Ya hey everyone, I'm really sorry that this chapter took me all summer. I was gone for a lot of it and my dad's laptop decided it wanted to not register my floppy disk. Plus I've had THE WORST writers block lately, so this chapter might not be the best but I hope you enjoy is….ya so get on with reading don't lemme stop you seeing as I have to go write an English paper!( oh the fun, how ever will I contain my excitement? ::sarcasm galore:: )
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Brennan woke up from what seemed like an endless sleep. And right when he picked his head up, there she was. The ever radiant Shalimar Fox. And for the first time in what seemed like forever, nothing was wrong, she was one person, and they were together. Without interruption, and without hesitation he took her in his arms and held her as tight as he could without causing her harm.
But the moment he touched her, her eyes opened in shock, she opened her mouth to speak, to say something…anything. But all he could hear was the gurgling of the blood in her lungs as she gasped for air that never seemed to reach it's desitation.
Shalimar stumbled away from him, knocking into things, spraying her blood everywhere. Then she fell hard onto her back and came to rest on the black tiled floor, as she was being enveloped in a pool of her own blood.
Brennan ran to her franticly, skidding to a halt and collapsing onto his knees, gathering her head in his lap as she coughed up some more blood on to his bluejeans. And even then she squirmed to get out of his grasp, the reason still illuding him.
"Baby….wha?…Where?" He gasped still in shock, squinting through the tears in his eyes, as he stroked her hair, now matted down with sweat.
Shalimar rolled her eyes in his direction, and he could see her life slowly ebbing away from her.
"You…" She said in a scraggily voice that was unrecognizable to Brennan. It was a voice laced with accusation and hate. "Why did you….?"
Brennan didn't understand, why did he what? She wasn't making any sense to him.
"What? Why did I what? I don't understand!…no…ju…just hold on, don't talk! I'll go get help!"
He started to get to his feet but she grabbed his wrist with a feeble grip, then his worst fear was realized…..it was already too late for help….there was no helping her.
"You said you would never hurt me." She gasped, using all the strength she had left to push out everything she wanted to say before her life slipped away from her.
"Wha? Ba-baby… I don't understand ..I would never hurt you...I love you," he said desperately, but just then he realized what she had been saying, why she had pushed away from him and tried desperately to get away, with a look of horror in her eyes. He looked down at his hands and saw something he never expected, he was holding a dagger, he hadn't even noticed he was holding anything. Much less a dagger covered in her blood from point to hilt.
Brennan looked from his hand to Shalimar a few times before it finally registered in his brain, which seemed to be moving so painfully slow at the moment.
He was to blame…he had killed his one true love, and he didn't even understand, or even remember doing it.
"This is a result of you running from your past sins." She said weakly.
He looked back to her, mouthing silently, I'm sorry over and over, all she did was cough a little more, trying to form the words through puddles of blood, but she couldn't.
Brennan looked back to her eyes, which were still filled with fear, and said, "I love you."
But it was too late she was already gone, all life had left her, leaving only an empty, bloody shell in Brennan's lap. And the words she had left lingering as her last, "This is a result of you running from your past sins."
And just when everything was starting to sink in…become real to him… he woke up.
"Oh jeeze." Brennan gasped for air trying to calm himself down, his heart was thumping so hard it threatened to burst out of his chest, "It was just a dream...just a dream." he kept telling himself over and over again, but then why did it feel so real? And what was that last message suppose to mean?
He looked around the med lab if only to make sure it had, in fact, been a dream, and there she was.
Shalimar was on the med lab bed in a coma, just where he had left her of course. Then his eyes flew over to the console to make sure her vitals were stable.
He let out a sigh of relief, "she's ok….she's ok, calm down man, she's ok."
Then something else caught his eye, it was a flashing text box on one of the computer screens.
"Shalimar Fox's entry code entered…" he mumbled softly to himself, then he realized what the message was saying.
"Oh my gosh she's back!"
Brennan's hand didn't move nearly fast enough for his liking as he brought his comm. Ring up to his hand, "Adam! Adam!?"
"What is it Brennan?"
"She's back…Shalimar..the..the other one," he stammered, "she's back. She's trying her entry code…I'm letting her in!"
"Brennan, no, we don't know where or who she's been with, or what could have been done to her!"
But Brennan wasn't listening. He had already pressed the enter button, granting Shalimar entry to Sanctuary, and was skidding as fast as he could to the back door.
He saw her coming in the door, looking a little battered and bruised, but Brennan was relieved when he saw no visible broken bones or trauma.
"Shal I'm so glad your……what's the matter?"
Brennan's sentence was cut short when he glanced in her eyes, they didn't look remotely like Shalimar's eyes. They were glazed over, like she was in a stupor.
Brennan though of the old quote, "The eyes are the window to the soul."
And from what he could see Shalimar's soul had been extinguished. The fire in her eyes that used to burn so brightly, was dimmer then he'd ever seen it.
"Shal..?"
"Hmmmm?" She said nonchalantly like nothing had every happen.
"What's the ma…tter…?"
Brennan had let his words trail off somewhat as he saw an unknown man walk up behind Shalimar, and almost as if it were a reflex, Brennan pulled Shalimar behind him.
"Shal stay back I'll handle this."
Shalimar raised her thin eyebrow and said in a somewhat eerie voice, "It's fine Bren, there is nothing to deal with." then without warning she pulled out a dagger and hit Brennan on the back of the head with the hilt.
Brennan fell to the ground in an unconscious heap before he could even try to fight back, the only thing that entered his mind was, "She hit me." then he blacked out.
When Brennan woke up, he quickly saw that he wasn't alone. The rest of the MX team were all sprawled on the floor of the dojo, with the acception of both Shalimars.
Jesse was the first to wake, then Emma, then Adam.
"Ohh…" Jesse groaned, "I feel like someone hit me with a sledgehammer."
Emma groaned in turn and rubbed her head soflty, "you might not be wrong."
Adam stayed silent with this look on his face that told everyone he wasn't happy at all. So in silence he pondered escape, and every so often he would get up and touch the force field, andget the same results every time. A nice little shock that threw him back a bit, and being the genuis he is, he came to the conclustion that, the longer you touch it the more it hurts.
Brennan looked over to their leader who was repeatedly getting his ass shocked off. Thinking that this so-called-genius had to be the stupidest genius he had ever met!
Brennan hesitated to say anything at first, but then decided to add his thoughts on the matter, "Adam why don't you just stop that? It's obvious touching it isn't doing much but causing you a shit load of pain."
"Because Brennan, I'm trying to ascertain what setting the force field is on, so I can maybe get an idea of how to get the hell out of here! Oh! But if you had listened to me, and not let her in right away, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
Brennan gave a heavy defiant huff, "who knows! She could have been hurt, I couldn't just leave her out there."
"Wait, who? Who did this to us?" Emma said somewhat confused, though the answer was somewhat obvious.
Before either Adam or Brennan could answer, their uninvited guest did.
"That, my lovely dear, would be my doing."
Brennan turned around to come face to face with Shalimar's captor, and was about to tackle him, then remembering the force field around him that could shock his ass off.
"Temper, temper, Brennan, wouldn't want you to be hurt now would we? At least not just yet."
"How did you find this place!?" Brennan said, holding in his building temper.
"That, would be my doing." Said a somewhat dazed Shalimar, who walked idly to the mans side.
Emma came up from behind Brennan, coming a fingers length away from the force field.
"Shal..? You did this? Why?"
The intruder took another step forward, seeming not to care about the force field. "Because I told her to do it."
Brennan's eyes narrowed on him with distaste, "and just who the hell are you?"
The stranger pretended to clutch his heart, "Really Brennan I'm hurt. You can't tell me you don't recognize me! I mean granted I look a lil' different," flexing his wings to emphasize his point, "but it hasn't been that long, now has it?"
Brennan took a deep breath and looked away for a second, then looked back, studying the mans appearance. At first he gave off confused explosions, then his face hardened, as well as his resolve.
"I wouldn't know how long it's been…seeing as I don't know you."
Shalimar's companion gave a light playful laugh, "oh come now Brennan, look harder."
"Listen man!" Brennan said, his voice growing steely, "I don't know who you are, or what your game is."
The intruder tilted his head back, making it seem like his frustration was getting the better of him, but when he looked back at Brennan he had a smile on his face.
"Does the name Vince ring any bells?"
Brennan's face softened a bit at the mention of Vince.
"No it can't be..Vince?…your uhh……"
"EHHHNNNNNNN wrong again, your 0 for 2 pal, try again. This time think of someone close to him."
Brennan took a second to think.
"D-Devon is that you?"
"It's been a while hasn't it? I mean look at me..I'm not the little boy I once was, thanks to many skilled doctors and invasive procedures to amplify my mutant abilities."
Everyone was standing still listening to Devon, confused by his insistant rambling.
"I did it all for you Bren..all for this day..oh how I've dreamed of the day when I could pay you back for what you did."
"What the hell did I ever do to you?"
"You can't really be asking me that….."
"Well I'm asking!"
"You killed my brother you bastard!" Devon's words were quick and they cut through Brennan like a knife.
Brennan's defiant posture soon turned into a slump, "What…?" he said soft and breathy, "I don't….I don't understand….I didn't…."
"What don't you understand?"
"That's not how it went….they told me…they told me at the hospital that he was fine."
Devon started chuckling causing Brennan to look at him.
"What the hell are you laughin' at?"
"You! You're a fucking liar!"
"No I'm not."
"Tell them! Tell them what you did! Let your precious team know about the real you!"
"I can't tell what I don't remember!"
"Maybe this will help you to stop your lying."
Before Brennan could react Devon had stepped through the force field as if it were nothing, and had gotten Brennnan by his throat.
"Time for a blast to the past. Buckle your seat belt!"
Devon conjured up a psi blast, while still holding tight onto Brennan's throat.
Brennan struggled against him but couldn't break free.
"No..please." He managed to choke out.
But no amount of protest would stop the psi blast from hitting him and soon everything in his head was in total chaos. And he couldn't help from releasing the scream that had been pushing to get out.
He saw flashes of things that had happened years ago. Things he remembered and things he didn't. He saw himself, water, and electricity going everywhere, then himself again. This time in an unconscious heap.
The last thing he saw was Vince being thrown against the wall with a smoking hole in his chest.
The events sped through his mind. Things he had wanted to forget, things he thought were better left in the darkest recesses of his mind where they couldn't see the light of day.
Then all the flashes stopped, and his mind had time to process what he had just seen. For the first time in years he had relived the most horrific chapter of his life. And the horror hadn't faded over the years, If anything it was more traumatic.
"No…." his eyes had become red and puffy. "Tha-that's not how it went…"
Devon's face scrunched up in disgust, "Oh don't give me that repentive angel bullshit!"
"I didn't know……"
Devon gave a light disbelieving snort, "Shalimar, honey, why don't you go into the lab and check on our guest….I'm just going to deal with our….friend here."
Shalimar gave a small nod, "Yes master," then she took herself down the floating stairs, and entered the lab.
Adam opened his mouth to protest, but soon found that he couldn't speak. Neither could Emma or Jesse. Nor could they move.
"Now Brennan……..it's just you and me."
"What do you want?" Brennan said harshly.
"For you to suffer just as much as I've suffered over the years. For you to feel the same pain you've caused me ever since you took my brother away from me!"
"It was an accident." Brennan said in a low voice.
"Call it what you will to make yourself feel better….but everything, everything I've done, and will do, since that day, everything I've strived for, has been working towards this day. The day when I could take revenge on my brothers murderer."
"I already told you…"
Devon's grip on Brennan's throat tightened, and he lifted him off his feet, so he couldn't finish his sentence.
They both looked over when Shal walked out of the lab door.
"Baby I thought I told you to wait in the lab…."
Shal's face contorted with disgust, "I'm not your baby! Who the hell are you." She said weakly.
This blatant "disrespect" caused another glance from Devon.
"Ahhhh," Devons face lightened, "so our guest is awake….Shalimar! It's time!"
A second later Shalimar burst out of the lab and got her unwitting twin in a headlock.
They both struggled a bit, but given Shal's weakened state, Shalimar won the battle easily and soon has Shal's hands and feet bound in prison shackles.
Brennan found himself caring less and less about the threat Devon posed, and more and more about Shalimar, both of them. He felt new found energy surge though his veins, and with that energy he grasped Devon's hand, that was firmly around his throat and peeled it off as if it were nothing.
Devon looked back to Brennan in shock, then tried to re-affirm his grasp.
Brennan did his best to reverse every move that was thrown at him but Devon was simply too fast and too powerful.
"If you hurt either one of them I'll…"
But once again Brennan was cut short as he was hit square in the chest with an energy blast.
Once he came to his senses again he found that he was on the floor, but it was sort of funny because he didn't remember ever hitting the floor, and you would think a hit like that to your butt would be memorable.
Before he could even attempt to regain his footing, Devon's booted foot slammed him back to the ground.
"You'll what!? Oh do tell Brennan, I would love to hear it!" Devon moved his boot to Brennan's throat and proceeded to press harder and harder against it. Making it seem like his goal was to crush his Adam's apple.
"Shalimar dear?"
"Yes master?"
"Bring her here."
Shalimar nodded in acknowledgement and dragged her counterpart up the floating stairs with unnecessary brutality. She deposited her on the floor with a thud and looked to her master for further instructions.
Devon nodded to Shalimar, then looked back to Brennan.
"This is for all the years of pain you caused me."
He gave a nod to Shalimar and she hoisted Shal to her feet then swiftly backhanded her twin across the face.
Brennan growled and struggled, but he got nowhere, and Shal once again fell to the ground with nothing to brace her fall.
"I'll kill you!" Brennan struggled to get out from under Devon's foot.
"Not before I kill her." Devon pointed to Shal, who was still on the floor breathing heavily and spitting out a little blood that was dangling off her lower lip.
"Or rather…..my pretty kitty here, kills her."
"NO!"
Brennan struggled more then ever before, using all his strength to push himself off the floor. In return Devon kicked him in the face and summoned a dome of electricity.
"Lets see if you can take your own heat."
The electricity rained down on Brennan and tore through his body, causing a few twitches here and there.
"Now…your going to watch this."
Devon hoisted Brennan to his feet via his throat and made him turn his eyes on Shal. Brennan had to watch as Shalimar continually hit Shal, over and over at Devon's command. After a few minutes, Shal was a bloody mess, and Brennan's eyes were briming with unshead tears.
Shal's eyes had both swelled shut, her nose was bleeding, blood was running from her mouth and ears, and Brennan was sure he had heard a few bones snap somewhere along the line. And through all this Shalimar took every order she was given and seemingly showed no compassion, and she never let up, no matter how much blood accumulated on her hands.
"And now for the grand finale." Devon said with anticipation. "Your going to watch your love die…and know that there is no chance that you will ever find redemption in this life, or any other you live. Then you are going to watch my pretty kitty walk out of here with me, and I'm going to leave you alive…so you will have to live in agony without the one person you love most in the world. Now that is a great plan if I do say so myself!"
"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Brennan's voice sounded high and forced, he was doing his best to stay in control and breath with Devons hand was still clenching his throat.
"Oh Brennan your welcome to try….but first." Devon gave a little nod to Shalimar who smiled in return, and pulled Shal up to her knees. At this point Shal was so weak and out of it, she was like a rag doll being pulled around.
From there everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Brennan's eyes flickered wide as Shalimar snapped her twins neck in one graceful sweeping motion.
Brennan's heart was beating so hard in his ears he wasn't sure if he had even yelled "no" as he had intended, even though it wouldn't have done any good.
Shal's now lifeless body fell to the ground with a sickening thud, blood splattering the floor around her from her various wounds.
Now her lifeless brown eyes stared back at Brennan, reminding him of Vince, and the memorys he had tried his hardest to forget.
And now he understood the dream, and he thought back to her last words.
"This is the result of your past sins."
With seemingly, what he felt, nothing left to live for anymore, Brennan stopped fighting Devon, and let his body hang loose. Held up solely by Devon's hold on his neck, and soon Devon let go and Brennan fell to the floor, crawled over to Shal's body and picked her up in his arms. Silently mouthing something that no one could make out.
Brennan had never been more angry, but the fierce emotion only came out as silent sobs, and all the rest of the Mutant X team could do was stand where they were, unable to speak or move due to Devon's hold on them.
Brennan held onto Shal's body hoping that by some miracle she would come back to life, and everything would be alright again. But it seemed that no miracles would be performed that day, all of Brennan's prayers had gone unanswered, because Shal was still limp in his arms, and nothing was ok.
Death…is only the beginning. One man's journey is not yet complete.
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Ya I hope it didn't suck to bad…..and ya that English paper…NOT DONE YET! Ugg go cheer me up by responding and makin suggestions and what you want to see happen next!