Disclaimer: Not mine, got it? Only Rosalie and Misha.
Author's Note: Hmmm, mixed reviews on the pairings. Well, can't please everyone I suppose, but I do agree that I just can't see Shal with Jesse. She's too fiery and independent for his calm nature. But anyhow, on with the show..
Chapter 8: The other side of the story
The next day, after trying desperately to put off the sparring session with Bren indefinitely, Jesse convinced her it was time to get on with it. *After all, how bad can it be with Jesse there too?* she thought to herself as they walked together to the dojo. As she walked through the door, she saw Brennan standing at the other end, limbering up. She walked over to the centre of the dojo and stood there waiting for him.
"Whenever you're ready," she called to him.
Brennan walked up to her looking grumpy. "You sure you're ready for this?"
Rosa answered with a streak of orange aimed at him. "Try me," she provoked him. They both took on a defensive stance.
"Team, attack on one of the safe houses," came Adam's urgent voice over the comlink. All three of them stood up as Rosa exclaimed,
"What's going on?"
"GSA are attacking us," explained Jesse.
"But I thought they didn't know our whereabouts."
"Could be a lucky guess, or we could be in deep trouble," said Brennan his mind on other matters. "Come on, let's get to the safe house and search the place. Rosalie, you stick to Jesse," he added as an afterthought.
Brennan, Jesse and Rosa arrived at the safe house shortly before the others and Jess and Rosa went off to search in the opposite direction to Brennan. "Keep it quiet, yeah?" warned Jesse. "We don't want to give them advance warning of our presence."
Rosa nodded in agreement. She felt her stomach knotting in fear. As usual, 'they' were threatening to leave her with no safe place to hide. There were always people after her, cutting off any source of comfort and safety she had been able to find. She was certain she was destined for a life of living in hiding, moving from place to place.
Jesse crept silently into the different rooms, followed by Rosa. As she entered one, she heard a muffled sound. Silently she motioned to Jesse, "I'm going that way," in the direction of the noise. Jesse nodded and continued.
All her senses were hyperaware as she crept towards the noise, but she prepared a fire bolt in her hands just in case she was caught unawares. Little did she realise that it would be no use in the situation she found herself in, for, as she went in, she came face to face with Misha. All the buried terror she had carried with her since their last encounter surfaced, and she heard Misha's voice as though through a blanket.
"We meet again!" she laughed. Rosa mentally shook herself.
"You always did have a heightened sense of the dramatic," she replied. "This time, though, I'm ready for you."
"I could say the same, sis," replied Misha. "None of us had realised just how powerful you had become. Mutant X is no place for you, so unless you're going to come willingly, I'm just going to have to take you by force."
"You said it, you have no idea how powerful I've become. You aren't any match for me, especially alone. What made you think you could take me by yourself?"
"Oh, I had hoped you would come along without a fight, but if not. you forget, I'm your sister and I know all your weaknesses, darling," she drawled.
"I'm not coming, willingly, nor by force," Rosalie stated quietly.
Misha shrugged, "You're choice, sis."
"Don't call me sis." Rosa hissed. "You're no sister of mine," and she shot a stream of white-hot energy towards her, barely missing her.
Misha looked surprised. "I'm impressed, sis!" Immediately, she returned fire. The knives she kept at her waist flew up, directed by her mind, and spun towards Rosa.
The noise had attracted the rest of the Mutant X team, and outside the door, she could hear Brennan shouting orders to Jesse. *Keep concentrating,* she thought to herself. *I must keep concentrating on blasting away the knives, but not hurting her badly. One small lapse of concentration and I could kill her.*
At that point, Brennan rushed at the door and broke it down.
"Rosa, are you OK?" he yelled over the crashes.
"Yeah, just peachy thanks. Just go," she yelled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bren dodging objects and preparing an electrical surge.
"I'm doing fine, I can cope with her, just leave us alone," she yelled again. As she took her eyes of Misha for a split second, she saw a fire stream hit her sister and she crashed to the floor. Panic flooded through Rosa's chest, and it felt like she couldn't breathe. She ran up to her prone sister.
"Misha, are you OK? Damn, you see what you've done Brennan?" she screamed at her teammate.
Brennan looked at the girls. "Is she all right?"
"She might have been had you left her to me. Why don't you just leave us alone?"
Suddenly, as if in slow motion, she saw Brennan raise his hand and fire a dose of electric energy towards her sister. She screamed as he ran up to her, grabbed her by her waist and ran off with her under his arm.
"Emma, Shal, you two take care of the girl in there," he shouted at the two women. When he'd gotten her well away from Misha, he set her down.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, jerk?" shouted Rosa. Her eyes blazed orange and even her hair seemed to crackle with energy.
"Control the energy, Rosa," Brennan warned.
"Who the hell gave you the authority to do that?" she shouted even louder, flames crackling, escaping from her fingers.
"I just saved you from being taken back to Genomex!" Brennan shouted back, angry at the fiery elemental in front of him.
"How did you figure that one out, hot shot?" fired back Rosa.
"She was faking, any balanced person would have been able to tell. I saw her open her eyes and aim at you. You were as good as dead."
"You leave it to me to decide. It was your fault she went down in the first place. If you hadn't distracted me, I wouldn't have hit her."
"You didn't hit her, goddamit. How do I get it into your stubborn head that she was faking it?"
"Just leave me well alone in future. I can take care of myself!" she spat at him as she walked off.
Brennan stood in the centre of the room. "You saved my life once. Let me repay the favour at least."
"You already have," she said impatiently, without pausing.
Brennan was mystified, "How?"
Rosalie stopped dead. She had to finish the conversation now, or else he'd never let up. "Don't worry, there won't be any more intimate moments. I wont put you in that uncomfortable situation again," she retorted sarcastically as she stalked off.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Back at Sanctuary, after learning that Misha had managed to get away yet again, Brennan went in search of Emma. He figured that Emma probably knew Rosa best these days - she would be able to tell him what was going on inside her mind. He found her sparring with Jesse.
"Hang on a minute, Bren," she called to him. "We're just about finishing." He leaned against the stairs as he watched two of his best friends fight it out. Emma was quite attractive really, he thought. He wondered why he'd never noticed it before. Not that he was attracted to her. She was pretty, but not his type. Now, Jesse was another matter. According to Jesse's track record, Emma was just his type. Brennan wondered why they had never got together. His musings were cut short as Emma ran up to him, wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead with a towel.
"What's up Bren?" she asked.
"You know Rosa quite well, don't you?"
"Well, as well as anyone who could get through her tough exterior, I suppose," she replied thoughtfully. "Why? Is something wrong?" she asked as they walked towards the showers.
"I keep on getting conflicting messages from her. To be honest, I don't know where I stand with her anymore. I was hoping you could help me in figuring her out."
"I don't know how much I can tell you without compromising her trust, Bren. What did you want to know?"
Brennan went pink. *I suppose I'm gonna have to tell her,* he thought to himself. "I, err. I kissed her the other day, and I'm not sure how she's taken it."
Emma smiled to herself. "Really? What happened?"
"I should never have put her in that position. I took advantage of her when she was vulnerable, and I regret it now."
"Why do you regret it?"
"I put her in a very difficult position. Since that happened, she hasn't been able to look me in the face. I just wish I could erase the whole episode from her memory."
"What if she doesn't want it erased?"
"How could she not want it erased, she doesn't like me, she wished she hadn't kissed me, and now she hates me more than before."
"Brennan," said Emma turning to face him with a smile. "You should really leave the reading emotions to me, because you've just managed to get the whole situation completely wrong."
Brennan stared into her face, trying to understand.
"Let's just say you should have another try with her," said Emma, before giving him a peck on the cheek and going into the showers.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
I've decided to use this to practice my long-range hypnotist's act. You see that little button just below? Your finger's just itching to click it. You know you want to click on it and leave a review,... go on, click the "Go"!
Author's Note: Hmmm, mixed reviews on the pairings. Well, can't please everyone I suppose, but I do agree that I just can't see Shal with Jesse. She's too fiery and independent for his calm nature. But anyhow, on with the show..
Chapter 8: The other side of the story
The next day, after trying desperately to put off the sparring session with Bren indefinitely, Jesse convinced her it was time to get on with it. *After all, how bad can it be with Jesse there too?* she thought to herself as they walked together to the dojo. As she walked through the door, she saw Brennan standing at the other end, limbering up. She walked over to the centre of the dojo and stood there waiting for him.
"Whenever you're ready," she called to him.
Brennan walked up to her looking grumpy. "You sure you're ready for this?"
Rosa answered with a streak of orange aimed at him. "Try me," she provoked him. They both took on a defensive stance.
"Team, attack on one of the safe houses," came Adam's urgent voice over the comlink. All three of them stood up as Rosa exclaimed,
"What's going on?"
"GSA are attacking us," explained Jesse.
"But I thought they didn't know our whereabouts."
"Could be a lucky guess, or we could be in deep trouble," said Brennan his mind on other matters. "Come on, let's get to the safe house and search the place. Rosalie, you stick to Jesse," he added as an afterthought.
Brennan, Jesse and Rosa arrived at the safe house shortly before the others and Jess and Rosa went off to search in the opposite direction to Brennan. "Keep it quiet, yeah?" warned Jesse. "We don't want to give them advance warning of our presence."
Rosa nodded in agreement. She felt her stomach knotting in fear. As usual, 'they' were threatening to leave her with no safe place to hide. There were always people after her, cutting off any source of comfort and safety she had been able to find. She was certain she was destined for a life of living in hiding, moving from place to place.
Jesse crept silently into the different rooms, followed by Rosa. As she entered one, she heard a muffled sound. Silently she motioned to Jesse, "I'm going that way," in the direction of the noise. Jesse nodded and continued.
All her senses were hyperaware as she crept towards the noise, but she prepared a fire bolt in her hands just in case she was caught unawares. Little did she realise that it would be no use in the situation she found herself in, for, as she went in, she came face to face with Misha. All the buried terror she had carried with her since their last encounter surfaced, and she heard Misha's voice as though through a blanket.
"We meet again!" she laughed. Rosa mentally shook herself.
"You always did have a heightened sense of the dramatic," she replied. "This time, though, I'm ready for you."
"I could say the same, sis," replied Misha. "None of us had realised just how powerful you had become. Mutant X is no place for you, so unless you're going to come willingly, I'm just going to have to take you by force."
"You said it, you have no idea how powerful I've become. You aren't any match for me, especially alone. What made you think you could take me by yourself?"
"Oh, I had hoped you would come along without a fight, but if not. you forget, I'm your sister and I know all your weaknesses, darling," she drawled.
"I'm not coming, willingly, nor by force," Rosalie stated quietly.
Misha shrugged, "You're choice, sis."
"Don't call me sis." Rosa hissed. "You're no sister of mine," and she shot a stream of white-hot energy towards her, barely missing her.
Misha looked surprised. "I'm impressed, sis!" Immediately, she returned fire. The knives she kept at her waist flew up, directed by her mind, and spun towards Rosa.
The noise had attracted the rest of the Mutant X team, and outside the door, she could hear Brennan shouting orders to Jesse. *Keep concentrating,* she thought to herself. *I must keep concentrating on blasting away the knives, but not hurting her badly. One small lapse of concentration and I could kill her.*
At that point, Brennan rushed at the door and broke it down.
"Rosa, are you OK?" he yelled over the crashes.
"Yeah, just peachy thanks. Just go," she yelled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bren dodging objects and preparing an electrical surge.
"I'm doing fine, I can cope with her, just leave us alone," she yelled again. As she took her eyes of Misha for a split second, she saw a fire stream hit her sister and she crashed to the floor. Panic flooded through Rosa's chest, and it felt like she couldn't breathe. She ran up to her prone sister.
"Misha, are you OK? Damn, you see what you've done Brennan?" she screamed at her teammate.
Brennan looked at the girls. "Is she all right?"
"She might have been had you left her to me. Why don't you just leave us alone?"
Suddenly, as if in slow motion, she saw Brennan raise his hand and fire a dose of electric energy towards her sister. She screamed as he ran up to her, grabbed her by her waist and ran off with her under his arm.
"Emma, Shal, you two take care of the girl in there," he shouted at the two women. When he'd gotten her well away from Misha, he set her down.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, jerk?" shouted Rosa. Her eyes blazed orange and even her hair seemed to crackle with energy.
"Control the energy, Rosa," Brennan warned.
"Who the hell gave you the authority to do that?" she shouted even louder, flames crackling, escaping from her fingers.
"I just saved you from being taken back to Genomex!" Brennan shouted back, angry at the fiery elemental in front of him.
"How did you figure that one out, hot shot?" fired back Rosa.
"She was faking, any balanced person would have been able to tell. I saw her open her eyes and aim at you. You were as good as dead."
"You leave it to me to decide. It was your fault she went down in the first place. If you hadn't distracted me, I wouldn't have hit her."
"You didn't hit her, goddamit. How do I get it into your stubborn head that she was faking it?"
"Just leave me well alone in future. I can take care of myself!" she spat at him as she walked off.
Brennan stood in the centre of the room. "You saved my life once. Let me repay the favour at least."
"You already have," she said impatiently, without pausing.
Brennan was mystified, "How?"
Rosalie stopped dead. She had to finish the conversation now, or else he'd never let up. "Don't worry, there won't be any more intimate moments. I wont put you in that uncomfortable situation again," she retorted sarcastically as she stalked off.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Back at Sanctuary, after learning that Misha had managed to get away yet again, Brennan went in search of Emma. He figured that Emma probably knew Rosa best these days - she would be able to tell him what was going on inside her mind. He found her sparring with Jesse.
"Hang on a minute, Bren," she called to him. "We're just about finishing." He leaned against the stairs as he watched two of his best friends fight it out. Emma was quite attractive really, he thought. He wondered why he'd never noticed it before. Not that he was attracted to her. She was pretty, but not his type. Now, Jesse was another matter. According to Jesse's track record, Emma was just his type. Brennan wondered why they had never got together. His musings were cut short as Emma ran up to him, wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead with a towel.
"What's up Bren?" she asked.
"You know Rosa quite well, don't you?"
"Well, as well as anyone who could get through her tough exterior, I suppose," she replied thoughtfully. "Why? Is something wrong?" she asked as they walked towards the showers.
"I keep on getting conflicting messages from her. To be honest, I don't know where I stand with her anymore. I was hoping you could help me in figuring her out."
"I don't know how much I can tell you without compromising her trust, Bren. What did you want to know?"
Brennan went pink. *I suppose I'm gonna have to tell her,* he thought to himself. "I, err. I kissed her the other day, and I'm not sure how she's taken it."
Emma smiled to herself. "Really? What happened?"
"I should never have put her in that position. I took advantage of her when she was vulnerable, and I regret it now."
"Why do you regret it?"
"I put her in a very difficult position. Since that happened, she hasn't been able to look me in the face. I just wish I could erase the whole episode from her memory."
"What if she doesn't want it erased?"
"How could she not want it erased, she doesn't like me, she wished she hadn't kissed me, and now she hates me more than before."
"Brennan," said Emma turning to face him with a smile. "You should really leave the reading emotions to me, because you've just managed to get the whole situation completely wrong."
Brennan stared into her face, trying to understand.
"Let's just say you should have another try with her," said Emma, before giving him a peck on the cheek and going into the showers.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
I've decided to use this to practice my long-range hypnotist's act. You see that little button just below? Your finger's just itching to click it. You know you want to click on it and leave a review,... go on, click the "Go"!