Shalimar huffed down the hall towards Emma's room. It occurred to her she always got annoyed after an altercation like that with Brennan. She realized she should've told him her true feelings much sooner and it was probably her own fault for the way things now were. She knocked on Emma's door as she reached her room.

"Emma?" she questioned through the barrier. "Emma?" she asked and knocked again.

"Yeah," the psionic answered though she didn't open the door.

"You said you wanted to talk," the feral reminded her.

"Yeah," Emma's answer was in a low voice and Shalimar had to concentrate to hear her. "But can you come back later? I was just about to take a bath."

"Oh, sure, hon. I guess I'll see ya later then."

"Thanks," Emma answered sitting on her bed with tears falling down her cheeks. She couldn't let the feral see her like this and was sure she didn't want to explain it to her. Furthermore, she wasn't even sure the explanation would please the feral.

Shalimar's intuition informed her there was more Emma wasn't telling her. She hoped she'd feel like talking about it later and turned to head to her own room. When she got there she entered to see Jesse standing next to her dresser and she noticed her top drawer was slightly opened.

"Hey, Jess," she said as she entered the room.

"Oh, hey, Shal," he replied with a smile. He seemed to be taken off guard and she wondered what he'd been doing before she got there. "You ok? Not hurt from the fight are you?"

"Why does everyone suddenly think I'm a piece of glass that's gonna break?"

"Just concerned about you is all."

He smiled and stepped over to her and leaned in the doorway.

"So what can I do for you?" she asked and turned to face him in his new location.

He grinned at her for a moment and slowly reached for the edge of the door to pull it closed as he stepped closer to her.

"I'm glad you asked," he replied and instantly reached for her waist, pulling her into a kiss.

Shalimar was too shocked at first to react but quickly came to her senses and pushed him back.

"What are you doing?" she asked, shocked at the unusual way he was acting.

"What I hope you've always wanted," he answered and reached for her once again. She put her arms up to signify for him to stop and took a step back to confirm it.

"Jesse, have you been drinking?" Shalimar asked, seeming like the only logical explanation. She had no problem kissing friends but seeing as how her and Jesse didn't have that kind of relationship she found it suspicious.

"No, Shal, I'm just sick of hiding my feelings for you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I love you, Shal."

His tone told her exactly what he meant and Shalimar stood still for a moment trying to think of something to say to her friend. Finally, she sighed and began to respond.

"Jesse, I don't think-"

"Wait a minute, Shal. I know what you're going to say. We're friends and that's all there is to it. I know we tried for more a long time ago and agreed this was best but I just can't stop thinking about you. I think if we really tried we could have something special here."

"Jesse," she began but stopped herself this time. Her mind was blank and she couldn't compose any explanation that would be appropriate. "Can I just have some time alone?" she finally asked, deciding she wasn't in the mood to deal with the situation right then. "Please?"

Jesse sighed knowing he really wanted his answer right away but knew better then to push the feral.

"It's Brennan isn't it?" he finally asked.

"No, Jesse, I have enough on my mind right now. I just need some time."

Jesse reluctantly sighed and stepped towards the door.

"Alright," he agreed. "You know where to find me." He smiled and headed out the door leaving Shalimar even more confused. She knew this could cause some problems in the team and decided it was probably time she talked to Adam though he himself had been acting a little differently lately.

She walked to her door and stuck her head out to see if anyone was nearby. She didn't want to deal with either Brennan or Jesse at the moment and hoped she could evade them while on her way to the lab.

She left her room and walked down the hall towards the lab. As she passed the living room she was surprised to see Adam relaxing in the chair writing in a journal.

"Adam," she said and stopped beside the chair.

"Shalimar," he greeted happily. "I was just coming to find you."

"Oh yeah?"

"I was just recording some information about those tests I ran earlier and I was hoping to talk to you about them."

"What is it, bad news?"

"Well, not bad news just a little tricky. Why don't we go to your room and talk in private?"

"Yeah, sure," the feral agreed and the two headed back down the hall to her room. When she got there Adam was sure to close the door so no one would hear.

"So what is it?" she questioned when they were in the privacy of her bedroom.

"Well, I ran the tests to see if anyone had been effected by the psionics," Adam said and paused.

Shalimar looked at him anxiously awaiting to hear what else he had to say.

"What is it, Adam, do you get like an extra bonus if I actually die from the suspense?" she joked.

Adam smiled and continued.

"I'm afraid the tests were positive."

"What does that mean? I've been affected by a psionic?"

"No, not you. The others are the ones who're infected."

"So how are they infected?"

"Well, based on what I've heard and witnessed so far and the time of the infection I believe they've all become very attached to you. They all feel like they're in love with you."

"Adam, you're telling me a psionic has made the whole team fall in love with me?"

"I believe so, yes."

"And how is that possible?"

"Well, when you were attacked we were all worried about you. We saw you trying to defend yourself and saw you get hurt. I think what happened was the psionic triggered our most active emotions at the time and escalated them in an attempt to distract us. At that time we were all feeling the same thing, love and concern for you."

"So now they all love me and are obsessed with me?"

"Yes."

Shalimar paused as she thought over she stunning news.

"And what about you? Have you been infected?"

"No, I'm not but I'm afraid the rest of the team is."

"Have you told them?"

"Not yet. I wanted to tell you first. I thought it might be best to wait until after your mission tomorrow to break it to them. It's not becoming a problem is it?"

"It could be a problem?"

"Yes. When people are infected like that they can say and do things they normally wouldn't. If we told them now it might jeopardize your teamwork tomorrow."

"I guess you're right."

"I'll work on finding something to reverse the effects. In the meantime I think you should keep this quiet."

Shalimar shook her head in agreement.

"Alright."

"Great."

Adam smiled and leaned in to kiss her cheek softly and slowly.

"I'm headed back to the lab," he informed and turned to open the door. "I'll call you with any new information."

"Thanks."

"By the way, you look really beautiful in that outfit."

Adam smiled at her again before turning to leave the feral alone in her room with the news.