Before the Blood

The dawn was a heavy thing that morning, the sky full of storm and complaint but not quite heavy enough to start releasing its load. The air felt charged and the heat was oppressive. Even Adam in his air-conditioned lab felt the heat as he directed the team to a local building where it was thought the GSA were building an armoury. Three very vague e-mails had drawn Adam's curiosity and he had finally decided to send the team when a large army transport had gone missing nearby.

As the reports came back of no activity in the area he began to doubt his own suspicions. Was he being over paranoid - reading misdirection in innocent talk? The sounds of a fight reaching him over the comm. links along with Brennan's brief 'I think we've found them Adam' was enough to dismiss his self doubt. Now it was up to them once more. It was an everyday thing for them, fighting the enemy, getting to the target and finishing off what ever it was they had gone for. It was rare for them to fail nowadays, they worked so well as a team, a single unit. That they followed his leadership gave him a feeling of power that he had never experienced before, that they were so good simply made him proud.

"Emma, Jesse, the reactor's yours. I'll hold this entrance, Shalimar hold that one and we'll meet back at the helix when you're finished, just sound the signal." Brennan's quick fire instructions were rattled out as Emma and Jesse grabbed the bag full of explosive and headed down the side corridor towards the reactor that they would use to destroy the network of tunnels that they had found. Brennan shared a smile with Shalimar before leaping back into the melee on his side of the room. There were about ten guards but none of them were armed and together Brennan and Shalimar could hold them off long enough for Emma and Jesse to complete their mission and for them all to get out of the grungy underground hideout.

It didn't take much to find the reactor, it was huge. Jesse phased them both through a safety screen and into the main hanger that held the mechanism. They planted the explosives next to all of the equipment that looked vital and set the timers to give them enough time to get out. As they headed out of the room, Jesse stopped by a large pillar in the centre of the open space.

"This looks structural, what do you think?" He asked, pulling out a last explosive and timer. He set it up quickly and started hurrying towards the exit calling a move-out into his comm. link and following Emma out.

"Brennan mind your back." Shalimar called out across the room as she saw a single fighter approach Brennan unseen. She felt a pain in her back as she span to finish off another assailant that had stepped out of nowhere, but dismissed it. The man fell as easily as the others had and no one saw the glint of metal that had been secreted in her back. It's funny how you don't notice how much it hurts until you see the blood

Emma saw Shalimar finish off a fight and glanced around to find Brennan already heading out of the door with Jesse and was surprised to see that Shalimar had disappeared.

"Shalimar we have to go"

Too Late

After the Blood

Too Late

Her fingers dug half-moon slips into her skin as her stomach tried to rebel against the smell. They didn't hurt, it was an absent thought. Why did it not hurt. Surely she was hurting herself? She examined her palms and found a welling of blood and felt the sharp sting of the wounds. It's funny how you don't notice

She didn't want to think about what lay under the pile of rubble that had been a building. A friend but too late.

Brennan was digging in the rubble, Jesse phasing as much as he could at once to try and find her. Somehow they know that they will not find her as they had left her.

Adam sounds pained on the comm. link. He's asking for updates. He has to know. But he wants to be there. He's coming over, he says. He can't leave them to get her out alone, they need help. She might still be alive

Too Late

Jesse cries out.

Too Late

Brennan lifts her from the phased rock.

Too Late

The knife slips from her back.

Too late

It shines on the ground beneath her. It is calling.

You will always be

Too late

Adam arrives, tears in his eyes as he takes her still form from Brennan's arms.

too

And there is no more blood.

Disclaimer - I don't own these characters or situations, they belong to Tribune Entertainment and the rest, but I do own the storyline and writing. I'm not making any money out of this writing, I do it just for fun.

AN: This belongs to Feral, Ruffyan, Mark and Thir13en ghosts. Blood was only supposed to be a single chapter deathfic, like the others I've done, but you all asked so nicely. I don't know if you like it, but you asked for more, and you got it. R&R peeps. Oh, and join Please!!