Chapter 10
By AliasJaneDoe
Once
back in the hallway, Lexa was glad to be leaving the sound of
laughter behind her. She really didn't want to think about Emma right
now. And just why had the other woman been nice to her? It wasn't
like they were going to all be one big happy family.
In
the next room, Jesse and Brennan were talking. She heard her name and
paused. Luckily, Jesse had his back to the door, and she didn't need
to worry about Brennan spotting her. So, she naturally decided to
eavesdrop.
"Is
she pretty?" Brennan asked.
Lexa's
eyebrows shot up at that. He didn't want to know who she was or if
she could be trusted, but rather what she looked like? Jesse made a
slight movement, possibly fidgeting. She wished she could see the
expression on his face. It was actually a question she wanted to hear
Jesse's answer to.
"Umm,
I guess so," Jesse eventually replied before taking a quick sip
of his coffee.
Lexa
crossed her arms over her chest. He guessed so? She was damn
attractive and he knew it! She would make him pay for that remark
later.
Brennan
smiled. "So that's why you like her. Knew there was a reason."
"I
don't like her," he responded a bit too fast. "I mean, as a
person, yeah I do - she's smart, opinionated--"
"Arrogant,
bossy, rude..." Brennan interrupted, his grin still firmly in
place.
"But
I don't like her as in like her," Jesse continued.
Brennan
made a snort of disbelief. "Did I?"
"Hmm?
No," Jesse answered. "Your double... strongly dislikes her
actually."
Lexa
rolled her eyes. No news there. The Brennan she knew irritated her
just as much as she did him. Good riddance, she figured. But Jesse
liked her as a person, huh? That caused a tiny smile to creep onto
her lips.
"Doesn't
matter, though. She probably won't stick around now that Adam and
Emma are back." Jesse toyed with his coffee cup. Lexa's smile
disappeared.
"He's
not our world's Adam," Brennan reminded him.
Jesse
nodded. "Right... but still, she isn't the commitment type. Too
independent and has trust issues. I've always known she won't stick
around. Besides, she's got her own agendas, just wish I knew what
they were. All I know is, if they involve Mutant X, they still don't
involve me."
"So
you do like her." The tone was less teasing now, more serious.
Jesse
sighed. "No." A pause. "There wouldn't be a point."
Lexa
stood there awhile, no longer listening, just standing. He was right,
though. Her shameless flirting with Jesse was a pointless game. She
did have her own agenda, and there was no place in it for him.
"Do
you have any Tylenol?" Brennan was asking when she returned her
attention to inside that room. "Ever since we got here, I can't
seem to get rid of this headache."
"Yeah,
I'll go get some."
Jesse
moved to stand, and Lexa instantly ducked out of sight. She hurriedly
made her way to her own room, moving directly to the computer. She
flicked it on.
We
need to meet. I have new information.
As
soon as she finished typing the message, she hit send. Her superiors
would want to know all about Adam Kane and Emma DeLauro.
-----
"Hey
guys," Brennan called out upon returning to Sanctuary. He
glanced briefly over at Adam. "I've got a story you are not
going to believe!"
Within
seconds, the sound of his voice drew Lexa, Shalimar... and Emma...
into the main room. Brennan openly gaped. "Or you might,"
he added.
"Hello,
Brennan," Emma greeted awkwardly.
Before
she could even blink, he closed the gap between them. A huge smile
broke out across his face. He instantly had her in his arms, then he
picked her up off her feet with his hug. "You are a sight for
sore eyes, girl."
"You
might want to let her breathe, Bren," Shalimar teased, grinning
also before recalling that they had two different copies of him now.
She reluctantly looked to Adam, kept herself from flinching at his
face. "Why is he still here? I thought they were supposed to
have switched places."
Brennan
set Emma back on her feet, but he kept touching her, as if worried
she might fade away and disappear. It took him a moment to register
what Shalimar had said. "What's going on?"
"He
had no reason to be at Naxcon," Adam said to mainly Emma,
knowing she would understand. "He wasn't at the portal in order
to switch dimensions."
Brennan
wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Why would you guys have thought
I wasn't here? I only went to check out the perimeter breach at the
safe-house."
"Brennan..."
He
turned toward the sound of Jesse's voice, and found his friend
standing next to himself.
-----
Brennan
took several deep breaths of the crisp outside air, attempting to
digest what they'd told him. He slowly walked over to where two names
were carved into the mountainside. He traced his fingers over one of
them.
Emma
DeLauro
"I
know this is a lot to deal with," Shalimar said from behind him.
"You
just accepted that I was gone." He didn't move, keeping her at
his back.
"It
isn't like that." She reached out to touch his arm, but then
stopped, uncertain.
"It
sure seems like that."
"Well,
it isn't," she snapped sharply. "I hadn't even adjusted
yet, Bren. Neither had Jess. It's not like we just wrote you off."
"But
you don't think I belong here." He finally did turn.
She
hesitated. "I think that this Emma does. And he..." She
stared at Brennan. "We've never talked about the past, since..."
"You
think if we had, that it wouldn't match up?" He was afraid of
her answer.
"Maybe,"
she stated honestly. "I don't know. I do know I don't want to
give either of you up."
He
wonder if "either" referred to him and him, or him and
Emma. "But?"
"The
other Jesse." She couldn't just ignore that. "They left him
alone, and he's hurt. And I know he isn't Jesse... but he's Jesse. If
you are his Brennan, then it would be selfish of me to want to keep
you."
"What
about what I want?" Anger laced his tone. "It's so easy for
you. You get Emma back, and a new me to go with her. But I get to
lose her all over again, and have you taken from me! All I get is
some version of Jesse who's broken! You can't make me do that, can't
guilt me into it. I won't go. If I go, I might not be able to come
back. I need proof, and until then, I won't go. That isn't my
reality."
He
rubbed at his temples. Shalimar had the nerve to act concerned. "You
okay?"
"Headache,"
he tossed back at her. "I'm going inside - it's freezing out
here."
-----
"How'd
you figure it out?" Brennan asked Emma and himself later that
day.
She
took the hand of the Brennan she knew before answering the other one.
"The order we were brought here, to Sanctuary."
"You
first, then me after you guys broke me out of Genomex. I made some
crack about how it must be a bitch to clean the place. Jesse asked if
I was always like that." He purposefully met Emma's eyes,
something his double couldn't do. "You said, 'Always.' Like you
knew me already, like you'd known me forever."
Brennan
clutched at her hand in response to that, and she felt him shiver.
"It doesn't mean anything; Adam's version was the same," he
said, and then he collapsed.
-----
"Adam,
what is going on?" Emma asked in a panic. They were all gathered
in the med lab. "Why won't he wake up?"
"I
don't know," Adam answered gravely. "Let me run some
tests."
"He
has to wake up," she pleaded with him, needing him to be able to
make things better. "I can't go through this again. I can't."
The
others were all silent.
Adam
started a scan. "Why is he still wearing his jacket?"
"Because
it's cold in here," the other Brennan replied.
"No,
it's not," Lexa stated. Shalimar shook her head also.
Jesse
watched Adam and Emma. "You two know something."
"After
the explosion, Brennan was in a coma for the better part of four
months," Adam informed them.
"But
he was fine earlier," Emma demanded. "He was fine!"
"Hey,"
Jesse said softly. "Come on, why don't we go to the other room
for a little while and give Adam some space to work?"
-----
Several
hours later, they were no closer to an answer. Brennan remained
unconscious.
Adam
finished pulling on a sweater, agreeing that it was indeed chilly
inside. Then he got a glass of water and gulped down several aspirin
to fight off his headache before returning to work.
Shalimar
had forced him to leave Brennan's side long enough to get something
to eat. He'd debated having a chat with Lexa, but decided that could
be postponed until later.
He
had almost reached the lab when a frantic call from Shalimar
interrupted him.
-----
Brennan
woke up thrashing. Emma, who was keeping watch over him, was at his
side instantly. Jesse, who was keeping watch on her, was only a step
behind.
"Brennan,
it's going to be okay," Emma blurted in reassurance, trying to
soothe him. He was trembling all over and clearly in a lot of pain.
Jesse
slipped an oxygen mask over his face to help him breathe, then he
stepped back and raised his hand near his lips, speaking into his
ring. "Adam, we need you. Something's wrong with Brennan."
"I
know," Adam's voice replied over the com-link. "Shalimar
already called me. I'm on my way."
"What
do you mean Shalimar told you?" She wasn't even in the room.
Then it struck him. Something was wrong with the other one also.
-----
TBC...
Just
a little note here: this is a round robin, a story written by
multiple authors without any planning or outline. It's not just for
the lXt mods. Anybody can play. Feel free to sign up for a
chapter.
