Summary: What if the comlink rings ceremony didn't go as it did? (I guess that makes it A/U, right?)
Couple: Emma / Brennan, Emma / Adam (not romantic)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: MUTANT X is copyright 2001, Tribune Entertainment Co. So the characters do not belong to me. Also, I am not making any money out of this story, I'm just giving the Emma / Brennan fans out there a little more to feed on. The title of this fan fiction is from the song 'If You Wanna Stay' by Keith Urban on his 1999 US debut CD 'keith urban'. The title of this chapter is from the song 'Your Everything' by Keith Urban on his 1999 US debut CD 'keith urban'. Copyrights apply to whoever owns them for these song.
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Chapter 7
"And when it gets dark you can reach out for me"
Emma looked at her reflection in the mirror.
"Huh Shal, are you sure this isn't a bit.. too much?", she asked while straightening her skirt for the tenth time in less than five minutes.
The tall blond woman came up behind her, and smoothed her young friend's hair.
"No, this is absolutely perfect. You my dear will break hearts tonight! Next to you I'll look like an old hag. Now turn around and let me see your face."
Emma turned and stood still while Shalimar applied the final touch to her make up. She wasn't used to being pampered by someone else. She had to admit though, Shalimar really knew how to make her look her best. The short black dress, although a bit too tight for her liking, really made her look sexy and revealed maybe a bit much but still without making her look vulgar.
"Oh Shal, stop talking like that, you look stunning", she told her friend. Dresses weren't exactly the feral style so she had opted for black leather pants, completed with a silver sleeveless top. Her boots made her legs look even longer and slender than usual. Yes, the blond woman was stunning.
Shalimar took a step back to look at her and smiled.
"There, all done and ready to have some fun. My little finger tells me that Brennan is gonna have a hard time keeping all the other men away from you tonight", she added with a grin.
"SHAL!!" exclaimed the young brunette, turning red.
"What?", asked innocently her friend, laughing. "Come on Em, I don't think Brennan had his heart set on dancing all night with Jessie when he suggested we all go out tonight so you could relax after a hard week of training."
Emma couldn't help but giggle. "Who knows, maybe that's it."
Rolling her eyes, Shalimar pushed her out of the bedroom. "You are impossible, you know that?"
The guys were waiting for them in the rec room and gave them an appreciative glance the minute they walked in.
"Hmm…Is that the best you could do after 2 hours of pampering?", Jessie teased them. Shalimar punched him playfully on the side.
"Well, no but we thought it'd be good enough for the likes of you", she replied with a wink to Emma.
"In that case, if you ladies will still allow the likes of us to escort you tonight, I think we'd best be on our way before the club gets packed", said Brennan with a ceremonious bow and a grinning smile that got everyone laughing so hard they didn't notice Adam entering the room.
"I see the party has already begun", he commented with a smile. "And you ladies are looking beautiful…..ah if only I was 20 years younger..You all have a good time tonight, you deserve it", he added with a touch of pride in his voice.
Then turning to Emma, his expression became serious. He gently took her by the shoulders and looked deeply in her eyes.
"Emma, this will be the first time you go out in a crowded public place since you started working on opening yourself to your powers. I want you to be very careful and to remember the barrier technic we've worked on this week. Any overload of emotions at this stage of your learning process could be dangerous, you understand?"
Emma nodded silently and gave him a little smile. She could feel the genuine concern in his voice and was touched by it. He wasn't just their team leader, he truly cared for them, she told herself once again. Adam smiled back at her and kissed her cheek softly.
"Now you better leave", he said to the group.
Walking up to Emma, Brennan took her by the waist and swirled her toward the door while Jessie offered his arm to Shalimar.
"You don't worry, sir, we promise to have these ladies back home before midnight", said Brennan over his shoulder.
"Midnight??", exclaimed both Shalimar and Emma at the same time.
"Alright, if you ladies insist…12:15 a.m. then", replied Jessie, laughing as he led the blond woman out of the room.
Adam stood there for a while, looking with sadness in his eyes in the direction where they had left. "She looks so much like her mother," he whispered to himself.
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Brennan had been right in insisting they get to the club early. In less than an hour after their arrival, the place was already so crowded they could barely walk. Emma had been surprised and worried when she recognized the place: it was the same club where it had all begun, where the GSA agents had chased her down, where she had also seen him for the first time. That last thought was enough to chase away her uneasy feeling and she had soon found herself enjoying the evening.
'I wonder if he thought about it', she asked herself as she looked at the tall man at her side. He was by far the most attractive man in the club tonight and many women had already made their appreciation known to him. However, he had kindly but firmly declined every invitation with a smile and stayed with her at the table.
Shalimar and Jessie had left them alone not long after they had arrived. Looking over to the dance floor, Emma noticed Shalimar dancing with some tall dark haired guy. However, Jessie was no where in sight. 'He's probably somewhere sweet talking a girl.' That thought made her giggle and Brennan gave her a puzzled look. She smiled at him over her glass.
"Wanna dance?", he asked her with a smile.
"Sure", she answered, accepting his hand. He led her through the crowd and she found it harder to not let her mental defenses down. All sort of emotions were shouting to her from the crowd: shyness, desire, happiness, hurt, lust... Maybe she shouldn't have had that drink after all, she thought.
She closed her eyes briefly and tightened her grip on Brennan's hand as she worked on getting her mental blockade back up. He gave her a concerned look and bent closer to her.
"Hey, everything okay?", he asked in her ear.
Swallowing hard, she nodded. He smiled and took her in his arms, holding her close and gently rubbed her back. "Remember I promised not to let anything happened to you, okay? I doubt the GSA will think we'd be fools enough to come back here", he told her as he looked deeply into her eyes.
'He remembered! Maybe Shalimar was right after all', she thought with a smile.
'God if she smiles at me like this one more time …' , thought Brennan.
But it was already too late, both of them had completely forgotten about rest of the world that surrounded them. Their hearts were beating the same rhythm and their eyes were telling each other what their voice had never said. Brennan gently took Emma's face in his hands, his thumbs caressing her cheeks lightly. Her hands slowly made their way up his sides then across his chest in a tender caress. He softly brushed her lips with his, never breaking their eye contact. A soft moan escaped her, demanding more. But he kept on teasing her, covering her face with butterfly kisses that made her tremble in his arms.
"Brennan…", she pleaded in a whisper.
"I will never let anyone hurt you", he promised her again, before kissing her deeply.
Her mind raced as she lost herself in the sweetness of his kiss, responding to it with a passion she had never thought possible, pulling him close against her. His hands caressed her lower back, pressing her body tightly against his. Their souls called to each other, entangled in the greatest feeling none of them had ever felt before.
Suddenly, a swirl of darkness entered her mind and she let go of him, a scream dying on her lips before it was heard. She grabbed Brennan's arm, her nails digging into his skin. Pain, anger, hurt, distress, fear, rage, panic… all these emotions were taking over her mind and she could not stop them. She looked around in despair, and she immediately knew the cause: a fight had broken at the far back of the club.
"EMMA!!" Brennan barely had the time to catch her as she lost consciousness.
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Author's note : Thank you all for the great reviews so far. Keep on reading, as you should never judge a book by its cover… or a plot by the hints given by the author… hehe!
