Disclaimer: See previous chapters. THE SONG IS MINE!! BWA HA HA!!! ...okay, I'm done...
A/N: Not much Shal in this chap, but lotsa Brennan angst. He does alot of crying, but hey, he just lost the love of his life, give the dude a break.... Read On!
Jesse eyes flickered open around 4:30 in the morning, two day later. His eyes met Lexa's. Her eyes were puffy and red with tears that no one had seen, but flooded with relief. "Hey, Jess." She said, her voice hoarse.
"Hey," he replied weakly.
"How're you feeling?"
"Sore." Jesse heard a shaky breath beside Lexa and shifted his head to look at Brennan, who looked like hell. His hair was tousled, his eyes were bloodshot, his hands shook, and there was so much grief reflected in his expression and eyes that Jesse frowned. "Brennan, what's-?" He paused and glanced around again, noticing the clear absence of a certain blonde. "Where's Shalimar?" He asked, fear striking his heart. Brennan looked at him sorrowfully, tears trickling from his puffy eyes, down his pale cheeks. Lexa squeezed his hand and Jesse looked at her. "Where is she Lexa?"
"She's dead." Lexa choked out, tears welling in her eyes, but she held them back, feeling the need to be strong for her friends. Jesse gasped.
"What?" A tear fell from his eyes. "No," he cried. "No, oh God no! Not after Emma! No!" He sobbed and Lexa held him closely, careful of his injuries. She pulled Brennan over to her and hugged him comfortingly as he shook with new tears. She laid her face in Jesse's shoulder and let him cry.
Shalimar stumbled wearily down the road. The sun was sinking slowly behind her and it was getting dark. Blood still poured from the slices in her back and stomach and her head spun from loss of blood, hunger, and fatigue. She hobbled on, fearing that she would be caught any second by Neilson's men and sent back to face the undoubtedly angry Serenity.
She limped off the road into a small tangle of trees a few yards from it and collapsed behind the large, twisted trunk of an elm. She faded into unconsciousness as the world around her and her own mind grew dark. Her last thought was of Brennan. 'I'm keeping my promise Brennan. I'm coming home. I'm coming back to you.'
Cars passed by in the night. Several vans full of Neilson's men rumbled past, not six yards from where Shalimar lay shivering, bleeding. The night passed slowly, cold and full of loneliness, pain, and sorrow.
Brennan sat on the edge of his bed, head in hands, burning eyes shut tightly. Blood trickled from thin slices on the insides of his arms. A small razor blade lay on his night stand, blade and tabletop covered with the Elemental's blood. He hadn't cut deep enough to kill himself, but deep enough to bleed, to feel some pain other than that constricting his chest, making his lungs burn with every breath he took. This was more than he could bear. He was dying inside. "You promised you'd come back to me." He sobbed, talking out loud to himself. "How can you just leave me like this? Who said you could die and leave me here alone?" He stood and punched a huge hole through his wall before slumping back to the floor, burying his face in his arms. "You promised me...you promised me Shal... you promised..." he sobbed harder, falling silent.
Lexa sat by Jesse, her hand covering his. She had sat with him until he had fallen asleep, still weak from the events of the other day. He had been asleep for about an hour and Brennan had left to be alone shortly after telling Jesse about Shalimar. Lexa brushed a few pieces of Jesse's blonde-brown hair from his brow. The sound of music from the direction of Brennan's room caught her attention and made her lift her head. He was playing a guitar and singing, his voice was shaky and she could tell he was crying. She didn't know he could sing... or play guitar for that matter. But the words that he sang broke her heart.
"I loved the way she laughed
The way her hair fell in her face
I loved the way she made me feel
And the looks she thought I didn't see.
I wanted to give her the world
But that chance he took from me
Took away the one I love
And I couldn't stop this terrible fate
I can't believe I'll never see
The girl I love again
It breaks my heart into tiny pieces
And burns my soul from deep within
And I'll never see her smile
That lights up my whole world
I'll never get to tell her again
How in love with her I am
My heart is being torn from my chest
But these things I can't deny
Her life, her light was torn from me
Taken before her time
I cannot stop the tears
I cannot stop the pain
I cannot help but feel
That I'm the one to blame
I wish that she could take my hand
And lead me through this dark
But I'll never feel her hand in mine
And I can't help but think that it's my fault..."
Fresh tears ran down Lexa's face as Brennan's voice broke off and loud sobs took their place. She jumped when she felt Jesse squeeze her hand. He had tears in her eyes and she knew that he had heard Brennan's song too. He sat up and put his arms around her. She laid her face in his shoulder and cried. It was the first time she had really let go since the incident. She felt a few of his tears fall into her hair as he cried too. 'How are we going to get past this?' She wondered sadly.
TO BE CONTINUED...
A/N 1: Stupid bloody computer keeps f-ing with my song set-up and my paragraph indents. There's a space between every four lines and none between each set of four in the song and eery place wehre it skips a line in teh story, there's supposed to be a paragraph indent. Just to let you all know that. Evil thing keeps f-ing with me. Sometimes I hate this sh--... The f-ing computer hates me...I hope it dies...not really...that'd suck...I'd lose everything...AH!
A/N 2: Will Shalimar make it back to Sanctuary or will blood loss finally claim control over her weakened body? Will Brennan continue this slow death trail that he's on? Will she get back to him in time? Keep reading and reviewing to find out!!!