Chapter 7: And Then There Were Six

Brennan sat staring into the water at his reflection without really seeing anything. His mind raced over what had gone on in the medical room and the possible outcomes of Danielle's attempt at healing Shalimar after he had left. He desperately wanted to know what had happened but he refused to go back in case Danielle hadn't managed to save Shalimar. Brennan was feeling guilty about how he'd reacted to Danielle in the medical room and he was still blaming himself for what had happened to Shalimar when a familiar face appeared beside his in the water.
"See anything interesting?" said Shalimar with a smile, standing beside him.
Brennan turned and looked up at her with disbelief in his eyes. Shalimar opened her arms to him and he got up and hugged her. Brennan touched her hair and her face, looking her over as if he was memorising everything about her all over again.
"I thought..." Brennan started.
Shalimar's eyes filled with tears at the pain she heard in his voice, "It's okay, Brennan."
"I thought I'd lost you forever... I don't know what I would have done..."
Shalimar touched his cheek with her right hand, "I am still here," before putting her lips to his in a gentle kiss.
Brennan looked into her eyes as Shalimar pulled away. She smiled at him and Brennan kissed her again, deeper this time. When they broke away, Brennan was the first to speak.
"I've been wanting to tell you something, Shal."
"What?"
"I love you."
Shalimar kissed him again before whispering to him, "I love you too."
She took Brennan's hand in hers and made him sit down with her on a nearby bench.
"You know, I asked where you were when I woke up?"
"You did?" said Brennan with pain in his voice.
"Yes, I wondered why you weren't there like you had been every other time I'd woken up in the medical room. When Emma told me you'd walked out-"
"I..." Brennan couldn't find the words.
"Don't worry, Danielle stuck up for you, as did Emma," said Shalimar looking into his eyes, "Don't feel bad about it, Danielle understood."
"I owe her."
Shalimar smiled, "So do I. She saved my life."
Brennan looked away as pain surfaced in his eyes again.
"Hey," said Shalimar making him look at her, "You couldn't have stopped Harvey hurting me Brennan. There were GSA agents to deal with as well as Dana and Harvey. You couldn't fight the GSA men and protect me at the same time, that's why we're part of a team. But even a team can have problems."
Brennan sighed, "Yeah, I guess."
"So, no more blaming yourself for what that creep did to me, okay?" said Shalimar, "I want to know all about you, Jesse and Emma getting Danielle back from Eckhart cos Jesse gave me a very edited version of the events... but you'll have to wait until Adam has checked me over again."
Shalimar rolled her eyes and Brennan laughed. Shal grinned before pulling him up with her. As she went to walk away, Brennan pulled her back into his arms.
"Brennan!" Shalimar said before Brennan silenced her with a kiss.
Brennan pulled away and said, "Promise me something?"
"Anything."
"Promise me you'll never ever scare me like that again."
Shalimar smiled with laughter sparkling in her eyes, remembering Jesse's similar words, "I'll try!"

Danielle spent the next few hours in the medical room asleep. Adam, Jesse and Emma weren't surprised to see Shalimar and Brennan holding hands and kissing one another.
"About time too," said Emma, "I wondered when you'd both admit your feelings."
"You knew?" said Brennan.
"Duh! Of course, something that obvious is hard to miss even if I am a psionic."
Brennan smiled and he and Shalimar kissed. Jesse pretended to gag.
"Get a room!" he said before laughing as Shalimar aimed a punch at him.
"He's only jealous, Shal," said Brennan who laughed as Jesse looked at him as if he was going to kill him.
"At least you won't be causing damage to the walls any more Brennan," grinned Jesse before dodging a hit from Brennan.
Adam stood watching the four of them together and smiled. He was happy for Shalimar and Brennan although he had a few reservations about it. He wondered if they would have problems when out fighting the GSA together. Adam had a feeling that they would be alright eventually and wondered if a different change would do the group good. He walked back to the medical room and checked on Danielle.
"You're awake," said Adam as he saw her sitting up.
Danielle smiled, "Yes, I'm feeling fine now."
"Good," said Adam as he went up to her, "What you did for Shalimar was very kind of you."
Danielle shrugged, "I had to do something, I couldn't just watch her die when I have the power to heal."
"But there was no guarantee that it would work, yet you still tried."
"Yes," said Danielle nodding, "I owed you all for saving me from Eckhart and the GSA more than once."
Adam smiled, "You have spent your life helping adolescent runaways, some of which are mutants themselves."
Danielle nodded, "It's not easy for them to deal with their powers."
"Yes, and I wanted to talk to you about that and something else."

An hour later, Adam went to talk to Jesse, Brennan, Shalimar and Emma. He got them to sit down and told them he had something important to discuss with them.
"What's up, Adam?" said Emma worriedly.
Adam smiled at her concern, "Nothing to start worrying about. I know that you've all been through a lot recently and I was hoping to get things back to normal... but with things the way they are, I'd rather we moved forward."
Puzzled, Jesse frowned, "Meaning?"
"I want to know what you think of making Danielle a member of Mutant X."
A stunned silence followed before Jesse opened his mouth:
"She isn't a fighter."
"She'll learn, just like you all had to," said Adam folding his arms.
Jesse accepted that, "Okay."
"Emma?" said Adam.
Emma shrugged, "I don't have a complaint, as long as Danielle wants to join us."
"Brennan? Shalimar?" asked Adam.
Shalimar and Brennan looked at one another.
"She'd be an asset to us," said Brennan, "She also likes helping people... it's fine by me."
Shalimar nodded in agreement, "I owe her a lot. She's nice and gets on with us... yeah, if she wants to become one of us, sure."
Adam grinned, "Good. I have asked her to consider it but she made it clear that I was to ask the four of you first. Emma, go and get Danielle for me, she's in the medical room."
Emma nodded and with a smile left the room.
Danielle was overjoyed at the teams' reaction and she was happy to be trained in fighting. Adam gave her a comlink of her own, and he saw great potential in her. Danielle relinquished her shelters to her most trusted friends and employees, not before taking the mutant teenagers to nearby safehouses. Many asked to be put into the Underground, others assured Danielle that they would use the safehouses and check in at the shelters regularly. Danielle continued to check up on many of them even whilst she was part of Mutant X. Emma, Jesse, Danielle, Shalimar and Brennan became a powerful team and Adam was proud to see that the Mutant X team was stronger than ever.