Disclaimer—See Chapter One

A/N: I'm working on the last two chapters now, so I finally know how long this story will be! It will be 17 chapters total, so we're already over halfway done! Thank you so much Alxi, CatJerica (you'll find out eventually, I promise!), Quadrantje, Dusted (welcome back!!), Mayra, Fiery Feral, Jessica, Rain, Lady Alexandra, mfkngst (I laughed so hard, you summarized it up in one perfect sentence, lol!), MariShal, Blackpanther (Chester has become kind of like a member of the team!). Thank you all so much for your comments and support! It helps so much and really keeps me motivated, so thank you! Here's a nice long chapter for you! Hope you like it!

All Things—Chapter Eleven

He didn't know how long he lay there, drifting in and out of pain. It was so quiet. Unbidden, tears pooled in his eyes, and he startled at the feel of something rough against his face, realizing after a moment that it was Chester's tongue. She was licking his tears.

They fell all the harder.

How had it come to this?

He welcomed the blackness.

She ran and ran. It was the only thing pounding in her head. Run. Pain was everywhere, in her head, her heart, washing over her in confusing waves. She didn't know what was happening, didn't know anything anymore, all she could do was follow the instinct screaming at her to run, to hide. Run. Fear. The hunter was again becoming the hunted. Night shadows stretched around her, driving her further away.

Startled, he straightened up from the tree he had been dozing against, camera almost falling from his cold fingers. This was a new development. He had expected them to come out soon; it was part of their routine to bring the dog out this time of night. But she was alone. And she was wearing…a t-shirt? His brow rose in speculation; this was getting interesting. He brought the camera up to his eye, taking his time to focus, and snapped several shots.

"B-Brennan?"

Consciousness abruptly returned, and Brennan gasped at the pain. His chest was heavy, and he blinked his eyes to see Chester curled up on his chest.

"Brennan?"

Overwhelming relief flooded him at the sound of Lexa's weak voice. "Lexa?"

"Yeah." She sounded dazed, and he could hear the rustling of clothes as she shifted around.

"Lexa, help me." He hated the fact that his voice cracked.

The rustling stopped.

"Lexa?"

"Brennan, I-I can't." His heart dropped at her words. "I'm strapped down."

Sanctuary was quiet. Too quiet. Jesse was hit with a feeling of dread, glancing back at Dr. Marcus before picking up his pace.

"Brennan? Lexa?"

There was no answer. He broke out into a run.

It would have been comical, Brennan thought, if he wasn't in so much pain. From his position on the floor, he could hear the pounding of feet before they arrived, then four legs as they swarmed into view, almost slamming into each other as they halted in shock. His eyes dropped shut with relief. Jesse was here, and he wasn't alone.

She had a faint awareness of the tender skin on the bottom of her feet growing numb, and then ripping as delicate tissue froze. She could feel the blood that was shed with every step, but she couldn't stop. One thought repeated over and over in her mind—escape. Instinct had taken over. She wasn't safe, her family had betrayed her. Not again. She couldn't bear to go through that kind of pain again. Was this what her nightmares had been about all along? She had to escape. She kept on running.

"Jesse." Brennan's face twisted.

"Brennan?" Jesse dropped beside the outstretched man, hands shaking. "What happened?" He glanced quickly over, seeing Dr. Marcus was checking on Lexa.

"Shal--Lexa" Brennan paused, gasping, mouth working as he struggled to form words. "I didn't leave her this time, Jess."

It took Jesse a moment to realize he was speaking about Lexa. He tried to smile, but it came out more of a grimace. "I owe you one, buddy." He placed his hand on Brennan's chest as he started wheezing, eyes widening in distress.

Brennan faintly heard Jesse yelling for help as blackness again overtook him. Awareness next came back slowly in a string of oddities. He felt hands moving him and frantic voices on either side. He felt cold, then hot in intermittent flashes, light shined in his eyes and then a strange sensation of being stretched. He faintly saw one of Adam's giant lasers hovering over him, and then he was suddenly being moved again. He moaned and a rumbling voice echoed from his left and then a round, bald face wrinkled with concern leaned over him. Words buzzed, but made no sense, and then it became nothing but black.

The next time he woke up, he felt different. He was laying on something soft, and the pain was blissfully dulled. Memory hit him, and he tensed, afraid to move. Oh God. He swallowed in sudden fear. Footsteps came near, and he forced his feelings inside, not wanting them to show.

"Hey."

Jesse's voice sounded above his head, and he squinted an eye open, slamming it shut again as pain exploded at the bright light piercing his skull. He frowned as Jesse chuckled slightly. "Not funny."

"Sorry, man." Jesse cupped his shoulder. "You look like I feel."

"Bad, huh?"

"Yeah." Jesse sobered, taking a seat next to the bed.

Fear shot through Brennan at the change in Jesse's tone. "Jess?"

"Yeah?" He looked back up as Brennan's eyes peered open again.

"Tell me."

Jesse sighed. "You had a mild contusion."

"Meaning?" Brennan's voice was hard.

"Meaning your fall caused slight swelling in the soft tissue area of the cervical region here." His fingers ran along the back of his neck.

"Meaning what, Jess?"

"It's ok, Brennan. It was very minor, and Dr. Marcus treated you with a laser scan and was able to heal the bruising and reduce the swelling." He smiled slightly as Brennan's brows furrowed together. "Fortunately, only the tissue was bruised from your fall, but it swelled enough to temporarily restrict movement. With the swelling down, there's no permanent damage. It's sort of like--like a strained muscle. You're going to be fine."

Relief turned Brennan limp, until another thought suddenly hit him and he struggled to sit up. "Shal--"

"Whoa!" Jesse pressed against his shoulders, "You need to rest and be careful for a while Brennan, the area is still tender and will get aggravated if you overdo it."

Brennan lifted a shaky hand, clamping onto Jesse's arm. "Where's Shalimar?"

"Shal?" Jesse's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "With everything going on, I haven't seen her. I assumed she was still asleep?"

"No," Brennan again tried to move, groaning in frustration when Jesse again stopped him. "You don't understand, Jess. Something's wrong with her. She—she went all feral. She's run off somewhere. I have to find her."

"What?" Jesse crossed to the computer, looking up after a moment. "She's right here, in her room."

Brennan shook his head. "That's her comlink. Check for heat signature."

Jesse was quiet a moment more, than swore under her breath. "She left her ring behind?"

"Looks like it. And if her comlink is still activated, there must be blood on it. " Brennan pushed himself into a sitting position, gripping the bed as the world tilted dizzily before his eyes, pain hovering at the edge of his vision. "I think maybe she's mutating again or something, I don't know. She's not herself right now, Jesse." He hissed in a breath as he stood to his feet. "She's wild, irrational. It's like she goes crazy whenever her emotions overwhelm her. I have to find her."

"No," Jesse hurried back towards him, "You need to rest. I'll go look for her."

"No," Brennan stared at his hands. "She--she's confused. Something happened and she went running outside in just a t-shirt." He looked up, eyes imploring. "Jess, she's barefoot."

Jesse's stomach dropped. It was freezing outside. What if she really was mutating again? Had the serum somehow damaged her system? Or was this about to happen to all of them?

"How long has it been?"

"What?" Jesse looked up, lost in his thoughts.

"How long since you found me?"

Jesse glanced at his watch. "Ah, a few hours?"

Brennan stood up, gritting his teeth at the pain, cursing the weakness in his body.

"Brennan wait!" Jesse ran to catch him as he staggered toward the door. "I'll go."

Brennan yanked his arm out of Jesse's grip. "I'm going." His eyes glinted in stubborn hardness.

Jesse debated inwardly for a moment more, throwing his hands into the air as Brennan's eyes dared him to even try to stop him. "At least let me help you."

"How?" Brennan stared suspiciously as Jesse prepared an injection.

"It's only temporary, but this will help stimulate the muscle, it'll be easier for you."

Brennan tensed as he approached, eyeing the needle.

"Trust me, Brennan, you're gonna be in a hell of a lot of pain in a few hours, you'll need this."

Brennna nodded curtly after a moment, wincing as the needle went in. "Thanks, Jess."

"Are you sure--"

"I'm going."

"Alright." Jesse crossed back into the lab, and for the first time Brennan noticed that Lexa was still there.

"How's she doing?" He gestured to the still woman with his chin.

"She'll be ok, she's sleeping right now." Jesse scrubbed his face with his hands, sighing heavily. "What's going on around here, Brennan?"

"As soon as I get Shal back here, we'll figure it out."

Their eyes met briefly, and then Brennan turned to leave, forcing his shaking legs to carry him out the door.

He startled upright again as another figure slammed the garage door and came running out…er staggering out, he corrected himself, brows raised. This night was turning out to be interesting indeed. He rubbed his hands together, trying to restore circulation; it was going to be another cold night. He lifted his collar higher around his ears to ward off the bitter wind before raising his camera to his mouth, blowing on the lens to warm it up and then framed his shot. After three weeks, things were finally beginning to happen. He grinned.

Brennan sucked in a relieved breath when he found Shalimar's footsteps, plainly visible in the deep snow. He imagined her bare feet sinking in the snow, the depth reaching well above her ankles, and he knew fear. She couldn't survive for very long in weather like this. He had to find her, fast, for more than one reason. He was not naïve enough to believe Jesse would really let him go after her alone; that he wouldn't follow him or try looking for her himself. He couldn't explain it, but besides needing to get her out of the cold, he just knew somehow that he had to be the one to find her. Somehow it mattered that it be him and not anyone else. He increased his pace.

Jesse waited until Brennan had hobbled from view, then hurried back to the lab. With Dr. Marcus gone, he didn't want to leave Lexa alone, but he could see no other way around it. She was too weak from the serum yet to traipse outside in the snow with him, but he couldn't leave Shalimar out there alone, and Brennan was in no condition himself to be going out there. He groaned, pausing beside Lexa, smoothing her hair down as he subtly checked her vitals. She smiled weakly when she felt his presence.

"You checking me out?"

His grin widened at her raspy whisper. "Hell, yeah."

She chuckled, moaning at the pain caused by the movement. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking to adjust to the light. "How's Brennan?"

"He'll be ok."

"Shalimar--"

"Yeah, I know." He interrupted her with a gentle touch. "I've got to go look for her, Lex. Will you be alright here by yourself?"

"I'm fine." She huffed, offended he even felt the need to ask.

Jesse shook his head, smile fading as he debated his next question. "Lexa, I ah, know about the serum."

Her eyes rose up, meeting his calmly, waiting.

His fingers tightened in her hair. "We need to talk about this, but it'll have to wait until I get back. I--I just wanted you to know."

She nodded silently, eyes offering calm reassurance. "Hey, Jess?" She called him back as he started to turn.

"Yeah?"

"Help me to my room?"

He grinned at the request, stepping back to her. "Gladly."

Blowing wind hurled thick snowflakes at Brennan, clinging to his eyelashes until icicles formed, cold and heavy. Snow crunched beneath his staggering steps, the sound loud in the eerie quietness of the snow-covered forest. He couldn't figure out where she was heading, but her footprints led deeper and deeper into the mountain, far beyond any area he had ever gone. Pain lingered beneath the surface of every step, but he gritted his teeth, refusing to stop. Shalimar was out here somewhere. His heart ached with fear at the possibilities. The wind picked up, howling in anger, and Brennan lifted his eyes, cursing the sky as snow fell more heavily, filling in her tracks at an alarming rate. She had been out here for two, maybe three hours already. How long could she survive?

"Shalimar!"

The wind threw his words back in his face.

Faint tracks turned and led back up the mountain, and he ran, afraid they would completely disappear.

"Shalimar, answer me!"

It was so small, he almost missed it. Not a cave really, more of a rocky outcropping in the heart of the mountain, covered by snow-laden evergreens. The wind halted abruptly, blowing snow falling to the ground, creating a brief window of visibility before it swirled back up into the air again.

His heart stopped.

She stood under the ledge, watching him.

He approached cautiously; hands outspread as if walking up to a wild animal. Her eyes were huge in her face, black holes that pierced him through the white snow. As he neared, he could see the paleness of her face, the blueness of her lips. She wasn't shivering, and he sucked in a painful breath, knowing it meant her body had stopped trying to conserve heat. There was simply no heat left for it to conserve. Speckles of pink dotted the snow, and he realized with a start it was blood. His eyes swiftly looked her over, freezing at the feral look in her eyes.

"Shal?" He appealed to her with his voice, hoping she would hear him within some part of her mind. But her eyes only stared back at him before blinking languishly, showing no recognition. He paused, breaths coming out in foggy gasps as he considered his next move.

She made it for him.

One moment she stood calmly, the next she attacked.

It started out tentatively enough. Thrust and block. Attack and parry. Cold made her movements slow, clumsy, and he was able to ward her off easily, his own movements restrictive, sluggish. As she grew more confident that he was only moving defensively, her blows became harder. He recognized her familiar patterns, and his body shifted, anticipating her moves, blocking the parry before the move was barely started, seeing her unthinking blocks.

They had had years to learn each other, and it saved him now.

She fought harder yet. Attack and block. Advance and retreat.

After a few moments, she paused, raising her head slightly. It took him a second to realize she was sniffing the air, and he held his breath, unsure.

"Shal?"

She lashed out with a kick, striking his neck, the point of injury. With a guttural moan, he fell to his knees, screaming as the jolt jarred through his spine, vibrating his teeth. Cold wetness burned through his jeans, grounding him to reality as shock waves threatened to steal his consciousness. He shook his head, waiting for the next attack, but it never came. From the corner of his eye, he saw her crouched, watching him. Realization surged, and he clung to the knowledge that she had only kicked with enough force to bring him down, but not hard enough to re-injure him. She didn't want to hurt him, she was only protecting herself. He had to find a way to get through to her. He groaned and fell forward, snow pushing up through his fingers, and he desperately grasped a handful, throwing it into her face as she snarled above him.
He staggered to his feet with deep gasping breaths. "Shalimar, it's me!"

She abruptly stilled, head turning to the side, and he realized with grasping hope that something within her recognized him.

"It's me, Shal." He again held out his hands.

She started to tremble, deep shivers that started at the core of her being and spread in outward circles. Her lips opened, closed, then opened again. "Brennan?" Her legs collapsed beneath her.

"Shal!" He rushed forward, catching her, heart breaking as the thin t-shirt rose pitifully above her knees, shocked at how cold she was to the touch, amazed she had been able to attack at all.

He struggled to drop the pack he had carried on his shoulders, zipping it open and yanking out a blanket and parka, wrapping the blanket around her tiny frame. One frail hand rose to cup his cheek, and he stilled his frantic movements.

"Brennan...why?" Her eyes stared up at him with deep pain before blinking once, twice, then staying closed.

"Shal?" His voice rose. "Shalimar, stay with me!" He shook her roughly, tears of relief prickling his eyes when her eyes fluttered back open. She was so cold. He fumbled for the pack again, cursing his trembling fingers as he tried to pull out a pair of snow pants. He held her to him with one hand, the pants in the other, glancing back and forth. He couldn't bear to set her down in the snow, but needed both hands. His head swung back and forth before swearing at his own stupidity, he peeled off his own parka and spread it on the ground and lowered her down on top of it. Bitter cold immediately tore through him, and he increased his pace, grabbing the pants and shaking out the stiff material before kneeling down beside her. He stifled a cry as he grasped one of her legs, seeing the signs of frost bite on her toes and raw frost burns on her calves. She needed immediate medical attention. Unceremoniously, he stuffed her legs into the pants, drawing them quickly up her body and then rolling her to the side and pushing her arms through into the thick parka, zipping it up to her chin. For a brief moment he hesitated, knowing that body heat was the better method of warming someone up, but then shook his head. He was not about to strip them both down in the middle of a snowbank under a rocky ledge. He needed to get her back to Sanctuary now. He gingerly pulled on a pair of thick, wooly socks over her injured feet and then grabbed her boots, stopping as the harsh realization hit him that her feet were so swollen her boots no longer fit. A shudder ripped through his frame, and he bit his lip, pulling off his own boots and yanking off his two layers of socks. He hissed in a deep breath as one bare foot touched snow and quickly pulled his boots back on, kneeling down again and pulling his socks on Shalimar's feet.

She moaned as he tugged the last one into place, and he glanced back into her face, relieved to see her eyes open, filled with recognition.

She gasped, yanking her foot out of his grasp and scrambling under the ledge until she hit the back wall of the mountain. "Leave me alone."

"Shalimar—"

"Go away, Brennan!"

"No." He crossed his arms.

"Go away!"

He saw her clutch her head, and frowned, starting to recognize that gesture. "You're sick, Shal, let me help you."

"No."

He took a tentative step forward. "What you saw back there, it wasn't what you think. I would never betray you like that."

Her eyes flashed at the memory. "I saw you."

"She was convulsing, from the serum. Remember the serum? She really did have it in her bloodstream. I was trying to hold her down."

She glared at him, fingers tightening in her hair as she pressed them into her head. "No."

"She suddenly woke up, thought I was Jesse….that's when you walked in." He inched closer. "You're the only one I love, Shalimar. After everything we've been through, don't you know that by now?"

She shook her head, whispering. "No, no, no."

She was drifting away from him again. No! He lunged forward, grabbing her arms. "Damn it, Shal, you have to believe me. I can't do this—" His hands gestured wildly back to Sanctuary, "—without you. You mean everything to me."

As calm as he had been before, his words now shocked her. The plea was torn directly from his heart, the words raw edged and bleeding. Deep within, the feral knew and understood, caught off guard by his sudden and desperate fear. What had happened to them? She whimpered, sinking to her knees in the snow. "What—what's wrong with me, Brennan?"

He dropped down beside her, clenching her hands. "I don't know Shal, but something more besides Lexa and the serum is going on here."

She raised her eyes, and he could see the confusion and hope swirling within them. "When I saw you…everything in me died, Brennan. I'm so confused right now, I don't know what to think, what to believe."

"I know, Shal, and I'm so sorry." He tenderly tipped her chin, moving slowly when she immediately tensed. "I'm asking you to trust me right now. Trust me to get us both out of here and back home. Once we're there, we can figure the rest of this out."

Her eyes darted past him, and for a horrible moment, he thought she would attack him again. She read his fear, and relaxed slightly.

"Can you do that, Shal, can you trust me?"

Her eyes focused back on him, staring.

Silence stretched between them.

"I don't know."

He blew out his breath, and despair flooded his face. "I can't lose you, Shal."

The raw emotion touched her and unexpected tears burned down her cheeks. She took him by surprise when she wrapped her arms around his waist and tightened her grip. It was not a tender hug, but a stubborn refusal to let him go, a fierce determination that whatever happened, they would not let this thing come between them. He felt it deep within his soul, and his body relaxed, even as his arms tightened around her.

The wind howled and Brennan set his chin on top of her head, staring at the world beyond the tiny ledge. The falling snow had tapered off to a few sporadic flakes, but it was an illusion. A lull between weather fronts.

A bigger storm was coming.