Shalimar growled when she saw the coordinates to Henry's home. It was going to be a long drive. She sat in the car waiting for Emma. It didn't take long. As soon as Emma got in she sped off, wanting to get there as soon as possible.

"You can't be mad at me forever Shal." Emma said looking at the road. She played with the hem of her skirt not knowing what to do with her hands. Not wanting to listen to anything Emma had to say, Shalimar turned on the radio. Rock music blasted, making them both jump at the sound. Jesse must of used the car last she thought as she quickly turned it down and kept on driving.

"You can't ignore me forever either." This time she looked at Shalimar.

"I don't know what it is you want to hear from me Emma. Because I can't forgive you, if that's what your looking for." She said glancing at her.

"Can't or wont?"

"Both."

She didn't want to remember, but she couldn't help it. The memories just came flooding back. They had been hiding their relationship from the team for about three months. Until Jesse caught them in the living room one night after everyone had gone to bed, they didn't see him but they both sensed him. It took a lot of begging to keep him from telling Brennan and Adam. They just wanted to have something they could share alone. Shalimar laughed lightly at the memory. Jesse was always uncomfortable whenever he was near them after that night. He'd blush whenever he saw them talking, even if was just over the weather. That wasn't an unpleasant memory, but she didn't want to remember anything. She just wanted to forget anything ever happened.

Emma heard her laugh and looked at her curiously. This was hardly the time for laughter. She didn't find any of what was going on funny, although it was nice to hear Shalimar laugh again, even if it was small and short.

They rode in silence for about another hour or so taking glances at each other along the way. Despite all the will power she had again another memory resurfaced and this one was the one Shalimar wanted to forget the most.

Shalimar and Jesse had just returned from a mission they'd been assigned that morning. It was about midnight and both of them were exhausted. Too tired to take a shower, they headed to their rooms. Shalimar was walking ahead of Jesse towards Emma's room where she'd been sleeping for the past two weeks. She was so tired that she didn't smell them, but she saw them. She opened the door and there they were. The light in the hallway glistening off their naked bodies. They were already asleep, but as soon as she had opened the door Brennan had opened his eyes to see Shalimar and Jesse's horror stricken faces. Brennan was just a little embarassed and quickly pulled up the covers asking for a little privacy.

She remembered Jesse having to hold her all that night, and many nights after that. She never once blamed Brennan, how could he have known? Emma never explained what happened. The next morning all Shalimar recieved was a 'I never wanted you to find out this way', that made her angrier than the affair itself. She at least deserved an explanation, or some sort of apology. The memories almost bringing tears to her eyes.

"We're here." She heard Emma say. Focusing back on the present and keeping her tears in check she saw Henry's house. They'd only pulled into the driveway when Henry and his father ran out of the house with only two duffle bags.

"Are you from M-X?" the boys father asked running upto the driver side window.

"Mutant X, yeah." Shalimar said unlocking the doors for them. They scrambled inside and shut the door. Shalimar heaved a sigh of relief. Their mission wouldn't last longer than it needed to. She made a U-turn and drove off in the direction of the nearest safehouse. Emma called Adam on her comm-link to confirm that the two were in their custody and they were headed for the safehouse.

"I'm Emma" she said turning in her seat and smiling brightly.

"I'm Ralph and this is my boy Henry." He said. Henry gave her a small smile. She smiled back encouragingly. He looked a little more than scared and he was shivering slightly.

"Thank you." Ralph said to them. "For helping us." The sincerety in his voice brought another smile to Shalimar's face. The safehouse was only fifteen minutes away from there location. Soon father and son would be on their way with new identities and new lives. She wished she could go with them, start a new life, get a new identity and forget about her past.

to be continued........

to those that reviewed:

melodie568 - thanks for being my most persistant reviewer.

megara1 - I also love Emma/Brennan pairings although they're kinda scarce at We'll see what happens with their wedding.

hotsatin - what do you mean what was I thinking? this isn't the first Emma Brennan fic! Besides, there are too many Shal/Bren pairings floating around in here!

everydarkbreath - I can't wait for the E/S part either! It may take awhile though. still workin' on how it is they get back together.

huntress2004 - of course there'll be an E/S happy ending!! :)

rain - it was hardly a conversation, but there's what happened. so sad you'll be gone for so long :(

mrs-spacemonkey-jackson - cool name by the way. Glad you love E/B pairings! Hotsatin thinks it's 'unusual' :)

me - whoever you are, you almost confused me. I almost thought I wrote myself a review! lol! Here's your Update! Update! Update! ;)