Chapter 11
By Milmiss
Shalimar and Adam came bursting into the lab, supporting the passed out form of Brennan. They laid him down on one of the examination tables next to his other self.
Shalimar was clearly agitated. "I don't know what happened. I mean, we were talking, and all of a sudden, he just blacked out."
Adam was already in front of the main computer of the lab, ready to start a complete scan. "This can't be a coincidence."
Emma was still bent above Brennan, whispering soothing words to him and caressing his face. "He's in a lot of pain, Adam," Emma said with difficulty. She was obviously receiving his feelings, possibly suffering as much as he was. But whatever she was doing seemed to work as his breathing was slowly easing. She looked over at the other elemental, who could have appeared peacefully asleep if it hadn't been for all the agitation around him.
"What the hell is happening to them, Adam?" asked Jesse, looking from one Brennan to the other to finally turn towards Adam who had his back to him. "Please, tell me you can answer that."
Still typing on the keyboard, Adam didn't bother turning around to answer him. "Let me run some tests first."
"That's exactly what you said hours ago and we're still at the same point!" Jesse exclaimed, losing his temper. He had a very bad feeling about all this. Why couldn't things turn out right for once? Now that Emma was back, it looked like they were losing Brennan, both of them. "Actually, no, this is worse. Now they're both down!"
Adam sighed deeply. His headache was getting worse and Jesse's outburst wasn't helping. He finally turned around, looking seriously at the molecular but keeping his voice down. "I'm perfectly aware of their current state. I'm doing the best I can here. Now if you could let me do a scan of Brennan, I may be able to give you answers."
Before Jesse could reply, Shalimar gently laid a hand on his arm to prevent a more serious altercation. A fight wouldn't help the situation. Jesse looked at her and got the hint, staying quiet but absolutely not calming down.
But Adam hadn't bothered to wait for a reply from the molecular; he was already back working to get the scan ready. "Why don't you all go grab something to eat while I make sense of what's happening?" This was a simple suggestion, but it sure sounded more like a "Get the hell out of here so that I can work properly." After a few seconds, he looked over his shoulder. "Well?"
Shalimar and Jesse slowly backed off, heading for the door, as Emma let go of Brennan's hand to leave Adam alone. But the elemental instantly extended his arm and luckily grabbed Emma's before she could make a move. The oxygen mask was preventing him to speak, so he gently squeezed her arm, hoping she would understand. Emma looked him in the eyes, even if he couldn't return the stare and was immediately assaulted by a feeling of insecurity.
"He wants me to stay, Adam," she said quietly. And I want to, don't make me leave. Her eyes were literally pleading with him.
"Alright, you can stay." Her presence seemed to calm him. Adam turned his attention towards the two other members of Mutant X. "You two, out." That said, he finally launched the scan.
"What can I do to help?" asked Emma while he waited for the results.
----
Lexa exited the building and walked towards her car. She was in a very bad mood. The meeting with her bosses, the big shots of the Dominion, had been all but restless. She got in the car and headed back to the Sanctuary, pondering what had been said just moments ago.
She had started to explain, as best as she could, or truly as best as she had understood it, the concept of different dimensions, but the Dominion had interrupted her, pressing her to get to the point. When she had confirmed he fact that the psionic was indeed alive and that it seemed that she truly was from their reality, the meeting had taken a totally different turn. And she wasn't ready at all for what was about to come.
"We didn't work that hard to have her killed four months ago to have to deal with her again. She was the only one who could have put a spoke in our wheel, that's why we got rid of her."
Lexa had for long learned to read between the lines with them. "So, you want me to take care of that?"
"She was and still is a threat to our mission. Make her disappear."
Easier said than done, thought Lexa when she closed the door, having reached Stormking Mountain. If it was just up to her, she would just throw one of her lasers at Emma and the job would be done. But no, why make it easy, when it can be hard? The Dominion had made it clear that she couldn't blow her cover, and killing her would likely have that effect. So she had to make her leave. And she would leave, if she was sure she wasn't home. And that part
would be hard. Convincing her was going to be tough for Lexa didn't know her at all. And on top of that, how can you hide your real intentions from a psionic?
She was hating this assignment more and more every minute.
As she opened the door of the garage, she heard voices coming from the center of the Sanctuary. She let out a resolute sigh and went towards the sounds of the voices.
----
"I examined closely the brainwaves of both Brennans," began Adam as he sat down in front of Shalimar and Jesse. Emma was still in the med lab with the elementals - there hadn't been much change since the second Brennan had passed out. "And I do have a theory." He had already explained it to Emma, and if she had thought he had lost his mind when he had told her about different dimensions, she had been tempted to tell him to lie down and to get some sleep after having heard him a few minutes ago.
"So, what is going on?"
Adam was ready to answer Shalimar when footsteps echoed in the Sanctuary. They all looked up to see Lexa walking towards them, looking as always self-assured.
"Where have you been?" asked Jesse.
"None of your business," she replied coldly before noticing that they weren't all there. Emma wasn't present, not a bad thing, she wasn't ready to deal with her that soon. "Where are the twins?"
"If by that you're referring to Brennan and..." Jesse paused, feeling slightly confused, "Bren..."
"Hey, let's make it simple: BlindBren and Sparky are perfect nicknames to differentiate them."
Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe it, he was in kindergarten. Or maybe his headache was making him hear things. "Lexa, could you please sit down, I'm trying to explain what's going on."
Still standing, Lexa crossed her arms, looking at Adam. She wasn't ready to receive orders from this man, he wasn't the one she had known years ago, and even if he was, she wasn't sure she would have obeyed anyway. However, she remained silent.
"They're both in the med lab, one awake, the other not. Their brainwaves make me believe that they're kind of fighting against each other." The three mutants frowned as one, and the sight would have been comical if the situation hadn't been that bad. "I think that their metabolism registered the fact that there were two of them where there should be just one."
"So the world can't put up with two Brennans? What a shock. One is already awful enough."
"They're basically trying to get rid of the other," resumed Adam, purposely ignoring Lexa's comment. "I doubt it's conscious but it's not good for they won't stop until..."
"They're trying to kill each other?" interrupted Shalimar, not believing what she was hearing.
"I guess it's a good way to summarise it."
"Is there a way to stop it?" asked Jesse.
Adam shrugged. "I guess the only way to prevent the death of one of them is to figure out which one belongs here and to make sure that the other returns to his dimension." He hadn't gone that far with Emma, he had no idea how she would react.
He got up, wanting to let Shalimar and Jesse absorb the news and faced Lexa. "I need to talk to you." But before he could make a move, he collapsed on the floor.
"Oh my god, Adam!" Shalimar was instantly kneeling next to his stilled form, Jesse close behind. The feral took his face in her hands. "Jesse, he's shivering!"
"We have to move him to the lab," urged the molecular. He looked up at Lexa. "Are you gonna give us a hand or do you plan on standing here for the rest of the day?"
"What's wrong with him?" asked the tall brunette, not moving an inch.
Jesse shook his head and returned his attention to the older man. "This may be happening to him too."
"What?" interjected Lexa. "That is preposterous."
"Is it? Both Brennans had been complaining about headaches since they got here. And I've seen Adam swallowing at least half a dozen pills too in the past several hours." Jesse paused shortly. "Remember how they kept on saying that they were cold?" He looked at Shalimar for support. When he saw her nod, he locked eyes with Lexa. "Look how he's dressed."
She couldn't do anything besides agreeing. "Those are the same symptoms."
Shalimar frowned. "I don't understand. Adam just said that Bren was in this state because he was fighting against his double. Why would Adam be affected as well? He has no one to fight against."
"Then either Adam was entirely off the mark on this theory, or... Maybe he has," Jesse said quietly.
Lexa cut in. "What are you talking about?" She didn't like what she was hearing at all.
"If what he said is correct, and it sure looks that way, there are two Adams here."
"But Adam doesn't have a counterpart on our world, Jesse," argued Shalimar. "Our Adam is dead." She refused to believe what he was trying to say. It had taken them way too much time to accept Adam's death, there had been too many false hopes.
"I'm just trying to make sense of what's happening here. Shal, they never found his body at Naxcon." The hope in Jesse's eyes was killing her. She didn't want to go through that again. They would just end up more shattered.
"His body is here somewhere, though. Right?" Lexa said reluctantly. The feral looked at her, stunned. "Adam may still be alive. It's that or... how's Emma been feeling?"
The room grew silent for a few seconds. Jesse paled. "What?"
"I don't want to be the one to suggest we dig up her grave, but it looks like it's either that gets a 'return to sender' or we ship this new Emma back instead." She watched her two teammates for their reaction. "It's not like we've all the time in the world to debate it. Once Brennan and the other Brennan are both dead, she's stuck here - for better or worse."
Lexa waited, nervous whether they'd take the bait. It made her job easier if DeLauro just went away.
Jesse's brow furrowed deeply as he sorted through the facts. His face suddenly lit up. "We never found his body," he said like it was some kind of epiphany.
"I won't have this discussion, Jesse," Shalimar stated firmly. "I'm not going on some wild goose chase with you. Adam is dead!"
He shook his head. "What if our Adam isn't here at all?" His hopeful expression pleaded for her to listen. "Our Emma, and possibly Brennan, traded places with duplicates. We got the other versions of them, right? And they got yet another world's Adam, correct? So our Adam could be in this Adam's original dimension."
Lexa tried not to scoff. "But then there's no Adam here at all, and we're further back than square one."
"No." Jesse held up his hand, signalling her to hear him out. "We're missing an Adam. So where is he?"
"He came here also," Lexa groaned, concluding his current stream of thought. Jesse nodded. "Now we have five different theories to..."
"Okay, stop, both of you," Shalimar interrupted. This was getting way too confusing for her. "What are your five theories?" she asked Jesse.
"Well, one, Adam was wrong and what's happening to both Brennans is caused by something totaly different."
"Seemed pretty damn convincing, though," mumbled the feral.
Jesse shrugged and went on. "Two, Adam and Brennan's sickness aren't related." Shalimar gave him a I-don't-believe-that look. "Yeah, me neither. Three, Adam, our Adam, is still alive and somewhere on our world." He deliberately avoided Shalimar's eyes at the mention of this possibility. "Then maybe, and that's the fourth theory, Adam is indeed here, but a different one, the one who belonged to the other reality Emma and Brennan just left."
"And what's the fifth?"
"Well, if Emma gets sick too..."
"Okay, enough. This is not happening to her! This won't happen to her!" she stated firmly.
Then Shalimar put an end to the discussion by lifting Adam to take him to
the lab, Jesse quickly helping her.
Lexa was slowly following behind. This would certainly constitute another
obstacle to her mission. Just great.
----
TBC
