Bottled Up Emotions
Sanctuary around Midnight…The Sanctuary was quite that night and Adam was in the lab analyzing the xenocium he found in Willow's blood stream. Ever since hearing what happened to Augustine's son and the other new mutants, he had been concerned that Willow could end up suffering the same consequences. Even though Genomex had claimed that they corrected the fatal side effects, he wanted to be sure that there was no danger of the same thing happening.
Just then he heard laughter ringing through the halls as Brennen and Shalimar entered the room.
He just smiled at them, "Hey, did you guys have a good time?"
"Hey Adam. We sure did. So what you've been up to on this quiet night?" Brennen asked.
"Well I've been going over Willow's blood samples to make sure that there's no danger from the xenocium. I had Jesse hack into Genomex's files and retrieve tissue samples from tests done on Grant Augustine. I've been comparing the two samples," Adam explained.
"Is she gonna be alright?" Shalimar was concerned. Lord knows she didn't want to lose Willow. She had become the world to her in the short time she was with them.
"I think so. After comparing them, I noticed that Willow only had trace elements of the drug in her blood, whereas Grant's blood contained highly dangerous levels of the xenocium. Now Genomex claims they solved the problem that caused the drug to become volatile. From what I see here, Willow's system has already begun to flush out whatever trace of the drug was still there, so I think it's safe to say she's out of the woods," Adam rubbed his neck, it being stiff from continuously glancing through a microscope.
"Well that's good news," Brennen smiled as he put his arm around Shalimar.
Shalimar breathed a sigh of relief, "Sure is."
"So Shalimar, you and Jesse working on our little surprise for Willow?" Adam looked at her.
"Yeah, I know she'll love it," Shalimar glowed.
"Wait, what's this about?" Brennen asked, obviously in the dark about what was going on.
"Well, turns out that Willow's birthday is in a couple of days and we wanna get a little surprise for her," Shalimar winked at Adam.
"No kidding. Wanna let me in on it?" Brennen looked onto Shalimar's eyes and was instantly lost in them.
Just then footsteps approached the lab as Shalimar shushed everyone. Emma, Jesse and Willow had come in talking about the movie amongst one another.
"Hey guys. How was the movie?" Shalimar turned still keeping her arm around Brennen.
"It was great!" Jesse exclaimed.
"It was okay," Emma said rather less enthusiastically.
"It was totally inaccurate," Willow added.
"Jesse won at paper/rock/scissors and wound up picking the movie because we couldn't agree on one," Emma sighed in an annoyed tone.
"You should've used your empathic powers to figure out that he was gonna use the scissors," Willow joked.
"Yeah well it doesn't work that way shorty," Emma responded. She had become very fond of Willow and had chosen "shorty" as a suitable nickname for her, considering she only came up to her chest.
"Well, I'd love to stay up and debate the scientific inaccuracies of the movie, but I'm beat," Willow almost totally ignored Brennen and Shalimar and turned to walk out of the room. "Don't you kiddies stay up too late."
Everyone said they're goodnights as Willow disappeared out of sight. Shalimar was somewhat hurt at Willow's abrupt exit. She knew something was up with her, for it seemed that Willow had been avoiding her and was standoffish all day. She made a mental note to herself to talk to her about it later. Knowing that Willow's birthday was coming up, she wanted it to be special for her. Willow had never celebrated her birthday before. It was even unlikely she even knew when it was, so she was truly hoping that Willow would love the surprise they had in store for her.
"Hey Jess, you gonna be able to finish in time for Willow's birthday?" Shalimar asked.
"Yeah should be. I think it'll be ready for Thursday. I'll start working on it tomorrow, so I'll be a little busy," Jesse yawned.
"Well, I can help you out with whatever you need," Shalimar offered.
"Just make sure she doesn't find her way to the safehouse," Jesse winked.
"I don't think that'll be a problem," Shalimar smirked.
"You're working on it in a safehouse?" Emma looked at him.
"Well it's the only place that Willow wouldn't go snooping around in, so it was the best idea," Jesse explained.
"Wait, is someone gonna fill me in on what this surprise is?" Brennen became slightly agitated at the fact he was totally clueless as to what was going on.
Shalimar just laughed and took his hand, "Come on. I'll tell you all about it."
Jesse just looked at Emma and Adam, smiled and shook his head. Emma looked on, obviously concerned with Willow's state of mind and the fact she was avoiding the issue like the plague. On the way the movie, she was trying to pry out of Willow how she felt about Brennen and Shalimar's relationship. Willow kept changing the subject and Emma knew that she wasn't gonna get it out of her without reading her.
Adam noticed Emma's rather serious expression and put his hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just a little worried about Willow's reaction to Brennen and Shalimar. She's been kind of avoiding the subject. Plus it didn't help that Shalimar backed out of the movie tonight," Emma's concern was showing through her words.
"Well, we all know that ferals have a territorial thing, especially when it comes to family and friends. Let's just hope it's something her and Shalimar can work out. But keep an eye on her," Adam said understanding her worries.
"I will. Goodnight," Emma said as she turned to leave.
"Goodnight," Adam responded.
Two days later…Things had been pretty routine for the past few days. Jesse was away in the safehouse working on Willow's surprise, while Adam continued his work in the lab. Brennen and Shalimar's relationship was in full swing. The two of them were almost inseparable except when Shalimar went to workout in the dojo with Willow. Willow had been keeping up with her exercises, avoiding any serious conversations with Shalimar and Emma. They had both made many attempts to get her to open up, but she insisted on talking about other things.
Shalimar had started becoming rather agitated with Willow's avoidance, especially when she walked out of the dojo when Brennen came to join them in their exercises. Brennen had mentioned to Shalimar that Willow hadn't said one word to him in the last few days, but didn't tell her that it was starting to bother him a little. He had come to think of Willow as a little sister and she normally would talk his ear off during breakfast. Now it seemed that she would avoid eye contact and limit conversations to one word answers.
With Willow's birthday being tomorrow, Shalimar had really hoped that she would be in better spirits, but Willow wasn't her normal playful self, considering her and Shalimar used to play fight all the time. She even noticed the bantering that normally took place between the two of them had seized. Shalimar was hoping that the surprise they had in store for Willow would cheer her up and bring her out of her shell.
They had decided to have a night in together, renting a few flicks and ordering pizza. Things seemed to be more normal that night as everyone was in high spirits, even Willow, especially after engaging in a food fight that she started.
Once they had settled down to watch the movies, Shalimar and Brennen naturally cuddled up next to each other while Willow sat in a chair beside them. Every once in a while, she'd catch them quietly whispering into each other's ears. Rolling her eyes at the obvious displays of affection, she shifted in her chair clinging to her pillow. The lovefest was really starting to get to her and no less than a half-hour later, she had finally had enough.
"You know what guys, I'm sorry but I'm going to bed," Willow tried to mask the real reason she was leaving.
"Aw come on Willow, the movie's not even half way through," Jesse pleaded with her. "Don't you wanna know how it ends?
"I'm sure you'll tell me all about it tomorrow," Willow smiled at him. She looked at the others, "Goodnight guys."
"Goodnight," they all said in unison.
She silently went to her room and closed the door for some much needed privacy. Jealousy was a new emotion she never really encountered before and she was confused to say the least. Falling down on her bed, she let the tears fall freely and began cry herself to sleep.
End of Chapter 3