Marc, only seconds behind Ian, zapped to the coordinates Dinah's DNAdar had identified. The place was definitely not what he'd expected. Ian stood on a dock looking out over a marina. The dock itself was empty of whatever boat might once have been docked there.

Ian turned as Marc walked over to stand next to him. Ian did not look around.

"Okay," Marc said, thinking, ignoring the noise as the rest of the rescue team arrived behind them, "we need to try to triangulate then. Betty Jo's DNA and Roz's."

"And do you think THAT will work?" Ian hissed, finally looking around at Marc.

"Ian, of all the people I know, well, I'm pretty sure I know what you are going through," Marc replied quietly, ignoring Ian's belligerence.

Ian sucked in a breath and looked away, out at the sea. After a second he nodded. "Yeah. It's just that..."

Marc laid a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah. I know. Let's get back to the Refuge and see if using the both of them we get a better shot. Otherwise, so long as Roz is on the move, I'm thinkin' we're not gonna get a real shot at catching her. Always several minutes behind, no matter what we do."

"Fine," Ian agreed.

Marc signaled everyone behind him and they all zapped back to the Refuge, shoulders slumped in at least temporary defeat.

Dinah was still dazzling Daddy when they returned.  "Ah, well," she said.  "No luck?"

"Let's call up Betty Jo's DNA and try to triangulate with Roz's," Marc replied, rather curtly, ignoring Daddy for the moment.

 She went to work again without a word, pulling up both helices and setting the DNAdar on the large overhead display.  Cal overlaid the map grid as soon as she had it up, beginning with the previous location as the map center.  It took a few minutes as she dealt with both helices before she began to narrow it down to a point in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  She looked, shook her head and then fiddled with the DNAdar, without getting a different location.  She sighed and turned back to Marc.  "That's where they are, apparently."

Marc frowned at the map. "Okay, I think we're gonna have to do it the old fashioned way."

Ian had been standing off to the side watching all of this. Leroy, seeing as how it looked like they were going to have a few minutes at the very least, headed to the Infirmary to check on Billie Jo.

"And that means what?" Jonah folding his arms across his chest. 

Marc turned to regard Jonah DuBois. "Our DNAdar isn't giving us much at this point. So I'm thinking we're going to have to wait until both Betty Jo and Roz are in one place long enough to get a good reading."

"And who are you to be doing the thinking?" Jonah asked.

"Ah, Jonah, this is Marc Siolastre," Dinah said.  "I think you already know Ian Blakesley.  Marc, this is Betty Jo's father, Jonah DuBois."

"Yes, we've met before," Jonah said.

Marc replied, "I'm doing the thinking because I know Roz better than anyone here. Do you have something helpful to add, or are you just being an ass?"

"Well," Jonah said, showing his teeth, "not an ass, exactly.  More like a father wanting to know what the hell happened and what's going on now."

"Your daughter was on an assignment. She's been kidnapped," Ian replied. "Now we are trying to get her back.  You have anything to add to that, Marc?"

"Only that the people who have her are, shall we say, not limited to Earth and not people to mess around with."

Jonah narrowed his eyes.  ""Why was she kidnapped, Cecil?"

"I've no idea, Jonah," Ian replied meeting Jonah's eyes.

Jonah nodded his head.  "I see."

Marc rolled his eyes. "It's as likely to do with me as with Ian, Jonah. I recognize you are concerned for your daughter, but if they planned to kill her they wouldn't have bothered to stage the scene they did at the meeting place."

Jonah nodded.  "And what does Betty have to do with you that killing a body double of her would be directed towards you?"

Marc flicked a glance over at Ian. "I'll grant you that looks as if it were aimed at Ian. But so far as I know, Roz has no enmity for Ian."

Jonah smiled.  "I'm sure he's grateful."

"Well, I don't know if he is or not, but considering what a bitch she is, I'd say he's at least lucky," Dinah said and then went on without giving anyone a chance to speak.  "If you're interested," she said, "Betty Jo is staying put and Roz is now on top of her, as it were.  So either there's a boat out there or something we don't have mapped.  Is there way to get a look?"

"I can go out-of-body and take a look," Ian replied.

"Well I don't have another suggestion," Dinah said. 

"All right," Ian replied and zapped off, presumably to his room at the Commune from whence he could wander bodilessly.

Marc turned to Jonah. "How is Billie?"

His face softened.  "She's going to be fine, they tell me. Just needs to stay off her knee for a while and rest.   I can't thank you enough for what ya'll are doing for her, the healers and all.  Or the rest of it, even though it may not seem that way."

"Nothing need be said, Jonah. And as for Betty Jo, after what she did to get Dinah back, I promise you we will spare nothing and no one to get her back unharmed," Marc promised. "Ian certainly won't rest until she is safe."
 
"I appreciate that.  I'd like to help however I can.  Her mama can keep busy with taking care of Billie, but, well I can't see just standing around with my thumb up my ass."

Dinah's lips quivered as she turned hastily towards Cal.

"We can always use help. Particularly along the magical vein. Any ideas?" Marc asked, keeping his lips brutally under control.

"Bobbie said she was pretty sure it was magic being used," Jonah said nodding his head thoughtfully.  "While he'd never admit it, I'm sure Cecil had something on her to keep track of things and now it isn't working.  That means who ever this is, he knows what he's doing and he's better than average."  Jonah studied Marc for a minute.  "I'm sure you mean well, telling me it might be about you, but everything I've heard tells me this is about getting at Cecil.  He's got his share of enemies, but not all of 'em are that good, not good enough to go head to head with him on something like that."

"Are you saying he might have guessed who this is?" Marc asked.

"Well I'd think he's at least got it down to a short list," Jonah said, his tone going dry.  "No fool, our Cecil.  And no dummy."

"And very private," Marc added darkly.

Jonah let his teeth show again.

Libby DuBois smiled at Leroy as he stuck his head around the door.  "Come on in honey."

He tried on a smile for Libby and it didn't fit too well. "Billie?" he asked softly, seeing if she was awake.

Libby nodded.  "Would you mind staying with her for a bit?" she asked, standing up to give him her seat next to the bed.  "She awake, she's just resting her eyes I think."

They fluttered open  and the blue glint came with a smile.   "Hi."

"Sure, you go take a break Miz DuBois. I'm happy to sit with her."   Leroy watched her until she was out of the room and then turned to Billie. He took the seat Libby had vacated and leaned over to take Billie's hand. "Honey, I'm so sorry. She shot you because of me. I.. I wasn't thinking."

Billie squeezed his hand, holding on tight.  "It's okay, sweetie.  I'm thinking you just gave her the excuse, she didn't need a reason."

"Yeah, maybe," he admitted. "So I guess they fixed most of it already, huh? Does it hurt still?"

"Well, let's just say every once in a while I know it's there," she said.  "But other than that, I'm fine, really.  How are you doing?"

"Been busy. Helping with the crime scene in Vegas and we just took off hoping we had a line on Betty Jo but no luck yet. Ian's off doing his magic stuff. Your Daddy doesn't like Ian much, does he?"

She smiled.  "It's not that.  It's more they don't trust each other 'cause they're so much alike and they hate that, I think.  It makes 'em vulnerable 'cause it means they're predictable.  But right now, well, Ian's job is to keep Betty safe.  Leastways if he wants her and he's good enough for her."  She rolled her eyes.  "That's just the way it is for Daddy.  Plus he's worried to death about her just like Ian is."

Leroy nodded. "So, it isn't like he hates anybody who dates his daughters?"

She dimpled.  "Only until he's got 'em scared."

"Oh. Uhm. So, uhm, I was worried sick about you. Uhm, all of you. I'm still worried about Betty Jo. Rimes is.. wow. He's like letting Marc and Stephen run everything. I think they threatened him with a total cut off or something."

She shrugged.  "Maybe.  Do you really care about that right now?"

"No," he replied softly. "I really care about getting Betty Jo back and making those bastards pay."

"Oh.  Yeah, I care about getting her back too, but what I meant was Mama left so you could kiss me if you wanted to, not so we could talk about work."

"She did?" he asked.

She nodded.  "I told her to."

"You did?"

She narrowed her eyes, frowning.  "You find that hard to believe?  Or you just unhappy about it"

"Uhm, yeah, kinda. I'd never have had the balls to say that to my Mama. Oh, shit, sorry. I just uhm... " he leaned down and kissed her.

She put her arms around his neck, hugging him closer.  "Thanks.  Kissing you makes me forget about my knee."

He grinned. "Oh yeah?  So how long you gonna be stuck in here? I mean, we've got a really nice room. Well, if you wanna share one with me, and if your Daddy won't skin me alive or anything."

"It's medicinal," she said.  "Just tell him that and then tell him you heard Mama thinks the same about him kissing her."

Leroy goggled at her, then laughed. "Your family is pretty cool, all in all, even if your Daddy is a bit worrisome."

"Honey trust me, he's not nearly as worrisome as Mama.  So you just relax, 'cause she likes you.  She likes Ian too, but don't tell him that."

Leroy grinned, hanging onto her hand and stroking it. "You know.. I .. You're the first woman I really, I mean... Uhm. Never mind."

"I know honey.  Now why don't you leave Mama a note and get me out of here?  I think it's time for more medicine."

Leroy scribbled a note and left it on the chair and zapped them both to their room. He didn't need to be asked twice.

It was some three hours later before Ian came down to the Commune living area. Jonah and Libby were there, as was Bobbie. Billie and Leroy were MIA and probably not going to surface any time soon.

Marc and Stephen looked up as Ian came slowly down the stairs looking hollow eyed and exhausted. Dinah too, looked up from Hell and Spawn as Marc still called them.

Ian ran his eyes across the gathered group and sighed.  Laz, hanging out by the liquor cabinet poured a good two fingers of scotch and handed the glass to Ian, who swallowed it in one go.

"They're on an island. It is magically warded, hidden and it will take some time to figure out how to overcome the magic in order to realistically assault the place."

Jonah rubbed his chin.  "Is an assault the only way?  On to the island I mean."

"If we can figure out the spell and counter it, maybe not," Ian admitted taking a seat, and rubbing his brow with the back of his hand, as if he had a bad headache.

"Would you like some food to go with the drink Laz is pouring for you?" Dinah asked, passing one baby to Marc and the other to Bobbie.  Laz, taking the hint, refreshed his drink.

"If it isn't too much trouble," Ian replied.  Then he looked at Jonah. "I did get some data on the spell. Perhaps later, when I'm a bit rested we could get together and look at it."

"Whenever you're up to it," he said, watching Libby follow Dinah to the kitchen.

Ian nodded. "It's complex. He knows what he's doing."

"I'm not surprised," Jonah said.  He glanced at the kitchen and then said.  "'Specially since he got past whatever you were using to protect her in the first place, being as I can't imagine you'd sit still for her doing this craziness without something."

"I had a very hidden locator spell on her, and had given her a way of extracting herself if necessary. That neither spell is working is definitely worrying. We also arranged a way to communicate. She is not answering. But, on the plus side, she is alive."

"She's not answering or she's not hearing?" Stephen asked.  "You mean the thing Christopher did?"

"Yes. I believe she is not answering. I sense her. I just get no response."

"Maybe she can't," Bobbie said, juggling Brenna from one shoulder to the other.  "I can't believe she wouldn't if she could."

Ian frowned and looked down at his drink. "I can't believe it either. And it is what is most worrying."

Jonah poured himself a drink and sat down again, focused on the glass.  "I don't know what you mean by the thing Christopher did," he said.  "Can you explain it?"

"Christopher and Marc can.. alter, for lack of a better word, structures within our minds. They connected Betty Jo and myself in a sort of group. Marc refers to it as a metaconcert I believe."

Marc looked up and said, "Indeed. A metaconcert is a way to augment individual skills and powers and create something that is greater than the sum of its parts. It generally works a bit differently than what Christopher sets up, his is less focused than what I do, but Chris seems to find ways to match groups of people up so they can combine their skills."

"So," Jonah said slowly, "It's like running cable?  Setting up a sort of mental wiring?"

"Yes, something like that. There are several sorts of connections. The Awakened have a bond. Stephen and Doni are bonded. Think of it as an always on connection. They cannot read each other's minds but they can communicate and always sense if the other is all right, or in trouble," Marc explained.

Jonah nodded.  "Well, is the link Christopher set up move-able?  Or branch-able...can it be spliced or augmented if you've access to it?"

"Yes, possibly. We could hook in myself, Christopher and Billie and Bobbie. We did that once. I'm not sure if it will extend the distance required but it might be worth attempting."

"Well," Jonah said thinking aloud, "If you could do that and follow it, the link I mean, you could maybe use it like a wick to either grab her then pull her back out along it and get her out of there, or follow it in, use it in reverse to get inside whatever he's using to ward the island with."

Marc was frowning, thinking it through. "We can't pull her out with it, but we might be able to get, say, Ian in, and he could possibly grab her and get her out of there.  What do you think, Ian."

"It's worth a try. Anything at this point," Ian replied.

"Whatever you're plotting, eat first." Dinah asked.  She set a tray down in front of Ian.  "Libby's bringing tea," she promised, sitting down.

"Thank you," Ian said and gratefully dug in.

"We're trying to figure out how to augment the connection Chris did between Betty Jo, her sisters and Ian," Marc explained. "It might get through to her if whoever has her is blocking her in some way."

"Hmm.  Like Angus and his whatever it was," she said, looking at Marc.  "You want me to take the kidlet back?"

Marc handed off his son to his mother, the boy sound asleep. "Something like that, although Angus used tech to do it, whereas this seems to be... magic?" Marc looked over at Ian for confirmation.  Ian nodded.

"But then magic and psi seem to be at some level deeply inter-related or at least synergistic. Don't you think, Ian, having Chris rattle around in your brain?"

Ian swallowed his last bite and considered that. "Well, they are two ways of accomplishing similar things.  I'd think they could be antagonistic too, in certain circumstances."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Stephen said.  "Almost like out of phase wave functions canceling each other or one overwhelming the other."

"True. So if we try this," Marc said frowning as he thought about it,"we'll have to be very careful not to cancel what Ian has out."

"It's possible that Christopher has already taken those differences into account," Dinah said, "when he set up the link.  As I recall you saying, he seemed very taken with Ian's brain.  It's possible you could check it out before hand by actually trying to."

"Good idea, Dinah," Ian replied. "How can we test it?"

"Well, first see if they can cancel out what you'll be doing.  Christopher's thing seems to be to find a way to build bonds, power-links or otherwise, between everyone he meets so they can 'share' as he puts it.  He differentiates between the same as him or different in terms of brain structure where the talent or magic resides.  And the word he used about your mind was fun.  That implies he played with it somehow, so that the sharing would be better.  Set up a similar barrier, activate Christopher's matrix and see what happens.  You might also want to let Marc take a look at what Christopher did physically, because it maybe that will tell you better how to use it and if it can be expanded."

"Go ahead, Marc, take a look," Ian said.

Marc nodded and plunged in. Ian felt his entry possibly, he thought, more because Marc wanted him to. It seemed forever to Ian that Marc's mind was in there, but was in actuality only a few seconds.

"Well, looks like he strengthened some structures and enabled others. He's made your mind more efficient. I understand why he likes it as your mind is quite tidy and less, shall we say, cluttered than most I've visited. Possibly due to the fact you lost function when you had your brain injury and your mind had a chance to reset itself. At any rate, I don't see a problem with feedback or psi and magic interference. Probably because Chris was intent on connecting you to him, and he is all psi function."

"So, then we are ready to try for me to go in following the link and me try to get her out?" Ian asked.

Dinah smiled.  "I'd say so."

Jonah nodded, all his teeth showing.

Ian set aside his food tray and stood. "Wish me luck." He winked out.