Confining Spaces
Disclaimer: Not mine! Mutant X belongs to Tribune and Marvel.
Rating: PG
A/N: It occurred to me that we never see any of them celebrating their birthday or any holiday for that matter. So I wrote this little story late one night when I was bored. It's a bit different than my normal stories, but I hope you have fun with it!! Thank you!!
Every year it was the same. When one of the boy's birthdays came around, Shalimar knew disaster would befall somewhere, somehow, and she was determined not to get involved this year. Boys will be boys, she mused to herself as she walked down the hallway, lost in thought.
From seemingly out of nowhere, Brennan ran past her, looping his arm through his and spinning her around to face him, meeting her startled expression with a huge grin.
"I've got it, Shal!"
She stared up at him, eyebrows raised.
"For Jesse's birthday, I've got it." Brennan rubbed his hands together, "He'll never see it coming." He chuckled evilly.
"Unh-uh, no way, Brennan." Shalimar folded her arms. "Count me out this year."
"Come on, Shal," Brennan needled, "I can't do it without you."
"No way."
"Please."
"Ask Emma."
"I can't." He fidgeted, "She, ah, she already turned me down."
"What do you expect," Shalimar's lips quirked upward, "last year she ended up with purple hair."
"That wasn't my fault!" Brennan couldn't help but laugh at the memory. "Besides, there's no dye involved this time, I promise."
She frowned, thinking.
"Come on, Shal," He grasped her upper arms, "Please say you'll help me."
"Well--" She hedged.
"Good!" Brennan brightened, planting a quick kiss on her cheek, "You won't regret it, trust me!" He jogged off without telling her the plan.
She snorted after his disappearing figure. I'm probably going to regret this.
Two days later, Shalimar stared at Brennan with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You want to do what, where??" Her voice rose shrilly.
Jesse sighed as he banged his hand against the table in frustration. He couldn't believe it, hadn't wanted to believe it, but the day was almost over, and they had yet to remember. Today was his birthday. At first he thought they were planning another surprise for him. But then Adam had gone to speak at a convention, taking Emma with him, and Brennan and Shalimar were out on a mission. He was left to stay behind and man the computers. Again. He was always left behind. Normally he didn't mind, but today was supposed to be different, and they hadn't even remembered. He sighed again, picking up Adam's To-Do list, crossing off another item and reading the next chore. Adam was having some new medical equipment delivered and needed him to go pick it up at the shipping office. One downfall of living in a secret lair, he chuckled to himself, can't exactly have home delivery. His eyebrows rose at the estimated size of the box. What the hell had Adam ordered, an elephant?
Shalimar crossed her arms, leaning back against the wood wall behind her. Next to her, Brennan crouched, head tilted down to his shoulder in order to avoid hitting the ceiling. She blew out a deep breath, the sound loud in the confining space. She couldn't believe she had let him talk her into this. She couldn't believe she was standing inside a box.
"I don't know, Brennan," She smiled wryly, "I think this is your craziest scheme yet." She was painfully aware of how close they stood.
"Yeah," Brennan murmured back, "He'll never see this one coming." Why hadn't he thought about this part of the plan? Hours stuck in a tiny space with Shalimar. Damn, she smelled good.
They smiled awkwardly at each other as they again fell silent.
Jesse shrugged on his coat, pausing to finish off the sandwich clutched in one hand. He was running late, the research on the computer having taken him longer than anticipated. He trotted towards the garage, pausing as Adam's personal line rang. He debated answering it, and then groaned, running over and picking it up. I have to do everything around here, he grumbled to himself, reaching the phone on the fifth ring.
"Hello?"
"Hello," A voice crackled through the line, "This is Speedy Delivery calling, we've got a shipment waiting for a Mr. Kilmartin?"
"Yeah," Jesse glanced at his watch, "I'm on my way."
"Very good," the voice intoned, "Speedy Delivery thanks you and Mr. Mulwray for doing business with us." The line clicked.
Whatever, Jesse moodily shook his head, heading back out the door. I need to get a life. It's my birthday and no one even---wait a minute. Mr. Mulwray?
"I thought Adam ordered that equipment," Jesse mused aloud. His steps slowed, and he grinned triumphantly. "Uh-uh, gotcha, Brennan!" He turned back around and picked up the phone.
Brennan winced as he painfully rolled his head to the other side. He was getting stiff from standing at a bent angle for so long. He glanced enviously over at Shalimar as she stood straight, head still inches from the roof.
"What's taking so long?" Shalimar swung her arms in small circles trying to get the circulation going again. Everything was starting to fall asleep from standing in one place for so long. "I need to move."
"Can't be much longer now," Brennan tried to sound cheerful, knowing she would kill him if he gave any indication of second thoughts.
Shalimar sighed heavily, as she had been doing several times over the past few hours. "Come on Brennan," She tugged on his shirt, "Trade spaces with me."
"Why?" He stared down at her.
She shrugged. "I don't know, I just need to move."
"Well, there's not really any place to go."
"Don't remind me." Her eyes flashed in the darkness. "I hate confining spaces."
"Ok, ok." Brennan decided he better humor her. "Let's trade places then."
"Good." She brightened up at the idea of something to do. She pushed herself off the wall and turned sideways, trying to squeeze by him.
"Oomph!" he groaned as her shoulder dug sharply into his stomach. "Watch it!"
"Well," she huffed, pushing harder, "You're taking up all the room."
"I am not."
She frowned up at him, turning her back on him as she realized she wasn't going to fit the way she was trying. She raised herself up on tiptoes, stretching out her body and tried again.
Brennan gasped as her backside brushed against him. Heat seared through his body. "Wait, Shal," He quickly stilled her movements. "That's not--ah, yeah, that's not going to work."
"Oh." She inched her way back to the wall.
Silence fell over them again.
Jesse chuckled to himself as he glanced again at his watch as he waited on hold, phone pressed to his ear. He sat on the edge of the desk while he waited for the service man to come back online. He was so going to get them. His fingers drummed on the table top as he waited, wishing he could see Brennan's face when he realized what had happened. He straightened back up as the hold music abruptly cut off and the man came back on the line.
"You can?" He spoke back into the phone. "That's great, just great." He nodded as the man gave him more specifics, breaking out in laughter as soon as he hung up the phone. He didn't know how he would possibly be able to top this one in the future. He whistled to himself as he strolled out of Adam's office, unable to stop the wide grin from stealing across his face. Happy birthday to me.
She was convinced the walls were shrinking. She clenched her teeth, about to wring Brennan's neck. Either that or kiss him. She shivered as his scent again washed over her. She didn't know how much longer she could stay still before she went completely crazy.
"Brennan!" She whined, "I can't take this anymore!"
Brennan's hand fell on her shoulder in a sympathetic gesture. The warmth of his hand burned through her shirt. She squirmed.
"Sorry, Shal." He finally admitted it aloud, "Guess this wasn't such a great idea after all."
She took pity on his drooping shoulders. "It's ok, Bren."
"It's just, I really wanted to get him good this year. Really surprise him."
"I know." She pushed herself off the wall again, resting a hand on his chest. "And we will. This will work out yet."
Just as she spoke, the box gave a great creak and jerked forward.
"Whoa!" She flew smack into his chest as he stumbled back against the wall.
"We're moving!" He caught her in his arms.
"This must finally be it!" She stared excitedly up into his face.
"Must be," His eyes sparkled down at her. "Thanks, Shal."
"For what?" Her mouth went suddenly dry at his look.
"For doing this with me." His arms tightened their hold on her imperceptively. She froze as they locked gazes.
A slight noise outside broke the moment and caught his attention. He twisted slightly to the side, stooping over to peer through a tiny hole near the lid. "We're definitely moving," he announced.
Shalimar watched Brennan's face, his arms, the way the muscles knotted as he unconsciously pressed his hands against the wall. His sleeves were rolled back, and she could see that his biceps were strong. The box bounced and she bounced with it. Brennan's body swayed, held in place by hands that braced against the walls, as he stood firm, eyes not leaving the small peephole.
"Can you see anything?" Shalimar asked after a time. Her throat was so dry she could hardly speak.
"Not much," Brennan shook his head. "Oh, wait!"
"What!" Shalimar pushed herself up on tiptoe just as the box took a sudden turn, sending her sprawling backward. She crashed her head into the opposite wall. It dazed her for a moment, but then she was back again. "What is it?" She demanded, trying to see.
One of Brennan's arms dropped from the wall, and he held her to his side so she could see.
"We're on a truck!" She shrieked. "We must be going to the warehouse now!"
"We'll be surprising Jesse very soon," Brennan's eyes gleamed as he dropped his other arm and allowed the rocking movement to tumble his body back against the wall. Shalimar fell with him, and they laughed as he pulled her close. The box swayed, and their bodies swayed with it. Shalimar laughed again as she rested her cheek against Brennan's chest.
He reached down and tangled his fingers in her hair. "I'm so glad you came with me," he whispered, touching his lips to hers. "I admit, I didn't think about this part of it, but now," he kissed her again and she yielded to his warmth, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Shh," She kissed his cheek, the ridge over his nose, his mouth. His lips opened.
Back at Sanctuary, Jesse chuckled at the shocked look on Adam and Emma's faces. "You sent them where?" Adam's voice ended in a roar as Emma's hand flew to her mouth to stifle her laugh.
Back in their confining space, Brennan and Shalimar eagerly waited for the movement to stop and for the lid to pop open. They couldn't wait to see the look on Jesse's face. After a while, they began to feel uneasy; they had been moving for a long time.
"Hello?" Brennan hammered on the lid of the box, "Is anyone there?"
Inside a truck cab, in the middle of nowhere, a man drove down a deserted highway, singing along with the radio at the top of his lungs, oblivious to the banging in the back of his truck. Life was good; he had a full stomach, a good radio station, and a long night's drive ahead of him.