THE CHOICES WE MAKE
Continued...
Emma hammered on the metal doors to the Double Helix. She knew it wouldn't aid the situation but she had to take her frustration out on something, and the Helix just happened to be there.
"Adam, there seems to be some sort of electrical failure, the damn doors won't open!"
Adams voice crackled slightly over the comm as he replied,
"We seem to be having a lot of problems with systems around here recently. I think the gradual build up of various interfaces over the last few months is taking it's toll. I'll have to do a full internal systems overhaul, it could take weeks."
"Well we don't have weeks," Emma muttered under her breath. Deep down, she was actually quite relived not to have to spend the rest of the day alone in a certain elementals company. He, however, had other ideas.
"Its alright Adam, I've got this one," Brennan winked at Emma but she just huffed irritably at his cockiness. Ignoring her lack of enthusiasm, the elemental pointed his first two fingers at the lock and blasted a short shot of electricity. The doors opened. Grinning, Brennan boarded the ship, with Emma following reluctantly.
"I'm driving," Brennan declared jumping into the main pilot seat and pulling the controls towards him.
"God, could you be any more chavinistic! There's no driving required, Adam will patch the co-ordinates and the Helix will pilot itself." Emma wasn't sure why she was acting like this towards him, but she just couldn't help it. She didn't know why she was feeling so frustrated but something of the fall out from the fight between the boys had rubbed off on her.
Brennan started the Helix with another blast from his fingers and they were off.
"Emma? Brennan?" Adam called again into the comm-link. It was no good though, there was still no reply. "Jesse, these electrical problems seem to be affecting comms, run a scan and see if you can do anything to fix the problem temporarily until I get a chance to do a full system over haul."
"On it." Jesse immediately took his place at the computer terminal, his fingers flying over the keys.
"Meanwhile, Shalimar, can you go and get Emma and Brennan. Tell them I'm going to have to make a few adjustments before they can leave. It should only take a couple of hours, then they can go."
The feral nodded and disappeared from the room. Adam leaned over Jesses shoulder, both men staring intently at the codes on the screen, trying to find the fault. They had hardly started the scan, however, when Shalimar came running back in, her face slightly concerned.
"They're gone Adam."
"That's impossible, half the systems are down, they couldn't have got the ship started, unless... oh no..." The older man clapped his hand to his head in frustration. Jesse frowned,
"What? I hate it when you do that Adam, it makes me nervous!"
"Brennan must have used his powers to jump start the Helix,"
"So?" Shalimar didn't really see what the problem was, "He does that kind of thing all the time."
"Yes, but with the systems in the kind of mess they are, his blast won't have over ridden the problem circuits, he'll have overloaded them. Whatever power Brennan shot it with will only last so long, then all the systems will completely shut down." Adam sighed. Getting angry wouldn't change what had happened, and it wouldn't fix the Sanctuary electrical problems. He turned to Jesse "Ok, Jesse, you should still be able to patch them the location of the hospital and the files as long as they're air borne. Then lets just concentrate on getting the comms back up okay."
Half an hour later, Brennan landed the Double Helix. He had picked a area just outside the main route to the town, in a deserted field where it wasn't likely to be encountered by a stray person. They would have to walk the last stretch. He felt a slight shudder as he powered the ship down, but that was quickly dismissed as Emma leaned over him to check the details of the hospital files. He glanced at her, trying to calm his breathing... why did she have to be wearing such a low-cut top today. Emma could feel the direction of his thoughts and pulled back, glaring at him. Brennan looked away, inwardly cursing Shalimar's influence on Emma's dress sense, and tried to focus his mind on something else.
"Adam," he called into his comm, "We're here, it should take us about 20 minutes to walk over to the hospital..." He frowned as no reply came from the silver band. "Adam? You there?"
"Is the comm down again?" Emma asked. That was just the sort of problem they didn't need. She wanted this to be a quick mission- in, check for unusual activity, out and home- leaving no room for uncomfortable situations to arise between the two of them. The journey over had been relatively quick, and for that Emma had been relieved. The silence between the two team-mates had been uncomfortable at best. Although removed from the tension in Sanctuary, both were realising that something else between them was causing a completely different kind of tension, and it was no less distracting. It just seemed unavoidable. They all had their fair share of disagreements, but why did her arguments with Brennan always seem to blow out of proportion. Moreover, with comms down, the sense of being alone with him hit her even more strongly.
"I guess it's just us then," Brennan grinned as he exited the ship. Reluctantly, Emma followed him.
The walk to the hospital had been almost as quiet as the flight over, the unspoken tension between the two making natural conversation difficult. Emma had tripped over a broken stone once. Brennan had reached out instantly to catch her, but had backed away the second she had regained her balance. This hot and cold attitude was annoying Emma. She wondered what Jesse had said to make Brennan so uncomfortable around her. As soon as this was over, she was going to force him to talk.
Both mutants became wary as they approached the hospital. The elemental stopped first, peering carefully around to see if anyone was showing them undue interest that should put him on his guard. They were more vulnerable, Emma realized, without the option of calling for back up if needed. She unconsciously edged closer to Brennan. Feeling her behind him he turned to look at her, "Do you sense anything?"
She shook her head. They're eyes met in agreement and he brushed her arm lightly as they headed for the front entrance. This was a mission now, the natural camaraderie easily over-rode whatever else they were feeling at the present.
They entered the hospital and tried to look casual as they scanned the people in the waiting room.
"Look..." Emma grabbed Brennan's arm and pointed to the two large men that seemed to be guarding the entrance to ward 9. Brennan looked at the map on the front desk.
"Ward 9, that's infectious diseases." He leaned casually over the desk to smile at the woman. "Hi, we're here to see our uncle, he's on ward 9"
"I'm sorry sir, there are no visitors allowed on ward 9 at the moment. There's been a small outbreak of a highly infectious African flu virus and that ward is under the control of the Genomex facility, who are here to help us contain the spread."
"I'm sure that's not all they're here for," Emma muttered. It was clear that whatever interest Genomex had in this hospital would be found in the files on ward 9. Brennan motioned towards the security guards, barring their exit...
"Okay, Em, do your thing."
Using her telempathy powers, Emma quickly cleared the way for Brennan to get past the guards and find the information they needed. Breaking into the ward files was easy and he had soon downloaded all the files onto a disk to bring back to Sanctuary.
"Hurry up Brennan, i can sense three agents coming our way." As if on cue, a beep emitted from the computer, signalling that the download was complete. Brennan took the disc and ran to where Emma was standing guard at the door. He could see three men moving in their direction down the corridor. Damn! His eyes scanned the room, searching hastily for another way out. Seeing it, he grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her quickly over towards the window, yanking it open and motioning her out.
"Down the fire escape, go, hurry." There was no time to argue so Emma did as he said, swinging herself out onto the ledge and moving as fast as she could down the ladder to the street below. He followed a moment later, landing firmly on the pavement next to her. His eyes found hers, quickly reassuring himself that she was all right, then they turned and ran down the next alley, before anyone could see where they had gone.
It was becoming increasingly dark and cold by the time the arrived back at the Double Helix, and Emma couldn't help but feel relieved to be going home. She couldn't wait to crawl into her nice warm bed and mull over the conflicting emotions coming from Brennan. She hit the button to open the doors... nothing happened. Just great!
"Now what?" Emma exclaimed through gritted teeth. This day just kept on getting better!
Brennan frowned. He punched the key with his fist... surprisingly that had no effect. Shrugging at Emma's reprimanding look, he sent a short electrical surge at the system housing. Still nothing. Now Brennan was starting to get concerned. He looked at his ring, couldn't hurt to try...
"Adam! Adam do you read me?"
A crackling sound emitted from his ring for a moment, before Adams voice was heard, coming though clearly, much to Brennan's relief.
"Brennan? Good, we've got communications back, for the time being at least. Now Brennan listen..." but the elemental cut him off,
"Look, Adam, we'll fill you in in a minute. Right now the Helix won't open and we're freezing our asses off out here!"
"That's what i was afraid of," Adam said patiently, "When you used your powers to jump stat it, you overloaded the systems and fried the circuits. I can overwrite a basic repair from this end, but you won't be able to get the ship working again until tomorrow morning at the earliest."
Emma groaned. It was dark, freezing cold and it looked like they were stranded out here. Things really couldn't get any worse.
"Is there anything we can do to help from this end, or at least get the Helix open somehow so we can shelter in it?" Brennan was asking, trying to ignore the slightly accusatory tone Adams voice had taken when he relayed the news about the damage to the systems.
"Sorry guys, but even if you could get the doors open, you'd still be freezing until i get the internal conditioning up and running."
"Looks like you guys are stuck there tonight." Jesses voice could now be heard over their comms, and Brennan definitely didn't appreciate the chuckle that had graced the end of his comment. "Better check into a motel and wait it out until the morning. I'm sure Brennan knows one close by..." The pointed remark sent a pang down the psionic's spine. She knew exactly what Jesse was getting at- the fact that Brennan often hooked up with women during their nights out, and never brought them home. Brennan must have got the point as well, if his scowl was anything to go by. He sighed resolutely.
"Okay, Adam, we'll find somewhere to stay for the night and check back here in the morning. "
She had been wrong, Emma realised as she felt the first drop of rain hit her face, things were definitely worse. She bit back the reproachful remarks she had been about to give Brennan; he probably felt guilty enough already. Forcing herself to put on a bright voice she said, "So do you know anywhere nice we can stay at close by?"
"Actually no," he said sounding slightly concerned, "The only motel around here is about a mile away and isn't the sort of place I'd ever consider taking any girl, especially not you."
Emma wanted to ask what the 'especially not you' comment meant. Was she really that unattractive to him. But the rain was already beginning to fall in earnest, and she could feel herself starting to shake from a combination of the cold and wet.
"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, does it. Come on stud, lead the way." He quirked a grin at her and shrugged off his leather coat, wrapping it around her. She was surprised at his action but accepted gratefully, allowing him to lead her by the hand, as they broke into a run, heading back towards the town.
Continued in chapter 9 ...
Authors' note: This chapter is dedicated to imjuzakyd, for all the gentle prodding, and for making me feel guilty 'cause she's updated all her stories this week ; ) Thanks also to Megara1 and EveryDarkBreath for their continued support, and to everyone else who has taken the time to read and review. Sorry this part has taken so long to get up, the next chapter should be up soon... and things should start sparking...