Chapter 6

Aralyn woke up and stretched.

"What time is it?" she asked herself. She checked her alarm clock and groaned. She had only been asleep for about an hour and a half. And she thought she had slept for about twenty four hours. Yeah right.

Anyway, Aralyn slid out of bed and made her way to her bathroom. There she washed her face with cold water and shivered, fully awake now. As she dried her face with a towel, Aralyn felt tears side down her face.

How can that horrible woman shoot her own nephew? she asked herself, it's just so wrong.

Suddenly she felt weak. Grasping the edge of her sink, Aralyn peered into the mirror. Tear filled eyes stared back at her, her cheeks stained with tears. She had bed head, and her clothes were still on. The young new mutant looked as if she was terribly sick or depressed. Aralyn sighed and wiped her cheeks and eyes. Then brushing her hair, the girl looked at her newly done self. She did look much better than before.

Walking back into her bedroom, Aralyn grabbed a sweater and pulled it on as she walked to the medbay. She hoped desperatly Nat had woken up.

Brennan landed the Helix and they all clambered out of it.

"Okay now to find Adam," Brennan announced.

"Easier said then done," Jesse murmered. Brennan rolled his eyes and tugged on Jesse's arm as a signal to go. Shalimar followed close behind.

Stopping at a wall, Jesse pressed his hand against it. Letting out a breath that sounded harsh, The wall around Jesse faded. Brennan and Shalimar stepped cautiously through it, Jesse following behind.

The halls were empty. No GSAgents were seen, no scientists that worked there. The three new mutants walked with even more care, extreme caution on their minds.

"This has got to be a trap," Jesse said at last. Brennan nodded in agreement. Shalimar however said nothing. Her brow were together in deep thought.

She has been acting strange lately, Jesse obsereved to himself, I wonder if what Emma said about her was true. Makes me wonder.

He felt a sharp nudge in his ribs. It was from Brennan. Quietly, Brennan put a finger to his lips and pointed in front of them. There were a couple of shadows coming their way. Jesse spotted a door and motioned to others to get their attention. Quickly and silently, Jesse jerked at the door knob. It was locked. Putting his hand quickly on the door, Jesse let out a breath and the door faded. Once again Brennan and Shalimar slipped through it followed by Jesse. They sighed with relief and turned to face the room. Jesse and Brennan gasped and Shalimar squeaked happily.

Emma and Shalimar were sitting in the kitchen when Aralyn passed it. They were both eating a sandwich and drinking a kooler.

"Hey you," Emma said, "feeling better?"

"Yeah," Aralyn nodded, "loads better."

"That's good," Emma smiled. Shalimar smiled also.

"Has Nat changed at all?" Aralyn wanted to know.

"No I'm sorry Aralyn he hasn't," Shalimar answered before Emma. Emma's mouth was open, but she closed it respectfully.

Aralyn hung her head and said something about going to her room. Emma and Shalilmar watched her go.

"Okay that went different from what I had expected," Emma moaned, "now we should see how Jess and Bren...and...and Shal are doing."

"Okay," Shalimar said. Together they made their way to the control rooms.

"Okay this is a surprise," Jesse said. They were standing face to face with Adam.

"Oh thank god you guys are here," Adam sighed, "I was so worried I wouldn't get out alive."

"And you will. If you tell us why you're here in the first place," Brennnan assured him. Shalimar nodded.

"I guess I have no choice," Adam muttered. "I did this because...I did this because I wanted to protect my son!" The Mutant X members looked shocked.

"You can protect him Adam." Shalimar looked sad and hurt at the same time. "Just you can't do it here. He needs you at his side not here at Genomex."

"What if I can't protect him Shal?" Adam's eyes looked pleading. "What if I am unable to help him and he gets hurt even more?"

"He won't because not only are you there but his new friend Aralyn is too," Brennan assured him, "and I happen to know she wouldn't let anything more happen to him."

"Uh, guys we have a problem," Jesse announced, "four GSAgents are coming this way."

"Alright let's go," Brennan smirked, "come on Adam let's go see your son." Adam nodded and followed Jesse and Brennan out. Shalimar followed close behind. '

As they were reaching the Helix, the GSAgents caught up to them. Brennan shot tendrils of electricity in thei direction, shocking them all. They went down so easily.Jesse was the last one on and stumbled. One of the GSA was waking up and shook his head. The Helix door was closing.

"Hurry up Jess!" Brennan called, "look out from behind you!" Jesse spun around in time to see the GSA running towards him.

"Brennan open the door," Shalimar ordered. Brennan was pressing the button but it only stopped almost closed. When he pressed the button it didn't open.

"The damn thing's broken!" Brennan informed them, "Jess you're going to have fase through it!" But Jesse was locked in battle with the powerful agent.

"God you are really getting on my nerves," Jesse hissed. Massing, Jesse hit the agent with one swift punch in the gut. The man groaned and crumpled to the ground.

BANG, BANG, BANG

Jesse wasn't out of trouble yet. He was surrounded with agents. Brennan advanced forward. Shalimar stopped him.

"You can't possibly fit through that," she noted. The feral was pointing to the door. It was open a crack; no one would be able to get through there.

"Jesse needs our help," Brennan stressed, "how the hell are we going to help him stuck in here?"

Suddenly the door opened. Adam was standing by the button, smiling mischevieously.

"Okay never mind," Shalimar said. Brennan rushed out of the Helix fast and shot his electricity at an agent Jesse hadn't seen. Jesse smiled thankfully.

"Looks like you've done a good job," Adam reported when they were done, "now let's go."

"What's with the sudden change in mood?" Brennan questioned. Adam shrugged and walked back to the Helix. Jesse and the rest followed.

When the Helix pulled in, Aralyn and Emma came rushing out.

"Adam long time no see!" Emma cheered. Adam smiled.

"You aren't mad at me," Adam noticed. Emma shrugged.

"When Brennan told me the reason I saw no reason to be mad," she said truthfully.

"We're just glad you're back," Aralyn added.

Adam hugged both of them as he looked over their shoulders.

"Wait a minute," he said, confused, "Shalimar...if you're there then how can you be there? Oh wait I see what this is."

Shalimar looked just as surprised as the other.

"She's Nat's aunt!" they called in unison. They blinked and fell silent.

"Well now we have something else to deal with," Brennan sighed.

"No, it'll be easy to figure out which one is the real Shal," Adam noted, "just ask a question and see."

"Alright easy enough," Brennan smirked, "and I already have the question." He walked casually up to the first Shalimar. Then, grabbing her neck, he pressed his lips against hers. Shalimar looked surprised then closed her eyes and kissed back. When Brennan finished, he looked into her eyes.

"How was that?" he asked, his voice low.

"Like always," Shalimar smiled, "perfect."

"This is the real Shalimar," Brennan announced. The other Shalimar was shocked. Looking pissed off, she crossed her arms and walked away.

"Shalimar where are you going?" Adam demanded.

"To see my nephew...oops." The imposter Shalimar stopped and turned around. When she was facing them, she wasn't Shalimar anymore. She was Cecile. But the team didn't look surprised.

"Let us go check on our friend shall we," Adam said at last, "and you can come to Cecile."

Leading the way, Adam found his son lying on the Medbed, asleep. He looked at his monitor and smiled.

"He's fine," he assured them. Everyone smiled and celebrated quietly, when Nat opened his eyes.

"Dad?" he asked, "is that you?" Adam nodded.

"Then my wish came true," Nat smiled.

"Wish?" Everyone was trying to remember if he had made a wish.

"I wished that it would be my dad whom I saw first when I wake up," Nat explained, "I wished he would be here for me. And he is."

"Oh Nat we're just glad that you're alright," Aralyn smiled. Nat looked up at her and smiled back.

The next few days Nat recovered quickly. He moved back with his aunt in one of the safe houses. And Aralyn saw him often. No one ever talked about what happened when Adam had almost betrayed them for Genomex. Everything was as it should be. Perfect.

The End