Disclaimer—See Chapter One

A/N: Thank you all so much for your feedback! Quadantje, Alxi, Blackpanther, Mfkngst, Mayra, Lady Alexandra, Jessica, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kind words! Rain, very perceptive again! :) Just wait! KT, I always love your reviews, thank you! Got another cliffhanger here that you're going to love even more. :) Fiery Feral--thank you, thank you, thank you! Can't wait to read your story when it's ready! CatJerica, I didn't forget! Your reviews always bring a smile to my face, so thank you for taking the time! Chester is supposed to be...well, an ugly mutt, lol. At least that's how I described her in the second story. She is small, with wiry brown fur and a short, stubby tail, panting pink tongue, and as Brennan said, "has Shal's eyes." I think that about covers it. :) I picture one of those little dogs that are so ugly, they're cute! But anyway, here is the next chapter for you. I hope you enjoy!

All Things—Chapter Ten

Candelight flickered in eerie shadows, small flames of light highlighting the smoldering fire on the floor. She rolled on the bed, knees pulled up to her chest, head buried, lost in fear and remembrance.

No, no, no.

She writhed, desperate for the pain to end. Something tugged on her shirt, and she whimpered, curling tighter. Smoke unfurled, creeping and curling around the floor. In the haze of her mind, she smelled it. Reason fought, battling with instinct. Fear paralyzed her, but memories of another time, another fire assaulted her.

Brennan's hand shoved her hard an instant before something struck a glancing blow on her shoulder, and she went down, the world exploding around with flames and weight, burying her, pinning her. She was burning. She screamed as she realized she couldn't move. The debris was crushing her. Nerves tingled, and she coiled into her mind against the agonizing panic. She was dying. She fought the fear and pain. She wanted to live. Oh, she wanted so badly to live. She strained to try and move.

Memories. Another fire. Her head shot up, eyes finally seeing.

She wanted to live.

She realized Chester had crawled back onto the bed and was tugging on her shirt, refusing to leave her. Her head pounded, and she had trouble focusing. What was happening? She gasped as she suddenly saw tiny flames beginning to flare on the floor. Her jeans were on fire. She leapt from the bed, yanking off a sheet and pounding it on the floor, legs shaking and failing her as smoke wisps curled up, burnt material stinging her sensitive nose. She stared at the ruined sheet, stifling the urge to laugh hysterically. If it had been left alone for twenty, thirty more seconds… She shook her head, gathering Chester close as the little dog whined and pushed up under her arm. She buried her face in the dog's wiry fur, gasping breaths ripping painfully from her chest as overwhelming emotion hit her. Either she was going crazy or the world was falling apart. A strangled sob escaped her tightly clenched lips.

She so badly wanted to live.

Jesse's fist tightened, veins bulging in his arm as he stared at Lexa. Her pupils contracted once, twice.

"Lexa?" He raised a hand, hesitating as she turned her face away.

"Jesse."

His shoulders slumped in relief at her dry whisper. She recognized him. Hope flared even as her eyes fluttered and closed again. There was so much unknown, but right now none of it mattered. All that mattered was that she was alive. He would deal with the rest of it later.

"How's she doing?" Brennan walked back into the lab, stopping behind Jesse.

Jesse didn't bother looking back, instead pressing a kiss to Lexa's hand. "She'll be ok," He finally answered. "No thanks to you."

Brennan winced; he deserved that. "I'm sorry, Jesse."

"What happened, Brennan? What were you and Shalimar doing this whole time?"

Brennan hesitated, "We… got busy. I thought she'd be alright since she was sedated."

Jesse frowned, nodding tightly, keeping his back to Brennan. "How was the sweep?"

Brennan ran a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end. "Everything looks clean. I don't know what caused the outage, but it doesn't look like sabotage."

Jesse's eyes narrowed as he stared at Lexa's still face. "Yeah…I don't know either."

"You didn't find anything on the circuits or in the computers?"

There was a beat of silence.

"No." Jesse pushed Lexa's matted hair behind her ear.

Brennan worried his lower lip between his teeth. Jesse wasn't acting himself. He snorted inwardly at his thoughts. Who was lately? Hell, Lexa was infected and for a while there, Shalimar… He groaned, sinking onto a nearby lab bed, jerking back to his feet as an alarm suddenly blared throughout Sanctuary. "Now what?!"

"Fire alarm!" Jesse ran to a computer, punching a few keys just as Shalimar's voice came tiredly over their comlinks.

"It's ok guys. It's just a false alarm."

"Shalimar?" Brennan looked up sharply. "What happened?"

"It's ok, one of the candles, ah, set off the alarm."

Jesse wrinkled his forehead skeptically. "That shouldn't happen." He punched a few more keys, shoulders sinking in relief. "She's right though, no fires anywhere."

"Shal?" Brennan took a few steps toward the doorway. "You ok?"

She laughed, and it sounded odd to Brennan's ears. "Yeah, ok."

"Shal?" He took a few more steps.

She paused. "Yeah. What happened to you Brennan? Last thing I remember is falling asleep in the bath while you were rubbing my shoulders."

Jesse whirled around in his chair at her words, glaring at Brennan in anger. "That was the all important thing keeping you busy?" His arms crossed in fury. "Lexa almost choked to death because of your overactive sex drive?"

Brennan froze in the doorway where he had been about to walk out. He swallowed hard, turning to face Jesse. "It wasn't like that Jesse."

"She could have died, Brennan."

"Jesse?" Shalimar sounded confused. "Is Lexa ok?"

"Shalimar was exhausted, Jess," Brennan dropped his voice, eyes pleading with him not to drag her into it. "She been getting these headaches and having nightmares."

Jesse's jaw clenched for a moment, eyes reflecting back deep bitterness as he feigned casualness to his voice. "She's fine, Shal."

Brennan nodded his head at the younger man.

"Brennan?" Shalimar's small voice came over the comlink again. "Do you—do you think you could read that book to me now?"

"Uh," Brennan hesitated as Jesse gestured angrily at him, pointing firmly at Lexa. "I'm busy with Lexa right now, Shal. Maybe later."

Lexa? Conflicted, Shalimar cut the connection, curling into a tighter ball as she clutched Chester to her chest, needing something to ground her to reality. She didn't want to be alone, but she couldn't bear to move just yet. The chill from the cold slate floor seeped through her thin t-shirt, but still she stayed. She was afraid what might happen if she opened her eyes again.

Brennan winced as Jesse paced back and forth in front of him. "I screwed up, man. I'm sorry."

Lexa moaned, and Jesse's fists clenched tighter at the pitiful sound. "I need to consult with Dr. Marcus, make sure I've done everything right." He laughed bitterly, hand raking through his hair. "I'm not a doctor, damn it."

Brennan approached him carefully, hands outspread. "Whatever you need me to do, I'm there."

"What I need, Brennan, is for you to stay here until I'm back."

"Ok, you got it." Brennan made to clap his shoulder, but Jesse jerked back.

"This," he gestured between the two of them, "Isn't over. But right now I've got more important things to deal with." He turned back to his computer, reading Lexa's vitals. "She should sleep for a while yet, but could wake up before I get back." He walked to the door, pausing without turning around, shoulders rigid. "Can I trust you this time, Brennan?"

Brennan's face twisted at the emotion in Jesse's voice. "I won't let you down."

"Good." Jesse disappeared.

She didn't know how much time passed, but she knew she was cold, so cold. Her body shivered violently, goosebumps standing out starkly on her bare legs as she pressed them into her chest. She could see the flickering of the remaining candles through her closed eyelids, and they haunted her. Reaching fingers in the dark. She dug her fingers into Chester's fur, startled when the dog whimpered softly. Stricken, she forced her fingers to relax their grip, relieved when the dog made no move to leave her. She struggled to remember where Brennan had gone. With Lexa. He had left her alone. No! She shook her head. She had fallen asleep. She had left him, he hadn't left her. She shivered again, teeth chattering. She was so cold.

Brennan looked up nervously as Lexa's head starting turning in agitation. He jumped up, rushing to her side.

"Hey, hey," He soothingly whispered, hands pressing her shoulders as she thrashed more. "You're ok, you're ok."

Her eyes shot open, unseeing, and she screamed.

"Lexa!" Brennan's hands moved to grip her arms, holding her down as she twisted back and forth. "Lexa, calm down!"

Her dry lips peeled back, revealing clenched teeth, body jerking.

"Shalimar!" Brennan called desperately for help, startled when Lexa released a strange, cackling laugh.

In the midst of the rushing noise filling her ears, Shalimar heard Brennan say her name, followed by an echoing, mocking laugh. Lexa She moaned, releasing Chester and staggering to her feet. Shaking legs carried her to the door and she yanked it open, gasping, hands flying up to cover her eyes at the glaring, bright light. The lights were on after all. Brennan had left her in the dark. Lexa's laugh sounded again. She stumbled toward the lab.

"Lexa," Brennan tried again, struggling to catch his breath as she fought back with more strength. He cursed Jesse for removing her restraints. "Lexa, please." She flailed out an arm, hitting him in the head. "Come on, Lexa." He pleaded again, climbing onto the bed, bodily pinning her kicking legs as he held her arms down above her head. "Please."

She groaned, back arching, teeth gnashing for one terrible moment, and then suddenly she fell still.

"Lexa?" Brennan was afraid to release his grip on her.

She turned her head at the sound of his voice. "Jesse?"

"He's not here." He grunted, chest heaving at the exertion of holding her. "It's ok."

"Jesse."

She reared up blindly, face inches from his, weak hand framing his face. He stilled, seeing her intention, quickly turning his head so her lips pressed on the corner of his mouth instead.

For a moment, he was too startled to react, then he jerked his head back as a howling scream filled his ears. He stared at Lexa in shock, realizing after a moment the scream hadn't come from her. His head whipped around as another mewing scream sounded from the doorway.

"Shalimar!"

He blinked, reading the emotions as fast as they flashed across her face. Disbelief. Shock. Betrayal. Anger. He suddenly became aware of what his position must like from where she stood from behind, and sprang back, holding Lexa's head so it wouldn't fall back too hard. He carefully laid her down, relieved she didn't fight him and stepped back, activating the restraints.

"Shalimar--" He turned back to her, voice trailing off as he truly saw her for the first time.

She was leaning against the doorframe on trembling legs, barefoot, his oversized t-shirt hanging down to her knees and falling off one shoulder. Her hair stuck up in a tangled mass around her face, and one fist was pressed to her mouth, teeth biting down hard on a knuckle, drawing blood. But her eyes. He flinched. Her eyes were wide, crazed. Wild.

"Shal—" He took a step toward her, hand outstretched. She looked like a wounded animal. She snarled as he approached, and he froze. She sounded like one. "Shalimar?"

She pounced, flying through the air for one glorious moment, then crashed into him, knocking him down. His head crashed into the floor, bounced, then crashed again. He groaned, tasting blood and realized he had bitten his tongue. Dazed, he blinked his bleary eyes, struggling to focus as shooting pain ran down his neck. "Shal?" His voice came out as a strangled gurgle.

Her face hovered inches above his. "You and Lexa?"

"No!"

"You're lying. I saw everything, I heard everything!" She pulled back, one hand pressing against her temple as if in pain. "I heard my name, I heard her laugh, I heard you begging her, telling her Jesse was gone."

"No! Lexa—"

"How could you do this? To both of us? To Jesse?" She bared her teeth. "I trusted you."

His throat worked, but no sound came out. Pain closed in, blurring the lines of consciousness.

"I trusted you." Shalimar's voice dropped, and she abruptly released her hold on him, hands flying to grasp her head. "No!" She crawled back a few feet, striking her head on a table behind her, staring at him. "No, no, no." Her hand rose to her head in a delayed reaction, and came away with drops of blood. Her face drained as her eyes darted around the lab, and she whimpered in pain.

"Shal," He managed a rasping moan. What was happening to them?

She jumped to her feet, footsteps pounding away. Faintly, through the haze, he heard the sound of the garage door opening and then slamming shut as she disappeared.

She's barefoot, was his last coherent thought before tingling awareness struck, a horrified sob escaping him.

He couldn't move.