Disclaimer: See chapter one

A/N:  Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to review—it totally made my day!!   The first chapter was more of an epilogue, and this chapter kind of sets everything up, so sorry it's kind of slow.  The mission will finally truly begin in the next chapter.  (By the way, for those wondering about my summary, please bear with me!  I love Bren and Shal and would never split them up…I just like to torture them a little bit every once in a while!!)   Thank you again for your reviews, please keep on letting me know what you think or if you have any suggestions!!

While All Was Still—Chapter Two

Shalimar fumed as she stormed around Brennan's room, hands waving wild in the air, only pausing to throw open an occasional drawer and dig through it.  Amused, Brennan leaned back against the pillows on the bed and watched her roam the room. 

"She did that on purpose," she accused, yanking another drawer open and rummaging around for a moment before slamming it shut.  She turned around and leaned against the dresser, arms crossed as she raised her eyebrows, waiting expectantly.

"Well," she tapped her foot impatiently, wanting him to agree.

Brennan smiled patiently.  "Shal," he attempted to reason with her, "Calm down, ok.  I hardly think they planned that little moment." 

Shalimar took a deep breath, silently counting the steady dripping of the bathroom faucet as she narrowed her eyes at the man calmly splayed out in front of her. 

"They did try to page us," he reminded, refusing to be intimated by her moodiness. 

She stared back at him in stony silence.  Drip.  Drip.  Drip.  She glared at him for a moment longer before stomping into the bathroom and twisting the faucet handle tight to silence the annoying offender.  She marched back out and threw open another drawer, looking through it and sighing in frustration as she closed it with a sharp bang.  Her back to Brennan, she waved a single hand into the air, even as she continued her foraging through his drawers. 

"She didn't even knock.  I swear that woman is not normal, Brennan," she moved on to another tall, skinny dresser in the corner of the room.  "What kind of person just barges into another's bedroom at 6am without knocking?  She goes out of her way to humiliate us." 

Brennan just shook his head, watching her movements, trying to figure out what had her searching so intently. 

"I don't think we should let her get away with it," she continued her ranting, bending down to check the bottom drawer.  "Argh!" she groaned in frustrated anger, slamming the drawer shut and turning toward Brennan with an accusatory look.  "And where the hell are all my clothes?" 

Brennan had to laugh even as he pushed himself to his feet and finally approached the whirlwind that was Shalimar.  "Shal," he reached out and stilled her flailing hands, "You're looking through the wrong drawers."

"What?" she finally paused her searching long enough to stop and stare at Brennan. 

With raised brows, he gestured around the space in a gentle reminder.  "We're in my room." 

"Oh."

Jesse leaned his face into his hands and groaned, trying to scrub his mind of the picture burning so delectably before his eyes.  Though Shalimar was closer than family, the flash of creamy skin had shocked him silly and reinforced the notion that it had been way too long since he had been with a woman.  "I need to get out more," he muttered, mentally chasing the unseemly image away and turning his focus back to the reason for their interruption in the first place; a new mission.  Shalimar was not going to be happy, he mused, biting his lip.  Behind him, Lexa smirked. 

"I can read you from here, Jess," she called over her shoulder, keeping her eyes trained on the flashing messages before her.  Her contacts were sending her an updated visual feed, and she was taking notes. 

"Maybe we could go instead—" he countered, turning on his chair to study her back.

"You offering to marry me?" she flashed him a suggestive smile.  "Sorry, but no, unfortunately, that won't work.  The target already knows me, and I need your expertise here." 

Jesse sighed heavily, "Might as well be married to this girl," he complained, thumb pointing over his shoulder to indicate the computer terminal.  With a shuddering groan, the hard drive grinded to a stop, the screen suddenly blacking out.  Lexa had to smile as Jesse rolled his eyes. "Even she doesn't want me," he bemoaned.  Lexa's laugh reverberated through the lab.

The hair crawled up along her neck as the faint laughter rose to Shalimar's ears.  Her eyes fell into little slits as she growled low in her throat; convinced she was the reason for the sound.  She paused in the hallway outside the lab, leaning her head against the cool wall as the unease from the previous night churned again in her stomach.  Closing her eyes, she allowed her senses to take over as she raised a hand and stroked it slowly over the wall, seeking and finding the almost imperceptible ridge of sanded spackle smoothed over by a coat of fresh white paint.  Lips curved upward as fingers slowly traced the circular outline.  Time slowed as she took a breath; she loved feeling this memory. 

Brennan smiled as he saw her caressing the wall, finding the seemingly invisible evidence of his one-handed spackling job.  His quiet chuckle brought her to attention, and she quirked a finger, beckoning him closer.  He came up behind her, leaning his lithe body into her slender back and raising both hands to run along her shoulders, down to her elbows and back up to her wrists.  She captured his hands and intertwined their fingers, bringing one arm down to wrap around her waist, and the other back to the wall.  She gently ran his fingers over the tiny ridge in the wall, secretly smiling when she felt his breath catch in his throat. 

"I like to remember," she whispered, turning in his grasp and sliding into his arms.  He tangled his hands in her hair and met her seeking lips. 

"What's taking them so long?" Lexa groused as she paced around the lab.  She had finished her notes a while ago, and was getting impatient, waiting for Brennan and Shalimar to join them in the lab. 

Jesse shrugged, "Well, you did, ah, interrupt them this morning," he sarcastically reminded. 

She reached out and smacked the back of his head as she paced by him. 

"Hey!" he protested, one hand rising to his head while the other continued to work on the balking system.  "Come on baby," he cajoled under his breath, purposely ignoring the hiss of laughter behind him.  Long strands of black hair tickled his ears as Lexa peered over his shoulder to stare at the monitor.  His fingers stopped flying over the keyboard.

"Do you mind?" he exasperated. 

"Not at all," she smoothly countered, not moving, eyes darting back and forth.  "Here," she reached out a slender finger and pressed a single button. 

"That's not going to—oh," Jesse paused mid-sentence as the computer chirped to life.  She patted him condescendingly on the top of the head as he stared slack-jawed at the screen.

"Traitor," he mumbled to the computer as Lexa glided away. 

"I'm going to go find them," she hollered over her shoulder as she walked through the doorway of the lab, stopping in disbelief just outside the lab.  "Oh brother." 

Brennan and Shalimar were wrapped up in each other's arms, lost to their moment. 

She loudly cleared her throat, purposely staring until they broke apart and turned to glare at her.

"Enjoy it while you can," she cryptically warned, turning back into the lab.  

They trailed after her. 

"There you are," Jesse cheerfully interrupted, unaware that Brennan's look was the only thing holding Shalimar back from pouncing on Lexa.  He whirled back to his computer, bringing up a picture of a large cruise ship and splicing in another picture of a very attractive redhead. 

"Interesting," Brennan commented, automatically catching Shalimar's approaching smack without even looking.  Her eyes widened in surprise, and then she chuckled and instead lightly pinched his rear end as she passed him on the way to the terminal, ignoring his protesting squeal with a smile. 

"What's up, Jess," she leaned on the back of his chair. 

"Meet your competition," he waved at the redhead. 

"I take it she's our next case," Brennan inquired, casually sitting on the edge of one of the lab beds. 

"What do we do?" Shalimar added, eyes gleaming in excitement at the idea of a new mission. 

Jesse turned to look at her, face sobering a bit.  "You may not like this one so much, Shal," he gently warned. 

"Then we won't do it," Brennan piped in from across the room. 

"Not an option," Lexa spoke up for the first time, walking from the lab entrance to stand next to Shalimar and handing her a folder. 

Shalimar read the folder silently for a moment before glancing up at the others.  "We'll do it." 

"Care to fill me in?" Brennan pushed himself off the lab bed and approached Shalimar, hand held out for the folder.

"A cruise?" he voiced in surprise, skimming the information.

"A Caribbean cruise with lots of beautiful women," Jesse sighed, staring longingly at the cruise ship on the screen.  The computer let out a long grind as if to reprimand him.

"Your mission," Lexa interrupted him, "Is to go on a week long cruise, meet one Laura Wellington, and get her to fall in love with you." 

Brennan's brows shot up.  "What?" 

"Looks like I get to be your sister," Shalimar dryly commented reading further from the folder that had slipped from Brennan's limp fingers. 

"What's the purpose of all this?" Brennan shook his head in confusion. 

Lexa smiled briefly.  "Laura Wellington is a telekinetic; she can move and control objections, but fortunately for us, can't read minds or sense emotions.  According to my contacts, she has been targeted by a renegade group that fondly call themselves 'Avenger Di Notte'."

"Night Avenger," Jesse murmured, "lovely group.  They believe it's their mission in life to rid the world of mutants."

Brennan snorted sarcastically, "What, another one?" 

"She's refusing protection, so it will have to be subtle," Lexa continued. 

"That's where you come in, Brennan," Jesse took over.  "She's going on this cruise for a reason—to have fun, to meet someone." 

Brennan doubtfully shook his head, not convinced.

Look guys," Lexa resumed control, "I know you've dealt with vigilante groups before, but Laura is also important to me personally.  She, ah, she is connected to someone--someone I once lost."  She looked down at the floor.

"We'll do it," Shalimar repeated her earlier statement, turning to Brennan to stop his protest.  She placed both hands on his chest.  "Bren, it's only a week, and I can handle this."  She smiled at him mischievously, "Besides it's the Caribbean, how can we refuse?  I'm dying for some warm sun right now."  She waggled her eyebrows at him. 

He studied her for a long moment, before breaking out in a small smile of his own.  "Alright."

"I've got to pack," Shalimar enthused, heading for the door. 

"You don't have to be so excited," Brennan grumped as he followed behind her. 

"We can still be together at night," She reasoned, eyes twinkling up at him, "It'll be romantic."

"Actually, Shal," Lexa piped up, "There is one other thing we haven't told you yet." 

Jesse grimaced and braced himself for the next news to hit. 

Shalimar caught his movements out of the corner of her eye and felt the tension in Brennan's hand on the small of her back as they turned back toward Lexa in inquiry.  Her stomach dropped in sudden anxiety.

Lexa fiddled for a moment under their stare before raising her chin and meeting their gaze head on.  "This is not just any cruise; it's a 'Singles to Honeymoon' cruise.  There is a ceremony the last night aboard ship," Her voice wavered as she noticed Shalimar's sudden look of understanding.  "Which means that besides getting Laura to fall in love with you," she paused and pointed to Brennan, "at the end of the cruise—"

Shalimar's whispered voice cut her off as she turned stricken eyes on Brennan.  "You're supposed to get married."