Disclaimer—see chapter one
A/N: This was originally two shorter chapters, but I just didn't have the heart to torture you guys anymore, you've been so wonderfully patient with me! So instead, this is one very long chapter! Please leave a review, letting me know what you think. Only one more chapter left after this one! Thank you!!
House of Dreams—chapter twelve
Brennan didn't want to move. Shalimar was safe in his arms, and he felt the adrenaline rush from the past few days begin to wear off. He could tell from her form that she was exhausted as well, and in pain. She thought she was hiding it from him, but he could see it, he knew her too well.
"Come on Shal," he gently prompted, "We need to get you home."
Shalimar sniffed, "I can't believe you even found me," she mused quietly. "But I'm so glad you did," she gazed up at him, lips curving into her signature smile.
Brennan's pulse increased. Even when exhausted beyond all measure, she could still mesmerize him. He graced her with a grin of his own, brows wrinkling in confusion when Shalimar suddenly looked stricken.
"Brennan," she peered at his mouth, "What happened to your tooth?"
Brennan looked surprised and felt around his mouth with his tongue, groaning when he found the gaping hole in his bottom left side.
"Oh great," he muttered, "I hate going to the dentist."
She didn't let him off the hook, but continued to stare up at him, waiting.
He sighed. "I ah, I ran into some trouble when I was looking for you."
She shook her head in amused dismay, cupping his cheek tenderly. "I'm sorry," she bit her lip to hide her smile.
"Small price to pay for finding you," he gallantly mock preened. "Although I suppose in reality you actually freed yourself. Not much help I was," he ended apologetically.
"You're here," she argued. "That's enough."
Brennan blew out his breath, wincing as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. His muscles had already started to stiffen up on him. He reached down a hand and grasped Shalimar firmly by the elbow, gently helping her rise as well. She jumped to her feet as if she had just been through a light exercise routine, grinning as he rolled his eyes at her.
"Come on old man," she teased, stepping away from him with a slight bounce, but then suddenly swaying as her eyes rolled back in her head.
"Whoa!" Brennan yelled in fear as he lunged forward and caught her before she hit the floor.
"Shalimar?" he braced her in his arms, jostling her lightly, trying to get a reaction from her.
"I'm alright," she murmured after a moment, "Guess I just moved too fast,"
Brennan eyed her, "I think we better go find Jess and Lexa and get out of here."
"Sounds good to me," Shalimar quietly agreed, "But first, I have to make sure these guys can't hurt anyone else," she clenched her jaw, "and I have to find Carrie."
Brennan stared at the floor in sudden remembrance; the woman in the lab.
"Shal," he started, "There was a body in the lab, and when I saw the blonde hair, I, ah, I thought it was you." He ran his hand through his hair, stumbling through his words. "But it--it must have been Carrie."
He glanced up to gage her reaction. She stood still in silent defeat for several long beats, before slowly, deliberately making her way to the fallen men. She found the one that had taken such delight in tormenting her and stared down at him, before suddenly lashing out with a vicious kick. Brennan's hands on her shoulders stilled her angry movements, and she allowed him to turn her around and wrap his arms around her waist. She resisted for a moment, before slumping against him in tired resignation.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he buried his face in her hair.
"She didn't deserve that," she whispered sullenly, "The Martin's don't deserve this, they're good people."
"I know, Shal, I know," Brennan comforted her as best he could.
She pulled back and caught his gaze in determination. "We can at least bring her home still."
Brennan nodded in silent agreement.
Shalimar pulled away and started down the hallway, limping slightly but not even noticing as she stubbornly forced one foot in front of the other.
Brennan desperately watched her for a moment more before giving up and following her back down the hall in the direction he had come from, hoping to remember his way back to the medical lab.
Jesse glanced over at Lexa as she shot a laser beam at the figure he had just kicked to the ground. They had left the lab, only to find themselves again surrounded. The men seemed to come out of nowhere, and he leaned against the wall for a moment, trying to catch his breath as the last one was finally down.
"Now stay down," Lexa instructed the unconscious man, carefully probing him with her foot to make sure he was really out this time. He seemed to have an uncanny knack for coming back for more. She walked over and placed a hand on Jesse's heaving back.
"You ok?" she asked him in concern.
"Yeah," he rasped as he sucked in a deep breath, "Just got the wind knocked out of me with that last guy," he complained as he attempted to stand up straight.
Lexa smiled and allowed Jesse to lean on her as they turned their backs on the men and started to walk away. They had only taken a few steps when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Not again," Jesse groaned, but then brightened as Brennan and Shalimar came around the corner.
"Shalimar!" he exclaimed in relief, slumping back against Lexa.
"You two alright?" Brennan called to them, although his eyes were glued on Shalimar.
"Yeah," Lexa answered, grunting from Jesse's weight.
Brennan managed to tear his eyes away from Shalimar once he saw her squat against the wall to catch her breath and approached Lexa to give her a hand with Jesse.
"Brennan," Lexa beckoned to him in a low voice, "The body you found in the lab turned out to be Carrie Martin. We think she was being treated, but it didn't, ah, it didn't work."
Brennan nodded his head in resignation.
"Yeah, I figured as much," he turned his eyes back towards Shalimar as he pinched his nose in frustration.
"I'm sorry, Brennan," Lexa whispered as she placed her hand over his. He winced, and she pulled his hand closer to inspect it, eyes widening at the sight of it.
Shalimar's tired ears picked up the faint whispers, and she lifted her head back from the wall she had rested it against and turned towards the sound. She saw Brennan and Lexa standing close together, holding hands, and whispering. Rage swept through her, and she leapt to her feet and let out an aggressive snarl. She had been through hell the past couple of days, and the betrayal she felt at the sight was worst than anything else she had endured.
Brennan's head whipped around when he heard Shalimar's cry.
"Shalimar?" he called in worry, but she was already stalking away, head held high and tense with an emotion he couldn't quite read.
He briefly turned back to Lexa, but she waved him on.
"You get Shalimar, Jesse and I can wrap things up around here," she reasoned.
Brennan ran after Shalimar without another word.
Lexa and Jesse shared a knowing look and shook their heads.
Brennan winced as he ran after Shalimar, holding a hand to his aching side. Every step hurt, and he knew Shalimar had to be hurting even more, yet she moved without even a flinch.
"Shal, wait up!" He called as she disappeared around a corner. He ran after her only to skid to an abrupt stop when he found her waiting, back turned.
"Shal?" he inquired, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, surprised when she violently shrugged it off and whipped around to face him, eyes glowing a golden yellow and narrowed into little slits. She bared her teeth at him, daring him to touch her again.
He involuntarily fell back a step.
"Ah, Shal," he carefully probed, "Are you alright?" His brows furrowed in questioning concern.
Her chest rose and fell in deep, calculating breaths as she struggled to gather her thoughts.
"I thought I could finally trust you," she spat out finally, "I had decided to believe what you told me, the thought of seeing you again helped me through the past few days, and now—now I can't believe I was so stupid,' she ranted, fists clenched white at her sides as she fought to keep control.
Brennan stood speechless, mouth hanging open. His innocent look only incensed her more. She pounced on him, knocking him flat on his back before he could even blink in awareness. She crouched over him, fingers digging into his shoulders, pinning him into the ground with a strength she had never fully used against him before.
"You disgust me," she enunciated each word with carefully controlled anger, eyes shooting daggers into his heart.
He fought to sit back up, but she forced him to stay on his back, keeping him in the vulnerable position. He was strong, but she was stronger, and they stared at one another for long moments until the faint sound of a door banging shut finally caused Shalimar to close her eyes and break the connection.
"Why," she finally whispered in agony, "just tell me why."
"Why what," Brennan finally managed to push her off him, and sat up in frustration. "I thought we were finally past all this," he gritted as he banged his fist against the floor, wincing at the harsh contact.
Shalimar saw his reaction and took in his crushed hand for the first time. It was obvious at least one finger was broken, and the knuckles were bruised and painfully swollen. The connection clicked in her mind, and she suddenly understood what she had just seen. She closed her eyes in embarrassment and raised a hand to rub the back of her stiff neck, subconsciously fingering the disengaged governor.
Brennan's eyes followed her hands and berated himself for losing his temper after everything she had been through.
"I'm sorry, Shal," he waved his hand to indicate her movement. "We'll remove it completely once we get back to sanctuary."
She tiredly shook her head, "It doesn't matter," she stared at the floor for a moment before pushing herself back to her feet and standing over Brennan.
"I'm--I'm going to look for Carrie," she finally muttered, beginning to turn away.
"No!" Brennan reached out and grabbed her hand before she could leave. He bit his lip at the pain that shot through his hand, but didn't release her. He pulled himself to his feet and loomed over her, using his height to his advantage.
"Tell me what just happened here," he demanded.
Shalimar shrugged helplessly before slowly reaching out and cradling his hand in both of hers, gently tracing the swollen bruises with the pads of her fingers, refusing to make eye contact.
"I overreacted just now, and I'm sorry for that," she murmured listlessly, at a loss for words. He froze, afraid any movement would break the moment. She was finally talking, and he held his breath, waiting.
"Brennan, I--I think maybe I need to end things between us." She continued to trace light patterns against his hand, seemingly unaware of her actions. "I saw you kiss Lexa," she suddenly blurted out, dropping his hand and stepping back a step. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively as Brennan's brows shot up. "I was watching the video feed from the casino case, and it was, ah, suddenly right there. Lexa was there with me and she, well, she implied much more had happened as well." Anger glinted in her eyes at the memory.
"Shal—," Brennan started in, but Shalimar interrupted him.
"No, Brennan," she raised her hands, "I can't stop you from seeing other women, even," she swallowed hard, "even Lexa. But I can't do that with you."
Brennan stared at her in disbelief until she nervously fidgeted under his gaze.
"That's it?" he exclaimed. "You've been angry with me for weeks over that?" His voice raised in frustration.
She silently raised her chin in self defense.
He whirled around and hit the wall, swearing as his abused hand protested violently.
"Argh!" he screamed, doubling over and cradling his hand. His eyes squeezed shut for several beats until the throbbing slowly subsided, and then he straightened back up. Still holding his hand up against his chest, he whirled around and kicked the wall, desperately needing an outlet to vent. He finally blew through all his anger and turned back towards Shalimar, lungs heaving for air as he sagged against the wall. She hadn't moved during his entire rampage.
"Shalimar," he forced himself to speak gently, "I wish you had told me this from the beginning. I never kissed Lexa, she kissed me." His undamaged hand gestured wildly into the air, "It meant nothing; she was just trying to prove a point to me. And nothing more ever happened between us." He stared at her until her gaze dropped back to the floor.
He angrily clenched his jaw. "I told you I wanted to be with you, what did you think, that I was just making the rounds at Sanctuary? Do you really think so little of me?" His voice rose again in his disbelief.
"You thought that body was me, why?" she suddenly blurted out at him.
"What?" Brennan looked at her in frustration, confused by her off-hand comment.
"When you saw the body on the gurney, you didn't even check to see if it was me, you instantly thought so," She spoke slowly, as if speaking to a small child. "Not the most logical move you've ever made."
Brennan's forehead creased in bewilderment as she looked at him with expectation, waiting for him to catch on. He closed his eyes as he suddenly understood.
"Grief isn't always the most rational of emotions," he murmured in realization.
She shrugged; eyes downcast. A single tear glinted off her cheek, and he sighed heavily, his anger suddenly leaving as he saw it through her eyes.
"Oh Shal," he brokenly whispered, pushing off the wall and stopping just in front of her. "I couldn't look at another woman, even if I wanted to." He placed two fingers under her chin and pushed her head up, forcing eye contact. "My heart is hurting, it's so full."
Her eyes fell shut, unable to bear the emotion she saw in him as the truth washed over her.
"I just couldn't bear the thought of another woman having you, of you wanting someone else," she breathed in humiliation.
Brennan reached up and cupped her pale cheek. "It's you," he whispered fiercely, staring at her intensely, "I only want you." Two eyes stared back in shock, tears welling in their pools and turning them a liquid brown. Brennan knew he would spend the rest of his life getting lost in those passionate orbs. He leaned down slowly towards her, making his intentions known and giving her time to pull away. This time she didn't, and his heart rejoiced.
Shalimar melted into him as they gently and longingly exchanged lingering kisses, truly tasting each other for the first time. After several minutes, she pulled breathlessly away, her palms pressed flat against Brennan's chest, feeling his heart pounding. She suddenly felt wonderfully alive, and she smiled cheekily at him before surrendering to his seeking lips again. "Mmm," she murmured, deepening the kiss, curling her hands into his soft shirt. She felt his undamaged hand rise from her shoulder to tangle into her thick hair, as he one-armed her closer to him, corded muscles bulging. Too soon, he broke away, chest heaving for air as he stared at her like a drowning man.
"Wow," he finally spoke.
"I know," she stared back, her gaze slowly growing hungry. Her lips curled into a possessive smile. "Mine," she thought, her eyes glowing yellow.
As he stared into those golden eyes for the second time that day, he suddenly grinned in anticipation as another thought became blatantly apparent to him. He was now in danger of a whole other kind.