"What the heck was Xavier talking about?" Flynn asked.

They'd been with the boy all morning and they hadn't seen or noticed anything abnormal. He was still lying on the bed, where he'd been this entire time. They had positioned him to look a little more comfortable, and it hadn't changed.

The only thing that did change was that the station had fancy equipment that allowed Hannah to keep the body cool enough to prevent rapid decomposition, but the machine had malfunctioned overnight causing his body temperature to rise almost to room temperature. They'd manage to fix the machine and were going to cool him down again when they were finished for the day.

However, to make Xavier happy, she figured they better do as they were told and leave the room. After they took off their equipment, they had retired to her office to watch the footage that Cheryl had filmed while Flynn and her continued their research. There was a lot of footage to review, and she felt like it was wasting valuable time all because Xavier thought he saw something.

Walking over to the counter, she poured herself a coffee when she heard Flynn gasp. "Wait, what was that. Right there." He pointed at something on the screen that she couldn't quite see. "Rewind it," he told Cheryl.

All three of them leaned towards the screen, heads almost touching, when they saw it— the slight flicker of his finger.

"He shouldn't still be having twitches, should he?" Flynn asked Hannah.

Hannah shook her head. "No, he shouldn't. Initially shortly after they die, they may experience cadaveric spasms, but this is definitely not that."

Their camera footage verified that Xavier hadn't been hallucinating. At first she wondered if it was a case of the camera in the lab vibrating or something, but now that she'd seen it herself on her own camera, she had no choice but to believe it. Anywhere else and she'd have suspected someone altered the footage, but this was her team and she knew what they were looking at was fact. When Xavier first mentioned it, she had almost called Doctor Booth to do an evaluation of him, but now she was glad she didn't because he'd actually been telling the truth.

Now she had to call the doctor for an entirely different reason. They needed to do an electroencephalogram on the boy and find out what was going on inside his head. Just as she was about to call him, security burst into the room, declaring the isolation lab off-limits until the threat had been assessed.

"How are we supposed to assess him if we can't go in there?" she asked.

The guard shrugged and stood in front of the door leading into the isolation lab. "I don't know, I'm just following orders."

She was a doctor. One of the best people on the station to assess the situation and she couldn't even do her job. Crossing her arms, she leaned back against her neck and glared at the man. She knew she shouldn't be mad at him, but she was. They just discovered something new and she couldn't do anything about it.

Hannah opened her mouth to complain again when Xavier rushed into the room, so she turned her frustration towards him. "He hasn't moved more than a finger since this all started. Can't we go back in now?" she asked.

"We need clearance from Director Adams before anything more can be done," Xavier told her.

"This is my project. I'm the boss in this lab. If he's alive, he could be paralyzed and scared."

"I get that, but we need to follow proper protocol. All we know is that this boy is thousands of years old according to the documents from the dig site. He shouldn't be alive."

Hannah grumbled under her breath and stared at the boy through the observation window. What he said made sense. The longest anyone has survived being in cold water was roughly 80 minutes. Any longer was wishful thinking on her part. That only left one other option, parasites making its way through the body. They could make it look like the body was moving sometimes. But the question was, was the parasite alien or native to their soil? Until they found out which one, they would have to put the body in an isolation bubble.

"Look," she said to Xavier. "I don't have time to wait. We may be dealing with a parasitic organism, and if it's an alien one, we need to get that specimen in total isolation, even more than it is now."

Xavier nodded and stepped away from their group to make the call. Hannah's anxiety made her heart pound a mile a minute, tightening her chest a little. How was it that she managed to find something new at every project she went to? Did something dangerous hitch a ride with the boy? They were going to do an MRI but hadn't gotten around to it yet. Had they already been contaminated having been around the youngster? Sharp pains hit her chest, and she leaned her hands on the desk, focusing on her breathing temporarily.

"You okay?" Xavier asked, placing a hand on her back.

Hannah nodded and stepped away from him.

"While we wait, can you and I talk?" he asked. "Alone?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

He leaned down and whispered. "I just want to apologize for my earlier behavior. I was completely and totally out of line at the party. I'm sorry." His voice was soft and sincere.

And that broke her wall down just a little. Most of the guys she knew didn't seem to know how to apologize. It was nice to meet one who did. "Thank you."

After another ten minutes of them just standing there, doing nothing, Director Adams and Assistant Director Clemmens entered the room. Hannah and Xavier explained the situation as thoroughly as they could.

"Well, now, that's not something I expected," Adams said, scratching his head as he stared at the motionless boy.

"I need to get back in there," Hannah pleaded with the Director.

"Given that there have been no other oddities, I don't see why not; but, I want you to do a de-contamination of the entire room first. In the meantime, I"ll contact Doctor Booth and have him drop off any necessary equipment to help with your assessment." Adams turned to Xavier specifically. "I want one of your men stationed here at all times until we know what we're dealing with. He doesn't look like a violent threat to me, but better to be safe than sorry."

"I'll personally stay and supervise," Xavier offered.

"Thank you. I expect hourly reports."

"Yes, Sir!"

Director Adams and Clemmens left, and so did one of his security officers, leaving Xavier, Clint, and Hannah's team. They decontaminated the room and all put on fresh gear, even Xavier. He wasn't going into the room with them and neither was Cheryl, but they both were prepared in case they had to go inside. Although protocol dictated that they hit an emergency button that sucked all the oxygen out of the room should any alien life try to escape, but that meant killing anyone inside, and God help him, he'd get her out first before it came to that. That meant watching the entire room like a hawk.

It took about thirty minutes for Flynn and Hannah to get the boy safely in the bubble. The thing looked complex to set up, but Xavier knew it was one of the best in the world. He couldn't help but still worry about them and the station. Not knowing what they were dealing with was akin to walking into a bank hoist and not knowing how many perps there were.

He didn't like it, and by the look in Hannah's eyes, she didn't either. He wondered what was going through her mind.

Hannah was hoping that this wasn't the calm before the storm. He hadn't budged an inch during the entire time they were trying to get him inside the bubble safely with minimal contact. Her hands were sweating underneath her silicone gloves as she pulled the final zipper down as far as it could go.

Once complete, she stepped back and observed the bubble. Why was she suddenly feeling like she'd walked into the beginning of an apocalypse? Because of the movie last night, remember? she berated herself silently. Zombies. It had to be about zombies. Normally she avoided stuff like that because she worked with dead animals and people, but it was the only thing on the television before going to bed last night. She knew it was fantasy and that nothing had ever came back from the dead in that sense before.

There were legends and stories told by various cultures around the world, but that's all they were. Stories. What was the point in freaking herself out by thinking about it? She's been around hundreds of dead bodies and animals, fossils, and never had this feeling of fear, other than the very first time she was in a room with a dead thing alone, performing her first autopsy.  

"We're done. Come on, let's go have a break. I'm sure everyone could use it," Hannah said to Flynn.

Flynn stepped back from the table, his eyes weary. "You read my mind."

They stepped into the small decontamination area and cleaned up before stepping through into the office. "We're going to go eat," she told Xavier. "Take a short break."

"Wanna come?" Cheryl asked Xavier and Clint.

"I'm sure Xavier is too busy to come," Hannah told her assistant, flashing her friend a warning look. The last thing she needed was for him to go with them. He may have apologized but she wasn't ready for more banter yet.

"I'd love to. I haven't eaten for a while," Xavier responded.

Cheryl was standing behind him, pleading with Hannah silently. "Please," she mouthed.

"Fine," Hannah grumbled, throwing her hands up in the air. Everyone was against her, even her own mind. As he stood there looking at her all she could envision was dragging him into a dark room and kissing him. She had avoided him for days hoping that it would ease her feelings for him, but it hadn't. That's when she realized that maybe if Cheryl got together with him, then it would turn off his availability, and her crazy emotions for him would dim.

Hannah followed the group down the hall, Clint staying behind to monitor the lab. They made their way to the cafeteria that was still serving lunch, albeit late into the day. The place was fairly empty, with only one other table occupied by three people, two men and one woman, that she hadn't seen before...not even at the party.

Sensing her curiosity, Xavier said, "They work in stores—the warehouse. They often come here this time of day for a break."

Hannah hadn't realized exactly how large the base was until they'd been given a partial tour and even then they only saw a fraction of the base. She was in awe at how much one could cram into one place.

"This place is incredible," Flynn admitted. "You guys have everything."

"Is there any way we could check out like the machinery, the heart of what keeps this place running?" Hannah asked.

"I'm afraid some places are off-limits because of how sensitive they are, kinda like your lab. Only you guys and the higher ups can get in there, aside from security," Xavier said.

"Aw," she complained. "Not even one single complete tour?"

"That's something you'd have to take up with Director Adams."

She knew that the chances were slim that she'd be granted such a venture, but maybe if she wowed the man, he'd be willing to show her everything. That meant leaving no stone unturned and checking everything, even if it looked like nothing. She knew that even something small could turn into something big.

They grabbed their food and sat at a six chair table. Hannah took a seat across from Xavier, which now as she sat there with him staring at her, she'd wondered if she should have sat in a spot where he couldn't be eyeing her up and down so easily. He had that look in his eye that bore deep inside her, making her womanhood beg for attention.

"Stop it," she hissed quietly, glancing sideways hoping no one else heard her.

He quirked an eyebrow at her as if he didn't know what she was talking about. Cheryl leaned in. "What's going on," she whispered.

"I'm going to the ladies room," Hannah said, grabbing a hold of Cheryl's shirt and pulling her along with her. There was a washroom off to the side of the cafeteria and she dragged her friend inside with minimal protest. Once inside the tin can of a room, harboring two toilet stalls, she turned to her friend. "You have to help me."