Luke grinned wickedly as Gabriel manifested before him, arcs of electricity whirling inches from his skin in preparation to strike him down. His smokey eyes met Ureha's flickering blues as he spoke silently with Nirvana.<br/><br/>''Ana, can he actually do that?' Nirvana remained silent. She knew the answer, but she knew if she told him he would only push things further. She could have transferred out of Luke's mind back to the safety of her mainframe, but Gabriel could still destroy his implants. They would in effect be cut off from each other. New implants would never be prepared in time; his consciousness would be completely scattered, and she would lose him. And Nirvana simply couldn't bare that.<br/><br/>'Nirvana, can he do it or not?' 'Yes, Luke. I'm afraid he can.' '...Damn. Options?' 'Ureha does have a point. We should concentrate on getting our agents out of heavy conflict zones. I'm already getting communications from some of the Saints; it looks like Gwin is releasing them from her control. I'm broadcasting a Level-1 Priority Alert to all operatives to abandon their current assignments and retreat to the nearest A-Class safe houses.'<br/><br/>At the news of the Saints' safety, Luke softened his grin and lifted his hands in his typical 'all right, Sheriff, ya got me' manner and Nirvana released her hold on Gwin's nervous system. As she spluttered for breath and rose to her feet, Luke hooked his thumbs through his belt loops and shrugged.<br/><br/>"Have it your way, Loverboy. There, see? I can play nice." Then his grin hardened again, and he faced Gabriel head-on. "But there's something you should keep in mind. Next time, you'll be a lot better off aiming at me instead of Nirvana. Because kid, you really,<em>really </em>don't want to see what I'm like without her holding me back."