With one eye on my wrist and the other on Kade's back only a foot in front of me, we made our way towards the back of the ship. Any time a red dot on my screen got close, we found a hiding place behind a doorway or between fixtures on the wall. Every time my heart beat went up a few notches. By the time we made to the cargo hold, my hands were shaking and I knew hives were rising in my arms. They were getting itchy.

Inside the cargo bay, I was only coming up with one heat signature, which was sure had to be wrong. Did they really only have one Maji on this entire transport? With a quick glance at Kade, I opened the door and stepped through.

My computer had been right, there was only one Maji in the cargo hold. And she was just a child.

Sitting on the ground in her little cage, her knees were pulled so tight to her chest I wondered if she could breathe. She was human, short cut brown hair and giant green eyes when she looked up to see who had come through the door. Tear tracks stained her cheeks, her nose and face were all red. She couldn't have been more than six years old.

While I stood in shock, my insides refusing to believe that anyone - even the GPF- could do something like this to a small child, Kade crept past me. Kneeling down so he didn't look so imposing, he raised his hands to show he didn't have anything that could hurt her. "It's okay...we aren't here to hurt you...we're going to get you out. That sound good?"

She stared at him for a minute, before obviously deciding that she didn't exactly have any other option. Slowly, she nodded her head.

Swallowing my own anger and fears, I knelt beside Kade and focused on the lock. I glanced at the girl every so often. "My name is TJ, this is Kade...what's yours?"

Her lips pursed tight for a moment before a small voice said, "Hazel."

I smiled, I couldn't help it. My mother had a friend on Earth with that name. It was an old one, passed down through families. "That's a beautiful name."

The locked clicked; the shield around the bars blinked out of existence.

Kade stood and pulled the door open, offering a hand to Hazel. Once she was on her feet, I could see how much she was shivering. Without much thought, I shrugged off my thick space-walk coat and draped it over her tiny shoulders. One of us would have to carry her to the ship anyway. We only had a few extra breathers in our pockets.

My wrist beeped. A couple of red dots were on their way to the cargo hold. I glanced at Kade, panic clear as day in my eyes, I was sure. Without any preamble, he scooped Hazel into his arms and headed for the door. We had to get out of the hold before the officers got here. If we didn't...we wouldn't have any chance actually getting off the ship.

We made it outside the room and a few feet down the hall before I saw the shadows of the officers about to round the corner. I pushed Kade into a crevice in the wall, making sure Hazel was well hidden, before I broke my number one rule again. Using the lights in the hall and the metal all around us, I made the light bend just so. Then I held my breath, hoping that it had actually worked.

The two officers walked right passed us, not seeing anything out of place. But the moment they opened the cargo hold door, things changed. Jumping into action, one hit the com system on the wall and the other sounded an alarm. Red light and blaring sirens filled the hallway.

I cursed under my breath, not caring if I made a sound. I couldn't bend flashing red lights. With our position compromised, I pulled Kade and Hazel out of our hiding spot and pushed them down the hall. "Go!" I didn't turn back to see if the officer's had seen or heard us, I didn't need to. I could hear them coming behind us. The laser firing past my shoulder was a good clue, too.

"Stop right there! Stop or we'll be forced to shoot!"

I snorted. Yeah right, unless they wanted to get shot out into space for hurting me. At least, I hoped that was true.

We made it to the door, but there were three other officers standing by it, laser guns raised right at us.

Kade stopped short, holding Hazel close to his chest. The poor thing hid her face in his neck and I was sure I could hear sobs coming from her tiny frame. Spinning around, the two from the cargo hold had caught up to us, blocking the other end of the hall. We were trapped.

I saw Kade's free hand slowly reaching for the blaster he kept on his belt, but never used. It was our own rule - we never shot back. Not unless it was the only option. But here, in this hallway with five GPF agents surrounding us, I knew it would be suicide. If he even tried to raise that blaster, he'd be dead. There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.

I had already broken my rule that day, in the last five minutes, even. Why not break it some more? Grabbing hold of the energy in the room, of the tension every person stored in the bodies, I gathered it into the palms of my hands before releasing it one giant wave. The officers went flying back down the hall, slamming into the walls or each other as they went. I would've cringed, but I was already opening the blast door. Once Kade and Hazel were inside, I stuffed my helmet onto her head. It was too big for her, but I'd rather her have a full helmet than just a breathing device.

Kade took one off his belt and handing it to me. Our fingers brushed as I took it, but he didn't release it right away. Holding it, he pulled my eyes up to his. I knew what the look was for. We had a lot to talk about when we got out of this alive.

With helmets and breather secure, I opened the outer door. Kade and Hazel went first, I followed closely behind. But something told me to take a look back at the door. I don't know why - I sure as hell don't know why I listened to it - but I did. There, standing on the inside of the ship, was my father.

"Go! Go, get us off this thing!" Kade yelled as we ran into the cockpit. Setting Hazel down on one of the chairs, he gently pulled the helmet from her head before diving for the controls. I strapped her in, offering an encouraging smile, before I headed for my own seat. My fingers flew over the keys as I put in a destination for the nav computer. I felt the jolt as the Phoenix disconnected from the transport but didn't stop to look out the window.

"Lenna!" Kade yelled, wrenching the ship away from the transport and out to open space.

In answer, the hyper-coils buzzed to life, filling the whole ship with the sound. Without any other signal, Kade slammed the hyper drive into gear and we were gone. The transport left behind in our wake.

When we were safely away from the transport, and the image of my father looking out at me was beginning to fade, I stood from my seat. Kneeling in front of Hazel, I unstrapped the seat so I could remove the giant coat from around her. A blanket would keep her a lot warmer, and maybe a hot bath. I'd give up a few showers to get her feeling better.

A blanket appeared in my peripheral. I looked up to see Kade standing there, brows pulled tight. Taking the blanket, I looked back at Hazel's face - the safer option. "Thanks."

He didn't say anything for a moment, just stood there as I wrapped the girl up tight and wiped the dried tears from her face. But he did finally talk, which I wasn't surprised about. I had been waiting for it, really.

"What happened back there?"

I swallowed, tucking the corner of the blanket so it wouldn't unwrap. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb, TJ."

I sat back on my heels, resting my hands in my lap. My voice shook when I spoke, "Don't make me say it...please..."

I heard him sigh. I didn't look but I was sure he was rubbing a hand down his face. I heard Axon squirm in his own seat. Shit, I had forgotten he was there.

"TJ...why didn't you tell us...tell me?"

I shrugged weakly. Taking a breath, I glanced up at him and instead of finding anger in his eyes like I had been expecting, there was only worry. It made my throat get tight. "I...it's just always been this way...I don't talk about it..."

"Does he know?"

I didn't need to ask who he was talking about. I knew who it was he was referring too. "Yeah, he does." Of course, he did. He was my father. He'd seen me use my abilities long before I was aware enough to keep them secret. He had been the one to say never tell anyone, never let anyone that close. Because if I did, I'd lose everything.

A/N

Phew. That was intense...I adore little Hazel. And Kade being all protective of her? I die. <3