"Your logic is flawed." When red's face crinkled up in confusion Lori clarified. "You suck and you're wrong. This is a shield that won't ever run out." Of course, she didn't know that for sure. This was all a very good experiment of the exact parameters of Jacen's power. It seemed active manifestations were cancelled, though it wasn't perfect. There was still carry over of heat. She didn't know that he had been electrocuted, the brawl at the hole in the wall had been a bit to chaotic for her to take much data way.

Lori smirked to Jacen. Shouldn't he know the answer to that already? "Bigger." She flexed her hands, the numb one feeling rather club-like and sluggish. It ought to still work even against this next challenge.

The mutants Jacen was referring to were tweedle dee and tweedle dumb conjoined at the hip, one was almost animalistic in how huge he was. The other was ever huger and even more feral. It seemed like this posse's secret weapon. A last resort if they didn't mind their victims torn up too much. Honestly, their fighting partners were already chosen for them: bigger and meaner was on Lori's side and since Lori and Jacen were just as conjoined (though at the ankle rather than at the hip), it was good that she didn't mind.

Lori ducked under a wide swipe. Being joined at the ankle gave them a bit more maneuverability than the big guys with claws, but not much. Another quill wizzed somewhere past Jacen's leg and yet another stuck into one of the creature's shoulders. He growled, panting heavily. Apparently some of whatever his mutation was made his existence easier. Inside of Jacen's field the conjoined mutants were pitifully slow. Muscled and huge, yes.

They retained their claws and one tail, but really it was like a good round with a punching bag at the gym. One, two, duck, kidney shot. Lori attempted to jerk away, but get caught on Jacen's ankle. It was so hard to remember that part when big and ugly was dripping drool on her shoulder. For the most part, though, Lori was able to time her steps with Jacen. Damn, they would make good dancing partners.

The heat erupted around them again. How reckless was that! Their teammate(s) were just hardly in Jacen's field.

The twins that charged Lori and Jacen were absolutely feral. As they swung powerful arms with wicked looking claws their roars filled the air, echoing off nearby buildings. They were probably the deadliest in the group just because they didn't care about pain or what damage they might inflict on the prey. All they cared about was killing.

Jacen ducked underneath one of the swipes, as he did his best to try and maintain his own balance without throwing Lori off as she delivered punches of her own. Who in the world trained for a situation like this? He couldn't remember a single simulation in Ranger training or S.W.A.T. training that would have prepared him for fighting while is ankle was attached to another person's ankle.

Punching out quickly, Jacen did a quick double tap on his target's stomach before ducking underneath a powerful roundhouse punch that would have absolutely decimated him. Standing up, Jacen planted his feet and swung upward with all the strength he could muster. As his knuckled came in contact with the feral beast's chin he heard an audible 'click' as fang like teeth slammed together. The beast stumbled back a step or two as a tooth splinter about 1.5 to 2 inches fell to the concrete.

Right then a blaze of light appeared around them as Red decided to get back into things. The distraction was perfectly timed and Jacen took full advantage. Planting his bound foot firmly on the ground, the S.W.A.T. officer pulled up his free leg and delivered a front kick to the area on the twin's hip where they were joined together. Though it wasn't a particular powerful kick for damage, it was a great one for pushing someone away.

The beasts stumbled back and their roars of anger became screams of pain as their bodies left Jacen's field and entered the heat the Red was currently trying to blast them with. Dropping into a crouch, Jacen's eyes strained past the light to find the shard of tooth that had fallen out. It was nowhere near as sharp as the knife in his truck but with the old and somewhat frayed fabric around their ankles it had a shot.

Within moment the shard was in his hand and he was sawing at their bonds, doing his best to ignore the small cuts and that were beginning to appear on the fingers that tried valiantly to hold the bone firmly in place. Finally, with a strong tug from Jacen's hand the bonds parted and he and Lori were free!

While thoroughly disgusted at the drool on her shoulder, there wasn't time to properly mourn. Lori tried to hop back again, only catching a thin slice from the claws of tweedle-dum as the heat continued to lick at her from the outside of the field. Well, if he believed the shield could be overloaded, that was a reason to send someone through it and then attack the shield directly. Kind of.

Lori stepped in close to the creature with her free foot and shoved just as Jacen was delivering a powerful kick backwards. Apparently, they'd though the same thing and together the pushed the creature out into his ally's attack. The bodies disappeared into searing light and Lori shielded her eyes against the retina-burning that was sure to ensue. The sounds and smells made Lori swallow and be glad that she could not see what exactly was happening.

A soft tug at her ankle made her look down and try to make sense of the blaring whitish blobs. Had Jacen found a knife? O-ho. This was going to be good. The heat against her burning cheeks died down and there were shouts from the gang of kids and another whistle of a quill whizzing past somewhere. Would they ever learn?

A sudden jerk and the feeling of Jacen's hand on her ankle said they would. She smiled and stepped away from Jacen until she felt more like herself. The saliva at her shoulder burned a bit outside of Jacen's field. Sparks jumped across the moisture and Lori kicked blindly at some kind of paper her feet became tangled in, much to the devastated shouts of the gang members. Not that those would last long.

She raised her hands toward a large metal container she felt at the end of the alleyway. It was most likely a steel dumpster. It edged forward with a groan as the metal scraped against the concrete it was situated on. And suddenly the metal container flew forward. It tipped on its side and flew toward Lori with extreme force scooping up anyone in its way as it continued it's turn and came to rest upside-down an arm's length in front of Lori.

With much dignity, Lori scrubbed at her eyes ignoring the shouts of protest that now echoed inside of the bin. Her sight was slowly filtering back toward normal, though it was taking longer this time since she actually got an eye full of the crazy super heat. Lori turned slowly back toward Jacen, a wreck from the fight and oblivious to the fact that one of the gang members hadn't been pinned inside of the heavy dumpster.

And he looked pissed that these two had not only humiliated his friends, but Lori had the audacity to stand in the charred remains of the conjoined twins.

Jacen was blinking rapidly, trying to get his vision back to some normalcy, while Lori walked away from his field and did her thing. From the sounds and the blurry images he could make out she had just successfully trapped the entire group of mutants beneath a large dumpster. That was perfect, after all, where else should a person put the trash? Finally his vision began to clear and so he rose back up to his feet and looked over at the very tired looking Lori. It was amazing how even encrusted in grime and weary as could be, she could still look so gorgeous.

Just as he began to open his mouth to say something Jacen's snapped over to the movement he had seen out of the corner of his eyes. Coming around the dumpster was the last of the gang members with an extremely pissed look on his face. It wasn't any of the mutants that he recognized but if he had a power to go along with his expression then Lori could be in real trouble. Without a word Jacen suddenly broke into a sprint, focusing on getting his aura around Lori before the mutant could attack. The man's arm was swinging upward, pointing directly at Lori's back and suddenly she seemed to freeze in place. The man's smirk seemed to grow but then it dissapeard as his eyes widened in shock because Jacen was still charging him. As Jacen's field swept over Lori she began to move again, apparently not realizing that she had been momentarily frozen.

Jacen's legs were pumping like pistons as he whipped by Lori toward the last mutant. Suddenly lowering his shoulder, he slammed into the man like a linebacker, driving him back against the metal dumpster with a resounding thud. Pain lanced through his shoulder and vibrations seemed to move through his whole body but he didn't care. Stepping back Jacen swung one punch... just one but it was more than enough to send this last mutant off into lala land.

"Time freezer... I think." Jacen said quietly as he turned around and walked back over to Lori as he let the weariness he was beginning to feel actually creep into his own expression, "I vote we get to the truck, get back to my apartment, shower, and then get a good nights sleep. Sound like a plan?"

From where Lori stood Jacen seemed to... teleport? She scrubbed at her eyes again. Had to be a trick of the eye. She remained scrubbing at her eyes even through the disturbing bone crunching and resounding thud of body on metal. She trusted that Jacen wasn't such a moron that he'd just run straight into the upset trash bin for no reason. She also trusted that he was taking care of whatever else was left because she was having serious issues seeing.

That was probably trusting too much. She glanced up at him as he approached her again, nodding at his affirmation that he had taken care of someone -- a time manipulator? His plan also sounded good, though they were hard to hear over the complaints that sounded from inside the dumpster. She attempted to make a field inside to draw anyone with a belt close together and maybe even crumple the dumpster a bit, but Jacen was too near. As a result she only narrowed her eyes at the box before they turned to make their way back to the truck.

She only had one addition to make to the plan, "Maybe some Aloe vera too? I feel like I've got a funky tan." Lori poked at the tight skin of her cheeks. It felt like a sun burn.

Lori walked in relative silence as she took survey of herself. She'd taken a very light slash across her stomach. The skin was hardly even broken there and so the slash had done the most damage to her shirt which had a fashionably placed slices over her tummy where the cloth hung in loose ribbons and the skin underneath puckered and red with thin red lines was all too visible.

Her hand was still numb and from the looks of it, that was a good thing. The knuckles on both of her hands were rather torn up. No one had ever taught her how to punch properly, she'd just learned that knuckles to face typically meant the face suffered worse.

The shoulder of her shirt had been eaten away so that it sported several small holes, the skin there was pink and irritated from the corrosiveness of the saliva. Her ankle would probably be bruised, but at least they were free now. Free to walk within the distance that Jacen's radius allowed. Lori tried not to feel trapped into the space.

Only when they'd made it back to the truck did Lori speak again, "Remind me why I hang out with a guy that attracts more trouble than I do?"

Even as Lori made her suggestion for Aloe Vera, Jacen was checking out the skin on his arms and the back of his neck. He'd been fortunate enough to keep his face away from the heat for the most part but his exposed neck and arms had still gotten some of the same treatment that Lori had received. "Aloe vera... check." Jacen replied as he and Lori fell into step together and began to make the trek back to the truck. They walked in comfortable silence but Jacen's mind was whirling with all that he had just experienced. Apparently the air didn't work as a medium the same way that water which was most definitely a good thing but in the battle he had also discovered that his field didn't actually stop objects that were thrown at him. Sure it nullified the x-gene which was awesome but it didn't solve all of his problems.

"And why do I even care? It's not like I want to get in fights like this all the time." Jacen thought to himself as he tried to understand what was happening. Why was a part of his mind categorizing what his ability could do? Why did he even care?

"Remind me why I hang out with a guy that attracts more trouble than I do?"

Without a word of response Jacen turned and walked over to Lori. Without a single pause he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up onto her toes while planting a heated kiss directly on her lips. "Because you like showers, sex, and hanging out with me but you're also wondering whether I might be exactly what you need in your life." He replied with a slight smile before unlocking the truck and opening the passenger door for her. Walking back around his truck he tiredly climbed up into the truck and started the engine.

"Sorry we messed up the change of clothes." Jacen offered as the vehicle pulled out, merging into the slightly lighter night traffic, "Will your other clothes be OK to change back into or do we need to stop somewhere again?"

"Oh. right." He reminded her. He reminded her enough that she was loathe to disentangle herself from him and get into the passenger seat. She was a bit twitchy from the adrenaline rush. Sure, she'd gotten her aggressions out, but the rush of testosterone was far too easily funneled into raw need. She cut her eyes at him when he climbed into the driver's seat. Did she need someone? That was a disturbing question she'd have to ponder later. Later when she was alone again.

"Tch" Was about as eloquent a reply as she could muster about the clothes. "The old clothes are fine. I should start leaving a stash of clothes at your house unless that cramps your style." though that meant she was planning to return there. She sighed. Well, it appeared he'd snuck into her life more than she'd expected. At least he wasn't moving in to the Sanctuary, though... it'd been a while since she'd been home in a while. Stupid Pluto. Hopefully, she'd get into some fresh clothes soon enough tomorrow without Jacen sucking away another of her days.

Lori frowned at her reflection on the inside of the truck window. She needed to figure out what the heck she was doing here... didn't she? Lori glanced over at Jacen who seemed content to drive them home. Oh frick. Did she just call his place home? The sudden urge to run away was strong in her chest.

"Uh, maybe you should just drop me off somewhere..." It was hardly more than a mumble directed toward her own window. If she wanted it that bad, that meat she shouldn't have it right?

Things seemed to be going fine and Lori and Jacen both seemed to have agreed to a course of action for the rest of their evening but then Lori had to speak up and throw a wrench into the situation. Where in the world did the desire to be dropped off somewhere come from? Had he said something? Had he done something?

"Uh... sure." Jacen said slowly and cautiously, "I can drop you off somewhere if you really want me to but do you have a friend to stay with or something? Last thing you told me was that giant man burned your place tot he ground."

Why did she have to do something like that? He had been looking forward to spending the last of his evening with Lori whether they did anything physical or not. There was something about her, something about her zest for life that just made him want to spend more time around her. Obviously it was possible to get addicted to drugs and Jacen was beginning to wonder whether Lori just might be his drug of choice.

He was accommodating and cautious. She could go to the sanctuary or back to the trailer. Ironically the trailer sounded like the best option just now. "No, I told you my place burned to the ground, not that Brickson did it." It was her fault like so many other things. "Doesn't matter where. If I go home with you..." Her voice squeezed off into silence and she refused to look away from the darkened window. If she went home with him... she wouldn't want to leave. Frick, she already didn't want to leave now.

And that was exactly why she had to.

She swallowed and then swallowed again to get that stupid lump out of her throat. She didn't know what to do. She pulled her legs up to her chest and noticed that he wasn't pulling over... and that she was giving up on that avenue of escape for now. Was she... afraid of him? Afraid of this? Maybe... Maybe she was tired and had a little too much action for one night. "Nevermind." She sighed and some tension drained from her body.

Why did it have to mean something? She'd called plenty of places home before and none of them permanent. Why did she worry that this one was any different? The car slowed and Lori realized they were pulling into a spot at Jacen's complex. The tenseness returned to her shoulders even as she grabbed her clothes from the car floor and slipped out of the truck. This was... a bad idea. She wasn't sure why just yet, but it was. Her gut told her it was even as she climbed the stairs up toward the apartment.

Something was most deffinately up but Jacen had no clue about what it might be. Deciding that it was best to let the subject drop for the moment he simply pulled into his parking space at the apartment and then, after grabbing his own spare set of clothes, followed the blond woman up the stairs and down the hall that led to his apartment.

"Lori," Jacen said after they were inside and the door was closed, reaching forward to grab her hand and stop her in her tracks, "wait." Slowly he walked around and stood directly in front of her, his hand never losing grip on hers. "What's going on? Look, being blunt, if you're not interested in sex tonight, that's OK. I'm not going to try and force you or anything. Like I said before, I just like spending time with you."

Why did he keep feeling like he needed to explain himself to this woman? Problems seems to come up out of the blue but they never fit with the pattern that Jacen had seen so many other women follow. Lori obviously was from a different mold but that just made it all the more confusing. "The offer for a shower and then getting some sleep is still on the table if you want it, or I can always call you a cab if you don't want me to drop you off somewhere." Jacen offered, his eyes searching Lori's face for some sort of expression. What did this woman want? Sure, she enjoyed the showers and the sex but what did she really want?

"You're beautiful." He suddenly said for no reason, "Even with river water dried in your hair."

Lori pushed her way inside of the apartment, tossing her cleaner clothes, Jacen's shirt and her jeans, onto the couch. She was on her way to the master bath when Jacen caught her hand. Her stomach sank and she froze. What did she have to say to this man?

He walked in front of her never letting her hand go. She wasn't trapped. She didn't have to panic yet. She watched his lips as they moved and shook her head at his assumptions. Even the river water hair comment. At first she didn't know what to say so she took a hesitant step forward and slid her arms around Jacen's torso. She placed her face against his chest and just breathed in his river muddled scent for a moment. Did it feel right? Was he right? Did she need this?

"Why do you keep taking sex off the table? Don't you know I'm going crazy over here? It... scares me to like someone. To want to trust and rely on someone..." She admitted it to the front of his crispy shirt. That sun flare kid had an amazing power. Lori swallowed and squeezed Jacen, admiring the feeling of his body beneath the rough texture of the river dipped and flash dried clothes. "You did well in that fight." She offered him a half smile. He proved over and over again that he wasn't running away, he wasn't plotting anything larger and he wasn't planning to break her. The problem was that just because it wasn't planned didn't mean it wouldn't happen.

Slowly, she slid her arm up to his face and guided his down to hers, she tried to accommodate him by going up on her tip-toes. She closed her eyes and spoke against his lips. "Please don't hurt me." It gave her goosebumps to be so... raw.

Apparently Jacen wasn't being particularly clear about what he wanted either because he seemed to be confusing Lori just as much as she was confusing him. She asked why he kept saying they didn't have to have sex and then segwayed directly into a comment about how he had done in the fight. What in the world? How did those two have a connection? But then he began to realize something. As she pulled him tighter and tried to give him some sort of smile, she was actually showing some sort of vulnerability for the first time in their relationship. For once, she wasn't acting like the tough girl that was completely in control. She was admitting that she was scared and even her movements seemed a little tenative.

"Please don't hurt me." The words were spoke lip to lip as they began to kiss and for a moment Jacen was in awe as his lips stilled. This strong, courageous, and feisty woman was worried about him hurting her?

Pulling back from the kiss, Jacen suddenly knelt down slightly, one arm sweeping under her legs to knock her knees out and effortlessly lift her back up into his arms. Cradeling her close to his chest Jacen kissed her with every bit of pent up emotion that had built up over the course of the day and evening. If she was going to be vulnerable then it was up to him to prove that he wasn't out to hurt her... that he wasn't trying to gain something from her and then walk away with a laugh. If she was willing to give this side of herself over then what did that mean for the state of their relationship?

Deepning the kiss Jacen carried her to the bedroom and into the bathroom, one arm lowering her so that she was now sitting on the bathroom counter as his lips continued to press against hers. A part of him didn't want to admit just how much he was coming to like this woman and maybe even need her. She was the one that had helped him discover his true abilities and then helped him accept life as a mutant. She had given him so much without even realizing it but was she going to give him her heart as well?

"I don't ever want to hurt you Lori." He finally murmured as he pulled back from the kiss, his gaze almost heated enough to scorch a person, "Not intentionally and not by accident. Never!"

She felt it in her chest and stomach. It was a little like taking a ride on a roller coaster, weightless and disorienting. The seal of their lips only broke when he dipped down and picked her up. She didn't protest in the least. He could have taken her anywhere and she would have gone willingly in his arms. How revolting was she right now? If she'd seen a glimpse into the future of herself here and now even days ago, would she have changed her path?

Where Lori had been rough and demanding before, now she was timid and fumbling. It was new territory in a way. Loving with heart instead of mind.

And it was all kinds of scary. Suddenly she was on the bathroom countertop and couldn't quite remember how she'd gotten there. She quenched a sudden flutter of panic that threatened to claw up her throat. If she screamed bloody murder now, it'd only confuse Jacen more. The thought of that scene playing out brought a smile to her lips.

He would never hurt her. Never. Oh how she wanted to take that at face value. Even if it was never his intention, it would probably happen. Even family hurt one another. Even long time lovers hurt one another. It was just a fact of living life in proximity to one another. But for now, she let herself buy into it. Whole heartedly. She could convince herself otherwise later.

Her smile was subtle and her hands uneasy without some part of Jacen to touch. This was a dream plain and simple. She'd wake up at any moment now. That realization helped her relax somewhat. If it was really a dream, she could do whatever she wanted. "I love that you believe that..." Lori guided his face back to hers and worked to gently untuck his shirt and free it from his pants. "I even may love you just for you." Yeah dream. Had to be. At least it was a nice one. Would she wake up this clean and free? Maybe after they showered she would.

She hadn't understood what he said but it wasn't time to clarify words. He had told her he would never want to hurt her and that was absolutely true but even he understood that even best friends or lovers could hurt each other. Perhaps some time he would explain what he meant to Lori but for now it was enough to know that they both fealt something for one another. She was even beginning to think she might love him. Could he ask for any more?

Somewhere along the way Jacen's shirt had come off and the feeling of her hands on his bare skin was pure heaven. He was concentrating on one thing... making sure that Lori enjoyed every moment with him just to prove that she had made the right decision and that there were no regrets. Not ever.

The once clean bathroom floor became littered with clothing as everything was shed and within moments the two were hidden within a curtain of steam. Gentle whispers and murmurs could be heard as they cleaned one another but soon the soap was forgotten as they began to focus on coaxing one another to new heights of pleasure. Some time later Jacen stepped out of the shower with the blond carefully cradled in his arms and made his way over to the bed. Soon the moans and gasps could be heard again as backs arched and two people once again came together.

(Fade To Black)

***

For at least a little while both figures seemed content to cuddle only this time Jacen was not going to mess things up by speaking. No... a simple kiss placed on the top of the head and fingers gently combing through damp hair spoke volumes that mere words could never describe. This was true contentment but one question seemed to echo in Jacen's mind... "How long can this last?"

It was the quiet after the storm. At some point she had realized that it wasn't a dream... it was just too good to be true. Lori chewed on her lower lip and tried not to question it. In fact she tried to just close her eyes and not think at all. Thinking bad. Feeling good. With every breath she tried to think that she wasn't thinking. Which was enough of a conundrum to make her wrinkle her forehead against the bare skin of Jacen's chest.

No wait. She was sleeping. She smoothed out her facial features and went back to thinking about not thinking. Which was so much harder than it looked.

She sighed, giving up for the moment and opening her blue eyes to inspect Jacen's face. "You know... If this is what every day of a real relationship is like, count me out." She wrinkled her nose at him before continuing. "Tied together at the ankle, diving off a bridge, running three-legged style from the cops... which of course are your colleagues." Lori pinched gently at Jacen's side for subtle revenge and a slight tickle. "taking out some poor misguided punks in a back alley before slugging it out in bed? Yeah, I don't know if this is really healthy every day activities for us."

Lori ran her hands and fingers up the fleshy, exposed ribs on either side of Jacen's torso exploring the skin and gently prodding at the ticklish parts as she went. Not enough to warrant revenge, just enough to hopefully get a rise out of him. It was fascinating to see the elasticity of his pale skin that was not typically exposed to the sun and the little hairs springing up here and there. She especially enjoyed bothering those little hairs.