DISCLAIMER
Belongs to Marvel Productions and Fox. I only own the plot and characters you don't recognize.
In his room, Brennan sat on his bed, his clothes ripped and destroyed. That son of a--he lied to me, he thought shakily. He--he promised--he said we wouldn't have to do this again, he continued. What had he been thinking? He had known what the man was capable of. He let out a cry of frustration and upset the bed. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! he thought to himself. He couldn't believe he had let himself get snowed. Why had he trusted his stepfather? He waited until he was sure he couldn't hear his stepfather anymore, and then opened his window and hopped out. He got into his car, started it, and then drove off. He just--he needed to clear his head. However, he only made it a couple of blocks when his cell phone rang. Brennan sighed, but didn't answer. The ringing continued, and Brennan threw back his head with a sigh. When the phone rang again, he finally answered it.
"Brennan, what do you think you're doing?" a voice demanded.
"I need to clear my head," Brennan answered.
"Brennan, you get back here now," the man instructed.
"No," Brennan answered.
"Brennan," the man warned.
"Forget it," Brennan insisted.
"Have you forgotten our arrangement?" the man asked.
"You lied to me, Rick! You said that--" Brennan began.
"You listen to me, you little brat! I agreed to let you stay if you obeyed me! If you're having problems with that, I'm sure I can set you straight," his stepfather, Rick Monroe, interrupted. The elemental froze. He knew what those words meant.
"No, Sir. There's no problem. I'll be right there," Brennan sighed in defeat. He then hung up and turned the car around. At Sanctuary, Lexa, Jesse, Emma, Adam, and Shalimar were in the briefing room.
"What do you mean you got a hit? What sort of hit?" Adam questioned.
"Brennan's alive?" Shalimar asked in hopeful relief.
"Is he okay?" Jesse questioned.
"Yeah, he's alive, but I don't think he's okay," Emma answered.
"What do you mean?" Lexa questioned.
"I've never felt his emotions so strongly before. It was awful," Emma stated.
"Was he scared? Hurt? What?" Shalimar questioned.
"It was more than scared--he was--it was like he was terrified--of someone or something," Emma told them.
"That doesn't make sense. Brennan's not one to scare easily," Jesse commented.
"I know. That's what worries me," Emma declared.
"Hey, relax. We'll find him," Lexa assured. Brennan parked the car in the drive and then cut the engine. He blew out a breath and leaned his head back. What was he going to do? Why had he come back? He had known there was nothing but pain here. Why on earth did he think this time would be any different? The front door opened and Brennan immediately tensed and got out of the car.
"Rick," he noted. For an answer, the man struck him.
"You think you could just walk away from me?" he demanded. Brennan started to speak, but thought the better of it. "Get in the house…now," he ordered. With slumped shoulders, Brennan did as he was told. Rick chuckled and put a hand on Brennan's shoulder. The elemental started to throw the hand off, but a sharp squeeze from his stepfather nixed that idea. Then, the two of them walked back into the house.