The Serum
By Katianna
AN: OK, so I should finish one thing before I start another, but I figure 'Rebuild' is ferae's responsibility, and since she's sulking at the moment because no one has, as yet, reviewed the end of Stir Crazy her muse has gone with her (if you listen very hard you can hear her and her muse sobbing in the background, but maybe that has something to do with 'I Forget's fanfic 'Gift from an Angel') Yikes, is there such thing as multiple muse disorder? You'd think it would be a good thing, having two instead of one, but when they both talk at once things go very wrong... Anyway, this has been suggesting itself to my muse for a while so I hope u like. ;-)
Perfect may only come around once in a lifetime...
~Richard, Fool for Love"I'm ready."
"Welcome to our new life Shalimar."
Shalimar moaned as she sat up, her body complaining at the early hour, to scrub viciously at her eyes.
"Shalimar." She could feel Richards hands around her wrists, but she was stronger than him now that he was fully human and she pulled away. "Shalimar," He tried again, "You have to stop scratching, you're going to hurt yourself. I know how hard it is. I've been here. It's just the serum working on your feral eyes." Sighing, Shalimar stopped scratching, placing the palms of her hands against her eyes.
"It itches."
"I know, but this is the worst part of the whole process. I promise you." She leant into him, relaxing as he wrapped his arms around her. "It won't be long now. Just two more doses and it will be finished." She nodded silently into his chest.
"Wait here, I'll get you a compress."
"I'm not going anywhere. I ache too much to move." The cloth was cool against her irritated eyes as she replaced his hands with her own. She kept hold his hand as he went to move away, moving the flannel to look him in the eye. "Thank you." She whispered, smiling.
"No problem. You know I love you, right?"
"Of course." Lifting hand to her lips she lay a soft kiss on the palm. "I love you too. That's why I'm here. With you."
Adam was pacing, walking the circuit between his lab and the computer console again and again. He knew where Shalimar was and he knew what she was doing. The tests he had run on the sample of the serum that she had given him showed exactly what it was capable of. And he knew that when he saw her next she would be very different. In some ways he was overwhelmingly happy for her, Shalimar had survived an awful lot in her life. She deserved a little happiness. But the thought that he might never see her again - for there was no doubt she would want to distance herself from the mutant community once she was human - it chilled him.
"Adam please stop pacing." And then of course there was Emma and Brennan, so new to Mutant X.
"I'm sorry Emma. I'm just worried about Shalimar."
"You think she's made the wrong decision?"
"No, I trust that she knows her own heart. I'm worried that she's given up an awful lot for someone she doesn't know."
"Her heart knows him."
"The heart doesn't always lead us true."
"Some of us would kill to be normal. To be 'human'. She's got that chance and it looks like she's taking it. Why do you say she's giving something up?"
"You don't know Shalimar very well yet. She lives and breathes feral. It's who she is on the deepest level imaginable, beyond her DNA. She doesn't see her mutancy as others do. In some ways I can't believe she would do this."
"She'll be fine. She can hold her own."
"Will she still be Shalimar afterwards though?"
AN2: Want more? You're going to get it anyway, lol, but feedback would be nice!
Disclaimer - I don't own these characters or situations, they belong to Tribune Entertainment and the rest, but I do own the storyline and writing. I'm not making any money out of this writing, I do it just for fun (honest).
Have you ever had one of those conversations, you know the ones.
'What you writing?'
'Fanfic' (blank look)
'What for?'
'Fun'
'What lesson for?'
'No, I write for fun.'
'OK, but what lesson is it for? Is it home work?'
*D'oh.*
I should learn not to write at school. But I write ALL the time, how can I stop!?! I'm considering setting up a support group. Fic writers Anonymous. We're the ones with lots of pieces of paper and a chewed up pencil, looking distraught because we've just killed another of our favourite characters, again. OK, I'll shut up and go away now.