Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or any of the characters in this story
(except for Max Reyes)!
Dark Tomorrow
Chapter 2: Terror
24/7, a popular nightclub downtown, was crowded and excited, gyrating bodies on the dance floor and staccato pulses of the strobe lights adding to the chaos that the Mutant X team simply loved.
Emma was laid-back as usual, content to grab a drink and sit at the table with the others, watching the dancing. Shalimar was downing her beer as fast as possible, impatient to get onto the floor, her feral eyes carefully scanning the area for anyone with suspicious behaviour at the same time.
Brennan was angry in a mellow, determined kind of way. Emma could sense the protective fury radiating from him and it took all her self-control not to laugh. Jesse didn't have to be a telempath to see it as well. Only Shalimar seemed oblivious, insisting to herself that Brennan looked upon her as a younger sister.
"See anything so far?" Jesse asked after a while.
"I've been tuning in for any New Mutant emotions, but nothing yet," Emma shrugged, looking a little worried.
Shalimar looked around. "Maybe I should flash my eyes gold at someone, so that Max Reyes, if he is actually here at all, knows that I'm a mutant."
"That's very risky." Brennan obviously wasn't happy about it.
"Yeah, but Brennan, that might be the only way to grab this guy," Emma reasoned with him, "And besides, he may not even be here at all."
Brennan didn't reply, but an angry muscle throbbed in his jaw. Jesse glanced at him and said somewhat uneasily: "Maybe this is a bad idea. After all, what happens if this psycho does take Shal and we don't know it?"
"Tough." Shalimar could be extremely stubborn sometimes, and she demonstrated this now by glancing through the crowd as if searching for someone. Then, as if she had found that person and didn't like what she was seeing, she flashed her eyes angrily. Turning back to the others, she smiled. "Well, if lil ol' Max is here, that would've gotten his attention!"
"You're very happy about all this." Brennan remarked irritably. "Do you want to be captured or something?"
She stared at him, and Jesse and Emma glanced at each other. "I want him captured, Brennan." She snapped back. "If that means risking myself, I'm willing to do it, especially when I know that Emma and Jesse and even you aren't about to step back and let anything happen to me."
"Even me?" Brennan demanded angrily. "Emphasis on 'even'? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you think I don't care?"
My God, she doesn't really believe I don't care, does she? - He thought miserably.
Shalimar stood up. "I'm going to dance," she said, directing this to Jesse and Emma who were looking very uneasy about sitting there during a 'lover's spat' as Jesse would have called it.
As he watched Shalimar go off, Brennan growled and abandoning his drink, went after her to make sure she wasn't left alone. Jesse lifted his comring to his mouth and said: "Adam, Shalimar's taken off into the dance floor, and Brennan's gone after her. I can't see either of them anymore."
"Emma, find them," Adam commanded, his voice coming over both their comrings. Emma listened carefully. "And both of you: keep an eye on them. Max might just feel challenged by Brennan's strength and take him instead. And I want both of you to be careful as well."
Meanwhile, Shalimar was working out her frustration on the dance floor, angry at the amount she was beginning to feel for her elemental protector- and-teammate. She noticed a tall, muscular guy with short sandy hair and deep green eyes, coming closer to her. He's pretty cute, she decided. Just as she was about to smile at him, another, much more handsome face, eclipsed his.
Brennan.
Shalimar exhaled sharply. "I don't need a babysitter, Bren," she grumbled.
"Awww, come on, Shal, don't tell me you won't dance with me." Brennan grinned, seeming to relax a little at the fact that she was obviously glad to see him. "You know you and I could set this dance floor on fire."
"Is that so, Sparky?" Shalimar began to laugh. "Try to remember that if we do that, I'll begin to suffer severe attacks from my phobia of fire."
Brennan chuckled. "Hell, Shal, sorry. I forgot that for a second." He moved closer and brushed his fingers down the side of her face. She froze, staring up into his deep brown eyes as if mesmerized. "But admit it," he continued, his voice low and husky, "Together, we'd be amazing. We're great teammates, incredible sparring partners, awesome friends - we'd be good, Shal."
"Bren, I-" Shalimar was speechless. She didn't know what to say, and continued to stare at Brennan. Then suddenly, Jesse's voice blazed over Brennan's comring.
"Brennan!" he yelled. "Where the hell are you? Are you with Shal?"
Brennan scowled and turned around, scanning the periphery of the dance floor for any sign of Jesse and Emma. When he spotted them, he waved to get their attention and said into his comring: "I'm with Shal."
It was Emma who replied. "No, you aren't, Bren." Her voice was suddenly frightened. "We don't see her."
"What?" Brennan turned around so fast that he might have had propulsion abilities. He found himself staring into empty space. Panic filling his mind and making him feel almost suffocated, he realized that the green- eyed, sandy-haired guy who had been nearby was also gone.
Max?
Fear building up inside him like an icy hand over his heart, he realized that he knew only one thing for sure:
Shalimar was gone.
***
They had searched every alley near the club, but there had been no sign of the beautiful golden-haired feral. Brennan had gone crazy, broken up over what he had allowed to happen, even though everyone tried to convince him it wasn't his fault.
Then, in the last alley, almost two miles away from the club, they had found Shalimar's comring, and both her shoes.
Adam had commanded them to return to Sanctuary. It had taken all Emma's calming efforts in Brennan's mind, and Jesse's massed strength to force Brennan to get into the car and get back to Sanctuary with them.
It had now been twenty-four hours since they had left for the club, and there was still no information about where Shalimar could be or what could have happened to her. Emma sat in the garden by the pools and fountains, meditating and trying to get a hit off her best friend. Jesse helped Adam in the lab, and both searched and worked zealously to find their missing 'daughter' and 'sister'. Brennan was taking it the hardest, spending his time on the dojo with the holograms and the punching bag.
None of them wanted to release their real feelings of grief and terror at the thought of losing a woman they all loved in their various different ways.
At midnight, they grouped in the lab in another attempt to search for Shalimar. Adam brought up a photograph of Max Reyes in the database, but Brennan, looking at the red-haired, brown-eyed man, made a startling discovery.
"Adam, I saw another man there, standing near us," he said slowly. "I think he might have been the one to take Shalimar, because when I turned, they had both disappeared."
"Sandy hair and green eyes, right?" Adam asked. He tapped in this data and the picture changed slightly. "Max is clever. He's gotten coloured contact lenses and dyed his hair. An old trick, but it changes his appearance completely."
Brennan swallowed hard. "What'll he do to her, Adam?"
Adam didn't reply, but merely looked at each of his three remaining children sadly. "God, Shalimar," he whispered pleadingly, "We can't lose you."
TBC.
A/N: Sorry I took so long to finish this chapter; the third one will be up as soon as possible! Please R&R and tell me what you guys thought of this. Thanks for the previous awesome reviews!
Dark Tomorrow
Chapter 2: Terror
24/7, a popular nightclub downtown, was crowded and excited, gyrating bodies on the dance floor and staccato pulses of the strobe lights adding to the chaos that the Mutant X team simply loved.
Emma was laid-back as usual, content to grab a drink and sit at the table with the others, watching the dancing. Shalimar was downing her beer as fast as possible, impatient to get onto the floor, her feral eyes carefully scanning the area for anyone with suspicious behaviour at the same time.
Brennan was angry in a mellow, determined kind of way. Emma could sense the protective fury radiating from him and it took all her self-control not to laugh. Jesse didn't have to be a telempath to see it as well. Only Shalimar seemed oblivious, insisting to herself that Brennan looked upon her as a younger sister.
"See anything so far?" Jesse asked after a while.
"I've been tuning in for any New Mutant emotions, but nothing yet," Emma shrugged, looking a little worried.
Shalimar looked around. "Maybe I should flash my eyes gold at someone, so that Max Reyes, if he is actually here at all, knows that I'm a mutant."
"That's very risky." Brennan obviously wasn't happy about it.
"Yeah, but Brennan, that might be the only way to grab this guy," Emma reasoned with him, "And besides, he may not even be here at all."
Brennan didn't reply, but an angry muscle throbbed in his jaw. Jesse glanced at him and said somewhat uneasily: "Maybe this is a bad idea. After all, what happens if this psycho does take Shal and we don't know it?"
"Tough." Shalimar could be extremely stubborn sometimes, and she demonstrated this now by glancing through the crowd as if searching for someone. Then, as if she had found that person and didn't like what she was seeing, she flashed her eyes angrily. Turning back to the others, she smiled. "Well, if lil ol' Max is here, that would've gotten his attention!"
"You're very happy about all this." Brennan remarked irritably. "Do you want to be captured or something?"
She stared at him, and Jesse and Emma glanced at each other. "I want him captured, Brennan." She snapped back. "If that means risking myself, I'm willing to do it, especially when I know that Emma and Jesse and even you aren't about to step back and let anything happen to me."
"Even me?" Brennan demanded angrily. "Emphasis on 'even'? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you think I don't care?"
My God, she doesn't really believe I don't care, does she? - He thought miserably.
Shalimar stood up. "I'm going to dance," she said, directing this to Jesse and Emma who were looking very uneasy about sitting there during a 'lover's spat' as Jesse would have called it.
As he watched Shalimar go off, Brennan growled and abandoning his drink, went after her to make sure she wasn't left alone. Jesse lifted his comring to his mouth and said: "Adam, Shalimar's taken off into the dance floor, and Brennan's gone after her. I can't see either of them anymore."
"Emma, find them," Adam commanded, his voice coming over both their comrings. Emma listened carefully. "And both of you: keep an eye on them. Max might just feel challenged by Brennan's strength and take him instead. And I want both of you to be careful as well."
Meanwhile, Shalimar was working out her frustration on the dance floor, angry at the amount she was beginning to feel for her elemental protector- and-teammate. She noticed a tall, muscular guy with short sandy hair and deep green eyes, coming closer to her. He's pretty cute, she decided. Just as she was about to smile at him, another, much more handsome face, eclipsed his.
Brennan.
Shalimar exhaled sharply. "I don't need a babysitter, Bren," she grumbled.
"Awww, come on, Shal, don't tell me you won't dance with me." Brennan grinned, seeming to relax a little at the fact that she was obviously glad to see him. "You know you and I could set this dance floor on fire."
"Is that so, Sparky?" Shalimar began to laugh. "Try to remember that if we do that, I'll begin to suffer severe attacks from my phobia of fire."
Brennan chuckled. "Hell, Shal, sorry. I forgot that for a second." He moved closer and brushed his fingers down the side of her face. She froze, staring up into his deep brown eyes as if mesmerized. "But admit it," he continued, his voice low and husky, "Together, we'd be amazing. We're great teammates, incredible sparring partners, awesome friends - we'd be good, Shal."
"Bren, I-" Shalimar was speechless. She didn't know what to say, and continued to stare at Brennan. Then suddenly, Jesse's voice blazed over Brennan's comring.
"Brennan!" he yelled. "Where the hell are you? Are you with Shal?"
Brennan scowled and turned around, scanning the periphery of the dance floor for any sign of Jesse and Emma. When he spotted them, he waved to get their attention and said into his comring: "I'm with Shal."
It was Emma who replied. "No, you aren't, Bren." Her voice was suddenly frightened. "We don't see her."
"What?" Brennan turned around so fast that he might have had propulsion abilities. He found himself staring into empty space. Panic filling his mind and making him feel almost suffocated, he realized that the green- eyed, sandy-haired guy who had been nearby was also gone.
Max?
Fear building up inside him like an icy hand over his heart, he realized that he knew only one thing for sure:
Shalimar was gone.
***
They had searched every alley near the club, but there had been no sign of the beautiful golden-haired feral. Brennan had gone crazy, broken up over what he had allowed to happen, even though everyone tried to convince him it wasn't his fault.
Then, in the last alley, almost two miles away from the club, they had found Shalimar's comring, and both her shoes.
Adam had commanded them to return to Sanctuary. It had taken all Emma's calming efforts in Brennan's mind, and Jesse's massed strength to force Brennan to get into the car and get back to Sanctuary with them.
It had now been twenty-four hours since they had left for the club, and there was still no information about where Shalimar could be or what could have happened to her. Emma sat in the garden by the pools and fountains, meditating and trying to get a hit off her best friend. Jesse helped Adam in the lab, and both searched and worked zealously to find their missing 'daughter' and 'sister'. Brennan was taking it the hardest, spending his time on the dojo with the holograms and the punching bag.
None of them wanted to release their real feelings of grief and terror at the thought of losing a woman they all loved in their various different ways.
At midnight, they grouped in the lab in another attempt to search for Shalimar. Adam brought up a photograph of Max Reyes in the database, but Brennan, looking at the red-haired, brown-eyed man, made a startling discovery.
"Adam, I saw another man there, standing near us," he said slowly. "I think he might have been the one to take Shalimar, because when I turned, they had both disappeared."
"Sandy hair and green eyes, right?" Adam asked. He tapped in this data and the picture changed slightly. "Max is clever. He's gotten coloured contact lenses and dyed his hair. An old trick, but it changes his appearance completely."
Brennan swallowed hard. "What'll he do to her, Adam?"
Adam didn't reply, but merely looked at each of his three remaining children sadly. "God, Shalimar," he whispered pleadingly, "We can't lose you."
TBC.
A/N: Sorry I took so long to finish this chapter; the third one will be up as soon as possible! Please R&R and tell me what you guys thought of this. Thanks for the previous awesome reviews!
