Thanks for the reviews and support. Hopefully I'll be a little quicker uploading stuff now that uni has settled down a little. Please reciew this chapter and no. 9 should be up by tomorrow night (British time).
Jesse watched as Lexa breathed deeply, her body remaining still as she leant back against the leather seat of the plane and watched through the window as the world passed her by. Down below tiny fields and even tinier threads of roads could just be made out. The plane was descending slowly to a strip in Logan Airport, one only in use to VIP flights. The plane passed through some low lying clouds, the white shapes amassing around the plane and then splitting apart from the planes force.
Lexa missed the Helix. She had gradually grown used to regular planes but she had loved flying in the Helix. It was smooth and fast and its flexibility in the air had been a sight to see. She had loved looking through its windows to the ground below, knowing that whatever was down there would be no match for the united force of Mutant X. Lexa had never been very good at dealing with change. She would have loved to have thought she was and that was the act she presented to everyone but she hated when things ended and new things had to begin. But it was only when Shalimar had left that the team really fell apart. Lexa would have loved to have completely sympathised with Shalimar's situation at the time but there were times when she couldn't. She had hated her for leaving, not least because of what it did to two of the only men in her life who meant anything. She may have bickered like crazy with Brennan and she may have played games with Jesse for months but she loved them like family. She hadn't meant to get quite so sucked in but she had, they had drawn her in, their personalities weaving this spell around her and pulling her closer, making her care. She had opened herself up and then she had suffered the consequences when everything started to fall apart.
Brennan had been the first to leave. The arguments between him and everyone else had increased in number and intensity and then one day he had packed his bags and taken one of the cars and he hadn't come back. Rooms became quieter, the atmosphere became less vibrant and eventually Sanctuary had stopped being the ultimate safehouse and had started being a prison, stopping Lexa and Jesse from leaving because they couldn't ever give up hope. But eventually, after weeks of trying to live normal lives, or as normal as their lives ever got they had both given up on the other two ever returning. Lexa remembered weeping like she had never done before and in that moment she had hated them more than anything. They had placed their own pride and their own feelings before those of the two people who were being left behind. They had left, shutting everything off, closing everything down, closing Sanctuary and leaving it to the thousands of ghosts that had amassed over the years.
Learning what Shalimar had really been going through back then had helped Lexa to understand but she was more angry than she would ever let on that they had both left again, without a word from either of them. They had taken it upon themselves to do what they saw fit, not caring, not giving a thought for what the other two were going to do without them. Lexa had never relied on anyone, had never allowed herself to, but she depended on all of them and on the hope and faith that they provoked in her, two feelings she didn't think she was capable of feeling.
She looked across at Jesse, his blue eyes boring into her own. He knew exactly what she was thinking. She didn't know how but he did. The stare they shared wasn't uncomfortable and they held it without a blink from either of them. Gradually the plane lowered to the ground and they felt the light bumps as the plane landed on the tarmac and taxied along the runway. It came to a stop and they stood up, reaching into the overhead compartments, grabbing the small bags they had brought with them. They walked, hand in hand off the plane and out of the airport, their eyes weary but bright.
Shalimar felt the slight bump through the car, again. She had felt it twice before, both times causing her to frown. There was something wrong with the vehicle, she knew that much but what it was she couldn't figure out.
'Brennan,' she said quietly, trying to wake him up. He had quickly fallen asleep in the passenger seat and Shalimar had taken over driving duties. She was feeling more alive and awake than she had done all day and she had opened the window fully, enjoying the feel of cool air through her hair and across her face. She had turned the radio off, allowing her to fully enjoy the night time sounds that she knew only she could hear. The chirping of crickets in the fields next to the road, the whistling of grass as the breeze passed between the shoots, all of it was music to her and she smiled slightly, allowing her muscles to relax a little more. It was difficult knowing that they were getting closer to Taylor but unable to reach her any quicker than they were moving at the moment.
'Brennan?' she repeated, reaching across to shake his shoulder slightly, gently at first, getting harder when he didn't stir. She took her eyes off the road, knowing that she would be able to sense any obstacle before any normal person could see it.
He groaned and brushed her arm away. She looked at his face, his eyes screwed up, his mouth open as he objected to her continued assault on his sleeping form. She started poking him harder, her finger digging into his arm. She rolled her eyes and was about to give up on her mission when she felt the car jerk again. There was definitely something wrong with it and as talented as she was there was no way she was going to be able to fix it.
'Brennan!' she yelled into his ear. He shot up, his eyes wide and slammed his head into the window. He grimaced and his hand shot to the back of his head, rubbing his skull vigorously.
'What?' he bit out, a huge frown still resting on his face.
'There's something wrong with the car,' replied Shalimar as she tried to stifle her giggles. Brennan glared at her and she managed to fake a serious, slightly sympathetic look.
'Pull it over,' Brennan said.
As the words exited his mouth the car gave another judder and shook violently before stalling completely.
They both stared, speechless out of the front windscreen. Shalimar's face was blank as she waited for Brennan to get out of the car and go fix whatever problem there was with it.
After waiting a few moments she got impatient. 'Go fix it,' she demanded.
'I wouldn't be able to see a thing in this light,' Brennan replied, his look disbelieving.
Shalimar reached across to the glove compartment and pulled it open more aggressively than she had intended. Her eyes glowed as she looked through the maps and old food wrappers till she found what she was looking for.
She yanked out a torch, flicking it on and handing it to Brennan.
'Go do something,' she said, her tone brooking no opposition.
Brennan rolled his eyes before pushing the door of the car open and walking round to the front of the vehicle. Shalimar pushed the button to open it and Brennan pulled it up, blocking her view.
She leant back against the seat and closed her eyes, her senses becoming even more alert without the constant noise and buzz of the engine to interrupt her scan of the world. She could hear occasional utterances from Brennan as he muttered from underneath the hood of the car.
'I can hear you,' she called out, rousing herself from her moment of relaxation.
'Good,' Brennan replied, his voice containing signs of frustration and mild anger. He couldn't really be angry at her, never could, not Shalimar. She would either manage to wheedle herself out of the situation with a little well placed flirting or she would look at him, with her huge brown eyes that could never lie to him. It wasn't her fault that she always got herself out of certain circumstances; it was just that anyone who met her couldn't help but be wrapped around her little finger.
He heard her shift herself out of the vehicle and walk around towards him. She came into view and smirked at him as he held the torch in his mouth and peered into the mass of engine parts. She had no idea how he could tell one part from the next having never had a knack with mechanics.
'Need some help?' she asked, repentance at waking him up showing in her tone.
'No, I think I've worked out what the problem is anyway,' he answered, rubbing his hand across his forehead, slowly easing out the tension and wrinkles.
'What?' Shalimar asked eagerly, ready to get moving again. She didn't like sitting still at the best of times but she definitely didn't want to be in one place for too long knowing that the Dominion were desperate to catch up with them. She didn't feel safe when they were just sitting on the edge of the road.
'You know there's that dial in the car that tells you when you're out of gas? Its probably telling us we're out of gas since that is the problem.'
'Well it can't be working or something,' Shalimar replied with a sigh. A problem so trivial was not something she wanted to be faced with at that moment in time. She didn't have time to waste in running out of gas.
'Or maybe you've been understandably distracted and you just didn't notice,' Brennan said, his voice calming as he walked towards her and took her hands in his. Coming from anyone else it would have been condescending but Shalimar knew he meant it in the best possible way.
'So, what are we going to do?' she asked, leaning into him, relishing his warmth.
'The next gas station could be miles away.'
'This strikes me as a fairly cliched premise to a horror movie.'
They looked at each other before laughing. Shalimar walked back to the drivers side of the car and reached into the back, grabbing her bag and pulling it over the headrests from the back seat. She pulled out a mobile phone from the front pocket and turned it on.
'Where did you get that from?' Brennan asked.
'Stole it from Lexa,' she replied sheepishly. She had decided that being organised was preferable to the situation they were currently stuck in. She searched through the phone book until she found Jesse's name and, after a moments hesitation pushed the call button. She raised the phone to her ear and heard the ringing tone at the other end. She wasn't entirely sure where they were or how Jesse and Lexa were going to pick them up quickly and easily but she knew that they were her only hope.
Jesse sat up as his mobile started vibrating against the table top. He and Lexa had reached the hotel room about fifteen minutes earlier and had decided that going straight to bed was probably a good idea given their current levels of energy. He picked the phone up quickly and padded into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and sitting on the edge of the bath.
'Hello?' he asked, as he pushed the call button having taken in that it was Lexa calling him.
'Hi,' came Shalimar's tiny voice. She sounded like she was in a seriously bad area receptionwise but she also sounded intensely guilty about running off. He decided to give her a hard time about it later, he couldn't look her in the eye as he went off on one about telling your friends where you were going over the phone.
'Where are you?' he said, his voice barely above a whisper as he thought of the sleeping form in the next room.
'We're on a road somewhere,' Shalimar replied helpfully.
'I'll trace your signal and I'll be there as soon as possible, okay?' he said, already standing up.
'Okay,' she said, the relief evident.
He cut the call before walking out of the bathroom. He pulled on a pair of trousers and shoes as quietly as possible, knowing how light a sleeper Lexa could be. He opened one of the drawers on the bedside table and pulled out the complimentary hotel paper. He grabbed a pen and scribbled a note to Lexa, making her aware of where he had gone and placed it on his pillow. Having done that he took one last look at the brunette before grabbing his jacket from the back of a chair and walking out of the room, shutting the door with an almost silent click.
She squeezed her eyes shut as the sun threatened to break her out of her deep sleep. She hadn't dreamt about anything, her mind completely blank and it was the most rest she had gotten in a long time. She pulled the duvet over her head shutting out the light completely and settled herself down to sleep again.
She frowned. Something was missing. There was something that should have been in the room that wasn't and she wasn't sure what it was. She pulled the duvet from over her head and lay there, trying to acclimatise herself to her new surroundings. It wasn't a new occurrence, sleeping in a hotel room. It felt, a lot of the time like she and Jesse didn't even have a home. It would have been unsettling but having Jesse beside her in any bed made it feel like it was the place she was meant to be.
She rolled over onto her side and placed her hand on his chest, hoping to wake him up but there was no chest for her to place her hand on. She frowned as she raised herself onto her forearm and looked at the bed, her eyes and brain failing to comprehend what was going on. She was so tired that at that moment she wasn't even sure that she cared that he was gone but something twinged in the back of her mind reminding her that she really did. She looked at Jesse's pillow where his head should have been, his blonde hair tousled and messy and saw the note he had left behind.
'Got call from Brennan and Shalimar. Have gone to get them. Will be back soon. Be lazy and stay in bed till I get back. I love you.' She read the note to herself, a smile spreading across her face as she read his scribbled hand writing. She fell back into the mass of pillows and closed her eyes, relishing the warmth and the support of something relatively hard against her aching back. She held the note in one of her hands as she drifted into sleep.