(This is a continuation from Stage 2 After Lee’s post)

Sara and the little boy were jut turning around to make their way on, when the new sent made it’s way into Sara’s nostrils. She paused at the end of one of the many beds in the barracks, blinking. She was new. She wasn’t a face Sara had seen enough to recognize as wither guard or inmate, and her natural instincts told her to slow down for a moment. To assess the situation.

"It's finally started out there?"[ b]

“No. According to James, they’re setting off fire works in honor of us.” Sara replied with the tilt of her head. It wasn’t complete sarcasm. The Guard James had told her and Neena that before he was knocked out. “Yeah, it’s started.”

"Could you let go for just one second?"

Sara nodded and while the child hadn’t liked letting go, with little coaxing, he settered for putting his little digits around the closest bed post. Though Sara was unsure of the reason until….

"I'm very sorry if I'm wrong about this."

Two instincts kicked in as the lady came closer, touching Sara. The feline was still unsure. Untrusting of the newer face. So one side told her to knock the ladies hand away, the other told her to wait and see. At the moment the first seemed more reliable but the second had it’s strengths as well, so that’s what Sara did. Wait and see. The thoughts were over as quick as the contact, only leaving confusion.

“Huhhh?” Sara brought her hand where she’d been just practically brushed up to eye level for closer inspection.

"We're good to go, And yes, you are getting out of here tonight."

Apparently Sara was with a strange lady. Someone who could only tell if the resistance was really hear, not by the fact that there were big booms going off outside, but by brushing her hand? How did that work?

“You have strange reasoning skills.” Sara told Lee, tilting her head the other way. One furry Eye brow raised above the other.

“Ok, come on.” She motioned for the kid to take her hand again, and she prepared to move out of the barracks as well. “Do you know where anyone else might be?

Neither the boy, nor the woman she was about to touch, had seemed too eager about the letting go and Lee touching her. Not that she really blamed the woman; word about what happened when she touched people had probably spread fairly widely by this point, and Lee herself had been rather strict about not touching anyone when she had had any say in the matter.

But when Lee had touched her, resulting in no shock, and then said with a grin that they were good to go, the woman looked confused. Ok, maybe she hadn't known about Lee's powers, or at least the fact that the collar shocked her every time she touched someone. Oh well, Lee had found out what she needed to know; Rupert had done his job and the collars were off.

“You have strange reasoning skills.”

At that, Lee simply laughed. Gone was the doom and gloom that Neena had tried to banish when Lee had first arrived. She might still die here in the camps, but at least it would happen with full use of her powers, not like some caged animal, unable to do anything.

"Sorry, maybe I should have introduced myself before risking shocking you," Lee said, a touch of laughter still in her voice. "Name's Lee. And I just needed to check something there before I run out there. It's nice to know what you're working with, after all."

Then the woman asked if Lee knew where anyone else might be. Frowning slightly, Lee searched with her powers, trying to see if she could feel any energy near her other than the two people in front of her. It was hard, though. Lee hadn't exactly been very good at figuring it out before she had been captured, and was best in either the shop or the apartment because she knew those places so well. Still, it felt incredible to simply be able to use her powers, however slightly, without pain.

"Uh, not really," Lee admitted when asked if she knew where others were. "I've been in here for hours and haven't really seen anyone."

Sara rocked back on her heals slightly wither tail flicking for better balance. She was being laughed at by someone who used touching for reasoning rather than what she could hear with her ears. That brought Sara’s feline pride down a peg.(Though feline pride going down a peg wasn’t a big loss.) Silly odd reasoning people.

"Sorry, maybe I should have introduced myself before risking shocking you,"

It would have been nice, Sara thought, though the fraise about shocking explained it. Ok. So the ladies powers had to do with touch… Nifty.

"Name's Lee. And I just needed to check something there before I run out there. It's nice to know what you're working with, after all."

Sara nodded, as she started to let her guard down a bit. She still monitored Lee with her hearing, checking for signs of changes like increased heart beats and what not, but she began leading the way. “Completely agree there.” Sara poked the sack she had sewn into a back pack, over her shoulder. “If nothing else, I like to be prepared, and let me say I’ve been preparing for this from the beginning of the camps.”

She was starting to lead the way outside the barracks now. “My name is Sara by the way.” Sara told the little boy and Lee.

"Uh, not really, I've been in here for hours and haven't really seen anyone."

"Well I'm not sensing anyone else either." She said looking around.

Just inside the door she scooped the boy up with one arm, and pushed the door open a crack, to see what was happening outside, A second later it was open and she was trying to lead the way around the corner of the building, into a narrow alley way. Hoping to stay out of sight of, well, of anyone she might not want to have see them.

Lee nodded as she heard the woman say that she liked to be prepared, and from the length of time she said she had been preparing, Lee could only hope that she was. "Preparedness is great," Lee said softly as she followed Sara toward the door out of the barracks, unable to keep the smile off her face. "But there's nothing like knowing that you can use your powers again."

Out the door and around the corner Lee followed Sara and the boy she was following. Lee hadn't been lying when she told Rupert that she hated what her powers did to people, she really truly did not like it, but the fact was there were times when it was exceptionally necessary. Yes, it was always necessary to some degree since she hadn't seemed to be able to produce her own energy since the age of 14, but tonight it was necessary that she had more than normal energy.

So as she slowly walked along, Lee focused her siphoning, trying to stretch it to the limit to catch as many people around her as possible as well as to speed up the flow. But even with speeding things up, it wasn't as if she were taking that much from anyone since she wasn't touching anyone. Lee could only hope that she'd have managed to get enough energy to make a difference by the time she needed it.

"Where do you think we should look?" Lee asked Sara. "I don't really know the camp too well, haven't been here that long."

(OOC: Hope you don't mind me dropping in)

IC: Kami was quickly realising that this rescue was turning into chaos. There was no order, but there was progress, as he saw several mutants pass him and climb into the APCs. Deciding to get a better look Kami launched himself skyward to see who might need his help. He spotted a pair of woman and a small boy trying to sneak around towards the exit. Moving towards them was a trio of guards, all armed with rifles.

Dropping down towards them Kami unleashed a punishing volley of energy blasts, driving the guards back and around the corner, keeping them pinned down. Landing in front of the women Kami kept firing as he said, "I'm with the resistance. I'll lead the three of you out, just stick with me."

Continuing to fire with one hand Kami charged a large energy blast with the other. Firing it at the wall opposite he made a rough and ready entrance into the building. "Go on," he said, nodding towards the hole, "move through. I'll cover you." He kept firing on the guards, keeping them pinned down.

(OOC: Lee, Kami has an enromous reserve of energy thanks to his mutation, so feel free to take as much as you'd like.)

OOC - Hope you guys don't mind....if you do, just have Lee toss my arse out.

Carnage didn't describe it, Tarin thought numbly as he picked his way through the growing body count on the ground of the camp...it was easier to think about it when Tarin picture Lee in the camp with one of those collars around her neck, but then again he'd just seen what appeared to be about a 10 year old girl decapitate a guard and smile about it. Whose side was who on anymore?

His powers had proved to be slightly helpful in that the spirits that were absolutely flocking around this camp seemed inclined to help him out, some of which strong enough in their otherworldly rage to keep people out of his way as he searched for Lee. Though he'd killed only one guard in complete and utter self defense, Tarin was splattered with all manner of filth and blood and wondered if Lee would even recognize him if...Tarin swallowed at the terror and bile that rose in his throat when he considered the fact that he might find her as one of the lingering spirits instead of the living breathing love of his life....when he found her...alive.

Surging around a corner at a full run, Tarin ran smack into another guard and took a fist to the side of the head before he even knew what hit him. At first he thought he'd handled the blow well, but realized he was wrong when he turned to run and found himself sprawled on the ground. The situation didn't improve itself either when the guard followed up with a kick to the ribs.

It turned out breathing was difficult like that and Tarin called out again to the spiritual presences in the area, but he was so tired...they tried to help, whipping furious winds around the guard, pelting him with debris, but he didn't seem to notice as he wrapped a beefy hand around Tarin's neck and hauled him up to his knees. Where was the little decapitation psycho queen when you needed her?

Stars were starting to form behind his eyes as the guard squeezed and Tarin wondered if the last thing he was going to see on this side of the light was a monster of a guard choking the life out of him. It definitely seemed like a possibility, his energy was fading fast and the spirits still didn't seem to be having much of an effect, placing all his eggs in one basket, Tarin concentrated on one spirit in particular....someone he'd never met and pushed as much of himself as he had left into asking that spirit for help.

Abruptly, the pressure on his throat stopped, and Tarin wondered for a moment if he'd died, then he hit the ground, his eyes snapped open, and he realized that wasn't the case. The guard was nowhere to be seen, however, and as he lay gasping on the ground staring up at the sky, he hoped he'd met a similiar end as the guard who'd crossed his path earlier in the night.

That had been close, and as Tarin turned, groaning at the pain in his ribs and head, he braced a hand on the ground and started to push himself up, a blast of some sort of energy soared over his head, knocking him up and onto his arse and when Tarin turned his head in the direction of the blast he saw her...

"LEE!" Tarin screamed, surging to his feet and not caring when he fell twice in his attempt to get to her faster, "LEE!" he yelled again, not caring in the very least that his theatrics were probably drawing more attention than would be wise. It really was her, and Tarin could tell that she was alive by the corporeal nature of her body as he ran up to her. He'd found her, he was alive and he'd found her, and though he'd already done a lot of it, he yelled her name again.

Hoping she'd do something as animated as slap him, like she had the last time he'd touched her, Tarin didn't hesitate before launching himself at her, not caring in the least that they were in the middle of a battlefield.

((OOC: Thanks for the offer, Kami. Much appreciated. But since Lee doesn't know that in character, she won't willingly take more from Kami than she already is since as far as she knows, he'd need all the energy he has to use himself. I'm sure we can figure something out, though, especially now that Tarin's around. *rolls eyes and grins*))

IC:

Lee jumped, startled, when a few things seemed to happen all at once. The first was seeing three guards turning around the upcoming corner. That was certainly not a good thing, not three of them at once when she didn't have the energy yet, and definitely not considering the fact that they each had a rifle. The second thing that happened as soon as she noticed that first, and it seemed at the same time the guards had noticed her, Sara, and the boy, a bald man in...robes? dropped down in front of them and started shooting glowing balls of something at the guards. That definitely seemed to keep the guards' attentions, and Lee briefly turned toward Sara.

"Where now?" she asked, since the way they had been going was currently blocked.

And in comes thing number three, which happened just moments after Lee was able to voice her question. The man in front of her shot one of those glowy ball things at a nearby wall, blowing a hole in it, and told her and Sara to hurry through.

Well, Lee thought, why not? Someone from the resistance, who were there to help all the camp inmates break out, had shown up to save their asses, and had just given them an escape route. "Come on, let's go," Lee said to Sara, giving the boy the other woman was still carrying as encouraging a smile as she was able to.

It was then that Lee heard the fourth, and certainly most startling thing. She froze, anger flashing in her eyes, and in that split second, Lee couldn't help but be grateful that her collar was shut off, otherwise she'd have likely been on the ground in pain thanks to the anger coursing through her at that moment.

What the hell is he doing here? Lee thought to herself as she heard Tarin yelling her name again. Was it out of some strange sense of guilt because she had been caught right after she had broken up with him, so felt he needed to get her out to at least make that part right?

"Get the kid out," Lee told Sara. "I'll follow in a minute."

It was only then that Lee turned toward where Tarin's voice had been calling to her from. "Get the hell out of here before you end up being killed too," Lee snarled as Tarin approached her. She may be more angry at him than she had ever been at anything in her entire life, but Lee didn't want him dead. She still loved the man, which is why it was so painful.

Before she could say more, almost before she could notice and register the gore covering him, Tarin reached her and started wrapping his arms around her. Before he was able to, as soon as she had felt the first, briefest of touches, Lee flinched away. Her time in the camps, relatively short as it had been, had conditioned Lee to avoid any contact when possible so as to avoid the pain from the collar. So even though the collar was no longer active, her body still reacted to the touch, shying away from it.

(The more the merrier, and if I need to edit any of these attempts to add some small bit of comedy to our scene, PM me. I will.)

Ok,… So… Trying to get away from a major exploding battle on one side of a building by walking through a narrow alley way wasn’t the smartest things. At least not when there are men with guns and shooting down a straight narrow section is easier than shooting fish in a barrel, unless you happen to be a really, really bad shot. So sue Sara. You forget concerns, for others, when you body can heal from bullets and the time comes when crap hits the fan.

Sara twisted around so that her body was sideways making a smaller target, with the boy held to her other side. Her body making a feline shield, when the fourth person to join their little escape party showed up.

"Where now?"

Before Sara could take a breath to answer the answer came.

"Go on, move through. I'll cover you."

“Thanks.” Sara breathed as she leaned forward and moved into the hole just as the part of brick behind her should seemed to erupt from the wall. A quick glance around told her the room was empty for the moment, other than her and the child. He was set down for a minute, eyes still wide at what had jut happened, what was still happening, and the blanket that was still around his shoulders shook from his trembling.

Sara leaned back out the hole half way as a fifth person joined their part.

"LEE!"

"LEE!"

"LEE!"

Well if no one knew that there was a lady named Lee in that camps before, they certainly did now. Sara blinked at this new comer before she was given what felt too much like an order.

"Get the kid out, I'll follow in a minute."

What did it look like she had been trying to do?... And why did these things always have to take one minute in the middle of chaos?

"Get the hell out of here before you end up being killed too,"

Sara’s eyes rolled. With a single swift move she pushed herself back into the narrow space between the buildings. Her hand reached behind her back and into that sack, where she pulled out one of the many pepper bombs her and Neena had made after there was a spill in the laundry room with a canister Neena had taken to rub into the guard uniforms. Two days later a nasty, mysterious rash was plaguing the guards in the camps and her and Neena had learned exactly how irritating the spices could be. Timing her throw with the blasts, of energy, that were coming from the robed mutant, the bundle of spice practically exploded two inches from the riffles of the middle men’s gun. (That Sara could make out moving from where they were pinned down.) Triggered to fall apart by any harsh impact. In this case it was the ball of energy.

It’s hard to aim a gun when your eyes are burning.

“How about you two great eachother in what ever way your going to while we’re moving.” Sara said as she moved to shove Lee and Tarin, by the sleeves on their shoulders, in the hole. “No offence, but one minute? This sounds too much like it could take longer.”

(OOC: I was guessing Lee could roughly sense how much energy someone had, despite having no reason to believe that . I'm sure we'll figure something out)

IC: Kami rolled his eyes as the man threw himself at Lee. Now was not the time for a reunion, now was the time to get the hell out of here. He spotted the cat woman throw something towards the guards. When one of his energy blasts hit it it exploded and covered a pair of guards in powder of some kind. A quick sniff revealed it to be spice.

Kami turned and nodded his appreciation to the woman before turning back to see his blasts being stopped by something invisible. "Stalker!" he cried in warning to the others. In each hand he carged up a large ball of energy. Bringing his hands up and together he fused the balls and blasted the energy down the alley. It connected solidly with the stealthed Stalker, knocking it back down the alley.

"We don't have time for this," Kami said, shoving the pair through the hole in the wall, "We have to go now, that blast wont slow it for long. Move." Turning to the cat woman he asked, "How good are your ears? Think you can give me a rough location of the thing when it catches up with us. If I know where to shoot I should be able to keep it off us."

She wasn't happy to see him, Tarin had risked life and limb, seen every horror imaginable and some not even imaginable, and all Lee could do was snarl at him. So much for her having had time to think the situation over and come to the conclusion that was supported by reality. The snarl on her face almost made Tarin burst into tears like a six year old little girl.

When he tried to wrap his arms around her, almost as much for him as for her, she shrunk away, avoiding him like he was some kind of diseased enemy. Tarin was sure the hurt showed on his face, "I came for you..." he said brokenly...hands still held out towards her.

It wasn't until an explosion showered him with debris that Tarin remembered that they were in mortal danger, that he was caked in blood and dirt, and that there was blood running down the side of his face. It really didn't matter because all Lee could do was snarl at him and and act like he was as useless as he felt.

Lee sent the other woman and the young boy away and the lady, who strangely enough looked like a cat, started tossing what appeared to be grenades at something invisible that the warrior monk who had shot the energy balls called a stalker. Oh great, one of those psycho robots that liked to kill people. That was great. Perfect in fact.

The monk was telling them that they needed to go...now...saying that he needed to know when the thing caught up to them so that he could fight it. Tarin gestured to Lee, "Get going then..." he said, face emotionless, all business as he followed them through the hole.


"I'm here with the resistance too." Tarin said, turning away from Lee once they were through the hole and the monk had finished speaking. If she didn't think she wanted or needed him there, then so be it. "I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve as far as helping out is concerned...even a plan "B" if the need would arise...I'm tired but I should still be useful in a fight." Tarin hadn't ever actually tried to induce a merge, but he knew that at least in the past he'd been all but invincible once it had happened. It could definitely be helpful in this situation if the dire need arose. His head hurt, his ribs pulled and stung with every breath, but that was nothing, absolutely nothing, to the lead weight that had settled in his chest, he wasn't ready to give up on that count either, but for now he had to simply worry about getting himself, and Lee, out alive, whether she wanted his help or not.

If Lee hadn't been so distracted, she would have noticed that Sara hadn't looked too impressed when she said to get the kid out. But Tarin's face, the look he gave her as she flinched away from his touch, felt like a knife in her stomach. And here she had thought that the collar had hurt. But why was that look so hard to see, why was Tarin looking at her like this?

"Stalker!"

Lee's eyes widened in shock and fear as they looked past Tarin to where the bald man was still shooting those glowing balls. And sure enough, some of those balls were stopping in mid air.

Lee flinched again when suddenly the man was there, pushing her through the hole in the wall. At least he hadn't been grabbing her, simply a push, but the flinch and shying away was still there.

At this point, Tarin seemed to have changed. His voice was actually monotone when he told her to get going, and a quick glance showed her that his face had gone blank too. "Oh, don't be stupid," Lee muttered, reaching her hand out to grab Tarin's wrist, only hesitating for a split second before closing her grip. Even though she knew Rupert had turned the collars off, this was still only the second voluntary touch she had had since she had been captured.

Lee was already through the hole, pulling Tarin along behind her, before she realized that she should probably tone down on how much she was siphoning since she was actually touching someone, which she did immediately.

Lee didn't let go of Tarin's wrist as she continued further into the building. Probably a good idea since he had started talking about how much help he thought he might be able to be in a fight. How many times had he told her that he wasn't a fighter, yet here he was planning on doing just that.

"Which way should we go?" Lee asked, looking back at the man guarding their rear after making sure the way ahead was clear. He should know where the escape from the camp was happening from.

Then Lee clicked in to the other part of what Tarin had said and her hand tightened on his wrist. He wasn't a fighter, so using spirits to 'fight' would probably be his first plan if it actually got to that point. But even that was fraught with difficulties, Lee knew. So how the hell could Tarin have a plan B? There was really only one other thing he could do. "You're not going to do any plan B," she questioned in a nervous whisper, not looking back at Tarin.

The movement, as Sara helped guided Lee and Tarin through the hole, sent her pulse hammering in her head. There wasn’t much to see, since the thing was cloaked, but when it moved, it was like looking through water and the displacement of light. Sara’s vision was highly reactive to subtle movements. Even if this was only a ripple. (No one has corrected me on this yet.) Then there was a slight odor, like the difference in smelling a clock radio after you plug it in.

"Stalker!"

“I really hate those things.” Sara had gotten back to the kid, who had reached out to grab a hold of her tail and hand.

"Which way should we go?"

Sara peeked out the door on the other side of the room. To answer Lee’s question about where to go next she had to check the hall. “We follow this hall and turn left, into, the next room. If you feel up to blasting through another wall, again, we should be back outside, headed, in the right direction.”

It didn’t take a genius to see the way Tarin and Lee reacted to each other. To get the idea of what they were about. Sara bit her lower lip, thinking of Ayesac. He said he’d still be here with everything was happening and something inside her became jealous of the other two love birds. That they were at least side by side now in the middle of everything.

"How good are your ears? Think you can give me a rough location of the thing when it catches up with us. If I know where to shoot I should be able to keep it off us."

“Yeah.” That is if here ears were ringing from the rest of what was going on outside. Her ears had been pinned against the back of her head and now flipped forward for better focus. Though this let everything else in as well.

She spun around to see/hear as the stalker was at the mouth of the hole. “It’s at the hole-, the picture frame-, the rug corner.” The problem was the robot was faster than what Sara could shout out locations. “Awe screw it!” Sara scooped up a fist full of debris and chucked it at the thing, where the bits of wood and what ever else Sara happened to pick up seemed to stop in mid air.

"It's at the hole-" Kami fired a blast, but it just went straight through the hole. He'd missed. "The picture frame-" Another blast and the picture was destroyed. "The rug corner-" The rug got blasted, but no contact with the Stalker. It was just to fast for the cat woman's instructions to give him a shot.

Then he saw the debris stop mid air. Using one hand to fire a volley of small blasts he gathered energy in the other. "Go!" he urged the others, backing up as he fired, but keeping himself between them and the Stalker. Once the energy ball was about two foot in diameter, and the Stalker almost upon him, Kami fired.

The blast seemed to catch the Stalker square in the chest, knocking it back into the opposite wall. Rather than waste time Kami began to gather more energy and asked, "Can anyone find anything to permenantly mark this thing?" The last blast dislodged most of the debris, and soon enough he'd lose track of it again.

OOC - Okay guys, here's the deal. Tarin has a secondary power called 'merging' it's only happened a few times and he's never been able to bring it on voluntarily. That's about to happen here, Tarin and Lee are going to merge. Once that happens the stalker shouldn't be much of a problem, but as Tarin's going to tell you in a minute you guys are going to want to get out of the area asap. If anyone minds, let us know.

Lee didn't want him there, but she sure as hell was of a mind to boss him around. First she was dragging him through the hole, telling him not to be stupid, then not dropping his wrist as they moved. Now she was telling him that there would be no "Plan B". Tarin shot Lee a look, "I think I know well enough what I'm doing Lee. You're getting out of here, no matter what it takes. I could care less anymore whether you want to acknowledge the truth or not."

Tarin had always had a stubborn streak, and that was partially why he was here at this point, living and breathing, he knew that he needed to get to Lee, had to find her. He'd found her now and all that remained was to get her out safe and sound, no matter the cost.

The lion girl knew exactly where they needed to go and Tarin shrugged his shoulders helplessly at the suggestion that they needed someone to blast through another wall, "I'm no good for that. Brute strength is not my strong point...well at the moment at least."

There was more talk about the stalker and Tarin realized with a bit of cold acceptance that "Plan B" was exactly what needed to happen. "I can...." Tarin said, stepping forward as the lion lady threw debris at the rapidly approaching stalker. "Just hold it up as long as you can..." he said to the monk, then he looked at Lee who was holding onto his wrist. If there was any other choice he'd never ask her for this, especially considering what was going on between them...none of them stood a chance against the stalker though, it was the only way.

Forcing eye contact with Lee, Tarin looked at her for a moment, "I need you to trust me Lee...I know that's going to be hard for you...and you know I'd never ask you for this...but....." Tarin bit off his words, Lee would know what he was talking about, and there wasn't much time.

Tarin had never done this voluntarily and he needed a moment to sort things out. Shaking Lee's hand off of his arm he looked at her and said, "If you'll do this, take my hand when I tell you."

Tarin looked around at the others, "When this happens...and you'll know when it happens...get the hell out as fast as you can...and whatever you do don't touch me on your way out."

Next, Tarin concentrated harder than he'd concentrated on anything in his whole life. Exhaustion pounded through his veins and his head swum with the pain in various parts of his body. Instead of projecting his powers outward, searching for spirits, he focused it inward, it was the only thing he could think of that would possibly produce the desired effect.

Slowly the familiar and usually dreaded feeling began to surface, "It's starting!" he shouted towards the monk and the others, "GO!" Next, Tarin turned to Lee as his body started to pulse with the energy, "Now or never...." he said as the world practically dropped from beneath his feet.

Lee was following Sara's directions, dragging Tarin with her, on where to go through the building, but much much too soon, she was directing the other man as to where the stalker was, following her. Lee couldn't help it, her eyes were wide, filled with fear. She didn't even bother looking back at Tarin as he tried to point out to her that he knew what he was doing. Yeah, of course she did, she thought as they moved. That's why he had chosen to walk into hell here when he hadn't had to.

But then the man keeping the stalker off them asked if anyone had or could find something that would work better against the robot. Cause she'd be running like this if she really had something.

Tarin, however, thought it was a good idea to open his mouth again. As she heard his words, Lee's hand tightened on his wrist again. "No, Tarin," she told him, her fear building at the thought of a merge in addition to the stalker chasing them.

Through the contact, her hand gripping his wrist, Tarin pulled her around to look at him. She knew he had to have seen the fear in her eyes, she didn't think it would be possible for her to hide it at this point, but he was looking at her more seriously than she had ever seen him look. "There's got to be another way," Lee said, almost begged Tarin, but even she could see that it was probably their only option. The man was barely able to hold the stalker back, never mind actually stop it. Lee knew that neither she nor Tarin would really be able to do anything to it with their normal powers, and if Sara had been able to, she would have already.

At least if she was going to die, she'd be trying to live. That had to count for something, right?

Tarin shook his arm, and Lee released his wrist as she gave him a reluctant nod. What choice did they have.

As Tarin seemed to be concentrating, Lee turned to look at Sara and the boy gripping her hand. "He means it," she told them. "Actually, you might want to go now. Get a bit of a head start. It's not exactly going to be safe."

Before Lee was expecting, very long before she was ready, Tarin was telling everyone else to leave, then looking at her with solid white eyes, indicating that he was using his powers, and telling her that it was now or never. She wasn't ready, she didn't want to do this, she'd never even liked the idea of merging, even before that first time when the spirit that had merged with Tarin had tried to kill her.

But what choice did she have?

Taking a shaky breath, Lee reached her hand out and took Tarin's.