All around him in the Great Room, people were scurrying around or yelling into phones. His head was pounding, his chest felt like a tight band was wrapped around it. He closed his eyes and saw Grace. She came this morning before work because she was worried about him. She loved him. She had always loved him, right from the first.

Then he heard a small voice ask if they could sit with him. He opened his eyes, prepared to snarl something nasty only to see a young child in front if him. A little girl. He started to ask who the hell was she, but she put a finger to his lips and ssshed him as she sat down beside him and reached for his hand. Christian wanted to get up and stomp off but somehow holding on to that little hand suddenly seemed important. Do or die important, in a way he didn't understand and had no desire to learn. If he kept holding her hand, everything would be alright. Slowly he let out a deep breath. His headache began to fade. His one hand still held hers while his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, holding her close. It made no sense but the rightness of it was inescapable.

There was a big digital stop clock up on the wall now counting down from five hours. He sat there silently, watching time tick away, oblivious to all the activity in the room, knowing his people were more than capable of handling things, knowing he was barely capable of knowing his own name. If he had to make the ransom delivery, which was almost a certainly, his mother would die. She would not be released. If he had to make the ransom delivery, he would probably die as well for he would be alone. He would have no back up. They would either snatch him and kill him later or just kill him on sight.

If only there was only more time. Christian looked up at the clock and sighed. There was no time, no time to fix things with Ana. No time to fix Grey Enterprises. He thought of Ana and felt a band tighten around his chest again, making breathing difficult. Then, the child beside him climbed into his lap and laid her head against his shoulder. He heard her whispered words as tears poured from his eyes. The pain in his chest ebbed as he clung to the child, clung to her words of hope and promises that everything would be alright. How could a child offer words he so badly needed to hear? She assured him there was a future, a happy future where he and Ana would raise children of their own and where his mother would go out of her way to spoil her grandchildren. Life would be good, he just needed to have faith and be patient.

"Excuse me, sir. We need you." A somber Taylor suddenly interrupted. Taylor's glance went from one to the other, his curiosity apparent.

Grey set the child on her feet and then stood himself. Still holding her hand. No one stopped the child from entering. Levi was on the phone and didn't look up until he finished. He swallowed his annoyance at seeing Shelley and asked her calmly to leave the office. She met his gaze just as calmly and announced " They need me. He needs me. You want Schneiderman? If I can get Hyde, we have Schneiderman." "This isn't your assignment Shelley. Barney is. Remember?"

"The future is fluid and subject to change. I need to be here. I need to go with him. "

"Impossible."

"Not impossible. I will be going with him. We will save his mother. I will get the information from Hyde that we need. "

"Shelley, there are teams searching for you, there are teams in place just listening for you. If you broadcast where you are, I can't keep you safe. "

Shelley smiled sadly. "Levi, it's going to be alright. You need to have faith in me. Now tell us your plans."

"The instructions say that Grey must come alone to a diner in Olympia and wait for instructions. "

"Grey stood, "I'm ready."

"You understand we know virtually nothing. The best we could arrange is a fake utility worker on a pole within eyesight but 1/4 mile away. This is suicide!" Taylor snapped, his frustration apparent.

Grey smiled, feeling eerily calm. He still held Shelley's hand and it still felt good. He knew nothing about this child, though from Levi's remarks, she was held in high esteem and extremely gifted. She was special. Others wanted her. Whatever her gift was, it was coveted. Grey didn't care about that, he just needed her faith, her certainty that all would be okay. Together, he knew without doubt they would rescue his mother.

Shelley looked up to Levi, "Leave us, please." She requested. Levi and the others stood and started leaving. Shelley grabbed Taylor's arm and shook her head no, "Not you Taylor, I need you. "

When the room was empty except for Shelley, Taylor and Grey, she began to speak. "We need to be able to stay in touch with you, Mr Grey. "

"Call me Christian, please."

Shelley nodded. "There is no way to track you that a computer savy like Hyde won't uncover. In order to find your mother, you really need to appear alone. We might stick something in the ransom because they'll be expecting something and when they find it, they will be pleased.

"While we may not be able to track you electronically, But I can track you with my psychic abilities. You both can communicate with each other telepathically but don't know it. The men began to grumble, but Shelley continued, "Taylor, you can predict Grey's response to almost any situation. You could finish his sentences for him. How many times have you asked him a question without any words and understood his answer which was equally silent?"

Both looked at each other and shrugged.

"There! You're both doing it again. It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, just that you understand I need to link with both of you. It's only a temporary link, it won't last more than a day or do but we need to be able to stay in touch with you, Christian. We need to know anything you can tell us in your thoughts. More importantly, we need to know how to find you if you are hurt. With the link, I will always be able to trace you. "

"Link?" Taylor asked somewhat hesitantly. "Link?" He repeated, "You mean like Spock on Star Trek?"

"Not exactly but close enough."

"Does it hurt?" Asked Christian.

"It burns a bit but that only lasts a few minutes. " Shelly replied calmly but concerned at the amount of negative energy, mostly fear, both men were emitting.

"Look, I can hear your thoughts now, both of you, but it's because you both think loudly. Distance will dim that. Drugs will silence your thoughts from me, but a psychic link stays open till I close it." She turned her attention to Taylor then and whispered into his mind, " Can you handle some of Grey's pain? Plus your own? It will only last five minutes but it will be fierce. I'm not sure Grey can endure that kind of pain without scarring his mind. I won't do that. "

"Taylor whispered back, "I'm a Marine. I can deal with pain. I'd give my life for this man; a little pain is nothing."

Shelley whispered softly into Taylor's mind, "Of course."

Then the young child cloaked in serenity looked at Christian and announced, "I will do Taylor first."