"At slow speed we all seem focused;
in motion we seem wrong;
in summer we can taste the rain…"

            -Alien Ant Farm

            "Brennan?  Brennan, answer me!"  Emma calls, lost in a dark swirling fog.  This time, when she made contact with his skin, she was immediately transported into an unlit, frigid place inside Brennan's mind.

            Emma staggers along and feels cold rain start to fall as she steps toward a clearing.  The clearing is dimly lit from somewhere beyond the mist but the light is gray.  She stumbles and feels strong arms catch her around the waist before she falls into a pool of black water.

            "Careful…that water's like quicksand, it drags you under and holds you under…" Brennan's voice says, from behind her.  Emma turns around as soon as he releases her, her feet on steady ground.

            "Brennan, wait…" Emma says, looking for him.  Brennan's tall body is seen limping away from her into the mist.

            Emma pauses, contemplating what to do.  She decides quickly, breaking into a run and leaping onto his back, knocking him to the ground by surprise.

            Brennan coughs and Emma realizes that even in his mind, he is injured.

            "Oh, Bren, I'm so sorry…" She rolls off his back and sits beside him, the fog too thick between him for her to see his face clearly.

            "Em, you shouldn't be in here right now…everything's fucked up…" Brennan says, his voice low.

            "Brennan, you have to snap out of this, we need you to wake up…" Emma pleads, reaching out to him and taking his hands.

            "Emma, I can't right now…you don't understand…" Brennan twists away from her, leaving blood on her hands.

            "Well, explain it to me, Brennan…please…" She pleads.

            "It hurts too much…I can't go through this again…" Brennan says, his voice cracking.  The rain intensifies and Emma realizes that the drops are burning her skin.

            "Can you make it stop?  Emma, I can't make it stop…" Brennan says, curling into a ball with his arms around his knees.  "I have to keep control…but I can't because I can't make it stop…"

            Emma is stunned by Brennan's complete lack of control.  He is shattered.  The mist thickens.

            Emma finds herself back in the lab, standing beside Brennan's unconscious body. 

            "Emma?  Did you see anything?"  Jesse realizes that her eyes are open again.

            "She's not inside his mind anymore…but he's not okay…he's scared…he's…" Emma struggles to find the words to explain Brennan's state.

            "Emma?" Adam calls her name to try and get her to speak.

            "He wanted me to make it stop.  He was begging me to make it stop," She says quietly, only Jesse hearing her words.

            Emma clears her throat with a sad glance to Jesse and turns to Adam.  "It was dark and it's raining in there.  I saw him but before I could…he wasn't in any shape to be holding a conversation.  I've never seen him like that," Emma says, shaken.  "Somehow, I lost contact."
            "Adam, Britt wants to talk to you.  He says it's about Brennan," Shalimar says over the comlink. 

            "Emma, I want you to try again when you're ready.  Jesse, keep searching for any information you can find about Chelsea.  I'm going to send Shalimar in here to help monitor Brennan."  He sighs deeply before exiting. 

            "Emma, you said he was begging you to make it stop?"  Jesse asks, his eyes dark with concern.

            "He's in pain.  I don't think it's physical pain…" Emma stops, seeing Shalimar's expression as she walks into the conversation.

            "What did you see?  Emma?"  Shalimar demands.

            "He's pretty messed up, Shal," Jesse sums up.

            "Chelsea, or Rorie or whoever, they're gone.  He's just…he's trying to get his head together," Emma says, avoiding her eyes.

            "Do you think…is he going to be okay, Emma?" Shalimar asks, panic flashing on her face.

            Emma doesn't answer. 

***Author's note:  There is another story posted on this website that has a mutant going into Brennan's mind and finding it swirling with mist.  I am not stealing this idea, I SWEAR, I wrote this section last week and didn't read the other story until today.  I think that there is enough difference between the stories and scenes that I shouldn't worry about rewriting this.  The other story is awesome and I am anxiously waiting for the next chapter, but this chapter is reasonably important to the plot of my story and shows the complexity of Brennan's emotional and mental issues so I am leaving it the way it is.***