After Brennan, Jesse and Emma finished dinner, they went out to the parking lot. Brennan pulled out his cell phone and began dialing.
"You calling Shalimar?" Jesse asked.
"Yeah. I'm a little worried about her." The phone rang and rang and then Shalimar's machine picked up. Brennan waited for the beep and then began his message. "Hey. Me again. Just calling to make sure you're okay. Umm, guess I'll talk to you later. Bye."
Jesse turned to Emma who was standing near them. "How sick was she this afternoon?"
Emma shrugged. "I dunno. She was fine one minute and not the next."
"You think she could have been exposed to something at that plant you were at?" Brennan asked.
Emma shrugged again. "Maybe. But wouldn't we have both become sick? I think she's just got the flu or something."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll try her again in the morning." Brennan and Jesse climbed into Brennan's car. "See you tomorrow, Emma."
Emma waved to them as she walked over to her car. She started it up and watched as Brennan pulled out of the lot. Then she drove away.
Brennan drove along as Jesse attempted to talk to him. "Hello? Earth to Brennan," Jesse said as he snapped his fingers.
Brennan looked over at Jesse and then back on the road in front of him. "I'm sorry. My mind is just preoccupied is all."
"I know, I realize that considering I've just been talking to you for a good couple of minutes and you haven't heard a word I said."
"I'm sorry," Brennan said as he took a turn and then parked the car on the side of the street. Jesse looked out the window and realized where they were. Brennan opened the car door, "I'm just gonna run in and check on her. I'll be back in ten minutes, tops."
Jesse stayed in the car while Brennan when into the building and made his way up to Shalimar's apartment.
When he got to the door he knocked. There was no answer so he knocked again. "Shalimar? It's me, Brennan." He waited for a few moments and still there was no answer. He turned the doorknob and found it obviously locked so he knocked again. "Shalimar, open up." He put is ear to the door to see if he could hear something but he didn't.
Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a set of lock picking devices and picked the lock. Slowly he opened the door. "Shalimar?" He crept into the dark apartment, making his way toward a lamp on the end table by the sofa. But as he walked he slipped a little on something. He caught his balance and then got to the lamp and turned it on. He looked down at the floor and then knelt down to touch the dark puddles. Blood. "Shalimar!" he yelled with fear.
He followed the trail of blood that went into Shalimar's bedroom. As he neared her room he heard a soft moan. "Shalimar!" he yelled again. When he got into the room he found her on the floor covered in her own blood and barely conscious.
He knelt beside her, tears welling up in his eyes. "What happened? Who did this to you?" He looked her over and saw that the source of the blood was her stomach. He took his sweatshirt off and held it over her wound, applying pressure. She groaned in pain as he did so. "Shhhh, it's okay. You're going to be okay. I'm gonna get you some help."
"No you're not," a voice behind him said.
He whipped his head around and felt sudden pain as he was struck in the face. He shook it off and stood up, confronting Emma who was ready for a fight.
"What are you doing?" he said as he felt the side of his head, blood that began to trickle out from a small cut.
Emma lashed out towards him but he blocked her blows. She got in a few kicks to his knees and he stumbled to the ground. Waving his hands together he began to generate electricity. But just as he was about to toss a bolt towards Emma, she grabbed a vase full of flowers and hurled it at him. The water from the vase mixed with his electrical current and he began to go into shock, his body bouncing up and down in pain as the charge went through his body. He soon stopped and lay motionless on the floor next to Shalimar, who had passed out once again.
Emma shook her head. "Pathetic, don't you think Mason?"
"Mm, most definitely. Two down and one to go," he replied.
Emma turned around to leave and heard Jesse's voice as he entered the apartment. "Brennan? Shalimar? Where are you guys?"
She hid behind the bedroom door and waited for him to come into the room.
Jesse got to the doorway, his eyes growing wide as he saw Brennan and Shalimar lying on the floor, Shalimar covered in blood. "Oh my God!" He stepped into the room and Emma lunged out at him, latching onto his back and clawing at his eyes.
He flipped her off of him and hurled her across the room, slamming her into the wall. He rubbed his eyes and then saw her charging at him. "Emma?" he said just as she tackled him to the ground. He grabbed her wrists and stopped her punches. "What are you doing? How did you get in here?"
"Shut up!" she screamed as struggled against his strong grip.
She began using her mutant powers on him, trying to take over his mind but he fought against her. His body became very dense and she was unable to get through. "Stop it, Emma!" With a solid burst of energy he flipped her off of him and threw her against the wall again. Her head connected with the wall with a sickening crack, knocking her unconscious to the floor.
"Adam!" he half-yelled into his Comlink ring.
"Jesse? What's the matter?"
"I'm at Shalimar's apartment. Shalimar and Brennan are hurt." Jesse moved Brennan's sweatshirt away from Shalimar's wound, his lips curling at the sight of the blood. "Shalimar's been stabbed or shot. I can't really tell. She's lost a lot of blood. Brennan's unconscious. I'm not sure what happened to him."
"I'm on my way."
Jesse reached over and felt for Shalimar's pulse and found a very weak one. "Hang on, Shal." Then he checked Brennan's and found a weak one as well.
"Come on, guys. We're a team. You can't just leave us like that," he said to them with a tear in this eye.