Disclaimer: not mine (although I wish Jesse was!)
A/N: Special thanx to Jouliana for being my faithful reader and reviewer. Sorry it took so long but now here is…
Chapter 10
Brennan landed the helix, two blocks away from Genomex. They kept the helix in stealth mode so that no one would see it. Brennan and Emma were going to sneak into Genomex, while Shalimar and Jesse told them where to go. Shalimar wanted to go with Brennan, but everyone else thought that Emma should go instead. This was because incase something happened with their comm links, Emma and Jesse could still 'speak' to each other.
"Okay when you get inside turn right down the first corridor. Then walk up to the third door on the left, that's where Adam is. And be careful guys."
"Thanks Jess, we will. Brennan, I'm going to make them think that we are GSA agents, but if Eckhart is with Adam then we may have a problem."
"Let's go." They walked into Genomex, hoping that Adam was alright. Emma and Brennan turned right down the first corridor and were about to enter the third door on the left, when Emma stopped him.
"Wait, let's hide over here. Eckhart's coming, I can feel him."
Emma and Brennan watched as the door they were supposed to enter opened. Eckhart walked out, he was extremely happy, humming to himself as he walked down the hall. After he headed around the corner, Emma whispered, "come on."
Quickly they hurried over to the door, and entered the room. It was dark, and cold, but Brennan managed to find the light switch.
"Oh my God! Adam!" Emma practically pushed Brennan aside and ran to Adam. He was chained to a wall. Blood was dripping down his face. In the light both Brennan and Emma could see Adam's broken body. It was obvious that he had been beaten badly. Black bruises covered his skin, and they were positive he had some broken bones.
"We have to get him out of those chains."
Brennan nodded and searched the room for some keys, while Emma carefully looked Adam over for any life threatening injuries.
"These will help," Brennan whispered holding up the keys. He walked over to Adam and unlocked the chains that held him fast against the wall.
*Emma did you find him?*
*Yeah, he's been beaten pretty bad. I think Eckhart might come back soon. Brennan and I are going to walk him out. But if I sense Eckhart, we'll need to take off as soon as we get there.*
*Emma, be careful.*
Carefully they lowered Adam from the wall, he was unconscious. Brennan picked him up and together the three left the room. All of the sudden Emma was in Brennan's head, *Eckhart's coming back to torture Adam some more. We have to run. Nobody will notice us, we'll seem like the wind.*
*Emma?*
*Jess, fire up the helix, Brennan and I gotta run.*
They managed to get out of Genomex right before an alarm was set off. They both knew that Eckhart saw that Adam was missing. Soon GSA agents would be after them.
Adam's weight began to seem heavier. "Emma can you help me carry Adam?"
"I'll try." Brennan positioned Adam so that he was in the middle of the other two. Emma found it difficult to walk like that. She began to feel weak, not strong enough to help support Adam anymore. They were about three minutes away from the helix, when Emma suddenly fell on the ground.
"Emma! Shalimar, Emma's down. Come help me. We're three minutes south of the helix. Hurry!" Turning to Emma, but not releasing Adam he said, "Emma are you alright?"
Emma shook her head; she was having difficulty breathing. Her chest rapidly moving up and down. "Brennan," she gasped, "what's wrong with me?"
"Lie down; it may help you relax so you can breathe better. Shalimar's on her way." Seeing the fear and worry in her eyes, he began to think that maybe it wasn't an anxiety attack like he first thought. "Just try to take slow deep breaths."
Just then, Shalimar ran towards them. "What happened?"
"We need to get Adam to the plane, and Emma too. Adam's getting too heavy, help me carry him."
"We can't leave Emma like this," she said pointing towards Emma, who was still gasping for air.
"I'll…*gasp*…be fine. Take…*gasp*…Adam…" pain shot through her lungs. She couldn't concentrate on her powers to tell them anything else, so she remained silent. *This hurts so much, but why can't I breathe?*
Brennan didn't like the idea of leaving her alone, but Shalimar knew they had to get Adam to safety. "Come on, I'll come right back to get her."
Quickly nodding Brennan helped Shalimar carry Adam towards the helix. When they entered Shalimar called, "I'm going back for Emma," before jumping out of the helix and sprinting for her friend.
Meanwhile
Emma knew it was a matter of time before the GSA found her. *My chest feels so tight, but why?*
*Bait.*
*Who are you?*
*You know who I am. First I will get Shalimar, then I'll come for you.*
*Shalimar!*
*She can't hear you. I'm blocking you from contacting her mind. And you can't speak to her either, you know since you can't breathe very well.* Gabriel's voice vanished as Shalimar came running towards her. Emma motioned for her to get away, but Shalimar didn't get it.
Shalimar could tell that something was wrong, but what? She was only five feet away from Emma when a ring of fire blazed all around her. Instantly Shalimar froze, the fire danced in her eyes, taunting her. Her muscles became all tense and she couldn't move. Too busy watching the fiery blaze that surrounded her, she didn't notice someone putting a sub dermal governor on her neck.
"No!" She cried desperately, without her powers she was helpless against the fire (not like she could've moved anyway).
Whoever out the governor on Shalimar knocked her out. Looking up Emma cried, "Gabriel! Leave us alone!"
"I can't do that. You both are a part of my plan. Stay here, I'll be right back." Gabriel carefully picked up Shalimar and walked in to the dark alley nearby.
Gabriel was so busy worrying about Shalimar's emotional state when she woke up, that his mental hold on Emma was released.
*Jesse…help me…still here* was all she could manage to say before she fell into darkness.
In the helix
"Emma! Brennan, I've got to get Emma. Stay here, I'll be right back."
Before Brennan could even ask Jesse what was going on, he ran out of the helix like he was on fire.
Running up to Emma he slowed down. *She's breathing but unconscious, what happened?* Carefully scooping up Emma, he ran back to the helix, wondering the whole way back where on earth Shalimar went.
"Go Brennan go!" Jesse frantically shouted at his teammate.
"Where's Shalimar?"
"We have to look for her later, the GSA is coming."
Brennan did not want to leave Shalimar, but he knew there was no choice. The helix rose quickly into the sky and headed for Sanctuary.
Sanctuary: lab
"All we can do for Adam is clean him up and bandage him. Can you do that while I try to wake Emma?"
"I want to see Emma! She has to know where Shalimar is. Shalimar was supposed to go back and get Emma. How could she have gotten lost?" Brennan was shouting at the top of his lungs, and there was no way Jesse would let him near Emma like that.
"No. Work on Adam. I'll talk with Emma when she wakes up. Shouting at her is not going to help."
"Fine," Brennan grumbled as he set to work on Adam.
Jesse headed out the door to Emma's room. Hoping she woke up already, he eased her door open. "Em? Can I come in?"
"Uh huh," Emma wiped away her tears. Sadness overwhelmed her, but she had no idea why. She also felt other emotions; pain, fear, and most of all anger, but those were coming from Shalimar.
Jesse walked in and sat on her bed. "Hey it's okay. Brennan's fixing Adam up, good as new."
Emma looked into his eyes, "When Shalimar came to get me, she was attacked by Gabriel. He projected fire in her mind, and easily subdued her. He took her back to the Strand." Emma's blue eyes filled with tears as she continued. "I was used like bait Jesse, Gabriel now has Shalimar. Soon he's going to come after me too."
Jesse pulled Emma into a hug, knowing that she wanted to be comforted and held by him. "We'll put a trace on her and get her back, don't worry."
"She's not safe with Gabriel I know what he wants to do. He won't stop with either of us until he gets what he wants. I already told you , she's at the Strand. Don't bother doing a trace, because that's where she is."
Emma started to tremble and Jesse held he tighter. "Is Adam okay?"
"Yeah. He'll be fine," Jesse said in a soothing voice. Gently Jesse wiped away the tears from her eyes. "We'll rescue her as soon as we are all rested. There's no way we can rescue her if we're all exhausted. Since Ashlock wants you, you should stay here and watch over Adam, and Brennan and I will rescue Shalimar."
Jesse got up to leave the room, when she grabbed his arm. "Gabriel wasn't going to wait for me, and he won't wait for Shalimar either. You have to rescue her now. I'll go watch over Adam right now." She broke out of Jesse's embrace and stood up. Holding him by the hand, they walked into the lab.
"Before I tell you where Shalimar is, you must stay calm."
"Jesse, where is she?"
"You and I are going to rescue her now, and Emma will watch over Adam. Shalimar's at the Strand."
"If Ashlock even thinks about touching her, I'll kill him. Let's go Jess."
Together Brennan and Jesse ran towards the hanger. Both of them hoped they would save Shalimar in time. Little did they know that Gabriel had already begun with his 'plan'.
A/N: Stay tuned to see exactly what Ashlock has in store for Shalimar, it ain't pretty. Will Adam be okay? Read, review (please) and enjoy.