HEART

"It's cold!" Brennan shouted at the other two. Swirling snowflakes danced all around, and he hugged himself in a frantic and futile effort to conserve what little heat he possessed. An icy wind swirled around him, tossing the snow up and down and mostly down his neck. He pulled his entirely too thin shirt close.

Ice covered the landscape all around, with not a living creature or even a tree to break the white monotony. Sunlight spasmed through the snow, sending sharp slivers of bright light all around—this is why Artic travelers use sunglasses—wishing that he'd brought his own along.

"Hey, Jesse!" he called out, half-wishing for a return to the good ol' nightmare of the lava pit. "This is your concept of what's going on inside you. How about some shades? How 'bout some damn heat?"

"Where is he?" Lexa grumbled, "and why is it so freakin' cold? Jesse! Jesse!" she yelled. "Where are you?"

"There." Shalimar's hearing remained more acute than either of the other two. "I heard something in that direction."

"Which direction? They all look alike."

"Toward that snowdrift."

"Which snowdrift? They all look alike."

"Give it a rest, Brennan," Lexa begged, looking like a bedraggled crow in her typically dark clothing. Bare skin was turning blue, and she tried to make the fashionably short blouse cover more than was expected. It wasn't her style, but she huddled against Brennan in a desperate attempt to seek out whatever heat she could find, and was gratified to find that Shalimar was doing the same thing. "Let's just find Jesse and get out of here. Fast." She slipped and fell on the ice. Brennan grabbed and missed, and Lexa ended up on her backside, snowflakes melting on her cheeks.

Shalimar extended a hand. "C'mon, girl. Those shoes were not meant for skating. Let's get to Jesse and get him out of here."

They couldn't see him, but they could hear Jesse calling for help as they got closer. Shalimar directed them unerringly in the right direction, her feral ears able to perceive sounds quieter than any her team mates could hear.

Jesse's prison looked more like a snowdrift than a jail cell, but a few moments of brushing snow away turned it into an igloo with no entrance. Thick bricks of clear ice fashioned the walls. There were no windows, but the ice was transparent enough to see blurry movement trapped behind.

"Jesse, can you hear us?" Shalimar shouted. A distant breeze was approaching, and bringing more cold air and snow with it.

"Shalimar? Is that you?"

"We're all here, Jesse. We've come to get you," Brennan yelled. "Any way out? What's it like inside?"

"Cold."

"Yeah, but we've got the wind to contend with." Lexa kept her complaint under her breath, then raised her voice. "Jesse, phase out of there. Hurry up!"

"I can't," came the reply. "I've tried. It's not working!"

"Couldn't take the easy way," Brennan muttered, "even in his dreams. All right, everyone, stand back. Let's blast this puppy."

"Brennan, no!" Lexa grabbed his arm. "Those ice bricks—they're salt water! They conduct electricity. Jesse'll be turned into a Baked Alaska dessert!"

Brennan blanched. "Then what do we do?"

"Let's try light." Lexa rubbed her hands briskly. "Stand back." Summoning her strength, she poured a pinpoint beam of laser-sharp photons at the structure. Steam drifted away from the spot that she was working at, the icy wind turning the water back into icicles that fell to the snow-covered tundra. Light streamed from her fingertips, blinding them even more than the falling snowflakes. More and more of the beam carved a path through the falling snow as she spared nothing in her effort. Both Shalimar and Brennan edged away, driven from the chromatic by the stray heat emitted despite the cold artic air.

With a groan she stopped, the light giving out. Lexa dropped to the ground, spent, gasping for breath. Brennan grabbed her arm to ease her down.

Shalimar bounded over to inspect the chromatic's work. She stared, and even sniffed, rubbing her fingers over the spot that was rapidly icing back over. "Well," she said thoughtfully, "you dented it."

"That's all?" Lexa crawled to her feet, Brennan giving her a hand up to keep her from slipping on the icy surface. "How thick is that stuff?"

"Let's find out." Shalimar whirled, executing a perfect back kick exactly where Lexa had concentrated her efforts. The dome creaked and a few layers of ice flaked off, but the overall integrity of the structure remained intact. "Dammit." Neither of her team mates were certain if the curse was because of her failure—or because the ice was hard. "We need an ice pick."

"I don't see one around here. Do you?" Lexa was trying hard to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. "Pretty lame excuse for a mission inside Jesse's head. Don't give us the tools we need to succeed, Jesse, thank you very much. How are we supposed to get you out of here?"

Shalimar went very still. "Do you suppose that's what Jesse's thinking?"

"No." Brennan was certain. "We went through that, he and I, when the bullet was still inside him. He knows that if he dies, we die with him. It's part of what kept him going, knowing that I was there. He wouldn't allow himself to stop. Not if he could help it." He looked around. "There has to be a way in. There has to be." He hammered on the ice. "Jesse! Jesse, can you hear me? Help us. Help us help you."

A dark shadow moved inside, came closer to where Brennan stood. "Brennan?"

"Yeah, bro, it's me. All three of us are here. We'll have you out in just a few minutes."

"Good. 'Cause it's pretty cold in here." They could hear his teeth chattering.

"Good thing that this is only in his head," Brennan groused. "This is so not a good place for a man with pneumonia, even if the cold is only in his mind." He hammered at the ice bricks, making as little progress as the others. "C'mon, guys. We can do it. We have to do it!"

They could hear a voice coming from a distance, recognizing it as Dr. Robinson's. You have to hurry. His heartbeat is becoming irregular.

Shalimar beat frantically at the ice prison. "Jesse! Help us! We're not going to let you go!"

"We've run out of time. Stand back," Brennan ordered. "I'm going to blast this thing. We'll have to take the chance that it won't electrocute him."

"No, Brennan." Lexa got to her feet. "You stand back." Planting her feet firmly on the ice, she took a deep breath. Inside the icy dome the dark blur slowly sank to the cold and snowy prison floor.

'A beam of light' was insufficient to describe Lexa's effort. 'Power of a small sun' might come close; 'partial output of a nova' would also suffice. Brennan and Shalimar flinched away, covering their eyes against the both the light and the reflected glory in the snow. Ice hissed and melted, clouds of steam rising into the frigid air only to be reincarnated as snowflakes to float gently down on top of Jesse's prison.

She stopped too soon, spent. She sagged to the snow covered ground, Brennan catching her before she could completely pass out. Lexa rubbed at her eyes, dashing away tears that she'd never admit to shedding.

Hurry. I'm losing him. You have to come out now, or I'll lose all of you!

"Not a chance," Brennan said determinedly. Inside the ice they could see a blurry figure stagger to his feet, leaning on the side of the wall. They could barely make out the outline of their teammate, the molecular trying his best not to give up, to force his damaged body to phase through the frozen ice. "Stand back, everyone. I'm not letting him go without a fight." He twisted the volts between his fingers, electricity snapping and hissing, and let it fly.

The whole structure rocked in protest. Jesse cried out; they could see him spasm, then topple over to lie motionless in a blurry heap.

But the icy prison remained untouched. Brennan's electrical blast had done less than Lexa's fiery lasers.

Shalimar darted to the snow covered wall. "Jesse? Jesse?"

There was no answer from the still figure. Shalimar pounded on the wall frantically. "Jesse! Wake up! Say something!" Scant flakes of ice chipped away, but Jesse didn't move.

His heart has stopped! I have to try the paddles!

Inside Jesse's body jerked, as though some unseen hand had picked him up and squeezed. It happened a second time. Shalimar struck the wall over and over again, unable to do more than brush away a slender crust at a time. Brennan joined her, using his long legs to strike at the thick ice.

Get out of there now! You can't save him! Save yourselves, before it's too late!

It was no use. Lexa stared at the frozen water structure, knowing that Jesse was slipping away from them, unable to do anything more than watch. If they didn't leave now, all three would die with him. Maybe I ought to get out. Brennan and Shalimar would stay behind, but Lexa was made of sterner stuff. Cut your losses, girl. He's gone. Leave your heart behind, along with his. You didn't need a heart anyway. It only gets in your way.

She could slip away unseen. Summoning the remainder of her strength, she activated her powers and went invisible.

Her hand went through the icy igloo wall.

Staring, literally, at nothing, she poked her fingers through the ice brick again. It slipped through as though nothing was there, and Lexa was able to touch Jesse's cold and unmoving form.

The other two couldn't see her, but that didn't matter. Lexa slipped her hands under Jesse's arms and turned them both invisible. It didn't make sense, this ability to pass through the translucent ice bricks while translucent herself, but this was Jesse's dream—no, nightmare—and Lexa wasn't about to question the inconsistencies. She hauled them both through the igloo prison walls, only to collapse visibly onto the snow outside.

The world darkened for Lexa. Even the bright twinkling of the snow stabbing at her eyes couldn't keep back the blackness that encroached upon her. She sensed more than heard Shalimar's exclamation of "How did you do that?" before passing out, Jesse's still form in her arms, cold and limp.

"Blankets."

Lexa heard that, even above the too loud sound of her teeth chattering. There were arms around her, more than two, wrapping her in warm coverings and helping her to sit up. One held a cup of something hot to her lips. She blinked, blinked again at the bright lights but these were not the brash twinkling of sun glintings off of ice. This was the harsh clinic light.

They were back.

There were still ice crystals in her veins, but they were rapidly melting under the ministrations of her teammates. Brennan settled her more comfortably on the second bio-bed, piling blankets high while Shalimar held a steaming mug of hot tea until Lexa's hands were steady enough to manage it by themselves.

But Lexa had more important things on her mind than creature comforts. "Jesse?"

"The massing of the heart has been relieved," Dr. Robinson reported, running scans over her patient. The monitors gave a comfortingly normal litany of beeps, and the oxygen hissed overJess'sface. "The rhythm has stabilized, thanks to your efforts, and he's sleeping. He's not out of danger yet, but we have a little more time to work with. You've bought us that, Lexa." The doctor came over to search the chromatic's face worriedly. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold." Lexa fought to stop her teeth from chattering again and covered up by taking another sip of hot tea.

"You nearly died."

"No, I didn't," Lexa contradicted.

"Yes, you did. That was a very courageous thing you did." Dr. Robinson turned to the other members of Mutant X. "She can't go back in. Not until she's regained her strength."

"Yes, I can," Lexa insisted. "I'm fine." She set the mug down, afraid that her shaking hands would give her away.

"Doc?"

Dr. Robinson shook her head firmly. "No. But the two of you can."

"But—"

"No buts, Lexa," Brennan told her. "Rest. You've done your share." He turned back to Dr. Robinson, Shalimar steadfast at his side. "What's next?"

Dr. Robinson had a ready answer. "His fever. Feel how hot he is? We have to get his fever down before he burns up inside and there's nothing left to save."

"I thought the antibiotics would do that."

"They will, in about twenty-four hours. Jesse doesn't have that long." Dr. Robinson fiddled with some of the dials, updating the scans. "This sleep of his isn't normal. If a fever gets too high it can literally 'cook' the brain. I need you to go into his mind and convince him to cool off. Remember, the mind controls the body. This isn't phasing, but with help, Jesse can lower his body temperature and avert this crisis."

Shalimar stroked the damp hair off of Jesse's sweat-drenched forehead. "He feels so hot." She turned back to Dr. Robinson. "I'm ready. Brennan?"

The elemental set his jaw. "Let's go get him."