The walk to Brennan's room seemed very short compared to the thoughts that plagued Emma. What would they tell him? The truth, obviously, but would he be able to handle it? He had been through so much. He just started to be himself again, the independent and protective young man she met two years ago. Well, two years and four months. He started to live again, with her help, and Jesse's. My God, will he be able to leave this Jesse behind? Instinctively, she knew the answer. It was the same as hers.

"...him?"

"What? Oh, excuse me, Adam, I didn't hear you, I might have spaced out for a little while," she said with a small smile. That's when she realized they were at Brennan's room door.

Adam looked at her as if trying to see if she was alright. Due to the situation, the question seemed absurd. Would they ever be all right? He had to take them home, to help them. After all, they were his children...

"I was just thinking it might be best if you talked to him. He knows you, you share a special bond. And, well, he will most likely resent me for leaving and for this mess."

"Oh, so you send me to do the dirty work." She tried to lighten the mood but her joke came out flat. They both knew how Bren would most likely react, and it wouldn't be pretty.

"And here goes nothing," Emma said, bracing herself for what was to come.

-----

Brennan tossed and turned in his sleep. He had heard Emma stop by earlier to turn off the light... or was it to turn it on? He didn't know anymore, but what was the purpose. The light wouldn't make a difference. He still would wear a pink shirt with green pants... Sleep was nowhere near from coming. Each time he closed his eyes, he saw the explosion. He saw Emma falling toward the ground. He heard the building blow, Shalimar screaming from fear. Adam telling them to hang on. What had they done to deserve this? He swore to himself at that moment that he would make Eckhart pay. No matter how long it would take, no matter if he died in the process, Mason Eckhart would die by his bare hands from all the hurt he put them through.

"Brennan..."

He was so focused on his plan of revenge that he didn't hear Emma coming. Her soft voice put him out of his dark thoughts... for now.

"Brennan, wake up," she whispered, posing her delicate hand on his shoulder.

"I'm awake. It isn't morning already, is it? I know I couldn't sleep, but still..."

"No, Bren, it's not morning," interrupted his friend. "I need to tell you something..."

"Why don't I like the way you're whispering?"

Emma stared at him for a minute, biting her lips. She didn't know how to explain it to him. God, she was going to kill Adam for making her do this. Oh right, she couldn't. He was their only chance of getting back. Realizing sarcasm was leading her nowhere and feeling that Brennan worried more and more as seconds went by, she started to speak again. She touched his hand, needed his reassurance that everything would be okay maybe more than he needed hers.

"Brennan, there's something you need to know. What I will say will be hard, but you have to trust me, okay?"

"Emm..." He stopped mid-sentence, sensing it was no time for joking. "Go ahead."

"Okay. Well, the other day, I went to see Adam at the safe-house..."

"What! Emma!" he interrupted again.

"Brennan, you promised!" As he nodded and sat in his bed, she continued.
"Adam exposed me to this theory that we weren't in our world, that we were in some kind of parallel universe. At first, I wouldn't believe him, but it's true, Bren. We need to go home, now."

As he sat in complete silence, not moving, nodding, or any outburst, Emma started to worry big time.

Brennan was numb. He wasn't home. Was it some kind of joke? No, it couldn't be, Emma wouldn't do that to him. He knew her. Hell, he sensed her. Wait, she said Adam was in this. His blow to the head might have been harder than his. He might have gotten nuts. Parallel universes couldn't exist, could they? Adam was wrong, they were home, he was home, with his friends, Emma and Jesse. Jess?

"Emma," he said with a calm tone, too soft for her liking, "if, and I mean a big if, I believe what you just said, how did it happen and who goes back?"

"From what I understood, you did it. I don't know how, you'll have to speak with Adam for the details, but the who are you, me, and Adam." She gulped as she said it, closing her eyes, feeling as if she just stabbed Jesse in his back. She couldn't abandon him, and that was what they were doing.

"So we leave Jesse behind, admitting that what you said is true, am I right?" Brennan was clenching his fits by now and she could almost see some electricity running all over him. Emma almost felt a bolt of electricity on the hand that was touching his before he took big gulps of air to try to calm his raging nerves.

From the doorway, silent tears were streaming down Adam's cheeks. He lowered his head in shame, knowing that all this had happened because of him. If only he hadn't been an egocentric scientist, if only he had been more careful that day, if only... His kids were hurting and he wasn't there when they needed him the most. He was the one to cause them pain. Would they ever forgive him? Not a chance, he knew it. Just like he knew that Brennan would survive. The kid was a survivor. He proved it time and time again. As did Emma. She wasn't innocent anymore, her heart might have become cold at times from what they lived, but Brennan was there to remind her who she was, always, just like she did now.

"You can come in, Adam." As Brennan said this, the older man came back from his thoughts and self-guilt trip. Now was not the time, he reminded himself. "Now, Adam, I want you to listen to me, and do it good because I won't repeat myself," threatened the elemental. "I may not be able to see with my own eyes, but I'm not totally blind, I'm not stupid, and I don't take shit from anyone, least of all you! Emma just told me a nice story here, so you better explain, because believe or not, I will seriously kick you're ass if you mess up with us again. Tell me what this parallel thing is about, how we came here, and how we go back. And on the bright side, if I am happy with what you say, you'll have the pleasure of telling Jesse that we are not his family but some kind of dupes."

Adam gulped audibly, knowing that what Brennan said was no threat. It was a promise.

--------

tbc