VACATION

Disclaimer: This is purely fan fiction. I make no claims of owning the characters of Mutant X, as they are owned by Tribune Entertainment Co. No copyright infringement is intended so please don't sue me. All you'll get is a ball of pocket lint that smells like Bounce fabric softener.

Rating: R (for violence)

***

It had been a while since she'd had a vacation.

As she returned to her hotel room after a long day of lying on the beach, Shalimar thought of her teammates back home. Glancing at her cell phone sitting on the table, she thought about picking it up and calling them but then dismissed the thought.

She made her way to the shower to clean up before going out for some dinner.

Back at the sanctuary, Jesse, Emma and Brennan were hanging out in the rec room, enjoying some free time of their own.

"So, do you think Shalimar misses us?" Jesse asked the others.

Brennan laughed, "Of course she does. In fact, I'm sure she's sitting all alone in her hotel room just dying to call us."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt it you guys. She's wanted this vacation for so long. I think we're the last things on her mind right now."

"I have to say though, I kinda miss her," Jesse said as he tossed a baseball around in his hands.

"Well, she'll be back before we know it." Emma patted him on the shoulder as she left the room.

Shalimar exited the restaurant, still listening to the sound of the live band performing on stage. Despite having dined alone, she enjoyed it. Rarely was she able to such a thing seeing as life at the sanctuary was anything but lonely.

Feeling relaxed after a good meal, she breathed in the fresh, ocean air and decided to walk back to the hotel rather than take a taxi. The night was warm with a slight, refreshing breeze. The sky was littered with stars and she seemed to look at every single one as she walked along the edge of the beach.

Up ahead, she noticed a small Carnival - a few rides here and there and lots of games to play. Normally she'd check her watch to see what time it was but this was one of the beauties of being on vacation - time isn't a factor.

She walked around the area and heard game runners shouting towards her to play their games. The games are always rigged in order to make it very difficult to win or even impossible, but she shrugged her shoulders and made her way over to a dart game.

"Well hello there little lady. You want to play?" the game runner asked.

"Sure. I've got my sights on that big stuffed bear right there," she said as she pointed up towards the top of the trailer's canopy where a giant, brown bear was hanging.

The man looked up at the bear and then at Shalimar, "If you get ten bullseyes he can be yours. But I tell ya what," the man leaned closer towards her, "for you, darlin', I'll let you have him if you get five." He leaned back and smiled.

Shalimar smiled back at him and nodded, "Three it is."

The man handed her five darts and stepped out of the way. She took a careful aim at the small dartboard and then tossed the dart, landing it dead-on.

The man moved over to the board and removed the dart, "Good shot!" he said as he walked out of the way of her next throw.

She tossed the remainder of her darts, landing a bullseye each time.

The man reached up and unhooked the bear. "I'm a man of my word so here he is."

She took the bear from him and hugged it. "Thank you."

"You've got a good eye there little lady."

She smiled and winked at him then went on her way.

She walked along, looking the bear over and grinning at her new prize.

As she was playing with his ears she heard someone scream. She looked up and heard more screams and then numerous gunshots. Everyone began running in all directions, some ran past her, knocking into her. But she stood still, in a daze. Still hugging the bear and looking off into space. Ignoring the total chaos around her.

Her world was in slow motion but she could still hear the screams of panic, but there were no more sounds of gun fire.

Still in her daze, she dropped the bear to the ground, it fell to the pavement by her feet. Slowly she fell to her knees and then looked down at her stomach. A stray bullet had gone right through the bear and found it's way into her body.

She covered the wound with her hands, hardly feeling the warmth and wetness of her blood. Then she collapsed to the ground, curling into a ball as she began to feel the pain spread throughout her belly.

Most of the carnival-goers had left the area. All that were left were the wounded, or dead, and some carnival workers.

Her eyelids were heavy and she felt confused. "What just happened?" she thought to herself. Then she felt a pair of hands on her shoulder.

"Miss? Miss, are you okay?" she heard a man's voice say to her.

Her eyes rolled as she struggled to focus on the direction of the voice. Looking up, she saw it was the man from the dart game.

"I'm gonna roll you over onto your back, okay?"

Shalimar nodded, biting down on her bottom lip as he gently got her onto her back.

He moved her hands away from the wound, hissing at the sight of the bloody hole in her stomach. "Try to relax, help is on the way," he tried to assure her.

She could hear the faint sounds of sirens in the background.

He placed her hands back over the wound, "Keep putting pressure there. I'm going to go get a clean towel. I'll be right back. You hang in there." The man ran off towards his game trailer.

The pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and hoped she'd never have to feel again. She began to cough, which immediately sent a fiery pain through her midsection. She grimaced in pain as she sat up and scooted herself over towards another game trailer. Leaning up against the wheel, she moved her hand away from the wound and could see the blood flowing out. "How can I make it stop," she thought to herself.

The man rushed back to her side, placing the towel over her wound and pressing down on it. "You shouldn't be moving around." The man looked up and saw at least four police cruisers come to a screeching halt a few yards away from them. Two ambulances weren't far behind. "Over here!" he shouted at one of the officers getting out of his cruiser."You're going to be fine," he said as he looked down at Shalimar, but she had passed out.