This is a really long chapter so you had all better be happy. I don't know what age Gabriel is supposed to be and I'm not even sure if all the information about his parents makes any sense. So if it doesn't obviously feel free to review and tell me so.

I hope people are enjoying the story cos I'm not getting much response (the cogs of her mind whir into action as she tries to come up with more ways to gain sympathy reviews).

Thank you to all the people who have reviewed already. Thanks for the support.

Have a nice day.

Gabriel fell back onto the bed, exhausted after the day he had just faced. The plan had been so perfect and yet again it had all been screwed up. But this time it was different…this time it wasn't Mutant X who had wrecked everything. It was his own sister.

He hadn't known until she had flown over the edge of the balcony. He had taken the time to have a quick read through her mind and he had seen what she was, he had seen who she was. There was no mistaking it; she was his sister. He had gone back to the Genomex labs and had sat in front of one of their computers trying to find out everything he could about that girl. Her name was Mackenzie and she had been born in 1985, making her 17 years old. Initially the mathematics of it all didn't add up. Gabriel was 30 and he had killed his parents when he was 10. That would have to make Mackenzie atleast 20 years old.

And then he had understood. Those people he had killed when he was 10, that man and that woman that he had eviscerated. They had never been his parents. He must have been placed with a foster family. He had never even met his parents. That pissed him off. He had lived his entire life believing that he had killed the very people that had turned him into a freak.

And now he had Mutant X and his little sister to deal with. All he had planned was for Mutant X to hear about what was going on, turn up, fight for a little bit and for him to leave. He had wanted to observe them, check out their moves. Atleast he had gotten the information he had come for from the schools files.

He looked up as some of the Strand members walked into the huge open plan building. It was a huge warehouse with all mod cons installed. It had been a lucky find, out on the edge of the town. Not too far away and not so close that anyone could walk in. Secrecy was not a huge part of the Strands lifestyle considering the amount of advertising they had put out but it wouldn't do for anybody, including Mutant X to just come waltzing in so the security system was top of the range.

Annie was one of the Links that had just entered. The rest had also been at the school that day. Gabriel had gotten out quickly, only checking to make sure that the Link that had been hacking into the schools computer system, Marlon was out of the building. They had gotten away fine and Gabriel had left the rest of the Strand to make their own way back in the other plane.

And now they were back Gabriel could get on with the real reason he had been at that school.

Shalimar sat on the edge of the meditation pool, staring down into the shallow water that was barely touched by a single ripple. The lights in Sanctuary barely cast a glow; it was 2 in the morning after all. Nobody was awake but Shalimar, just the way she liked it. Macs nocturnal side, although there hadn't fully kicked in yet and she was sleeping in one of the spare rooms.

Shalimar slid her body along the platform so that she was lying down on the smooth wood and, trailing her hand in the cool water she closed her eyes.

Seeing Gabriel had brought back emotions that she thought had dissipated. Realizing that Gabriel could still get under her skin like that had annoyed and infuriated her. What did she have to do to get that guy out of her system? And the compassion she felt for Mac just made her dislike of him stronger.

And yet it wasn't hatred. That had surprised Shalimar. She didn't hate Gabriel after all he had done to her, her friends. After all that she couldn't find it within herself to hate him. Maybe it was because she empathized with his situation. She knew how hard it was living your life completely different from everyone else. She got how someone could be intoxicated by power. There were times when she had felt superior to the ordinary people around her. She figured given a different set of choices maybe she would have ended up like him. If Adam hadn't have come along and given her a reason to do good maybe she would be in Gabriel's position right now. If Adam hadn't have some along, she thought with a wry smile maybe she wouldn't be alive.

She opened her eyes as footsteps sounded behind her. She could sense the vibrations through the floor beneath her even though the said person was attempting to be as quiet as possible. They probably assumed she was asleep. They should have known better.

Shalimar rolled over as soon as she sensed that the person, whoever it was was standing right behind her. She looked up straight into the deep brown eyes of Brennan.

He looked down at her, faint hints of surprise surfacing as she moved. He had assumed that she was napping, something that as part feline she loved to do. Plus she had had a hard day. Her nocturnal side wouldn't let her sleep straight away but it had to be catching up with her.

He couldn't sleep…too many thoughts whizzing around inside his brain. Mutant X had encountered Gabriel again and again they had been able to do nothing, nothing that would hurt him, atleast not permanently. Everything Mutant X did to him he countered with a move of his own. It seemed impossible.

But they had always beaten the odds before. Brennan had to believe that they would do it again. If he couldn't believe that then what was the point in trying.

He looked down at her open face. A few errant strands of hair lay across her forehead; the rest cushioned her head. She was dressed all in white and looked so at peace and so relaxed.

He sat down next to her, dangling his bare feet just inches above the water.

'How you doing?' he asked, genuinely concerned as to her welfare. After seeing Gabriel again he didn't expect her to be perfect but he was just hoping that she wasn't completely falling apart inside.

'I'm not sure. I guess I should be great compared to Mac; he is her brother after all but seeing him again. It was weird.' She continued to stare out over the pool and into the lab beyond. Adam had gone to bed to try and get some sleep. Overwork was not something that he needed to be suffering from right now. Shal had practically had to drag him out of the lab and to his room. She had then threatened to stand guard outside and if he so much as touched the door she was gonna kick his ass. After a while she had gotten bored and slightly uncomfortable just leaning against the wall. But Adam knew that when Shalimar said she was going to kick somebody's ass she meant it.

Brennan looked at the feral sitting next to him. She didn't look too troubled by the events of the day and Brennan knew from experience that if Shalimar was feeling angry or sad or ecstatic there was a distinct probability that everyone would have known by now.

Shalimar turned her head to look at Brennans. He reached out his hand and brushed an errant strand of hair away from her face. However after brushing the strand out of her eyes his hand didn't move away from her cheek. It slid around till he was cradling her face. Slowly they moved closer to each other. Their eyes slowly closed as they each recognized the dance they were taking part in.

Shalimar's stomach had flipped over itself as soon as Brennan's hand had made contact with her skin. She didn't want him to stop moving closer and she wasn't planning on stopping her own progress but still, the knowledge that they were about to take the next step in their relationship from flirting to actually doing something was scary.

Brennan couldn't stop thinking about how complicated this could all become. They had been dancing around each other for a while. They had had moments but now there was nothing to stop them. Nobody was up and they were finally going to kiss. His stomach didn't have butterflies, more like golden eagles, he was so nervous.

Their faces were inches from each other when suddenly the lab computers started beeping like crazy. They drew apart as if each had just been shocked by some of Brennan's electricity. Their eyes shot open and they looked at each other. Shalimar heard Adams footsteps come running down the corridor. Trust him to be up she thought with a wry smile and a sigh. One part of her was happy that the computers had interrupted them but the other wanted to smash them to pieces. Adam rounded the corner as Brennan finally relinquished his hold on Shalimar and they drew apart from each other.

Then came Jesse and last Emma. The three youngest new mutants were still fast asleep. A busy day had left them completely worn out and they wouldn't have woken up if Sanctuary had been set alight and was in the process of burning to the ground.

Brennan and Shalimar looked at each other, the absurdity of the situation obvious on their faces. Brennan got up and walked in the direction of the lab while Shalimar tried to compose herself enough so that she could walk without her knees buckling beneath her. That was the fourth time that had happened. Why could they not just kiss and get it over and done with? She was getting fed up of all the build-ups that ended with both of them walking away.

Brennan stopped mid-stride and turned a full 180. He started walking back to where Shalimar sat. He was so frustrated with them never crossing that line. They had been standing on it for way too long.

Shalimar looked up just in time to have Brennan take the sides of her face in his hands and pull her mouth towards his. The kiss felt like it went on forever. All the passion, all the intensity that had built up over the past couple of months was put into that kiss. Eventually they pulled apart, each breathing deeply, unwilling to look at each other but unable to stop themselves. Their hearts were racing as they made eye contact.

'Brennan, Shalimar. I need you guys in the lab now,' came Adams voice over their com-links. They pulled apart, unsure of what to do next. Jesse answered that question for them as he opened the door of the lab and ran off in the direction of his room.

Shalimar was the first to start smirking. She felt like she was going to burst out laughing at the ludicrousness of the situation. It wasn't like it was the end of the world, they had only kissed. And it had been pretty damn good. Now she knew exactly why Brennan got so many women.

Brennan looked at the blonde standing in front of him. He laughed quietly to himself wondering what all the fuss had been about. They had finally kissed and it had been great but the world hadn't imploded…nothing had gone drastically wrong just because they had finally admitted how they felt.

Shalimar was the first to get her legs working and as she walked off she elbowed Brennan lightly in his side. She turned around and gave him a sly, suggestive smile. Brennan walked off after her, laughing and shaking his head at Shalimar's flirtatiousness but still dying to take her in his arms and kiss her as passionately as he had before.