2. Chapter 2

Cerulean Eyes

I hope that I have peaked your interest. Here is the second chapter, redone.

A new mutant injures Shalimar. The secrets she keeps may kill Mutant X, or be the beginning of a new chapter in their lives. ShalBren

Disclaimer: the characters of Mutant X do not belong to me, unfortunately.

Brennan watched the candlelight flicker over Shalimar's bruised face praying, an activity with which he had very little practice. The moments ticked by slower than any in his entire life. His muscles complained that he hadn't moved in hours, but he paid them little heed, shifting just enough that nothing would fall asleep and thus be unprepared for any movement by Shalimar. He had only barely noticed Adams presence in the hours that passed, never taking his eyes off the blond feral lying so still.

Paralysed. He couldn't believe it. There was a chance, a hope, that Adam was wrong. There was no sure way to tell until she woke and tried to move on her own, but... The word seemed so final. Adam wouldn't have told them if he was relatively certain. Shalimar was a fighter, Brennan told himself. He could imagine her tossing her head and laughing, tall and strong. If... when she walked again, she would laugh at his concern, displaying her ability by kicking his ass in the ring or on the stairs or...

A flicker of movement from the bed made him fly over to her. Adam was only a step behind. The bruised and bandaged body twitched slightly in sleep and her eyelids rose. Brennan's was the first face that filled her vision. She smiled slightly, blinking away sleep. As consciousness returned, he could see the panic starting to set in as she took in her surroundings, Adam's concerned face over Brennan's shoulder and the bandages covering a majority of her body. It took her two tries to speak. When she managed, her voice was raspy.

"What happened?" Brennan took it upon himself to answer. Adam could explain the medical concerns.

"We went out to bring in a new mutant. I guess she didn't want to be brought in because she fought against us, or you, rather, after we saved her from three of Ashlock's men. Her single punch sent you flying and when I tried to control her, I don't know what happened. It was like there was a bomb in the building that you had been thrown against. The wall blew out and some of it fell on you. I'm so sorry Shalimar. I couldn't... I wasn't able to catch her."

"His concern for you may have enabled her escape, but it certainly saved your life. You are hurt very badly, Shalimar. I've done everything I can for you, but now I need your assistance. You need to take it easy for the next few weeks, if not months. You have a hairline fracture in one arm that needs to heal and your other arm is a mess. It is going to take time to heal and then physical therapy. With effort, you may be able to regain full use of it, but it will be a long process. There is one other thing. The accident fractured a bone in your back. You're paralysed from the waist down. I'm so sorry, Shalimar." Adam's voice broke with emotion. Brennan watched Shalimar's face. Her eyes went wide with shock. One did, the other couldn't open too far. It was a lot to take in with only a few sentences. He saw her struggle to assimilate everything that had been said. Then anguish set into her face as she tried to move her legs and couldn't. Then she screamed.

Her scream ripped through her throat, feeling like it was being torn from her chest. She felt pressure on her arms as the two men tried to hold her down while she screamed her misery. The scream stilled as though it had been cut by a knife. She had sensed something. Her breath came harder as she tried to identify it. Yes! There it was again. She had felt a muscle cramp in her left leg. Speechless with relief, she tried to draw attention to it. It was Brennan that realized what was going on. He ripped the bedclothes off her. Adam mad a move to cover her, then gasped as he saw what Shalimar had felt. Her left leg was twitching with effort. Brennan grasped the appendage in his hands and Shalimar squirmed as his hands found nerves that were not, thank God, as unfeeling as they had seemed to be. The relief nearly put her back under. Adam insisted on running more tests, but he nearly had to pry Brennan's hands from Shalimar in order to perform them.

Brennan fell into a chair and felt hands on him from Jesse and Emma, who had come running when Shalimar had screamed. They had witnessed the miracle, for a miracle it was. As broken as Shalimar had seemed, as much time as it would take, she wasn't paralysed. It may take months, but she would walk again. Brennan put his arms around Emma who had nearly fallen in his lap, sobbing. She hid her face from him, and he knew she was struggling to ward off all the emotions in the room, most especially Shalimar's. She was channelling the feral's joy and pain, expressing them with Emma's candour instead of Shalimar's reticence. It took only a few moments for Emma, and Shalimar, to regain their composure, but Adam ordered all of them out before he continued to work with Shalimar.

Hours went by. Adam emerged in the early hours of the morning, just before the sun rose. Brennan was just outside the door and his call brought Jesse starting out of the chair in which he had dozed. Emma had returned to her room, overcome by emotions only some of which were not her own. Adam waited for her, but his first words nearly knocked them all back down with relief.

"She's not paralysed." His obvious excitement and relief overcame his normal composure and he joined in the group's hugs and tears of gratitude. When the excitement had died down, he turned to the more serious matters at hand. "There are still problems, as you all know. We all need to make sure that Shalimar is confined to her bed for a few days if not weeks and there will be a lot of physical therapy needed for her to get back to peek condition, if she ever can."

"If anyone can bounce back from that kind of beating, it will be Shalimar," Jesse remarked. Brennan said nothing. There was a new feel to him, Emma thought, though she checked herself before using her power to examine him. It was an effort on her part. His eyes spoke volumes and his posture had a new strength to it. There was a new ring to his voice as he spoke.

"We need to find that bitch that injured Shal. I want to make sure she is never able to do this to us again. We need to know exactly what she did. I've never seen anything like her punch to Shal. It was like she had been hit in the gut by an eighteen-wheeler. I think she made some sort of movement before the wall blew, but I can't be sure. If she did, it was damned inconspicuous."

After only a few more minutes of discussion, Adam sent the whole crew off to their rooms to get ready for the day. Brennan didn't follow the others toward the residence quarters. Instead, he folded his arms and blocked Adam's movement. Adam had to raise his eyes in order to meet those of his most controversial protégé.

"Adam, I'm not going to leave Sanctuary until Shalimar has recovered. At least a little. I will do as much as I can to make sure that the rest of you are able to find this mutant." For the first time in Adam's memory, Brennan spat the word out as though it were a curse. "Shalimar is the most important thing right now and I intend to keep her spirits up and make sure she doesn't overtax herself." His tone booked no argument, and even his mentor was not able to bring himself to dispute. Adam also felt guilty for having put Shalimar, even briefly, through the nightmare of believing herself to be paralysed. He nodded his assent to Brennan and they parted.

Early that afternoon, Emma opened the door to Shalimar's room, to a scene that made her smile through her concern. Brennan sat on the floor next to the bed, his head resting on one outstretched arm, the other thrown protectively over Shalimar. Shalimar's bandaged hand was on Brennan's shoulder and her head was turned toward him in her sleep. Emma took a mental projection of the two. Brennan's only ailment was exhaustion and a deep concern for his friend. Shalimar's condition wiped the small smile off Emma's face. Her brows drew together, but she felt the healing beginning.

Jesse found her as she was closing the door. "Adam wants to see us." He put a comforting arm around her. "How is she?"

"Healing, but…" Emma sighed. "This is going to take more time than Shalimar will be willing to admit. Remember when she broke her leg, how long it took for her to be up and around?" Jesse nodded. "She can't force it this time. I don't know how we are going to keep her from hurting herself further." Jesse squeezed her shoulder sympathetically as they made their way past the stairs to the infirmary.

Inside, Adam stared at screen of flickering images. The pictures were of Shalimar; pictures taken the day before of the injuries. Both Emma and Jesse were sickened by the images, even flipping through them as fast as Adam was. The injuries were so fearsome the form of Shalimar was almost indistinguishable. It was obvious that Adam had heard them come in, but he had made no move to face them. Emma studied him critically. His fingers tapped his lips and his shoulders were hunched. What she could see of his eyes in his profile told her he had not slept much, again. The news they were about to receive was not good, of that she was certain even without reading him. She perched on the edge of a table in his peripheral vision.

"What's up, Adam," she asked, troubled by the pictures, his body language, and silence.

"I'm concerned about Shalimar's injuries, the ones that don't seem to be life-threatening. I was distracted earlier with her rib breaks, paralysis, and head injury, but the rest of them," Adam gestured to the images. "They don't make any sense." He sounded frustrated.

Jesse glanced at Emma and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, she did have a building fall on her, Adam. Anything could have happened." Adam looked at him as though he were daft, his fatigue and anger not allowing him to keep his face neutral.

"Not all of her injuries could have come from the building debris," he explained. "Shalimar was his hard enough by this new mutant to throw her at least twenty feet across an alley. When the building fell on her, she must have been lying on her back, so she had to have already been unconscious or nearly so. These injuries," he gestured to the screen, "are from the fallen building." The images appeared as he rattled off. "Bruising on her face, chest and legs, gashes in her arms, broken ribs and fingers, the protrusion from her chest, fractured arm and overall bruising. These, however," and he gestured again; the computer focused in on the specific wounds, "cannot be explained by the debris. The break in her back is consistent with being thrown into a wall, as well as the crack in the back of her skull and severe concussion. This is what I'm interested in." The pictures stopped flashing and a full-body photo of Shalimar, undressed but for scraps of cloth for modesty's sake. Emma winced at the battered condition of Shalimar's body. The picture had obviously been taken before nearly anything had been treated. More bruising and gaping wounds covered her than her normal healthy tan. The computer zoomed in on the feral's lower abs over her intestine. A purplish-red bruise the size of a dinner plate had formed with Shalimar's navel the center.

"This," Adam emphasized, "was not caused by the building falling on Shalimar. There was so much bruising, I had trouble getting the internal bleeding stopped and it broke a couple of her lower ribs. This was caused by our mutant with the startling eyes."

Emma studied the photo, fighting nausea, and disbelieving the extent of the damage could be caused by one person. "How?" she asked. "Brennan said she punched Shalimar in the stomach, but how could she have caused this kind of damage?"

"I can only speculate, but I believe she is an elemental. I think she controls air. In Laymen's terms, Shalimar was punched by a fist of air the size of a bowling ball and the strength of a battering ram. Then, with Shalimar at the end of the alleyway, it was simpler to use another punch at the building, toppling the wall onto Shalimar."

"So what do we do to find this air elemental?" Jesse asked.

"First, I want you and Emma to return to where you picked up Brennan and Shalimar yesterday. See if you can find any evidence that we're on the right track with her mutation, since she is not on any mutant database that I have been able to get into. Also, see what you can find out about those men who were chasing her. I'm going to try to find those eyes Brennan talked about on other databases - like police records. Oh, and Emma," he stopped her as she started out the door, "would you look in on Shalimar before you go? Make sure she is still asleep and comfortable."

"I did and she was." Emma smiled slightly. "She's holding steady and I felt her body beginning to heal. She's a real fighter, our Shalimar. Also, Brennan is sitting with her." Something in her voice must have been more telling than she realized because Adam looked at her sharply and shrewdly before letting her go.

Shalimar woke, sucking in her breath and instantly regretted it. Some of the painkillers had worn off during the night, at least enough for her to assess the damage to her body. She felt broken. Every part of her body hurt. Her back, on which she lay, seemed to be the least of her pains, but lying on it was certainly not an improvement. She started to move and an intense pain from everywhere else made her think better of it. She lay, trying to move as little as possible. Even breathing, which she tried to keep slow and steady, sent shivers of pain.

A weight on her uninjured hand and across her ribs drew her attention. Her muscles started to relax slightly as she felt the warm and calloused fingers of a large hand clasping hers. She smiled slightly; her eyes drifting shut again, and swallowed. A burning pain emanated from her chest as the saliva slid down. Unable to repress it, she cried out softly. Instantly, she felt movement next to her, on the bed and yet not. Brennan raised his head and grimaced before focusing on Shalimar. He leaned over her, his eyes concerned. He smoothed back her hair from her face.

"How are you, Shal?" he asked, worriedly. Shalimar breathed through her nose, trying to get her muscles under control.

"A little sore," she tried to joke, but knew that he saw the pain in her eyes. The words crawled out of a throat as dry and sore any she had ever had. Brennan reached across her to the table by her bedside and when his hand came back into view it was holding a glass with a straw. Shalimar was unable to hide the relief in her face as he maneuvered the glass close enough for her mouth to reach the straw without moving at all. After a few sips, her strength started to give out. Brennan immediately noticed, and gently removed the straw from between her lips, wiping away the blood that had seeped from a reopened split lip.

"Shal, you have to stay awake for just a moment." Looking away from her, he brought his right hand up toward his mouth. "Adam, Shal's awake. Come quickly." He brought his attention back to the fragile-looking petite blond on the bed. Her eyes were closed, but he could tell by her breathing that she was not asleep. He brushed his fingers across an uninjured part of her cheek, opening her eyes to meet his. The door opened and Brennan removed his fingers from Shalimar's face. Adam strode in, as businesslike as possible.

"Good afternoon, Shalimar. How are you feeling?" He walked to the opposite side of the bed as Brennan and pulled a chair up to the feral. He checked her pulse and looked into her eyes.

"Most of the painkillers have worn off," Shalimar admitted, trying not to move, though most of her body felt like it was twitching with pain. Adam's brows went down and he reached into the bag he had brought with him. Pulling out a shot of morphine, he stuck the needle into her IV.

"This should help ease some of that pain, but I don't want to keep you on it for long because you may become dependent on it. Especially because I have to give you a little more than I would for a normal human because your feral side metabolizes it so quickly. Basically, Shalimar, I need you to rest and let your body heal. I can't let you out of bed for at least four days, if not a week."

"A week," Shalimar said astonished, then whimpered at the pain. It seemed to suck the defiance out of her because she took a deep breath and nodded slightly. It hurt something in Brennan's chest to see the defeat in her eyes. Adam looked at him and glanced back down at Shalimar.

"Brennan, I need to see you outside for a few moments." He said, standing and heading out the door. Brennan nodded, but didn't rise right away. Adam paused at the door, then walked through it and shut it behind him.

"Shal," Brennan said, leaning into the blond feral. "You need to heal, but you need to fight this pain, too. I know it hurts, but I don't want to have saved your life only to see your spirit destroyed. It was only a little building. I didn't think that such a puny wall would be enough to stop you." He relaxed a little as some of the fire came back into the feral's eyes. He started to get up and she gripped his hand, keeping him close to her even though he was on his feet.

"Two things, Brennan. One, I'll bet you that the next time we spar together, I will wipe your ass all over the court," She whispered.

"I'll take that bet," Brennan grinned. "What's the other thing?"

"Brush your goddamn teeth because your breath really stinks." Shalimar smiled up into his face, and her grip loosened on his hand.

"You, too, Kitten," Brennan whispered as her eyes closed. "Sleep well." He smoothed her hair, fingers lingering over her cheek. As the door began to close, behind him Shalimar whispered, "Thank you for saving my life, Bren." He didn't catch the whispered words.

Outside, Adam had his back up against the wall and his arms crossed over his chest. Brennan looked down at his mentor and felt a strange desire to squirm. Adam simply stared at him for a few moments before he said, "She'll survive and she'll walk again. Everything else can be dealt with." Then he launched into the same explanation he had given the other two members of Mutant X and told Brennan about their mission. Brennan swallowed, remembering the dead man he had left in the alley. He could only hope that the body had been found and disposed of by police. He had to force himself to listen to the rest of what Adam was saying. The theories seemed plausible, but there was something about them that didn't add up. He decided not to raise his doubts at that time. Brennan agreed to meet Adam in a few minutes by the computer, reminding him with a glance of his unwillingness to leave Sanctuary.

After only a few minutes in his room to collect a clean shirt and wash the sleep from his face, he stopped in to check on Shalimar. She was resting peacefully. He rested a hand on her leg, breathing a silent prayer of gratitude before silently slipping out the door and closing it gently behind him. He knew there was nothing for him to do for her, but he couldn't help wanting to look in on her before going to find out what he could do to find this blue-eyed bitch.

He found Adam standing beside the computer, studying pictures of blue-eyed brunettes.

"Great, you're here," Adam exclaimed, as though he hadn't noticed Brennan's approach. "I've compiled a list of women that fit your description. I need you to look through the photographs and let me know if you recognize anyone."

Brennan sat down at the computer and started going through different pictures. There were pages and pages of them.

"Adam, this is going to take forever!" He grumbled.

"Well, your description was a little vague.'Brunette, petit, early twenties, very blue eyes.' Mutant, probably a closet because she hasn't shown up in any of our mutant databases, but I have found a few that fit the general description and…"

"I recognize her," Brennan paused on a picture of a black-haired woman.

"Is that the mutant?" Adam asked, unable to keep the excitement from his voice or body.

"No, she and I were in English together. Armed robber," he read from her file. "Attempted break from a Women's prison gave her another five years. I always knew she was trouble." He continued to flip through the pictures and mug shots. Adam rolled his eyes.

"Let me know if you find anyone that you recognize from yesterday," he emphasized. And walked away to another computer that he could continue to work on. Brennan hid a smile and continued to work.

Jesse landed the Helix on a building close to the wreckage from yesterday's episode. He and Emma made their way down to the alley where they had picked up Shalimar and Brennan. It showed how bad things were in this part of town that there had been no clean-up of the debris caused by the fallen building. The blood was still around where Brennan had pulled Shalimar out of the debris, and the smell of charred meat still hung around the building.

Emma and Jesse split up to search for clues about the mutant. Emma went to the mouth of the alleyway and began a psychic search as she moved back down to the fence at the end. Jesse shifted debris wincing as he found blood on almost everything. He gasped in surprise as he tried to lift an exceptionally heavy piece. From the pattern of blood he had been able to get a general area of where Shalimar had lain when the building fell on her and his hands shook as he realized that the piece he was trying to move had missed her head by inches. If that piece had been any closer…

A cry from Emma drew his attention, and he dropped the wall, his head shooting up from any sign of danger. Emma stood close to the opposite wall – the one still standing – crouched over something black with soot. When he got to her, he was shocked to discover it was the body of a man. The clothes he had been wearing indicated that he could have been one of the suited men that always seemed to plague Mutant X every time they went out. He also had a weapon, twisted to a metallic lump by whatever had killed him. Jesse looked closer, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt to peer at the man's face. He looked back up at Emma who was not looking at him but concentrating on the body.

"He was electrocuted." Jesse said, unable to even begin to think of the possible ways the body could have been electrocuted.

"By Brennan, yes," Emma said it for him. His mouth opened in fear and shock and she continued. "This is something that we need to tell Adam as soon as possible. It is even more dangerous that the new mutant. We need to go, now!" She rose from her crouched position in a fluid motion. Jesse stared at her.

"Emma, we can't just leave without finding anything about yesterday's events. What if Brennan asks us what we found or why we were only here for a little while. Help me with the debris at least. We can at least find out if Adam's theory is right about the new mutant throwing air. Besides, something other than Brennan must have fried him. No electric current could have done this to him. He must have hit something that continued to send Brennan's current through him until he… died." Jesse swallowed as he looked at the dead body again. "We should probably take the body back with us so that Adam can have a look at it and determine," he paused, "what killed him." Emma nodded and while she looked through the debris, he went back to the Helix to find something they could wrap and carry the body back in. He was not going to smell that man all the way back to Sanctuary.

When he got back Emma had found several clues and brought pieces of the wall out from the debris to make a small pile. All of the pieces were glowing a bright blue. Together, they wrapped the body and Jesse picked it up while Emma collected her findings. The trip back to Sanctuary was uneventful, especially compared to the day before. Both were occupied with their thoughts about the man in the back and Brennan's part in his death, concern for Shalimar, and questions about the glowing pieces of wall Emma found.

Please read and review. Any reviews are welcome. I always like to hear comments about how I can improve. I ahve redone a little of the third chapter and will get started continuing the story. Thank you for your support. I love critiques!