HEROES Chapter 8

Morgan was a little concerned where Devon was concerned, but again figured that if he wanted to talk, he would if and when he wanted to. Stepping onto the elevator, she watched him closely, amazed at how easily he could just shut down....push his emotions to the back and move on. How she wished she could do that as easily. Lowering her eyes, she turned away so he wouldn't see the longing to be able to do that in her eyes when the doors opened and a coughing man entered, who looked right at her, focusing on her eyes which she quickly lowered, until it became clear that he and Devon knew each other only the agent knew him as Steven Moore. This had her looking at the two men, then looking down at his hand as he offered it to her. Before Steven could answer, she took the initiative, placing her small hand into his.

"Nice to meet you, Agent Mitchell. I'm Morgan Shepherd, Mr. Moore's assistant."

"Assistant?" Questioned agent Mitchell, casting Steven a sly look. He didn't know much about the pharmaceutical industry, but he did know that their representatives didn't have assistants. He had also noticed the wedding ring on the man's hand and jumped to the obvious conclusion, but he wasn't about to rib the man about it. "Okay." he cynically replied then politely offered the young woman a pleasant, "Nice to meet you, too."

If Devon was uncomfortable, he didn't show it. He was cool and collected, but inside he was kicking himself for not briefing Morgan on his cover story — a rookie mistake; he knew better than that.

The elevator chimed floor three and with little hesitation, Devon stepped out into the hallway, "It was good to see you again, agent Mitchell, I hope the rest of your evening fairs better than your day."

As the door's began to close, Devon sighed with relief, then a hand reached out and prevented them from closing. "Say, what are you two doing right now?" Asked the agent.

"We were thinking of checking out the night life in Lubbock." Devon answered.

Mitchell's brow furrowed. "You both look like you're already coming back." he observed.

"Yeah, we're just going to slip into some more comfortable attire."

Mitchell sheepishly nodded, realizing that he was giving into the nature of his job and questioning too much. "Sorry. It's a bad habit. Sometimes I forget to put away my badge."

"No worries." Said Devon.

"So," pursued the agent, "wanna grab a few drinks down at the lounge?" He looked at his watch, "Com'on, the night is young, and it's been quite the day. What d'ya say?"

Devon actually felt bad for the guy. Whatever he had endured that day he was seeking the company of strangers, and the agent seemed to be a good guy, just doing his job, not unlike he had during his time at Beacon. Before committing he glanced over to Morgan, his eyes forecasting his answer, then he turned back to the agent and said, "Okay. A few." They had some time to kill anyway so he really didn't see a problem with it.

"Great. Meet ya down in there in half an hour." Smiled the agent as he slipped back into the elevator and the doors slowly closed.

Morgan saw the way Agent Mitchell had looked at her and then at Devon's ring on his hand and knew instantly what he was thinking. Apparantly she shouldn't have said anything and just let him handle it.

Once they were inside their room and the door was shut, she turned to him, "I am so sorry, Devon....I mean Steven. I thought that being your assistant would be the best way to explain things, but I saw how he looked at me and then at your ring and now he thinks we're lovers. I am so sorry." She didn't know what else to say to him, so she said nothing more as she went to change clothes, grabbing her small bag on the way to the bathroom. When she stepped back out about fifteen minutes later, she was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a lavender/gray short sleeved cardigan and a pair of low heeled boots. Her hair was still clipped back with the Native American barrette, but her make-up had been redone so that it was much lighter, only highlighting her features now.

She walked over to the bed she'd slept in, sat down and waited for Devon to let her know what they were doing and if she could fix her mistake with the agent.

When, Morgan had emerged from the washroom, changed, she found Devon sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a simple white t-shirt. He looked upset, but at himself for not taking the proper precautions.

"Look, Morgan, you didn't do anything wrong, I should have filled you in on my cover and taken off my bloody ring. I got us into this, not you." he told her with exasperation in his voice. He then laid down and folded his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. He lay their for a few moments in thought before relaying the plan.

"I apologize for not trying to blow off the agent, but the guy caught me off guard and well... I kind of feel bad for the guy. Also, I want to find out what, exactly happened with him today. We still haven't heard from Tim, and I figure that Stubby should have already contacted him about our whereabouts."

Devon sat up then and leaned back on his sculpted arms. "Sorry, I got us into such a 'serious' role-play as well.", he shook his head, "Making myself out to be a cheating husband was not part of my master scheme, but if it comes up, I'm just going to come clean about things. Of course, in your case, Mitchell's pretty sure you ain't my assistant, so we'll just leave that up to his imagination, there's no real need for us play up to it. If he asks, we're old friends and we met on the flight from Seattle and if he does think to check the flight manifest, hopefully we're long gone by then. In fact, we'll be checking out tonight after we pay a visit to Texas Tech."

"Oh," Devon continued then, changing the subject, "I just wanted to tell you... that stuff I said about you and Tim, well, I really don't know how the guy feels about you. I mean, I know that it's important you for you to learn control if you wanna have a shot with a guy like him. Just don't go closing any doors 'cause of some crap that I say. I should imagine, now, that it's pretty apparent that I am hardly infallible. As soon as we figure out how to remedy that plague in Chicago and I can get into a lab, we'll work on fixing you up, then you're free to follow your heart to where ever it might take you."


It was late when the sedan pulled up into the driveway. Henkel had never made such good time getting home from the field office, all due to quarantine that had reduced city traffic to less than a fifth of its normal volume. The agent dragged himself out the car just as his partner pulled up behind him, stepping out with a cold six pack in hand.

"I always imagined the city was peaceful if we could just reduce all the goddamn traffic," stated, Jameson as he trudged up the driveway, "but you know what? It's kinda creepy."

"Tell me about it." Agreed Henkel as he unlocked his front door.

The two agents were whipped; the day had dragged on with the lot of them contained in the deepest floors beneath the field office which they shared with RAID. Thankfully, they all received their first dose of the serum and were allowed to leave under the advisement that they returned to their homes and allowed their bodies ample rest to help the medication to take effect. Henkel, like a few others figured that he would rather stay at work than waste his time sleeping but he soon found himself heading for home after the lethargy caused by the antidote kicked in. It was near impossible to concentrate on anything, yet his reflexes were fine, he just couldn't focus and so he decided to follow the advice and invited Jameson to tag along. He had something he wanted to share with his partner, something that couldn't be discussed at the office, to which Jameson was intrigued.


Rick placed his beer into the sparse fridge, grabbed one for himself and slid another across the counter top to his partner.

"So what's up? Why the cloak and dagger?" Inquired Jameson.

Henkel took off his tie, loosened his collar, cracked the beer and took a long drink before acknowledging his partner. With a gesture of his head he urged Jameson to follow him upstairs to his office.

"Have seat, Rick. I want to show you something."

"Okay." Said Jameson, now even more curious.

Henkel reached into a drawer containing his own private files and pulled out a thick folder, with the word, 'Wrangler' written on it in thick black marker. He tossed it on the desk in front of Jameson and told him to open it. Jameson, flipped the folder open and started sifting through the contents, "So what am I looking —?", he started to say before the answer stared him right in the face.

"Is this?"

"Yeah, it's the Wrangler, otherwise known as Tim Rutherford."

"Why, the hell didn't you show this to me sooner? Does Birkshire know about this?" Questioned Jameson, the expression on his face both incredulous and angry that his partner would keep such secrets.

"There's more." Said Henkel, urging his partner to look further.

"Who's this?" He asked holding up a picture of a large blonde haired man.

"Don't you recognize him?"

Jameson shook his head, then when he picked up another picture realized that the background images were that of a hospital. "Wait a minute, these were taken during that cluster#$%@ operation at Our Lady of Mercy, in New York, but this one, " he held up a fuzzy image of the same man, and the backdrop looked like that of pub, "is the same guy, but a different place."

"In the first picture, he's Doctor Paul Carson, visiting doctor from Seattle and the second is Devon Gale, a guy I met who works out at my gym." Explained Henkel.

Jameson couldn't believe it. "You're kidding!"


Henkel shook his head and gulped down another swig of beer. "No. I know him."

"And he doesn't suspect anything?"

Henkel shook his head, triumphantly. "I figure, he'll eventually lead right to the Wrangler, a.k.a. Cowboy." He then reached back into the cabinet and dropped two more folder in front of his partner. Jameson immediately recognized the first one, "Ah, yeah, Frank Shepherd. Why you keeping a personal file on him?" he asked as he glanced through it and stopped at a picture of Morgan Shepherd.

"It's his daughter I'm interested in." Answered Henkel, "Apparently she's a romantic interest of Rutherford."

Jameson nodded his understanding. "Who's this then, 'Yelena Petrokovich'?"

"She's also known as the Chameleon?"

"The Chameleon! No way, THE CHAMELEON." Jameson was now ecstatic, "How'd you get all this?"

"I met with some Russian called Romanolf Chikinsky. He gave it to me in exchange for shared information, which I thought was no skin off of my nose."

Jameson, leaned back in his chair, staring at all the information in front of him in disbelief, then his eyes turned hard and he glared at Henkel angrily. "You #$%^ing asshole! I'm your goddamn partner, why in the hell did you keep this from me!"

Henkel sighed. "Calm down, Rick. What the hell did you expect me to do? You had your head so far up, Birkshire's ass, I didn't know whether I could trust you or not. I know you're looking to cross over to the red and black."

"Yeah, but why keep this from Birkshire? With all this we can nail these bastards once and for all."

Henkel shook his head. "Not on RAID's terms, not this time." Henkel raised his beer can to the top of his head, "I've had it up to here with their bullshit. We're gonna take these guys down and we're doing by the book, you hear me. If Birkshire ever caught wind of any of this, he'd assume jurisdiction and lock us out. Cowboy's mine. Now, are you with me on this Jameson?"

Jameson was quiet as he processed everything his partner had said. It was true that he wanted to get into Birkshire's good graces so that he could make a smooth transition into RAID, but now seeing all that his partner had accomplished with his own resources offered him more inspiration than a red badge ever could. "@#$%ing-A. I'm in." He answered.

"Good." Said Henkel as he moved behind his computer and woke it up, "Let me introduce you to my man on the inside, agent Kaleb Mitchell, I've been keeping him in the dark for too long, time to bring him into the light."

Morgan smiled at Devon when he explained things to her about their situation and about Tim. "Don't worry about it, Devon. You had other things on your mind today and running into Agent Mitchell wasn't one of them, I'm sure. We'll get it worked out." She moved her legs up onto the bed, leaning back against the wall, relaxing a little. "So, when are we meeting Mitchell? And, I'm assuming that we'll be heading to the university afterwards. Just let me know how you want me to play this with Mitchell, exactly. I don't want to make any mistakes, especially with him being an agent." She thought for a moment, then continued on, deciding to let him know what happened in the car and at the restaurant.

"Devon, something happened in the car, when I was getting ready to get out of the car. I saw an image in the window. It looked like me, but it wasn't me, the girl in the window was pale, the scar more prominent, and right before you opened the door, she started to smile...not a nice smile either. And before we left, I heard Frank's voice in my head. He was angry with me for wanting to help other freaks and Sasha is angry because I'm helping normal people. Are they real or am I going insane?" She was scared and it showed. She was hoping beyond hope that they weren't real, that he was telling the truth and with the right medication, she could get rid of them.

As soon as Morgan made him aware of her episode, Devon immediately stopped considering their engagement with agent Mitchell, walked over to the door and put on his shoes. "I'll be right back." he told her, "I'm going to run down to the hotel store and get you something. Start packing up your things."

Devon returned fifteen minutes later with bag in hand. He walked over to the table at the far end of the room and began to empty the contents, which consisted of two types of ant-acid's, one of them Maalox, two holistic vials of supplements, and a small bottle of what looked like cooking wine. He then picked up the small electric kettle, filled it in the washroom by the doorway and plugged it in to boil. Then taking a spoon, he emptied equal contents of both vials and began to crushed them into a powder.

"This is Calcium and Gluconate supplement." he relayed to Morgan as he mashed them together on one of the coffee filters. He continued until he had enough to approximately fill a tablespoon then repeated the process with the antacid tablets, "These are a common antacid which contain, magnesium carbonate, important for a variety of bodily functions and excellent for indigestion. It also assists in restoring a body to its normal pH level, which can induce episodes in schizophrenics." he explained until he accumulated enough of the antacid powder to fill a teaspoon.

Devon then added the contents to a glass he procured from the washroom and topped it off with a table spoon of what turned out to be cider vinegar. "I had the front desk clerk downstairs raid the kitchen for me." he explained as he stirred the mixture into a paste. He then filled the glass halfway with boiling water, stirred it until the concoction was clear then went and added some cold water to cool it down.

"Drink this down." he told Morgan, "I'll make you another in the morning. It shouldn't taste that bad, I think the antacids are cherry flavoured."

When he caught Morgan's eyes drifting curiously to the unused bottle of Maalox, Devon simply said, "That's just to ease your stomach after."

Devon then started gathering his few items and packing them into one of the hotel's complimentary tote bags. Since he had used his power of flight to get to Texas, he had packed light and had now accumulated much more than he could carry.

"It should help." He told her, although, truthfully he wasn't sure. It might, and it might not, but she didn't need to know that and he figured that the placebo effect would probably do her even more good.

".. oh, and I've already checked out. I figure we'll use your vehicle, we'll leave my rental, I'll phone the company tomorrow and explain that I had car problems and left it in the parking lot. They can bill, old Steven's credit card for any extra charges."

When, Devon was done collecting his belongings he sat on the bed and focused on the task at hand. He leaned forward against his arms, resting his elbows on his knees and balancing his chin on the tips of his clasped hands. "If I didn't think it would raise suspicions, I would suggest blowing the agent off, but we should make an appearance. After we drop of our stuff of into your car, we'll share a quick drink with the guy, listen to his woes and get out of there and straight on to the technical school. Just act natural and realize that he knows you're not my assistant. Whatever he does believe is immaterial, we're not going to be exchanging Christmas cards with the guy or anything. Got it?"

Devon then picked up his things and proceeded toward the door.

Morgan drank down the concoction, making a small face at the taste. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, but it wasn't good either. She didn't understand how it would help, but if Devon said it would, then she'd try it.

She picked up her small bag that had her few items within and followed him out the door to their meeting with the agent. She was a little nervous, but had assured Devon that she would follow his lead and be sure to call him Steven or Mr. Moore.

Devon paused at the door with Morgan at his back. He was thinking about something and as he glanced back toward Morgan seemed to resolve the inner debate. He then handed his bag to Morgan, "Take this with you down to the car, I'm going to clean this room... just in case. It's probably a good idea, with an agent so close by that we don't take any chances. This won't take me but a few minutes, I'll meet you at the lounge... oh, and make sure you take the stairs."

As Morgan took the stairs down to the parking garage to stash away their belongings, Devon made a thorough sweep of all the surfaces in the room using the only cleanser he had access to which was hand sanitizer. He had a bad feeling about Mitchell that he couldn't quite put his finger on, but he kept to himself not wanting the unnerve, Morgan. The poor girl was already on edge and making her worry about the FBI agent just might push her over.

It didn't take, Morgan long to load the baggage into the car and return to the lobby. She even took her time to ensure that her arrival would coordinate with Devon but when she entered the lounge, agent Mitchell was alone at a booth across from the bar. He saw her immediately.


"Morgan." he called, waving his hand, then rising from the table to welcome her, "Steve's late, huh?" he said looking past her to the doorway. They sat down and Mitchell raised his hand to catch the attention of a server. A young girl about, Morgan's age came over and the agent ordered a whiskey sour then he looked over at his young guest, "And for you?"

The server turned her attention to Morgan, and it was apparent that she wanted to ask the girl for I.D. but hesitated due to the age of the man she was with. Mitchell of course, had also taken note of the server's instincts and couldn't but help but to slip into conversation after she ordered her drink. "You don't spend a lot of time in bars, hey." he observed as the server came back with their drinks and set them on the table.

The agent took a sip of his drink, staring at Morgan the entire time. "Y'know, you look familiar." he mentioned, "I never forget a face and it's been bothering me. Where are you from, Morgan?"

Morgan didn't know what to do or how to answer him. She looked around for Devon, wishing with everything she had that he would show up. The last time she took the initiative she'd screwed up. "I'm sorry Agent Mitchell....but I don't talk about where I'm from easily, especially to someone I don't know. It's not something I like to remember." She smiled at the waitress when she brought her the soda she'd ordered. Seeing Mitchell's raised eyebrow at her soda, she smiled at him, "I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking, Agent Mitchell. So, I don't like to drink too much and prefer soda anyway."

Agent Mitchell nodded compliantly, but his inquisitive nature got the better of him. "I didn't mean to dredge up any bad memories, a simple question really. You have to be from somewhere." He paused and pulled out his cell phone, momentarily looking at the display before placing it on the table beside him.

"There's something about you" he continued, "at first I was thinking, Mexico, but that's not right, is it? No, if I'm not mistaken you're Native American, am I right? The coloured contact lenses threw me off a bit, they're really distracting, unusual colour to choose."

Mitchell's eyes then darted to the entry way and Morgan could tell that he spotted someone he recognized and when she looked over she could make out her tall, pale haired comrade striding into the lounge.


"Sorry, I'm late." Wraith apologized, but more to Morgan. He noticed right away that she looked a little anxious, so he just cut into whatever conversation she and Mitchell were having to put a stop to whatever tactics the agent might have been employing either consciously or unconsciously.

The server immediately zeroed in on he newcomer. Steven greeted her and ordered a beer. "Whatever you have that's dark. The darker the better."

"Guiness?"

"Great." Steve acknowledged and as the server went to get his drink, he immediately pressed agent Mitchell, "So, what happened to you today? You looked more like a fire fighter than an FBI agent in the elevator."

Agent Mitchell's eyes lingered on Morgan for a while, then shifted over to Steve. "Yeah, well, that's what happens when you run into a burning building." he answered.

"Really?" Responded, Wraith concealing his personal interest in the matter, "Anyone die? You seemed pretty down."

"As a matter of fact someone did."

Wraith was a little worried now. He knew that it was more than likely that the agent had spent the day around Arnett. The place wasn't very big and he feared that he might have ran into Tim or Yelena. Could he have gone to the remains of Tim's line shack? He had to know, but there was no way to bring it up in conversation without raising suspicions.

Mitchell tossed back the remainder of his drink and raised his hand for another. "Enough about me. It was a shitty day, and I'd rather put it behind me. So what about you two. I must say, " he chuckled slightly, "you both tend to stick out of a crowd. I can tell ya that much. So how'd you two meet?" He then focused directly on Morgan, "How did you ever meet this guy?" he asked gesturing at Steve like he was some kind of anomaly.

Wraith just smiled at the ribbing and glanced over at Morgan, wishing more than ever that he was a telepath like Seizure, but he wasn't and it was all her. He just tried to remain as calm and cool as he could so as not to make the girl nervous or arise any suspicions. Devon couldn't be sure, but it felt like the agent was toying with them, of course it could also just be paranoia, after all the man was an FBI agent, and the two of them were wanted by RAID.

Morgan remained calm, as calm as she could anyway. She smiled at Mitchell, taking a sip of her soda, "We happened to be on the same flight from Seattle. We'd met at a pharmaceutical seminar a couple of years back and have remained good friends. Just so happened we were both headed here so, since I was looking for a job and Steve needed some help keeping his itinerary straight, I offered to help him out while I was here. He tends to be a bit fuddle brained at times."

She took another drink of her soda, hoping that she'd done okay and had not screwed this up. "What brings you here, Agent Mitchell? I hope it wasn't someone you were close to who was killed."

Agent Mitchell's eyes flicked over to Steven when the young lady revealed his tendencies for disorganization. "It's true." the large man confirmed with a smile just before taking a drink of his black beer.

In answer to Morgan's questions, Mitchell could only vaguely tell her what he was doing in Lubbock. "On the trail of a wanted man who lives around here." he mentioned, "I was up around a place called Arnett, west of here. There was a suspicious fire set in the garage of one of the residents. When I arrived on the scene it was already out of control and the sheriff and I tried to get him out. I crawled in and was only a few feet away from the car when I passed out from the smoke and thankfully someone pulled me out."

"Quite the day." Commented Steven sympathetically, then something about the agent's story made him curious. "If you were crawling across the floor, how did you know that someone was in the car?" he inquired.

"Good observation." Kaleb pointed out, "It was one of those dune buggies, y'know, basically a frame on wheels, I could see the guy in the passenger seat."

Wraith felt his guts knot up when he realized who had died, but his face betrayed nothing of his knowledge of old Stubby, or Arnett. He figured his death was connected to that truck load of drugs that the agent and Timble had taken care of after he fled the scene.

Steven shook his head regrettably for the agent's failure to save the man. "Well, at least you tried to save him. I can't say that I would run into a burning building to save a stranger." added Wraith. He would most likely cause a vacuum and think the air to smother the flames.

"I think you probably would." Argued Mitchell, "You look like the hero type."

Wraith just smiled and downed the last of his beer in a single gulp. "Well," he stated glancing over at Morgan, "we're going to hit the town."

"So soon?"

"Afraid so, sorry agent but I promised, Morgan, we'd hit some clubs. She's been itching to do some dancing."

Mitchell stood up with them and shook Steven's hand then, Morgan's. He then took out his card and handed to them. "I'm stationed in San Antonio, if either of you are ever by that way, look me up."

"Will do." Said Wraith as he slipped the card into his pocket, "You take care."

"Nice work back there." Wraith told, Morgan as they made their way out of the lounge and headed down to the parking garage. Once in the car, Devon told Morgan to hit Broadway and just keep heading west on it until she came to the campus.

"It's a large campus." Devon informed Morgan, Texas Tech has just about anything a body could want. Maybe you'll be inspired." he joked, "We're looking for Plant Sciences which should be to the south and toward the middle of the campus. Honestly, I can't figure out why, Jacobson would be teaching there, he was always more into the biological sciences."

Morgan didn't smile at Devon's praise, "Yeah, well...even though I did okay with Mitchell, he recognized me from somewhere. He doesn't know who I am yet, but he will. Even I know that when something like this happens, the subconscious will keep working until it finds the memory and shoves it to the conscious mind. What then?"

She drove onto the campus, completely serious, worried about Mitchell. "Be inspired....yeah, okay. The lavender eyed freak....going to college. That would be a good one. Wonder how long I could stay before something happens and my fellow students figure me out." She was being sarcastic and she knew it, but she couldn't help it. Even though he tried to come across as joking, she wished he would stop. If he saw things the way she did, then he'd understand why she couldn't fit in with the 'normal' crowd.

"So, where is his office and lab?"

The Plant Sciences building was dim; as dormant as the many forms of vegetation within that had retired for the night. The night classes had run their course and finished an hour ago and only a few obsessive professors and a few security guards roamed the darkened halls.

A large, rotund security guard with a slow gate approached the half open doorway of a room he was all to familiar with. As he pushed open the door and took a look inside a man in his late sixties was anxiously sifting through a stack papers; examining each and discarding then into a separate pile.

"Evenin' Doctor Jacobson." Greeted the guard.

Startled, the professor's eyes flashed toward the doorway, then he sighed with relief when he recognized the large burly form of the familiar figure. "Ah, Hank." he said as he looked at the clock on the wall, "Is that late already?"

"Afraid so." Replied the guard, smiling at the professor's predictability. The man was always losing track of time, but he figured because the Doctor was damn smart that he just couldn't bothered with the trivial things. "I've locked up, so you'll have to head out the service entrance, okay." he reminded the doctor, like he did every night to avoid any alarm incidents for which Jacobson was infamous.

"Oh, okay. Thank you, Hank." Said the Doctor, then returned to rummaging through his paper work as the guard slipped out the door and continued on his way.

Finally the Doctor found what he was looking for and smiled while holding the document up triumphantly. It was a very old paper of his from the 80's, one that had some pertinent information he needed, which he tucked into a folder and took it with him as he left the room.

The hint of moonlight filtered through the tall windows of the east wing's hallway and glistened upon the highly polished floor. All was silent, and only the clicks of Jacobson's shoes could be heard echoing through the corridor as he made his way to the middle, then took a sharp turn to his left. He followed another, much smaller corridor, that lead to another crossroad, the another, eventually ending at a rather old elevator; original to the older part of the building that nearly all dismissed as inoperable. The doctor reached into his pocket, and produced a key, which he pushed into the button pad and turned counter clockwise a few times, until there was the distinct unlocking sound. The one downward button began to dimly glow and upon pressing it, the doors slowly parted. As he stepped into the car, the old 1940's style lights flickered above Jacobson, providing just enough illumination to see by. On the brass number pad there were only two levels to choose from; one being the sub level of the facility which was still actively used and then a level that few were aware of called sub level two, and any who did no of the mysterious level were not aware of the section to which Jacobson was about to descend.

The ride was a slow one, but the old elevator ran surprisingly smooth, mainly due to the extensive repairs carried out in secret by it's single user. It settled down with a bit of a bump, as the doors pulled apart it opened into a narrow underground corridor lit only by a few dim pot lights. Old ducts and conduit piping ran along the ceiling and the walls were constructed of stone blocks.


The floor was dusty, with a single worn trail down the center and there were a few doors along the way, but Jacobson passed them by. He walked to the end where it came to junction and opened the door in front of him revealing a large room illuminated with blue light. The are smelled musty and there were several rows of long tables, upon which were trays designed for growing various forms of vegetation, but what grew in them were not plants. Large mushrooms thrived in the dark, damp room, their bulbous heads and thick stocks unlike anything that anyone had ever seen, nor would they ever see them.

Doctor Jacobson made his way over to work bench in the corner and turned on a dim desk lamp and his lap top computer. He placed the folder, on a stack of others like it then turned to survey his work which he never tired of gazing upon.


"Control and coloured contact lenses." Was all Wraith had to say to the girl, but he didn't want to argue or force her into a corner on the matter. Her decision was ultimately her own and he would try and guide her as best he could without stepping on her toes in the process, which would prove to be a little difficult, since he had pretty big feet, physically and metaphorically.

Wraith directed Morgan to the location of the Plant Sciences building where she was able to find a parking lot off the beaten path but still with a few cars around to avoid being conspicuous. As Devon stepped out of the car, he looked around, as if expecting to find someone watching them. He searched the shadows and as he stared hard, the whole surface of his eyes lit up with a soft blue coloured glow allowing him to see the world, literally, in a different light.

"Seems clear." Said Wraith as he lead the way down a pathway that would take them through a small island of trees and to the side of the Plant Sciences building. He paused by a bench under the soft glow of a lamp post, took out his phone and made a call to Sigma, who was naturally somewhat irate, but Wraith managed to quickly calm the man down and get him focused on the task at hand.

"I'll call you as soon as we find the man's office." Wraith told his partner before ending the call.

Devon then requested Morgan's phone and quickly entered his secure number for his specialized phone given to him by Beacon. It had the look of a blackberry, but the technology looked far older, and in fact it was. When the unit was made it was years ahead of the current technology, and even though it had now caught up, its security features were still exceptional. It was also completely, non-magnetic and would tamper with his dematerialization which was the prime reason he never parted with it.

"Okay, I just entered a special number into your phone, use it if we get separated." Wraith told her as he continued to stroll around the building looking for a way in for Morgan. He could slip in without any problem, but there was going to be some difficulty getting Morgan in without tripping any alarms. Finally then, he looked up and saw a service ladder up on the roof and figured that it was probably their best bet.

With hardly any hesitation, Wraith walked up to Morgan and simply scooper her up with one arm. "That's what I figured." he said nodding, "You look one twenty, but your increased muscle density makes you a bit heavier, but your still light enough." Wraith looked around to make sure that there were no witnesses the said, "Hang on."

Winds started to gust around them, but while they whipped up dust and debris they remained untouched, then it felt as if a cushion of air erupted below them and they were flying. Generating enough force to carry a passenger was difficult for Wraith, but he managed to get Morgan quickly up to the roof. They lightly landed nearby the ladder that led to a higher level of the roof and as he had assumed there was a maintenance door beside it.

Wraith stared at the door and folded his arms. "It's going to have an alarm," he stated, "but hopefully up here, it's just a less complex sensor."

Suddenly Wraith faded into nothingness, disappearing before Morgan's eyes. He reappeared a few moments later before her and shook his head. "Too complex for me." he told her disappointedly, "Looks like his is where we split up. This place is just too secure, but if you do manage to get into the building call me and we'll try to rendezvous."

He wished there was another way, but he Wraith was no lock picker nor was he very good at by passing alarms, he never really needed to learn, being able to simply slip through doors like the wind.

"Good luck" Said Wraith and vanished once again, leaving Morgan alone on the roof.

Morgan stared where Wraith had stood, now an empty spot. She looked around her, wondering just how in the hell she was going to get in and what in the hell she was supposed to do if she couldn't get in. She looked around, then back to the door. "Well, isn't this just great. Now what do I do?" She was speaking to herself as there was no one else there and began pacing. She couldn't even get down without being spotted at least she didn't think she could. She'd kept her eyes closed when Devon had carried them up to the roof. Heights was not something she liked.

Going over to the edge, she looked down and instantly felt dizzy. Nope, that was not an option. Damn him. Now she was stuck and it was either find a way in or wait. Backing up to where the door was, she looked at, studying it. There had to be a way in, she just had to find it and hopefully it would be up here somewhere.

As Wraith quietly made his way through the upper floor hallways of the Plant Science building of Texas Tech he wished that he knew more about modern alarm systems. Ten years ago he might have had a fighting chance, but the technology had drastically changed since then and he could not risk setting off any alarms. Anyway, she was better off up on the roof and out of harms way, at least that what he tried to convince himself. Truthfully he was worried, he couldn't explain it but the old super hero had a bad feeling about this seemingly routine mission.

As Morgan dealt with the effects of her vertigo she might have taken comfort in the knowledge that she could most likely survive the four story fall from the top of the building. Her increased muscle and bone density combined with a higher elasticity in her joints would allow her to land such a fall, but the mind was a funny thing; it could make beliefs more real than the physical world around us. The young Meta-human was victim of this, like so many others of her kind she could have just as well gone through her life without ever putting her abilities to the test and lived by all accounts as normal person, never being the wiser. The door as well would easily fall to one of her kicks, but as that would set off the alarms it was hardly an option. No, she was stuck and had her new mentor to thank for that, but that's not all the fledgling hero had to be thankful for. As the young woman, stared at the door, pondering her next course of action she heard a faint, but disconcerting sound, one that instinctively made her seek out a hiding place.


Hidden, but still able to see the doorway which Wraith had vanished before, Morgan saw the familiar form of a man in black body armour appear over it. The RAID Enforcer stood at the edge of the raised part of the roof at the top of the ladder which ran along side the maintenance door, scanning the area thoroughly, his plasma rifle at the ready. The intelligent night vision display of his visor automatically adjusted to variances in the darkness and automatically enhanced any object that the Enforcer's eyes intensely stared at.

Morgan could hear the man clearly as he reported back to either a partner or his commanding officer. "Looks clear, but I'm switching to thermal just to be sure." The RAID Enforcer then touched the side of his visor and engaged his thermal vision allowing him to detect differences in heat making it impossible for a warm body to conceal themselves in the shadows, but it wasn't x-ray vision. The sensitivity of thermal lens, was obscured by barriers and so even when he stared toward, Morgan he could not see her through the wall which she hid behind, unfortunately he did catch a glimpse of her heat waves.

"This is Saunders." Reported the man again, "Thermal has revealed a heat signature, probably a pigeon, but I'm going to check it out."

The RAID enforcer then made his way down the ladder which was only twelve feet high or so, creeping down slowly, his head turned to where he saw the anomalous heat wave and gun at the ready as he climbed down using one hand. He then leapt off the ladder, by passing the last four rungs, landing stealthily despite the armour.

"Approaching target." The enforcer reported once more as he drew ever closer.

Meanwhile...

Wraith descended down to the main floor of the building. Ever so often he vanished and drifted through the air in his elemental form, the fleet movements generating a slight glow that one who believed in the paranormal would be convinced without a doubt that they were witnessing the signs of an actual ghost. He had found out on the internet that Jacobson's office was on the main level, but it had not been precise about the location, since none of the areas used by the faculty were numbered. They just provided a general location and one had to seek out the name on the door.

He was getting close, all Wraith had to do was find the name Ephraim Jacobson which was proving elusive. As he searched, Wraith wondered how Morgan was, curious if she had stayed upon the roof or made her way down to the ground.

Morgan was trying to stay calm, but when she heard the RAID enforcer say that he was going to check out the thermal imagery he'd seen, she knew it was her he was talking about. She moved quietly further behind the wall, looking for a way to avoid being seen and thus jeopardizing Devon's attempts to get whatever information on Dr. Jacobson he needed. The enforcer had mentioned a pigeon and she scanned the rooftop finding a few nests of the cooing birds. Waking them, she entered the mind of one of them, waiting until the enforcer was as close as she dared before sending it flying into his face, startled.

"Shit!! Just a damned pigeon. Rooftop seems clear. Going to check other side of wall."

Dammit!!! Morgan looked around and then could've smacked herself upside her head. She quietly followed the wall around. As the enforcer came around, she slipped around the other side.

"Wall is clear." The enforcer turned back around and as he left the way he came, Morgan also went back around, only not as quietly this time, her boots crunching on some loose concrete. The enforcer stopped as did Morgan. "Hold....heard something....rechecking other side of the wall." Before Morgan could get all the way back around, the enforcer came around and spotted the thermal imagery of her leg.

The enforcer smiled beneath his face covering helmet. The thermal image he'd seen was that of a shapely, female leg. Being somewhat new, he felt that whatever that shapely leg was attached to could easily be handled by just him.

Morgan realized that through the sounds of him still approaching that he'd either seen her or was more suspicious and determined now to make sure that no one was there. Whatever his reasoning, her demeanor instantly changed and the shade of her lavender eyes became darker, turning to a deep purple. She took the stance of a seasoned fighter and waited.

The enforcer turned the far corner of the wall and was met with a solid kick to his midsection, knocking the wind out of him even through the armor. Another swift kick to his helmet caused his brain to to shift, hitting the other side of inside his skull making him see stars. Another swift kick to the other side of his head shifted his brain again, this time causing him to go down in a heap. Morgan grabbed his head, preparing to break his neck when she stopped, her eyes widening. He was out cold and she was sickened by the fact that she was going to attempt to break his neck without a second thought. She also knew that she was lucky this time around as RAID enforcers were normally extremely hard to take down. That much, she'd learned from Tim and Yelena. As her eyes returned to their normal color for a brief minute, she looked around, knowing that whomever he was reporting to would try to contact him within a few minutes of not hearing a report from him. She had to do something to warn Devon and that meant getting inside the building and fast.

Then she remembered the phone and opened it, dialing the number he'd programmed into her cell. "Hey, I just took down a RAID enforcer up here. Watch your back. I'm still trying to find a way in."

Doctor Jacobson's office could best be described as organized chaos. His desk was a mass of paperwork and post it notes covered his computer's monitor, needless to say the man's intellect might have escaped the 1980's but not his work habits. A desk lamp had been left on, it's dim glow illuminating the small room, providing just enough light for one to make out the white board on the opposite wall covered with a complex chemical code.

The papers upon the desk fluttered in a mysterious breeze followed by the appearance of Wraith. He had taken some time to make a thorough sweep of the room for cameras before materializing, as protecting his identity was always one of his top priorities. Without his mask, he felt quite vulnerable, but this mission relied on more covert tactics, plus he had to think about his partner as well. As he took some time to study the white board, Wraith wondered how Morgan was doing and he figured that somehow she must have heard him as his phone began to vibrate right at that moment and the ID read 'Summoner', the name he had affixed to Morgan's number.

"Yeah." Answered Wraith as he moved to the desk, sifting through some of the papers. He had been relatively calm until that moment, but when he heard that Morgan had just tangled with a RAID Enforcer paranoia immediately began to set in.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Wraith, "Get your ass out of there right now. The Enforcers move in teams of three and they check in with one another in five minute intervals, which means you've got minutes before they home in on their buddy's last location. Get to the car... No, wait." he told her, changing his mind as he looked down on the desk and saw that Jacobson had left his key card out in plain sight. He then quickly accessed the campus maps of the Texas Tech site and found the Plant and Sciences building and found that there was tunnel connecting it to the Architectural building across the way. "Okay, east of this building there's a road called Detroit Avenue, now there's a tunnel running under it connecting Plant Sciences to the building on the other side of that road. Now, there's an outdoor entrance at the end of that road, probably a stairwell, that will take you into the tunnel. Get to it and double back underground to the Plant Sciences building, I'll meet you at the doors and get them open for you, but if the Enforcers spot you, just keep going."

Wraith hung up, booted up the Doctor's computer and called Sigma. He quickly explained what was happening then proceeded to help him gain access to Jacobson's hard drive. The Slayer was not impressed, but now was not the time to chastise Wraith for his sloppy work, he had to work fast as he suspected that he wouldn't have much time to rummage through the Doctor's files.

"Okay I'm in." Sigma informed his partner, "Get your ass outta there and give that little piece a' tail a hand."

"Thanks." Said Wraith, shaking his head at Sigma's chauvinistic comment. The man could be crude, but he could always be counted on in a pinch.

Morgan fought down her own panic at Wraith's words of how the enforcers traveled in threes, checking in with each other at five minute intervals. She stared at the phone after he'd hung up. She was to get down.......GET DOWN?!! She sighed, looked up at the sky and shook her head. Okay, she could do this....one of the things Devon had mentioned was that not only did they have special abilities, but everything about a meta was enhanced, which should mean that if she jumped down to the ground, she would survive without breaking anything. She walked over to the edge, taking a quick look at the enforcer. She looked over the edge and again felt dizzy looking down. Taking a deep breath, making sure there was no one around, she leaped over the edge. She didn't land as gracefully as she'd hoped, her feet hitting the concrete and then sliding out from beneath her, promptly putting her on her rear. She stood up, rubbing the now bruised part of her anatomy and followed Devon's instructions to the letter.

She made it to Detroit Avenue, keeping to the shadows and watching out for enforcers. Her heart was beating fast and she was scared to death, but she kept telling herself that she'd be okay.

~RAID!!!! They kill metas like us, Morgan!!! You have what you need to destroy them without even letting them know where you are!! C'mon Morgan. Think about what they've put all of your new friends through. Take...them....OUT!!!!~

Morgan stopped just shy of the door to the tunnel, gripping her head, fighting to keep control of herself. It wasn't easy by a long shot, not with her father's voice now joining in with Sasha's, but somehow she did it and she got through the doors and into the tunnel.

She backtracked like he'd told her, thinking about Tim and how he'd taken care of her, thinking about Devon and how he was helping her, anything to ignore the two voices in her head. By the time she'd reached the doors, her face was pale and drawn and she was sweating with her battle for control, but she was also smiling. The voices were quiet.....she'd been able to ignore them.....this time.

The security guard every so often checked a door to see if it was locked as he meandered down one of the main hallways of the Plant Sciences building. It was quiet and the long corridor was dim, as the night lighting only used the outer rows of lights, but it was still more than adequate to see by.

"Put the coffee on, Hank, I'm ten minutes away." Requested the guard into his shirt mounted communication device.

"See any ghosts?" Replied the other security guard with a snicker.

"Jeezus, Hank, it was one time and for your information that curtain looked a hell of lot like a man."

"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, Chuck."

"Just get the coffee on."

Chuck shook his head as he continued on down the hallway, then he heard a noise behind him, the faint sound of rustling papers, like the ones on the post-it board he had just passed. 'How in the heck could that be?', he wondered and instantly the hairs on the back of his neck pricked up. He didn't want to turn around but he did and was blasted by a gust of wind that knocked him over!

"SHIT!" Screamed the guard and as he stared down the aisle way, upside down on his back he saw for a brief moment the transparent figure of ghostly image flying away. He immediately reached for his communicator, but then stopped, thinking that old Hank would never let him here the end of this one.

Wraith was in such a rush he noticed the guard too late and had plowed straight through him. He had to make to the tunnel doorway and get to Morgan before the enforcers did and so he was double timing it and in doing so becoming every so often momentarily visible as his energy levels caused his ghostly body to emit a slight glow. As he passed into the sub level, there was less light and Wraith was even more visible and he shuddered to think it there were any security cameras recording his paranormal fly by, but he didn't have time to worry about that. Right, now he had to get to, Morgan and he was relieved to see the glass doors ahead of him and the distant form of the girl running toward them. He solidified in mid-flight, materializing out of thin air and landing by the doors with Jacobson's keycard in hand. He slid the card through the scanner and the light turned from red to green as he heard the sound of the lock trip.

At the end of the tunnel, Morgan could see a shadowy form opening the door which she believed to be Wraith, but as she grew closer it was becoming more obvious that it was someone else. As she cautiously began to slow down, Morgan began to make out the familiar traits, but it was impossible! She tried to convince herself that he wasn't real, but the nearer she got to the man, the more she realized that it was her father.

Wraith stood in the doorway holding it open and keeping his eyes behind, Morgan to make sure she wasn't being followed. "You alight?" he asked but her response was nothing shy of confusing.

All Morgan could hear was her father's voice. Part of her conscious mind questioned what she was seeing, but the other half could not differentiate between fantasy and reality. "That's it honey," Said the man who looked like her father, "come to papa. I'm gonna take you home..." he said smiling, then his expression turned cold and his tone harsh, "... to the grave."

Morgan couldn't believe what she was seeing. He was dead.....she'd been the one to kill him, then she heard his voice, "That's it honey, come to Papa. I'm gonna take you home. To the grave." The face turned hard, the eyes cold as death. Morgan came to a skidding halt, her eyes wide filled with fear that quickly turned to hatred, her lavender eyes turning dark purple as she focused on the rats that were scampering about in the tunnel. She found it ironic that she'd used rats the first time to kill him and now she was using them again.

"Kill him.....send him to hell.", she said, her voice more of a growl. "I killed you once you son of a bitch!! I can do it again!!!"

The rats ran towards Wraith, Morgan directing them as she walked towards the big man whom she was seeing in the image of her father. The closer she got, the darker her eyes became, the more violent the rats became. She vaguely heard Wraith's voice through the haze of her hallucination as she continued forward. She lashed out at him, her foot trying to connect with his midsection and then trying for what a man values most. Suddenly, a blast of air knocked her back on her can, stunning her. She shook her head, looked up and saw Devon standing there, fighting off the rats.

"Oh God!! NO! Leave!! Go back to the darkness!!" She sent the rats away, finally seeing Devon as she sat there shaking, slowly getting to her feet. "I'm so sorry.....I'm so sorry." Her head was pounding and she was feeling sick.

Thankfully, Texas Tech kept their grounds clean and the few rats that, Morgan was able to summon were smaller due to the lack of food that fed their kind. If anything, Wraith was far more concerned about contracting some sort of infectious disease from the possessed rodents rather than worrying about the damage they might cause the large man. He was far more concerned with the girl, for he knew what was happening and her schizophrenic episode not only made her dangerous but could very well expose them to RAID.

Wraith tried to reason with the girl but apparently what ever he was saying was being transformed into something else by Morgan's condition and it became quite obvious to him, that she believed he was her father. Her eyes turned black when she attacked him but it was unfocused, driven by rage, and he easily side stepped the kick and not wanting to hurt the girl, struck her with a blast of cool wind, strong enough to put the girl on her butt. He then proceeded to blast the malicious vermin from his clothes, when Morgan cast them away, realizing what she had done.

Wraith could see that the inky black colouration of her eyes had vanished; the colour that he associated with Sasha. It became clear to him then that her stress levels were causing her episodes, which basically meant that as long as she stayed calm she had a better chance to remain in control. 'Easier said than done, especially for Morgan', Wraith thought to himself. Thankfully, there weren't any critters in the Plant and Sciences building, at least none that could do any damage, so he would be safe from her summoning ability if she mistook him for 'father of the year' again.

Wraith took the girl by the hand and easily lifted her into the air and ushered her through the doorway. He shut the door behind him, grimacing as he did so, as Wraith was well aware that the door's sensor was no doubt recording a log of it's activity and sooner or later the security guards would become aware it. Better to deal with them than RAID right now, he figured, that is, if they weren't in the building already of which he had his doubts.

"Don't worry about it, Morgan." Said Wraith as he checked his forearm which was bleeding from where a rat had bit him, "If I develop rabies later on, then I'll be pissed." he told her, smiling afterward.

"Com'on." Wraith whispered as he started moving back down the shadowy tunnel, "Let's see if we can find, Jacobson, without finding any of the security guards first."


Even as Wraith and Morgan made their way through the Plant and Sciences sub-level, two RAID Enforcers, entered the building with the use of a key card with which they were able to covertly meet with Jacobson.

"I still can't reach him." One said to the other.

"He's probably in his 'underground lair'." Mentioned the other in a cynical tone of voice.

His partner gave a little chuckle, as they quietly made their way toward the old elevator on the main floor. Both were on high alert and had their weapons ready after their third man was attacked and rendered unconscious. His visor cam, hadn't been able reveal anything of his attacker, but both of them were betting on the involvement of Meta's.

Morgan followed Wraith, totally silent. Her stomach was rolling and her head pounding, more from what she had tried to do and the thoughts of what was happening to her. She'd communicated with the rats to let her know if anyone else entered the tunnel, no matter where, but didn't think there were enough rats to cover the whole thing, so she relied on their sense of smell and hearing.

She wanted so badly to curl up into a ball and just disappear, but she pushed that feeling down deep. Doing so, like she'd done before, wouldn't help her. It hadn't before, so why would it now? She looked at Devon's broad back and wondered how in the hell he could put up with her. Tim probably would have done shot her and she wondered if that would be such a bad thing at this point. But, Devon had stuck his neck out for her and she'd be damned if she would fall apart on him and put him at even more risk than she already had. ~You are stronger than you think, Morgan. Always remember that. You have a good soul and a good heart.~ The words her Aunt Jackie had said to her before she'd left the reservation for the last time, echoed through her mind, making her feel a little better.

"If you haven't the strength to impose your own terms upon life, you must accept the terms it offers you."

— T.S. Eliot

Wraith didn't consider himself a sensitive person, but even still he could feel what was going through Morgan's mind, which basically boiled down to a fear of losing it. He didn't blame her, were their roles reversed he doubted that he would fair any better despite the cushion that his greater life experience offered; it was all subjective anyway. Life was all about terms, you either imposed your own or accepted what was handed to you, just like that quote from T.S. Eliot that his wife loved to say when he was fighting against the will of the world to no avail. Tatyana always knew what to say, her words could be soothing or as harsh as alcohol in an open wound but no matter what they always seemed to smooth out a bumpy road, he wished that he could be as encouraging, but Wraith was no 'shrink'. For the girl it was basically sink or swim and they were headed into the deep end of the pool.

As they worked their way through the sub-level of the Plant Sciences building, Wraith reached back with one of his muscular arms in a stopping motion to Morgan. He then looked back and drew her attention to the camera down the hall; there was no way around it, at least for her. Wraith on the other hand excelled at subterfuge, but she could too.

"You have to learn how to use your gifts to their full capacity." Wraith whispered to Morgan as he motioned toward the many moths that hovered round the fluorescent lights that ran along the corners of the ceiling, "Use them to obscure the camera, to give yourself just enough time to bypass it."

There was no way of knowing whether or not the trick worked, but Wraith seemed pretty confident that they were not seen. He did, however, try to avoid cameras whenever they could take a detour since a small cloud of moths strategically blocking a line of cameras in succession would eventually be seen as being more than coincidental.

"Randomness." Wraith said as they quietly climbed the stairs to the main level, "People will always recognize patterns; it's Human nature, so you should always aim to minimize any order in your behaviour. Sigma lives by that philosophy."

Back on the main level, Wraith traced back his steps toward, Jacobson's office. It was the only place that he could think of that he might find some more information on the serum, or what lab the doctor frequented the most. He moved stealthily along, his movements were unusually dextrous for a man of his size, the foot steps of his soft soled shoes nearly inaudible. He peeked round a corner of a crossroad, then snapped back quickly, adhering his body to the wall. Morgan could see the alarm in his eyes and she knew that whoever he had seen was coming their way, then he raised his hand and signed that there were two approaching.

They were at the end of a long hallway with no other branches. The doors that ran along it were all locked and there was absolutely no place to hide, so Wraith did the only thing that he could think of — he vanished, leaving Morgan alone with no time for her do anything else but prepare herself for a fight. The foot steps were growing closer and she instantly recognized the black armoured leg that came into sight as that of a RAID Enforcer. Then, opposite, Morgan's position there was the distinct click of a door opening and the men immediately took note of the door down the hall to their left that mysteriously swung open.


The Enforcers remained oblivious of the girl as they moved toward the doorway, moving down the corridor simultaneously, one keeping his back to the wall opposite the door, the other approaching directly, their weapons ready. They hadn't yet checked their perimeter, but they would, once their primary target — the door — was secure, so Morgan probably had seconds to react. What would she do? She had been left in a tight spot for even though the Enforcers were currently engaged with the distraction no doubt caused by Wraith they would eventually check their 'six' and 'three' and she would be seen. The only reason they hadn't already noticed her was because she had remained perfectly still, but there was no doubt in her mind that as soon as she moved they would spot her.