Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X, title or characters. Evie is my character.

Thank you for all the reviews so far. It's nice to see some of you again. Just as a heads up, you won't find Lexa here. Emma is really dead and Adam WILL come back. You have to remember, I'm the one with the rose colored glasses.

Chapter 2 - Broken Hearts

Evie began running to the hangar as Brennan and Shalimar quickly followed. The signal was coming from an area about 500 meters from the explosion site. Brennan quickly landed the Helix. Before she could be powered down completely the girls were outside and searching the area. The whole place was littered with debris from the explosion. Pieces of rock and metal lay scattered everywhere. The tracer Shalimar held was silently leading the way in the direction of the signal being received. They walked over the sandy terrain near the water's edge. Suddenly a gleam caught Evie's eye and she ran to it and dropped to her knees. There, in the sand, was Adam's ring covered in blood. She slowly reached a trembling hand out to grasp the ring and turned to look up into the tear filled eyes of her family.

Shal and Brennan both fell to there knees next to her. Both women cried into his chest as Brennan held tight to both and shed his own tears to mingle with theirs.

After the sobbing subsided, Brennan lovingly patted both girls. "Come on. We need to go back home and check on Jesse." He stood and helped both girls to their feet. They traveled in silence all the way back home.

Brennan sat at the computer trying to search hospital and police records for any sign of Adam.

"Anything?" A sad voice broke his attention from the screen.

Turning he saw a very tired Shalimar walking toward him. "No. How is she?"

"I got her to go to sleep. I don't know how long it will last though. Did you check on Jesse?"

"Yeah, about 15 minutes ago. He still isn't doing anything but staring. He's got me worried."

"First Emma and now Adam---Brennan, what are we going to do?" She leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder. Tears again were falling and her body began to shake as she put her arms tightly around him.

As she cried, he held her and tried to think of what they should do next but his mind was in a fog. He couldn't focus. "Let's go. We have to sleep, too. I can't even think anymore." He slid his hand around her legs and lifted her into his arms. Slowly he made the trek to her room. By the time they arrived she was asleep. The safety and reassurance his arms meant to her were enough to calm her as exhaustion finally took over. He tucked her in and kissed her lips before leaving her room.

Out in the hall he leaned against the wall and tried to rub the tension from his neck. Exhaustion was claiming him as well and he knew it. He had to try to sleep so he could be strong for the others when they woke in the morning. On his way to his room he checked on Jesse who had not moved in hours. The only difference was that his eyes were finally closed. Brennan thanked God.

Further down the hall, he quietly opened the door to the room he almost never entered. This was Adam and Evie's bedroom. He almost prayed beyond logic that his peek would reveal husband and wife sleeping peacefully tangled in each other's arms. But logic prevailed and only a single body could be made out under the sheets. Peaceful was not the way to describe her sleep. Brennan's heart broke to see her tear streaked face twisted in pain as she occasionally turned her head. Adam was the father Brennan always wished he had as a child. He was overjoyed when this man who meant so much to him finally found a woman to complete his life. They were a family before Evie came to them, but now she filled a space they didn't even realize was empty in all their lives. He couldn't even imagine life in Sanctuary without her. Tears fell as he lovingly kissed her forehead and turned to leave.

Before getting into his bed he set the computer in his room to alert him of any movement in Sanctuary. If anyone got up he wanted to be able to be there for them. He needed more than anything right now to know that he was doing all he could for those of his family that were left to him. His way of grieving would come in the form of tears from time to time with the others but would also manifest itself in protecting and caring for those he most loved. The last thought he had before sleep finally overtook him was the look on Emma's face when she stepped through the doors of the elevator that brought her to the lab in NAXCON. She glanced past Adam and her eyes fell on Shalimar then moved to Brennan. Realizing that they were restrained but ok,---she smiled.

Four hours later Brennan woke to a consistent beep in his room. It took only a moment for the fog in his head to clear and for him to realize the computer was doing its job. Quickly pulling on a pair of jeans, he checked the monitor to locate the movement; Emma's room. "Jesse," sighed Brennan as he left his room. Once in the hall he could hear Jesse's voice. It began softly, but he noticed the volume was increasing.

"Emma," Jesse whispered as he opened her door. "Emma, are you awake?" Jesse slowly walked into the dark room. He got closer to where he knew her bed was. In the faint light that was coming from the hall he could see that her bed was not only empty but also still neatly made. He began calling her. There was no answer from her bathroom. 'Hadn't she come in last night? Maybe she fell asleep in the rec. room,' he thought as he turned to head down there. Brennan stepped into the door opening just as he was about to leave the room.

"Hey, Jesse, are you ok?" Brennan spoke as softly as he could.

"Yeah, Brenn, I'm fine." Jesse smiled up at him. "I was just looking for Emma. Maybe she fell asleep in the rec. room. I was just going to check."

Brennan's heart stopped as he realized what was happening. In his hesitation, Jesse passed him and headed down the stairs. Finally able to move, Brennan followed him and reached the room right after Jesse got there and realized Emma was no where to be found.

"Brennan, where is she. Why hasn't she come home yet?" His voice was calm, as he merely sounded confused.

"Jess," Brennan knew he had to handle this delicately. "She's not here."

"Why? Did she go out after we got home last night?" Jesse saw the pain in Brennan's eyes and began to panic. "Brennan, where is she?"

"Jess, don't you remember what happened at NAXCON?"

"Yeah, we got to you and Shalimar and broke you out. Eckhart was behind it. He conned Shal's dad into believing that we were the bad guys. We all fought. Then we came home. But where's Emma?"

"Jesse, there was an explosion. Do you remember that?" He could see that after a moment Jesse was remembering. "We were all caught in it. Emma---" He choked back tears. "Emma didn't---" Jesse suddenly had a look of horror on his face as he grabbed Brennan's upper arms. Crying Brennan continued "didn't make it." His voice cracked.

Jesse collapsed at Brennan's feet. "Emma's dead," he whispered. Tears finally came as he allowed the realization to once again take hold.

Brennan sat on the floor, hugged him and the two brothers cried together.

TBC

Thanks for reading.