Chapter 23 and Interlude:

I would like to thank all my patient readers one last time. You are so great guys!

There will be two more chapters and that is it. I am done, finished, it is over! Finally.

Before you read on I ask you not to be mad at me. I never intended to write such an end but as it is always with the good stories, they just come alive.

I never actually planned on writing more than one chapter. All I wanted was a mushy piece of writing and look how it did end…

AliasJaneDoe: This is mostly your fault, LOL. I don't blame you, instead, I thank you very much. May the angels always guard over you that something like this never happens again..

Brigitta, my Sweetheart. Close the book, it's done. I will miss your encouraging words, it was such a joy to read each of your reviews.

Tigressong: I think, I have to specially thank you for all the time you'd spent reading all of my stories. I am so glad you enjoyed them.

Rain: Oh my God, I made you beg, hooray. LMAO! I hope you still think that this is the best story ever when you read the end.

Katya: Greetings to Russia with love. You made me go on. Thanks for missing me.

Hidden relevance: Please, would you tell me what AWOL means? I am going crazy because I won't find out. Anyway, is that an end what suits you? *Aaaah, I think the Alternative is unthinkable, right? LOL.*

Goldstranger: Hush dear, are you calm again? LOL. I do not try to kill you, again, ok? Sorry for the end.

Laura Harg: Thanks for getting me through my writers block. I bet, you never expected such an end, did you?

Water-soter: Now you can call me evil, my Dear! I will give you more… Give me puppy eyes again!

Ace9: You are still hooked? Glad you liked it.

Emma0211: What happened to your board? I lost track, send me an e-mail, please?

Deichtine: Hey, I got myself a beta, right? You still likin' it? How is your story going? If you need help, let me know.

JamieLeaLightfoot: You said once you are addicted? Still? Check this out again and thank you for spending so much time in front of the computer.

Thir13en Ghosts- Elemental: Lucky you. U still have the show over there. I still updated. For you…

Freckles0707: I am CRUEL, I am MEAN, so keep on reading, Darling. Fantastic? Oh, now that is great…           

Terminally-Gorgeous:

Shalgal: Here is the next update, my Dear. Glad you liked so far..

Teresa: Another X-Men lover, yay!. Oh yes, Scott is such an useless cutie in X2. I agree. But who could better weep in Logan's arms?

Karone Evertree: I almost made you cry? ALMOST??? And now, what about now my Dear?

freak@ngel: I am not leaving you hang like this. Here is finally the rest. Enjoy.

Kaiyote: Thanks for loving my MX and Xmen fics. And no, I will not add Pyro/John to my list. Pyro is… aarrrgh!

Deb1, Azriate, Kath, BluJay, Doublekidz, Lolly, Jillian, Chris, KC, ItalienchekE, Kas and all the others: Thanks  for reading this.

I have one more goal to achieve before (maybe) I finally leave the MX section and guess what? You all can help me with it. I would like to make the 100reviews full, so please,  PLEASE!!!!!!!!

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Lost and Found

"In moments of fear and darkness, you covered me with light and hope"

The moment when Jesse woke up should not have been the last one full of sad emotions. The days passed by and slowly, Jesse's body recovered from the devilish wounds forced into him. His soul did not. It was not completed and would not before he could hold Shalimar in his arms, close to his aching heart again. Tell her, what he wanted to tell her desperately.

So Jesse simply waited patiently for the words that would finally heal him. But with every minute of every day that passed he fell more silent. Emma couldn't find a trace as often as she let her mind wander out in search of the Feral.

The thought that they would never find her began to burn itself into Jesse's mind.

Adam was very concerned about him. He looked lost and like he'd almost given up hope whenever Adam watched him. Jesse would listen to the comforting and encouraging words Adam tried to give him but at the same time, he showed no hints of believing into them.

Two, three times they thought that one of their spies had found a sign of Shalimar's hiding place. Anxious, they made the Double Helix clear for the start. Jesse couldn't join Emma and Brennan when they flew out to look for her. His recovery wasn't that quick so he had to wait impatiently for their return.

Adam thought it would break his heart every time when they came back without her and he had to tell him that she wasn't where she thought she would be.

Jesse's face mirrored a mask and he just nodded. He didn't cry. He never did since the day when he woke up next to Emma. Adam wished that he would.

Six long weeks passed and with every day gone, their hope to find her sank lower. Jesse hid in his room for most of the time, brooding and hoping for a wonder. Adam was surprised to find him sitting by the pond one fine day. Well, he wasn't really sitting. The look on his face was tense and his body was taut like the string of a bow.

"Hey Jesse."

Jesse just looked up at Adam with still tired eyes, nodding slightly.

"Let me have a look on your wounds."

They were healed already and Adam knew this but Jesse didn't mind the older man taking his hands. Adam's fingers caressed the scars on his wrist with tenderness without causing Jesse to relax ever so lightly.

"Tell me what's on your mind."

Jesse shook his shoulders. He didn't know what to say.

"Tell me something. Anything. Jesse open up a little to me or I can't help you."

Jesse lifted his head and his eyes met Adam's. His lips twitched a little and he looked like he would start crying every moment. He didn't. Instead, he swallowed and pulled back from Adam. But Adam held his hands very tightly. He wouldn't let him go now when he was trying to spent comfort with his presence.

On the verge of pulling further away he stayed, staring wide-eyed at the man who tried to help him.

"You want to know what's on my mind? You really want to know?"

Adam just nodded, not letting go of Jesse for a single moment.

"I am scared to death. Every time I was scared so far, she was there to bring me hope and guide me through. She was the light when darkness simply seemed to overwhelm me. Now she is gone and I don't know where she is. I don't know if she's ok or if she'd fallen into darkness like I did in the last few weeks. I wish that I could be the light for her and bring her the hope she gave me so many times. To give her the strength to turn around and come back home!"

Adam stared at Jesse in shock. The rush of emotions was something he had wished to find but never actually expected to discover.

He took some deep breaths before he had calmed down enough to find a clear thought. Their conversation was disturbed before he could answer Jesse. Brannan ran towards them with an excited look on his face.

"I think we found her." He told them breathless.

"You said this before."

Sad, hurt with just the smallest hint of interest in his voice. Adam nodded in agreement but excitement rushed through him.

"I want facts. Speak."

Brennan looked down on the paper he held in his hands before he answered.

"The man who saw her is one of my old 'friends'. He knows Shal and he would have sworn that it was she. He gave me the address."

Jesse reached out for the paper and Brennan handed it to him. After casting a look on it, he faced Brennan again.

"Can you trust him?" Jesse's voice shivered a little because a small light of hope suddenly appeared in the dark emptiness of his heart.

Brennan only nodded.

"She can't be hiding that close, or?" Adam asked in wonder about the distance.

"Maybe she thought that we would not find her there?" Brennan suggested.

"Anyway, you and Emma can take the car and…"

Jesse interrupted him fiercely. "No, I will take the car. If she's there than I will find her and bring her home."

Adam didn't approve with Jesse's idea. But a single look into his face told him otherwise. It didn't matter how he would ague with Jesse, there was no chance that he was able to stop him.

"All right. I want you to stay in contact and let us know every little detail you see. And if you are not feeling good, you come back immediately."

Jesse was already on his way to the garage when Adam had finished his last words. All he could do was wait and hope for a good end…

Tbc

Note: Ok, this sucked but I don't know how to do it better in the moment.