Feral eyes locked on their prey across the room as it laughed and flirted with the blonde boy. Her best friend to make matters worse. She didn't even know if she had the right to be jealous in the first place. It's not like she'd proclaimed her true feelings to the psionic. Every time she'd came close she'd backed out, surprising even herself that she could be less than the predatory go getter she usually was. But when it came to her heart she seemed more a timid feral than what she'd usually have her friends believe.

She swirled the glass in a circular motion between her fingers; the dampness of the wine of the edge slightly moistening her skin as she repeated the motion all the while her eyes remaining fixated on the red head across the room seeming to enjoy her "charade" a little too much. She contemplated if she drank enough maybe those feelings would subside again and she could ignore them. She huffed at the thought knowing full well she hadn't been able to lock those feelings up since the first time she'd discovered them no matter how hard she tried. They were a part of her and so was the psionic and there wasn't any amount of alcohol or time in the world to change her heart's desire.

She knew she didn't want them to go away, only to be returned in kind. If it hadn't been for her paralyzing fear she might have to carry them unrequited forever she might have let the psionic in on them long ago. Maybe if she had she'd be the one the redhead's lap was squishing with her arms wrapped around her neck right now. Maybe she'd be smiling in the knowledge it was her the psionic was going to spend the rest of the night with and perhaps even longer. Maybe if Emma had known she would have suggested she and Shalimar act the couple instead of clinging to the molecular like their boat was going down across the room while she sat under her cloud of misery at the bar. Maybe, she thought.

"Take a picture it lasts longer," the blonde said without looking up only sensing the elemental's eyes all over her, judging her, as she took another dragged out sip from her half empty wine glass.

"I could suggest you do the same," was all he replied with.

Shalimar sighed and caught his eyes with hers, practically having to pry them off the psionic to do so.

"Does she know?" he asked, his eyes never flinching as he held her gaze as if to try and judge her reaction to his words.

"What?" she asked, the question sounding to be a cross between asking 'does she know what' and 'why are you asking me this'. The last thing she felt like doing was confessing her love for her best female friend to the man she knew was into her, especially tonight.

"Did you tell her you love her?" he asked simply. It occurred to her he didn't even seem too shocked to be saying these accusations. In fact he seemed a lot calmer and more collected than she was.

"Come on, Shal, don't shut me out on this one. Maybe I can help."

"Nobody can help, Brennan," she answered flatly, tipping her head to him before taking another drink, dissatisfied when the pain in her heart didn't in fact wash away.

"Shal-"

"Look, Brennan, I'm doing my job here okay. I got the info Adam needed and now I just wanna relax and try to enjoy myself before we leave and if I can't do that I'll just hafta kick someone's ass. Either way you're best staying away from me right now."

She flashed him a glare that made him thankful looks couldn't kill before lifting her glass to polish off the remainder or her grape flavored wine.

"Fine," he replied, a tiny hint of surrender in his voice as he pushed himself to his feet and off the bar. "If this is how you wanna spend your Valentine's Day be my guest."

As huff of disgust made itself known to her as he walked past her, only adding more fuel to her annoyance she harbored inside. She could almost feel herself burning up at all the emotions flooding her insides she seemed to have absolutely no control over what so ever. She placed her left hand to her head as a slight groan escaped her lips, a headache already becoming apparent. She was sure it was from the frustration she was fighting and not the five or six glasses of wine she'd had in the past half hour or so. If any more annoyance, lust, pain, jealousy, regret, or love built up inside her she was sure she'd explode right there.

Almost reflexively, she was twirling the glass in her fingers again and her eyes had found their way back over to the giggling psionic still making herself at home on Jesse's lap.

"Damn," she bit out, slamming the wine glass on the bar, shattering it. She was grateful no one was close enough to have seen it and with all the talking going on in the ballroom no one had seemed to hear it either. She glanced back over to Emma still laughing in the molecular's lap and not seeming the least bit concerned what the feral was up to. The thought only brought more anger to her and she squeezed the glass in her hand, barely feeling it as the small shards cut into her flesh, drawing the blood forth to pool on the bar before her.

Only when the scent of blood caught her nose did Shalimar look down to see it was her own spilling forth onto the bar. She reached for the paper towels behind the bar and quickly began to wipe it up before anyone saw. As she performed her task she once again found her eyes simply unable to refrain from the psionic. She felt like one of those snakes in the pails the men always seem to hypnotize with their instruments and she was the snake. Every move, every sound, every smile offered by the red head caused Shalimar to obey her every "command" helplessly. So helpless in fact she didn't notice that while she was watching the psionic she cut herself on the glass again.

Throwing the broken glass into the trash beside her she pressed the paper towels into her hand and excused herself to the bathroom. She was surprised she didn't bump into anyone on the way since she hardly looked up from the psionic while she walked either.

As she entered the bathroom she let out a loud and long sigh of relief almost seeming to let all her emotions pour off her. She was thankful no one else was in the bathroom and relished the time alone. She walked over to the sinks and reached for the faucet, stopping as she caught a glimpse of herself in the large mirror. Even she could see how obvious she was. Emma must know how she felt and didn't seem to be affected by it at all.

Shalimar braced her arms on the sink counter and hung her head. Her silence was interrupted soon enough as the sound of the bathroom door opening around the other side of the corner caused her to lift her head. She looked ahead planning on staring at herself in the mirror and maybe giving herself a little pep talk but the sight of the beautiful red head behind her caught her attention instead. Once again her eyes had made their choice, not that they'd had much of one.

"Oh hey, Shal," the psionic greeted cheerfully, so cheerful it only made Shalimar angrier.

She tried to hide it as best she could knowing the psionic would pick up on it but it was too much for her. Too much for her fragile heart to stand. She couldn't pretend anymore and hardly even had the energy to do so at the moment.

"Are you ok?" Emma asked, sensing something was wrong and stepping closer to the feral to stand beside her. "Shalimar, what happened?" her concerned voice questioned as the blood stained towels in the feral's hands caught her attention.

Gentle hands were soon cupping Shalimar's own and she sighed at the delicate touches. Emma parted the feral's fingers and removed the paper towels to place them in the wastebasket behind her.

"What happened to you?" she asked again as she raised the feral's hand to her eye level to further examine it.

"Just a little accident."

"Little accident? Shal, you're all cut up. Did someone do this to you?"

Shalimar sighed knowing she really wasn't in the mood to deal with the psionic after everything she "put her through" tonight.

"I broke a glass."

"Glass?" Emma echoed, not liking the sound of that one bit. "Move under the light so I can get a better look," she insisted, placing a hand on the feral's back to assist her as the two side stepped a little father under the lights above them.

Emma ran some paper towels under the faucet and placed the feral's hands on them. She remained calm though she was deeply concerned for her friend and Shalimar's waves of emotions running amuck inside her were also getting in her way.

"I'm gonna check to make sure there isn't any glass in there. Hold still," Emma informed, leaning down to search all the cuts on each of the feral's palms and the few that had spread to the backs of her hand. Every soft touch she delivered felt so good the feral wondered if they actually were making her feel worse.

"I didn't see any glass," the psionic finally informed as she leaned back up, "I think you should have Adam take a look at that later. Do a scan just to be sure."

"Yeah, well I'm a fast healer."

Emma offered a smile but it was obvious she was still worried and concerned for the feral's well being. She turned to the first aid kit hanging on the wall behind them and removed the necessary bandages and placed them on the sink counter.

"I'm gonna have to wrap those cuts for now."

A half smile on the feral's face told the psionic she offered no protest and Emma began to wrap each of the feral's cuts, using only gentle and loving touches to ease the pain of her wounds. How many times had she bandaged the feral that this time there was no way she could overlook the fact she needed medical attention.

"I can make it not hurt as much," Emma offered when she'd finished her task.

Shalimar opened her mouth in preparation to talk, her eyes still averted from the psionic's. She ran her fingers over her newly wrapped palms and glanced back and forth between Emma and her hands as she spoke.

"I'll be fine," she insisted, knowing the real reason was she didn't want Emma in her head at the moment.

"Are you sure?" Emma asked, reaching between them to take the feral's hands within her own. "I don't want you to be in pain."

Shalimar forced a smile, knowing in reality most of the pain she'd experienced tonight had been from the psionic although it wasn't really her fault.

"Thank you," she managed and finally allowed her eyes to meet with the concerned blue gems of the psionic.

It was at that moment she realized just how close they were. She could feel the heat radiating off the psionic's skin and her hot breath danced its way across her face, down her jaw and across her neck causing her hair to nearly stand on end at the slight sensation.

She pulled the woman into a tight embrace, the psionic's hands caressing their way across her back in comforting motions. She inched her head back, slowly, so she could look into the woman's eyes once again. She needed to know what she was feeling, what was going on behind those crystal blue gems of hers. She wanted to discover every feeling the psionic held and especially all those she held for her.

She closed her eyes almost as if trying to concentrate hard enough to hear the psionic's thoughts and feelings. She moved forward, unsure of whether or not Emma did the same but the next thing she knew warm lips were pressing to her own, softly and slowly. All the pain in Shalimar's hands and heart was quickly disappearing as she kissed the woman in her arms, desperately trying to show her all the things she'd been holding back.

After a few moments of kissing, Shalimar let her tongue escape her lips to explore the psionic's. She trailed her tongue over Emma's bottom lip tasting a hint of the champagne she must've been drinking still lingering on them. But it was nothing compared to the extraordinary natural taste of the red head and Shalimar pressed deeper into her mouth longing for more.

Before she had much of a chance to explore the psionic's mouth the door to the bathroom was swinging opened again causing them both to jolt out of each others arms as a statuesque blonde woman made her way into the bathroom, an awkward silence surrounding them except for the clicking of the woman's heels across the white, tile floor.

Shalimar licked her lips as if to try and take in every bit of the psionic that still remained upon them. She smiled at the taste of the woman until she looked up and caught the look in the blue gems before her. It was almost as if Emma wasn't sure what they'd just done and Shalimar quickly began to feel uneasy again and even slightly embarrassed that she'd assumed Emma wanted her as much as she hoped. Emma's eyes almost seemed blank as she looked to Shalimar's for some sort or explanation as to what had just happened.

Shalimar quickly turned and headed for the door, not knowing where she was going to go only wanting to get as far away from the psionic as she could in hopes of avoiding what she knew, or was sure, was going to happen next, Emma letting her down. Her heart was barely hanging on after tonight as she was sure she couldn't take the hit.

"Shalimar," Emma called after her as the feral exited the bathroom doors in somewhat of a hurry. She headed out the door after her knowing she should have done so sooner but she was too shocked to say or do anything until a few moments after the doors had closed.

"Shalimar, wait!" she called as she exited the bathroom. She looked around but found no sign of the feral in sight. She leaned against the wall and let her head sink into her hands, kicking herself inside for having allowed that to happen.