Its currently 3:29 in the morning and I've only just got back from a club so you'll have to forgive me if this message isn't really all that coherent. Just consider yourselves lucky that I'm updating at all.

Thanks, as always for the reviews, they are extremely appreciated and Steph, I'm not currently able to write some feedback for chapters 4 and 5 but that situation will be rectified by about 1pm tomorrow when I drag myself out of bed. I loved chapter 4 and have yet to read chapter 5 but am really looking forward to it and will definitely send you an email tomorrow...hopefully I'll have a chapter to send you then as well.

'I'm done,' Brennan called out to no one in particular as he walked into the main room of Sanctuary. The lights were back on, hopefully a permanent fixture; the computers were buzzing and clicking and occasionally beeping which he assumed to be a good thing. Everything electrical in the building was back to its usual working standard. He felt sufficiently proud of his job. He had been working all afternoon and into the evening, trying to find the right connections and locating wires that were past their best. And now he had finished. His Lexa assigned task was over and he could get back to being really lazy.

He looked around and, seeing nobody in the near vicinity walked over to the couch, newly cleaned by Jesse and flopped onto it, his feet, hanging over the armrest, the only visible sign that anyone was even in the room. He closed his eyes, shutting out the glare of the overheads. He almost regretted putting them on in the first place. Sanctuary had always favoured atmospheric lighting but it still looked way more beautiful with candles dotted around the place, casting their faint glow over everything within range.

He listened to the faint sounds coming from around the building. The whirr of the air conditioning, the slow trickle of water which had been turned on by the electricity, the distant sounds of people talking. He thought he could hear Jesse and Lexa in the lab, making sure that everything was still in working order, seeing if they needed to order anything in from the CIA, Mutant X's resident delivery service.

He opened his eyes at the sound of footsteps, far away but getting closer. As he sat up Daveigh walked into the room. She was looking around her, lost maybe or just trying to avoid every other member of the team. He could understand where her mind was at: she didn't want to be in the outside world where the Dominion would have no trouble finding her and taking her and then punishing her; but at the same time there were far greater evils within Sanctuary, Shalimar being one of them. Every time Daveigh walked into a room Shal looked like she was going to rip the woman's throat out and Brennan could understand that. Making an effort to be civil to Daveigh was too much even for him. He didn't want her in his home, anywhere near his daughter, the same daughter who had almost been killed because of Daveigh's actions. And despite the occasional disapproving look from Lexa about his behaviour he didn't think that was all that unreasonable.

She looked across at him, noticing him for the first time. She had been attempting to find a lonely corner of the building where she could hide herself away. Shalimar and Brennan had been openly aggressive towards her which was something she couldn't fault them for; Jesse was untrusting of her, reluctantly willing to give her the benefit of the doubt for now, but she knew that if she stepped one foot out of line he was going to throw her to the dogs; Lexa was the only one who seemed capable of civility but even that was icy and cold. And the worst part of it all was that she truly was sorry for what she had done. She had been backed into a corner and instead of doing the noble thing and refusing to take on the mission to abduct Taylor she had saved her own skin. She had many regrets in her life but she had a feeling that that was one which was going to haunt her for a little while longer.

He watched as she took him in, his presence clearly unnerving her. The silence resounded throughout the room as she thought about her next actions. He knew there were two possible options. She could turn, walk away, avoid the rest of the team as much as possible until something had been done about the Dominion. Or she could sit down in the chair opposite Brennan and try and rebuild some bridges. He didn't really care which it was but if she didn't sit down it would be just another conversation hanging over his head. He was finally working out all of his stuff, he didn't want awkward things to linger in the background, waiting to raise their ugly heads

'You can sit down if you want,' he offered, wincing as the words came out a lot harsher than he had intended.

She saw the slight cringe and stopped a smile from appearing on her lips. She walked forward, realising that she couldn't reject his offer of civility. Life had been pretty crappy in Sanctuary so far, any offer of hospitality was seriously appreciated. She sat down in the chair, not settling into it, aware that at any moment the undeniable desire to run might overcome her.

'I just wanted to clear this whole situation up a little bit. And if you would mind not interrupting till I'm done that would be great,' Brennan said, his voice less cold.

Daveigh nodded, her eyes wide.

'Okay,' Brennan replied, taking a deep breath, composing himself. He didn't want to suddenly fly off the handle at her, which was a distinct possibility. 'You kidnapped my daughter so you have to understand that you're not my favourite person right now. However, for whatever reason Taylor seems to find the need to protect you. I won't pretend that I get it because I don't. But she's already been through enough and I don't want to make it more difficult for her than it has to be.'

She studied his face, her eyes narrowing slightly as she took in everything. He was putting on a good show, making out like he was capable of being calm when she was in the room. She had been told about the entire Mutant X team in all its different variations by the Dominion and she felt like she knew each of them so well. Brennan wanted to punch her face in, of that she was sure. She had to admit that his behaviour was commendable.

'It wasn't my choice,' she stated for the second time that day.

'Shalimar was right, you always have a choice and you made the wrong one. And you should know that no one in this building, excluding Taylor is ever going to forgive you for that. So, while I may be prepared to take the moral high ground on this one and give you the benefit of the doubt for now, that is all you will get from me. I am not your friend, I am not your ally.'

Daveigh's eyes drifted away from Brennan's face which had gradually taken on a look of pained boredom. She felt her heart skip a beat as she saw the blonde feral staring at her. She maintained eye contact, unable to look away.

'That's your cue to get up and leave the room,' Shalimar said, her voice able to cut steel.

Brennan stood up and turned to walk towards the feral. He knew it was a dangerous situation having them both in the same room. He had made his position clear and he didn't want Shalimar to make hers more obvious that it already was by killing Daveigh.

Daveigh stared at the floor, wishing that it would swallow her whole, suck her in and keep her hidden from the rest of the world, from all the glaring eyes bearing down on her.

'You don't appear to be moving,' Shalimar said again, her voice quavering slightly under the pressure of her intense rage.

'Shal-' Brennan said in an attempt to calm her down.

'No, Brennan, she's only here because we're letting her stay so the least she could do is keep the hell away from me.'

'I am trying,' Daveigh said, under her breath.

'Not hard enough,' Shalimar replied clearly, watching closely as Daveigh looked up. Shalimar inwardly smirked, realising that the woman had been unaware of how heightened a ferals hearing really was.

'You know what? Maybe you should stop hating me and start concentrating on what you're gonna do next,' Daveigh said, unable to control her own temper, as she stood up from the chair.

Shalimar strode forward and forced her fist into connection with the side of Daveigh's head, a slamming noise of bone hitting bone sounding out through the room, echoing into the shadows.

'Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't be doing,' she said quietly, dangerously, her chest rising and falling as she breathed deeply. 'You abduct my daughter for the Dominion and then you expect me to be happy about the fact that you saved her life? You're more delusional than I thought. I don't have to accept your presence here, I don't have to be happy about it and I certainly don't have to put up with you telling me what to do.'

Without even realising it tears had sprung to her eyes, blurring her vision. She felt her chin quiver and she pressed her lips together till the ordinarily pink skin became a distorted shade of white. Her skin was flushed, covering momentarily the pale shade that had taken over. She closed her eyes allowing the tears to roll slowly down her skin, staining it.

Daveigh straightened herself up, raising her hand to touch the blemish that had appeared on her cheek. She looked at the blonde woman and saw the tears.

Shalimar opened her eyes and, as she took in Daveigh's anxious stare pulled herself together. She flashed her eyes quickly, enough to force Daveigh back a step.

'I don't want you here, I would never want you here given what you did to Taylor but an apology, or even an attempted apology might have made it a little bit easier for everyone concerned.'

With that she turned and walked straight out of the room, pausing and hesitating for nobody and nothing.

Her shaking hand ran through her hair, tugging gently at the tangled strands. Her blood was racing, pushing its way violently through her veins, forcing itself round her body. She couldn't seem to settle, the adrenaline still filling her veins and making her jittery. The smallest noise would cause her to turn sharply, the slightest flash in the corner of her eye and she was set on edge. She had tried lying down but after a few seconds she had stood up and restarted her relentless pacing. She felt confined, trapped in her room with its four walls. She knew she should walk through the rooms of the building, slowly, evenly paced but her movements were annoying her, let alone everyone else. She grabbed her discman and, checking the CD which was currently in it shoved the headphones into her ears. As she pushed the play button music filled her head. She pulled her door open and stalked through it, closing it behind her with a loud click. She didn't care who knew that she was leaving but she hoped that any vibes she might have been sending out were hostile enough to dissuade anyone from following her. She needed to be alone.

She looked on from her vantage point in the lab. Shalimar stormed past the window, the music blaring from her headphones almost loud enough for it to be heard through the glass. Shalimar's hair was wilder than usual, a clear sign that she was not entirely calm. She walked through the main room of Sanctuary and on through the doorway. Lexa knew where she was going and she also knew that Shalimar probably wanted to be alone but it wasn't safe for her out there by herself, especially not in the kind of mood she was currently in. Lexa turned and walked swiftly from the lab, leaving Jesse with a quick 'I'll be back soon'. She strode across the room, grabbing two coats from the pile that had been left on the couch.

As she walked out of the rock into the outside world she threw one of the coats over her shoulders, relishing the warmth she received from it. The weather had been slowly getting colder and it was bitter, biting at unprotected skin, leaving lips dry and painful and her eyes squinted to look around her. She could see the vague outline of Shalimar as she stood at the edge of the cliff, taking a look around her before turning away from it and striding along the brink. Lexa followed her at a distance, knowing that the feral could half feel her presence already. She didn't want to intrude but Shalimar's sensibilities seemed to have taken a running jump in recent days.

The water was crashing against the solitary exposed rocks at the bottom of the cliff. The sound filtered up towards Lexa's ears and she thought for a second that she could feel the flecks of freezing spray against her face until she realised it was raining. It hadn't come on suddenly, the clouds had been building for hours.

'Of all the times I could have come out, huh?'

Lexa smiled at the blonde woman who was slowly walking towards her.

'Something like that,' she replied, tossing Shalimar's thick coat at her as Lexa noticed the shiver.

'Thanks,' Shalimar said, her voice quiet in the increasingly noisy weather conditions. She looked around her as she shoved the discman into her coat pocket, the warmth tempting her to leave the wild outdoors and go back inside Sanctuary with its central heating and warm water.

'You okay?' Lexa asked as she walked to stand next to Shalimar, both of them looking out on the ocean which was becoming more and more crazed by the second.

'I was kinda wondering that about Daveigh.'

'She's fine, there's gonna be one hell of a bruise on her face tomorrow though.'

'Good,' Shalimar said, not entirely sure if she meant it or not.

'She may turn out to be a good guy,' Lexa said, glancing quickly across at Shalimar, trying to gage her response.

'Yeah, well, she'll always be the person who invaded my life and screwed it all up so I'll have to take that with a pinch of salt.'

'I remember somebody else once did that to you.'

'But you didn't kidnap my daughter and, just so you know the jury is still out on you,' Shalimar replied mockingly. Lexa answered with a shocked expression that brought a grin to both their faces.

'My question still stands,' Lexa prompted.

'I'm okay, I guess. Its just difficult to know what's what right now. I thought I had everything all planned so perfectly. Life was good, in the most normal sense of the word. Taylor was happy and I thought I was too. But then everything happened and now I'm not so sure.'

'Not sure you were happy?'

'Exactly. Being back with Mutant X makes me realise quite what it was that I loved about it all in the first place. Obviously having my daughter abducted is not what I had in mind but the adrenaline rush I get from it all and being back in Sanctuary. Its like I've come home.'

'And I take it that Brennan has something to do with that?'

A smile appeared on Shalimar's face before she could stop it. It was almost instinctual, the mention of his name gave her chills and brought the massive butterflies into her stomach.

'My point is proven,' Lexa said, a shade of smugness to her voice that she couldn't quite get rid of. Shalimar laughed, elbowing Lexa lightly in the ribs.

'Yes, Brennan has something to do with it. But everybody already knew that so don't go thinking that you're special or anything,' Shalimar said.

'So he's the only person at Sanctuary that you're happy to see again?' Lexa asked.

'Well, of course there's Jesse, and I love that Taylor's here,' Shalimar replied, a coy smile on her face as she watched Lexa becoming more and more offended. 'And I really think Daveigh is growing on me-' Shalimar was cut off as Lexa's hand made contact with her arm. They both burst into incorrigible giggles as they walked back across the clifftop towards the door of Sanctuary, the warmth inviting, welcoming in stark comparison to the looming clouds that had completely overwhelmed the landscape.