Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be.
"The pathogen I found in Shalimar's bloodstream was synthesised from organic materials - that's why it took so long to identify. My guess is that the GSA injected her during your last fight. The pathogen targets the glands that produce the hormones regulating ageing. In theory, it works in a similar fashion to anti-ageing drugs, except, instead of merely halting the process of cell division, it reintegrates divided cells, thereby reversing the body's natural ageing process. I imagine that the GSA were under orders to inject all four of you and carry you back to Genome X, instead, only Shalimar was infected and you three were able to fight them off."
"We didn't notice Shal shrinking." Jesse objected.
"We were kind of busy" Emma reminded him gently.
"The process would probably have been extremely fast." Adam mused aloud. "I doubt if it lasted more than a matter of seconds."
"Why did it stop, Adam?" Emma was curious. "Why did they tailor the pathogen to stop. . ." She paused as she searched for a word to describe the situation. " 'Youthening' when Shal was one?" If they had allowed it to continue, she wouldn't exist. Isn't that what Eckhart would want?"
"I'd say that Eckhart wanted to take all four of you alive." Adam told his team, his voice growing sober at the thought. "Think about it - four mutants with your abilities, raised and trained from infancy to be loyal to Eckhart and Genome X. you were far more valuable to him as live babies than if you didn't exist."
"Adam, all this speculation is fascinating, really it is." Brennan, who was still holding a squirming Shalimar, interrupted the older man impatiently. "But why don't you just synthesise an ageing pathogen to change Shal back?"
Baby Shalimar grabbed a fistful of Brennan's hair and pulled it with all her strength, ignoring his pained yelps.
Emma, giving in to her teammate's pleading look, took Shalimar from him, bouncing her gently on her hip as Adam answered.
"I could synthesise an aging pathogen. . ." Adam began.
"Then why don't you?" Brennan cut him off impatiently, rubbing his aching scalp.
"Because over-stimulating Shalimar's aging process could cause her to die of old age in less than a minute." Adam snapped.
Baby Shalimar burst into tears.
"I think that she heard you." Jesse quipped, as Emma rocked and soothed the tiny feral.
Adam reached out to take Shalimar, who snuggled into his arms, still crying softly.
"I can't risk trying a cure until I'm absolutely certain that that won't happen." Adam continued, modulating his tone so as not to frighten the baby. "It could take a long time to perfect an antidote - at Shalimar's present age, her glands are still not fully developed, the slightest miscalculation could result in over-stimulation." He sighed, tickling Shalimar under the chin to make her smile. "it looks like we have our work cut out for us, doesn't it?" He spoke in a singsong, slightly babyish voice. Baby Shalimar giggled obligingly. Shifting her into a more comfortable position, Adam returned his attention to his three remaining teammates. "I'll get back to work on the cure. I'll contact you if I make any progress, okay."
"No." Emma spoke firmly, ignoring the obvious dismissal in Adam's tone. "I'm sorry, Adam, but you can't work and take care of Shalimar at the same time. You can't take your eyes off a baby for a second."
Adam bristled in indignation. "Are you saying that I cannot care for Shalimar properly?" He sounded both angry and hurt.
"I'm saying that you can't keep a constant watch on Shalimar if part of your attention is focused on your work." Emma told him patiently.
"She's already crawled off once, Adam." Jesse pointed out. "What, are you going to tie her to your desk?" Jesse knew that Adam would not be capable of doing that to any child, let alone Shalimar. "Because, short of binding and gagging her, there is no way that you can stop her getting into mischief."
As if to illustrate his point, Shalimar wriggled in Adam's arms, reaching for the computer monitor.
"See what I mean." Jesse indicated the baby.
"Adam, I know that you want to take care of Shalimar. I know that you want to protect her, but what if, when your attention is distracted for even a moment, she hurts herself? Or if you're distracted and make a mistake with the antidote?" Gently, but firmly, Emma took baby Shalimar from Adam's arms. "We'll take good care of her, Adam, I promise."
"Ad!" Shalimar protested as Emma lifted her into her arms. "Wan' Ad!"
"Adam's busy sweetheart." Emma told her soothingly. "I'll call you if she needs anything." She reassured Adam. "She'll be fine, I promise."
Adam nodded reluctantly, allowing Emma to carry baby Shalimar away. "Take good care of her." He beseeched, his voice cracking slightly as his teammates left the lab.
* * *
"So, how do we do this?" Emma asked, setting Shalimar down on the floor of the rec room, following her movements with an eagle eye. "Should we all watch her or should we take shifts?"
"I'll take first watch!" Jesse volunteered eagerly.
"You're welcome to it." Brennan grouched. "She practically ripped my hair out!"
"That just means that she likes you!" Emma protested.
"Whatever, I just want Shal back the way she was."
Shalimar smiled up at the three adult members of MutantX, holding up her plump arms to be lifted. Jesse scooped her into his arms, pulling silly faces.
"What do you think, Shal, do you want to play with Jesse for a while?" He asked playfully.
"Des-see pway!"
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
Emma grinned. "I'll leave you guys to it. I'll be by the pond if you need me." Planting a kiss on the top of Shalimar's little head, she left the room.
Brennan regarded his comrade with curious eyes. "Why are you so keen to babysit?" he asked, confused. "are you that keen to change diapers and clean up puke?"
From the safety of Jesse's arms, baby Shalimar growled at him, her eyes flashing feral yellow.
"I don't think that Shal appreciated that comment." Jesse reproved his friend gently.
"She's a baby, Jess!" Brennan scoffed. "I doubt that she can understand a word of what we're saying!"
Baby Shalimar hissed at him.
Jesse chuckled. "I think that she understands a lot more than you give her credit for."
"Shit!" Brennan exploded.
"Sit!" Shalimar promptly repeated the expletive, making Jesse choke on his laughter.
"Am I the only one weirded out by this situation? One of our best friends is a year old anmd you, Adam and Emma are acting like she's just a normal baby! Do you guys even want Shalimar back as an adult? Or do you like her better as a baby?"
"Hey man, what is your problem?" Jesse was getting angry. "you're acting like you hate her! She's still Shalimar, whatever her age!"
"No, she's not!" Brennan snapped, glaring at the baby in Jesse's arms, who scowled back at him. "the Shalimar Fox I love does not wear diapers!"
The irate elemental stormed out of the rec room, leaving a bewildered molecular in his wake.
"Christ, Shal!" Jesse looked down at the infant in his arms. "Did he just say 'love'?"
TBC.
Author's Note: I know next to nothing about biology, so my pathogen theory is probably complete and utter bullshit. Thanks again to all reviewers. I'll update again as soon as I get something written.
"The pathogen I found in Shalimar's bloodstream was synthesised from organic materials - that's why it took so long to identify. My guess is that the GSA injected her during your last fight. The pathogen targets the glands that produce the hormones regulating ageing. In theory, it works in a similar fashion to anti-ageing drugs, except, instead of merely halting the process of cell division, it reintegrates divided cells, thereby reversing the body's natural ageing process. I imagine that the GSA were under orders to inject all four of you and carry you back to Genome X, instead, only Shalimar was infected and you three were able to fight them off."
"We didn't notice Shal shrinking." Jesse objected.
"We were kind of busy" Emma reminded him gently.
"The process would probably have been extremely fast." Adam mused aloud. "I doubt if it lasted more than a matter of seconds."
"Why did it stop, Adam?" Emma was curious. "Why did they tailor the pathogen to stop. . ." She paused as she searched for a word to describe the situation. " 'Youthening' when Shal was one?" If they had allowed it to continue, she wouldn't exist. Isn't that what Eckhart would want?"
"I'd say that Eckhart wanted to take all four of you alive." Adam told his team, his voice growing sober at the thought. "Think about it - four mutants with your abilities, raised and trained from infancy to be loyal to Eckhart and Genome X. you were far more valuable to him as live babies than if you didn't exist."
"Adam, all this speculation is fascinating, really it is." Brennan, who was still holding a squirming Shalimar, interrupted the older man impatiently. "But why don't you just synthesise an ageing pathogen to change Shal back?"
Baby Shalimar grabbed a fistful of Brennan's hair and pulled it with all her strength, ignoring his pained yelps.
Emma, giving in to her teammate's pleading look, took Shalimar from him, bouncing her gently on her hip as Adam answered.
"I could synthesise an aging pathogen. . ." Adam began.
"Then why don't you?" Brennan cut him off impatiently, rubbing his aching scalp.
"Because over-stimulating Shalimar's aging process could cause her to die of old age in less than a minute." Adam snapped.
Baby Shalimar burst into tears.
"I think that she heard you." Jesse quipped, as Emma rocked and soothed the tiny feral.
Adam reached out to take Shalimar, who snuggled into his arms, still crying softly.
"I can't risk trying a cure until I'm absolutely certain that that won't happen." Adam continued, modulating his tone so as not to frighten the baby. "It could take a long time to perfect an antidote - at Shalimar's present age, her glands are still not fully developed, the slightest miscalculation could result in over-stimulation." He sighed, tickling Shalimar under the chin to make her smile. "it looks like we have our work cut out for us, doesn't it?" He spoke in a singsong, slightly babyish voice. Baby Shalimar giggled obligingly. Shifting her into a more comfortable position, Adam returned his attention to his three remaining teammates. "I'll get back to work on the cure. I'll contact you if I make any progress, okay."
"No." Emma spoke firmly, ignoring the obvious dismissal in Adam's tone. "I'm sorry, Adam, but you can't work and take care of Shalimar at the same time. You can't take your eyes off a baby for a second."
Adam bristled in indignation. "Are you saying that I cannot care for Shalimar properly?" He sounded both angry and hurt.
"I'm saying that you can't keep a constant watch on Shalimar if part of your attention is focused on your work." Emma told him patiently.
"She's already crawled off once, Adam." Jesse pointed out. "What, are you going to tie her to your desk?" Jesse knew that Adam would not be capable of doing that to any child, let alone Shalimar. "Because, short of binding and gagging her, there is no way that you can stop her getting into mischief."
As if to illustrate his point, Shalimar wriggled in Adam's arms, reaching for the computer monitor.
"See what I mean." Jesse indicated the baby.
"Adam, I know that you want to take care of Shalimar. I know that you want to protect her, but what if, when your attention is distracted for even a moment, she hurts herself? Or if you're distracted and make a mistake with the antidote?" Gently, but firmly, Emma took baby Shalimar from Adam's arms. "We'll take good care of her, Adam, I promise."
"Ad!" Shalimar protested as Emma lifted her into her arms. "Wan' Ad!"
"Adam's busy sweetheart." Emma told her soothingly. "I'll call you if she needs anything." She reassured Adam. "She'll be fine, I promise."
Adam nodded reluctantly, allowing Emma to carry baby Shalimar away. "Take good care of her." He beseeched, his voice cracking slightly as his teammates left the lab.
* * *
"So, how do we do this?" Emma asked, setting Shalimar down on the floor of the rec room, following her movements with an eagle eye. "Should we all watch her or should we take shifts?"
"I'll take first watch!" Jesse volunteered eagerly.
"You're welcome to it." Brennan grouched. "She practically ripped my hair out!"
"That just means that she likes you!" Emma protested.
"Whatever, I just want Shal back the way she was."
Shalimar smiled up at the three adult members of MutantX, holding up her plump arms to be lifted. Jesse scooped her into his arms, pulling silly faces.
"What do you think, Shal, do you want to play with Jesse for a while?" He asked playfully.
"Des-see pway!"
"I'll take that as a 'yes'."
Emma grinned. "I'll leave you guys to it. I'll be by the pond if you need me." Planting a kiss on the top of Shalimar's little head, she left the room.
Brennan regarded his comrade with curious eyes. "Why are you so keen to babysit?" he asked, confused. "are you that keen to change diapers and clean up puke?"
From the safety of Jesse's arms, baby Shalimar growled at him, her eyes flashing feral yellow.
"I don't think that Shal appreciated that comment." Jesse reproved his friend gently.
"She's a baby, Jess!" Brennan scoffed. "I doubt that she can understand a word of what we're saying!"
Baby Shalimar hissed at him.
Jesse chuckled. "I think that she understands a lot more than you give her credit for."
"Shit!" Brennan exploded.
"Sit!" Shalimar promptly repeated the expletive, making Jesse choke on his laughter.
"Am I the only one weirded out by this situation? One of our best friends is a year old anmd you, Adam and Emma are acting like she's just a normal baby! Do you guys even want Shalimar back as an adult? Or do you like her better as a baby?"
"Hey man, what is your problem?" Jesse was getting angry. "you're acting like you hate her! She's still Shalimar, whatever her age!"
"No, she's not!" Brennan snapped, glaring at the baby in Jesse's arms, who scowled back at him. "the Shalimar Fox I love does not wear diapers!"
The irate elemental stormed out of the rec room, leaving a bewildered molecular in his wake.
"Christ, Shal!" Jesse looked down at the infant in his arms. "Did he just say 'love'?"
TBC.
Author's Note: I know next to nothing about biology, so my pathogen theory is probably complete and utter bullshit. Thanks again to all reviewers. I'll update again as soon as I get something written.