Chapter Nine: The Sum of Our Fears
Lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, Emma hugged her pillow to her chest tightly and fought to keep her tears at bay. Right now she needed to think. One by one her friends were dying, first Pete and now Jackie. Who would be next? Why was this happening? What could she do to stop them? Was she at risk as well? How did this happen? Questions, those and more, kept floating through her mind until she couldn't think straight anymore. Needing to clear her head she tossed the pillow aside and left her room, softly padding out to the main room and up the stairs to the platform. Sitting in the center she had just settled in when Adam appeared at the top of the stairs.
"What are you doing Emma?"
"I just needed to think." Meeting his eyes she saw the concern that filled them and realized he hadn't just happened to stop by. "Are you following me?"
He shrugged with a small grin. "I'm following all of you. I have the computer keeping tabs on everyone and keeping me updated when anyone moves."
"You're really worried about this aren't you?" Adam nodded. "Do you have any idea why this is happening?"
"No, I can't think of anything yet. I keep thinking back to the accident a Genomex. What would make Jessica go to the roof like that? She was terrified of heights."
Listening to him Emma's clouded mind began to clear. "Adam... I think that's it."
"What do you mean?"
"You said that Jessica was terrified of heights but she jumped from the roof."
"Yeah," he frowned, not yet following her line of thought.
"Pete was scared of guns ever since his best friend was killed by one and Brennan, an electrical, hates the water but he said that he couldn't stop himself from jumping in. And Jackie," her voice caught on her emotion but Emma forced herself to continue. "Jackie drowned in water even though she was an electrical as well. What if this man has somehow removed their fear? Made them think that it was perfectly safe?"
"When? How would he have had the chance when we were always together, never separated?"
"Adam," she said getting to her feet. "I watched him do it. One by one he brought each of you up to the table and did something, I wasn't sure what because I couldn't get a read on any of you, it was like you were blocked from me. He said that his power wouldn't work on me because I was a sionic, that's why he had to get rid of me the old fashioned way."
"Which is why he was trying to beat you to death," he realized, putting the final piece into its place. His eyes closed with a grimace. "But what I don't understand is why?"
"He hates you," she answered softly raising his eyes. Opening his eyes Adam met Emma's gaze. "He blames you for his being a new mutant. After he had finished with the last of the team he said something about making your greatest fear come true."
Dropping his gaze Adam averted his head and looked down at the water garden below them. Watching him Emma could see the guilt weighing on his shoulders, burying his heart under its weight. Once again his past, his failure, though many would call it a success, had returned to remind him that he would never be able to forget what he had done, the lives he had destroyed with his genetic experimenting. Inching closer to him Emma raised her hand to Adam's face, cupping his cheek and turning his head until she could see his eyes.
"Don't do that Adam," she whispered, her brown eyes meeting his with an intense gaze he couldn't break away from. "The past is in the past and there is nothing you can do to change it. No amount of browbeating is going to make it go away or make things turn out any differently than they already have."
Staring at him, seeing the pain in his eyes, the sadness, she couldn't breathe as it filled her heart. But even through all of that she could see more and as she stared into those pain filled brown orbs the final piece of her life fell into place, the last missing chapter of memories that had been the only one left to read.
She suddenly remembered the nights in the lab, together, laughing over some joke or funny story. In her minds eye she could see him standing over her as she had laid on the recovery table in the lab, his brown eyes filled with worry. But there was one memory that came to her and would not leave. A small coin stood upright on the table between them, easy laughter filled the air, and she had raised her eyes to see Adam across the table from her. A compromise, a handshake, suddenly she was trapped in his arms and then...
"Oh Adam," she breathed, tears filling her eyes. Unconsciously her thumb began to lightly stroke his cheek. "How could I have forgotten you?"
Turning into her hand Adam closed his eyes against the feeling of her thumb softly stroking his face. He had seen it in her eyes, she remembered... finally, after so long a time, she remembered. Opening his eyes Adam reached out and removed her hand from his face, pulling it into his and bringing them to his lips, laying a soft kiss to her even softer skin. "I knew you would remember eventually," he whispered back.
Tears threatened to choke her voice from her throat. "The hell I put you through..."
"...Is nowhere near the hell I was in when I thought you were really dead. I've lost so many people that I love Emma, I can't loose anymore, I couldn't live though that."
Slipping her arms around his neck Emma pulled herself close to Adam, clinging to him as the pain that had filled her heart was overwhelmed by her joy and the love she felt for the man who held her just as tightly. She had lived through her greatest fear and found her light at the end of the very long and dark tunnel. There was nothing more to fear.
Emma gasped.
"Adam that's it!" she cried, tearing herself from his arms and leaning back to meet his eyes. "That's your fear!"
Trying to make the jump in her train of thought Adam couldn't quite keep up. "What are you talking about?"
"It's your fear," she repeated. "When he had finished with all of you he said that he was going to use their fears to make yours come true. Pete is dead...Jackie is dead... one by one he's killing off the people in your life, the people you care about. And he's using their fears to do it."
"Jessica jumped from the fourteenth floor yet she was terrified of heights." His eyes widening in disbelief he put the puzzle together. "Krait had been working on a project, more than likely it was to enhance his ability to eliminate fear, make the GSA agents fearless against the enemy. But why come after me?"
"Guilt. He feel's guilty about what happened and needs to blame someone. Who better then the person who gave him the ability in the first place? We have to stop him Adam!"
"No," he shook his head. "First we need to find a way to deprogram everyone before they attempt to kill themselves. We have to find out what their biggest fears are."
"I can try to tap into them. Maybe if I try hard enough I can see what it is that they're not afraid of anymore. Maybe that will give us some sort of a clue."
Adam nodded. "You start with Mixy. Jackie and Pete were the first to fall, I think he may be starting with the newer relationships and working on down to the older ones. I'll wake Brennan and see if he can tell me anything, maybe I can find a clue from what he went through." Hurrying down the stairs they stood in the archway by the medical lab and faced one another, anxiety and adrenaline vying for top priority in their veins. "Emma..."
"I know Adam," she smiled. "We'll have all the time we need once this is over with. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
With a loving smile he pressed her hand to his lips once more, an old fashioned gesture that he knew she loved. Smiling she reached up on her tip-toe's and replaced her hand with her lips for the briefest of moments before turning, needing to leave before she wouldn't be able to. Watching her go for a moment Adam smiled and strode into the lab. "Brennan, wake up," he called to the sleeping elemental. "I have a few questions for you to answer."
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Walking through the corridor, searching for her friend, Emma frowned. Mixy hadn't been in her room, hadn't been in her bed as she should have been. 'Where is she?' Emma thought to herself, growing more and more alarmed as time passed. Rounding a corner toward the lover levels she stopped at the sight of the garage door opened, there were some noises coming from beyond the doorway. Frowning she moved closer, curious and alarmed all at the same time. Pausing for a moment in the doorway Emma entered and saw Mixy standing in the middle of a puddle on the floor, dripping wet, the smell of gasoline fumes pungent in the room.
"Mixy?" Emma called out, reaching out toward her friend. "Mixy what are you doing?"
"Do you know what I finally figured out?" Mixy replied. "The best way to conquer your fear is to face it head on. For the longest time I have been scared to death of gasoline. You know why?"
"Why" she asked, moving closer and closer with every passing second.
"Because it's so combustible. One little drop of gas in the wrong place and it's all over with. You see, it all boils down to the flames Emma. Everyone knows ferals are scared of fire; it's in our DNA. But it doesn't just stop there. We can think about it, we know what things can cause fire and you know what, we're afraid of them too. And gasoline, that's one of the biggest ones of them all!"
While listening to Mixy speak Emma quietly turned on her comm ring. "Adam," she whispered covertly. "Adam hurry! I found Mixy but I don't think I can stop her alone."
Turning off the ring before he could reply Emma kept advancing on Mixy. "Mixy, let's get out of here okay? We'll go see Adam, he wants to ask you a few questions."
She shook her head. "You don't understand Emma! I've done it! I've done what I've always been afraid of." The feral laughed. "I'm soaked!" Smiling she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small lighter. "I've got to face my fears Emma, it's the only way to get past them."
"No!" Emma screamed as she saw Mixy move to light the little lighter. Lunging forward she grabbed at Mixy's hand before she could complete the motions. The two women fought for a brief moment before Mixy's feral strength pushed Emma away, sending her flying into the wall lined with equipment of all sorts. Tumbling down into the machines below her Emma fought to keep conscious against the pain.
"Try to understand Emma, I have to do this, I have to..."
Getting up as quickly as she could Emma raced toward Mixy again but she was too late. Before she could take her first step the feral had flicked the lighter and flames licked at her clothes, hair, skin; the fire was everywhere. Screaming Emma tried to move closer but pulled back when the fired singed her hands. Suddenly Mixy was knocked to the ground and in a flurry of rushed movements she watched as Adam and Jesse fought to extinguish the flames with blankets. When they were out Jesse picked Mixy up and fled out the doorway, both Adam and Emma directly on his heels.
It was only once Adam had declared that Mixy would be okay that the pain of Emma's hand forced its way to the surface. Seeing the pain in her eyes Adam scanned her over and noticed the redness on the tips of her fingers. Forcing her to sit on the exam table Adam applied a burn cream to her fingers, massaging it in to take away the pain. "What will happen to her when she wakes up?"
"I'm not sure," he sighed. "It could be that the influence has worn off or it could be that it hasn't. I have no way of knowing until I speak with Mixy or the bastard that did this to her."
The fact that this might not be over yet crushed down on Emma's shoulders and she slumped against the weight of it, leaning forward and putting her head to Adam's shoulder. "I can't do this Adam," she whispered through her choked throat. "I've already lost Pete and Jackie... if I lose Mixy too..."
Wrapping his arm around her Adam held the small woman to him. "I'll do everything I can to keep Mixy here, Emma, I promise you I will."
Nodding, trying to keep her tears at bay but loosing the battle, Emma sniffed. As the first tear welled in her eyes and slipped down her cheek it was soon joined by many others just like it. Wrapped up in Adam's arms she wept for her lost friends, people she loved that had been ripped from her life by a man bent on making Adam pay for a crime he had already paid for time and time again.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
He was standing on a platform, water surrounding him everywhere; there was nowhere he could go. He had no choice; he had to step off the platform and into the water. Raising his foot he was about to do so when a strong gust of wind blew against him making it nearly impossible to move. In the wind he heard whispers, a voice he knew and yet at the same time it was his own voice, telling him, reminding him of what he knew in the depth of his heart and mind.
He hated water.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
It was deceptively calm in the lab. Adam watched the pair in the center of the lab with concern and worry yet also hope and a sense of need filling his every cell. This needed to work; they were running out of options. Three times he had caught Brennan getting back in the water. After the second time he had realized the pattern, every twelve hours Brennan made an attempt to get in the water. Deciding to deal with Brennan first Adam had locked Mixy in her room, after searching it for anything flammable, and both Jesse and Shalimar were keeping an eye on her.
As for Adam... he was keeping an eye on all of them.
But right now his attention was focused on Emma as she sat next to Brennan, trying to get into his mind, trying to see past the barriers and make him forget what had been planted in his mind. She'd been sitting next to the elemental for nearly four hours now and there had been no movement from either one of them. Pacing the room, checking on both of their vital signs, he was beginning to get worried. Brennan was fine, but Emma's vital signs were beginning to waver.
She was exhausted. With everything it had been through lately the mental exhaustion had begun to encroach on her body as well. So focused on helping Brennan her brain was beginning to take its energy from the involuntary body systems just to keep the power flow between them at a constant level. Every non-essential bodily function had slowly shut down. There were moments when she had skipped a heartbeat, or forgotten to take a breath. Those were the times Adam's own heart had skipped a beat, when his own breath had caught in his throat.
He was scared.
Passing by the chair one more time Adam's heart clenched when the computer beeped letting him know that Emma's heart had skipped a beat. It beeped again, a third time, a fourth, a fifth. Adam's eyes grew wide when he realized Emma's heart had stopped. She was tapping every reservoir of energy she could find to keep the link with Brennan and the heart was the strongest muscle in the body. Grabbing a hypodermic from the counter Adam was poised to inject an adrenaline shot directly into her heart, to get it going again, when she suddenly opened her eyes to meet his.
"Emma!?!" he yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Slowly a weak smiled pulled at her lips as she swayed against him, a whisper rising from her throat to meet his ears.
"It worked Adam."
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, Emma hugged her pillow to her chest tightly and fought to keep her tears at bay. Right now she needed to think. One by one her friends were dying, first Pete and now Jackie. Who would be next? Why was this happening? What could she do to stop them? Was she at risk as well? How did this happen? Questions, those and more, kept floating through her mind until she couldn't think straight anymore. Needing to clear her head she tossed the pillow aside and left her room, softly padding out to the main room and up the stairs to the platform. Sitting in the center she had just settled in when Adam appeared at the top of the stairs.
"What are you doing Emma?"
"I just needed to think." Meeting his eyes she saw the concern that filled them and realized he hadn't just happened to stop by. "Are you following me?"
He shrugged with a small grin. "I'm following all of you. I have the computer keeping tabs on everyone and keeping me updated when anyone moves."
"You're really worried about this aren't you?" Adam nodded. "Do you have any idea why this is happening?"
"No, I can't think of anything yet. I keep thinking back to the accident a Genomex. What would make Jessica go to the roof like that? She was terrified of heights."
Listening to him Emma's clouded mind began to clear. "Adam... I think that's it."
"What do you mean?"
"You said that Jessica was terrified of heights but she jumped from the roof."
"Yeah," he frowned, not yet following her line of thought.
"Pete was scared of guns ever since his best friend was killed by one and Brennan, an electrical, hates the water but he said that he couldn't stop himself from jumping in. And Jackie," her voice caught on her emotion but Emma forced herself to continue. "Jackie drowned in water even though she was an electrical as well. What if this man has somehow removed their fear? Made them think that it was perfectly safe?"
"When? How would he have had the chance when we were always together, never separated?"
"Adam," she said getting to her feet. "I watched him do it. One by one he brought each of you up to the table and did something, I wasn't sure what because I couldn't get a read on any of you, it was like you were blocked from me. He said that his power wouldn't work on me because I was a sionic, that's why he had to get rid of me the old fashioned way."
"Which is why he was trying to beat you to death," he realized, putting the final piece into its place. His eyes closed with a grimace. "But what I don't understand is why?"
"He hates you," she answered softly raising his eyes. Opening his eyes Adam met Emma's gaze. "He blames you for his being a new mutant. After he had finished with the last of the team he said something about making your greatest fear come true."
Dropping his gaze Adam averted his head and looked down at the water garden below them. Watching him Emma could see the guilt weighing on his shoulders, burying his heart under its weight. Once again his past, his failure, though many would call it a success, had returned to remind him that he would never be able to forget what he had done, the lives he had destroyed with his genetic experimenting. Inching closer to him Emma raised her hand to Adam's face, cupping his cheek and turning his head until she could see his eyes.
"Don't do that Adam," she whispered, her brown eyes meeting his with an intense gaze he couldn't break away from. "The past is in the past and there is nothing you can do to change it. No amount of browbeating is going to make it go away or make things turn out any differently than they already have."
Staring at him, seeing the pain in his eyes, the sadness, she couldn't breathe as it filled her heart. But even through all of that she could see more and as she stared into those pain filled brown orbs the final piece of her life fell into place, the last missing chapter of memories that had been the only one left to read.
She suddenly remembered the nights in the lab, together, laughing over some joke or funny story. In her minds eye she could see him standing over her as she had laid on the recovery table in the lab, his brown eyes filled with worry. But there was one memory that came to her and would not leave. A small coin stood upright on the table between them, easy laughter filled the air, and she had raised her eyes to see Adam across the table from her. A compromise, a handshake, suddenly she was trapped in his arms and then...
"Oh Adam," she breathed, tears filling her eyes. Unconsciously her thumb began to lightly stroke his cheek. "How could I have forgotten you?"
Turning into her hand Adam closed his eyes against the feeling of her thumb softly stroking his face. He had seen it in her eyes, she remembered... finally, after so long a time, she remembered. Opening his eyes Adam reached out and removed her hand from his face, pulling it into his and bringing them to his lips, laying a soft kiss to her even softer skin. "I knew you would remember eventually," he whispered back.
Tears threatened to choke her voice from her throat. "The hell I put you through..."
"...Is nowhere near the hell I was in when I thought you were really dead. I've lost so many people that I love Emma, I can't loose anymore, I couldn't live though that."
Slipping her arms around his neck Emma pulled herself close to Adam, clinging to him as the pain that had filled her heart was overwhelmed by her joy and the love she felt for the man who held her just as tightly. She had lived through her greatest fear and found her light at the end of the very long and dark tunnel. There was nothing more to fear.
Emma gasped.
"Adam that's it!" she cried, tearing herself from his arms and leaning back to meet his eyes. "That's your fear!"
Trying to make the jump in her train of thought Adam couldn't quite keep up. "What are you talking about?"
"It's your fear," she repeated. "When he had finished with all of you he said that he was going to use their fears to make yours come true. Pete is dead...Jackie is dead... one by one he's killing off the people in your life, the people you care about. And he's using their fears to do it."
"Jessica jumped from the fourteenth floor yet she was terrified of heights." His eyes widening in disbelief he put the puzzle together. "Krait had been working on a project, more than likely it was to enhance his ability to eliminate fear, make the GSA agents fearless against the enemy. But why come after me?"
"Guilt. He feel's guilty about what happened and needs to blame someone. Who better then the person who gave him the ability in the first place? We have to stop him Adam!"
"No," he shook his head. "First we need to find a way to deprogram everyone before they attempt to kill themselves. We have to find out what their biggest fears are."
"I can try to tap into them. Maybe if I try hard enough I can see what it is that they're not afraid of anymore. Maybe that will give us some sort of a clue."
Adam nodded. "You start with Mixy. Jackie and Pete were the first to fall, I think he may be starting with the newer relationships and working on down to the older ones. I'll wake Brennan and see if he can tell me anything, maybe I can find a clue from what he went through." Hurrying down the stairs they stood in the archway by the medical lab and faced one another, anxiety and adrenaline vying for top priority in their veins. "Emma..."
"I know Adam," she smiled. "We'll have all the time we need once this is over with. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
With a loving smile he pressed her hand to his lips once more, an old fashioned gesture that he knew she loved. Smiling she reached up on her tip-toe's and replaced her hand with her lips for the briefest of moments before turning, needing to leave before she wouldn't be able to. Watching her go for a moment Adam smiled and strode into the lab. "Brennan, wake up," he called to the sleeping elemental. "I have a few questions for you to answer."
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
Walking through the corridor, searching for her friend, Emma frowned. Mixy hadn't been in her room, hadn't been in her bed as she should have been. 'Where is she?' Emma thought to herself, growing more and more alarmed as time passed. Rounding a corner toward the lover levels she stopped at the sight of the garage door opened, there were some noises coming from beyond the doorway. Frowning she moved closer, curious and alarmed all at the same time. Pausing for a moment in the doorway Emma entered and saw Mixy standing in the middle of a puddle on the floor, dripping wet, the smell of gasoline fumes pungent in the room.
"Mixy?" Emma called out, reaching out toward her friend. "Mixy what are you doing?"
"Do you know what I finally figured out?" Mixy replied. "The best way to conquer your fear is to face it head on. For the longest time I have been scared to death of gasoline. You know why?"
"Why" she asked, moving closer and closer with every passing second.
"Because it's so combustible. One little drop of gas in the wrong place and it's all over with. You see, it all boils down to the flames Emma. Everyone knows ferals are scared of fire; it's in our DNA. But it doesn't just stop there. We can think about it, we know what things can cause fire and you know what, we're afraid of them too. And gasoline, that's one of the biggest ones of them all!"
While listening to Mixy speak Emma quietly turned on her comm ring. "Adam," she whispered covertly. "Adam hurry! I found Mixy but I don't think I can stop her alone."
Turning off the ring before he could reply Emma kept advancing on Mixy. "Mixy, let's get out of here okay? We'll go see Adam, he wants to ask you a few questions."
She shook her head. "You don't understand Emma! I've done it! I've done what I've always been afraid of." The feral laughed. "I'm soaked!" Smiling she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small lighter. "I've got to face my fears Emma, it's the only way to get past them."
"No!" Emma screamed as she saw Mixy move to light the little lighter. Lunging forward she grabbed at Mixy's hand before she could complete the motions. The two women fought for a brief moment before Mixy's feral strength pushed Emma away, sending her flying into the wall lined with equipment of all sorts. Tumbling down into the machines below her Emma fought to keep conscious against the pain.
"Try to understand Emma, I have to do this, I have to..."
Getting up as quickly as she could Emma raced toward Mixy again but she was too late. Before she could take her first step the feral had flicked the lighter and flames licked at her clothes, hair, skin; the fire was everywhere. Screaming Emma tried to move closer but pulled back when the fired singed her hands. Suddenly Mixy was knocked to the ground and in a flurry of rushed movements she watched as Adam and Jesse fought to extinguish the flames with blankets. When they were out Jesse picked Mixy up and fled out the doorway, both Adam and Emma directly on his heels.
It was only once Adam had declared that Mixy would be okay that the pain of Emma's hand forced its way to the surface. Seeing the pain in her eyes Adam scanned her over and noticed the redness on the tips of her fingers. Forcing her to sit on the exam table Adam applied a burn cream to her fingers, massaging it in to take away the pain. "What will happen to her when she wakes up?"
"I'm not sure," he sighed. "It could be that the influence has worn off or it could be that it hasn't. I have no way of knowing until I speak with Mixy or the bastard that did this to her."
The fact that this might not be over yet crushed down on Emma's shoulders and she slumped against the weight of it, leaning forward and putting her head to Adam's shoulder. "I can't do this Adam," she whispered through her choked throat. "I've already lost Pete and Jackie... if I lose Mixy too..."
Wrapping his arm around her Adam held the small woman to him. "I'll do everything I can to keep Mixy here, Emma, I promise you I will."
Nodding, trying to keep her tears at bay but loosing the battle, Emma sniffed. As the first tear welled in her eyes and slipped down her cheek it was soon joined by many others just like it. Wrapped up in Adam's arms she wept for her lost friends, people she loved that had been ripped from her life by a man bent on making Adam pay for a crime he had already paid for time and time again.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
He was standing on a platform, water surrounding him everywhere; there was nowhere he could go. He had no choice; he had to step off the platform and into the water. Raising his foot he was about to do so when a strong gust of wind blew against him making it nearly impossible to move. In the wind he heard whispers, a voice he knew and yet at the same time it was his own voice, telling him, reminding him of what he knew in the depth of his heart and mind.
He hated water.
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X
It was deceptively calm in the lab. Adam watched the pair in the center of the lab with concern and worry yet also hope and a sense of need filling his every cell. This needed to work; they were running out of options. Three times he had caught Brennan getting back in the water. After the second time he had realized the pattern, every twelve hours Brennan made an attempt to get in the water. Deciding to deal with Brennan first Adam had locked Mixy in her room, after searching it for anything flammable, and both Jesse and Shalimar were keeping an eye on her.
As for Adam... he was keeping an eye on all of them.
But right now his attention was focused on Emma as she sat next to Brennan, trying to get into his mind, trying to see past the barriers and make him forget what had been planted in his mind. She'd been sitting next to the elemental for nearly four hours now and there had been no movement from either one of them. Pacing the room, checking on both of their vital signs, he was beginning to get worried. Brennan was fine, but Emma's vital signs were beginning to waver.
She was exhausted. With everything it had been through lately the mental exhaustion had begun to encroach on her body as well. So focused on helping Brennan her brain was beginning to take its energy from the involuntary body systems just to keep the power flow between them at a constant level. Every non-essential bodily function had slowly shut down. There were moments when she had skipped a heartbeat, or forgotten to take a breath. Those were the times Adam's own heart had skipped a beat, when his own breath had caught in his throat.
He was scared.
Passing by the chair one more time Adam's heart clenched when the computer beeped letting him know that Emma's heart had skipped a beat. It beeped again, a third time, a fourth, a fifth. Adam's eyes grew wide when he realized Emma's heart had stopped. She was tapping every reservoir of energy she could find to keep the link with Brennan and the heart was the strongest muscle in the body. Grabbing a hypodermic from the counter Adam was poised to inject an adrenaline shot directly into her heart, to get it going again, when she suddenly opened her eyes to meet his.
"Emma!?!" he yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders.
Slowly a weak smiled pulled at her lips as she swayed against him, a whisper rising from her throat to meet his ears.
"It worked Adam."
X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X