Title: The Elements of Trust
Author: Nights
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: Finally, the last chapter. Its been a blast writing this fic, and a billion thanks for the reviews, they've all been very encouraging. :)

IMPORTANT: All text italicized and enclosed with these ***signs are Shalimar's private thoughts. Plain italicized text should be treated as it is.

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 VII: Blood Sacrifice

Crack.

Shalimar whirled around and frowned at him. Jesse smiled sheepishly. That was the fourth twig that he stepped on for the last few minutes, and he couldn't really blame Shalimar for getting jumpy.

He continued to follow Shalimar as she edged through the wooden wall of the abandoned cabin located in a grassy area on the outskirts of town, which served as Geoffrey's warehouse. Jesse couldn't understand why Geoffrey, why anyone would want to destroy the communications satellites of the Sanctuary, after all, what would they hope to gain? From the two weeks he had spent at the Sanctuary he had reached the conclusion that Adam and Shalimar represented the good guys of the equation, and the men who tried to steal his things during his birthday, represented the bad guys. Just how bad, he still has yet to discover just to what extent. But from what he can discern from the way Shalimar greatly disliked the idea of him being with her right now on this mission, he could put two and two together.

The truth was, he was afraid. More than anything. Never in his lifetime did he ever think of being in anything as risky as this. Sure he has his powers. Shalimar already trained him on the practical application of his powers, how to use it to defend himself and others, but the truth was, he didn't really trust himself to control it to the utmost perfection the way Shalimar had control on her own powers. He had replayed the billion possibilities of him trying to solidify himself to protect himself from a bullet, and then not doing so in time and getting himself hit. Then Shalimar would have to drag him out of the place, possibly get hurt herself.

And that scared him more than anything. He didn't want to be a liability to anyone, especially Shalimar. He had noticed the obvious change in her from when he first met her. She often had dark circles under her eyes, as if she hadn't had much sleep. He knew she had been watching him, taking care of him. He didn't want to tell her that he knew, and that he liked her protectiveness, but something was telling him that this has all got to end, somehow, and the best thing to do that, was to show her that he was capable of taking care of himself.

Crack. But not this way. He cursed himself for stepping on another twig again. Shalimar didn't even bother turning around this time, but the pinch she gave on his arm was enough to tell him that she didn't like it.

Finally, they reached the door. Shalimar took one look at it and realized it was locked. She looked up at the high, yet open window above her. "I'm going in through that window, " she whispered. "Give me fifteen minutes."

He barely had a chance to register what she said before she was gone. He didn't even hear her land on the floor. He pressed his ear on the wooden door and listened.

He wasn't surprised to hear a muffled shout of surprise, followed by some scuffling sounds. He relaxed and leaned on the door, but then he heard the distinct sound of Shalimar's muffled groan.

He reacted, and the next thing he knew, he had phased through the door, and into the room.

He looked at the door, perplexed. Well, that wasn't so bad. But then he felt his sight turn into a billion stars as a fist pounded the back of his head. Angered, he swung wildly, careful to solidify his fists the way Shalimar taught him to. He punched air for a while, and finally his fist connected on something solid. He let out a smile of satisfaction as he saw a man collapse on the floor, knocked out.

He looked up and saw Shalimar finishing off the rest of the men. She kicked the last man down, surveyed the situation just in case one of them would get up, and swiftly approached him. He tried to keep the grin off his face.

The grin left his face in a second as Shalimar pushed him roughly. "What the hell are you doing here?" She hissed at him. Her eyes were wild in fury, and…fear?

Jesse was so surprised, and he tried to keep the confusion from creeping into his face, but he betrayed it with his voice. "I was just-" He looked down at her questioningly. "I thought you were in trouble so I-"

Shalimar pushed him roughly again, this time, towards the door. She kicked it open.

She leaned forward, and said the words that sliced through Jesse's heart, causing it to stop beating. "I don't need your help."

She pushed him out of the warehouse, and slammed the door shut. Jesse leaned his back to the door, and felt his knees threaten to buckle underneath him. He tried to keep himself standing upright.

So that was it. The one person he wanted to prove himself to the most didn't need his help. Jesse felt a wave of sadness course through his body, piercing him like a dozen little knives. Why is it that the people that meant the world to him always knew exactly how to hurt him? His father knew that he needed him as a father figure more than anything, so he left him. His mother knew that he needed her to love him, yet she sold all the love he gave her for fame and social status. Laura made him value living despite his mutant powers, yet she had to die through it.

And Shalimar…Shalimar was the one person who seemed to believe in him, that there was something special in him worth trusting in. And she didn't need him.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a car from a distance. He cocked his head, and saw a familiar man running away. He looked at him closely, tried to remember his face, and realized that it was Geoffrey. He thought of running after him, but he didn't want to disobey Shalimar's orders, and decided to keep still.

But there was something wrong here. He tried to think hard. Why would Geoffrey be running away when he knew someone was inside the warehouse, possibly disrupting his plans? Unless…

Before any other thought could register in his mind, an explosion behind him brought him flying forward. He fell face first on the grass, and kept his hands protectively to his head. Instinctively, he took a deep breath and massed.

When he felt safe enough to get up, he exhaled and turned his body back to its original mass. He got up and turned around. The sight in front of him made his blood run cold.

Flames were everywhere, and was eating up what seemed to be left of the warehouse. He realized now that that was the reason Geoffrey ran away. He knew they were coming, and he waited for them to arrive before wiring up the machinery with bombs.

And then a more pressing thought came to his mind.

Shalimar.

He felt a sickening feeling of fear attack his body and he almost let out a cry. This can't be happening, not again, he thought wildly as he made his way to the warehouse. Blindly he entered what seemed to be left of the front door and looked around, trying to find the familiar blond head who saved his life more than twice.

Finally, he saw her, and he couldn't believe what he saw. She was sitting in the middle of what seemed to be a circle of flames, her head in her hands, eyes wide in fear. Her body racked with sobs. Jesse couldn't stand the sight of her, the person he admired more than anything, collapsed in a heap of terror.

"Shalimar!" he called out to her. Dark eyes, wild and large in terror, met his.

"Get out of here, Jesse!" She yelled at him. "Save yourself and leave me here!"

No. Jesse gritted his teeth. "I'm not going anywhere," he yelled back. He stared at the flames, and with whatever of the air that was left in the warehouse, he took a deep breath and massed himself solid. He plunged through the flames and was at Shalimar's side in seconds.

"No," Shalimar whispered, her voice cracking in worry and fear. "No, Jesse, go back, you'll kill yourself-"

He finally exhaled. "I'm not going anywhere," he repeated firmly, trying to sound brave to assure her, yet his heart pounded in his throat. He tried to make her get up, but her knees buckled as he did.

She gripped his arm. "Jesse, you have to listen to me," she started. "We're not going to make it if you try to drag me out of here. But you can save yourself-" she let out a scream that made his blood run cold as a piece of burning wood fell from the roof and landed a few inches from them. "Leave me, Jesse," she begged. "I'm going to die if you end up dying here with me!"

That did it. Jesse couldn't understand where all her fear was coming from but he had no time to find out. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, hard. "And I'm not going to leave you to die here without me!" he yelled to her face. "Do you hear me, Shal? I'm not going to leave you here. Now either you come with me out of here or we die here together."

Her eyes grew wide, and he didn't bother waiting for her response. He took a deep breath, coughing when he inhaled smoke. Not wasting time, he picked Shalimar up, half worried that she would fight him off, but she didn't. Instead, Shalimar buried her head into his shoulder. He took another deep breath, thankful that he inhaled pure air this time, massed out, and ran as fast as he could out of the warehouse. He couldn't find the door, so he just burst through the wall.

He ran until they reached an open clearing, and he finally exhaled, allowing his body to return to its normal state of density. He bent down and placed Shalimar on the grass. She broke down, sobbing, her face in her hands.

Jesse watched her, knowing that he should comfort her, but not knowing how or what to do. Behind them, the warehouse finally exploded with a loud boom. When Shalimar let out a soft whimper of fear, instinct finally told Jesse what to do.

He leaned over, took her into his arms, and hugged her as tightly as he could.

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

Adam had asked his contact for information regarding the whereabouts of Geoffrey, to no avail. He reached the conclusion that after he left the warehouse, he had left town, possibly somewhere South.

It turned out that Jesse needed some medication after a piece of burning wood have grazed his arm. Shalimar had insisted on tending his wound herself, and Adam had obliged. If she still suffered from some of the effects of her fear of fire, she didn't show it. Adam watched silently as Shalimar cleaned Jesse's wound and applied medication on it. When she wrapped a bandage on it, she instinctively gave it a kiss, just "to make it feel better". Adam smiled, not wanting to interrupt the tender moment.

When she was done and Jesse had left the lab, it was Shalimar's turn for a scan. As she lay on the chair, Adam moved silently away from the scan's controls. He felt Shalimar watch him closely as he reached for the desk, careful to keep his head away from the overhead bulb this time.

Her eyes widened as Adam pulled out the familiar metal case. Without waiting for the scan to finish, she got up and raised to his side, her eyes questioning.

Adam was prepared for this. "You can tell me otherwise, Shalimar, but I can see it in your eyes." He nodded. "He proved it tonight."

Shalimar looked down at the case and sighed. There was no use in preventing the inevitable from happening. "If you don't mind…?"

Adam gave her the case and squeezed her shoulder. "Be my guest."

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

Shalimar watched Jesse closely, as he sat at the water's edge, again, deep in thought. She remembered the weary look on his face when she answered his unspoken question on their way back to the Sanctuary, that yes, the faced these dangers everyday, and he would be facing these dangers everyday himself if he joined Mutant X. The realization of that fact seemed to be dawning him at that moment, for his mind seemed to be in overdrive.

It satisfied her. She wanted him to think hard before answering her proposal.

Jesse noticed her watching him, and the small glint on his eyes beckoned her to approach him. As she sat next to him, he asked, "You ok?"

She smiled. Good ol' Jesse. He almost got himself killed, got a wounded arm, yet he still had to ask her how she was doing. "I'm fine."

He nodded and moved his gaze back to the water. Shalimar felt the familiar ache she felt everytime Jesse was deep in thought, signalling his return to the past that pained him so much, the growing distance between her and him so evident as his eyes clouded. But she was learning to get used to his mood swings, and slowly she adapted herself to his silence.

Tired from the evening's events, she scooted closer to him, and for once, leaned onto his shoulder. Jesse looked at her with a start, but only for a moment, as he slowly got used to be the one being leaned on for a change. His arm went around her shoulder and his chin came to a rest on her forehead.

Shalimar sighed, relaxing in the intimate contact and the unmetered silence. She wanted to thank him for being strong when she couldn't, but she chose to tell him instead by he slight pressure of her hand as it enclosed on his own. She didn't know anymore if Jesse would ever tell her about the pain that has seemingly constricted his ability to trust in himself and what he could do, but she was content in how much he trusted her. Maybe, that was all they needed; him relying on her for strength, and she, surrendering herself to him. No words, no I trust yous, no I need yous. Just a hand holding tightly onto hers, never letting go.

When she thought he wasn't looking, she pulled the ring from her pocket and gently slipped it into his fingers. Her eyes lit up as she watched Jesse's genetic code slowly forming onto the silver. Without pulling away from her, Jesse looked at the ring, blue eyes wide in wonder. He stared back at her. A small hint of a smile graced his lips.

Yes, it was more than enough.

***On a tiptoe, the sun greets you good morning, molding itself into your hair, kneading them golden. I cannot tell you that everything would be fine, that once the day flies by it won't be hiding daggers behind its back, ready to pierce you and bury your innocence beneath pain. I will reach out past the four corners of the world to keep you safe, cleanse your wounds, to mar the feeling of pain. Don't worry, if things go my way, everyday will be a day where you will throw your head in a laugh, and your eyes will erupt into the bluest of stars.****

******THE END******