Vulnerability

One of the all-too-familiar cars waited just outside the terminal doors.

Inside was a face that Jace recognized from long weeks of patient practice, and frequent viewing. It took only a moment for her to recognize him, and leap out of the car.

What was Danielle doing here?

In one of their cars, no less–

She'd known about the watchers. It had to be. She knew what really happened in Mission City. Danielle was in league with them.

"Jace!" she called, "Jace–"

Don't freeze, he told himself, Keep moving. They'll only lock you up, and keep you there. Who knows what they really want– other than for you not to remember...

Jace backpedaled into something solid. A hand grabbed his arm solidly.

"Mr. Hunt," The voice behind him said, "You need to come with us."

Surrounded. Caught. Helpless.

Alone- no one to come and save him from this danger.

"No..." A shiver of something almost like fear touched Jace, and he reacted instinctively.

Twisting around in the solid grip, he shoved his hand at the chin of the agent who'd been asking questions in the station. Jace connected solidly, snapping the man's head backwards.

The grip on his arm loosened enough for him to wrench his arm away. They hadn't expected Jace to resist, had they?

"Jace?" Danni's voice sounded shocked. "Jace, what are you doing?"

"I'm not goin' anywhere with these guys, that's what." Jace told her, giving the man a shove back towards the glass doorway before he could recover. "I don't know what you're doin' with them, but... I don't know if I should trust you either."

"I–" Danielle said something, but it was lost in the crash of a body breaking through glass. It didn't matter anyhow. There really wasn't much left to say–

Another hand touched his shoulder, and Jace shrugged it off.

"Don't." He told Danielle, as he moved away from her, trying to ignore the fear on her face. "Just. Don't."

Jace took off towards a darker alley at a sprint without looking back. Danielle didn't even call to him.

Streets blurred into each other in the dim light.

Jace supposed he should stop at some point– find someplace to hide out. Find some way to get out of this city that didn't involve showing some ID, or using the credit card he'd found in his wallet.

Danielle had been with them. He couldn't trust her. He couldn't trust anyone.

For a moment, Jace wished he'd been able to ask Donna more questions. But what good would that do? The girl only knew what Danni had told her.

The gleam of metal behind a plate glass window caught his attention– a car dealership. Was this the same one that they'd passed on the way into the city? He could find his way to the highway, and maybe follow it–

The small sportscar rotated on a platform slowly to show off its best features from all angles.

It was one of the best things he'd seen around here– appropriate, and the right mass. He scanned the sleek silver car, committing all the details to memory and started to change–

Jace caught himself on the window before he could fall.

His hand was small, human. Too many digits for him.

Another wave of dizziness passed over Jace as the thought crossed his mind, along with the specifications of the silver car that was impossible for him to--

It was red. Not silver. His hand was human, and his own– not mechanical.

Am I... losing my mind? Jace wondered.

He ignored the looks from the people inside the showroom. Were there people really there, or was he imagining them? Jace had to keep moving. He had to find the highway. He had to get out of here before they found him again.

The soft purr of a motor nearby pulled him back from the thoughts. Jace had been walking without thinking about it, and now he was in yet another strange place with a car slowing down near him.

A glance told him it wasn't the same kind the spooks had been using. It was white. Old. Beat up.

"Need a ride?" A voice called cheerfully from inside. "Hop in."

The glimmer of headlights, and a shape exiting an alley across the wide street made Jace pause for a moment. They'd found him already.

"Sure–" The hesitation was gone. This was a stranger-- He couldn't trust Danielle. He couldn't trust the spooks. A friendly voice and a beat up car were his only options right now.

The door swung open, and Jace scrambled in, slamming the door swiftly.

"Where you headed?"

"Mission City." Jace told him, "But right now, I'll take anywhere but here."