Set after Adam and Emma are gone and Lexa has joined the team. The titles pretty self explanatory really so not much more to say. You'll just have to read on...

I do not own the Mutant X team but I reserve the right to use them in whatever way I deem necessary for the furthering of this story.

***

'So let me get this straight. We are not after a violent, extremely dangerous new mutant. We are not chasing after someone whose main aim in life is world domination. We are after a female psionic feral hybrid who is targeting men,' Shalimar paused. 'And, give me a minute here cos I wanna get this right...she's targeting them because they're rich and she's an out-for-all-she-can-get-money-grabbing-whore.'

Jesse and Brennan attempted to hide their laughter but gave up after a few seconds. Brennan doubled over while Jesse had to hold onto the table next to him just to stop himself from falling over. A smile appeared on Shalimar's face, not necessarily from the new mission they were being handed by Lexa but because of the sight of the other two members of the team. Giggles escaped from her lips and she covered her hand with her mouth.

Lexa watched on. She rolled her eyes in frustration. She had learnt from her contacts that the woman could quickly become a problem, she could become dangerous. Lexa had been ordered to try and stop her and it was annoying that the rest of the team weren't taking her seriously.

'Seriously Lexa,' Jesse managed to say through the laughter, 'why the hell are we doing this?

'Yeah,' joined Brennan. 'Isn't it those particular men's problem. If they get sucked in by her then they deserve to get ripped off.'

Lexa turned back to the computer monitor and pulled up the files relating to the new mutant in question. She was 5'9", asian-american, dark brown hair, sparkling emerald green eyes. Her name was Lucy Xiang. She was a feline feral and had the psionic ability of telempathy.

'I know its a little different to what we usually do...' Lexa began before being cut off by Shalimar.

'A little different. Lexa...have you been drinking?'

Lexa carried on: 'I know its a little different, but this is still a new mutant who has the potential to turn dangerous on us or any one of the men that she has managed to seduce. It may be funny now but it could get serious if she doesn't get the kind of cash she's looking for.'

Shalimar's eyes rolled into the back of her head. She knew Lexa was probably right but it seemed a little pathetic that when there were other new mutants to help they were assisting men who should have known better.

'Fine, so what's your plan?' Shalimar asked.

'She's looking for a rich guy to seduce,' Lexa said, turning towards Brennan. 'So we give her one.'

'What?' cried Shalimar and Brennan in unison.

Lexa's brow creased and a smile appeared on Jesse's face. He knew exactly what the two of them were concerned about and as a detached bystander he felt he had every right to be amused by the pair.

'Lucy has been spotted a number of times in a restaurant in the middle of Los Angeles over the past couple of months so my contacts have made the assumption that she is going to be targeting a guy in that area. I propose that we set Brennan up with a mansion in the Hills, some flash suits and a little spare cash to show off with. Then we send him in to trick her into tricking him.'

'Do I have a choice or have your contacts already made all the decisions?' Brennan asked.

'Of course you have a choice. But I told them that you were a reasonable guy and that you would want to do the best for everyone,' Lexa finished, almost apologetically. She looked around her before walking out of the room. She understood why there was so much hostility towards her and if she wasn't as tough as she was she would have given up a long time ago but there were other people she had to consider, other things that remained more of a priority for her. She knew it sounded like a bogus mission but there were other reasons, ones she wasn't prepared to divulge to the team that meant it was more important than it seemed.

***

'Wow,' Shalimar exclaimed before she could check herself. She looked up at the house in front of her, if that was even how it could be described. It was definitely more like a mansion, big and white with majestic pillars holding up a balcony that looked towards the smog covered city. The gardens surrounding the enormous building were full of trees providing plenty of shade from the hot midday sun and the flowers provided a bright contrast to the white walls of the house.

'Impressed, huh?' called Lexa from the front door.

'Its okay,' Shalimar replied non-comitally. She didn't want to make Lexa too proud.

Brennan walked through the front doors and into the place he would call home for...an unspecified period of time. Lexa had deliberately decided to be as vague as possible with that part of the assignment. The place was fully furnished and he, no doubt had Lexa's contacts to thank for that. The main entrance hall was massive, bigger than his own room at Sanctuary. It had white walls and ceiling and the stairs went upwards in a half circle to the second floor. Lexa's heels clicked on the shiny floor as she walked towards him.

'Ready for the grand tour?' she asked as she walked past him towards the stairs.

He looked back at Shalimar and Jesse. Jesse walked through the hall to the rooms beyond that presumably led to the garden, but Shalimar was watching Brennan closely. He smiled to try and reassure her that it was all going to be okay but she remained a little disconsolate. Truth was she wasn't so worried about the undercover mission thing, she was more anxious about the idea of Brennan trying to get another woman to seduce him. Ever since the countless numbers of almost kisses the two of them had gone back to flirting with each other and they hadn't talked about it, it was like it hadn't even happened. But that didn't mean Shalimar couldn't reserve the right to feel jealous about Brennan.

Brennan turned and followed Lexa up the stairs.

***

'You okay?' Jesse asked as Shalimar walked through the French windows into the back garden. He turned to look at her and saw something in her eyes which he couldn't quite describe. He knew she was jealous and worried about Brennan and his mission but there was something else. The confident feral that he had grown to look upon as a sister wasn't herself. She didn't seem pissed off by anything that was going on, she just seemed to want to fade into the background. And Jesse knew Shalimar well enough to know that that wasn't like her at all.

'Yeah, why wouldn't I be?'

Jesse raised his eyebrows at her and she sighed. She never could lie to Jesse very convincingly.

'Alright, so I'm a little pissed off about Brennan going into this, but trust me, I'll get over it.'

'Why do you have to get over it?'

She looked away from Jesse's gaze and thought about the question. Maybe Jesse was right, maybe she shouldn't have to get over it. She had never really thought of it like that but it made a lot more sense. She liked Brennan, more than liked him. She had always assumed that he never liked her like that, that he thought they were just good friends but the second time they had almost kissed after she came back from being captured by Gabriel he had initiated the almost kiss thing. It had all been him and she had gone along with it for obvious reasons. Surely if he had been the one to introduce the idea of kissing each other some part of him must have wanted her. She smiled at the idea that Brennan wanted her. It made her feel that bit better about wanting him.

***

Brennan walked out onto the balcony of the building. It looked out on the gardens and the gorgeous view beyond them of the hills with other mansions, all as different from each other as chalk and cheese. He looked down at the palm trees in the garden beyond and saw Jesse checking it all out. He watched as Shalimar walked out onto the grass, her blonde hair shimmering and reflecting the intense sunlight. Words were exchanged between the two of them and Brennan only managed to catch a few of them. His eyebrows rose as he caught the sound of his own name and Shalimar saying she would "get over it" wafting up to him on the soft, warm breeze.

'Brennan,' came Lexa's voice through the open doors.

He turned to look at her and followed as she continued to give him the guided tour of the mansion, his mind still lingering with the conversation between Shalimar and Jesse. He was intrigued by their exchange but he was more intrigued by Shalimar's behaviour, around him especially. She had been acting so jealous recently and he wasn't entirely sure why, not that he completely minded. He liked Shalimar, had done since he had first set eyes on her and as he had gotten to know her and had seen what a sweet, compassionate person she was underneath the tough exterior his feelings had grown almost to the point where he couldn't bear seeing her with another guy. But nothing had happened between them, nothing concrete anyway, nothing that a relationship could be built on. And after the events of the past couple of weeks there was no reason she would trust anyone, not even Brennan. She had already lost too many people in her life and he knew she wouldn't be able to cope with losing another friend even if it was only so their relationship could move to the next level.

He shook his head as all the emotions he felt for Shalimar came flooding in on him, threatening to overwhelm him. He walked out of the bedroom that was going to be his for the next few weeks, closing the doors quietly behind him.

***

'So, when is Brennan moving in?' Jesse asked as he pulled up one of the four stools that were placed around the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

'Tomorrow,' Lexa replied. 'And he has to make a big entrance. Everyone in the immediate vicinity has to be gossiping about exactly how much money you have by nightfall,' Lexa said as she turned to look at Brennan.

He rolled his eyes. He could tell already that he was going to hate this particular experience. He didn't like doing the flash with money thing, it had never been his style. He liked the benefits of having a little extra cash but that didn't mean he wanted to flaunt it for all to see.

Shalimar walked through the door that led from the garden to the kitchen. She had been checking out the perimeter of the estate. She had also wanted to avoid Brennan for a while. She had heard Lexa's voice calling Brennan whilst she and Jesse were talking and had turned round just in time to see Brennan walking off the balcony. She really hoped he hadn't heard anything but the chances of that were slim. She looked up and her eyes immediately found Brennan's penetrating gaze.

Jesse looked at the pair, caught up in their own little world and decided it was probably best if he and Lexa left them to it.

'Lexa, you wanna go do that thing now?'

'What thing?' she replied.

'You know that thing we have to do.'

'Jess, I'm at a loss as to what thing it is we have to do,' she said. She looked at Brennan and Shalimar and finally got why Jesse was so keen to leave. She however would much rather see the show. 'Plus, I don't really wanna do the thing that you're talking about.'

'Yeah you do,' said Jesse, as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room.

'So,' began Shalimar after a long pause. 'This is your home for the next few weeks.'

'Why do we never actually talk about what's going on between us?' Brennan asked. He was frustrated with the lack of anything going on between Shalimar and himself. And it wasn't just that nothing was happening but nobody seemed willing to talk about the nothing.

'I don't know,' Shalimar replied as she walked over to the long white counter. She jumped up to sit on it and looked at Brennan.

'How many times have we almost kissed now?' he asked with a smile. 'And how many times have we not, and then walked away pretending like it never happened?'

'Too many to count. Its exasperating, you know?' Shalimar replied. She had wanted to talk to someone about what was going on between her and Brennan for so long and now, finally everything was coming out, they were both breaking down the walls which had resided around them for so long. It was like a burden was being lifted from her shoulders and she could finally start breathing.

Brennan walked the few steps it took him to stand in front of Shalimar and looked into her eyes. 'I know what you mean,' he said quietly. He breathed in slowly, trying to slow the fast beating of his heart and as he did so he breathed in Shalimar's scent. It was intoxicating. He could smell her shampoo, and the moisturizer she used and the perfume, fresh and invigorating that she had sprayed herself with before they left Sanctuary.

He blinked a few times in suprise as he felt Shalimar's lips against his own. One arm wrapped around her waist while the other reached for her hair. He eased her off the counter so she was standing on the floor and gradually their kisses became less gentle, soft and more passionate and intense.

Eventually, once the necessity to breathe became more urgent, they pulled apart. Both chests rose and fell as they looked into each others eyes, all the frustration of the past few months falling away.

'Shalimar, Brennan,' came Jesse's voice over their comlinks.

'We should probably go,' said Shalimar. She smiled at Brennan's obvious reluctance and reached her arms round to pry his hands apart so that she could be released from his strong hold. 'Come on, we have to get out of here so you can be made into an obnoxious rich guy.'

She took one of his hands in hers and dragged him out of the kitchen, both of them smiling like they had just won a million dollars.