As alway - Sorry for the late update!

I don't own them-but if I did...oh the things I would do to them :)

SANCTUARY

Adam worked as fast as he could, running every test he could think of on the man that lay on the table. They learned that his name was Dylan, but he had lost consciousness before he could tell them much else – they were working blind.

"I found him in the data base Adam" Jesse ran into the lab "He's a mutant alright, according to the records he has the ability to control sound."

"I've got the test results on his blood test" Emma came in from a different direction and went straight to the computer, pulling up an image on the screen.

Adam moved closer and took a closer look, his heart sank as he read the results, and his head fell in defeat. "There is nothing we can do for him"

"What do you mean? He's just going to die?" Emma's voice trembled

"His whole genetic structure had been altered. A strand had been taken out somehow, he wont make it through the night" Adam said gravely "Gabriel has his machine"

"No..."

It took them a second to realize none of them had said that last word – it was Dylan. The three of them rushed back to his side – he was awake again, but Emma had to lean in so close that her ear nearly touched his lips, in order to hear what he was saying.

"The machine, it doesn't work.... The cells are dying... process... not complete.... That's why he was still after me..."

Sanctuary

Brennan was laying on his back next to the pond, listening to the soft sound of the water. Somehow it relaxed him.

"Penny for your thoughts" a female voice asked him and he looked up to see Shalimar leaning over him.

He smiled at her and she sat down beside him. For a few moments the simply sat there – in comfortable silence.

"You like her don't you?'

"What?" Brennan's head jerked to face her "What are you talking about?"

"Cass. I've seen you together, I've noticed the way you look at her. I recognized it" After a pause she added "It's the way you used to look at me"

For a moment he didn't know what to say. The truth was he knew that this conversation would have to take place at some point or another, but he hoped it would be a long time from now – preferably after he had a chance to figure out for himself what exactly was going on between him and Cass.

"Brennan?" Shalimar's voice brought him back

"Was I that obvious?" he knew that wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear but it was the best he could at that point

"Only to someone who was looking" Shalimar shrugged "And I was looking. I was looking for you to make your next move, waiting for you to give me some sort of a sign"

She was trying very hard to disguise the hurt from her voice – she didn't think she was doing such a good job.

"I'm sorry Shal" he said quietly "I don't know what to say..."

"What I really wanted you to say is that I was wrong, that I was imagining things, that you'd say that and then kiss me" he voice broke a bit "I guess I'm not going to be hearing that"

"I don't know what's happening between me and Cass" Brennan decided that if nothing more – he at least owed her the truth "I don't know if there even is a me and Cass, but I like her..."

"More then you like me?"

before he could answer she quickly shook her head "Don't answer that, it's not a fair question."

"We never talked about us Shal, we never told each other how we felt. I guess we were both afraid to take that chance. I never meant to hurt you Shal" he noticed there were tears forming in her eyes "I just can't help it – I never meant to have these feelings..."

She didn't answer but nodded and got back to her feet, she started walking away but then stopped. Without facing him she quietly said "Don't wait to long to tell her how you feel Brennan..."

Without another word she continued to walk down the hall to her room.

Genomex

"IT'S NOT WORKING!!!" Gabriel screamed, taking a handful of vials and throwing them against the wall. The sound of the smashing glass gave him an odd sense of satisfaction.

The men around him cringed and tried to make themselves invisible – anything to avoid being the subject of Gabriel's wrath.

"Why is it not working?"

"The process in not complete yet" Dr Toledo, the man the kidnapped from the new mutants clinic. Said from his place in the back of the room, as far away from Gabriel as possible "We still have to do some work on the machine"

"Excuses, excuses – all I hear are excuses" Gabriel strolled over to him "I want to process complete and I want it working now!"

Without another word he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

SANCTUARY

"Ok everyone, this is the blueprints for Genomex." Adam indicated as he pulled up an image on the screen "According to what Dylan told us the machine is in one of these rooms"

There was a pause at the mention of the young man's name. He only survived a few more hours after they got him to Sanctuary, he died only an hour before – peacefully in his sleep.

"This is what I could make out about the machine from our information about Dr. Toledo's research." Jesse explained as another image appeared on the screen "From what I can tell, this thing is practically indestructible"

"Right" Adam jumped in "From what we can tell there is only one part of this machine that is vulnerable – there is a chip that can be destroyed. If we destroy this chip – the machine is useless"

"So how do we destroy this chip?" Shalimar asked impatiently – this was starting to sound like a delicate mission type of thing, which was not exactly her strong point. She would have much rather go in there – guns blazing so to speak – but she knew that this wasn't the case this time.

"Well it seems like the only way to destroy this chip is to hit it with enough electricity so it would overload and fry."

"No problem!" Brennan hopped off the counter and smirked, happy at the prospect of doing something "Just point me in the right direction and..."

"No Brennan" Adam quickly told him "It's going to take a lot more voltage then you can produce Brennan – a lot more!"

There were a few moments of silence until Emma suddenly came up with an idea "How about an electrical storm? You can create one can't you Cass? Would a bolt of lightning do it Adam?"

"It might, if it's concentrated enough" Adam pondered

"I can't, it's too small of a target, I can't point it that way and I can't control it enough to hit such a small thing" Cass protested

"But you can hit Brennan"

"Come again?" Brennan asked, assuring himself he just didn't hear Adam right.

"Brennan is a big enough target, if you can hit him with a bolt of lightning it would charge him just enough so he could overload the chip" Adam explained

"I don't know Adam..." Cass hesitated

"Emma can help Brennan mentally so he could absorb the electricity." Adam explained and then turned to Brennan "Brennan, your body is capable of sustaining such high voltage – the electricity is already cursing through your body as it is"

"I could kill him Adam"

Brennan looked deep into Adam's eyes as they stood in front of each other, right then and there he made his decision.

He walked over to Cass and placed a hand on her shoulder "You won't. I trust you Cass, what do you say?"

She looked at his for a second, again seeing nothing but trust in his eyes. Finally she smiled and nodded "I'm game if you are!"