DREAMS
Rating: R – for violence and language
Genre: Action/Drama
Summary: Someone or something is invading Shalimar's dreams.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Mutant X. Tribune Entertainment Co. owns the rights to these characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
Story by: madscientistX – mutantfic@hotmail.com
1 Saturday – 4:00am
Shalimar bolted upright, waking from an intense dream. She breathed heavily and rubbed her forehead as she tried to recover from the dream.
"You have another one of those dreams?" Brennan said as he sat up beside her.
"Yeah. This one was longer than the others." She tried to calm down and slow her breathing.
Brennan put an arm around her waist and hugged her. "It's okay." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It was just…" he stopped talking as he felt something wet on his left hand, the hand that was around her waist. He took his hand away and examined it, finding fresh blood. "Shalimar! You're bleeding!" He moved the sheets away from her to get a better look. Her nightshirt was stained with blood on her left side. "What the hell?" He looked at Shalimar with a frightened look on his face. "Lie back down," he said as he helped her lie back. She looked down at her side and saw the blood. "Doesn't it hurt?" he asked, wondering why she wasn't complaining of pain.
"No. I mean…a little."
"You're probably going into shock. I need to get you to the sanctuary, fast." He pulled the covers back over her to keep her warm and then spoke into his Comlink ring. "Adam? Adam are you there?" His voice trembled a bit as he spoke.
"Brennan, I'm here. What's wrong?"
"Shalimar is hurt. I need to get her to the sanctuary fast. I think she's going into shock. Can you meet me with the jet?"
"I'll be right there."
Brennan scooped Shalimar up and began carrying her out of the room. "Where we going?" she said sleepily.
"Adam's coming to get us. Just hang on." Brennan took her up to the roof of her apartment building and waited. It seemed like forever. But then all of a sudden he felt a strange force field lift them from the ground towards the sky. Within moments they were inside the jet and on their way to the sanctuary.
Adam programmed the jet to autopilot and made his way to the back of the jet where Brennan was close by Shalimar's side. "What happened?" he said with a panicked look on his face. He touched a hand to Shalimar's cheek. "She's burning up."
Brennan pulled the blanket away from Shalimar's wounded side. "She woke up from another one of those dreams and then I noticed she was bleeding."
Adam shook his head as he looked at her wound and then pulled the blanket back around her. Adam looked at his watch. "We should be back at sanctuary in a few minutes."
"Adam, how could this happen?" Brennan asked as he held Shalimar tightly.
"I don't know." It was all he could say as he turned and walked back to the cockpit.
Within a few minutes they arrived at sanctuary. Adam led the way to the medical unit as Brennan followed closely behind carrying Shalimar's limp form.
They entered the unit and Brennan laid her down on a table in the middle of the room. He backed away and let Adam take a good look at her. "These look like claw marks," he said as he inspected her injured side. "They're pretty deep. I just hope they're not so deep that they've done internal damage." Brennan felt helpless as he looked on.
Adam grabbed a small handheld device from a near-by shelf and turned it on. A bright red light cast from the bottom of it as he scanned over her injured side. After he was finished, he walked over to one of the computer monitors to look at the results. "There doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding. Her organs look okay." He grabbed another device and scanned it over her side. Brennan looked on as the wounds were sewn and then healed.
Adam went over to a cabinet and plugged in a special code to make it open. When it opened, there were numerous vials lined up on the shelf. He took two out and then closed the cabinet. He returned to Shalimar's side with a needle. He filled the needle with the liquid from one of the vials and inserted it into her arm. She began to stir and moaned a bit, as if in pain. "Is she okay?" Brennan asked, concerned that she appeared to be in pain.
"She'll be fine in a minute." He filled the needle with the liquid from the second vial and inserted that into her arm as well. After a moment she began to relax and her eyes fluttered open.
Adam looked at the monitor and saw her temperature come back to normal. "Hi," he said to her with a smile.
"What happened?" she said, confused.
"We're not quite sure," Adam said. "Brennan brought you in. Do you remember?"
Shalimar's brow creased a bit. "Sort of."
"What DO you remember?" Brennan asked.
"I remember you carrying me down the long corridor by the main entrance. It's fuzzy before that and after that."
Brennan grabbed a chair and rolled it over to the side of the table and sat down. "You had another one of those dreams this morning. You woke up in a cold sweat and you were bleeding."
"Bleeding?"
"Claw marks on your left side," Adam said.
Shalimar looked down at her side and didn't see any wounds, just dried blood on her shirt and three rips in it. She looked up at Adam and shook her head. "How did this happen?"
"What was your dream about?" Adam asked.
"I don't know. I only remember bits and pieces."
Brennan looked at Adam who appeared to be in deep thought. "What do you think it is Adam?"
Adam took a deep breath and then let it out. "The only thing I can think of is that someone, something, has invaded her dreams. Sounds like something Eckhart could have created."
"That's crazy!" Brennan shouted.
"Think of who we're talking about," Shalimar said.
"Shalimar, would you be willing to go under a deep memory scan? It's the only way we're going to be able to figure out what's going on." Shalimar nodded slightly. Adam smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll get set up."
Shalimar looked at Brennan and reached her hand out towards him. "I'm scared," she whispered.
Brennan took her hand and squeezed it. "It's going to be okay. Adam won't let anything happen to you."
Adam placed some patches on Shalimar's temples that had wires coming out of them. The wires were hooked up to a small computer. He keyed in some codes and then turned to Shalimar. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Adam motioned for Brennan to let go of her hand. Brennan did as he was told and moved away from her. Adam flicked a switch and Shalimar's eyes closed. "We should see the images on that screen." Adam pointed to a TV screen near where they were sitting. Within minutes they started to see a picture coming into view.
Shalimar was walking alone down a dark street. Suddenly, a large man came out of nowhere behind her, growling at her. She turned around and immediately noticed his yellow eyes. "Got a problem?" she said to him sarcastically. She attempted to go into feral mode but it wasn't working. Her carefree demeanor suddenly changed to panic as she realized she wasn't going to be able to fight him off as easily.
The man swung a leg at her and she ducked out of the way. She kicked out and hit him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. He flipped himself to his feet and sneered at her before launching his fist towards her head. She dodged it and grabbed his arm, turning it at an odd angle and hearing it crack. He fell to his knees, cradling his broken arm. She stood next to him and gave him a sly smile. "You should have played nice."
She was about to turn and walk away but that's when he swiped his arm out, catching her on the left side. She fell to the ground on her back, gasping in pain.
The man was about to attack her again but the dream sequence came to an end.
Adam and Brennan couldn't believe what they had just seen. "Wow. I've never peeked into anyone's head like that before," Brennan said.
Adam turned off the machine and Shalimar began to wake up. He removed the patches from her temples. "So? Did you see anything?" she asked as she began to sit up.
"No, no. Don't get up just yet. Let your body and mind rest for a bit." Adam pulled a monitor over to her. "I can show you what we saw and perhaps you'll remember."
Adam began playing the video. She gasped when she saw the man. "It's him."
"Him who?" Brennan asked.
"He's the man that's been in all of my dreams."
Adam paused the video so Shalimar could take a good look at him. "Have you seen him in real life?"
Shalimar shook her head. "No. I don't think so."
Adam began playing the video again and Shalimar watched intently. "My mutant abilities don't work in my dreams but yet he's clearly a feral just like me and his abilities work."
"Probably because you're in a dream state. Your body can't signal your abilities in such a state. But this guy is thrown into your dreams so his abilities work."
The video ended and Shalimar reached out for Brennan. "So what do I do? I can't stay up forever."
"You'll stay here at night. I'm going to try and come up with a program that will allow me and the others to enter your dream state. It's the only thing I can think of."
"But that could take a while. What is she going to do until then? The guy could kill her next time." Brennan rubbed Shalimar's hand as he held it.
"How often do you have these dreams? Every night?"
"No, maybe one a week. Sometimes two. No more than that."
"Then perhaps we have some time," Adam said as he took a seat in front of one of the computers. "But we don't have all the time in the world so I'm going to get started. Why don't you help Shalimar to her room. Shalimar, I want you taking it easy today."
Shalimar got up from the table with Brennan's assistance. "Thanks for all your help Adam."
"No thanks needed," he said with a smile.
Brennan helped Shalimar to one of the rooms upstairs. "I'll swing by your place and get a few things. Looks like you might be here for a while until we figure this thing out. You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little sore but I'll be fine. Thanks for fussing over me."
Brennan smiled at her. "Don't mention it." He bent over and gave her kiss. "I'll be back in a flash."
"You know where to find me," she said as she watched him leave the room.
2 Tuesday – 2:00am
Shalimar hadn't had one of her dreams in a few days and Adam was thankful for it because he wasn't finished with the program yet.
She sat up in bed watching TV, her eyelids feeling heavier and heavier with each passing minute. After a while she couldn't fight it any longer and she fell asleep. It wasn't long into her slumber when she began to dream.
She was in a large room that was all white, the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. As she looked around from where she stood she realized she was alone. Without her feral abilities she wasn't able to smell or hear anyone coming so she just stayed as alert as possible.
As she walked forward she tried to find a way out. She felt along the walls for any sign of a door but didn't find one so she kept walking. She heard a sound behind her so she quickly turned around to find out what it was. But no one was there. She turned back around and saw the feral man standing in front of her. His eyes were fierce and his facial expression was one of anger.
"So, we meet again," he spat as his eyes turned yellow.
Shalimar readied herself for a fight. "I assume you're one of Eckhart's goons."
"Gee, beautiful and smart. Too bad I'm going to have to re-arrange that beautiful face of yours." The man lashed out towards her head but she ducked and got herself behind him. As he turned she kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground. But he quickly got back to his feet and charged at her like a bull. He tackled her to the ground and began choking her. She struggled for air and tried to get his hands away from her throat but he was too strong. She managed to move her leg a bit and jammed her knee between his legs. He quickly let go of her throat and grabbed his crotch.
She coughed as the air rushed back into her lungs. Then she got to her feet and kicked him repeatedly. "Tell Eckhart to pick on someone else." She stopped kicking him and backed away, looking at him curled into a ball. "You're not so tough after all, are you?"
The man didn't answer and remained very still.
Brennan walked into Shalimar's room, rubbing his eyes because he'd just woken up and decided he'd check on her. He saw that she was sleeping but decided to lie down next to her for a while. He eased himself onto the bed next to her and watched her as she slept.
Shalimar stood near the man with her arms crossed over her chest. She took her eyes off him for only a moment and that was all he needed. The next thing she knew, a knife was sticking out of her thigh.
The man laughed at her as she stared at the knife in shock. She then reached down for the handle and in one quick motion she pulled it out. She looked at the blade as her blood dripped from it then she looked at the man who was still taunting her with his evil laughter. In a fit of rage she hurled the knife towards the man and it implanted itself in his shoulder.
Brennan had his eyes closed as he lay next to Shalimar. But he soon opened them when he felt her moving next to him. He sat up to check on her and immediately saw the blood on her thigh.
The man growled in pain as he clutched his wounded shoulder. "You bitch!" he yelled at her as he got up.
Shalimar struggled to stand on her injured leg. The wound began to burn and was bleeding heavily, spilling onto the white floor..
The man walked over to her and threw a punch that hit her square in the face. She fell to the ground and lost consciousness.
Brennan hovered over her, not knowing what to do. Blood began to pour out of her nose and he began to panic even more. "Dammit, Shalimar!" His hands were inches above her body as he debated about waking her up. He thought about going to get Adam but was afraid to leave her alone. Finally, his hands came down on her arms and he shook her lightly. "Shalimar? Shalimar, wake up." Nothing happened so he tried again. But this time he felt a surge of energy rush through his body and he collapsed on top of her.
The man stood over Shalimar's still form and was about to kick her when he heard someone's voice behind him.
"I think she's had quite enough of you," Brennan said as he threw a punch, hitting the man in the face and knocking him backwards.
The man recovered and smiled as he wiped blood from his mouth. "You want some too, huh?" He ripped the knife that was still sticking out of his shoulder and threw it at Brennan, but Brennan dodged it easily.
Brennan moved his hands in order to generate an electrical charge but nothing happened. "Dammit. Guess this is your lucky day pal. No electric enema for you today. We'll just have to finish you off the old fashioned way."
The man grunted and charged towards Brennan but Brennan swung his leg around and kicked him in the stomach. The man doubled over, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him. Brennan stood next to him with his arms crossed. "Have you had enough yet?"
The man quickly reached out and grabbed Brennan by the neck, lifting him off the ground as he squeezed. Brennan tried to pry the man's hand away from his neck but it wasn't working. He gasped for breath, trying his best to fill his lungs with air but the man's grip was too tight. After a few moments Brennan passed out and the man tossed his lifeless body onto the floor as if he were a rag doll. "You people are pathetic. No wonder Eckhart wants you dead."
The man turned around and Shalimar stabbed him right in the heart. The man's yellow eyes turned brown as he took his last breath and fell to the floor, staining the white floor with a pool of his blood.
Shalimar limped over to Brennan. Just has she knelt down to touch him she fell a surge of energy rush through her.
Shalimar awoke from her dream and tried to sit up but found Brennan lying across her. She gasped and checked his pulse but didn't find one. "Adam!" she screamed. "Adam! Help!" She got up from the bed and fell as she tried to put pressure on her wounded leg. Ignoring the pain, she dragged Brennan onto the floor and began giving him CPR. "Come on Brennan!" She breathed into his mouth, trying to force air into his lungs and then compressed his chest in an attempt to re-start his heart.
Adam came running into the room, stunned at the sight before him. "What the hell happened?"
"He got into my dream but the man choked him to death." Shalimar began to cry as she saw that Brennan wasn't responding to her CPR. She began pounding her fist on his chest. "Brennan!" she screamed. With one last hit he flinched and Adam checked his pulse.
"Wait! I've got a pulse!" he said. "Let's get him to the medical unit." Adam tossed Brennan over his shoulder and ran to the medical unit. Shalimar limped behind him, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Adam hooked Brennan up to some machines and the computers began computing the data he needed in order to assess Brennan's condition. Brennan's color began to return and his vitals were starting to return to normal. Adam turned to Shalimar, who was leaning on a table for support. "You saved his life."
"All in a days work I guess." She giggled nervously.
"Here. Sit down over here and let me take a look at that leg." Adam helped her over to a chair and inspected her wound. "Ouch," he said as he cleaned away some of the blood. "A knife I would presume?"
"Yeah. The big oaf came at me with it but I ended up giving it back to him."
Adam took out the scanner he had used on her earlier and began scanning over the wound to survey the damage. "Is he…" Shalimar only nodded in response. The device was finished scanning and Adam checked the data. "There doesn't seem to be any nerve or muscle damage. You're very lucky."
"One of these days I'm not going to be so lucky. I know cats have nine lives and all but I'm sure starting to use 'em up."
Adam patted her arm and began cleaning the blood from her face. "I can't say for sure that things are always going to have a happy ending. But that's the way our lives are, unfortunately. But I have faith in you and your ability to take care of yourself."
"But I couldn't this time. I'd be dead right now if Brennan hadn't come into my dream to save me."
Adam scanned the device over her nose and then checked the computer readings. "Good news. Your nose isn't broken, just badly bruised." Adam looked at the frustrated look on Shalimar's face as he began to set up the machine to stitch up her wounded leg. "Listen, this is why we're all a team here. We look out for one another. No one is perfect. No you. Not me. Not anyone."
Shalimar looked over at Brennan who was starting to wake up. He turned his head in her direction and smiled. She gave him a wave and he weakly waved back. Then he mouthed, "I love you."
She began to cry and mouthed, "I love you" back.
THE END
Rating: R – for violence and language
Genre: Action/Drama
Summary: Someone or something is invading Shalimar's dreams.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Mutant X. Tribune Entertainment Co. owns the rights to these characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
Story by: madscientistX – mutantfic@hotmail.com
1 Saturday – 4:00am
Shalimar bolted upright, waking from an intense dream. She breathed heavily and rubbed her forehead as she tried to recover from the dream.
"You have another one of those dreams?" Brennan said as he sat up beside her.
"Yeah. This one was longer than the others." She tried to calm down and slow her breathing.
Brennan put an arm around her waist and hugged her. "It's okay." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "It was just…" he stopped talking as he felt something wet on his left hand, the hand that was around her waist. He took his hand away and examined it, finding fresh blood. "Shalimar! You're bleeding!" He moved the sheets away from her to get a better look. Her nightshirt was stained with blood on her left side. "What the hell?" He looked at Shalimar with a frightened look on his face. "Lie back down," he said as he helped her lie back. She looked down at her side and saw the blood. "Doesn't it hurt?" he asked, wondering why she wasn't complaining of pain.
"No. I mean…a little."
"You're probably going into shock. I need to get you to the sanctuary, fast." He pulled the covers back over her to keep her warm and then spoke into his Comlink ring. "Adam? Adam are you there?" His voice trembled a bit as he spoke.
"Brennan, I'm here. What's wrong?"
"Shalimar is hurt. I need to get her to the sanctuary fast. I think she's going into shock. Can you meet me with the jet?"
"I'll be right there."
Brennan scooped Shalimar up and began carrying her out of the room. "Where we going?" she said sleepily.
"Adam's coming to get us. Just hang on." Brennan took her up to the roof of her apartment building and waited. It seemed like forever. But then all of a sudden he felt a strange force field lift them from the ground towards the sky. Within moments they were inside the jet and on their way to the sanctuary.
Adam programmed the jet to autopilot and made his way to the back of the jet where Brennan was close by Shalimar's side. "What happened?" he said with a panicked look on his face. He touched a hand to Shalimar's cheek. "She's burning up."
Brennan pulled the blanket away from Shalimar's wounded side. "She woke up from another one of those dreams and then I noticed she was bleeding."
Adam shook his head as he looked at her wound and then pulled the blanket back around her. Adam looked at his watch. "We should be back at sanctuary in a few minutes."
"Adam, how could this happen?" Brennan asked as he held Shalimar tightly.
"I don't know." It was all he could say as he turned and walked back to the cockpit.
Within a few minutes they arrived at sanctuary. Adam led the way to the medical unit as Brennan followed closely behind carrying Shalimar's limp form.
They entered the unit and Brennan laid her down on a table in the middle of the room. He backed away and let Adam take a good look at her. "These look like claw marks," he said as he inspected her injured side. "They're pretty deep. I just hope they're not so deep that they've done internal damage." Brennan felt helpless as he looked on.
Adam grabbed a small handheld device from a near-by shelf and turned it on. A bright red light cast from the bottom of it as he scanned over her injured side. After he was finished, he walked over to one of the computer monitors to look at the results. "There doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding. Her organs look okay." He grabbed another device and scanned it over her side. Brennan looked on as the wounds were sewn and then healed.
Adam went over to a cabinet and plugged in a special code to make it open. When it opened, there were numerous vials lined up on the shelf. He took two out and then closed the cabinet. He returned to Shalimar's side with a needle. He filled the needle with the liquid from one of the vials and inserted it into her arm. She began to stir and moaned a bit, as if in pain. "Is she okay?" Brennan asked, concerned that she appeared to be in pain.
"She'll be fine in a minute." He filled the needle with the liquid from the second vial and inserted that into her arm as well. After a moment she began to relax and her eyes fluttered open.
Adam looked at the monitor and saw her temperature come back to normal. "Hi," he said to her with a smile.
"What happened?" she said, confused.
"We're not quite sure," Adam said. "Brennan brought you in. Do you remember?"
Shalimar's brow creased a bit. "Sort of."
"What DO you remember?" Brennan asked.
"I remember you carrying me down the long corridor by the main entrance. It's fuzzy before that and after that."
Brennan grabbed a chair and rolled it over to the side of the table and sat down. "You had another one of those dreams this morning. You woke up in a cold sweat and you were bleeding."
"Bleeding?"
"Claw marks on your left side," Adam said.
Shalimar looked down at her side and didn't see any wounds, just dried blood on her shirt and three rips in it. She looked up at Adam and shook her head. "How did this happen?"
"What was your dream about?" Adam asked.
"I don't know. I only remember bits and pieces."
Brennan looked at Adam who appeared to be in deep thought. "What do you think it is Adam?"
Adam took a deep breath and then let it out. "The only thing I can think of is that someone, something, has invaded her dreams. Sounds like something Eckhart could have created."
"That's crazy!" Brennan shouted.
"Think of who we're talking about," Shalimar said.
"Shalimar, would you be willing to go under a deep memory scan? It's the only way we're going to be able to figure out what's going on." Shalimar nodded slightly. Adam smiled at her and patted her on the shoulder. "I'll get set up."
Shalimar looked at Brennan and reached her hand out towards him. "I'm scared," she whispered.
Brennan took her hand and squeezed it. "It's going to be okay. Adam won't let anything happen to you."
Adam placed some patches on Shalimar's temples that had wires coming out of them. The wires were hooked up to a small computer. He keyed in some codes and then turned to Shalimar. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
Adam motioned for Brennan to let go of her hand. Brennan did as he was told and moved away from her. Adam flicked a switch and Shalimar's eyes closed. "We should see the images on that screen." Adam pointed to a TV screen near where they were sitting. Within minutes they started to see a picture coming into view.
Shalimar was walking alone down a dark street. Suddenly, a large man came out of nowhere behind her, growling at her. She turned around and immediately noticed his yellow eyes. "Got a problem?" she said to him sarcastically. She attempted to go into feral mode but it wasn't working. Her carefree demeanor suddenly changed to panic as she realized she wasn't going to be able to fight him off as easily.
The man swung a leg at her and she ducked out of the way. She kicked out and hit him in the stomach, sending him to the ground. He flipped himself to his feet and sneered at her before launching his fist towards her head. She dodged it and grabbed his arm, turning it at an odd angle and hearing it crack. He fell to his knees, cradling his broken arm. She stood next to him and gave him a sly smile. "You should have played nice."
She was about to turn and walk away but that's when he swiped his arm out, catching her on the left side. She fell to the ground on her back, gasping in pain.
The man was about to attack her again but the dream sequence came to an end.
Adam and Brennan couldn't believe what they had just seen. "Wow. I've never peeked into anyone's head like that before," Brennan said.
Adam turned off the machine and Shalimar began to wake up. He removed the patches from her temples. "So? Did you see anything?" she asked as she began to sit up.
"No, no. Don't get up just yet. Let your body and mind rest for a bit." Adam pulled a monitor over to her. "I can show you what we saw and perhaps you'll remember."
Adam began playing the video. She gasped when she saw the man. "It's him."
"Him who?" Brennan asked.
"He's the man that's been in all of my dreams."
Adam paused the video so Shalimar could take a good look at him. "Have you seen him in real life?"
Shalimar shook her head. "No. I don't think so."
Adam began playing the video again and Shalimar watched intently. "My mutant abilities don't work in my dreams but yet he's clearly a feral just like me and his abilities work."
"Probably because you're in a dream state. Your body can't signal your abilities in such a state. But this guy is thrown into your dreams so his abilities work."
The video ended and Shalimar reached out for Brennan. "So what do I do? I can't stay up forever."
"You'll stay here at night. I'm going to try and come up with a program that will allow me and the others to enter your dream state. It's the only thing I can think of."
"But that could take a while. What is she going to do until then? The guy could kill her next time." Brennan rubbed Shalimar's hand as he held it.
"How often do you have these dreams? Every night?"
"No, maybe one a week. Sometimes two. No more than that."
"Then perhaps we have some time," Adam said as he took a seat in front of one of the computers. "But we don't have all the time in the world so I'm going to get started. Why don't you help Shalimar to her room. Shalimar, I want you taking it easy today."
Shalimar got up from the table with Brennan's assistance. "Thanks for all your help Adam."
"No thanks needed," he said with a smile.
Brennan helped Shalimar to one of the rooms upstairs. "I'll swing by your place and get a few things. Looks like you might be here for a while until we figure this thing out. You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little sore but I'll be fine. Thanks for fussing over me."
Brennan smiled at her. "Don't mention it." He bent over and gave her kiss. "I'll be back in a flash."
"You know where to find me," she said as she watched him leave the room.
2 Tuesday – 2:00am
Shalimar hadn't had one of her dreams in a few days and Adam was thankful for it because he wasn't finished with the program yet.
She sat up in bed watching TV, her eyelids feeling heavier and heavier with each passing minute. After a while she couldn't fight it any longer and she fell asleep. It wasn't long into her slumber when she began to dream.
She was in a large room that was all white, the walls, the ceiling, and the floor. As she looked around from where she stood she realized she was alone. Without her feral abilities she wasn't able to smell or hear anyone coming so she just stayed as alert as possible.
As she walked forward she tried to find a way out. She felt along the walls for any sign of a door but didn't find one so she kept walking. She heard a sound behind her so she quickly turned around to find out what it was. But no one was there. She turned back around and saw the feral man standing in front of her. His eyes were fierce and his facial expression was one of anger.
"So, we meet again," he spat as his eyes turned yellow.
Shalimar readied herself for a fight. "I assume you're one of Eckhart's goons."
"Gee, beautiful and smart. Too bad I'm going to have to re-arrange that beautiful face of yours." The man lashed out towards her head but she ducked and got herself behind him. As he turned she kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground. But he quickly got back to his feet and charged at her like a bull. He tackled her to the ground and began choking her. She struggled for air and tried to get his hands away from her throat but he was too strong. She managed to move her leg a bit and jammed her knee between his legs. He quickly let go of her throat and grabbed his crotch.
She coughed as the air rushed back into her lungs. Then she got to her feet and kicked him repeatedly. "Tell Eckhart to pick on someone else." She stopped kicking him and backed away, looking at him curled into a ball. "You're not so tough after all, are you?"
The man didn't answer and remained very still.
Brennan walked into Shalimar's room, rubbing his eyes because he'd just woken up and decided he'd check on her. He saw that she was sleeping but decided to lie down next to her for a while. He eased himself onto the bed next to her and watched her as she slept.
Shalimar stood near the man with her arms crossed over her chest. She took her eyes off him for only a moment and that was all he needed. The next thing she knew, a knife was sticking out of her thigh.
The man laughed at her as she stared at the knife in shock. She then reached down for the handle and in one quick motion she pulled it out. She looked at the blade as her blood dripped from it then she looked at the man who was still taunting her with his evil laughter. In a fit of rage she hurled the knife towards the man and it implanted itself in his shoulder.
Brennan had his eyes closed as he lay next to Shalimar. But he soon opened them when he felt her moving next to him. He sat up to check on her and immediately saw the blood on her thigh.
The man growled in pain as he clutched his wounded shoulder. "You bitch!" he yelled at her as he got up.
Shalimar struggled to stand on her injured leg. The wound began to burn and was bleeding heavily, spilling onto the white floor..
The man walked over to her and threw a punch that hit her square in the face. She fell to the ground and lost consciousness.
Brennan hovered over her, not knowing what to do. Blood began to pour out of her nose and he began to panic even more. "Dammit, Shalimar!" His hands were inches above her body as he debated about waking her up. He thought about going to get Adam but was afraid to leave her alone. Finally, his hands came down on her arms and he shook her lightly. "Shalimar? Shalimar, wake up." Nothing happened so he tried again. But this time he felt a surge of energy rush through his body and he collapsed on top of her.
The man stood over Shalimar's still form and was about to kick her when he heard someone's voice behind him.
"I think she's had quite enough of you," Brennan said as he threw a punch, hitting the man in the face and knocking him backwards.
The man recovered and smiled as he wiped blood from his mouth. "You want some too, huh?" He ripped the knife that was still sticking out of his shoulder and threw it at Brennan, but Brennan dodged it easily.
Brennan moved his hands in order to generate an electrical charge but nothing happened. "Dammit. Guess this is your lucky day pal. No electric enema for you today. We'll just have to finish you off the old fashioned way."
The man grunted and charged towards Brennan but Brennan swung his leg around and kicked him in the stomach. The man doubled over, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him. Brennan stood next to him with his arms crossed. "Have you had enough yet?"
The man quickly reached out and grabbed Brennan by the neck, lifting him off the ground as he squeezed. Brennan tried to pry the man's hand away from his neck but it wasn't working. He gasped for breath, trying his best to fill his lungs with air but the man's grip was too tight. After a few moments Brennan passed out and the man tossed his lifeless body onto the floor as if he were a rag doll. "You people are pathetic. No wonder Eckhart wants you dead."
The man turned around and Shalimar stabbed him right in the heart. The man's yellow eyes turned brown as he took his last breath and fell to the floor, staining the white floor with a pool of his blood.
Shalimar limped over to Brennan. Just has she knelt down to touch him she fell a surge of energy rush through her.
Shalimar awoke from her dream and tried to sit up but found Brennan lying across her. She gasped and checked his pulse but didn't find one. "Adam!" she screamed. "Adam! Help!" She got up from the bed and fell as she tried to put pressure on her wounded leg. Ignoring the pain, she dragged Brennan onto the floor and began giving him CPR. "Come on Brennan!" She breathed into his mouth, trying to force air into his lungs and then compressed his chest in an attempt to re-start his heart.
Adam came running into the room, stunned at the sight before him. "What the hell happened?"
"He got into my dream but the man choked him to death." Shalimar began to cry as she saw that Brennan wasn't responding to her CPR. She began pounding her fist on his chest. "Brennan!" she screamed. With one last hit he flinched and Adam checked his pulse.
"Wait! I've got a pulse!" he said. "Let's get him to the medical unit." Adam tossed Brennan over his shoulder and ran to the medical unit. Shalimar limped behind him, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Adam hooked Brennan up to some machines and the computers began computing the data he needed in order to assess Brennan's condition. Brennan's color began to return and his vitals were starting to return to normal. Adam turned to Shalimar, who was leaning on a table for support. "You saved his life."
"All in a days work I guess." She giggled nervously.
"Here. Sit down over here and let me take a look at that leg." Adam helped her over to a chair and inspected her wound. "Ouch," he said as he cleaned away some of the blood. "A knife I would presume?"
"Yeah. The big oaf came at me with it but I ended up giving it back to him."
Adam took out the scanner he had used on her earlier and began scanning over the wound to survey the damage. "Is he…" Shalimar only nodded in response. The device was finished scanning and Adam checked the data. "There doesn't seem to be any nerve or muscle damage. You're very lucky."
"One of these days I'm not going to be so lucky. I know cats have nine lives and all but I'm sure starting to use 'em up."
Adam patted her arm and began cleaning the blood from her face. "I can't say for sure that things are always going to have a happy ending. But that's the way our lives are, unfortunately. But I have faith in you and your ability to take care of yourself."
"But I couldn't this time. I'd be dead right now if Brennan hadn't come into my dream to save me."
Adam scanned the device over her nose and then checked the computer readings. "Good news. Your nose isn't broken, just badly bruised." Adam looked at the frustrated look on Shalimar's face as he began to set up the machine to stitch up her wounded leg. "Listen, this is why we're all a team here. We look out for one another. No one is perfect. No you. Not me. Not anyone."
Shalimar looked over at Brennan who was starting to wake up. He turned his head in her direction and smiled. She gave him a wave and he weakly waved back. Then he mouthed, "I love you."
She began to cry and mouthed, "I love you" back.
THE END