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Chapter 2

The wiper was barely able to clear the snow falling on the windshield and they could hardly distinguish the road anymore. Emma had been restless for the last thirty minutes, commenting on the road, the trees, the size of the snowflakes; she had been trying to hide her worry behind a senseless banter. But the situation was quickly deteriorating and they could do nothing to prevent it. Brennan felt her uneasiness grow with each passing minutes. He could not put her through that.

"I'll call Adam and tell him we're turning back until the blizzard abates."

Emma gratefully smiled at him. He could be so sweet and also so annoying at times.

"Thanks Brennan. This situation really makes me uncomfortable. And I don't think we'll be able to get further anyway."

"Adam?"

Silence. He frowned and tried to call him a second time; still no answer. Around them the blizzard increased, lashing at the car windows whistling in the near obscurity of the day.

A roaring sound came out of nowhere like thunder, quickly amplifying. The blast of the avalanche touched the car, making everything tremble, roughly pushing it in the trees bordering the road before any of them had the time to realize what was happening. Brennan looked in the rearview mirror and froze. A flood of snow was sweeping everything ten meters behind them, snapping trees like twigs. Immaculate waves came up to their car, hungrily grazing its' flanks.

Ensuing silence was deafening. The two mutants turned to face each other completely dazed. Ten meters; ten meters that had saved their lives. Instinctively Brennan took her hand, finding comfort and courage in that simple touch.

Their situation was not too good. He realized his door was blocked by a tree and the car was off the road. Even if they could solve that problem, they couldn't go any farther or contact anyone for help. Turning back had been their only escape. They were truly alone in the middle of nowhere. He had to make a decision quickly.

"Do you think we're far away from the lake?"

Emma swallowed painfully and repressed the panic flooding her mind. He had avoided mentioning his doubts about the road; but she could feel them, darkening his mind. She willed her heart to calm down and made a quick mental calculation. If and only if, they had taken the correct road there should be no more than a kilometre left. She dared not think they had taken the wrong road. The consequences would be dreadful.

"Maybe a kilometre. But I'm not sure."

Brennan stopped the engine with a resigned sigh, took his anorak and hat from the back seat and started putting them on. Emma was watching him, not understanding why he had cut the engine. They would freeze in less than an hour and he could not possibly want to go outside with that blizzard.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Gently he took her hands in one of his and his eyes found hers. The frightened glint in her eyes tore his heart into pieces. How he hated that look; how he hated to be the source of that look. His other hand cupped her cheek and he sadly smiled at her.

"Emma, we won't have enough gas to last through the night. The sun will go down in one hour and we better walk to the village near the lake and spend the night there."

The young woman watched the guilt playing in his eyes. She wished she could make him understand. But right now he would only reject her. And she had to make a decision about their situation. Freezing to death in a car or walking in half a meter of snow during one hour. The second possibility seemed to hold more promises than the first one.

"Ok. Let's go."

---------

The sun must have had set nearly an hour ago and they still hadn't reached the village or seen any lights. They were slowly progressing in fifty centimetres of snow. Each step was more tiring with the added weight of their backpacks and the difficulty of walking in fresh snow.

The blizzard had surprisingly died earlier revealing a full moon. But, without the cloud cover, temperature had drastically dropped below zero degree. The coldness was painfully biting at the few centimetres of exposed skin, numbing their feet and hands despite the warm shoes and gloves.

Ahead of them, the road had narrowed to a mere path surrounded by snow-covered trees. Brennan stopped, breathing hard; the situation was getting worse and the ever-present guilt was slowly but surely eating his strength away. If he had not forgotten that stupid map, they would be in a nice restaurant, talking, laughing.

Emma barely had the time to turn around to see why he was not following her. The elemental felt the ground beneath his feet giving way and found himself immersed in cold water up to mid-thigh. He felt too surprised to even curse. Weariness and resignation were taking their toll on him. 'Water, great. Just what I needed right now.' Emma walked as quickly as possible in the snow, stumbling every now and then. He saw her getting closer to his position and got frightened. What if she fell in that stream?

"Don't come near Emma. It's not safe."

"The hell I'm not coming to help you."

"No Emma. You stay were you are."

His tone froze her. Laboriously he got out of the stream. Snow was sticking to his soaked pants quickly freezing giving them a cardboard quality. With each passing minutes, each step in that snow he was getting weaker. It was official; he hated snow as much as rain. Feeling his distress Emma gently took his gloved hand and tugged at it.

"Come on Brennan we need to find shelter for the night and dry you."

He straightened knowing he had to be strong. They could not die because of a stupid blizzard. She could not die; he would fight to his last breath if he had to. The elemental turned his head to the right trying to find anything that could shelter them. He blinked twice wondering if he was dreaming. Twenty meters away from them a cabin lighted by the moon was nestled in the slope. The windows were undamaged and piles of wood were stored near it. Brennan thanked his guardian angel silently. Maybe the situation was not as desperate as he had thought.

------

Opening the door wasn't easy for Emma, but she finally managed to force the lock. Beside her Brennan was shivering, unable to talk or move, paralysed by the cold. She had to help him getting in the cabin. The temperature inside was freezing but at last they had a roof above their heads and hopefully it would be warm in less than an hour.

The moonlit place appeared clean and cosy. In one corner, there was a fireplace with a sofa, a small kitchen and a wooden bed. Emma closed the door and nearly dragged Brennan to the fireplace. On the left, she found wood, paper and matches. Silently she thanked the owner of the cabin. Hastily the psionic prepared the fire and lit it. The flames roared to life, leaping, greedily licking the wood. The first wave of heat came her way, chasing the coldness.

The young woman knew she had to take care of Brennan before he caught pneumonia or got chilblain. Being an elemental, water and especially cold water was weakening him to a point where it could get life threatening. Shoving all considerations for her own comfort to the back of her mind, she went in search for blankets. Emma frantically rummaged in the closet near the bed and found two blankets, pairs of woollen socks, candles and a few towels. Relieved she put the items on the sofa and gently made him sit. Her gloves were put on the armrest. Her friend was bending close to the fire in an attempt to warm his hands.

"Bren?"

"I'm freezing Em."

"I know love. Can you remove your shoes?"

Both ignored her slip, their minds too dazed by the shock of their near-death. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed her help. The blood was flowing again in his fingers, causing an excruciating pain. It felt like thousands of tiny needles were slowly pushed in his flesh.

"No. My fingers, they hurt."

Emma kneeled down without a word and removed his shoes, one after the other, then the socks. With the rising heat, his pants were dripping on his feet ruining all her efforts to warm him. Desperate situation asked for desperate means. 'Get a grip Emma! You can't let him like that. Do it and don't think.'

"Bren. Get up please."

The elemental did as ordered, shakily. But his feet felt too numb to completely carry him. Seeing him falter, Emma got closer and wrapped one arm around his waist. Her other hand fiddled with his pants buttons. Surprised he tried to get away from her nearly making them collapse on the sofa. One of his hands came to rest on top of hers, stopping her.

"Em. Do you really think this is the right time to…"

The young woman lightly blushed. Why was he always able to make her uncomfortable? She was just trying to help him. A tiny voice in the back of her head screamed at her own insincerity.

"We need to get rid of those because they are wet and cold. Don't start getting ideas."

Within minutes, she helped him out of his pants, wrapped a blanket around his waist and made him sit back on the couch. The temperature was quickly rising, allowing the two friends to finally relax.

Brennan was too lost in his brooding to even notice Emma going out of the cabin and coming back inside, her arms loaded with wood. She put it beside the fireplace and noticed small black stones cut like bricks but with smooth edges. Quickly the stones found their place near the hearth, keeping in the heat. 'A bed warmed with stones. Just like when you were a child.' The thought kept playing in her head as she busied herself with small insignificant tasks in the fire lit cabin. Anything to stop ideas of what had happened a few hours ago to enter her mind.

------

'Don't start getting ideas.' The sentence replayed in his mind over and over 'Yeah right! For that it's already too late Emma.' The elemental sighed wearily. Since Caleb, he had avoided her. That night he had wanted to talk to her about the changes in their friendship. Then Caleb had happened. Realization and fear had paralysed him. His action had consequences and he could not let her pay for them. So after nearly loosing her, he had pushed the idea in the back of his head. What if he had hurt her? He could have lost her. He shook his head; hell, he had already lost her. Living with that knowledge day after day was slowly killing him. His attitude had only raised a wall of incomprehension between them, separating them more and more. And then, three days ago he had found that book on his bed with a small card. On it just a few words. 'Dreams born out of love are what makes us strong.'

"Bren, are you feeling better?"

Quickly he looked up, afraid she might have sensed the thoughts and feelings playing in his head.

"Hum yeah. I guess…"

Sitting beside him, she took one of his hands pleased to find it warm. Instinctively his other hand wrapped around hers. Emma shivered slightly; the temperature contrast between their hands was stunning. The young woman finally realized she was chilled to the bones and not because of their walk in the snow. Brennan came to the same conclusions and mentally kicked himself. He had been too self-absorbed to even notice she must have been freezing too. This added to the shock, her shivers were not surprising.

He nearly dragged her to the bed, pushed the covers aside and made her sit. As carefully as she had done it an hour ago, he removed her shoes and socks then disposed of her jacket, pants and sweater leaving her in a t-shirt and underwear.

Emma stayed completely passive lost in her anguish. They had nearly died in that avalanche. And if they hadn't found that cabin, they would be dead right now. She felt him lifting her legs and putting them on the softly warming bed. She looked up and their eyes connected.

"Don't leave me Bren."

From the intensity of her stare, he understood the hidden meaning of her sentence. He sat on the bed and embraced her, nearly crushing her. He had to feel her heartbeat to be sure she was alive. In that instant the distance between them vanished; his feelings overcame the barriers he had raised between them.

"I'm not planning on leaving you anytime soon, honey."

The young woman closed her eyes, basking in his warmth embrace. She had nearly lost him… again. But he was there holding her. On her own will, her lips touched his neck briefly kissing his pulse point. His heartbeat was steady under her smooth skin. A soft murmur softly followed her kiss.

"Stay."

Without a word she moved a bit leaving him room to lay down with her. His eyes never leaving hers, the elemental got rid of the blanket, his sweater and laid down with her. Instinctively her head found its place on his chest and he wrapped one arm around her waist. He brought the covers on them and entwined his fingers with hers.

"Bren?"

"You should sleep Em. We'll worry tomorrow about food and other stuff."

Emma couldn't help but smile. Always count on him to be practical.

"That's not what I was gonna say."

Brennan tightened his grip on her knowing they would not get such a respite anytime soon. It felt so good, so natural to simply hold her.

"I'm glad we're here, together."

He could not answer her. Her words were a new weapon to fight his guilt; she had always been able to soothe him, to bring him that peace and love he longed for. Lovingly he kissed her forehead, his lips lingering a little longer than necessary. Tonight he would allow himself to simply hold her without worrying about his past mistakes. He would just enjoy her warm presence.

"Good night Em"

"Night, Bren."

TBC