Disclaimer—See Chapter One
A/N: This chapter takes a little diversion from the rest of the group and concentrates on Bren/Shal, but the others will return next chapter. I'm in the middle of writing chapter 12 now, so am trying to add more J/E for those of you that have requested it. So I hope you don't mind this chapter! It was originally two chapters, but I ended up combining them into one long chapter. Thank you so much Blackpanther, Fiery Feral, hi, Mayra, CatJerica (I love your guesses, thanks for sharing them!), Redhead2 (I'm afraid I put them through a little more in this chapter! I'm trying to add more of Adam for you as well), Rain, Mxfan214, sclub. Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement! Just when I get hit with writer's block, you inspire me to try again. :) Thank you! Rachel, Audrey, Mari, Vivi, Rogue, thank you for the emails, I appeciate you all so much! I'm having problems with Document Manager eating my punctuation again, especially hyphens and dashes for some reason, so sorry about that. If anyone ever figures out why this site does that, please let me know. But anyway, here is the next chapter for you!
Traveling Souls—Chapter Nine
It amazed him how a space of only five seconds could be so cruel. Five seconds. That's all the time he had to react, seeing blue eyes and glowing red shimmering against the hallway wall and realizing with a start the mutant had been there the whole time, camouflaged. He screamed, grabbing Shalimar and throwing them under the wide archway of the office door, curving his body over hers, and burying his head under his arms as massive tons of rock and slate came crashing upon them. With a mighty roar, the hallway caved in around them, dirt and debris bellowed up through the air and piercing them like hundreds of tiny needles. Brennan heard Shalimar cry out and curled more tightly around her, screaming in pain as the edge of a slab of slate crashed onto his back. He rolled, heard a crack, felt a flash of heat, and then nothing more but the deafening roar of the earth collapsing on top of them.
Five seconds.
That's all it took for them to be buried alive.
Finally, the thunderous crashing gave way to occasional rumbles as rock slid and shifted, coming to a precarious rest. The ensuing silence seemed painfully loud to Brennan's ears. Shalimar stirred beside him, and he cautiously lifted his head, astonished to see that while bowing under the weight of rock, the steel support beams framing the doorway had held fast, creating a pocket of space around them. Though accessible, a twisted jumble of rock and metal was all that was left of the office behind them, the ceiling barely holding, massive chunks of wall collapsed. The hallway was completely blocked off by a cave-in of piled rock and slate.
"Brennan." Shalimar whimpered his name.
Dazed, he tried to push off her, sluggishly trying to sit up, turning his head to investigate when his body failed to respond.
His heart stopped.
The archway was three feet wide, double support beams running parallel above them, but he hadn't been able to fit entirely under the width. His legs had been buried where they extended beyond the protection of the steel beams and into the hallway.
He couldn't feel them.
"Brennan," Shalimar called for him again, voice rising in panic.
"I'm here," He tried to keep the terror out of his voice, but failed. "I can't move."
He heard her suck in a painful breath. "Brennan, I—I can't see."
The ground shifted beneath them, piled rocks grumbling in protest. Small bits and chunks rolled, stirring up more debris.
"I think it's going to cave-in again." Her voice was hoarse, nervous. "We need to get out of here."
His eyes fell shut in despair. "I can't move, Shal."
Her hands clumsily sought him out, landing on his shoulder, feeling down to his legs buried beneath rock, pulling back in horror as she gasped.
The ground rumbled again.
"The others, they'll come—"
"I don't know, Shal." He groaned in frustration, teeth clenched. "That mutant, he was here the whole time, he collapsed the hallway after they left." His hands scrubbed his face. "Even if they know, they couldn't get through."
"They had to have heard it, they'll come."
The ground trembled again, aftershocks.
"He must have triggered something, there's not enough time." He licked his lips. "Leave me."
"No."
She was the most stubborn… He took a deep breath. "Shal—"
"I won't leave you."
She settled firmly against him, arms crossed, and he gritted his teeth in frustration, fear. "I can't move!"
"And I can't see!"
There was a beat of silence as he listened to her ragged breathing. Finally, he cleared his throat.
"I can."
She raised herself up at his quiet words, determined. "So, we need each other."
"Yeah," He grunted in frustrated disbelief. She would die before leaving him. The enormity of it struck him even as he felt her hands begin moving across him again. She scraped a knuckle on a rock, and hissed sharply, swearing.
"Come here, Shal." He reached for her, guiding her in front of him.
"What?"
She knelt in front of him, and he pushed up on his elbows, sitting up as much as he could, supporting himself with one hand as he reached for her with the other. It was hard to see in the darkness, but he could dimly make out her features. Dirt streaked her face, and her eyes were blinking rapidly, irritated and red. He gently framed her face, thumbing the moistness from her squinted eyes. "It looks like you got something in your eyes." His thumb brushed over them again, and she shuddered beneath his touch.
"Brennan?"
"Yeah?" His fingers ran down to her chin.
"I won't leave you."
"I know."
He stared at her, and she grew still, acutely aware of his hand curving around her neck, of his deeply familiar presence. Somehow, she knew the exact moment his eyes dropped to her mouth, and knew that he was going to kiss her. She stiffened involuntarily, heart pounding, but he ignored her reaction, lowering her head, and let his lips touch hers.
The ground roared angrily around them, and Brennan gasped, pulling away as the weight pressed unbearably against his legs.
"Brennan!" Shalimar cried out his name, hands flying back to his shoulder and feeling down his body. Her fingers scraped painfully against rock again, but she bit her lip, rolling them back anyway. More chunks tumbled down in their place. Determinedly, she started over, feeling out each rock and struggling to push it off him.
His eyes fell shut at the futility of her efforts. "Shal, stop."
She ignored him, grunting as she pushed against a massive rock. It refused to budge, and she pulled instead. Debris showered around her, smaller rocks raining down and hitting her.
"Shalimar, stop." He reached for her elbow, but she jerked free of his grasp.
"No!"
"I can't feel my legs, Shal." He raised his voice, forcing her to hear him. "Even if you could move all those rocks, which you can't, it's no use."
Her fingers felt around another rock, throwing it over her shoulder into the office. It clanged loudly behind them even as the ground trembled again.
"They could be crushed."
"No." She bit back a sob, falling to her knees, fist pressed into her mouth.
"It's no use." He repeated softly, voice cracking.
Her shoulders slumped at his words, breathing raspy in the silence between them. He tried to reach for her again, but she shrugged him off, feeling around for another rock.
"Shal," He groaned at her stubbornness, falling back, but she kept moving, feeling up around the rocks and then moving her hands back to his legs. She stuck one hand between his pressed knees, feeling around, and he squirmed at the action. She glanced back over her shoulder at him sharply, eyes strained and blurry. "You felt that?" She slid her hand under his knee, and he jumped again. "Brennan," Her voice raised in excitement. "If you can feel that"
"I know." Hope coursed through him, and he struggled to push himself back up on trembling arms. He strained to move, to wiggle his toes, anything, but still couldn't feel anything below his knees. "Nothing." Dejected, he fell back down again.
"No, Brennan." She refused to give up, "I think they may have fallen asleep from all the pressure." Her hand had slid deeper to where he could no longer feel it. "There's space under here, something is supporting most of the weight." She straddled his legs, shoving both hands under him, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "There's something smooth," Her voice continued as her hands strained to explore.
The beam.Brennan suddenly ran his eyes along the bottom edge of the doorframe, seeing for the first time a third steel beam running parallel with the other two. Where two of the beams were bowed, but still standing, the third had collapsed into the hallway, buried under the sheer weight of the rock.
But it hadn't been crushed completely, creating a pocket of space around his legs.
"Shal," Brennan suddenly came alive as the ground rumbled, grasping her around the waist and pulling her off him, "Dig under my legs, hurry!"
"What?" Her hands immediately complied, pushing back mounds of dirt and rock bits from under him. "Why?"
"Just hurry," He eyed the beam as it shifted slightly, growing more unstable as earth beneath it was shoved aside. Hurry. Hurry. His mind chanted a rhythm as she dug frantically, nails breaking and bleeding. "Pull my legs!" He hollered at her as the beam groaned and dropped slightly. Rock bits rained down upon them. She scrambled back, unceremoniously grabbing his legs and pulling hard. He screamed in pain despite himself, panting as with a final shudder, the steel bent and collapsed.
In the settling dust, he couldn't help but laugh.
He was free.
"Are you ok!" Shalimar screamed at him, unnerved by his hysteria. "What happened?"
"Hey, shh," He immediately reached for her, pulling her into his arms as she struggled in agitation. "It's ok, you did it, you saved me."
She stilled, head collapsing against his chest, shuddering as his arms rose up to circle around her. "You scared me."
"I know, I'm sorry."
"Don't ever do it again." She sniffed, not caring his shirt was filthy as she pressed her ear against him, listening to his heartbeat.
He laughed again, hands falling to her hair, feeling her sweat and fear. He pushed it off her temple, fingers framing her cheeks, smiling fading as he pressed his lips against her inflamed eyes.
"Brennan?"
"Yeah?"
"What if more than the hallway collapsed? What if the others—"
"Don't say it Shal, they're fine."
She nodded tightly, and he set his chin on top of her head, arms tightening around her. They were quiet for a moment, struggling to catch their breath. "How are your eyes?"
She shook her head, voice small. "They hurt."
"We need to wash them out," Brennan looked around, grimly aware he still couldn't move and that they were trapped under buckling beams. Desperately, he scanned the ruined office, blinking when out of the darkness, white mists rose up. "Shal," He pushed her off and behind him, heart suddenly pounding with unknown fear. Déjà vu, dread, coursed through him, and he didn't understand.
"What is it?" Shalimar clenched at his shoulders, crouching defensively in the small space, ready to fight what she couldn't see.
The mists shifted and floated back, and he blinked again. Something was causing them to drift. Wind. He grasped Shalimar's hands excitedly. Where there was wind, there was air. "I think there's an opening at the back of the office."
"You think?" Her brows were furrowed in confusion.
"There is," He hastily amended, straining his eyes in the darkness, almost not believing what he was seeing. The walls of the office were almost completely collapsed, huge sections of roof cascading down. But in the dimness, where once there were bookshelves against the back wall, was an opening, a tunnel, he realized in disbelief. It had been hidden behind the wall.
"Brennan?"
"There's a tunnel." He pounded on his legs with his fist, ignoring the painful prickles stabbing his nerves.
"What are you doing?" She grabbed one of his hands, stopping him.
"Trying to wake them up," He smiled in relief. "I'm starting to feel them, Shal."
The ground rumbled again, the beams shifting above them. Without waiting, she grabbed him.
Brennan glanced up, huffing in sudden surprise when for the second time that day, he found himself being carried.
"No time to wait," Shalimar panted as she half-dragged him, "This place is going to come down any minute now." She stumbled over a jagged section of crashed roof, cursing under her breath. "Tell me where to go!"
Grumbling over his position, Brennan directed her, wincing involuntarily as one of his legs touched down and stabbing pain shot through him. Distracted, Shalimar turned, promptly falling over twisted metal. They rolled, slamming into rocky debris as dust bellowed up in a cloud around them. The whole place shook again, and with a painful grunt, Brennan grasped Shalimar by her waist and pulled them into the tunnel just as more of the slate ceiling came crashing down.
They lay on the ground, panting in pain and disbelief.
Finally, Shalimar crawled toward Brennan, instinctively finding him, welcoming the blackness that danced in hazy spots before her blurry eyes. He tried to reach for her, to pull her close, succumbing to his own unconsciousness before he could quite succeed.
He awoke once to realize she had dragged him further into the tunnel, to where it opened into an enormous cavern. He could hear water trickling from somewhere, and realized he was shivering with cold. "Shal?" He mumbled her name, throat dry and gritty, forcing tired eyes open. The silhouette of her hip next to him drew him closer to her. She wore only a thin cotton blouse, and her jean-clad legs were drawn tightly against her chest. Somewhere along the line, she had lost her jacket. She shivered again, and he frowned; she was as cold as he was. "Shal?" He cleared his throat, calling again, realizing after a moment that she was asleep, sheer exhaustion taking over. The cave around them seemed to generate a wet chill that was easily able to permeate their layers of clothing. Teeth chattering, he pulled off his jacket, crawling over and curling around her before folding the jacket over both of them, trying by sheer will alone to generate more body heat.
The second time he awoke, it took him a moment to remember, and he glanced up, seeing they hadn't moved. His head pounded, and he felt nauseous, but he was pleased his back and legs weren't giving him as much trouble as before. Next to him, Shalimar released a high-pitched hiccup in her sleep, and he lay back down, smiling as she settling back in against the warmth of his torso. He kissed her ear, and then her neck before laying his head on his arm, closing his eyes, and listening to her breathe.
The third time, she awoke him, worried face bent over his, desperately calling his name as she shook his shoulder.
"Shal?" Startled, he pushed himself into a sitting position, sweat dripping off his temple despite the cold. He shivered in confusion.
She looked unnerved, exhausted. "You were dreaming Brennan, a nightmare."
"Oh." Embarrassed, he looked away. He tried to run his hands through his hair, but they shook too much.
"Brennan," She touched his face. "It was the same nightmare you had before, back at home."
"I don't remember." He set his jaw, looking away.
Her fingers rested sympathetically on his chin. "You said I died, left you alone."
He shuddered, eyes falling shut as vague memories assaulted him. The mists. It had something to do with mists. He shook his head, confused and tired. "I'm sorry I woke you."
She smiled, and it was then he noticed her eyes were open, albeit still red and irritated. Dried tears stained her dusty cheeks.
"You're ok, you can see?"
"Yeah, I think my eyes watered enough to finally clear up." She blew out her breath in relief, hand falling to his chest. "How about you? You're really ok?"
"It was just a dream, Shal." His tone came out harsher than he intended, and he winced.
"Fine." She dropped her hands, pulling away.
"Wait," He reached for her, squeezing her hand, but she stiffened in pain. Her hands had been rubbed raw from digging.
He misread her actions, and sighed, dropping his hold. "Listen, about what happened earlier…."
She glanced up sharply at his words, watching him.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you." He swallowed, hiding his bitter disappointment.
She smiled tightly, dropping her eyes. "I know, you were just caught up in the moment, I understand." She abruptly turned around, presenting him with her back as she lay down, freezing at his next words.
"Not exactly."
He held his breath, counting out the seconds, waiting for her to respond. One, two, three, four…
Water dripped in the silence.
Five seconds could be so cruel.
And then in the sixth second, he heard something. She sniffed. Was she crying? He scooted closer, curling around her once more, pressing his cheek to hers, the scratchy stubble of his shadowy beard prickling against her soft flesh, pressing a gentle kiss against her ear.
She sniffed again. "Brennan?"
He whispered almost inaudibly. "I want to kiss you."
Her heart burst in her chest, and she caught her breath as his cheek rasped against hers again. Then he began a trail of slow kisses up and over her eyes and down the bridge of her nose. Her heart rate doubled, even as she struggled to focus. Shock, it was just shock from the dream. Hesitantly, she turned, holding his face steady, pulling her own away. "Tell me about your nightmare."
"No." He looked as exhausted as she felt, his hair pressed flat against the left side of his head. "This isn't about that."
She released her hold, laying her head down on her bent elbow, watching him.
He hesitated for a moment before doing the same, facing her. He could feel the heat radiating from her, could smell the salty sweat drying on her face. She was so close. He closed his eyes, inching his face even closer until he could feel her breath, eyes opening again to see her wet eyes studying him critically.
"Brennan," Her voice wavered, "I—I, today—" She blinked slowly, voice failing. One of her hands found his, squeezing gently.
"Shal," He tried to reassure her, to tell her how much she meant to him, but words eluded him. Her eyes watched his mouth open and close wordlessly for a moment. Her own mouth opened, and her breath was hot on his face. A smudge of dirt was streaked across her cheek, and her eyes were red and blotchy. But all he could think about was how beautiful she was as she closed her mouth and leaned into him. He closed the remaining distance between them, softly rubbing his bottom lip against hers. There was no demand, just his lips resting lightly against hers, reassuring and comforting, calming. Her breath stirred against his and desire flamed within him, even as pain racketed down his spine. How could he feel so calm and such want and pain all at once? His body reeled even as his mind supplied the answer. Love. I love her. She broke the connection, pulling away just enough to lay her head back down. His eyes flew open, but her eyes were closed, not bothering to check his response, face calm. She knew. He grinned, even as she sighed and slept. His fingers lifted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears, sliding down to trace her lips. I love her. His fingers dropped, claiming hers again.
He awoke hours later in the same position. Waking up on cold rock was one of the more unpleasant experiences he could remember. The chill in the air combined with his recent injuries left his battered body riddled with stiff, throbbing aches. He blinked gritty eyes, knowing Shalimar must be hurting as well.
But she was gone.
He shot upright, muttering expletives as sore muscles loudly protested the movement, heart stopping then slamming when he saw her bending over something across the cavern.
"Shalimar!" His initial panic carried in his tone, and she looked up quickly.
"It's ok, I'm here." She lifted a hand, not turning around.
"What are you doing?" He dropped his head, willing his pulse to return to normal, cautiously stretching his right leg.
"There's water." She struggled to her feet, one arm held protectively against her chest, the other clutching wet material. As she limped closer, he recognized it as the white tank top she had worn under her blouse. His eyes darted up, noticing that the sides of her blouse were folded across her body, but it was unbuttoned. She self-consciously held it in place with her arm, and he forced his eyes up, to her face. She winced as she knelt back beside him, and he quickly reached up, helping her sit back down.
She sat cross-legged in front of him, holding out the dripping material. "Here."
He took it from her, noticing for the first time she had attempted to wash her face.
"It feels good." She smiled, eyes dropping to study his legs. "How are you feeling?"
He shrugged, pulling the wet cotton across his face. She was right, it did feel good. "I can move at least."
She smiled at his dry tone, knowing it was an understatement. "Let me see."
"It's fine, Shal." He shook his head as she stubbornly pushed up, crawling over to him on her knees, one hand still clutched to her side.
"Take them off." She tugged on his jeans.
"What?" His brows shot up.
She rolled her eyes. "It's just your legs, Brennan. I've seen them before."
He bristled at her tone, hands falling to his waist. "Fine." He unbuttoned them, struggling to lift his rear end off the ground to pull them off without putting pressure on his left leg.
She immediately noticed his favoring one side, and frowned, reaching down and tugging them down with a quick yank.
"Hey!" He grasped his underwear, making sure they were firmly in place, gasping in pain, but Shalimar was already bent over his legs, studying them. "So?" He asked after a moment. "How bad?"
"Bad bruise." She clucked her tongue, bending closer over his calves. The left one was swollen, almost twice its normal size and was an ugly shade of black The deep bruising spread up to his lower back on the left side. She indicated for him to roll onto his stomach, and he reluctantly complied, easing over on his right side. "Hold still." Her fingers reached out, probing his lower back.
"AHHHHHH!" He screamed and tried to roll away in reflex, but she stayed with him, fingers applying pressure. "Shal—" He gasped and tried to breathe, panting as her hand finally lifted. He rolled back to his right side, glaring at her.
"I had to check for internal bleeding." Her knees collapsed under her, and she fell back to the ground. "You feel alright though."
He heard her inhale heavily, and then it was silent between them. His self-consciousness returned as he remembered his pants were around his ankles, and he grasped his jeans, struggling to pull them back up, catching a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye.
She was sitting with one leg bent, the other stretched out in front of her with her head down, eyes closed. One hand still pressed against her chest, holding her blouse together. He noticed for the first time the raw flesh of her hands. The delicate skin had been bruised and torn away in places.
"Shalimar, your hands."
She lifted her head at his words, smiling wanly. "It's ok."
"Uh-uh," He shook his head. "Not good enough. Come here." He eased himself into a sitting position, reaching for her. She frowned, but crawled over anyway, sinking beside him. He hissed in a sharp breath as he took one of her hands, turning it over in his own. "Oh, Shal."
"They're fine," She shrugged, biting her lip as he lifted her hand to his mouth, pressing a feather light kiss to her knuckles. "I already washed them out as best I could."
"You did this saving me." He gently dropped one hand, reaching for the other, but she resisted. "What?" He caught her chin as she turned away. "Shal, what's wrong?"
She shrugged again, embarrassed. "I can't button my blouse."
"Oh." He smiled, remembering her initial self-consciousness. He held her eyes, hands gently pushing her flustered ones aside, buttoning her shirt. His fingers brushed skin, and she flushed, eyes bright.
"I might not be matching these buttons up right, you know." He couldn't resist teasing her, challenging her. "It would be easier if I looked at what I was doing."
More red stained high across her cheeks, but she surprised him when she suddenly grinned. "Then go ahead and look."
His hands faltered, and she laughed. He shook his head, eyes darkening slightly as he pulled her close into a hug. I love her. She regarded him with a serious face when he pulled back, eyes darting down to deftly button up the rest of her blouse, then moving back to hers. It was easy to see she was tired and in pain. She blinked rapidly, and Brennan tried to swallow, throat suddenly tight.
Shalimar reached out, resting the tips of her fingers against his cheek, smoothing over the stubble. He looked so much like the teammate she'd worked beside, fought beside, but still there was something more he was showing her. Something in his eyes, in the way the edges of his mouth curled up in relief. "You get it now." She whispered, looking straight into him, beyond the cocky façade, seeing him as he really was.
He trembled, exposed, knowing she knew. I love her. His heart quickened, unsure.
She smiled softly. "You're a disaster, you know that."
His brows furrowed. "Shal—" He couldn't finish her name. Her mouth was suddenly covering his, crushing his face with the force of her kiss, demanding that he kiss her back. It only took a few seconds for the shock to wear off before he did, his hands clutching at her hair, bringing her even closer. He couldn't get enough of her, of the taste of her, and he groaned, wanting more. She gasped, and he was encouraged by her ragged breathing, weaving his fingers into her hair, pulling back a little as his back suddenly twinged and spasmed. The intensity of the kiss ebbed and for a few minutes they simply breathed against each other, lips parted and grazing, hands quiet.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," He finally admitted with a whisper, moving back to her lips. "Been fighting the attraction for so long..."
The old fear returned. "Wait, Brennan." She pulled back slightly, searching his eyes. "I understand being afraid, of the risks..." She shook her head, "But I need to know, is that all this is to you, just attraction?"
Brennan paused, seriously considering her words. The duskiness of the cave made it easier to talk openly. He dropped his head. "We've been friends for so long, I always thought, if this was just attraction that I should fight it, in hopes of keeping our friendship, our team together—"
"But what if it's more?"
"More?" His throat constricted. "How much more?"
She went very still beside him. A little too still. "I—I don't—"
"I do, Shal." He didn't wait for her to finish. "It's more." She didn't move, so despite the pain running up and down his back and legs, he pushed over to her, pressing his lips to her forehead, voice husky. "For me, it's more."
She released a shaky breath, reaching for him. "I want more too."
He grinned, smile faltering when the muscles on his left side tightly spasmed. He grimaced, dropping his head onto her shoulder, swallowing most of the groan.
"Your muscles are starting to stiffen," Shalimar admonished gently, biting her lip as she struggled to her feet. "Com on, you need to move around a little."
"Move?" Brennan looked up at her in disbelief.
"It helps," She took a step, shuddering at her own pain. "A little."
Brennan groaned, managing to push himself to his hands and knees, crawling forward. "It's the best I can do, Shal."
She chuckled wryly as she hobbled beside him. "We make a pathetic sight."
"Jesse is never gonna let me live this one down," Brennan muttered. "When he sees—" He stopped, head dropping between his shaking arms.
"Hey, it's ok." Shalimar carefully rested her hand on his shoulder. "They're going to be fine; we're going to be fine."
"Yeah," He nodded determinedly, rubbing his face against his shirt sleeve before starting forward again, hesitating as he noticed it had grown colder, foggy mists curling around his hands. He glanced up sharply, seeing more of the mist floating over the trickling stream of water Shalimar had rinsed off in earlier.
"That's funny," She started forward, reaching out to the wall of fog. "It wasn't there before—"
Fear. Déjà vu. It all came back. His nightmare. "Shal—no!" He launched himself at her, screaming in fear and desperate pain all at once.
There were exactly five seconds to think before Brennan was hit.
One second to see the vapors hurling toward them, one to push Shalimar down to the floor, one to raise his arm to shield his face, and one more to meet Shalimar's horror-stricken eyes as she screamed his name.
In the fifth second, he died.
