Dark Tomorrow

Chapter 8: Old Instincts

The Double Helix flew over the hills under its cloak. Brennan cracked his knuckles impatiently, occasional bolts of electricity dancing off his fingers due to his restless energy. Jesse was piloting, but he kept tapping his foot on the floor and Emma was pacing the aircraft. They were all desperate to reach the coordinates Adam had given them.

"Can't this thing fly any faster?" Brennan asked.

"It's already top speed, Bren," Jesse smiled. "We'll be there soon."

Brennan obviously didn't believe 'soon' was soon enough, but they all understood his feelings so some extent and were kind of feeling the same way. They all wanted Shalimar back.

"Here we are," Jesse announced ten minutes late, landing the Double Helix on a patch of flat land near the cemetery. They all clambered out hurriedly and ran towards the cemetery.

There, lying in a patch near the graves, were a cluster of beautiful orchids, darkened in the sorrowful shadow of the area. Brennan gazed down at them for a moment and gently plucked one of the flowers. Then they headed for the trapdoor, which it took them another ten minutes to find.

Jesse massed and smashed the door opened, and Brennan leading the way, they slowly walked down the long flight of stairs that Emma had seen when Shalimar broke into her mind. The tunnel that lay ahead was long and brightly lit with lamps. Brennan launched an electricity wave throughout the tunnel that would throw off any hidden cameras or devices.

"Come on," he said grimly. "We have a friend to save."

***

She could feel him . . .somewhere in the depths of her mind she knew her efforts had given her what she wanted - he was coming for her.

She'd paid for that moment of release dearly. She'd collapsed into unconsciousness, only to be awoken by the lash of Max's whip. He had guessed she was up to something and had punished her for it. She only prayed now that he didn't know they were coming.

They were coming, weren't they?

Sitting on a hard, cold bed, she tried to remember them. Fragments of memories with Brennan came to her - his eyes, the way he would hold her tightly when she was upset or sad, the way he would talk to her for hours and be so fiercely protective of her. She'd thought he was being a brother.

But she had heard him. She'd heard him cry out that he loved her. Dare she believe him, or would she just end up heartbroken? Because she loved him so much it tore at her heart. She knew that she loved him; it was a memory that had never been lost inside her.

Sometimes, like now, when she tried desperately, she would receive snatches of Emma's gentle chiding or an older man's fatherly hugs and soothing voice. Adam was the name that came to her when she thought about that. And sometimes, she's get snatches of Jesse's laughter and the boyish sparkle in his eyes that had died when she had looked into them five days ago.

Please come for me - she begged silently.

The door slammed open and Max stood there, his eyes harsh and accusing. "What have you been doing?" he demanded. "Why are you still crying?"

She realized that tears were staining her cheeks and she angrily wiped them away. She was too tired to fight him now, so she just looked at him sadly. "What did you do to me, Max? You didn't save me from the streets? You took me, didn't you? And what have you done to my mind?"

"You're crazy; you let those sorry excuses for mutants tamper with your mind," he spat furiously. "I saved you, you ungrateful woman."

"You destroyed me." She said softly, too hurt and too weak to battle.

The crash of something downstairs that reached both sets of feral ears made Max turned quickly. "I'll be back." He snarled at her, before taking off down the corridor, slamming and locking her door quickly as he left.

She sank further into the shadows, praying for Jesse and Emma and most of all Brennan, and awaiting her fate, whatever it might be.

***

"She's upstairs." Brennan said to Jesse and Emma firmly. "I know she is. I sense her."

Footsteps approaching the stairs alerted them all. "Jesse, phase Brennan through the wall to get upstairs." Emma ordered. "You and I can stay down here and fight Max."

"Don't finish him." Brennan commanded as Jesse obligingly phased the wall and Brennan raced through. "I'll be back!" were his last words to them before the wall solidified again.

Brennan hid behind the corner as he watched Max run down the stairs. He felt a hot blaze of anger, but controlled it and turned away, hurrying down the corridor. He passed a few doors, but they were all either open or unlocked and he checked each room just in case.

He reached a cream-colored door that was both closed and locked. He gentle jiggled the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. He stood back and shot a coil of electricity at the knob. The lock clicked and the door opened slightly. Brennan pushed it further, feeling a sudden nervousness in his stomach, but he stepped into the dimly lit room.

At first, he thought it was empty. Then he heard the soft, uneven breathing and in the deep shadows of the corner, the saw the familiar, curled-up shape that had invaded his dreams so many times.

"Shal . . ." he breathed.

The shape stiffened and then uncurled and slowly, the young feral stumbled out into the light. "Brennan?" she choked. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "You - you came for me!"

"We all did," he told her gently. "We love you, Shal. I love you." Then he saw her clearly and his jaw hardened. That angry muscle began to twitch in his jaw and she saw it. "What did that bastard do to you?" he growled, seeing the whiplash on her stomach, the torn state of her tee shirt and jeans, and the cuts on her face.

"He suspected I was up to something when I fell unconscious earlier." She whispered in a ragged voice. Then, without warning, she came towards him and fell into his arms, clinging to him tightly. "Don't leave me, Brennan," she begged, sobbing, and then collapsed, unconscious again, in his arms.

He lifted her up and made for the door. "I'll never leave you." He promised softly, before carrying her lightweight down the corridor and towards the stairs.

"Where's the jealous elemental?" he heard Max asked as he reached the stairs. Downstairs, he could see Max throwing punches at Jesse who was phasing in and out. Emma stood at hand, ready with her illusions and psi- blasts. But Jesse was hitting out with a massed fist, obviously relishing the pain he was causing the man who had destroyed his best friend and taken her away from him.

"Right here." Brennan announced, going down the stairs. "Em, run and start the Double Helix. Jess, take Shal and go with her. I'll finish up here." He met Max's green eyes with blazing brown ones.

Jesse took Shalimar from Brennan and started after Emma, who gave Shalimar a long, worried, sisterly and affectionate look before taking off towards the tunnel of Max's house and lab.

Max watched them go with a bleeding mouth and forehead and he snarled: "No! She's mine!"

But they were gone, and with one desperate attempt to escape, Max raced in the opposite direction, closely pursued by Brennan. He was cornered in his own lab, realizing he had nothing left to do but fight the murderously angry elemental, and he turned slowly to face Brennan.

"I haven't felt much like fighting this past year," Brennan said calmly. "But like Shal, I'm beginning to get my old instincts back."

Brennan broke his nose. "That was for what you've done to Adam," he told him. He kicked him hard in the stomach - twice. "THAT was for what you've done to Emma and Jesse by taking Shalimar away from them." He pulled back his elbow and slammed Max in the mouth, breaking two teeth. "That was for the agony you put me through, and THIS:" he fired up a bolt of electricity and shocked Max straight in a very sensitive area, "Was for everything you've done to Shal."

Max staggered back in agony, moans of pain and torture coming from his throat. He stared at Brennan with fear in his eyes.

"It's you and me now, you son of a bitch," Brennan growled, igniting electricity in his hands to give Max a smaller shock. "And I have one hell of a score to settle with you."

TBC.

A/N: I hope you like this! I love Shal and Brennan and I hope you guys do too, especially in this chapter. Enjoy, and please R&R so that I can upload the ninth chapter soon.