“Once Around” is episode sixteen of season two of Mutant X.
Shalimar and Brennan are waiting outside a courthouse surrounded by reporters. She asks if him being so close brings up bad memories. No, but he’s got better things to do with his time than wait around for a low rent hood. Shalimar says the man is a key witness who will put away the leader of one of the biggest crime syndicates. Brennan has a problem babysitting a rat. Said rat is currently in a car with a couple of FBI agents.
Adam is inside with the prosecutor, Silverman, saying he will be happier when Vic testifies. Without Vic, Raymond walks for the third time in nearly a decade. Raymond himself comes in and wishes Silverman luck. He offers to shake his hand, which Silverman does when Raymond suggests he’s afraid. Adam is telling Silverman where Vic is coming in, and Raymond sees and hears this. Probably shaking hands was a bad idea. Raymond uses a phone to tell someone that Vic is coming around the front. As he does, a motorcycle cop shoots at him, but hits one FBI agent due to them suddenly moving. The second is killed also and Vic drives the car off. The motorbike cop gets away and Brennan and Shalimar check the car that Vic was in. He’s gone.
Inside the courthouse, Adam is reassuring Silverman they will find Vic. Silverman says he and Adam were the only ones who knew, but Raymond can find out anything on anyone. He knows things before they happen, which is why it’s been next to impossible to build a case.
Raymond speaks to his lawyer; Silverman has got a 48-hour continuance. The guard leaves them alone. How eager will Vic be to testify now? Raymond’s asks his lawyer how he never asks how Raymond knows stuff; the lawyer thought it would be better for them both if he didn’t. Raymond says he has a way of getting under people’s skin; all he has to do is touch them. And he knows things about the lawyer’s personal life.
At Sanctuary, Jesse says Vic stole the wallet of one of the FBI agents. He’s taken a cash advance and rented a sportscar. Adam says that, with luck, they can track the credit card trail. Brennan thinks Vic can’t be that dumb. Yes. Yes, he is. Jesse tracks him down. Adam and Emma tell Silverman they found Vic and where. Raymond hears and tells his guard to give him a phone – or he will let the warden know about his extracurricular activities. Raymond tells his people where to go.
Vic is in his room in an expensive hotel when housekeeping comes to the door. Only it’s Brennan and Shalimar. He isn’t impressed with the job they’ve done to protect him, and he wants out. Well, he can testify or go to prison where Raymond will be able to get to him. Vic is worried. Raymond knows things he has no possible way to find out about. Jesse, watching outside the room, sees Raymond’s thugs approaching and they phase out through a wall. They head to the Double Helix, but before they take off, several shots damage the controls. It has problems and Jesse would prefer not to be trying to fix them in the air. According to Brennan, if Jesse doesn’t fix them, he may get his wish.
Adam and Emma speak to Silverman again. He didn’t tell anyone. This is why Raymond has been able to slip through the system for so long. Raymond is watching, and it seems Emma sensed something. She says it’s like when you’re on the phone and someone else picks up the line. She felt they were being watched. Adam suggests a face to face with Raymond.
Brennan has had a problem with Vic all along; he says there’s hour amongst thieves and you don’t rat on anyone. He would have gone to prison after being arrested for a job a friend did, but there wasn’t enough evidence. He makes this dislike clear to Vic as they escape the attackers. Vic says he met a woman and fell in love. He told Raymond he wanted out. The next day, Raymond put a hit on him and he knew he was dead no matter what he did. Raymond himself, having skated through on his power for so long, is overconfident and boasts about what he can do. Not a wise thing to do when speaking to people with an understanding of unusual powers.