PART 8
Brennan walked quietly down the dark hall and knocked softly on the door. He could hear rustling on the other side and then the door was opened revealing Cass. She was wearing a pair of sweat pants and a skimpy tank top that left little for imagination, her arms were wrapped around herself against the cold night air. Against his will Brennan could sense himself reacting to the sight of her.
"Brennan" he could sense alarm in her voice "Is everything ok? Is there something wrong?"
"No, no!" he quickly reassured her, starting to feel a little stupid for coming "I just. I wanted to talk to you."
Suddenly he couldn't think anything to say. Sensing his sudden discomfort she smiled at him "Look, Brennan I'm fine, really. Adam is taking good care of me. You can stop being worried"
He smiled too, feeling a little embarrassed for being so obvious.
Suddenly she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Again the sensation of her body as it pressed against his made him feel things that he knew he shouldn't be feeling. With out thinking he wrapped is arms around her too, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin clothes.
As soon as she broke away she regretted it, even though she only experienced it for a moment, she missed the feeling of his arms around her.
"Good night" she whispered, her voice sounding much too breathless then she would have liked.
He made the way back to his bedroom, the thoughts racing through his mind.
He didn't notice Shalimar standing in the darkness, watching him as he went in and closed the door.
*
Emma took a moment to look around while she waited for a program to upload on the computer. She could hear Shalimar in the Dojo - breathing hard, kicking, punching - she had been at it since early morning, not talking to anyone just training - hard.
Emma wondered what that mood was all about.
Every now and then she could hear Brennan or Jesse laughing from the upper level, they were doing something, playing some game, or watching something - she wasn't quite sure but it sounded highly entertaining from where she was sitting.
From the corner of her eyes she could see Cass, sitting on the floor in deep concentration, her hand was touching the leaves of a flower in a pot next to her as she was making it bloom and wither, bloom and wither, over and over again.
She went back to her computer and watched as the results of her search appeared on the screen.
"Have you got anything?" Jesse appeared behind her, Brennan not far behind.
"I've been checking the missing person's reports and crossing them with the new mutant data base. There had been a lot of mutants disappearing lately. They might be just joining the strand and becoming Gabriel's links but I don't think so" she told them quickly, as she spoke, Cass, Shalimar and Adam joined the group "Some of them have pretty unique powers Adam, the kind that Gabriel might be interested in for himself."
Adam surveyed the list, looking at the faces and descriptions. "If he is collecting these people so he can put them through the Eve process - they're all going to die"
"What's with that name?" Shalimar was still wiping the sweat off her face with a towel "Eve?"
"God made Eve by taking a rib from Adam and that way created a new person" Cass said quietly "That's what he's doing - taking a body part from someone and using it to give someone else life"
"Or power" Brennan said gravely.
Before they could continue the conversation, one of the computers started sounding an alarm.
*
Jesse looked around the corner and checked his surroundings. A dark, damp, deserted, parking lot - not exactly Jesse's choice of location.
In the midst of everything that was going on they got a call from a new mutant on the run. Rescuing new mutants was tricky these days - you could never tell if there was really someone in trouble or was it one of Gabriel's traps again. They had to work very carefully.
This time the man asking for their help claimed that he was part of Gabriel's organization and that he wanted out, that he had been on the run for days, trying to loose Gabriel's people.
He signaled for Shalimar who was at the other side of the building, she nodded and stepped outside of her hiding. The rest of them remained hidden in case it was a trap.
A young man stumbled out of the darkness and limped closer to Shalimar, he was a mess. There were bruises all over his face, some of them were still bleeding. His arm was falling in an odd angle beside his body - apparently broken.
"Help me.." he managed to whisper before his legs gave in and he sank to the floor.
Shalimar rushed to his side and the rest of them followed, forgetting all about being careful of an ambush.
"Gabriel, he's after me." the man panted
"Don't worry, you'll be safe with us" Shalimar tried to sooth him.
"We have to get him back to sanctuary" Cass said urgently and the man on the floor turned to look at her. When he saw her fear came over his eyes
"You, I've seen you're picture, he showed it to us, he's looking for you."
"He's not going to find her" Brennan reassured him "Or you! Let's go"
*
Brennan walked quietly down the dark hall and knocked softly on the door. He could hear rustling on the other side and then the door was opened revealing Cass. She was wearing a pair of sweat pants and a skimpy tank top that left little for imagination, her arms were wrapped around herself against the cold night air. Against his will Brennan could sense himself reacting to the sight of her.
"Brennan" he could sense alarm in her voice "Is everything ok? Is there something wrong?"
"No, no!" he quickly reassured her, starting to feel a little stupid for coming "I just. I wanted to talk to you."
Suddenly he couldn't think anything to say. Sensing his sudden discomfort she smiled at him "Look, Brennan I'm fine, really. Adam is taking good care of me. You can stop being worried"
He smiled too, feeling a little embarrassed for being so obvious.
Suddenly she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Again the sensation of her body as it pressed against his made him feel things that he knew he shouldn't be feeling. With out thinking he wrapped is arms around her too, feeling the warmth of her skin through the thin clothes.
As soon as she broke away she regretted it, even though she only experienced it for a moment, she missed the feeling of his arms around her.
"Good night" she whispered, her voice sounding much too breathless then she would have liked.
He made the way back to his bedroom, the thoughts racing through his mind.
He didn't notice Shalimar standing in the darkness, watching him as he went in and closed the door.
*
Emma took a moment to look around while she waited for a program to upload on the computer. She could hear Shalimar in the Dojo - breathing hard, kicking, punching - she had been at it since early morning, not talking to anyone just training - hard.
Emma wondered what that mood was all about.
Every now and then she could hear Brennan or Jesse laughing from the upper level, they were doing something, playing some game, or watching something - she wasn't quite sure but it sounded highly entertaining from where she was sitting.
From the corner of her eyes she could see Cass, sitting on the floor in deep concentration, her hand was touching the leaves of a flower in a pot next to her as she was making it bloom and wither, bloom and wither, over and over again.
She went back to her computer and watched as the results of her search appeared on the screen.
"Have you got anything?" Jesse appeared behind her, Brennan not far behind.
"I've been checking the missing person's reports and crossing them with the new mutant data base. There had been a lot of mutants disappearing lately. They might be just joining the strand and becoming Gabriel's links but I don't think so" she told them quickly, as she spoke, Cass, Shalimar and Adam joined the group "Some of them have pretty unique powers Adam, the kind that Gabriel might be interested in for himself."
Adam surveyed the list, looking at the faces and descriptions. "If he is collecting these people so he can put them through the Eve process - they're all going to die"
"What's with that name?" Shalimar was still wiping the sweat off her face with a towel "Eve?"
"God made Eve by taking a rib from Adam and that way created a new person" Cass said quietly "That's what he's doing - taking a body part from someone and using it to give someone else life"
"Or power" Brennan said gravely.
Before they could continue the conversation, one of the computers started sounding an alarm.
*
Jesse looked around the corner and checked his surroundings. A dark, damp, deserted, parking lot - not exactly Jesse's choice of location.
In the midst of everything that was going on they got a call from a new mutant on the run. Rescuing new mutants was tricky these days - you could never tell if there was really someone in trouble or was it one of Gabriel's traps again. They had to work very carefully.
This time the man asking for their help claimed that he was part of Gabriel's organization and that he wanted out, that he had been on the run for days, trying to loose Gabriel's people.
He signaled for Shalimar who was at the other side of the building, she nodded and stepped outside of her hiding. The rest of them remained hidden in case it was a trap.
A young man stumbled out of the darkness and limped closer to Shalimar, he was a mess. There were bruises all over his face, some of them were still bleeding. His arm was falling in an odd angle beside his body - apparently broken.
"Help me.." he managed to whisper before his legs gave in and he sank to the floor.
Shalimar rushed to his side and the rest of them followed, forgetting all about being careful of an ambush.
"Gabriel, he's after me." the man panted
"Don't worry, you'll be safe with us" Shalimar tried to sooth him.
"We have to get him back to sanctuary" Cass said urgently and the man on the floor turned to look at her. When he saw her fear came over his eyes
"You, I've seen you're picture, he showed it to us, he's looking for you."
"He's not going to find her" Brennan reassured him "Or you! Let's go"
*