It was icy out, her breath hung in the air, casting little clouds as she walked hurriedly down the sidewalk, almost imperceptible to those who brushed past as they ambled home from the local bar in Gillette.

Base was just around the corner now, Jondy thought relieved, scanning the immediate distance through the dark night she looked out for any weapons carried on the nearby anti-transgenic protestors, anti-government protestors and the other scared and angry huddled homeless masses which now made-up America.

The iciness though, climbed up her feet and legs, as the thin denim jeans she wore did little to protect her from the cold and her duffle coat only just managed to capture the dew forming in the air around her as it fought to keep the cold out.

The throngs of agitated people she walked past were more dangerous to her wellbeing than ever before. Jondy made sure to keep her head down, grateful for her beanie and long blonde hair. Her body was not recovering like she expected, every bruise, scar and broken rib was taking weeks upon weeks to heal. It was driving her mad feeling so afraid and unsure of her capabilities.

Hugging herself tighter as she walked along, the young woman reflected on the plan she, Logan Cale and Alec had devised. It gave her a comforting sliver of hope that there was a way through this messy situation she had found herself in living in an underground bunker under duress with the threat of her husband's murder hanging over her head…. She held hope that Lydecker would agree to their terms when the time was right. Glancing ahead, Jondy noticed it felt ready to snow, much to her dislike. Since the escape the young woman had never really trusted snow – it hid layers of dangers beneath.

But Jondy definitely felt an immediate pang of danger when a sudden great force reached out from behind her, dragging her tiny form backwards, her feet scrambling as they slid along the dewy sidewalk. Clutched in a vice like grip across her chest, the teenager bit down hard on the wiry gloved fingers clasped tightly over her mouth, before jerking her head, as she tried in vain to shake off another hand simultaneously capped over her eyes. Alarmed, she could only assume whoever it was that had grabbed her was male due to the size of the hands wrapped around her china doll face.

Jondy knew, with rising panic, that the strength with which she was being forcibly pulled backwards meant only one thing, her attacker was not some crazed ordinary - they had to be a transgenic: her grace period on base was up. Fear clawed up the back of her throat and instinctually she sensed this was about the other-ones finally putting her in her place. Or worse, the voice of self-preservation whispered in her ear: you never know who is a Familiar.

"Search the Catacombes."

To her surprise, the stranger's voice that hissed in her ear was electronically modified.

Then, she was pushed unceremoniously into the concrete flooring where her nose crunched worryingly on impact, before everything went black.


"I found her like this. I'd wager she might've had a big night off-base." Cameron's dry tone instantly got under her skin and Jondy let out a groan in response, like hell she had.

The Sargent's handsome face came into her blurry line of vision.

"So?" His eyebrows rose. "You are awake. I see you got stuck into the whisky- drowning your sorrows down at the bar in town - if my intel's correct."

"It isn't." Jondy retorted sharply as she jerkily sat up to find herself on some kind of cot in- "Where-?"

"IRO."

Great. Interrogation Room One, her mind supplied helpfully, triggering a wave of dread to wash over her as she took in her cramped concrete surroundings and the ultraviolet light buzzing overhead, instantly feeling claustrophobic and as though the rectangular walls were about rush in at her.

"And no, as much as I enjoy playing 'good cop bad cop'- you and I are not going to be in for round two."

He must have seen the expression of alarm on her face Jondy thought rattled, before chiding herself to do better at hiding her emotions around Cameron as she struggled to school her features.

"But I did think you X5 were above drunken brawls." He continued disapprovingly with his hands on his hips as he leaned over her menacingly. "Care to tell me why I found you face down in a ditch, disheveled and stinking of Johnny Walker's finest?"

Feeling wrong footed, bright red spots of anger appeared high on her cheeks. "I-"

"You two struck a deal." Cameron spoke over her, nodding to someone behind her shoulder.

Her annoyance mounting, Jondy's head swiveled, looking towards the corner of the room where a form stood shrouded in darkness. She ignored the feeling of sticky blood running from her nostril to her lip in favour of letting out an irritated huff - of course Lydecker would be here, observing as per usual.

"I-"

"'Discipline' will be your middle name." The Sergeant continued not letting her get a word in edgewise, tone strident. "X5-734 will take you through your paces starting now-"

"Brin-? I- it's 4am!"

Cameron's eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Concussion or no concussion. Hangover or no hangover. And you've got work detail in the kitchens dinner and breakfast for the next month reporting to me daily. Plus your strategic operational duties." He reached over, before lobbing something heavy towards her chest and Jondy caught it automatically. It was a pack. "Go and get changed."

"But- I-"

"Not another word." Lydecker finally spoke and Jondy felt angry tears begin to prick the back of her eyes. "You may have grown-up with people who indulged your every whim." His resentment was palpable and when he came to stand at the end of her cot, wearing a steely expression that sent her stomach plummeting to the floor, Jondy knew there would be no use explaining. "But you forget yourself... You forget what you are."

Knowing she was out numbered, out allied and still in need of proper medical attention to address McKinley's damage, Jondy visibly swallowed down her teenage sense of pride and turned her luminous gaze to Cameron.

"Un-der-stood." She hadn't quite intended for her words to come out in a drawl.

He arched an eyebrow.

"Sargent." The teenager muttered under her breath glowering.


Jondy didn't normally need to sleep, but between her time spent with X5-734 and assigned work details, coupled with her slow to heal injuries, she was physically and emotionally drained. The big sister she had known as a child was gone and, it was growing more and more apparent to Jondy as the days went by, in her place was a walking and talking acolyte of Manticore.

If she heard one more soliloquy from Brin on the benefits of stability and the 'home' they could all be offered when this war was all over, Jondy thought she may do something she would later regret, injuries be damned. The knowledge that Brin was on Lydecker's side for the purpose of trying to reinvigorate Manticore once the Familiars were delt with made Jondy sick to her stomach. Zack would be rolling in his grave.

Mostly though, Jondy just knew deep in her bones that the relentless work detail, guard duty and drudgery to take advantage of her lack of a need for sleep that she was being put through, really was only Lydecker's way, being a real-son-of-a-bitch, to twist the knife and remind her of his latent power while keeping her close and punishing her for fucking up the mission.

Currently, the only reprieve she had from her situation and the emotional turmoil that went along with it, were the fifteen minutes each evening she spent in Cameron's dingy office. Something, which as the days turned into weeks, had started to stretch into thirty and sixty minute 'debriefs' over whatever sort of alcohol he could get his hands on, because life in a bunker was fast becoming grueling as the attacks by the Familiars on key locations in America grew in frequency. Of course, these were blamed on every freedom fighter or terrorist under the sun but it was clear to Jondy it was the work of the High Sect.

Tonight being the first time in weeks she had been able to finish up early, Jondy grinned to herself in weary relief as she approached the Sargent's office looking forward to some sort of human connection. He may have put on a display of tough-talk in Lydecker's presence, but the young officer showed a different side to himself when they were alone. It was one that was soft and funny and a side of him she quite liked… although afterwards their catch-ups often left her feeling conflicted.

"You're done already?" His surprise was evident when she entered his cramped windowless office, decorated by a lone picture of an early naughties rap artist.

"Yeah," Jondy flopped down on the seat in front of his desk and gratefully took the glass he offered her, expression impish, although it was belied by the dark shadows beneath her eyes. "The other-ones in the kitchen decided to actually listen to their "superior" officer today- apparently bribery with cookies works! Who woulda known?"

Cameron let out a crack of laughter. "You're welcome for the chocolate!"

"I definitely owe you a thank you of some kind," she smiled genuinely grateful.

Then, registering the true meaning of her words, his expression suddenly turned suspicious as he looked her square in the eye. "They're still giving you shit for out-ranking them?"

Jondy shrugged a shoulder and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Not my fault Manticore decided to dumb down its second batch of X5s."

"I hope you don't say that to their face, sweetheart?" Cameron enquired with amusement.

"No," she fired back sassily, tucking her legs into the chair as she tried to preserve body heat in the cold room. "I hear honesty can only get you so far in this big bad world."

Cameron smirked, eyes twinkling, as he leant back in his chair, knocking back what he thought must have been a home brew attempt at vodka.

"And quit calling me sweetheart," Jondy reminded huffily. "I am not, and I do not, possess either of those qualities or things."

"Well…" he drawled returning fire. "You're definitely not being honest with me now, are you?"

She glanced away, biting her lip, suddenly uncomfortable.

The yellow electronic light flickered overhead.

Self-conscious, Cameron cleared his throat.

"So," his tone was conversational as he wordlessly filled both their glasses a second time, "did any of those damn X5s bother to mention that you've gone hieroglyphic again?"

"What?" Jondy's eyes swiveled back to see his serious expression, eyes wide. "No!"

Shaking his head, it was his turn to roll his eyes. Cameron rose and walked around to her, head almost brushing the ceiling, he sat on his desk so they were eye to eye. Jondy detected instantly that he smelt of earth and gunpowder, noticing something almost imperceptible in his expression shift.

The X5 swallowed. Hard.

"Yeah," he uttered softly.

"Here," Cameron reached out a hand to gently brush the markings that had formed trailing from the base of her right ear down her neck, and all the while Jondy held his gaze her heart pumping fast in her chest.

"Here," his finger tips slowly traced the symbols which tracked along the top her left cheek from nose to brow bone, leaving her skin electrified.

"And here." When his thumb pressed against the lone symbol visible on her chin, his gaze fell to her full lips.

Then, he kissed her. Hard.

Instinctually Jondy responded, succumbing to the juicy goodness of the moment. A minute later she reared back, a look of betrayal plastered over her face.

Choking down a sob, she pushed Cameron away from her. Jondy noticed he wore an expression one-part startled one-part hungry, before she bolted, blurring out of his office door, leaving the door ajar.

"Jondy! Wait-"

The X5 did not hear him, she felt like she was suffocating as visceral flashbacks assaulted her senses. The terror she had kept at bay whilst in captivity had found a crack in her amor for release. Jondy was barely aware of her surroundings, which often reminded her of the creepy basement in Manticore, as she ran guided by the strip of tracking lights down the middle of the corridor.

In her disorientation the tiny woman ran bodily into the tall figure of another passing X5 in the darkened space, who in one swift motion automatically shoved her into the crevasse between the wall and ground with a considerable amount of force. It was only that her shoulder jarred painfully on impact that it made the girl register her present reality for one brief moment, hearing a voice call out that sounded strangely muffled as though traveling underwater.

"Son!"

Donald Lydecker was heading back from the makeshift mess hall, phone to his ear discussing the latest attack on Washington, when he unexpectedly came across Jondy's splay-eagled form prostrate on the floor, her hair glowing through the dimly lit space, and spied one of the former Alpha Seattle X5s looming over the blonde-haired girl, looking ready to pounce.

Quickly ending the phone call, he made a beeline for the pair with mounting unease: there was an air of palpable fear surrounding the situation, an emotion he could detect instinctually after running the operations of the Wyoming for so many years. From years of experience, he noted instantly that X5-259 appeared tempted to press his advantage and take a cheap shot while the smaller X5 was down. It was an action and outcome he quickly calculated that could be more harmful than productive for his objective.

"On your way! Now."

Lydecker's shrewd gaze followed the X5's quick salute and hasty exit with a small sense of relief.

Taking one look at the teenager, who had curled in on herself on the concrete floor as silent sobs wracked her frame, Lydecker wondered what the hell was going on. She and he had had little contact over the past month. Approaching Jondy, it was not for not the first time that he was wryly reminded that this was not what he had thought he'd been signing up for some twenty-odd years ago when Sandeman had come calling.

Glancing around surreptitiously Lydecker nodded dismissively to the few other X5s behind him on their way from the mess hall in an effort to spare the girl's dignity. He was not blind: he knew Jondy was having a hard time with the social dynamics on base and he was acutely aware their quid-pro-quo was wearing thin on her side.

"Jondy?" Lydecker bent down, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's Lydecker. Look at me."

When her face turned toward him and he did not like the terror he saw in her expression one bit. He was aware, despite the stance medical brass had held at Manticore, that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was a thing for his kids.

"It's Lydecker," he repeated this time more firmly. "C'mon. Get up." Lydecker instructed encouragingly, reaching out to take her by the arm and once again thankful that she was designed small, lithe and compact. "Come with me."

She appeared dazed, her pallor grey behind the obvious markings of more runes scrawled across her face. Was this event what had set her off?

Wrapping an arm around her waist, he clamped down a twinge of incredulity when she turned into him, sobbing into the side of his chest. Half carrying half marching, Lydecker steered her into his office, kicking the door shut behind him. It would not pay his reputation for anyone else to witness this scene.

Sitting her in his desk chair, he turned and locked the office door. Facing Jondy, he found her huddled, knees to her chest, only the blonde crown of her head visible in the dimly lit room, as she rocked slightly. Uncomfortable, Lydecker busied himself pouring them both a glass of water from the jug on his desk, giving her a moment to come to her senses.

"Jondy, I want you to look at me." From personal experience in combating this weakness, he knew it paid to keep one's mind grounded in the here and now when in the grips of a panic attack.

He watched her exhale a breath into the cold room and then rest her chin on her knees, face toward him and noted she looked slightly more alert. It was promising.

"Here." He sat down the glass of water beside her and remained standing, placing a hand on her shoulder and knowing he needed to be close by incase she had a seizure. "Name two things you see, hear and sense."

Dazed, Jondy struggled to get her tongue to form words.

"You – You're desk," it felt like the room was spinning, she shuddered swallowing as her luminous blue eyes darted around the grey barren office, "the… the video link … I-I can feel the warmth of your hand… I can hear f-footsteps – and- and laughter in the hall way… " she felt waves of nausea roll over her and worried she was going to be sick right there on the floor of his office.

His grip on her shoulder tightened as he saw the colour drain out of her face.

"Take a deep breath and hold for three seconds, release for three seconds".

Jondy followed Lydecker's instructions, noticing the pounding in her head begin to subside somewhat.

"First," Lydecker uttered squeezing her shoulder, before pulling out his phone and watching her carefully, "I need to document this turn of events and I need a translation. Tonight."

She nodded numbly, blonde hair falling about her. She turned to her face toward him as he brought the desk lamp closer and began photographing the runes on her neck and face.

"Is it only your face?"

"I – no…" the words died in her throat.

"Your back?" he prompted.

"Probably," she choked out huskily, before swallowing and reaching to unbutton her tunic, hurriedly pulling it off, as Lydecker moved to stand behind her dragging the desk lamp closer.

"There are more symbols than last time," he observed, his dry fingers tracing their location as he spoke into her ear. He frowned when he noticed a rash of faint green bruising along her lower her back and right rib, "but they are mostly in the same location as previously. Lean forward."

Jondy sat ramrod straight as he took his time to finish photographing her new runes, while she struggled to keep her mounting unease at bay as uncontrollable tears run down her face, her very last nerve on edge.

"C-can you- can you please sit down? I- he- was a-always standing over me. Always." The young woman begged tearfully and tried to explain her surging fear as she trembled in the cold. "You're making me very very nervous. I'm scared of what I might do."

"Alright, I understand. Get dressed." He squeezed her right shoulder which caused her to hiss in pain.

"Don't move. What happened?" He asked instantly, making sure she halted her movements, before turning to sit beside her on top of his desk as he took a closer look at the swollen and bruised joint, aware she was holding her top against her chest.

"I just got slammed into a wall," Jondy reminded him darkly, eyes narrowed.

Lydecker noted the tear tracks on her red cheeks and swollen eyes as he reached into his desk draw to pull out a first aid kit. "I'll have to strap this for you – you can't do it one handed."

Jondy grimaced. "I'm fine."

"Well, that is a clear lie," he asserted instantly pushing back against her attempt to dismiss the situation. He noted the green bruising extended across the front of her body also. "Lift out your arm."

She gingerly followed his instruction and as he got to work, Lydecker observed her expression relax somewhat. It was obvious her pain was receding, but she was also beginning to look cold, her lips were tinged blue.

"Get dressed." He turned his back for a moment, giving her time to shrug her standard issue civilian garb back on, before he handed her the glass of water she had left untouched.

"Drink it," he ordered, satisfied as she complied, he had smelt something like vodka on her breath. "Normally, in a situation like this, I would have referred you to psy-ops for evaluation- but times have changed." Lydecker paused thinking, aware that she would be useless to him if she didn't pull it together. "Can you talk me through how we got here?"

The mention of psy-ops twisting her stomach further, Jondy glanced away seeking to devise a way out of her present predicament. It was a tell her commanding officer was quickly growing accustomed to reading.

"No lies. Be specific."

Her troubled gaze flicked back to his.

"I- Ok." Jondy uttered dejectedly, setting the empty glass down. "I- someone I… trusted- they used it against me."

"In what way?" He asked gently, though the Colonel thought he had an-inkling.

Jondy blushed bright-red in embarrassment at his line of questioning. "I- I can't talk about this with you Lydecker."

"Sexually?" He kept his face and tone neutral.

Cupping her hands over her face in embarrassment, Jondy nodded. "I-I mean it was nothing, but I- it triggered- stuff. Things I thought I had made myself forget."

"Was it another X5?"

Jondy bit her lip.

"I'm waiting for an answer…" Lydecker bit out.

Turning her head, the young woman closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath, unwilling to get Cameron into trouble.

"No? I didn't think so. Don't think for one moment I don't know what goes on around here."

When she finally opened her luminous red-ringed eyes to stare at spot behind his shoulder, tears rolled down her cheeks silently as her words came out choked and indignant.

"It's just that- he knew. He knew what White did to me. He fucking saw it! How-how could he think I would-?"

Lydecker listened, privately fascinated by the girl's lack of restraint. Due to her upbringing Jondy presented a complex puzzle of teenage impulsivity, disciplined lethality and gifted intelligence and as much as he hated to admit it to himself, she was an intense and dynamic individual to manage.

"Is Sergeant Cameron still breathing?"

"Y-yes." Came her hiccupped response.

"Good." Lydecker sighed. Pursing his lips in thought, he chose his next words carefully. "He is a valued member of this team, and a good kid with his heart in the right place- poor- execution notwithstanding." He gave Jondy a critical once over, noticing the dark rings beneath her eyes and hollowed cheeks. "Do you require a physical assessment?"

His question instantly sent her cheeks on fire and Jondy turned her face away once again in embarrassment, rapidly swallowing back a third wave of nausea brought on by the implicit message behind Lydecker's words: you will always be a second class citizen.

"I-" she shook her head tiredly, gaze averted. "No."

Lydecker nodded decisively, taking control of the situation. "Look at me."

Her bloodshot eyes shot up to meet his with a hint of fear, her mouth automatically opening.

Lydecker held up a hand, halting her next utterance.

"That is good news." He told her emphatically because there was no adequate medical capacity on base to assess her. Then he cleared his throat. "I'll see to it to remind Sargent Cameron of the rules around fraternization alright?"

Jondy visibly sagged in relief and her next words came out in a barely audible whisper. "I- thank you."

The Colonel nodded dismissively, handing her his phone. "Now, can you translate this gibberish?"

Her expression immediately morphed into a mask of focused concentration when she looked down at the screen in her palm. Jondy cleared her throat.

"It's something like, 'As the gentle stir, the Key unto man's prize, a possession, Vessel and mettle is confined'".

"What the hell does that mean?"

She looked up at him, shrugging listlessly. "No idea. I- it's not an accurate translation. I would need more time, however this symbol-" she pointed to her chin- "is significant. It represents Sandeman's sect- a-and it's generally accepted to mean 'Sphinx'".

Lydecker eyes narrowed before he reached for her right wrist, twisting her hand to display her empty palm where the faded scar from her fraught mission glared angrily up at them, unusually red and raw. He had seen this image before in classified files uncovered at Renfro's residence.

"And that symbol?"

"I – it is the Caduceus. It is the insignia of the High Familiars – the top caste. McKinley burnt it into me in the Labyrinth. Its poison, but it hasn't healed… I-I " her voice shook and tears pooled in her eyes again as a wave of panic suddenly engulfed her.

"What is it?"

She sat there blinking rapidly, as her mind whirred.

"Say it…"

"I'm not healing…" she whispered, mortified at conveying this information to her former mentor. "There is something - I don't know what – but there is something wrong with me. White has done something to me I-I know it…"

Jondy pressed her palms into her eyes attempting to keep her overwhelming anxiety at bay and block out Lydecker's piecing gaze, as she began to shake with silent sobs.

"Can you please- ? – please I need Zane here -" the girl bit out between sobs "- h-he would know how-how to help me -"

Suddenly the door to Lydecker's office burst open and Cameron stood there in the crack in the doorway, keys in hand, opposite the pair, his tall figure silhouetted.

"Jondy? Shit! Are you alright?" Cameron peered into Lydecker's office, his expression worried. "I've been looking for you everywhere! This damn brown-out hasn't helped!"

His eyes darted from her prone figure to Lydecker, as he took in the situation between them and young woman's body language.

"Sir?" Cameron appealed to Lydecker for information.

"Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. Me." Jondy bit out angrily between gritted teeth, not giving Lydecker a chance to respond, as she unconsciously shrunk into herself attempting to make herself smaller and smaller by the second, nursing her head in her hands.

Cameron looked aghast as he stepped into the room, hands raised slightly in front of his body apologetically. "I-I am so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you -"

"Matthew," Lydecker intervened, tone somewhat sympathetic, as he took in Cameron's gobsmacked expression. "You need to go. I'll speak with you tomorrow."

"Leave!"

"Alright," Cameron muttered turning and blushing bright red, "I am sorry… I don't know what came over me…"

Hearing the door close, Lydecker let out a heavy sigh, as he turned back to Jondy, contemplating the teenager before him. She was nothing like the quiet and compliant child he had helped to nurture and raise. He waited as she slowly came to her senses, wiping her eyes and gingerly uncurling her tiny frame. He handed her another glass of water.

"I wish it was something stronger…" Jondy commented wearily trying to elevate the mood as she let out a shaky breath, before gulping down the lot.

"I think you've already had enough. You owe Sargent Cameron an apology." Lydecker told her decisively in a no-nonsense tone, knowing the kid was no sex-pest. He took in her grimace and nod of acknowledgment with satisfaction, before his gaze narrowed, "Now, what do you mean exactly when you say you aren't healing?"

"My ribs are still broken, my shin fracture hasn't healed from the POW injuries, not to mention others…" Jondy blushed bright red. She raised her palm - "these burns from the mission last month, my lungs from the smoke inhalation… I'm just… off. I have always bounced back. Always. Even at Manticore, with all the shit you put us through."

"Yes, but I've had reports that you aren't eating like you should be," Lydecker told her somewhat gently, alluding to the tension between her and other the X5s on base.

"Well, your X5 Core all hate my guts – no thanks to you Lydecker! - the last thing I want to do is eat with them," Jondy retorted hotly, attempting to hide her fear.

"But with Brin?" He prompted, tone curious.

Jondy felt hot tears prick the back of her eyes and swallowed the lump that rose in her throat at his words and its implications.

"How long are you going to keep me here?" She whispered, her tone desperate as she hugged herself, feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"You know the answer: as long as it takes to win this thing." His gaze was steely, tone resolute.

Lydecker cast his eyes over her shivering form and got up, moving to his office door, worried she was going into shock.

"Here - " he said taking a spare jacket off its hook. He handed it to her as some kind of olive branch as he thought quickly while taking a seat in front his desk, he couldn't help but observe how youthful Jondy looked.

"Look, I know this situation isn't easy for you. I was anticipating that spending time with Brin, would be helpful for you… but it's clear to me that hasn't been the case." Jondy nodded shakily, blinking back tears as she shrugged on the jacket trying to keep her teeth from chattering. "And based on what you've reported to me tonight, it would be a grave mistake to have you out in the field again -"

Jondy cut him off interrupting to burst out hotly against his brainwashing - "there is no "field", I am not a prisoner here or a soldier – I am willingly trying to help Max and you to avoid what's Coming – to-to do this for my parents' sake -"

Lydecker lifted his hand up from the chair's armrest, expression frustrated. "Understood." He barked, "And as I have said before, I need you clear and on point with your intel, right now you are in no fit state. Have you had any more seizures?"

"No, thank goodness," the young woman answered truthfully knowing those were a weakness she dearly wanted to avoid showing around the other X5.

"That's something at least. We don't have the medical capacity to address the underlying causes of your injuries and I can't exactly send you to a hospital," He paused thinking hard to find the best solution given the circumstances. "My only suggestion is that you resume the IV vitamins and rest – have proper bed rest – for the next few days and sleep to give your body time to repair itself."

"You mean you'll sedate me?" Jondy deduced sardonically.

"If that's what it takes." Lydecker agreed, noticing the dark rings around her luminous blue eyes looked more pronounced as she leaned backwards in her chair, blanching at his words.

He paused a moment, gathering his thoughts. The Washington attack had accelerated their timeline. Logan Cale had been at pains to point out the human cost and the need to respond in a way that mitigated the risk of impacting large amount of innocent civilian lives. But Worthington's views remained valid: the insurgents needed to be sent a message both within America and aboard - especially after the Paris attacks that had killed millions three months ago. Lydecker was on board with flushing out the enemy into the open at whatever price.

"Are you feeling calmer?" He checked-in cautiously, gauging the young woman's emotional state and feeling a growing confidence in his ability to manage her.

The girl shrugged, rolling her eyes slightly at the enormity of this question.

"A bit," she admitted quietly.

"Good." Lydecker commented satisfied. He paused, "I passed along your advice about the High Sect. Cale has been doing some digging. We have a list of names that need verification before we act. I need you to review them to provide a risk analysis to Worthington. I have booked a video-link for 22:30 hours tonight. Then I will deal with everything we have discussed this evening. Okay?"

Jondy brightened and nodded, seemingly happier at having something useful to do. "Okay, I can do that."

"That's what I wanted to hear…" Lydecker encouraged, handing her a file from under a pile of papers on the top of his desk.

Jondy studied it intently. "Armitage is priority number one. He is dangerous, highly connected and has investments in a bio warfare company that does business in middling economies like Africa and here." She flipped the page, eyes scanning the document.

"Ross is his stooge, not a creative thinker, although highly murderous behind the scenes and connected in local government in Seattle and New York. Both, I would recommend capture and interrogate, noting the political risk that would have to be navigated."

She turned another the page, biting her lip.

"I don't know about Foster – I never had much to do with her caste. But her reputation among Familiars precedes her, especially in New York. She is fundamental to keeping the breeding lines in check and the operations of the Familiars functioning – she is highly respected and revered. I'd recommend capture and interrogate also. As you know, White deserves a bullet in the head." Jondy commented grimly, before turning to the next page, she looked up at Lydecker her expression deathly serious.

"It's more than likely Demond is the mastermind of the European campaign. I would recommend a watching brief until we can gather enough evidence to take him to the European Commission – charge him as a war criminal and bring their activities to light by our allies, given the jurisdictional issues. It's not like it used to be pre-pulse."

Lydecker nodded taking the file from her. "Duly noted." He paused, considering her change in demeanor and decided on his course of action, he knew there was no use waiting now.

"There is also something else that I've been meaning to talk to you about," Lydecker begun measuredly, pushing down his emotions, glad he had purposely ensured the large metal desk in his office created an obstacle between them. "But I needed to ascertain all the facts first…"

Jondy noticed he looked at her with an expression bordering on compassion. Instantly, she felt her heart skip a beat, holding her breath at his tone, her luminous blue eyes widened as she gripped the sides of her chair.

"- Zane is MIA – his last mission-"

The young X5 didn't hear another word Lydecker said as a white haze descended across her vision and Jondy blacked out, her chair toppling sideways onto the concrete floor of his office with a hard thud.

The old Colonel cursed, before rushing to her aid for the second time in the space of two hours. Lydecker pulled out this phone, inspecting the small graze on her forehead.

"O'Neil? I need you in my office immediately."

It was true what they said, he thought ruefully, teenagers really were a pain in the ass.


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