun stick and zapped the beast of a man that was blinking and trying to regain conscious as she stalked toward the other assailant who tried to hit her with the stick and realized too late that she was much too fast for him. She snapped kicked his knee and heard the shattering of bone as he went to the floor in a heap.

Angel had been trying to gain her footing, but felt disoriented. She was kicked in the ribs as she attempted to get to all fours. She had to do something. As she lied on the floor she realized that Shalimar was having the life strangled out of her by the big guy and feared the worst. She turned again and with new determination she wiped her hand across her face, trying to pull the tingling matter away from her. They were too close to stop now, and only the woman who was attempting to start probing Jesse's brain was unaffected by the fight going on around them. With one last surge of energy she caught her opponent's foot as it came up to kick her again and pulled hard causing the woman to land on her back with a thump. Angel gave her a hard upper cut to the jaw before the woman knew what was happening. The woman's head lolled backward. Just as Angel looked up, she saw Shalimar kicking the last of the guards and the big guy sprawled in an undignified heap on the floor. Angel looked over to Shalimar and called out, "Shal, get Jesse!," before resuming her attempts at fighting the weakness.

Shalimar looked over to where Jesse was seated and saw the psionic trying to probe his brain. She had visions of Eckhart trying to do the same to Brennan and her last threads of control snapped. She launched across the room and grabbed the psionic by the neck and twisted. For a moment she saw only red and didn't know what she had done until she heard Jesse's soft voice calling her name.

"Shal? Shal is it you?"

She spun on her heel and felt her heart melt as she gazed upon the man that she had come to think of as her brother. The world came into focus as she looked at his battered form. "Yeah Jess, it's me." She said before quickly going about undoing his bindings to free him.

Lexa and Beau went about dispatching the remaining two guards with ease. Neither had been prepared to deal with the surprise attack as Beau grabbed the next one before he could move and punched him in the chest and then hit him with a right hook.

Lexa grabbed the other guard from behind and kicked his legs out from under him then delivering a hard blow to the back of his head.

"Let's get them and get out of here!" Beau said marching down the hallway.

They continued down the hallway until they got to the door that marked Jesse's cell and Brennan's across from it. Lexa looked to Jesse's door and noticed with dismay that it was open and he was no where to be found. Spinning around she saw a lock secured to the door across the hall and severed it with practiced ease. Throwing the door open, she found Brennan lying on his cot.

Brennan looked up to see which guard had come to bother him now, but was caught off guard by the countenance of Beau and Lexa standing in his doorway. He shook his head to try and refocus his eyes.

"Brennan!" Lexa cried as she sprung across the room to see him. His body was considerably leaner, and he had grown a lot of stubble over his cheeks and jaw. He was bruised, but still had some fire burning in his eyes.

"What the fuck?" Brennan spat, his mind still reeling from the psionic torture. "This isn't going to work. It isn't real," He said in an almost defeated tone.

"Brennan, look at me." Lexa said grabbing his face in her hands and pulling his eyes up to meet hers. "We're getting you out of here. Do you think you can stand?"

He stared straight into her eyes and attempted to focus for another second. "Lexa?"

She bit back the tears and nodded. "Come on Bren, we're going home."

Beau had looked at his watch and up at Lexa. "We have to move now."

Brennan stood and ignored the fatigue in his muscles as Lexa and Beau led him down the hallway.

Shalimar and Angel were glad they had planned on meeting Lexa and Beau to exit through the sewers. There was no way they could get Jesse out the front door without a huge fight. After releasing his binds, they each grabbed under an arm and half-carried him down the back hallway to the junction where they were meeting Beau and Lexa. They arrived at the juncture first and Angel poked her head around the corner to see if their cohorts where far. She turned with a wry grin at Shalimar. Shalimar poked her head around the corner and saw the trio coming down the hall then smiled back at Angel.

Lexa, Beau, and Brennan approached the corner and saw Angel step out from behind with Jesse and Shalimar in tow. For a moment Lexa's eyes soaked in Jesse's haggard appearance. He had blood dripping from a cut on his temple, a black eye, and some dry blood and swelling around the corner of his mouth. He was giving her a faint smile though and she knew he would be alright.

Shalimar drank in the sight of Brennan. He was thinner and scruffier, but seemed to be standing on his own and functioning fine. She smiled at him and felt a thrill run through her when he gave her a small grin in return.

Beau broke the moment by suggesting they move out and leave the place far behind. With nods and voices of assent they took off down the hallway toward the sewer entrance. Shalimar and Angel supported Jesse as they began their trek. Brennan shook off Beau and Lexa's offer of help and followed them down the hall trying to shake the weakness he felt.

As they came around the last corner to the entrance, a gate slammed shut in front of them. It was an old wire mesh gate probably used in the prison days to control riots, but now it barred their escape. They heard guards charging down the hallway and weapons cocking as they rounded the corner and drew down on them. The six could only look at each other quickly as Angel and Shalimar put Jesse on the ground by Lexa who refused his offers to try to phase through the gate.

"Lexa cut the gate." Beau commanded as he, Angel and Shalimar began a flurry of attacks on their foes.

Brennan began to try and charge himself, enjoying the feeling of the electricity as it danced in his fingers, but was suddenly knocked to the ground as the head guard, Ryan, approached with the transmitter for the governors. Brennan hit his knees when the governor was activated and Jesse writhed on the floor in pain trying to escape the burning sensations.

Shalimar looked up and saw Ryan holding the transmitter. With a swift kick she had removed it from his hand and shattered it against the far wall. His face contorted in anger as he aimed his gun at her and fired. Several shots rang out, and Shalimar yelped then dropped to the ground. Brennan had looked up just in time to see Shalimar's blond form collapse to the cement.

"Ryan!" Brennan said standing and feeling hatred permeate every pore of his being. Finally being free of the governor's leash, Brennan had sent a charge of electricity Ryan's way before the opponent had time to realize what had happened. Ryan shook with the voltage and collapsed to the floor. Brennan sprinted the short distance to where Shalimar lay on her side bleeding from an abdominal wound.

"Shal?" Brennan whispered as he looked into her eyes and saw her looking back at him with a sad smile on her face.

"You weren't supposed to be rescuing me." She said, wincing at the pain shooting though her.

"You'll be ok. We'll get you out of here and get you fixed up okay?" He ripped off one of her long sleeves from her shirt, that were cleaner then his shirt, and applied pressure to her wound.

"We're through!" Lexa cried as she helped Jesse to his feet and looked around to see Beau and Angel beating the crap out of the last few guards and noticed Brennan hovering over Shalimar. She had heard the gunshots, but was too focused on getting through the gate to notice what had happened. She saw the blood running from under Shalimar as Brennan held her. "Shal? Brennan what happened?"

"Ryan shot her. We have to get her to a doctor now." He bit back the pain and focused on getting out of the facility in tact. He picked Shalimar up, even though she wanted to walk herself he forced her to realize they didn't have time for her to be stubborn.

Beau was shot through his upper arm, but it was a clean shot through and through that had seemed to avoid the bone. Angel had wrapped it with a part of her vest to stem the flow of blood. Angel was slightly bruised, but seemed to have no other major injuries.

Together the six raced out of the sewers. Brennan carrying Shalimar's form, and Lexa supporting Jesse's weak one. They reached the surface and saw Ian sitting in the SUV waiting for them. They jumped in and he took off down the road.

"Ian call that doctor friend of yours. Shal and Beau were shot." Lexa said turning around to check on Brennan still holding Shalimar in his lap as she lolled her head on his shoulder. Brennan was trying to keep her alert and with them. While Angel was alternating care between Beau and Jesse.

Ian could only look in the rear view mirror and frown. He dialed his cell and pushed harder on the gas, trying to cut their return trip time down as much as he possibly could.

I know I'm evil, but I haven't had a cliffie really in the whole story. So I had to do something for some suspense! Please R&R let me know what you thought!