Italics signal thoughts,bold signals flashbacksand bold italics signal telepathic conversations.

Chapter one: The incident

Brennan and Shalimar climbed out of the black Audi and looked around. The plaza was very crowded, and it made Brennan sigh in frustration. It would take forever to find Katharine here. Kay was a mutant that combined multiple powers, and she was part of a very prominent genetic research facility that belonged to her grandfather.She was just 14, but her mutations had greatly increased her mental capacity.

Because of it, Gabriel had taken a growing interest in her and had tried to convince her to work for him, and when that failed, he resorted to different methods, all of themto no avail. Then he sank even lower and kidnapped three of Kay's old teammates: Gwen, Anna and Ben. As soon as Katharine found out Gabriel had involved them, she knew it was time to take action, so she called Adam for help. Adam immediately agreed and sent Shalimar and Brennan to meet Kay, since she so requested it. She said she needed to talk to Brennan before she even stepped into Sanctuary.

As Brennan walked alongside Shalimar, he opened his mouth to comment on their incident earlier, and Shalimar merely glared at him. If he had been anyone else, he probably would've shriveled up at the look she gave him, but he was used to it by then. Shalimar was, in fact, a very complex person. Lost in his thoughts of Shalimar, he didn't notice when Shalimar stopped abruptly, looked around as if searching for something (or someone) and ran off as fast as her legs and feral strength would carry her.

Brennan ran like crazy through the crowd-infested plaza trying to keep up with Shalimar, instinctively following her since he couldn't actually see her anymore. He knew she had spotted a scent, he had recognized her movements. He also knew her feral instincts had just taken over, leaving him in the dust trying to fend for himself.

Truth is, he hated when she did that; when she just ran and left him struggling to keep up. Sure he was in good physical shape, but he was nowhere as powerful as a feral. Problem was, most of the time she didn't realize what she was doing, and her feral instincts took over quite often. After a couple of hectic minutes, he came to a clearing. Much to his surprise, Shalimar wasn't there.

He froze, a thousand horrible images running through his head. Please don't do this, Shal. Please be okay. Jesus, Shalimar, where are you! He yelled her name a couple of times, going through the alleys, yet he didn't receive an answer. In one of the alleys, there was an old, very worn sofa. Looking at it, a memory triggered in the back of his head:

Shalimar tugged at his arm playfully and tried to take the Stephen King book away from him.

"Shal! I'm reading. Now go."

Shalimar stared at him with mock indignation. "I can't believe you'd rather read 'From a Buick 8' than spar with me!"

Brennan scoffed. "Believe me, I'd rather do anything than get my ass kicked by you, yet again. I'm still sore from last time!"

Shalimar just had to laugh at that. "Oh, Mr. Mulwray, I thought you were tougher than that! Otherwise, I would've gone easier on you. Then again, maybe not", she said, sticking out her tongue.

He looked at her challengingly and smiled. "Well, Miss Fox, how desperate exactly are you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. I just can't believe you'd rather be with me than someone else" he said, somewhat reluctantly as he buried his face in the book as to avoid her gaze.

Shalimar's face switched from indignation to tenderness. "There's nothing I'd rather do." Then, regaining her composure against his curious scrutiny, she added, "Besides, I do like hitting your ego."

Now it was Brennan's turn to raisethe eyebrow and be offended. "Oh, really?" He closed the book and started tickling her. Tickling each other, they soon fell into a compromising position on the couch. Shalimar lifted her head and brushed his lips with hers. Bren was surprised, and Adam walked in before he had a chance to react. They quickly straightened themselves and acted like nothing had happened, but the slight smirk on Shalimar's face told him differently. He shook his head and left them, but they decided to burst into laughter and not push the matter further.

A blood-curdling scream brought Brennan back to reality with a jolt. He followed the voice into another alley, as the person kept whimpering relentlessly. And as he reached the alley, he saw Gabriel drag Shalimar through an iron door, but by the time he reached it, it was already closed. The only proof that they'd actually been there was Shalimar's comlink, which was on the floor. He picked it up, shaking his head angrily, and called Jesse through his comlink. Through gritted teeth, he informed him of the latest developments. "Jess, Shal's gone."

A/N: I know, I know, evil of me to leave you with a cliffhanger, but just click the little purple button with the ยป right side of your screen and let's move on, shall we?