It's finally here! I'm really sorry for the delay. R/L has been a bear, and I've been writing bits and pieces of this in my spare time. I finally had a day off and managed to finish the chapter. Sadly there is only one more after this and I have it mapped out, so hopefully I can get it started and worked on tonight.
I'd like to apologize to everyone I haven't had a chance to say thank you to for your reviews. They have not gone unnoticed and I'm really grateful for all of the support and requests for me to finish this story. I really hope that this chapter answers any questions about Dominique and what is happening.
I do have another idea in the plans for a story after this so hopefully it will give me motivation to get writing.
AN1: This was difficult to write because I had to create a persona for Dominique so I need you to bear with me. I had to think about how I thought she might have been portrayed in the series so if she rubs you the wrong way, bear with it, there is a reason for her attitude.
AN2: Special thanks to all of my friends and Beta's. You know who you are and I have to ask everyone to extend a thanks to them for all of their help.
I'll stop boring you now, so you can read the story!
Chapter 26: Returning to the Fight
"I told you we couldn't go that way!" Dominique hissed over the sound of bullets spraying past them and hitting the adjacent walls.
"Well in case you haven't noticed, there's a ten story drop outside that wall there, and all of the exits are pinned down." Lexa almost snarled.
"I hate to interrupt you two from your lovely argument." Angel pushed between the two, "But if we are going to find a way out of here, we need to do it fast. Shalimar just called and said that there were two more trucks of operatives that arrived."
Brennan shot another few bolts of electricity around the corner before turning his attention back to the conversation. He wanted to shake his head at the way the two women had been bickering ever since they came under attack.
They had found Dominique hold up in on the top floor with one man that was dead by the Dominion guards hands before they arrived. Taking out the three guards who were preparing to move her wasn't difficult, but Brennan couldn't think of where all of the other guards had gone. The unspoken question was answered as soon as they tried to get Dominique out of the room.
He interrupted the women before they could start arguing again. "We need to get to the other side of the floor. Beau's saying that there is a building that is close enough to jump to if Jesse phases the wall."
"You want me to do what?" Jesse had to almost yell to be heard above the gunfire and the screaming of the fire alarms that had been triggered.
Lexa ducked her head back around and shot Jesse a glare before she looked to Brennan, "I count six, spread out between twelve feet. If we can take them out then we can use this hallway to get to the other end."
"Okay on three." Brennan said as he felt the power flow through his hands. "One… Two… Three!"
Both Brennan and Lexa turned the corner and began firing full blast at the six soldiers barring them from freedom. A heat flared up in Brennan's bicep as a bullet barely grazed the skin. He pushed the pain to the side and used his anger to fuel his attack. The soldiers' body armor absorbed part of the energy, but they were hit too hard and fast by Lexa and Brennan's attack to recover from the force of the blows.
Looking back over her shoulder Lexa nodded, "Let's go!"
Taking off down the hallway the group rounded the corner, where there were two more soldiers standing at a post. Angel somersaulted and took the one out by wrapping her legs around his neck and cutting off the flow of valuable oxygen. The second was taken out by Jesse as he went around the corner and massed then delivered a hard uppercut to his opponents jaw.
Running full steam to the other end of the hall, Brennan had Ian on the other end of the comm telling him to go to the south side. Shalimar was reporting two teams of six just entered through the first floor side and front entrances. Her barely controlled voice was on the edge of panic, and he couldn't help but remember exactly how that fear felt. Squelching his feelings, he listened to Ian's directions for the right room and looked to Jesse. "Phase us through that door over there, 1066."
Following Brennan's direction, the group went into an empty penthouse suite with a large bay window. A quick look out the window showed an alleyway approximately eight feet across and a building about two stories lower on the other side. It looked to be the top of a parking garage.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Dominique's exasperated voice echoed slightly in the confines of the room. "We'll break something if we aren't killed!"
"Beau said not to worry, he has an idea" Angel said as she looked to Jesse. "He just needs a few more minutes."
"I don't think we have them," Lexa's voice was hushed and hurried. "I hear the cavalry coming now."
"Shit," Angel swore as she stretched out her feral hearing. "I hear at least five of them."
Brennan and Angel barricaded the door with a dresser and a few other heavy objects. Lexa had pulled Dominique to the side away from the door.
Beau's low timbre voice broke through the din into the comm in Brennan's ear, "Now, Brennan!"
"Jess, now," Brennan told the molecular.
The wall took on a shimmering quality and the group plunged through the opening one at a time. As Brennan jumped out Jesse waited for him to clear before backing off and taking a running start and phasing himself through the wall, praying that whatever plan Shalimar and Beau had devised, it didn't involve any of them requiring surgery once they reached the other side.
Three Hours Earlier
"Dominique?" Lexa's voice held a sound of barely contained enthusiasm.
Adam's hologram nodded in Lexa's direction.
Shalimar watched as the screen lit up with the picture they had seen of the elusive woman over a year ago, the one who had the answers to stabilizing their DNA. A small wave of hope began to trickle into her mind. Finally they might have a lead to help them continue their lives without fear of dying due to a genetic flaw. Dominique was their best hope for a life that wouldn't be regulated by the cumbersome expiration date she felt was engraved on her soul.
"Where is she?" Brennan's voice sounded from over her right shoulder.
Shalimar noticed as he had come up behind her he cradled her hip in one hand, pulling her close to his side. As he heard the news his grip tightened, and she could feel his body tense slightly. She moved her hand to cover his in a sign of reassurance.
"That is the odd part," the hologram answered pulling up a map on the wall-screen. "She is located in the Ridgemont hotel in the city. It seems that the she has tried to cut ties with the Dominion. I just received a message looking for Mutant X to help her."
The group looked to one another, skeptically.
Jesse was the first to speak. "I thought Dominique had her own security and bodyguards. We couldn't have gotten close to her before, even if we found her."
The hologram smiled tightly, "She was on the Dominion's payroll."
"Those bastards," Lexa spat. "They told me they couldn't help me to get to her and that she was out of their reach!"
"Lexa, calm down," Jesse said, gently grabbing her arm. "There's nothing we can do about it now."
"Those God damn liars, all that time I tried to get help for my brother and they kept telling me that she was her own entity!" Lexa shrugged off Jesse's hold and paced, her face flushed.
Shalimar felt a twinge of pain for Lexa and her lost opportunities with her brother.
Angel walked to Lexa's side and put her hands on the brunette's shoulders, looking directly into Lexa's eyes before speaking. "Lex, we can't change the past, but we can change the future."
Lexa looked furious, but only for a moment. Her anger drained slowly away, but the tension remained.
"How did you get the message?" Ian asked the hologram. "I mean this could be a trap, right?"
"I would have believed so, except for the referencing address. It's the one that Adam set aside for priority transmissions." The hologram responded.
"How did she get access to that? I thought that Adam actually had to send us a message for it to be encoded that way?" Jesse asked as he walked to the keyboard and punched in the buttons.
The hologram walked over to the desk and looked at the group of faces before it spoke. "I'm under the belief that Adam did send the message." The hologram answered as a separate screen from the one Jesse was accessing came up with the message followed by a set of coordinates.
Mutant X - Dominique is in the city. She has been compromised and needs help. She has agreed to help you for your troubles. She will be able to inform you of more when you get to her.
Shalimar's heart ached slightly, even in his absence Adam was trying to protect them; he had led them to the one person who could successfully correct their genetic defects. He had all but secured a way for the new mutants to develop ways to stabilize their DNA.
"Your comm-rings haven't yet been completed, but I do have four ear comms that you can use for now." The hologram said, and then turned to Ian. "If you would help me with the last calibrations we can get them ready to go. We can monitor the transmissions from Haven." The hologram said as he motioned to Ian.
Ian nodded and headed to the lab as the hologram faded from its position.
"Let's get this done!" Lexa said then leveled her gaze at Shalimar. "Shalimar, you aren't going in."
Shalimar felt like her head was going to spin around. A heat of anger flushed her cheeks, she wasn't about to let her team go into this situation without her. "No. No way Lex! I'm going with you. There is no way of knowing what you are up against, and you are gonna need all the help you can get."
Lexa leveled her gaze into Shalimar's eyes. "And you're still on the injured list. What happens if your right and we do come under fire? We can't risk you getting further injured, or worse." Lexa's voice dropped to a hushed whisper toward the end. Her green eyes pleaded with Shalimar's for a moment before Shalimar broke the gaze.
"I'm still going with you." Shalimar stated simply.
Lexa smirked. "I never counted you completely out. I want you to stay with Beau and overlook the hotel and be our outside eyes and ears."
"I should be going in with you." Beau stated.
"I agree." Angel said. "We might need more help."
Lexa looked between the two ferals for a moment before answering. "I think it is a better idea for Beau to stay with Shalimar. She can't fight in full capacity, and we need to keep someone with her who can pick up the slack."
"I don't need a baby sitter!" Shalimar snapped as Angel's eyes glowed amber for a moment, "I can handle that just fine!" Both women spoke in unison
"That's why I want you inside, Angel." Lexa stated as if she was explaining to someone either very young or very slow, completely ignoring Shalimar's outburst. "You are just as capable as Beau, and I want the tactician outside. He's used to being the leader and coming up with plans on the fly. We might need him to do some of that on the outside."
Angel grumbled, but walked away without further confrontation.
Beau smiled at Lexa. "You would have been a great tactical planner to have on my old team."
Lexa returned the smile with a grin. "Hell, I'm flying by the seat of my pants! I've only been working with team planning for the past year."
"She's just trying to make sure we have our bases covered, Shalimar" Brennan said softly in her ear. "I would have set it up the same way."
"That doesn't mean I have to like it." Shalimar scowled in Lexa's direction."
"No, you don't, but you have to know that we don't want you hurt any worse," Brennan reasoned. "Besides you will be just as valuable if things go wrong inside. We'll need you to get us out."
The scowl softened to a hard pout, but she left it alone and started walking to her room to change and collect her things.
"Okay team, pack up we leave in twenty minutes!" Brennan said causing Shalimar to turn and look at him. She noticed that as Lexa began to walk away he followed her.
Shalimar couldn't help but train her hearing to listen in on the conversation. Worry flooded her that the two might get into another fight about something.
"Thank you," he said softly.
"Don't get all teary eyed on my sparky," Lexa tried to make her voice hard, but knew that it wasn't nearly as hard as she had wanted it to come across. "I'm just trying to save all of our asses."
Brennan looked skeptical for a moment before responding. "I think she took it better from you then she would have from me, and you were right in your reasons."
Lexa looked into his mahogany eyes and saw the sincerity overlaying the difficulty in which it had taken him to thank her. "We all love her, Bren. I just came up with a better avenue to divert her then a: because I love you defense." She smiled briefly before turning to gather her supplies.
Shalimar had watched the interaction with piqued interest from her spot by the doorway. For so long Brennan and Lexa had been almost literally at each others throats. Now she noticed a quasi-truce between the two and knew that they had found a common ground in keeping her safe.
Part of her was still furious about being restricted on a mission. Healing these wounds was taking longer then she would have liked, but at least she healed faster then most people. For that she was thankful. The stitches had come out yesterday, and Mira told her that she was mostly healed, but not to push too hard for the next two weeks to allow the mending to complete.
Focusing her sight back at Brennan and Lexa she saw the brunette punch lightly at his shoulder before heading off in the opposite direction. Brennan turned and looked into her eyes and his face took on a light-hearted look, bordering on innocence. She smiled back and decided to let them win this once.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pulling up in front of a building down the street from the hotel Lexa, Brennan, Jesse, and Angel got out and made their way up to the hotel. From their position down the street from the hotel they noticed a large black SUV parked in front of the main doors. The comms were given to Shalimar, Beau, Brennan, and Angel.
"There is a side entrance about ten yards down the building on the side closest to you. Jesse will have to phase you in. There's no external handles, it's an emergency exit only." Ian's voice cut through the comms.
"Okay, let's move out." Brennan said shooting a quick smile at Shalimar and watching a look of worry pass over her face. She had been worried from the time they had said she wasn't going in, but there was little he could do to dispel her fears.
Shalimar sat with Beau in silence for a few moments. She glanced around at the surrounding buildings trying to find a decent place to set up a look-out. The only place that was even remotely accessible was a parking garage for the hotel. After a brief discussion with Ian over the comms, Beau and Shalimar ascertained that he could hack into the video cameras on the east and south sides and give them any updates they would need as well as monitor the situation from those angles; which left the front and the side with the parking garage for Beau and Shalimar to visually cover.
"Shal, I tried to hack into the camera's inside, but it's no use. Someone has cut all power to them. I can't even turn them back on by remote." Ian's voice came over Shalimar's comm.
"Okay, Ian." Shalimar responded as she slid into the alleyway across the street from the entrance to the hotel and blended-in with the shadows. "Brennan, where are you guys?"
"We're on the third floor. We've had to duck a few of the agents, but we should be up to her room in less then five." Brennan's voice whispered in her ear.
"We have no way of tracking you guys on the inside so one of you will have to keep us posted. Ian tried to hack the cameras, but it's not working." Shalimar tried to keep the exasperation out of her voice.
"Okay we'll keep giving you updates. How is Ian coming with the building plans?"
"He's got them, once you reach the eighth floor call him and he will get you set up with the best way and an alternate route."
"Gotcha." Brennan replied and she heard the comm go silent.
Shalimar watched the front entrance for another five minutes and noticed that whoever was in the black SUV still hadn't gotten any back-up. The situation concerned her, and she began to get a feeling that something wasn't right.
Beau was positioned at the top of the parking garage and keeping watch on the vehicles and personnel that might try to enter that way. When he had reached the top he had advised Shalimar that there were no other vehicles in the garage that looked to be a back up part of the insurgent team.
Watching the entrance and main streets she listened to the chatter between Ian, Beau, Brennan, and Angel. Without warning the sound of gunfire screamed in Shalimar's ear through the comm.
"Shal, we're taking on fire. We've reached the floor and got to Dominique, but we're pinned down in her room. Did any more cars get here, because there are a lot more guys here then we initially thought would be?" Angel's strained voice said into her ear.
"No, no one's shown up!" Shalimar said looking up and down the street to see if she had missed something. As she did, two more vehicles rounded the corner and pulled into the alleyway opposite of Beau. "Shit, you guys have more incoming. There are two more trucks that just pulled up!"
She counted two teams of six entering the building one through the side and another through the front entrances. "Brennan, you have two teams of six coming in at you." She felt the fear trying to grip at her voice.
"Shalimar, I need you over here!" Beau said. "I have a plan for getting them out. Ian and I think it might work, and it's the best shot we have right now!"
"I'm on my way!" Shalimar said running out from her cover once all of the teams had headed inside. She saw two of them standing guard at the front, but was able to use a few cars of passing traffic to aid in her concealment as she crossed the street.
"Angel, they have all the lower exits sealed off!" Shalimar said as she crossed the street and noticed the force now guarding the rear of the building.
"Right Shal," came Angel's quick reply.
Shalimar ran as fast as she could. She could feel the newly mended skin on her abdomen throbbing slightly with pain. She used the feeling to ground herself and push a little harder. She had to trust that Mira was right when she said that the inside damage was ninety percent healed as she used her abilities to leap from landing to landing on the inside of the stairwell.
She reached the top of the garage to see Beau swinging a grappling hook across the enclosure between the buildings. He hooked a blue and golden banner that had stretched down the side of the hotel that was located just above the windows to the ninth story. He started to haul the banner across the gap between the buildings and she ran to help him. They hoisted the banner across and pulled tight as she heard Beau tell Brennan, now.
She saw the window directly above the banner shimmer and Lexa's figure appeared, making it most of the way across before contacting with the banner and sliding the rest of the way to the top of the garage. She looked flushed and slightly out of breath, but gave a small smile and nod to both Shalimar and Beau.
Angel and Dominique came next; Angel supporting the other woman with grace and ease as she cleared the gap. Beau dropped his section of the banner to help catch Dominique as Angel landed on the roof. Shalimar couldn't help but think that this powerful woman that they had been searching for looked very petite and pale.
Her attention was quickly returned to the banner as Brennan jumped from the building. She felt the banner contract as he landed on the heavy blue and gold swath of fabric and pulled tighter to keep him from getting stuck in the middle of the banner. She watched him slide toward her and almost bowl her over as he came to the end. His grin was infectious and she felt herself unconsciously grinning back.
Before she could take the time to notice much more, Jesse came through the section still phased; his features were blurry and distorted. She saw him falling and hoped that he could solidify before he hit the banner. Just before he came in contact with it his body stabilized and he hit the banner looking slightly ungainly as he slid the rest of the way down. His body carried him right into Shalimar and landed on top of her with a thud. She looked up into his apologetic eyes as he scrambled to get off of her and help her back up.
"I'm so-"
"Don't even think about apologizing, Jess." Shalimar said as she got back up.
"Okay, now what?" Lexa said looking to where the gunman had started firing into the room they had just vacated.
"Now we get the hell out of here." Beau said hurrying everyone down the stairs of the garage.
Shalimar spared a thought and threw the banner over the side of the roof before taking off after the rest of the group. She saw them racing down to the next level where Beau had parked the truck. They all piled in as the tires squealed and smoked laying down a coating of rubber before flying down the ramp to the exit.
"We're never going to make it." Dominique almost sobbed. "There is no way that they won't have the exits blocked."
"That's not true," Shalimar snapped the turned her gaze to Jesse. "Do you remember what you did with the Helix that time? Do you think you could do it again?"
Jesse's unsure glance frightened her for a moment before she saw courage flare to life in his eyes and his face broke into a small smirk. "You know Shal; I think that just might work."
"Whatever you guys are planning you might want to have it ready." Beau said from the driver's seat. "We're almost at the exit."
Looking forward through the windshield Shalimar saw the large G painted onto the pole they were driving toward. The entrance held two large black SUV's and men posed to fire at the oncoming vehicle.
She felt more then heard Jesse take a deep breath and stretch himself across the vehicle to contact different points. Jesse called out to Beau to keep driving just before the sensation began to flow through her. It was an odd feeling of disconnection that overtook her, and Shalimar still was amazed at the way that Jesse was able to accomplish this.
As their SUV approached the exit and the men waiting for them everything began to shimmer and they watched a hail of bullets and electricity pass through them. They passed through the vehicles and rematerialized on the other side just in time to take the turn and take off down the street.
"Holy shit, that feels weird." Angel said moving and glancing at her arms. A wave of murmurs throughout the vehicle concurred with her.
Jesse just grinned and shrugged his shoulders. He looked exhausted, and Shalimar knew the effort that it must have taken him to pull off that stunt probably came close to draining him. Grabbing his hand she squeezed it and gave him a smile. His eyes were tired, but he didn't look injured.
Shalimar noticed a coppery odor of blood and looked to the people who just arrived. She was able to see the hole in the material of Brennan's jacket and the trail of blood leading down his sleeve.
"Shit, Brennan!" Shalimar said trying to get a closer look at the wound.
Brennan tried to shrug her off and hissed when her hand grazed the wound. "Shal, I'm fine, really. It's just a scratch."
"We got trouble," Lexa said from the front seat. "Two more are following us."
"Well, what's the plan now?" Dominique snapped. "You have done s-"
"Would you just shut up for a moment?" Angel cut her off. "We have to figure out how to get out of here and get back to Haven without them following us."
Brennan went to put the window down on the side directly behind Beau and cursed in frustration. "Beau, could you have disabled the child locks on the window? I don't think that any of us has plans to jump out the window just yet."
Beau let out a loud snort of amusement before disengaging the locks allowing Brennan to put the rear window all the way down.
"Lex, see if you can hit the second car, I'll go for the first," Brennan said as Lexa began to position herself in the front passenger seat to fire at the tailing vehicles.
Lexa responded by firing upon the second vehicles tires and missing, glancing off of the fender. "Beau hang a right at some point so I can get a better shot."
Beau responded by making a quick turn onto a side street and hanging wide to allow Lexa the room to strike again.
The second and third shots that Lexa sent found their marks in the tires as the truck rounded the turn. The tires blew spectacularly as the truck was in mid-turn and dipped forward before careening down the road on its side.
Brennan hit the first truck twice with his electricity only bouncing off of the windshield and arcing over the vehicle. Taking aim directly at the grill of the truck he threw another jolt of electricity and watched as the vehicle sputtered and rolled to a stop.
Hooking a few more turns to make sure that they weren't being followed, Beau began to head back to Haven. "Ian can you hack into the satellites and make sure that we aren't being followed?" He asked as he constantly checked his mirrors.
"I'm checking now," came Ian's reply over the comms that Shalimar had almost forgotten she had in. She heard Ian's voice come across the comms again, "I don't see anything aerial or otherwise following you. From what I have seen, I don't think they were expecting to run into you guys there. It was too light of a regiment."
"That was a light regiment?" Angel's voice was laced with amazement.
"Okay, let's get back to Haven." Shalimar said as she looked around and noticed Dominique sitting next to her in the middle row seat on the passenger side.
The woman's face was stony and she looked almost nothing like the pampered princess that Shalimar imagined. Harsh angles made up the woman's face with large green eyes, dark brown hair and pale skin. She was the definition of exotic in features. Her body was petite but well toned and healthy.
"Do you want a picture," snapped Dominique.
Eyes narrowed as Shalimar assessed the woman sitting next to her. "I'm just trying to figure out how you are a scientist."
"I'm a geneticist." Dominique replied tersely.
"Listen, we just saved your life. What's with the attitude?" Angel said leaning up from the back seat.
Dominique appraised Angel, as if seeing her for the first time. "You don't get it do you? I lost everything. My work, my home, and the life I was accustomed to. It's all gone!" She took a deep breath before continuing, trying to regain her composure, "Those fucking people at the Dominion had to have everything and wanted me to become a puppet for them. I refused to work like that."
"I think I might know what that is like." Shalimar's voice felt small in her throat, and she was surprised that anyone was able to hear it.
Dominique turned her eyes over and Shalimar felt as if she was being pierced and dissected with them. It was a very appraising gaze, and after several heartbeats Dominique spoke again, her tone was slightly softer this time. "I believe that you do know, but it doesn't change anything. I have a few discs with my research on them and very little else that I have become accustomed to. I promised Adam to help Mutant X stabilize their genetics, but I'm not even sure if I have the right stuff."
Shalimar felt Brennan shift next to her and speak over her shoulder, it seemed as if it was the first time he had any interest in the conversation. "You aren't sure if you can help us?"
Downcast eyes answered Brennan before their speaker was able to. "I'm not sure," she started but then looked up into his eyes. "I will figure it out, but it might not be as soon as if I had all of my old research. It was all destroyed before the Dominion could come and confiscate it."
Nodding in reply, Brennan fell back against the seat and Shalimar noticed that he looked slightly pale. Reaching down beneath the seat she grabbed the first aid kit and unpacked some pain killers and bandages. Brennan resisted at first, but then gave in as she gave him the pills then pulled his jacket over his arm and began to bandage the wound splitting the skin on the outside of his arm. He would need stitches, but after a cursory inspection, Angel agreed that he would be fine.
The ride back to Haven was completed in silence.
I really hope that you have all enjoyed the story thus far. I tried to make it a nice long chapter to compensate for my lack of writing recently. I have really enjoyed writing this fic, and I have to say that after almost 2 years of writing it, I'm gonna be sad to see it end. I hope to have the last chapter out soon.
Remember that reviews feed my muse, and when he is nice and full he loves to kick me in the ass to keep writing so he gets more.