Daniel 10:14(New King James Version)
Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come."
"Wait a minute…wait a minute," Lexa said. "My Leo and your Emma were a couple?"
"According to the DNA records they were," Jesse answered.
Lexa joined Shalimar sitting down.
"What about baby Justin?" Shalimar asked.
"Yes…that's even stranger," Jesse informed.
Lexa and Shalimar looked at each other. With the onslaught of news Jesse had given them, they didn't know the depth of the word 'stranger'.
"What is it?" Lexa asked cautiously.
Jesse looked sick for a moment then regained his composure.
"Lexa, Justin is your son," Jesse said.
Lexa let out a breath full of relief, "Okay I'm going to have a child in about four years. What's strange about that?"
Jesse gave Lexa a look. He wondered if she had forgotten a previous conversation in which Lexa said something to the extent of mutants having a child was breaking the laws of nature. Lexa returned Jesse a look because he had told her that a few little Lexa's running around would be pretty nice.
"Justin's father is Brennan," Jesse blurted out.
It was Lexa's turn to feel sick. Shalimar felt betrayed.
"What?" came a simultaneous question from the girls.
Jesse moved his mouth around for a few seconds trying to generate words.
"I only know it is true because of the DNA, I don't know why it is true."
Lexa left in a huff. She could feel Shalimar's wrath emanating from her entire body. The elemental ran up the stairs and stood at the door where the children were playing. She took five slow, deep breaths to regain her poise. Lexa calmly walked into the room. The triplets looked up at her from their coloring. Lexa eyed the room. Everything was in place and Justin was sleeping curled up on a chair. Lexa sat on the floor by the coffee table so she could be level with the children. The little girl got up and seated herself on Lexa's lap. The boys stared at the little girl as if she were a traitor.
"Your name is Em?" Lexa asked playing with the child's long blonde hair.
"Yup," the girl replied popping her lips at the p sound.
"Is it short for Emma?" Lexa asked.
She nodded her head proudly.
"You figured out who we are?" one boy asked.
"Even though we haven't been born yet?" the other finished.
"Only who you belong to," Lexa said. "What are your names?" she asked.
"Em already told you."
"Yes, but she didn't point out who was who," Lexa clarified. "Samuel?" she asked first.
"Nice to meet you," Samuel said kindly.
Samuel stood up very proud and distinguished and sat at Lexa's right side. Lexa almost laughed. The boy had the posture of a soldier, and the demeanor of a gentleman, but his light brown hair was wild, and his clothes were torn. His identical brother, however, had his hair cropped short, and neatly combed back, so that his rusty brown eyes were his prominent feature. He wore crisp, clean clothes that he would fidget with when he was nervous. His posture was slouched, and he had the manner, although subtle, of a cornered animal. Marcus' eyes darted about as if he were waiting for something to jump out of the corner. He watched Lexa with the two kids as if wondering what her intentions were.
"So you must be Marcus?" she said to the last boy sitting away from her.
Marcus still stared assessing the situation. It took him a long moment, but he deemed it safe. Marcus didn't answer Lexa's question. He did crawl over from where he was sitting to her left side and put his head on Lexa's upper arm. He took the arm of his sister and moved his thumbs down her wrist so that her fingers would close without her controlling it. Em laughed and did the same to him. Marcus did this without ever taking his head off of Lexa's arm.
Lexa couldn't help, but wonder about Marcus. Except for the blue eyes that she got from Brennan's father, Em looked just like her mother. She even had the same vibrant, trusting, and caring personality as Shalimar. Samuel was impish, fun, and at the same time logical, comparable to his father. Marcus and Samuel had the shared similar features to Brennan. Their hair was lighter, but would probably darken with age, and their eyes were a nice mix of both Shalimar and Brennan. Personality wise Marcus was cautious, observant, and low key. None of those traits seemed to match either parent. Lexa wasn't thinking that Marcus wasn't part of his family because growing up she too was nothing like her parents. What Lexa was wondering is if Marcus still felt like he belonged.
"I want to play with the Lego again," Marcus said suddenly.
"Me too," chimed Samuel.
"I want to play basketball with my dollies," Em cried gleefully.
Lexa couldn't suppress the laugh that time.
"Basketball with your dollies?" she asked.
"Yup…I usually win that way," she said.
"Somehow it makes perfect sense," Lexa responded getting up with the kids.
Sanctuary did have a number of toys. The team would buy some each time a person came to visit who had a kid. They had some of the toys the kids would bring over and leave. Adam had toys left from the mutant children he would care for off and on (for years sometimes) until he could find a good family for them. Lexa picked up the sleeping Justin and carried him off with the children.
"Hey," Adam said as they turned the corner going to the den. "We're finished working on Ali, she is just sleeping. Where are you going off to?" He asked them.
"I'm taking them to the den to play with the toys," Lexa answered.
"Do you want me to change him into a diaper," he said referring to Justin, "while you do that?"
"He's still in diapers?" Lexa asked.
"Only when he sleeps," Em answered.
Adam gave her an I-could-have-told-Lexa-that-myself smile. That only made Em grin big. Adam had found the children's belongings, including Justin's diaper bag, in the room where Ali lay bleeding. Justin's bag had a mix of underwear and diapers so it was easy to deduce that Justin was still too young to have control over his bladder when he slept.
"Sure," Lexa said handing over Justin to Adam.
"Okay," Adam smiled and left.
Lexa watched as Adam left with her son. Of course Adam didn't know that just yet. Justin was hers that made him special, but he was hers and Brennan's, and that only made it strange. She didn't mind giving him to Adam, especially since she didn't know how to change diapers.
"Brennan, do you find Lexa attractive?" Shalimar asked him suddenly.
Shalimar had spent plenty of time blowing off steam from the shocking news Jesse had delivered. She spent that time thinking of every logical, probable, reason Brennan would ultimately end up with Lexa. She didn't like any of them.
Brennan stared at Shalimar adamantly for a minute. She was serious there was no doubt about it.
"Is there a right answer to this," Brennan asked ever so cautiously.
"Do you, or don't you?" The feral asked.
Brennan had to stop for a second to think of the right words.
"You do don't you," Shalimar accused Brennan because he couldn't find the words fast enough.
"Shalimar," he said and grabbed her arm before she left, "I think Lexa is pretty, but I am attracted to you."
"I'm pregnant," she told him.
Brennan had to think for a second. He couldn't understand what the first accusation had to do with the second statement.
"That's wonderful," he said standing up and hugging her.
"Not wonderful," Shal responded putting her head on Brennan's shoulder, but not returning the hug.
"What do you mean?" Brennan asked, he still hadn't released his embrace on her.
"I'm pregnant with triplets," this made Brennan take a step back, but he still had his hands on Shalimar, "but not just any triplets the ones who are playing in the den with Lexa."
"The kids are from the future?" Brennan asked.
"Yes."
"Brennan, I never wanted one kid now I'm pregnant with three. My first thought would have been to end the pregnancy, but obviously I'm not going to especially now since I've seen them…and now I find out you're in love with Lexa."
"What does this have to do with Lexa?" Brennan asked very confused.
"Remember the little boy Justin?"
Brennan nodded.
"He's Lexa's son…but you're his father."
Brennan relinquished his hold on Shalimar.
"What?" he asked.
"You heard me right," was the response.
At this point Brennan would have given his right arm to be in a pool of man-eating sharks, with his legs tied up, no source of protection, and bleeding profusely from that arm he had given, than be interrogated by a moody feral.
"Shalimar, me and Lexa do not have feelings even resembling that for each other."
"What about Emma did you have a thing for her?" Shal asked with anger.
Man-eating sharks still sounded appealing, but at this point he would have given his left arm to know what the heck Shalimar was talking about.
"Maybe a little bit in the beginning," Brennan answered on the defense.
"When Emma died she was pregnant, was the baby yours?" Shal asked.
"No," Brennan answered quickly, being that he never slept with Emma.
"So the baby was Leo's," Shalimar said.
"Leo…Leo Pierce?" Brennan asked.
Shalimar didn't say anything she only left the room.
Brennan more fell than sat down. He put his pounding head down in his hands and tried to think of a place that may have hungry sharks.
"Why would you and Brennan hook up?" Jesse asked Lexa.
The triplets were helping Adam make dinner and Justin was watching cartoons.
"I wouldn't hook up with Brennan," Lexa defended herself.
"Well, obviously you did."
"Jesse, I can't defend myself when I haven't done anything…yet."
"Yet," Jesse sighed.
"I don't know what to tell you."
There was a long moment of silence.
"You were hoping Justin would be ours didn't you?" Lexa asked sincerely.
"Yes," Jesse answered not fully able to meet her eyes.
The Mutant X team finally went to bed. Tensions and anxieties were higher than they had ever been. Nobody knew what kind of future could be so bad that only the past was safe. Nobody could find a paper trail that linked Emma and Leo Pierce and nobody knew the burning question what events led to Lexa and Brennan having a child? The children had no answers they were too young to understand the questions. The only one who could help them was Ali and she was still asleep in the lab…until a few hours after the team went to sleep.
Ali woke up slowly. Her side was sore and she felt as if she were made of lead. None of that seem to matter as soon as she heard a whooshing sound and a portal to accompany it. She sat up and cradled her side. Ali waited for the human figures to jump out of the portal. Sure enough, there were two of them, Jacob and Brenna.
"Ali, thank God, I wasn't sure what happened to you," Jacob said giving his sister a hug with his free arm.
Jacob had been carrying Brenna. Ali instructed him to put Brenna in the bedroom with all the other children. After he did that he went back into the lab.
"Jacob, we didn't go far enough back," Ali cried, "We were supposed to go far enough back to where our mom is still with the team. Instead Lexa is here, and the dominion just collapsed, you know what that means?"
"Mutant X has been living with a traitor and they are about to find out who," Jacob answered.
"It is still going to be a few weeks before the traitor is revealed, but that was the first step into the horrible future we escaped from."
"Ali, if you are asking me what to do, I don't know. I can't make my powers send you back any further than this. Maybe instead of you trying to find another family for the little ones you should try to stop the future we live in from happening."
"I don't like how many times you used the word 'you' as in me. What about you? Aren't you going to help?"
"I'm trying to protect the present…"
"You're twelve years old," his sister yelled.
"Everybody is dead. There is only one person who can help and I have to track that person down."
"Jacob, please stay here," Ali pleaded.
Jacob didn't respond he formed another portal and jumped back into the future.
Ali's presence had changed the course of history. The traitor who was supposed to be revealed later heard the conversation amongst the two kids. Ali looked up just as the traitor walked into the room. She opened her mouth to scream, but her mouth was covered by a cloth full of chloroform. Ali passed out before she felt herself being picked up and taken away by her kidnapper.