Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel so don't sue me. Thanks. :-)

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! Thank you nattylovesu, Stratagem, 452max, Alexa and sango32510 for reviewing!

Ex Multus Familia

Chapter 22

Sidda didn't know why she was hesitating to dance with Alec. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that when his arms wrapped around her, it took almost all of her will and focus to keep her heart from speeding up. All she needed was Alec teasing her about her stupid body's signals. Just because her body liked him…well, that didn't necessarily mean anything.

She still couldn't help smile a bit though at the feel of his bare muscles; that had been the one downside to spending so much mission time in a convent. She'd had to go without any males her age for a long time and hadn't had the chance for even the simple pleasure of dancing with a man. Unless you counted teaching Brother Mark the Twist.

The music started, and Sidda didn't really think about it until Alec's mouth suddenly quirked and he held out his hand. Her perfect memory rewound, and she laughed as she realized why that crooked grin had appeared.

'I feel your hand reach for… my hand.'

Very appropriate lyrics.

Sidda grinned and shook her head as she placed her hand in his. This was a good song for them to choose; it was modern (well, pre-pulse modern), and yet it had a beat that it could be waltzed too. Most of the couples in the room were just slow dancing to the song, and Sidda settled in for a nice, sedate dance. Of course, it could only be so sedate with Alec…

She gasped as Alec swept her away.

"Wha…what are you doing?" she sputtered as he pulled her past a staring couple.

"Dancing." He whirled her in an elegant circle as she clung to his lead.

"Are you waltzing?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, when one follows a musical pattern that has a three-count beat in the traditional fast-paced Viennese style, then yes, it is usually called waltzing."

"Where did you learn to waltz?" she demanded. Sidda blinked as the lyrics of the song distracted her momentarily.

'Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm 'bout to let you in…'

"Well, I told you I had some deep-cover missions in the houses of the elite. Apparently the houses still train their kids in ballroom dancing. Though I will admit, I'd forgotten I knew how to waltz until just now."

"Good to know this isn't normal," Sidda grumbled. She couldn't help but noticed the stares of some of the people around them. "I don't really like becoming the center of attention without warning."

"Sorry," Alec said. He was totally unapologetic; he was definitely enjoying being the center of attention.

"And now I know why you remembered it," Sidda said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you shouldn't be too worried either. Thanks to the perfect memory recall and natural grace Manticore gave you, this dance should be easy for you."

"Well, it is, but…" She narrowed her eyes as the room darkened, giving everything a much more romantic cast.

'Tangled, wounded, perfect…'

"Did you plan this with the band or something?" Sidda asked suspiciously.

"No, but I think we should take advantage of it," Alec said, his arms tightening around her.

"Alec…" Sidda's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Song's not over yet, I get you until the end of the dance."

"Fine."

Sidda's heart pounded as they moved over the dance floor, other couples moving back to make room for them. Her cheeks burned, but she didn't know if it was from embarrassment or excitement.

'Take me down, take me in, take me anywhere you want to go, I'm not leaving.'

She took a deep breath and settled down, finally surrendering to him and this dance. It was only one silly dance, anyways, it wasn't like…like he really liked her or anything. It was just a game they both played. Wasn't it? Whatever, she was having fun now, even if it was just an act.

As the song slowed down, so did their dance. He has led them to the side of the floor, and they moved in a slow circle as the musical interlude played. Sidda, grinning and slightly giddy from being turned around the dance floor, looked up at him. Before she could pull away, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers as if asking permission, his eyelashes tickling her forehead with a butterfly's kiss.

Sidda gave a small gasp, but before he could move away, she got up onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his, giving him the permission he wanted. He pulled one hand from hers to put it on the small of her back and pull her closer as the lyrics started again.

'Something transparent like seeing through who I am.'

They didn't waltz, but Sidda pressed her cheek to his chest as they swayed back and forth to the music, the other couples filling into the empty spaces on the dance floor.

'Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm 'bout to let you in, yeah, I am unraveling.'

Stupid, wonderfully applicable lyrics. She threaded her fingers through his and squeezed his hand gently. If this wasn't a game, it could possibly be the best moment of her life.

The music faded into another song, and she reluctantly looked up at Alec's face. She didn't want to step away, but Manticore had taught her too well. "The mission?"

"Screw it," Alec said huskily, "We'll find her later. Swear." His hands traveled down her waist, making her shiver. "Is that okay with you?"

"God, Alec, don't do that," Sidda protested half-heartedly as she grabbed one of the straps across his chest and twisted it around her fingers. His hands reached lower, and she yanked him forward, her eyes flashing. "I said don't."

"That's not what I think you're saying," he said, his smile positively feral. "And it's definitely not what you're thinking."

"Then what am I thinking?"

Alec smirked. "It's not appropriate to talk about with an ex-nun," he said.

"Emphasis on ex," Sidda said. She moved her fingers through his spiky hair and grinned. "And an initiate isn't really a nun."

"Well, it's a relief to know that," Alec said, capturing her fingers and caressing them with his thumb. "Otherwise, I might feel guilty.

"You haven't done anything yet."

Alec gave her a wide grin. "Yet being the key word."

Sidda felt a hot blush spread through her body at his implication. Wow, she wished they hadn't found their mission target.

Sidda had to move away before she did something she would later regret. Well, she might never actually regret it. So she really, really had to move away before she did the non-regrettable thing.

"We have to do this," she said, forcing herself to back away from Alec.

He just closed the distance between them again. "Do, what, exactly?" he asked, his eye glinting in a way that spelled danger for her.

"Um…" She had to collect her thoughts. This was not good, she should not lose control. She closed her eyes and collected herself. She had to think Manticore.

"Find out target." She opened her eyes and looked up at Alec, certain now that she could handle his proximity.

Alex's disappointed look was way more adorable than Sidda would ever, ever tell him. "But I could think of so many other fun things to do…"

"Yes, well, the sooner we're done with her, the sooner we can do other…fun things."

"Hmm, that sounds a bit better. But can we somehow come up with a way for her to leave early? I really don't want to have to sit around and watch some middle-age lady who is determined to prove how young she is by staying until the end of the ball." Alec was already steering Sidda off the dance floor, one hand still pressed to the small of her back. It felt very nice to have his hand there.

"Well, I've always enjoyed fire…" She thought about that for a split second, "No, no, we couldn't."

"Why not? Sounds good to me."

"Look at where we are! We can't just burn down a historical treasure."

"It's covered in pink and tacky gold. You really like this place?" Alec looked pointedly at a particularly gaudy wall-mirror that they were passing; the frame was decorated with ornate golden cherubs.

"What I like doesn't matter. We can't burn it down." And there was a blue room too. There were a few redeeming qualities to the place.

"What about just her dress or something? She'll have to leave the ball if she doesn't have any clothes…"

"What, now you want to see the body of the middle-aged woman that you were so eager to watch earlier?" Men. They all seemed to have a fascination with the idea of naked people.

"Good point." Alec frowned as he contemplated the picture Sidda had painted for him. He definitely didn't want to see Carlina's body unclothed. But Sidda's…

"Okay, so where is Carlina? Maybe we'll figure out something after we see the set-up of her location."

"She's actually in this room right here." Alec nodded to the doorway a few feet further on; it lead into one of the smaller ballrooms. He chuckled and looked at Sidda. "Another Aphrodite."

Sidda almost stopped. She looked at Alec and grimaced. "Really, we have to deal with that again?"

"What can I say? The ladies find me attractive." Oh, why did he have to be right? He was so exasperating!

Sidda rolled her eyes at him. "And some ladies might find your arrogance a major turn-off."

"Good thing someone's not a lady," he replied, trailing his fingers along her side. She grabbed his hand and glared up at him, but it was hard to stay furious when he blew her hair across her face.

"If you keep doing that—"

"What are you going to do?" he asked, grinning at her. He was surprised when she kissed the corner of his lips and trailed around to his lips. When she pulled away, she was smirking.

"Please, can we just finish this mission and then go home? I swear I'll make up for wasted time."

He brushed his hand down her arm until he caught her hand and tugged her into the room. "Then let's get this over with."

"Glad you're focused," Sidda said, "But what exactly are we going to do?"

"Making it up as I go," Alec said as they skirted around the edge of the room. Sidda felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as she noticed a lady in something that looked like a purple slave-girl outfit staring at Alec like she was going to eat him. She was surprised at the possessive fury that cooled her arms and heated her chest.

Normally she was relatively good at handling her emotions, but when that woman looked at Alec like that, Sidda wanted to gouge those sappy blue eyes out. Beside the blue-eyed whore was a woman in pink. She was much more modestly dressed, but she was staring at Alec too... Even while she tried to calm her thoughts, she figured that it would take her five seconds to cross the room and about seven point five to break both their necks.

They ducked behind a pillar, and Alec took Sidda's upper arms in his hands. "What do you say to playing the jealous girlfriend?"

"Alec, I'm not your girlfriend," Sidda said, rolling her eyes at him.

He smirked. "Titles are small things. Ask Max. She's been pretending to not date Logan for a couple years."

"Alec—"

"Just roll with it, Sidda, okay?" Alec said, "I'm trusting Manticore to have given you a jealous gene."

"Why would they do that?" Sidda scoffed. She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned up at him. "That'd be a self-defeating character trait."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you don't have it," he said. He leaned down and kissed her, his lips lingering against hers. "We'll call it an experiment."

"Alec!" she hissed, but he was already gone, heading straight for the cotton-candy bimbos. Her muscles caught on fire as the one in purple swirled off her seat and walked toward him with what she probably thought was extreme grace and beauty. There was a candle stand two feet from Sidda. A well-aimed, forceful throw could probably skewer…but she wasn't jealous. Oh no. She was completely calm…even as the purple one threw herself on Alec…and Sidda's fingers started breaking the trimming on the marble pillar was leaning against. No jealous. At. All.

Peitho and Aphrodite might be attractive if they were a tad younger. But they weren't, and Alec wasn't really interested. Not when he had Sidda waiting for him… but he had a job to do, and this was one he was usually pretty good at.

"Hello ladies."

"Oh, so now you decided to return after giving me the slip." The purple-clad Peitho pouted at him, but in a way that was obviously an invitation as well. She was just happy he was back. Maybe Alec wouldn't even need Sidda to play the jealous girlfriend.

"Well, I found I couldn't stay away from you and your equally lovely friend." Alec turned to look at Aphrodite, also known as Carlina, mission target. For now.

Carlina gave Alec a warm smile. "Well, he certainly knows how to talk," she murmured to her friend.

"I practice everyday for moment such as these, when I have the rare chance to meet not one, but two beautiful ladies." It hadn't taken long for Alec to learn that the more flatter, the better, in Italy. It was just too easy.

"Well, s smart man knows that he should not only enjoy the opportunity, he should take advantage of it," Carlina said softly. Man, she must not get a lot of action coupled up in her lab; she was being pretty obvious.

"Ahh, I suppose the question then is if I'm a smart man or not," Alec said, smiling at her. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder, wondering if Sidda going to intervene yet. The conversation was pretty obvious, and he was sure that jealous streak had to be making its presence felt by now.

But she seemed unconcerned, casually leaning against a pillar. Was he supposed to go on? Did she actually want him to take these two women home?

"Well, a smart man would prove he was intelligent by meeting us at the front door," Peitho said, tugging on Carlina's arm. "After all, we can. ..talk...more freely in less public places."

Alec glanced at Sidda again, but she didn't seem to be paying them much attention. Did she really not care? He had been so sure…

"I would be happy to, perhaps, accompany you home? To see you there safely, of course."

"Of course," Carlina said, laughing. Now she was willing to be lead off by Peitho. "We'll just get our coats."

"I'll be waiting," Alec said. As soon as they had moved into the crowd, Alec went over to Sidda. "What's going on?" he demanded. "I thought you were going to burn their dresses or get in a cat fight or something."

Sidda gave Alec a cool smile. "I thought this way would work better. Less…messy."

Alec rolled his eyes. "So what do you want me to do? Go home and sleep…"

"No." Sidda's eyes flashed as she cut him off; she didn't care how calm and collected she was determined to stay, he was not going to go into either of those women's houses. "Just go with them to the house. Then leave." She crossed her arms and looked up at Alec. "Unless you'd rather stay with them…"

Alec chuckled and leaned down to press his lips against hers. "I think you're jealous," he murmured into her mouth.

"Am not," Sidda protested softly. She had been determined to punish his flirting with the older women by resisting any of his advances, but it was simply impossible. Her body melded to his like she was meant to be a part of him.

Alec coaxed her mouth open, forcing her lips to lose their tight resistance. She gave in to the intoxicating kiss for a moment then pulled herself away.

"You have to go meet them," she said sharply.

Alec sighed, frustrated with her focus on the stupid mission. He could think of much more important things to do right now… but he would do what she wanted. And then later, she would do what he wanted.

He tried to fill the ride back to their place with pleasant commentaries and flattery. It was hard to be constantly creative, especially when he was normally very straightforward with women that he was interested in. He knew they expected him to be straightforward when they got to wherever Carlina and the other woman lived, but in front of the taxi driver he was supposed to be discreet.

He looked out the back occasionally to make sure that Sidda was following him, and he did catch a glimpse of her twice. She had shucked the costume for something a bit easier for sneaking around: tight black clothes. They were very complimentary to her figure.

"This is my home," Peitho said, smiling at Alec. She glanced at Carlina. "Do you want to stay the night here, dear, or continue on to your place?" It was obvious what Peitho wanted.

"I'll come in, if you don't mind," Carlina said, giving her friend a smile full of menacing teeth.

Alec got out while they were arguing and opened the door for both ladies. They better pay the cab driver; he wasn't going to. And damn, this wasn't actually Carlina's place. Maybe he could send Dalton back to watch the place later tonight, in case Carlina left. And that way, he and Sidda could have the house to themselves…and Dalton would get the job he'd been begging for… the plan was starting to sound better and better.

Alec walked them to their door, a lady on each arm. As soon as Peitho had unlocked the door he held it open for them, smilingly bowed them in. And then he turned to leave.

"Aren't you coming in?" Peitho asked in a shocked voice.

Alec turned and leaned against the wall of the house; he gave her the lazy grin that had charmed many a lady in the past.

"It's a bit late, and unfortunately, I have many things to do tomorrow. But perhaps you can save me a later date?"

Peitho narrowed her eyes at him as if trying to decide if he was seriously interested or not. Carlina moved around her friend. "Of course we will," she said smoothly. She handed Alec a card. "My number, Ares. Call when you're free." Then she pushed Peitho back inside.

Alec waited until the door had closed, then turned and waved the card in the air so that Sidda could see it from wherever she was watching. Carlina had given him her number…this was almost too easy.

"Oh, stop showing off." Sidda dropped down from the roof and snatched the card out of Alec's hand. With her other hand, she yanked him away from the door.

"Be careful, they might be watching."

"They're not," Sidda ground out. "They're carefully staying in a back room so you'll think they don't care whether you call or not."

"What, are you a mind reader now?"

"I know women," Sidda said, rolling her eyes. They were out of view of the house now, and she turned to face Alec. "I can't believe you actually promised to see them later anyway. What is that going to accomplish? There was no need for it, it's not like we needed her number either."

Alec's grin widened. "I love it when you get jealous," he said, closing in for a kiss.

Sidda pushed him away. "I am not jealous!" she sputtered angrily. "I just want you to keep a distance from our target so you can focus on watching her instead of being with her!"

"Who says I was actually going to spend time with her? I got the card, you should be happy."

Sidda snorted and crossed her arms. "Well, I'm not."

"Too bad." Alec went in again, and this time he didn't take no for an answer. He wrapped his arms around her stiff body and pulled her up against him before kissing her deeply. He chuckled as he felt her soften up a bit. "Can we please go home now?"

-------------------------------------------

As they traveled further into the building, Robin, Seth, and Krit met more personnel. Some were blatantly military while others seemed like scientists or a mixture of the two. Seth took the point while Robin and Krit followed behind him, everyone doing their best not to make eye contact with the people in the hallways. Syl was maintaining radio silence since they had memorized the path from the tunnels to where the room where Sandeman's wife was supposed to be.

While they were walking down the hallway, Syl whispered into their ears. "There's a woman about to come out of a door to your left. She's got a high-level clearance badge. Steal it."

Robin nodded, knowing that Syl would see the slight movement in the camera lodged in the corner of the hallway.

They'd already agreed before they left that Robin was the best at stealing stuff; she and Sidda had made a game of it when they first left Manticore. Sidda always did better then Robin, but Sidda wasn't on this mission. Thus, stealing fell to Robin. And if Robin didn't manage to steal the clearance badge without the woman noticing then they would just tie her up and leave her in some unused-looking room. Still, it was better not to leave any people lying around for as long as possible.

Right before the woman came out of the door Robin moved so that she would be on the side closest to the door. As the woman came out, Robin accidentally bumped into her. The oldest trick in the book, and it probably wouldn't have worked on the street. But no one was expecting to be stolen from in here.

"Oops, sorry." The woman stared at Robin for a moment as if she was a low-level parasite. She pursed her lips slightly and then moved on without saying a word.

"That's all right; it's okay," Robin muttered for the woman, too quietly for anyone but a transgenic to pick up. Nice to know these people had manners. Krit and Seth grinned at her, and Robin could hear Syl snickering in the mike. Robin glared at the guys; just because she had stolen the woman's stupid badge didn't mean the woman had to be mean like that. The woman hadn't known!

"Did you get it?" Syl asked.

"Of course. Otherwise we'd be busy bundling her off right now."

"Touchy, touchy. Ok, keep going. You'll pass one hallway on the left, then after that three doors on the right. Take the 4th door on the right." They moved to follow Syl's commands even as she spoke, and it wasn't long before they were through the door, which they needed the security clearance for. Handy, that woman coming along by herself.

The doorway opened into a smaller hallway, still brightly lit. There were more doorways off to each side, and they could hear the distant humming of machinery.

"This is a short cut that should help you get to the wife's place with less chance of a run-in with someone else," Syl said. They started down the hallway as she spoke. "When you get to the end, wait to come out until you hear the two soldier guards reporting. Then make a break for it and deal with them. Sandeman's wife should be through the door they're guarding. "

"How do you know they're going to report in?" Krit asked.

"'Cause I'm not an idiot, Krit," Syl said. She sighed audibly. "I've been keeping track of them since you guys went down in the tunnel. They report in every 15 minutes. It means waiting a little bit, but best to give yourself as much time as possible before anyone's realized she's escaped."

"Good idea," Seth said with approval. "Of course, I guess that means they'll realize something's wrong after fifteen minutes?"

"Yup," Syl confirmed, "so you guys better move quickly unless one of you was made for voice imitation." They all looked at each other; unfortunately, none of them was. It looked like it was going to have to be a quick escape.

Krit sighed. "They obviously have too much time on their hands if they're reporting in every fifteen minutes."

"Definitely," Robin agreed.

When they got to the edge of the hallway, they ducked into an empty, off-shoot hallway to wait for the fifteen minutes to be up. Since there were no cameras angled toward them and no one was watching for normalcy, they stayed as still and silent as possible, mentally preparing themselves for the fight that was coming up. Adrenaline coursed through their systems and kept them from losing their battle focus.

When the fifteen minutes were up, Syl let them know when the soldiers had finished reporting in. "Okay guys, time to go. Good luck." There was a pause and then a very quiet, "Krit, watch your ass."

Krit grinned and whispered back, "Good to know you care."

"I don't. I just like your ass."

Cutting the exchange short since there was a seriously lack of time, Seth silently signaled a begin-attack. All three transgenics sprang from the empty corridor, shoved their way through the two swinging doors and surprised the two guards with a flurry of punches and kicks and a flying tackle from Seth.

Within a few minutes, they had the two guards on the ground, unconscious from multiple blows to the head, neck and spinal column. Robin rubbed her shoulder where one of the guards had almost popped her arm out of the socket. Seth looked at her in concern, but she shook her head and grinned at him. She had been through worse back in her bodyguard days at Manticore. Back then, she was good to get away with just one bullet hole in her. A wrenched shoulder was pretty tame compared to that.

Krit nudged out of the men with the toe of his boots. "He's out." He knocked his heel against the guard's nose. "Night, sucker."

"Stop harassing the unconscious guys," Syl said. "You're almost there. The next lock is complicated."

"I've got it, and what? You'd probably kick them in the face," Krit grumbled as he walked over to the lock. Robin raised an eyebrow as he approached the door.

"Why don't we just knock?" she asked, "Shouldn't she be used to that?"

"You think she's just going to open the door for us?" Krit asked, glancing at her incredulously.

"It's possible," Robin said, "At least then we won't alert anyone by breaking their passcode."

Seth shook his head. "If they don't usually knock, then she'll know something's wrong."

"But-"

"Hey, no time for this," Syl hissed over their headsets. "Krit, break it open or Robin, knock. One or the other."

Robin and Krit looked at Seth, and he held up his hands. "Robin, try it your way, and Krit, get to work on the door. If she doesn't open it, we'll still get in."

"Good, go," Syl said, rushing them.

While Krit sped over to the keypad, Robin approached the door, Seth right behind her, holding one of the guards gun. Without hesitating, she knocked on the steel door and took a step back. She glanced at Seth, but his face was set in a hard mask of business. Seemed like you never could quite get "soldier" out of your system.

Krit was halfway through the passcode override when the door slide open, disappearing into the wall. A thin, wrinkled woman with a long white braid stood in the doorway, a half-smile on her face. Clear blue eyes stared at them, looking over each of them from over a ski-slope nose.

"I wondered when you were coming."

Krit looked up from the keypad, mouth open in astonishment. The knock had worked. And the old woman had been expecting them?

"Did anyone else expect us to come?" Seth asked quickly, getting down to business.

The woman shook her head and moved back into her apartment. "I'm just getting my emergency travel bag," she assured them as they all gave each other concerned looks. "And to answer your question, no. Well, my husband knew, but we didn't tell anyone else here."

Robin followed her in, anxious to keep the old woman in her sight. Her bodyguard instincts were taking over. The woman gave Robin a bemused look as if she knew exactly what Robin was doing, but she didn't say anything.

Robin looked around curiously; they passed a few rooms at the front that looked like general lab rooms, and then a couple small hallways branched off from the main one, leading to closed doors. At the back of the suite seemed to be all the living quarters. The woman knelt and hauled a bag out of a closet.

"All right, this is it," she said, handing the bag to Robin. "You're stronger than me; best if you carry it if we want to make a fast escape."

"I got it," Robin said, smiling at the old woman.

"Do I need to get my husband's things too?" she asked. Robin stared at her for a moment, then realized it was entirely possible that no one had told her that Sandeman was dead.

"Umm, no, I don't think so." Robin didn't think this was the best time to tell her. Maybe when they were safely away and wouldn't have to worry about the woman going into shock.

The woman nodded in acceptance and started to head out.

"Wait, do you have any of Sandeman's notes that might... that might be useful?" She couldn't bring herself to lie and actually specify 'to him.'

"Oh, yes, I suppose so." They went back toward the front of the suite and then took one of the side-branching hallways. The first door led into a spacious office, crammed full of books and binders. Robin almost groaned out loud; how would the woman ever know which ones to take?

But she seemed confident; she headed right toward a shelf behind Sandeman's desk. "This is where John kept all his research related to his important Manticore projects." She knelt and slid her finger along their bindings, pulling out a few folders. "I went through and organized them a few months ago for him, he's such a messy man."

She stood up with an arm full of notebooks. "I believe this will be enough. These are the most updated notebooks."

"Awesome," Robin said, anxious to hurry her out of there. She opened the door for Sandeman's wife and ushered her through.

Krit and Seth's relief was obvious when the two women finally appeared again. They didn't like using up so many of their precious fifteen minutes. "Come on," Seth said anxiously, glancing to either side, "we don't have a lot of time."

"No, you don't," the woman said matter-of-factly. They fell into step with Seth and started back the way they had come. "It would be nice if you would tell me the names you call yourselves, by the way. Since I presume we shall be spending a lot of time together. I'm Marie."

Seth glanced back at her. She obviously had no idea how and the situation could get if she was actually worried about manners right now. "Seth."

"Krit."

"Robin." Robin gave Marie a friendly smile, "And don't worry about anything, Marie. I've been trained as a bodyguard, I'll protect you." She didn't see Seth's look of alarm at that. He really didn't want Robin having to take bullets for anyone today.

"And I'm Syl," Syl said with an annoyed voice into the microphone.

"Well, there's not much point in introducing her to a disembodied voice," Krit said. "She'll meet you when we get back."

"Yeah, well, in about five minutes getting back is going to get a lot harder."

"We're going as fast as we can, sweetheart," Krit hissed into the microphone against his cheek.

Marie glanced at him, her blue eyes amused. "I suppose you have an electronics expert on the outside?"

"No, actually, the electronics expert is right here," Robin said, pointing to Krit, "Syl was hurt earlier this week, so she stayed in the van."

"Can we stop chatting now?" Seth asked abruptly. When Robin frowned at him, he shook his head. "Sorry, but we're still wasting time."

"Why don't you just throw the old lady over your shoulder?" Syl suggested, "You could go faster that way."

"Syl, be serious," Seth said, dropping into a commanding mode. With the introduction of a non-Manticore entity, this mission could easily go awry. "What's the best way out from here?"

"No need to be snappy, Leader-boy," Syl said, "You need to go back exactly the way you came. The soldiers, when they figure out what's going on, will come down a different hallway, but they'll start running building diagnostics and figure out we're looping videos and the like. It won't tale them long to figure out where you're going."

"And why isn't there another way out?" Seth asked even as he headed toward the double doors they had come from. Robin kept close to Marie and Krit flanked the woman's other side. If bullets were going to be flying soon, they didn't need their mission objective taking one in the crossfire.

"Soldiers, soldiers, and more soldiers," Syl said. "Some Red series, some hyped up on normal steroids, and some regular. You don't want to mess with any of them."

"Did I mention that I love my life?" Krit grumbled as they stormed off down the hallway, double-timing even though that forced Marie into a run.

"Life's a precious thing, Krit," Marie said, her voice stern and almost…motherly. "You should be glad for whatever life you have, as long as you get to live."

"Okay, you don't get to talk right now," Krit said, tossing a frown at the white-haired woman. "Especially about quality of life."

"I was just trying-"

Robin patted the woman on the arm. "It's all right, Marie, we can talk later. Seth's right, we need to focus right now." Bodyguard training had also included lessons on how to reassure the person being guarded and how to coerce them into doing what you wanted. Each one was different, but Robin was capable of handling almost any bodyguard-type situation.

Marie sighed and nodded. "I believe you're right. We'll talk once we're out of this mess."

Robin saw Krit roll his eyes at the woman before charging ahead toward the next door. He had stolen a general key card from one of the soldiers who had been guarding Marie's door. Of course, that would alert the security guys that one of their soldiers wasn't where he was supposed to be, but now all that mattered was speed, not caution.

The door clicked and the keypad glowed green as the door slide open to allow them access. They raced through it, Robin and Krit half-carrying Marie as they ran through the hallways. This place was extremely quiet for being a facility; they hardly saw anyone until the sirens started going off.

"Syl?" Seth asked as red lights flashed, bathing the hallway in red lights. Doors started opening and disconcerted scientists and army personnel started entering the hallway. Their small group slowed down to be conspicuous.

"They found the two goons," Syl said, "You better hurry up. They're going to start deploying troops to secure all doors soon."

Seth nodded to Krit and Robin. "Let's get out of here."

They wove in and out of personnel who were evacuating the building, probably in some kind of plan that had been created for this kind of event. Fitting in marginally, they were still noticeable among the other scientists, three people traveling in a group with an older woman. They managed to get to the hallway near to the sewer entrance when they heard stormtrooper boots hitting the ground.

"HALT!" a deep voice roared and most of the scientists stopped, rocking forward even as their foot stuck to the ground. A few kept going, too frightened by all the lights and noises to pay attention to the soldiers.

"Shit," Seth said, scowling. "Keep going." If they didn't keep going, they were just going to be found out anyway. If they were going to be killed, they were going to be killed making an attempt to get out of here.

Following Seth's orders, the little group kept walking as if they hadn't heard the soldier. The sound of safeties being clicked off caught Robin's alert ears.

"I said stop," said the same voice. "Continue walking, and I will shoot you."

"Run," Seth muttered. At the same moment, he grabbed Marie and lifted her in fireman's carry. Krit surged ahead while Robin instinctively took up the rear. All three of them blurred, wind whipping their ears as they blazed forward faster than most humans could see. Bullets started whizzing past them, familiar bees that buzzed in Robin's ears. She tracked each one, making sure none of them were going to hit her teammates or the mission objective.

People were screaming and shouting, and the hall was starting to fill with some kind of smoke as they make a break for the sewer tunnel.

"Guys, don't breathe in that gas. It's an airborne sedative, and a strong one," Syl warned, her voice calm but insistent.

"Marie, hold your breath!" Robin said to the older woman before taking in a lungful of clean air herself. She saw from Marie's face that the woman was already holding her breath; she had probably guessed at the nature of the gas.

When they reached the tunnel exit, Krit was forced to break the code, which put everyone in danger. Their greater speed had put some distance between them and the Red series soldiers, but that didn't mean the Reds weren't going to come around the corner at any moment.

It seemed like hours, but it only took seconds for Krit to find the right override and for the Red series to thunder into the corridor. Robin's highly-trained mind slowed down the action, letting her take in each moment as if it happened in slow motion. Two Reds clunked into the hallway, their massive bodies taking up too much room. Seth was halfway through the door when one of them raised a handgun, his arm muscle rippling as his finger twitched for the trigger.

Robin's adrenaline level spiked, and she jumped forward just as the gun exploded, sending the bullet at Seth and Marie. Her mind subconsciously deducted which limb would be more likely to sustain the impact well and which would be able to take the bullet based on distance from the projected path.

Pain and endorphins hit her when the bullet did. It tore through the muscles her upper arm and embedded near the bone. Luckily it didn't go through and harm Seth or Marie anyways. A euphoric feeling sent her head into a whirl as Krit snatched her by her uninjured arm and yanked her through the open doorway. The door shut behind them, and Krit slammed a fist down on the keypad.

"What the hell, Robin?!" Seth demanded as he set Marie down. He was at her side in a second, examining her shoulder, but she only grinned at him when he prodded the wound.

"Come, let's go, I'm ready, we should go!" Robin babbled, smiling at him. Seth stared at her, but she didn't comprehend the fury on his face.

"Guys, go!" Syl shouted, "Now!"