'What's up Adam?' asked Shalimar as she walked in through the lab doors.

'A group of links entered safehouse number five. They're presumably sending us a message because they set the whole place on fire,' Adam said, the frustration evident in his voice.

'Were there any new mutants in there?' asked Emma, shocked at how far Gabriel would go just to piss Mutant X off.

'Luckily no. That safehouse had only just been re-decorated. Nobody was in there, thank God. The fire service is there already trying to calm down the blaze but I want you two to go and check it out,' he said looking at Jesse and Emma. He deliberately avoided using Shalimar for this kind of mission. She may have had to get over her fear of fire someday but throwing her in at the deep end was not the way to do that. Plus he had another job for her.

'You think we're ever gonna beat Gabriel?' asked Emma as she closed the door to Helix.

'I have no idea. Right now it seems pretty hopeless.'

'I guess,' she replied. Jesse may have been able to think like that but she couldn't. She had to believe that somehow they could stop Gabriel from hurting anymore people. If not for them, then atleast for Mac. 

Jesse set the Helix's flight path and then, when it was on its way looked across at Emma. Between her and Shalimar he didn't know who he felt sorrier for. Shalimar had been taken prisoner by Gabriel but Emma felt everything Gabriel felt, plus all Shalimar's emotions. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard that must be.

Emma looked at him with a smile.

'What?' asked Jesse.

'There's no need to feel guilty. I manage to block it all out pretty well now.'

Jesse laughed and then looked at her and nodded signaling that they were okay.

'Leave me alone,' said Mac, trying to choke back the tears that would insist on falling.

'Nope,' replied Shalimar masking her concern with cheerfulness.

Mac, shocked by how chirpy Shalimar sounded and at the way in which Shalimar had refused, lifted her face out of the pillow it had previously been buried in. She stared at Shalimar, who was leaning against the doorframe of Macs room. Mac was unsure of what to say. It wasn't that she was spoilt, she had just never met anyone who, when faced with the knowledge of what she could do wasn't cautious or nervous or agitated around her. Shalimar seemed completely at ease.

She looked at the vulnerable girl sitting on the bed. Shalimar knew as well as the next person that the teenage years were the worst. The constant struggle to fit in, not to be different didn't end till you were older and realized that it didn't matter. But till then Mac would have to deal with it as best she could, there wasn't a way around it. Shal didn't feel sympathy for Mac; she felt empathy with Macs situation.

When Shal was a teenager she hadn't known how to fully control her powers or her temper (a side effect of being feral). She had gone off at random people for the smallest things and Shal knew that outwardly, unless she started kicking ass she was the same as everybody around her, which just made it more difficult for them to understand where her mood swings came from and went to. She had been confused and had had no one to talk to about any of it.

Atleast Mac had friends, people who would understand what she was going through either because they were going through the same thing or because they already had.

Shalimar understood Macs mistrust of people in general. She had been the same once but without the help of Mutant X Mac was gonna find it hard to fight Gabriel, not necessarily physically but emotionally.

'You know, if you wanted to probe around inside my head you should have just asked.'

Mac blinked in surprise. How had Shalimar known? Everytime Mac had read the minds of her teachers or the other kids at school or even the random men in the bar she worked at (which, needless to say hadn't been a very pleasant experience) none of them had had a clue.

'I live with a telempath, and believe me, you're not nearly as subtle as she is,' Shalimar said as if she was the one with the psionic abilities. She smiled at Mac as if to let her know that she meant no harm. Mac was still wary though, Shalimar could tell. So Shal walked further into the room and sat down on the bed opposite Mac.

'You wanna read my feelings…go ahead,' Shalimar offered.

Mac didn't know where Shal was going with this but she was still tempted to take her up on her offer. She flicked her emerald eyes up to look straight into Shalimar's chocolate ones and she was in.

She could see Shalimar sitting in the corner of a room, her knees pulled into her chest and her head resting on her arms, which were wrapped around her bent legs. She was shaking as if crying. And then her head moved and she was looking up. The view Mac had seemed to change. It was like she was now seeing the room from Shalimar's perspective. There was Gabriel. He was stood in front of Shalimar looking at her, laughing with a ball of fire burning in his right hand. Mac was bombarded with Shalimar's terror. Mac couldn't really distinguish it from her own. It was her feral side kicking in. But she could still feel all Shalimar's anger, humiliation, pity. Mac was suddenly and without warning violently ejected from her mind.

Mac jerked visibly and sat, breathing deeply for a few minutes while she tried to regain her composure.

'So now, do you see why you have every reason to trust me? I can't ever fully understand what you have been through or will go through but believe me, I know better than most.'

Mac stared at the strong woman sitting in front of her. She was right…she couldn't fully understand. But Mac figured she had to have someone to talk to about all the weirdness that was going on around her.

'So, what do you people do around here for fun?'

'You don't have to jump so high when you're doing a drop kick. It just gives your opponent time to react,' called out Shalimar. Her and Mac had been sparring with each other on the dojo for 45 minutes. Mac was a feral but she had no real fighting skills. With her powers she didn't really need them but Shal figured it couldn't hurt to be prepared. Plus Mac was a quick learner and could probably use the 'lesson' to release some of her pent up frustrations.

Mac swept her right leg along the ground, attempting to knock Shalimar off her feet. Shal jumped in a front somersault over Macs head and dropped to a crouching position as Macs fist went whistling over her head. Shalimar rolled forward and stood up, turned her head to look at Mac who, taking her chance stepped towards Shalimar and delivered a swift round kick to the air where she should have been. Mac looked around her, wondering where the feral had gone. There was a tap on her shoulder and turning around, Mac suddenly found herself flying through the air and ending up on her back.

Shalimar smiled as she helped Mac up.

'I don't want to be patronizing. You've got a long way to go before you can fight Gabriel with any hope of winning.'

'What makes you think I wanna fight Gabriel?' asked Mac.

Shalimar looked at the breathless girl in front of her, eyebrows raised, a smirk flickering over her lips.

'Okay, so maybe I do…just a little,' admitted Mac. She did want to hurt Gabriel like he had hurt all the people he had ever met but more than that she wanted to talk to him. She had talked to Adam about it all and he had filled her in on what Gabriel had done since getting out of stasis. She had so many questions for him; her need for revenge had faded into the background. Not too far though.

Shalimar handed Mac a towel and a bottle of water and then took up her own. She spotted Brennan walking towards the dojo and smiled. She still got goosebumps just thinking about kissing him. And she wasn't even sure if she could talk to anybody about it. Atleast not yet. She knew it was only a matter of time before she had to submit herself to Emma's giggles, Jesse's overprotective brother routine and Adams disapproval. Emma would be happy for them she was sure, but Jesse and Adam were a different matter entirely. Adam had never forbidden any of the members of Mutant X to have inter team relationships and she didn't expect him to start now but that didn't mean he was going to like it. It was gonna be tough but Brennan was worth it.

She heard giggles coming from behind her.

'Get out of my head…now!'