AN: I appologize for the long wait, but...well, laziness along with a lack of inspiration and the drag of the 9-5 (actually 8-5) routine has wiped me out. I'm hoping to get more done this weekend, though! Keep up those reviews! They're warm fuzzies and the help with the lack of inspiration thing!


Chapter 17: Combat



Jesse flattened himself against the wall as he approached Brennan, waiting for his instinct and experience to tell him when to move. Stopping behind the diagnostics panel, he watched as Brennan stood still for a moment staring at the door, then scanned the edges. Jesse frowned. Was Brennan planning to do something to the door? It held no strategic value; there were two other doors out of the hanger, as well as an access panel in the ceiling. Brennan continued to stare at the door, eventually placing one hand on the left side of the door, the other on the right, both about 3 ½ feet off the ground. His hands felt their way along the door and Jesse could hear the rasp of Brennan's rough hands on the smooth metal door.

Jesse watched for another few seconds before he finally understood what was happening and almost laughed in relief. The only thing Brennan was trying to do to the door was open it. Unlike the majority of doors in the world today, the doors in this Sanctuary didn't have handles, they didn't swing open, and they didn't slide open. They actually slid up, and the only way to activate them was via handprint. The scanner was a simple black pad on the left side of the door, but Brennan seemed to have forgotten about it. Or else had forgotten about it. Jesse frowned. Had Brennan turned against them, he wouldn't have a problem getting through the door. After all, he hadn't had any problems getting back to Sanctuary. Obviously, something was seriously wrong with Brennan. Hell, he had attacked Shalimar. But there was something else. Something didn't quite fit, wasn't quite right.

A thought flashed across Jesse's mind, but he wasn't able to linger on it because just then he saw his opening. Brennan was turning around, sure to spot him at any moment. Jesse took a deep breath. The circumstances of this confrontation with Brennan seemed so much like the last time, in that damned prison, in that damn cage. All he had to do was buy time until Lexa could help him disable Brennan. But if his thought was right, there wouldn't be nearly as much damage done this time. He stepped out from behind the panel.

"Hey, Brennan, back so soon? Did everything go okay?"

Brennan turned, his eyes focusing on the man with dirty blond hair and wearing a navy blue button up shirt. "Oh. Hey,… man. Yeah. Um, everything went fine."

Jesse approached Brennan, finally coming to a stop a good five feet away. "Were you able to fix the micro synch drive?"

"Yeah. Yeah. No problem. The, uh, hardware just had to be restored to the defaults."

"That's great. I knew you could fix it."

"Totally no problem. Hey, did you do something to the door while I was gone? I can't get it to work."

"Oh, sure." Jesse stepped closer, gliding in front of Brennan and over to the access pad on the left side of the door. "I've been trying to fix it," he said, prying open the compartment door, exposing the circuitry embedded in the wall behind it. "It's been acting up all day. Hey, how'd your date with Shalimar go the other night?"

There was no answer. Jesse knew what was coming. He had hoped that he could get Brennan talking for a while longer, but it seemed providence had other plans. As he pretended to fiddle with the circuits, he put all his senses on full alert. So when the shadow of a raised hand appeared to his right, he was ready for it.

Brennan swung his fist towards Jesse, obviously aiming for the younger man's temple. Jesse easily avoided it, phasing. As Brennan's hand and arm passed though his body, Jesse swung himself around so he was no longer trapped between Brennan and the door. Taking a breath, his body returned to its normal density, and he found his arm instinctively rising to block another punch. In a simple, swift movement, Jesse rolled his arm around Brennan's. Now with his arm on top, Jesse forced Brennan's arm down, and delivered a back hand punch to Brennan's face with his other hand. The blow landed, but not nearly hard enough to do any damage, as Brennan had pulled his body back to avoid the blow. The move put him off balance, but Brennan continued to attack, using his backward momentum to send a kick toward Jesse's head. Jesse parried the blow, moving to kick Brennan's legs out from under him and take advantage of the taller man's falling center of gravity. His ankle connected solidly with the one of Brennan's still in contact ground. Brennan started to fall completely, but then Jesse's heart almost skipped a beat when he realized that he was trapped. The muscles in Brennan's leg, the one Jesse had blocked with his hands, contracted, swinging the leg into hard contact against Jesse's ribcage, pulling him down to the ground. Brennan's full weight fell to the floor with a thud and Jesse winced as his own body fell to the ground alongside. Quickly Jesse rolled to the side and to his feet. Brennan flipped to his feet.

For a moment, Jesse's mind flashed back to that night almost two years ago. He and Brennan had been trapped in that cage. Brennan's attacks had kept him so breathless that he had only been able to phase a few times. If it hadn't been for Shalimar, Adam and Emma, Brennan could have easily killed him. His friend was trying to kill him, to damage his psyche, maim his body.

Jesse's torturous reminiscing was halted when Brennan charged him with a yell. Jesse phased, and Brennan passed right through him. But it appeared that the elemental had been expecting that, learning from the first attack. Instead of momentum carrying him far from his prey, Brennan stopped himself and whirled back on Jesse. Jesse winced as a roundhouse kick landed solidly on his ribcage. Before he had a chance to recover, a second blow caught him behind the knee, knocking him back to the ground. Quickly Jesse rolled, avoiding the boot aimed for his head. He would have phased, but the swiftness of Brennan's attacks made it difficult for him to breathe. Regaining his footing, Jesse raised his arms, blocking another blow from Brennan. He could almost feel the fury radiating off his friend's body. He punched back. Brennan grunted as the blow landed square on his cheek, and Jesse sent another blow, this time with his left hand. Brennan managed to dodge it, pulled away from the fighter's lock, and came back with a leaping kick. Jesse quickly sidestepped it. Shalimar was right, he thought, dodging and throwing a series of swift punches, only one or two of which reached its intended target. Brennan's style is normally a little wild, but not like this. The thought distracted him enough for Brennan to charge Jesse, bringing his forearm and fist down in an overhead swing. Jesse barely managed to get his arms up in a cross to block the attack. Brennan countered, pulling his harms to the side, grasping Jesse' shoulders, tugging them down and kneeing him in the solar plexus. Jesse cringed at the pain, but ducked his shoulder into Brennan's midsection and charged. With a grunt, Jesse lifted Brennan over his shoulder, flipping the taller, heavier man head over heels. He heard a crack as Brennan's body hit the floor behind him. Whipping around, he saw Brennan scrambling to his feet, cradling his right arm.

Partially disabled now, Brennan's fury reached new heights. He took two menacing steps toward Jesse, who stopped, noticing something, but then had to dash and roll to his left to avoid the surge of electricity thrown in his direction. Jesse almost winced at the feeling of residual energy in the air, which was making the small hairs at the nape of his neck stand on end. Although he had been zapped by some of Brennan's full charge energy attacks before, and knew that he could withstand them to a point, it wasn't an experience he cared to repeat. His vision blurred, and for a moment, the thought crossed his mind that one of Brennan's blows had landed a little harder than he thought. Shaking his head Jesse managed to clear the dizziness, just in time to see another blast coming his way. He almost managed to move quick enough to avoid being singed. When the charge had dissipated, he found himself still on his feet, but with a discus-sized electrical burn on his arm. His vision blurred again, but this time, after a half-second, Jesse realized what he was happening. The blurriness was Lexa, in her invisibility mode, moving against the dark background of the Helix. Of course! Basic physics, he thought. The residual energy from Brennan's electricity was reacting with the light-bending shield she created to make herself invisible.

With Lexa here, and unnoticed by Brennan, Jesse knew this was his best chance. Going on the offensive, he unleashed a quick series of martial arts movements, using the ones he often practiced in the dojo but never used in the field. Caught off guard at the vicious onslaught, and with only one arm, Brennan was forced to back up as he tried to defend himself. Jesse threw one more punch, driving him two more steps back toward Lexa. Then, though he couldn't see it, she attacked. Brennan's body jerked as a blow was delivered to his mid thigh, effectively knocking him to the ground. Then his head snapped to the side and he fell to the ground, limp, and out cold.

Making an effort to return to a natural breathing pattern, and seeing that Brennan was safely unconscious, Jesse approached and checked Brennan's vital signs, just to be safe. To his right, a flash of light told him that Lexa had returned to the visible spectrum.

"Are you okay?" she asked, fingering the burnt edges of his shirt on his upper right arm.

Jesse glanced down to the injury, which he was only now feeling. "Oh, it's no problem. I can heal this up in less than a minute. I'll just need to go to bed a little early tonight. There's this, and I'm pretty sure I broke something in Brennan's arm. Come on. Let's get him to the medlab before he wakes up."

He was just about to bend down to lift Brennan's torso when Lexa slapped him on the chest.

"Ow! Sheesh, what was that for?"

"Sorry. I would have hit your arm like I usually do, but I can't reach your other arm, and didn't want to do any more damage to this one," she said, indicating the burned limb.

"That doesn't explain why you hit me in the first place," he whined, rubbing a hand across the place where her palm had landed.

"Why didn't you wait for me? You wouldn't have had to fight Brennan like that if you waited for me. We could have taken him down in half the time."

"Since when do you like to play on a team?"

"Jesse!"

"Relax," he said, rubbing his hands along her arms, then clasping her feminine hands in his larger masculine ones. "I was just teasing, okay?" He rubbed his thumb along her cheek, where a tear threatened to fall. "Look I told you, I've had experience dealing with Brennan when he's not himself like this. And trust me, this time was a lot easier; he kept his mouth shut. And plus, I had an advantage this time, knowing that I have the ability to heal myself."

"Not if you can't breathe, you don't," she said, wrapping her arms around his chest and holding him tight.

Jesse squeezed her back, trying to alleviate any of her lingering fear for his safety. "Everything's fine. I'm fine."

After a few moments, Lexa took a deep breath, pulled back and straightened her jacket, then flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder. "I wonder what the hell is wrong with Brennan."

Jesse watched Lexa examine Brennan's unconscious form. One of these days, he thought, he would finally teach her that emotions did not make a person weak. He sighed, and bent to help Lexa lift Brennan. "I'm not sure, but I might have an idea. I'll run a couple tests and I'll need David's help. But if I'm right…"

Lexa said nothing. Jesse was usually right.

"Jeezo," Jesse grunted, hefting Brennan's dead weight higher. "When he wakes up, we need to tell him to lay off the Doritos."