It was always odd, that when you least want it, the softest noises can sound like a car bomb.

Especially when it echoes down an empty corridor.

The door closed with a whispered click and it worried Emma that Jesse might hear.

It did strike Emma that this whole thing was in a way humorous, three broken figures locked in a room, hiding secrets and planning an escape.

But an escape from what? that voice returned.

From a world that we desperately not want to be ours.

Coward. it mocked.

We don't belong here.

Then why are you keeping this from Jesse?

Because we don't want to hurt him.

Liar!

No!

It's because you don't want this Jesse. This wasn't the Jesse you remembered. He's broken, go get a new one, right?

"No..." her voice escaped from her lips.

"Emma?"

She turned from facing the door. Adam stared at her; questions filled his eyes.

"We can't just leave Jesse like this."

"And what do you expect us to do?" The older man quizzed.

"We tell him. At least let him know that we aren't abandoning him."

"Will Jesse be left alone?"

A question so simple that left Adam and Emma silent for a few moments. Brennan sat on the bed and the question he asked, hung in the air.

"I have a theory, but I'm not too sure whether it's solid." Bobbing his head, Adam sat on the desk and contemplated on something. "If we're here, then where are this worlds' us?"

He had a point.

"So," he continued, 'if I'm right, we actually, in a sense, switched places."

"And if we go back to our world?"

"When we get back to our world, my theory is that the original 'us' of this world will return as well."

"Jesse won't be alone?"

"I don't think so, no."

Brennan shifted on the bed, causing the sheets to ruffle. This whole thing felt like a clandestine affair. It felt wrong.

"Explain this whole thing to me again." Brennan demanded.

"It's like this," Adam sighed and focussed his attention on the elemental. "Imagine your life and one day you're faced with a choice. You choose A, and you live on with it. But you could've taken choice B, so therefore somewhere out there, a parallel universe is created where you chose B."

"And this universe..."

"Could be spawned from any of our different choices." Adam finished the sentence.

"Just how many universes are out there?" Brennan joked, not meaning it to be an actual question, but leave it to the ever-thinking Adam to answer something like that.

"Too many to keep track off, probably an infinite amount."

An infinite amount Emma pondered.

"And I caused this with my powers, throwing us all here?"

"Yes."

"Nice to know that. Okay... I think I've got it." Brennan clasped his hands together and smiled sarcastically.

/i/bInfinite possibilities/i/b.

What if?

"Brennan?" Emma kneeled next to Brennan, placing her hand on his arm.

I'm asking you again God, please let this be a dream. Let him tell me what I want to hear.

"I want you to tell me, how we came into Mutant X.," she gently questioned him.

"What?" He looked lost.

Adam joined in the confusion, "Emma?"

"Brennan, please, just tell me."

"I uh... you ran into me at a club." He began.

She nodded, even though Brennan wouldn't know she had.

"You kinda blasted me with your whole empathy emotion thing, then you ran out. The next thing I knew was that you came back again to the same club later that week."

Thank you God. She smiled in relief.

"Then we ran from..."

"The GSA," she was smiling wider now and laughing, this was the Brennan she knew.

"Yeah, sucks when you got caught though, we had to go save you."

Her lips felt dry, her palm sweaty- her heart in shock. She exchanged glances with Adam. "Adam, your turn. How did it happen?" her voice was barely above a whisper, fear grabbed from within.

"What's going on?" Brennan fell into the hold of confusion once more, if this was frustrating and scary to Emma, she couldn't even begin to imagine how it must be for Brennan.

"It's as Brennan told," Adam spoke out. "But Brennan," he turned to the other man, "You were the one that got caught by the GSA."

"Wait! What does this mean?" He sounded desperate to know, he was desperate to understand it. Emma held on to Brennan's hand tighter in hopes of comforting him.

"It means, we are from separate realities."

She hated it when she had to cry, but the tears rolled down her cheeks, falling softly on Brennan's arm. "You and Jesse are from different worlds from Adam and I."

"No Emma, we aren't." the scientist hid himself in the shadows; the darkness muffled his voice as well.

"Adam... you aren't telling me everything are you?" she said, the emotion threatened to break and force her into complete silence. But she needed to know.

"No." he simply said, but no explanation.

Right there and then, all Emma could think about was to not care about this anymore. Go to back to her room, lie on the bed and never wake up again. This world's Shalimar had the right idea. Or was she even from this world? Guess we'll never know.

"Damn it, Adam!" Brennan bellowed. "I need answers!"

He didn't even flinch, no emotions present. It was as if Adam had forgotten how to feel, forgotten how to be human.

"I'm not from your reality Emma. A part of me wants to, but I'm not. I can't lie to myself and to you."

"What do you mean Adam, you're not making any sense." She asked, her knees were beginning to hurt from kneeling so long, her hands going cold.

"The moment I woke up in the hospital and saw you, I knew something wasn't right. In my world, Emma, you died half a year ago."

There have been a lot of 'what's' and 'how's' the whole night, Emma didn't feel like adding anymore to the list.

"In my world, you died with Tyler,"

She flinched, still hurting from his death, or it seems now she had died with him. It had this strange feeling. Which choice had she made to cause that?

"But in this world, Shalimar's dead, and Jesse was so close to death, I couldn't take it. I know I've failed everyone, like how I had lost you."

"How is that possible?" Brennan with more of his questions, it was getting very annoying.

"The gateway that opened, somehow went into different worlds and realities, like when you have a cross line on a phone conversation, putting us all in one world. This one."

"None of us really know each other? We aren't really the people we know?"

God, Brennan no more questions! Why did he suddenly want to know everything?

Sighing and shaking his head, Adam drew back into the shadows again. "No, not the one's we know. In a sense we're all strangers."

Whether intentionally or not, Brennan withdrew his hand from Emma's. Her hands were left empty and cold.

Strangers.

That was the last thing Emma heard, standing up and trying to take it in, Emma turned, reaching for the door and nearly colliding with the man in the wheelchair.

Jesse...

His face told the truth, he had heard everything, knew everything. Slowly, he moved out of her way and let her pass through.

She almost smiled, hesitated for a moment but she left and rushed down the corridor.

Run, run as fast as you can, the voice said, They can't catch you, you're the gingerbread man.

But I'm not the gingerbread man.

She ran past the rooms, remembering Jesse's hurt expression, felt the pain he was feeling.

No you're not, but at least it rhymes. Where are you going to go Emma? What are you going to do? You don't belong here, neither do they.

I don't know.

You don't know?

No, I don't know.

That's not good...

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