Title: The Time Has Come
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Mutant X characters, and may occasionally include a few of my own as the work progresses. All but the characters in the show are mine.
Feedback: Guys, I really appreciate your feedback and all of the reviews. This is my first fanfic, and it's been interesting to see it unfold. I hope you guys enjoy it. I really look forward to your comments. Thank you Ambrosia, Megara, Chic, Cand, and the rest of you for reading it and taking the time to share your thoughts on it. I hope you guys aren't disappointed with the ending. : )

Chapter 4: A New Day

Walking into the common room, Shalimar looked at Emma sitting on the couch. Hmm, that book must be good. Deciding to find out, Shalimar forcefully sat in the seat next to Emma's.

"So, good book?" She asked, amused as Emma slowly raised her head. Looking at her feral friend, Emma quickly noticed the gleam in her eyes. Smiling, Emma nodded. "Good enough to keep you from practicing with me??" Shalimar asked. Slightly disturbed, Emma wasn't pleased with where this was going.

"I don't know Shal, that might not be such a good idea." Emma said, shaking her head. In the last few days her powers had once again mutated, leaving her with the ability to permanently altar people's perception of their surroundings. There have been times when it was necessary to have someone see themselves surrounded by fire and burning to death or being hurt in some other way, but to leave someone with that reality for the rest of their lives was introducing them to a life of insanity. No way am I going there. Shaking her head, Emma was determined to not hurt people.

"Come on Em, it'll be fun. You can practice your moves on me. I promise I'll go easy on you." Shalimar smiled, determined to get Emma off the couch for once. Getting nervous, Emma began shaking her head forcefully.

"No way." Sounding harsher than she meant it to be, Emma immediately regretted her words. As Shalimar quickly tried to cover up her disappointment and hurt, Emma decided an explanation of some sort was necessary. "I'm sorry Shal, I just don't want to practice with my powers right now."

"Well, that's not a problem. Come on, spar with me. You can work on your moves without using your powers." Shalimar's smile and reassurance calmed Emma's fears some. Thinking it through, Emma decided Shalimar was right. After all, if her powers continued at the rate they were, she would need to learn to fight better so she wouldn't have to use them.

"Alright." Agreeing, Emma and Shalimar left the common room to work out. Proceeding to spar, the two women began a long session. Moving to punch Shalimar in the stomach, Emma rolled forward as Shalimar jumped out of reach. Slightly off balance, Emma managed to recover enough to avoid being kicked. Moving back and forth, the women continued the dance of punch and block, kick and block, rolling out of the way to attempt the maneuvers again.

"Hey Adam, how's the research going?" Jesse asked, walking into the lab and seeing Adam staring at the computer. Not bothering to look up, Adam moved his head from side to side, indicating there was no change. Looking down, Jesse plopped into the nearest chair and tried to let his mind go blank. He didn't want to think about this. Thinking about the possibilities made him sad, it brought him back to the ten year old staring as his father drove away. The loneliness returned, overwhelming him.

Noticing Jesse's mood, Adam sighed. Discovering that Jesse knew what was going on with Emma two days earlier had surprised him. He knew they were close, they often paired up together on assignments either because he gave the orders or out of necessity. Seeing the look of concern on Jesse's face when he brought Emma to Adam that day, nearly took his breath away. He knew then there was something there he had failed to see. Whether it escaped his notice because of secrecy on their part or a lack of attention on his, he didn't know. All Adam knew at that moment was his troubles had just doubled.

TWO DAYS EARLIER

"Hey! What are you hiding?" Emma asked while walking up on Jesse as he quickly tried putting something in his drawer before she saw it. Turning around, Jesse effectively blocked Emma from his chest drawer.

"Nothing." Jesse's calmness belied the twinkle in his eyes, increasing Emma's curiosity. Moving forward, Emma tried to gain access to the drawer but Jesse refused to budge. Standing his ground, Jesse crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "I said it was nothing. Forget it." Refusing to give up, Emma leaned forward.

"Come on, let me see." Emma said as she inched closer, making a move for the drawer. When Jesse didn't budged, Emma sent him the image of his mother at the bedroom door. Hearing the call of his mom and feeling five again, Jesse turned and began walking towards the door. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Emma started for the draw and ended the image at the same time. Turning to look back at Emma, Jesse knew he had been tricked. Rushing forward, he grabbed Emma by the waist and held her so she couldn't open the drawer. Laughing, Emma tried to reach for the drawer as Jesse slowly dragged her further and further away from it. "Hey! That's… laugh… not… laugh… fair." Emma said while laughing.

"This isn't fair?? At least I'm not using my powers." Jesse said, fully enjoying the feel of Emma underneath his arms. Moving back until his legs touched the bed, Jesse lightened his grip a little. "If I let you go, are you going to behave?" Emma's laughter slowed down long enough for her to say "Yes daddy" before trying to get to the drawer again. Swinging her around, Emma found herself face to face with Jesse. As her laughter died, Emma kept a small smile on her face. Jesse's eyes are so beautiful. That was the last thought Emma had for a while. At that moment she began shaking violently, her eyes turned black. Not sure what was happening with Emma, Jesse slowly let her go and stepped back. A psionic pulse headed towards Jesse forcing him to duck to miss being hit. Looking up, he saw the black of Emma's eyes slowly fade. The natural blue of her eyes returned before she fell to the ground.

Moving towards Emma, Jesse leaned over her in fear. Not sure what just happened, he slowly picked up Emma's head and moved a wayward strand of hair out of her face. Her skin was soft, but cold. Feeling for her pulse, Jesse sighed in relief as he felt the weak pounding against his forefingers. Carefully picking Emma up, Jesse left his bedroom and began walking to the lab as quickly as he could.

"Adam, something is wrong with Emma. I'm bringing her to the lab now." Jesse called, knowing that Adam would hear it over his COM ring. Raising his head, Adam immediately responded and went to get the chair and instruments ready for Jesse's arrival. As Jesse entered the lab, Adam watched as he gently laid Emma into the chair.

"What happened?" Adam asked, noticing the distress in Jesse's voice and the concern on his face as he told him. Hmm… Not lingering on Jesse's obvious concern for Emma, Adam immediately checked Emma's vitals before running tests. While Adam took another blood sample, Jesse stood by Emma and watched her. Moving her hair out of her face, Jesse focused on the rise and fall of her chest. Unconsciously matching Emma's breathing pattern, Jesse stood guard over his best friend. Not pleased with what he was seeing in the results of the tests, Adam ran a hand through his hair. Looking up at Jesse, he took a few steps toward the younger man.

"Jesse, she'll be fine. She just needs her rest. The psionic pulse she released a few minutes ago completely drained her. The more powerful her powers become, the more they take out of her." Emma Jesse couldn't leave her if armies tried to drag him away.

"No Adam, I'm not leaving." Shaking his head as he refused, Jesse only stood straighter. Seeing the hopelessness of the situation, Adam just pulled up a chair for Jesse before walking back towards the computer.

"At least sit down. If you fall over from exhaustion before Emma wakes up, she'll kill me." Adam said, before once again losing himself in the test results. Looking at Emma's resting form, Jesse complied and sat down. Once seated, he took Emma's hand and held it until several hours later when she woke up. Adam had left the lab, so Emma was greeted with Jesse's gentle snoring. Smiling, she carefully lifted the hand holding hers and kissed it. The soft caress of her lips on his skin woke Jesse up. Looking into her blue eyes, Jesse smiled.

"Hello."

PRESENT

Emma had later told Jesse and Adam what the psionic blast would have done if it had hit Jesse. She was extremely upset that she had no control over her increasing powers. Adam and Jesse had managed to calm her fears, but Adam knew it would take an extreme situation to get Emma to voluntarily use her powers again.

Having Jesse back in his office now hoping against hope that he had figured out how to stop what was going on with Emma was distracting. He was having a difficult enough time concentrating while dealing with his own feelings, adding Jesse's was pushing him closer to the edge. Looking at the younger man, his feelings for Emma were more than obvious. But it would be better if he dealt with them some place else.

"Jesse, go see the others. You can't help here. All you can do is distract me." Adam said gently, softly placing his hand on the younger man's shoulder. Looking up, Jesse saw Adam's concern. He agreed to leave and walked out, his sense of loneliness permeating every thought, action, and feeling. Heading towards the workout room to distract himself with virtual GSA, Jesse slowly trudged closer and closer to Shalimar and Emma's now exhausting sparring match.

In the pit of her stomach a sense of despair and loneliness formed. Within minutes the feeling had almost taken Emma over. Not sure where the feelings originated, Emma was distracted just long enough for Shalimar to get in a solid blow to her solar plexus. Doubled over, Emma tried to breathe in as the feelings began to overwhelm her. Walking over to check on her friend, Shalimar was shocked to see Emma drop onto her knees instead of standing back up. Realizing something was wrong, Shalimar began to move towards Emma when the woman began groaning. As Jesse entered the room and saw Emma, he ran to her.

"Emma, are you okay?" Jesse asked, worry warping his features. Looking up, Jesse gave Shalimar a look that would have shriveled her up if she were anyone else. Listening to Emma's shallow breathing, Jesse turned back to look at her. Moving away from Jesse slightly, Emma began speaking in a pained voice.

"Jesse, your feelings are overwhelming me. You have to let it go. Please… you have to let me go." Emma struggled to speak, but she knew Jesse would not admit to their connection just yet. All he could see was her leaving him, and that overshadowed everything else at the moment.

"What are you talking about, Emma? You're going to be fine. Adam is working on it. You're going to be fine." Jesse said, on the verge of tears. Clueless, Shalimar quietly stepped back and left the room. Giving her friends privacy, Shalimar ran into Brennan on the way to the lab.

"Come on Brennan, something is going on with Emma. Something is going on with both Emma and Jesse really. We need to see Adam." Shalimar said in a worried voice. Seeing the set of Shalimar's jaw, Brennan just agreed and followed her. Entering the lab, Shalimar walked up to Adam and demanded, "What is going on with Emma, Adam?"

Jesse still refused to let Emma go, forcing her to walk away from him. After getting some space, Emma turned to look at Jesse. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw everything there. His lonely childhood, his need to prove himself to Adam and the rest of the team again and again, his desire to be more than anyone ever thought he could be, his need of her. Jesse laid his thoughts and feelings bare for Emma that day. Allowing her to fully know him. Like a child in a candy store, Emma marveled at each thought and emotion he shared with her. With each one came a new discovery, a new insight into this strong yet silent man. With each new discovery came a strength Emma never thought possible. Walking up to Jesse, she opened herself to him completely. Allowing him in, Emma shared her soul. Within minutes the two were embracing each other, signifying another change to their relationship. Surrounded by their emotions, secrets, and joys, both slowly drifted off to sleep before the sun set that day.