This chapters very Brennan/Shalimar oriented and it kinda starts a while sub plot type thing. Enjoy and take the time to review.
Amber Cloud - I started writing this story months before you posted your first chapter so there is no way that I could have stolen your ideas, even if I wanted to. I've already written 19 chapters of Shock of the Old so I really don't think you have anything to worry about. And btw, there are always going to be similarities in terms of themes in these fanfictions. Mutant X had only three seasons, at most 6 well established characters and there are 1139 fanfictions on this website. Similarities are something you're just gonna have to give up worrying about.
'What?' he said, looking at her, eyebrows raised, tone indignant.
'The door,' she replied wearily. She now realised quite how annoying it was to have someone do something impetuously without even considering the consequences. She watched him as he turned around and reached out for the door handle.
'Don't bother, its not gonna open,' she said. He grasped the door handle anyway and started yanking on it, trying to force it open. She glared at his back before rolling her eyes.
'Brennan,' she said, trying to get him to stop. This was not quite what she had imagined their reunion to be. He didn't, however stop pulling at the door.
'Brennan!' she yelled across the rooftop. He stopped what he was doing and turned suddenly to stare in disbelief at the blonde woman. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes had a look of irritation and something else he couldn't quite read. He couldn't believe that it was four years. He didn't know how much he had changed, he didn't feel any different but if Shalimar had changed then he figured he had to have too. It wasn't that she looked different, she still had the same wild blonde waves reaching all the way down her back, and she still had those same curves that he used to love watching and touching. She was gorgeous and she always had been. But there was that something behind her eyes. She wasn't as soft as she had been, she had lost that instant warmth. He remembered when he first saw her, during the fight on the Skywalk. She had been radiant and every day since that one she had retained that. No matter what was going on, even when Emma died and Adam disappeared she still had that same fire, that spark. It was what he really loved about her, it was what had held him together even in the darkest of times. But it had faded, she had faded. Whatever had taken place in the four years since he had last seen her had made her hard, harsh, cold.
'Its been too long,' he said. He watched her as her head dropped a little. Her muscles relaxed and she seemed to breath in deeply before sighing the breath out. She turned around and walked to the edge of the roof.
'Don't jump, please,' he said, recognising how she had an escape not open to him.
She turned to face him, eyebrows raised. 'I couldn't if I wanted to,' she said as she took a seat on the wall which surrounded the roof, separating it from the drop to the ground below. 'And I don't want to,' she added, looking him straight in the eye. She didn't want to leave. They had a lot to catch up on, not trivial stuff like where they worked and whether they were dating anyone. Important stuff, things that counted, like whether or not they were going to regroup. She had guessed that that was what the whole thing was about. She hadn't seen or heard from Jesse, Lexa or Brennan in years so when they all showed up at her place of work and then at her home she knew something had to be going down.
She looked up at the sky, watching as the few clouds that had floated around during the day passed over the stars. She was out of the city enough that she could make some of them out, too close for the sky to be pitch black. She felt a light breeze wash over her, making her feel cool, fresh. The hunt called to her. What she hunted didn't matter, it was the waiting and then the chase that made her feel alive. Since she had moved to New York the opportunities for hunting her prey had become smaller and had appeared less often. She couldn't leave Taylor for very long. She stood up quickly as she thought of Taylor. She would be all alone, and if she woke up she would wonder where her mother was.
'What's the matter?' Brennan asked in suprise as Shalimar shot up from her perch on the wall.
'Taylor. She's alone in the apartment. I have to get back to her,' Shalimar said her tone full of urgency as she jogged towards the door. She reached out her hand but stopped as Brennan grasped her wrist. She looked up at him, a frown marring her features.
'What the hell are you doing?'
'Lexa and Jesse are hanging out in your apartment, they'll keep an eye on Taylor for you.'
She saw a flash of bitterness cross his eyes as he let go of her arm. She felt a blush rise up her neck towards her face. Maybe she was in denial, maybe she had just temporarily not been thinking but she had completely neglected to think about Brennan. She knew she shouldn't feel guilty about it, she was only doing what any mother would have but it was bound to have hurt him. She had left and now she had a daughter.
She wandered away from him across the roof and reached down to a small cupboard. She opened the door and pulled out a pack of matches, kept in there to keep dry. She walked around the roof lighting randomly placed candles and when she was finished the roof had been transformed. There were patches of glowing light, shadows cast by flower pots which had been unnoticeable in the dark. She breathed in the smell of lavender and clematis. All the scents mingled together and she loved it. It calmed her when the garden looked like a classy Santa's grotto.
'So what are we going to do now?'
She looked at him. It had been a while. She had imagined this reunion a million times over in her head and everytime she had come up with the perfect thing to say. She would say something funny and they would both laugh and everything would be forgotten in an instant; or she would say something poignant and they would both look off into the middle distance and everything would be forgotten in an instant; or she would walk up to him and they would kiss, deeply, passionately, intensely, gently. And of course everything would be forgotten in an instant. But real life, it turned out was much more complicated than her imagination.
'We could talk, its not like we've done that in a while.'
His eyes met hers and she could see he agreed with her plan. They were gonna be stuck up there for a while, until they figured how to get down or atleast until somebody opened the door, and they had to do something to pass the time.
'What do you want to talk about?' he asked as he slumped onto the wall. It had been a long couple of days and the flying, even in a regular plane was something he wasn't very used to. He rested his elbows on his knees and leant his head in his hands. He needed to sleep but there was now very little chance of that happening.
'I don't know. Its more difficult than I thought it would be.'
'What is?'
'Seeing you again.' Her eyes stared straight into his. She blinked and looked away, suddenly embarrassed by her bold answer. 'I mean, seeing all of you again,' she backtracked, attempting to cover up the emotions she was feeling towards Brennan at that moment.
'Yeah, ditto,' he replied. He knew what she meant, the first and second comments. It was difficult seeing them all again, talking to them. The way things had ended he didn't think he would ever see any of them again but it had always been strange the way things turned out.
'My God. Could we have started on a more depressing, awkward subject of conversation?' Shalimar said. She saw him smirk, the same expression she had seen a thousand times before, some would call it cocky, she would always refer to it as confident. She sat down next to him, a plant pot all that separated them.
'But if we didn't talk about depressing things we would probably never talk,' he replied. The moment the words escaped his mouth he wanted to take them back. He hadn't meant it like that, not at all. When they had lived at Sanctuary no matter what had been going on with Genomex or Ashlocke or the Dominion they had always been happy. Maybe not true happiness but given their line of work and their fast disappearing friends that was something they would have to leave to the fairytales. He looked at her face. He could see she was trying to brush the comment off as a joke but she wasn't doing a very good job.
'Shal, I didn't mean it. I spoke before thinking. Looks like I haven't changed that much in four years huh?'
She smiled as she turned her head to look at him. 'No you haven't,' she replied, her smile growing.
'I take it that's not a bad thing,' he said.
'Definitely not. I like the old Brennan.'
'You've changed though.'
'You think?'
'A little. Maybe its the fact that you have a daughter now. You've become less fiery.'
'She's not yours.'
Brennan stared into Shalimar's eyes. He had been expecting that, or something along those lines. He wasn't sure what he was feeling. Some part of him was glad. He was so not ready for that kind of responsibility. But there was this huge part of him which wished that Taylor was his daughter. Maybe he wanted to gain a stronger link to Shalimar. They hadn't talked in so long that they had drifted apart and though he had a feeling that if they spent enough time together they could regain their old friendship the connection brought about by Taylor would have made it stronger, more stable.
'Blunt as ever.'
She hadn't really meant it to come out quite as briskly as it had. But she had wanted to assure him that on that score atleast there was nothing between them. Taylor wasn't his and she had figured that it was best that he knew it straight away. She didn't want them to tiptoe around the issue until all the tension built up and they were forced to talk about it all.
'I just wanted to clear that up. I don't want there to be any awkwardness between us.'
'I know,' he replied.
'You're not gonna rejoin are you?' he asked after a pause that ate away at both of them.
'I can't Brennan. Lexa and Jesse never got out of this world saving business thing. They've been doing it for the past four years. And I don't know about you but presumably, given your presence here right now you didn't have anything tying you down to your new life. I've got a daughter and she has to take priority.'
'I understand.'
This time the silence didn't feel imposing or oppressive. Neither of them had any inclination to break it. It was such a beautiful night on the most beautiful roof in the whole state of New York. The breeze was wafting the scents of flowers around them both and they sat there, not saying a word, stuck in the moment that they didn't want to get out of.
'So, why did you leave?'
She closed her eyes. She hadn't wanted him to ask that question because she didn't want to give him the answer. She remembered the day when she had woken up early and packed her bags. She remembered every single item of clothing, every tube and pot of make up, every piece of jewellry that she had placed in that bag. She had walked out quietly, taking one last tour of the place she had called home for so long. She had touched as much as she could, hoping that everything would leave an imprint on her memory, indelibly etched there for eternity. And it had worked. The layout of Sanctuary and every piece of furniture, every ornament, every chunk of rock had stayed with her. After she had walked around a few times she had looked in on her teammates. They had all been sound asleep, completely oblivious to her presence. She had watched as they breathed slowly in and out, each of them dreaming their own dreams. And then she had turned and walked out of the building, taking one of the cars. She hadn't left them a note. It was too cheesy Hollywood movie and she didn't want her leaving to be so completely cliched. But she hadn't had the guts to tell them to their faces. She knew it would be too hard and she couldn't have dealt with it.
'There's no one reason why I left. Everything that had happened over the years had built up I guess. All the fights had held this purpose when I first started. Me and Adam were trying to stop the evil forces of Genomex and the GSA,' she said, a joking tone coming to her voice as she talked about Mutant X's foes. 'But then we all started learning this stuff about him and us and them and the lines became blurred. I couldn't tell which side I was working for, especially with the appearance of the Dominion. I know that's a crappy excuse but I don't have a better one.'
Their eyes met again and everything faded away into nothing. Seconds turned into minutes and time ebbed away slowly, giving them the chance to reacquaint themselves with each others faces. They learned every curve, every wrinkle, every change in tone all by the light of the candles which lit up the roof in the nights sky.
Brennan frowned as Shalimar's eyes flashed golden. They glowed brighter than the tiny flames around them. She stood up and leant over the edge of the building. She looked down at the ground below and saw a man standing beside a car. He looked like he was waiting for something and after a minute of waiting she saw why. A man walked forward out of the building, the figure of a girl hanging over his shoulder. She knew without even seeing her face that it was Taylor. She growled low under her breath, a warning that they couldn't hear. Two other men followed the one with her daughter and they all made to get into the car.
'Taylor.' Her voice came out as something barely at the tone of a whisper. She felt like she couldn't breath, like the air was trapped inside her throat and her vision began to fade to black. Brennan saw her swaying and ran forward just in time to catch her from falling to the floor. He had seen all that she had seen, the men, the car and the girl. He couldn't believe quite how helpless he felt at that moment. Watching Shalimar's daughter taken away in a car while both he and Shalimar were useless, on top of a roof, trapped there. He lowered Shalimar to the floor by his feet and stood up quickly, drawing the familiar electricity into his hand, ready to shoot it out at the target of the car, just enough to get it to stop where it was. But when he looked again it was gone. And so was Taylor.
He stared at the road, unable to blink or move. He closed his hand into a fist and shut off the electricity, feeling it retract back into him. He heard a noise behind him and turned to see Shalimar. She was wide awake and standing. Her eyes showed her fury and she ran quickly towards the door. She hammered on it with her fists, occasionally aiming a hard kick at the metal. But nothing would make it budge. Brennan walked over to her. She was acting like someone possessed and he didn't know what to do. Instinct seemed to take over as he grabbed her wrists and turned her to face him. As soon as he made contact with her skin he felt her crumple to the floor. She dropped onto her knees, tears flowing freely down her face. She sobbed, the noise breaking into the silence. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him and felt her fragile figure shaking uncontrollably. He closed his eyes but quickly reopened them. All he could see in his head was him standing on the roof looking down at a situation he couldn't do anything to stop.
'Shalimar,' he whispered into her ear. She didn't acknowledge that he had said anything but the sobbing became less extreme and after a while she stopped moving altogether. The only sign that she was still alive was her breathing which Brennan could feel against his chest.
He slid his arms across her back and gripped her arms gently. He pulled her away from him so he could see her face. He had to know that she was okay, and he had to tell her that it wasn't her fault. So many questions were racing through his mind but he was worried about Jesse and Lexa. They had been in the apartment with Taylor and there was no way they would have given her up without a fight.
He stood up, gently pulling her up with him.
'Shalimar,' he said, louder but not much beyond an exhalation of breath.
She looked around her, her mind completely bewildered by everything that had just happened. She couldn't process it all but her brain was working feverishly to try and get a grip on some of it. She grabbed hold of Brennan's arms as it all built up, all the emotions she was feeling, all the thoughts she was thinking, all the what-ifs she was experiencing. The fact that Taylor was gone was just starting to sink in but what she could do about it was something which was beyond her.
'We need to get off this roof,' Brennan said, attempting to get Shalimar to open up out of herself.
She looked into his eyes for the first time since it had happened. At first she didn't seem to recognise him and he stared back at her, hating the emptiness present in her eyes. But gradually as she continued to stare a warmth appeared and she closed her eyes, leaning into Brennan's tall figure. He held her to him.
'I can't jump from this high up,' she said as she pulled away from him.
'I could try blasting the door down,' he suggested, knowing it was probably completely pointless.
'We need Jesse.'
He brushed the shards and splinters of wood from his hair as he pushed himself off the floor of Shalimar's apartment. He could feel the pain throbbing through his mind from the chair that had been smashed into his skull. It had happened pretty soon into the fight and everything had become black after that. He blinked his eyes hard, scrunching them up as he tried to regain his basic motor functions. He stood up and looked around him. The place was a mess. The people who had broken in had done a pretty good job on it. The couch was upturned, the stuffing from the cushions spilling out across the floor; the television screen was smashed, glass littering the floor around it; doors were hanging off their hinges, swinging in the breeze which drifted through a shattered window.
He turned quickly at a sound from behind him, in direction of the little girls bedroom. He readied himself for another fight but saw Lexa walking out of the room. She was limping, a bruise forming on her cheek as blood slid down her forehead. Her hair was unusually messy and her top was ripped. She looked at him and her bottom lip began to quiver uncontrollably. She shook her head before collapsing against the wall in tears, sobs racking her body. What was she going to tell Shalimar?
Jesse ran towards her, grabbing the sides of her face, rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks, wiping the tears away.
'It is not your fault,' he said, knowing the exact thoughts that were going through her head because they were going through his as well. He leant his forehead against hers, feeling the warmth which seemed to pulsate off of it.
'How are we going to tell her?' Lexa asked, her voice smaller than Jesse had ever heard it before.
'We're going to tell her that Taylor was taken by the people we want to take down, we're going to apologise and then we're going to promise to get her back.'
Lexa closed her eyes, overwhelming herself with darkness as she allowed herself to be guided by Jesse. She had always considered herself to be cool and calm and to some extent wise. She had always seemed, atleast to herself more experienced than Jesse and she had always considered that to be a good thing. But what she really loved about him was the way he made everything better with just one word, he saw the good in every situation and was passionate about making everyone else see it, or atleast fight for it.
She raised her hand to caress his cheek, feeling a welt growing on the skin from where the chair had hit him. She stroked the skin, loving the feel of day old stubble. She ran her hand up his face and through his hair, raising her eyes to look into his.
'We should get them off the roof.'