(OOC: Continued from Game On.)

IC:

Jacen had driven aroudn town rather erratically until he was sure that noone was following them and then made a bee line for the hotel. "We've got to focus on the shredded papers." Jacen said with preamble as soon as he had pulled into a parking space, "We can sit far enough apart in the room that you'll have your power so you don't feel so drained and we focus on finding something. There's got to be an address or some sort of clue somehwere!"

Why the hell hadn't Jacen spent more around some of the spooks that had given the Rangers some of their information? Why hadn't he asked question so that he would be more ready for a situation like this? He had never been one to feel helpless and yet that's exactly what he was feeling like at the moment. As much as he was trying to be positive and encourage Lee that everything would work out the doubts in his own mind was going wild.

"I'll see about getting some sandwiches from the hotel staff and I'll bring them up. Maybe some coffee too."

***

Piecing together shredded paper was like something out of a nightmare. Who in their right mind would have enough patience to do this? Sure if you were locked up in a psycho ward or something like that then maybe this would fit with your idea of fun but right now the only thing motivating Jacen was the sense of urgency that continued to race through his body. For the moment it was like being on a never ending stream of adrenaline. Any time it started to wear off all he had to think about was what might be happening to Lori and Tarin and it would kick back in again. He was going to find something. He HAD to find something.

"DAMN IT!" Jacen suddenly growled in frustration, slamming his fist against the desk before turning away from the scraps of paper and rubbing his eyes. Why had he ever asked Tarin and Lee to come help? Why had he gotten anyone else involved?!

Pulse had let her go, pushed her away, actually, in exchange for Tarin whom they thought was an adapted, the one who'd been cancelling out their powers in the room. Lee hadn't wanted Tarin to do the trade, she'd done pretty much all she could have done to stop it considering she'd been so weak since Jacen had been there. And then she was being let go, Tarin was telling her to get in the car and go, with no arguments. Even Jacen had opened the door for her and told her, quietly, to get in the car.

Lee was fuming, and terrified, but with Jacen there, she couldn't do anything. In fact, she knew that he'd be able to force her into the car almost without trying. So Lee had gotten in and done up the seat belt, staring out the window at Tarin and Pulse the entire time.

And then they were moving, tearing down the road, and before long Lee couldn't see Tarin any more. It was about that time when Lee tore into Jacen for a good solid minute or two, asking how the hell he could have gone along with what Tarin had done, how he could have let Tarin go a head with a trade like that.

At least she was tearing into Jacen for a minute or two until she ran out of words. Or maybe it was just she ran out of the ability to voice the words, and she then simply sat there in a mixture of terror and anger. She wasn't even really paying enough attention to realize how much longer than it should have it took them to get back to the hotel.

"Coffee," Lee murmured as she heard Jacen's voice as they finally reached the hotel. "Coffee would be a really good idea." Without Tarin, and being around Jacen, coffee was probably the only way she might stay awake long enough for them to figure out what they were going to do.

****

Earlier that day, Lee had had no trouble sitting there and slowly piecing together the shreds of papers. Now, however, she could barely manage to get her mind to focus on anything other than worry about Tarin for more than about 30 seconds. So, most of the time since they had gotten back to the hotel, Lee had spent pacing back and forth across the room, her cup of coffee in her hand. She did keep trying to go back and help Jacen with the shreds, but she couldn't stay focused, not this time.

And then Jacen slammed his fist against the desk, and Lee jumped, almost sending her third cup of coffee flying across the room. "What the hell, Jacen!" Lee exclaimed, taking a shaky breath before walking back over to where he was sitting at the desk.

He'd turned, and was rubbing his eyes. "So, what's the damn plan?" She asked. "Because there's no way I'm staying here all night while they've got Tarin."

Jacen's sudden burst of anger had apparently surprised Lee almost as much as it did himself. Normally he wasn't one to let emotion gain control but in this situation he was finding himself at a loss. How in the world was he supposed to find both Tarin and Lori and save them from these sickos that were actually targeting Jacen and those like him?

"I don't know." Jacen gritted out, glancing back at the paper with obvious frustration before standing to his feet and beginning to pace back and forth. Sure, he had been the one to ask Tarin and Lee to help but that didn't mean he was perfect. He had never expected Tarin to offer himself up in trade like he'd done. He'd never expected Pulse to catch on to Lee so quickly. Hell, he'd never expected Lori to come down to Florida and start stirring up trouble.

"I can't find a single clue on where to start! There are no addresses, no phone numbers, no contact information of any kind! I'll I'm seeing are more lists of names and some sort of science medical reports. I flunked out of science for crying out loud!" Jacen ranted as he pivoted on his heel and strode back across the bedroom. At the moment the only thing comforting about this situation was the Glock that pressed against the small of his back and the UMP .45 that currently resided in a closed but unlocked case right near the bed. He wanted action, no, he needed action. He couldn't take being cooped up in this hotel room any more! "Where the hell do you want me to start Lee? Shall we just pick a section of town and start driving around? Maybe we can find a scientist that won't report us to the cops and get him to translate some of this gobbly gook, or better yet why don't you stand outside and pray that one of Tarin's spirits shows up!"

It was completely out of line but Jacen had to vent some of his emotion somewhere and unfortunately Lee was the closest person. It didn't matter that they were both hurting all that mattered was that he needed some sort of relief before he went completely out of his mind!

Jacen didn't know, and now he was pacing back and forth in the room, too. Then he was ranting, yelling. Lee set down her coffee cup and ran her hands through her hair.

It was weird, as Jacen got to the far side of the room, Lee was able to feel a bit of siphoning, from someone a room or two down she figured. It was weak, at a distance, but Lee could suddenly feel it. And then it was gone when Jacen turned and started back toward her in his pacing.

"I don't know, Jacen!" Lee shouted back at the man. "We've got to do something, though. "You're the cop, don't they teach you to do this stuff? There's got to be something we can do!"

Letting out a deep breath, Lee squeezed her eyes closed as she ran her hands through her hair again. There had to be something they could do, something they could figure out, to help Tarin.

Then it clicked in what Jacen had said about a scientist. "Damn it," Lee grumbled, letting her hands drop to her sides. "My brother. We can try calling my brother."

That was going to take quite a bit of fast talking. Convincing Robert to help her with this, because she needed the information fast because those men had Tarin. Yeah, definitely not an easy phone call she was going to be making there. Plus the fact that she was probably going to end up waking her brother up with the phone call.

"Hey!"

Lee jumped and spun, seeing a woman standing there in the room with them.

A woman who disappeared suddenly just after Lee had turned, and she turned back to see that Jacen was still pacing, moving toward her. "Back off, Jacen!" Lee yelled at the man, then moved a couple steps away from him as well. Then she turned back to the empty area of the room.

A moment later, the spirit popped into view. It was so strange. Lee didn't actually see the spirits very often at all, and so to now be seeing one when Tarin wasn't there...

"Where is he?" Lee asked, her voice almost sounding panicked. "Is he ok?"

Lee saw the spirit nod. She actually looked tired, she thought. Or maybe that was just because she was a spirit. Lee never really did take all that good a look at spirits on most occasions.

"He's ok."

"Oh thank god," Lee murmured as she sank down onto the edge of the bed. Then she looked back up at the spirit. "Where is he?"

"In a van. You're supposed to come with me."

Lee stood up almost immediately, but then turned to look at Jacen with a worried expression on her face "How are we going to do this?" She asked him. Just the last minute or so proved that it wouldn't really work for them to be in the car together and still be able to get the spirit to help them find Tarin.

A voice had come out of nowhere and before Jacen could slow down or react in any way Lee was already yelling at him to back off. Quickly backing into the far corner of the room, Jacen's eyes widened as the spirit once again came into view. Living in New York he had seen his fair share of freaky things but seeing a a woman suddenly pop into view without any preamble was pretty freaky. Especially when he realized that this had to be one of the spirits that Tarin talked about.

"Ah, hell." Jacen muttered, as he watched the two women converse. Could this really get any stranger? On one side was the married woman concerned about her husband and on the other side was the dead woman that the married woman's husband could temporarily solidify into the natural realm.

Suddenly the conversation was over and Lee was looking over at Jacen with obvious concern on her face. Lee's was the million dollar question and now Jacen's mind kicked into high gear. Vaulting the bed so that he stayed away from the two of them as best he could, Jacen walked over to the window and pulled back the blinds enough for him to peak out. A couple of his friends in the Rangers had taught him a few less than legal tricks that might come in handy in this particular situation. It wasn't something he liked doing but for a worthy cause he was willing to try and remember certain skills.

"Vette, Cavalier, Caddy, Oldsmobile, Motorcycle. Perfect." Jacen muttered, ticking off the vehicle he could see until his eyes finally settled on what he'd been looking for. Fishing the keys out of his pocket he turned and tossed them over to Lee. "You drive the car. I'll follow behind."

It was a safe plan but there was something else that Jacen needed if it came down to it. Just the Glock wasn't going to be enough in this situation and thankfully his UMP had a great shoulder strap that would take only a few seconds to attach. Moving quickly, Jacen completed the task and then slung the weapon over his body before pulling on a light wind breaker to at least somewhat hide what he was now wielding.

"Whenever you and your guide are ready Lee."

Things were beginning to get a lot more comfortable for Jacen as he could now see action looming on the horizon. He didn't know exactly how many he would be facing but at least he knew he was trained and ready for whatever come. If he died, then he died, but he would make damn sure that a lot went with him!

Jacen didn't answer her right away about how they were going to make this work. Instead, he hopped over the bed and over to the window. Lee realized as he was standing there looking out, that he'd done that to stay far enough away from her to not effect her with his powers.

But what the hell was he doing? How was looking out the window like that going to help them, going to help them come up with a plan?

Apparently, though, it did help Jacen, and a moment later he was turning to her, pulling the keys out of his pocket. And tossing them to her!

What the hell? Lee managed to catch the keys, but then simply stared at them in confusion. Until Jacen told her to drive the car. At that point, Lee's eyes shot up to look at the man across the room from her.

"What?" She asked, still holding the keys, but not really knowing what to do with them. "You want me to drive?" Sure, Tarin had started trying to teach her how to drive while they had been in Texas, but they hadn't done a whole lot. They're little trip up to Vegas so they could get married kind of cut into the time they had left that he could teach her. Plus, she hadn't exactly driven on an actual road yet. Ever.

"I don't know how to drive, Jacen."

With those simple words all of Jacen's carefully laid plans for thrown completely out of whack. "well, damn." He muttered as he walked back over to the window, not really seeing what he was staring at for several minutes. Here it was, the opportunity to rescue Tarin and Lori had finall come, but now they found themselves trapped because of Jacen's stupid ability. With him close by they couldn't watch the spirit so she couldn't direct him on where to go but since Lee couldn't drive there was no way for them to be separated.

Mentally he was cussing up a storm even as he began to admit defeat. Lori and Tarin would both be dead long before they could get to them. They had no clues except for a spirit that couldn't exist near Jacen and unless she'd paid attention to street signs and could tell them how to get there before they left, there was really no other option.

But something was nagging at the back of his mind and as Jacen's eyes refocused, noting what was in the parking lot, his subconscious finally got threw. It was a crazy idea, probably the craziest he'd ever come up with but...

"There's an RV out there we can borrow. I can drive and, as much as I hate to say it, you two ladies can be my back seat drivers. Way on back, back seat drivers." Jacen said somewhat triumphantly as he spun back around to face Lee and her ghostly aquaintance, "Any problems with that idea?"

After saying damn, Lee saw Jacen walk back toward the window. She really needed to learn how to drive, even if there really wasn't much call to drive living in New York. At least knowing how would be useful.

But this wasn't going well. They had the ghost who could take them to where Tarin was, who could lead them there, but short of walking, they didn't really have a way to get there and still be able to see the ghost.

Damn it! If Tarin got hurt simply because she couldn't drive...

Lee pushed that thought out of her head. They would come up with something. They had to. It would all work out.

Suddenly, Jacen turned to face her again. Turned and stated that there was an RV in the parking lot that he could 'borrow'. Lee frowned. Why did the only ways they could come up with going to rescue Tarin involve stealing a vehicle?

And why did that matter? By the time Lee had been held by her throat in the bar, she'd been ready to at least break Pulse's arm, if not kill him, if not for Jacen's powers making her useless in there. So really, what was a bit of theft compared to being ready to murder?

"No, I guess not," Lee said with a bit of a sigh, turning toward the door. "Let's get going, then."

Reaching the door, Lee started through, ready to hurry down to the parking lot. She could only hope that Jacen would be quick with 'borrowing' the RV.

Jacen paused, waiting to be sure that Lee was well clear of the room before he followed her out. Making sure to stay clear of her he walked quickly and then broke into a jog in order to keep up with the much more energetic woman. Apparently the energy from earlier at the club was still stored up, which made sense since she'd spent every moment since then around him and his negation aura.

It was amazing, but by some miracle the RV was unlocked. Whether it was by carelessness or a misplaced trust in mankind, Jacen didn't care. What mattered was that he and Lee had open access to the vehicle. Climbing into the cab, Jacen paused for a moment in the seat. He had been planning on attempting a hotwire but with people this trusting was it possible there might be another option available?

"Are you and your friend comfortable back there?" Jacen called as he ran his hands under the seat and then up into the drivers sunvisor. Everything was empty, but when he reached over to the passenger side his face lit up in a grim smile.

"Jackpot." He muttered as he hands pulled out what was obviously an ignition key. More than likely this was some retiree's vehicle and while Jacen did feel bad for taking it, he also understood it was necessary. "We're requisitioning it... I'm not gonna keep it. It'll be returned." He thought to himself as he placed the key in the ignition and started the vehicle. Obviously this was a well kept RV because as soon as he turned the ignition the engine fired right up.

"Where to?" He called, glancing over his shoulder at Lee and the ghostly apparition, "And how fast do I need to push this thing?"

It didn't take long at all to make it out to the RV Jacen had spotted. He was behind her, and as she came up to the vehicle, Lee turned to look back at him; he was jogging. Had she really walked that fast? She hadn't realized it, but then again, she did have a fair bit of energy from the club, and was rather impatient to find Tarin.

So Lee waited, figuring that they'd need to break in to the vehicle, and that Jacen might have a less destructive means of doing that than her. Cause really, who would leave their RV unlocked?

As Jacen got into the driver's seat, Lee climbed into the back of the RV, followed by the spirit. While Jacen was doing whatever it was he'd need to do to start the RV, Lee looked around the back, trying to find a good place to sit that would definitely be far enough away from the man.

Then Lee heard Jacen's question about where they needed to go, and she turned her eyes toward the spirit. "South. Then turn right after two blocks."

Lee nodded, then turned her eyes to the front where Jacen was sitting. "Did you get that?" She asked, ready to repeat the directions if he needed it,

(Continued In Riding Dirty)