Disclaimer—see chapter one
A/N: Ok, I had to post this one early because I felt bad for leaving you hanging with the last chapter! I cannot say thank you enough for all your reviews—I am just blown away from the response. If you could see me right now, you'd see me beaming from ear to ear! Thank you so much—please continue to let me know what you think!!
House of Dreams—Chapter eleven
Brennan stumbled to his feet and fled down the hallway, anger burning throughout his body, giving him the strength for what he most craved, revenge. Shalimar was dead, and they would pay. He could not think beyond that one coherent thought, unaware of the blinding tears streaming down his face as he staggered down the hall.
"Jesse!" Lexa's voice called him back as he was about to follow after Brennan. She had approached the gurney and had pulled back the sheet.
"Look, Jess," her voice cracked.
Jesse stared in horror; the body was burned beyond recognition, save for the face and the golden blonde hair that was singed on the ends. He recognized that face. He turned around and leaned against a counter, taking deep breaths. Lexa came up behind him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder before continuing her perusal around the lab. She opened cupboards here and there, until she suddenly stopped.
"Jesse."
The sound of her voice drew Jesse's attention. He slowly turned around to face her, purposely putting his back to the body to see what Lexa had found. She held up a small shiny object; it was Shalimar's ring.
Brennan found himself a bit outnumbered, but he didn't care. He struck out blindly all around him, grunting at every painful contact with flesh. A fist crashed into his gut, and he doubled over. A boot smashed into his back, kicking him forward and he fell to his knees, trying to breathe through the blood filling his mouth. He spit out a tooth, not even remembering the blow to his face and groaned as he forced himself back to his feet. Another punch met him on his way up and he fell again. He closed his eyes for a second, gathering the courage to rise again, and he let out a yell as he rose and whirled around with a jump kick, sweeping out his leg and wiping out the man coming at him from behind, then immediately swung around again, jabbing an undercut at another man. He charged a tesla coil and struck out again, hitting two more men. He fought like a man possessed and finally only stopped when he came to the realization that the man he was punching was already dead. He stared at the blood on his hands, but only remembered seeing the blood spots that had been spilled around broken chains. He sank to the floor, pulling his knees up close and burying his head in his lap, rocking back and forth as gasping sobs ripping through him.
Unbeknownst to Brennan, a woman had been in the process of being transported when he interrupted them and that during the fight, she had crawled free. She felt herself drawn to the sobs, and used her little remaining strength to lift her head, fighting the waves of nausea that hit her at the movement. Her eyes widened, and she began to cry as well.
"Brennan," she whispered. He didn't respond, locked in his own world of grief. She crawled slowly, painfully forward, inch by agonizing inch until she reached him. She lifted a shaking hand and gently touched him on the knee.
"Brennan."
Her voice broke through the fog overwhelming his mind, and he raised his head from his knees, convulsively groaning at the sight before him.
"What took you so long?" she smiled weakly.
Brennan bit back a choking sob as he threw himself at her and gathered her broken body into his trembling arms.
"Shalimar," he breathed, eyes dropping shut in palpable relief.
Jesse rolled the ring between his fingers thoughtfully, comforted by the feel of the cool metal.
"At least we know she's here," he blew out a long breath in frustration. "Now we just have to find her."
Lexa nodded her head as she gently placed her hand over Jesse's, stilling his nervous movements. She gestured towards the gurney with her chin.
"You recognize that woman?" she asked him.
"Yeah," Jesse frowned as he stared over her shoulder at the body. "I recognize her face and hair from the pictures—it's Carrie."
Lexa nodded her head in agreement. "I thought so." She sighed heavily, "We're too late."
"Poor Shalimar," Jesse murmured, "She was getting attached to the Martin's. She wanted to find their daughter for them so badly." His shoulders slumped. "She'll be so upset when she finds out."
Lexa tiredly rubbed her temple. "My sources will not be pleased. We were hoping she would be our connection to Dominique."
"And stabilization," Jesse reminded with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah, and stabilization," Lexa agreed. She leaned against the counter in tired frustration, but then straightened as an idea struck her.
"Jess," she started, "from what we know of Carrie Martin, she was a fire elemental."
"Yeah," Jesse waited for her to elaborate, not following her train of thought.
"She was burned, probably from the inside out," she prompted him, gesturing at the body behind them.
Jesse's eyes grew large at the thought and he grasped Lexa's hands.
"If they tried to give her treatment for instability—," his voice trailed off.
"Let's hope they didn't try to treat Shalimar," Lexa grimly pressed her lips together in anger.
Jesse squeezed his hand into a tight fist, imprinting the ring into his palm, "They won't."
He turned around and strode out of the lab, Lexa at his heels. They left the medical area and entered back out into the main hallway, unsure of which way Brennan had gone. They randomly turned corners, finding several empty rooms, but nothing more. Frustrated, Jesse, turned down yet another non-descript hallway, only to suddenly stop short.
"Oops," he muttered to Lexa as she bumped into him, groaning as several men gathered around them.
Brennan's heart constricted as he felt Shalimar's hands rake desperately across his back as she choked back sobs. He tightened his hold on her, hating how tiny she felt. His nose dripped, and he wiped it on her shoulder, freezing when he felt her shaking. It took him a moment to realize she was laughing even as she was crying. He pulled back in confusion, but she only buried her nose further into shoulder.
"Tell me you didn't just do that," she whispered, laughing half hysterically, even as she wiped her own nose against his shirt. His brows shot up in understanding, and he shook his head in disbelief.
"Only you would care about clothes at a time like this," he chuckled in happy relief, clutching her tightly, needing the contact.
Shalimar's laughter died down, and she grew quiet. Her eyes dropped shut, and she breathed deeply, comforted by his strong scent. He smelled of stale fear, sweat, and blood. He was beautiful to her and for the first time in several days, she relaxed.
For a long time, Brennan rocked her gently back and forth, content with the quiet, satisfied that she was in his arms again. His hands brushed against the governor sticking out of the back of her neck, and he slowly pulled back and stilled her with one hand on her shoulder, leaning over and aiming a finger at the governor, disabling it with a short blast. She let out an audible sigh. He dropped back down to his knees and cupped her face with one hand.
"Shal," he murmured softly, "What did they do to you?"
Shalimar smiled gently at him. "Nothing I couldn't handle,"
He shook his head, biting his lip in indecision, wanting to ask for details, but afraid to know the answer. Shalimar saw his hesitation and instantly knew his fears.
"No, Brennan," she shook her head, "it's not what you're thinking. I'm ok, I really am." She dropped her gaze for a moment before raising her eyes back to his. She saw the relief and anguish in his gaze and raised her hand to rest over his wrist as he carefully stroked his thumb across her bruised cheek in soothing circles. "One guy tried, but I put him in his place."
Brennan had to smile at that. "Only Shalimar," he thought endearingly as he waited for her to continue.
"It was—it was more the pain that was hard. I've never had a governor before, I've always been afraid of them, being feral," her voice died away for a moment as she closed her eyes, "being feral, I can't really turn it off, so--"
"So you felt it all the time," Brennan finished for her. She nodded her head, eyes still closed. He gently leaned forward and kissed each eyelid.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered.
Her lips turned upward in appreciation, and her eyes reopened. She reached up and framed his face with her small hands, loving the feel of rough stubble against her hands. She had felt nothing but rope and stone for too long, and had longed to feel the warmth of skin again. She took in his swelling eye and crooked nose with splattered bits of dried blood flaking off of it, and knew he had fought some battles of his own recently. Already she felt some of her strength returning, and everything in her yearned to share it with him. She bent her head down slightly to catch his gaze, wanting to ease his obvious anger.
"It was hard, Brennan," she swallowed, "very hard. For a while there, my world became indistinguishable. Everything was falling apart, and I didn't know what to think, what to feel." She paused to gather her thoughts. "But one thing remained constant in my mind—you." Her eyes filled with tears as she stared up at him in wonderment. His deep, warm eyes gave her courage. "All I could think was that I didn't want to leave things unfinished between us. I knew I couldn't give up, that you wouldn't give up on me."
"Never," he fiercely agreed, dropping his hand and pulling her close again, "Never."
They pulled slightly apart and stared at each other for a while, and then Brennan carefully pressed his lips to her forehead in a long, tender kiss. He gently broke away, and they rested their foreheads against the other, eyes shut. And together, they breathed.