Title: The Elements of Trust
Author/pseudonym: Nights
Fandom:Mutant X
Paring: None really, but Shalimar and Jesse are the main characters being dealt with.
E-mail address for feedback: nights@poetic.com
Disclaimers: Mutant X is the property of Tribune Entertainment, and maybe even Marvel Entertainment. The characters and universe of Mutant X are being used by this author for entertainment purposes only, without any possibility of making money. I do own Laura, though. ^_^
Notes: Thanks so much to all those who reviewed my fic. :) This is my first time to write a Mutant X fanfic, let alone a fanfic with multiple chapters, so its great to receive good commentary.
Summary: An exploration of the bond between Shalimar and Jesse. Held a few years when it was just Shalimar and Adam, no one else. This is my first Mutant X fanfic, so please be nice to me.

Part V: Taking The Plunge

Shalimar cranked up the coffee machine, enjoying the emanating smell of freshly brewed coffee. She needed its comfort right now. She had stayed up all night, careful to watch Jesse just in case he did anything stupid like running away. That happened more than once before, and even though for some crazy reason, she knew he wouldn't consider leaving until morning, she didn't take any chances on him anyway. After spending another hour of staring into space, deep in thought, Jesse had finally fallen asleep. She had spent the whole time, even past the crack of dawn, watching him, sitting on the side of his bed, as he breathed evenly. She was sure he wasn't having a peaceful sleep; every now and then he would wake up with a start, eyes wide in fear.

She often found her fingers kneading into his hair, carefully comforting him, easing him back to sleep. She didn't know if he was aware that she had spent the whole time sitting next to him on his bed, cradling him to sleep like a child, but then, that didn't really matter. It was 8 am in the morning when she herself awoke with a start, realizing that she had fallen asleep as well, but she was relieved to see that her hand had never left his forehead, while her other hand, she found out, had come to nestle onto the back of his neck. She liked how it felt there, enveloped by the warmth between the junction of shoulder and cheek. How comforting and safe it was.

How vulnerable.

Shalimar frowned at the thought as she sipped her coffee, cursing as the hot coffee scalded her tongue. At that moment, Adam had entered the kitchen, the refreshed look on his face a huge contrast to the tired look on hers. He nodded in her direction and made himself his own cup of coffee.

"How's he doing?"

She shook her head. "Not too well. He's been having bad dreams, but I guess that's understandable."

Adam nodded and reached for the morning paper. She finished her cup, refilled it, and joined him at the table. "So, do you want me to take him straight to his room via Double Helix, or do you want me to leave him at the nearest highway, get him a cab, be more inconspicuous?"

Adam didn't look up from his paper as he answered. "You're not taking him home."

Shalimar dumped her cup of coffee on the table, leaned over Adam and pulled his newspaper down so they could face each other eye to eye. "What do you mean?" She tried to keep her voice even, although she could feel the anger boiling inside her.

"I received a call from my contact, and GSA agents are all over the Prussian Gardens area, looking for him," Adam replied calmly. The composed look on his face irritated Shalimar even more, but she forced herself to listen. "My contact called up his mother, and we had an agreement that it was safer for him to be here. She just sent all of his things so he could get settled in here easily."

Shalimar couldn't believe it. She was aghast by the the detached attitude of Jesse's mother. "And that's it? Right after his birthday she dumps him here?" She was so appalled by the whole situation that she never noticed that she had clenched her fists. "What kind of mother is that? If I were his mother I'd-"

"And you're not," Adam cut in. Putting the newspaper down, he started massaging his temples wearily. "This isn't really any of our business, Shalimar. The best thing we can do right now is to get him settled, help him learn to control his powers, and then you can start training him."

No. "Wait a minute," she said, trying to keep her voice calm but purposely failing to do so. "Don't tell me you're thinking of recruiting him."

Adam nodded wearily. "He seems to have knowledge over the technology we're using. I could use some help in the lab and you could use some help in the missions-"

She cut him off. "No way. No way, Adam." She crossed her arms defiantly. "Did we not just have that conversation yesterday? I told you about how much he hates his powers, how much he-"

It was Adam's turn to cut her off. "I don't want to hear it, Shalimar, " he said firmly. "I understand your concerns, believe me. But in the end its his decision, not yours, not mine. Rest assured we're going to try our best to convince him but we're not going to dissuade him from joining us. You know just as well as I do that we need another member here in Mutant X."

Shalimar wanted to argue, wanted to tell him how she felt, how much she thought it was a bad idea, but she could see that Adam's mind was made up. She let out a loud sigh and started to leave the room, but then Adam called out to her.

"While you're on your way to see him, you can take his suitcases to his room."

Shalimar sighed and nodded absentmindedly as she walked down the hallway to Jesse's room. In fact, she was so deep in thought that she found herself on the floor in a matter of seconds, her legs tangled up in the mass of suitcases she apparently had tripped on. She let out an angry curse and kicked one of them away from her. This must be his things, she thought. She got up and surveyed one, two, three, four, five suitcases. Five suitcases? She raised an eyebrow. She noticed also three huge boxes propped up neatly outside Jesse's door. What did his mother pack for him, bowling balls?

She knocked on the door hesitantly, and when there was no answer, decided to just go in.

She found Jesse sitting on his bed, still wearing the tux he wore last night. His hair was rumpled and he looked so tired that Shalimar felt an ache inside her. She pushed the feeling away and pasted a bright smile on her face. "Good morning," she greeted him, trying her best to sound cheerful. "Sleep well?"

He looked up at her in confusion. "I don't know," he admitted. "Did I sleep at all? I don't remember."

Shalimar decided the best answer was a white lie. "As far as I know you slept ok," she told him. "In fact, the minute you sat down, you went straight to sleep."

"You're lying."

She patted his shoulder flippantly. "Does it matter?"

He got up. "I'm going home now."

She sucked in her breath. Here comes the hard part. "You're not going home," she told him quietly.

His eyes widened in disbelief. "Why not?"

"There are GSA agents all over your area," she answered, trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible. "Adam had a discussion with your mother and they found it best for you to stay here, where its safe." She tried to put a comforting hand on his shoulder but he pushed her away.

"I'm supposed to be safe here, huh?" He said sarcastically. "I'm in a strange place full of strangers. And I'm supposed to be safe. Hahaha."

Shalimar felt a rush of anger envelope her for a moment. "Look," she snapped. "We're only trying to help and soon you'll see in the future that this is all for your own good."

"How can calling my powers a gift when it's a danger to so many people for my own good!" he yelled at her. "How can holding me in here against my will be for my own good? Can you answer that?"

That did it. "I understand that you're pissed at what happened to your girlfriend and everything but don't take it out on us!" Shalimar yelled.

Oh God. She regretted what she said the minute it came out of her mouth. Jesse looked at her with an expression she didn't fully understand. She forced herself to look away from him for a moment, and immediately retracted what she said. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to bring her into this."

He didn't answer. Instead, he let out a loud sigh and sat down on the bed, his eyes glued to the floor.

"I know you don't trust us," Shalimar said softly. "But right now, there's nothing you can do. If you go home the GSA agents will capture you and take you to a place where you'll never want to be in. If you leave here they'll hunt you down anyway. So you see, this is the only safe place."

Jesse looked up at her, the expression on his face unreadable. "Give me one more reason why I should trust you."

"I saved your life. Doesn't that mean anything?"

He was silent for a long time, and finally he answered. "A lot."

Shalimar held out her hand to him, and he took it gratefully. She led him out of the room.

**************

The next few days were hectic for Jesse, as Shalimar trained him nonstop. First they spent time in the elevated dojo, as Jesse tried to learn how to control his powers. If he had any questions on the reasons for the intense training, he didn't ask it. Shalimar had learned, on her own, that although he tried controlling his powers, he often massed and phased depending on the fluctuation of his moods. She finally understood then, why his fingers phased out when he was with Laura. The presence of her company obviously made him feel free, happy, and without inhibitions.

Soon, Jesse learned to control his powers, being able to phase and mass out by holding his breath, although Adam's tests on him didn't reach a full conclusion on just how long should he stay intangible. To keep things safe, Adam warned him not to stay intangible for more than thirty seconds.

The best part, Shalimar concluded, was taking him on a tour of the Sanctuary. Living in a mansion all his life made Jesse look at all new places differently, his eyes often on the prowl for any secret passageways or rooms. Shalimar found herself smiling instinctively at the boyish innocence emanating from him; how he often watched Adam working in his lab with utmost curiosity, how he simply looked at her, wondering what her powers were. She found herself laughing when the first question he asked when she told him that she was feral was, "How come you don't have a tail?"

Weeks passed by, and Adam seemed to have had enough of Jesse merely watching him from afar. He gave him a grand tour of the lab, the tour that bored the hell out of Shalimar when she first arrived at the Sanctuary. Yet Jesse was not the least bit bored, he had spent more than mere minutes examining each piece of technology Adam showed him, from the scans, to the computers, and who knows what else technical thingamajigs, Shalimar wasn't really interested. She enjoyed watching Jesse slowly opening up to Adam though, and vice versa.

One time, Adam approached her, leaving Jesse alone to check up the databases. "I had a call from my contact," he told her, keeping his voice at a low level, making sure Jesse wouldn't hear anything.

"And what?" Shalimar was surprised, two weeks had passed since Adam's contact called, and the sudden call was enough to raise suspicion from her.

"There's a new mutant named Geoffrey on the loose," he answered, an unfamiliar look of apprehension on his face. "He's a combination feral and elemental. My contact tells me he works for Genomex, and although he's been tagged with a subdermal governor, he's still very dangerous."

Shalimar straightened up. Its been a while since she's had a challenge and she was surely missing it. Being with Jesse was an emotional rollercoaster of two weeks, and she wanted to take a break from all the drama. She cracked her knuckles, fully enjoying the idea of kicking someone's ass. And that was when Adam's next statement pulled her from her thoughts.

"…I want you and Jesse to go to this location," he instructed. "The-"

She cut him off. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, disbelievingly.

Adam shook his head. "Not at all, Shalimar." He looked at her quizzically. "Why ask?"

"Are you insane?" she asked, her voice rising. "Adam, he's only trained for a week! I haven't even started with his combat training yet and you want me to-"

"A week of training is more than enough," Adam told her. He continued to outline his plans to her, ignoring the rising of Shalimar's temper. "I need you to take him because Geoffrey's hideout, an abandoned warehouse at this location-" he pointed at the computer. "-has stolen electronic equipment meant to block our communication satellites linking the Sanctuary to the other safehouses. He plans to execute his plan in 48 hours. I don't want to waste time, so I need you to get Jesse in the warehouse, disable the machinery, and then get out."

Shalimar's jaw clenched. She didn't like this at all, and she told Adam exactly that.

"I'll keep that in mind," he merely answered, the coolness of his voice irritating her even more.

She sucked in her breath, and tried again. "Adam-"

Adam patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Its all right, Shalimar, I trust you with him."

She shook her head as Adam walked away. That's exactly what I'm worried about.

***************

Adam listened to the familiar drone of Double Helix's engines fade away into the distance. With a relaxed smile, he returned to typing furiously onto his computer. He had wondered, for a while, if asking Shalimar to bring Jesse along was a good idea, but he had debated the thought again and again in his mind and all the thinking, he admitted was tiring. Jesse needed the experience, Shalimar needed a helping hand, and they all needed to stop Geoffrey from executing his plan. It seemed so simple.

But Adam knew that it wasn't. He noticed that all the hostility that Jesse felt for him was slowly dissipating, and Shalimar was slowly growing fond of him.

Too fond.

Adam frowned at his computer, surprised at the sudden speed of its functions. He checked the logs and smiled to himself. Jesse had reformatted the computer without telling him.

He stood up and walked to the desk at the far right of the lab, and winced as he banged his forehead on the hanging light bulb. Shalimar was right, he needed to do something about that. He reached down at the desk and pulled out a metal container resembling a pen case. He flipped the top open and stared at the silver ring inside.

He stared at it, mesmerized, when a familiar voice called out to him. "Adam?"

Adam closed his eyes, wanting to curse himself for not checking closely before letting Shalimar go. He turned around, not wanting to see what he would eventually see; the familiar blond head, the lean frame, the blue eyes now looking at him closely. "Where's Shalimar?" Jesse asked.

Before Adam could answer, he heard the familiar static of a com link being turned on from the communication panel. He gave Jesse a look, telling him that he will answer his question later, and proceeded to the panel. He clicked the receiver on. "Shalimar."

"I'm here, Adam," Shalimar's familiar voice came on.

Adam wanted to yell at her right then for blatantly disobeying him. "I told you to-"he hesitated, noticing that Jesse was hanging onto his every word. Not wanting him to find out that Shalimar left him on purpose, he tried to keep his voice even. "You understood what I told you before?"

"Yup, Adam," she replied breezily. "And it's a piece of cake. The warehouse is abandoned, I kicked some GSA agent's ass, and right now I'm disabling the equipment. I can even give you a souvenir if you like. Proud of me?"

Adam shook his head, trying to hide his annoyance at Shalimar's recklessness. "We will talk when you get home, you understand?"

"Yeah, I got it, Adam," she answered flippantly.

And that was when an unfamiliar voice came on the line. "Forget the talk, because you're not going home."

Jesse's eyes widened and he gripped on Adam's arm, looking at him questioningly. Despite his alarm, Adam gave him the best reassuring look he could muster, and gripped the receiver again. "Shalimar?"

A series of muffled sounds answered him. And the keening whine of static.

Pure static that ran on for more than five minutes. Pure static that Adam would have listened to forever had Jesse not reached out and shut the com panel off.

Oh no.

***End Part V***