The rag-tag trio was dripping with water, and their long hair looked frazzled. Sherry had lost her vest and her breathing mask in the initial flood of water into the airlock, and was clad on in a skin-tight waterlogged outfit that revealed every curve in her body. Jarred resisted the urge to look at her, guilt rising in him over his loss. He still loved his wife dearly, even now when the barrier of life & death separated them. He turned his head towards Terry, the telepath. She looked into his eyes, knowing the pain and torment he had suffered. She knew his secrets, had experienced his nightmares. He turned his eyes away from her as well.

It was easy to put everything out of his mind while they were still on the run, while the adrenaline was flowing. But now, it felt awkward between them. Where do they go now? Can they trust him? Even after all they had done together to escape?

"Where do we go from here?" Terry finally muttered out, though her teeth were chattering. Jarred glanced over at her & noticed that she was shivering. The San Francisco Bay is very cold that can try even the most trained swimmers. It was one of the reasons Alcatraz Island was an effective prison. If by some chance the prisoners actually got to the bay, it was highly unlikely they would be able to survive the swim to the mainland. Fortunately, the swim they had just made was not nearly that long. Indeed, Sherry dragged them along & was able to swim faster than he thought a human could swim. There was more to her abilities than being tough and strong. She needed to be tested.

"First, we need to get ourselves dried off and out of the city," Jarred calmly responded; though he too was shivering a little. He knew he had a strong constitution, had trained hard to get that way. But, he wasn't a paranormal, and didn't have the abilities they did.

"Why should we follow you?" started Sherry, "You tried to kill me." Jarred regarded her as she seemed totally unaffected by the Bay's cold water or being wet in the chill of San Francisco's early evening. He needed to get a better idea on what her abilities are. She seemed to be a multi-talented paranormal and could be very dangerous with some discipline and training.

"Because I know how to avoid the search teams and I know of a safe place."

"Or you could be leading us into a trap!"

"If I was going to do that, I would've done so back at the PCU Base!"

"You are trying to lure us into a false sense of security so we would trust you!"

"Why? The mandate of the PCU is to capture and detain Paranormals like you, not play mind games by letting you escape and capture you again!"

"We only have your word on that!"

"ENOUGH!"

Jarred & Sherry both turned towards Terry. She stood there shivering, with a scowl on her face and a fire in her eyes that Sherry had never seen there before.

"Jarred is right about the PCU."

"Why is he turning his back on them now?" asked Sherry, while she smugly crossed her arms over her chest.

"He has his reasons," Terry responded.

"How do you…" Sherry started, when she noticed Terry tapping her finger to her head.

"Oh…"

Jarred cleared his throat, reminding the sisters that they were not the only ones involved in the little discussion they were engaged in.

"Ladies, I'm freezing out here and would like to get some warm clothes on and get out of town before the PCU close it off."

Sherry turned to him and coldly responded, "And what should we do?"

Jarred looked around and noticed that there was nothing in the area. It was a deserted area, though the Embarcadero was not too far off.

"Follow me," Jarred said as he started walking towards the Embarcadero.

Terry took up step behind him, with Sherry reluctantly following the both of them, after letting out a deep sigh. They walked over to the Embarcadero, where there was some traffic travelling along it. A streetcar rolled by, heading for the entrance to the underground portion on the Muni Railway system. Jarred looked across the street and noticed an old Chrysler Plymouth parked there. He quickly rushed across the street to it, with the sisters following behind him.

"You're not going to do what I think you are going to…"Terry started, before Jarred broke the driver's side window with his elbow.

"Older cars are not likely to have car alarms."

"We can't just steal…"Terry started.

"If we are going to stay free, then yes we can," Jarred interrupted as he opened the driver's side door. Jarred ducked underneath the dash, looking for the wires he need to cross to start the engine.

"I'm not going along with this," Terry stated.

"Then the PCU will recapture you, as they control all legitimate channels."

"They can't possibly…"

Jarred sat up in the driver's seat and looked at Terry straight in the eyes.

"Yes, they can. I'm not fully aware of all the workings of the organization, but they are tapped into just about every portion of the government, constantly monitoring everything. It’s the only way to keep the existence of Paranormals secret."

Terry took that in and realized it pretty much coincided with what the Asian man had told her. She never got his name. But then, his mind was blocked from her, even stronger than Jarred's mind was. Though Jarred's mind has been a little easier to read, after her deep interaction with him on the psychic plane. She shuddered at the thought of what she had experienced in his head. She turned her attention back to Jarred who had freed two wires and was sparking them together. The engine started up and Jarred positioned himself in the driver's seat.

"You two coming?"

"Where are we going?" asked Sherry, defiance still present in her voice.

"I have a place in Northern California that the PCU doesn't know about. My own private little retreat. I have supplies and resources stored away up there. We'll be safe there for awhile. Hopefully long enough."

Terry stepped around the car and got into the passenger side seat while Sherry got into the backseat behind Jarred.

"Long enough for what?" inquired Terry.

"Long enough to turn you two into fighters."

The Plymouth pulled out onto the Embarcadero blending into the flow of traffic. Just another car in a metropolitan area filled with cars.

"Sifu, I wasn't expecting you to call. You said you were going to be out of contact."

Sweat was building on Lancaster's forehead. Not that many people can induce fear into Lancaster, as he was one of the most feared individuals in the PCU. But, his boss was even more feared, and thus was able to induce fear into even Lancaster. Someday, that won't be the case. It will be you who will fear me, Sifu.

"Yes, I did, but I felt that I should check and make sure this Stonewall sister situation had gotten taken care of. I'm sure you have them in custody by now."

Lancaster gulped as he replied into the comm.

"Actually, they escaped us along with the traitor I suspected of freeing them in the first place."

There was a long silence, as not a sound was made, except the gentle humming of the environmental control systems.

"I'm very disappointed in you. You said you would take care of it."

"I was taken by surprise and…"

"There are no excuses in this game," Sifu interrupted, "only results."

"Yes, sir," replied Lancaster.

There was yet another silence, before Sifu spoke up once again.

"I want you to hand this situation over Sniper and Covert Ops. You obviously can't handle a simple retrieval mission. Then, I want you on a plane to New York and to focus on something you are much more qualified to deal with, namely World Leaders. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Sifu out."

As the comm channel clicked off, Lancaster let out a scream and tossed his desk lamp against the wall, shattering it. He then flipped over his desk and started kicking it, breaking it down into smaller pieces, the whole time screaming Sifu's & Jarred Jacoby's names.

An agent opened the door and started to say, "Sir, is everything…"

"GET OUT!" was Lancaster's response, as he hurled a drawer from the desk in the agent's general direction. The agent ducked behind the door, dodging the flying drawer, and closed the door, fearing for his life.

Lancaster screamed and wrecked the office for a good ten minutes, before he finally started to calm down a little. He hated Sifu, who had finally found a way to take Lancaster down a notch or two. He was going to have to be more careful in the future concerning his dealings with Sifu? He was still confounded by the way the sisters had gotten in and freed Jarred. It seemed that they got a secret code letting them into the building.

Wait. Jarred was the Security Chief. He probably had secret codes imbedded in the system just for such a situation. He would probably have to have the system swept and cleaned of Mr. Jacoby's influence. Perhaps he can use this as a way to keep normals from holding positions of that much power. They can't be trusted over the controlled paranormal population. All Paranormals are implanted with control mechanism's that made it impossible to turn against the PCU.

And he will find Jacoby, and when he does, he will make him suffer more than his wife did. Like he should've done originally. When next they meet, Jarred Jacoby will finally be reunited with his wife.

Te popped shut his comm.

"I would hate to be in his shoes."

Te looked over at his dinner companion and let a smile cross his lips.

"He needed to be taken down a few notches."

Te's diner companion nodded as he popped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it. After taking a puff, he asked, "So, these Stonewall sisters are some of your rogues on the loose?"

Te smiled as he responded; "Now Jason, you know that I can't share that information with you."

Detective Jason Stormaton laid his cigarette down in the ashtray as he reached down for his bag.

"Then you ought to be more careful about conversations you have in front of me, just like your men need to be more careful about covering their tracks."

Te sat back in his chair, his fingers interlaced together.

"I don't know what you mean?"

Stormaton snorted as he responded, "Of course you don't."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a black jumpsuit. Sifu regarded it with mild shock.

"May I ask where you got that?"

Jason smiled and responded, "Macys."

Te nodded in acknowledgement.

"It's amazing what fashions you can find at that department store," Stormaton continued, "You can now get clothes that can resist the concussive force of a bomb."

"I get your point, Detective," Te responded, with a bit of irritation in his voice.

Stormaton tossed the jumpsuit over to Te.

"I believe it belongs to you. Now why are your people blowing up Department Stores in my city?"

Te sat there for a moment, contemplating the aging Police Detective.

"I don't really need to answer that, but as a courtesy, I will. Those two rogues you heard me mention before had raided Macys for clothes. Our team failed to recapture them, but damage had been done to the store. We bombed it to cover our tracks."

Stormaton nodded as he responded, "So, these two rogues are still on the loose. Losing your touch in your old age, Te."

Te smiled and said, "Actually, I want them free."

Jason spit out the soup he was just taking a sip of.

"You want them free?"

"Yes."

Jason shook his head as he commented, "You are playing a dangerous game doing that."

Te smiled with the comment; "Those are the only ones worth playing."