A/n: I have a few excuses for why this took me so long, but they aren't as interesting as a new chapter would be, so I won't bore you. Apologies to everyone for taking so long. I'm veryveryvery sorry. I know this chapter is short, but I felt bad for the huge delay so I got it up and I will get another chapter up, hopefully longer, very soon.

******

Emma reached the door moments after Shalimar smashed headfirst into Geris. Emma could sense Geris about to strike out with his mind and hastily she threw up a shield around him.

The petite psionic wasn't ready for the intense barrage of attacks that came down on her shield, but her surprise fueled her to hold her barriers strong. As long as she kept one step ahead of Geris, Shalimar would be able to pound the man into oblivion. She couldn't make herself care after all that had happened.

On a fluke Emma glanced away from Shalimar and her eyes fell on Brennan. Brennan. Oh, no- Emma couldn't think of anything beyond denial. It could NOT be her friend laying there in the corner. Her friend, Brennan, who would be the first to remind you that he used to be a bad criminal, and the first to ask you if you were alright. Always meditating to keep his powers in check, sitting next to the pond in Sanctuary, reading poetry. Always running off to help new mutants in distress. Fighting along side all of them to keep the GSA off their backs and out of their Underground. No one would ever do this to that Brennan.

After a moment of pure rejection of the sight in front of her, Emma felt her emotions shift. Maybe she got caught up in Shalimar's battle-furious emotions, maybe she just snapped at seeing all that blood. Just as Jesse and Adam raced up behind her, she gather all her power in to herself and struck out at Geris' mind with all she had. Caught off guard, Geris' eyes rolled up into his head as he was hit by the most powerful psionic rage Emma had in her.

"Emma!" Jesse gasped as she was flung a few steps back, falling into him.

"Backlash. I'll be fine-" Emma said, clutching her head. She would have a huge headache.

"Did you--?" Adam turned to her as Geris dropped to the floor. Shalimar stood, out of breath, in front of him.

"No. He's too powerful. All I could do was knock him unconscious." Emma didn't mention that she wouldn't have cared in the least if he had ended up brain dead. Brennan was still bleeding out all over the floor…

"Jess, get over here now! We've gotta get him out of here!" Adam was already kneeling next to Brennan, unlocking the handcuffs with a key he had found on the table.

Jesse rushed over. "Alright, Shal and Emma, you guys run ahead and start up the Helix. Go!"

Adam looked up at them before they could leave. "Let's get him back to Sanctuary." His voice was emotionless.

They turned and ran, hearts pounding together in fear.

******

Adam was already prepping for surgery when they laid Brennan down in the lab chair. His preliminary scan on the Double Helix had revealed extensive internal bleeding. It, not his external wounds, would kill him if not taken care of.

"Jesse, Shalimar, I know you want to help Brennan, but-" Adam turned around to face them, his face grim and set. "Well, Emma is better trained at assisting in surgery than you two, and I don't think distractions, well, distractions can't be-" He was unsure of what to say. This team, this tight-nit family was in shock, and he didn't want Jesse or Shalimar to leave, but he need to work unhindered.

"We know, Adam. It's okay." Shalimar didn't look up from Brennan's face, which she cradled in one hand.

"We understand. You can't be distracted, and we would be in the way." Jesse had his hand on Brennan's shoulder. Both of them seemed to be willing Brennan to live, to fight for just a moment more. "Let's go, Shal."

Jesse moved towards the door, gently guiding Shalimar along with him. She looked back at Brennan and then turned around to look at Adam. He could read the look in her eyes. Save him, please. He wasn't about to let her down.

******

Jesse tightened his grip on Shalimar's arm as the exited the lab.

"Shal, I know you want to bolt to your room and hide away, but that's not going to help." He grabbed her shoulders and made her face him. "You're worried, okay? We all are, so we can deal with it together."

"But I-" Shalimar protested weakly.

"I know, you think you might be in love with him. I'm not as thick as you and Brennan seem to think I am." He grinned at her pole-axed face. "You guys kept hiding behind that whole 'brother and sister' thing, but it was pretty obvious."

"Jesse, you-" Shalimar looked away, her face flushed. Would he be mad, or jealous?

"Shal, Shal, I love you like a sister. A blood sister." He caught her gaze and smiled. "If you and Brennan think you can make it, than go for it. He'll be okay. Will you?"

"Yea, I guess." She smiled hesitantly back at him. He was like a brother to her, and she should have realized that he would have known. And understood.

"Good." He let go of her shoulders and headed off towards the dojo. "You up for some training?"

Shalimar watched his back, and for a moment she felt like everything was back to normal. After the moment passed, she followed Jesse, thinking determinedly that everything would return to normal.

******

Once they got into the rhythm of training, both Jesse and Shalimar got lost in the rounds of endless spars and blocks. It took them a few minutes to realize that Emma was standing on the stairs to the dojo, politely waiting for them to notice her.

"Em." The blond feral panted, blocking Jesse's final blow. "What's up?" Jesse turned around, equally out of breath.

"How'd it go?" He asked, not allowing himself to think of worst case scenarios.

Emma didn't fool around with them. She smiled at once so they would know everything was better. "He did well in surgery. The only complication is that he won't wake up."

"Is he in a coma?" Shalimar asked hesitantly, using a towel to wipe of the sweat of her workout.

"No, that's what's weird. He's not in a coma, and all of his vital stats say that he should be awake, but he's not. We repaired all of the major physical damage."

"What's Adam saying about all this?" Jesse asked.

"He sent me to get you. He's going to try giving Brennan a stimulant, and he wants us all there if he wakes up confused." Emma turned and went back to the lab, Jesse and Shalimar following closely behind without a word.

******

"Emma, thank you. Jesse, Shalimar, come over here." Adam said from a computer console in the lab when they walked in. "Stand next to him and in front of him, but don't crowd him so he'd be nervous. Just let him know that you're there."

Silently they did as they were told. Brennan looked a million times better than he had earlier. The blood had been cleaned from his body, and most of the huge cuts and bruises were gone. There wasn't even scar tissue.

Adam came over with the stimulant in his hands. "Remember, he might be very agitated if he wakes up. Don't get excited or talk loud. And no movements that might frighten him."

Jesse, Emma, and Shalimar all looked at each other. Each of their eyes said the same thing. He's going to be okay. Or else.

Adam held the vial to Brennan's arm and administered the drug. For seconds, minutes, maybe even hours, it seemed like, they stood there, completely still, urging the still form of their teammate just to twitch, to give some sign that he was alive.

Nothing could match the sudden explosion of warmth that Shalimar felt when she saw Brennan's eyelids flutter, and then open. Forgetting everything, she grabbed his hand. His grip was firm in hers.

Before anyone could even begin to think of what to say, Brennan turned his glazed eyes towards them all and hoarsely cried, "Help me. Please, it hurts. Help me!"