Emma walked into the main room and saw Brennan and Jesse talking.
"Hey guys, what's up?" She yawned. Last night had been mostly spent reading a book.
"Hi. We were just talking about this mutant Michael we tried to find half of the evening."
"Did you find him?"
"No, but we have a good lead. We're heading out again in a little while. Hopefully we'll bring him with us back."
Brennan had a sly smile covering his face when he asked: So, did you two ladies have a good time yesterday?"
She smiled back. "Yes, we did. It was lovely to not have to listen to you two guys constantly babbling and chatting about silly boy stuff."
"By the way, have any of you seen Shalimar today?"
"No. Why, is something wrong?"
"No, no, I just wanna talk to her."
Just then Adam walked in with Shalimar following. Emma looked at Shalimar and saw that she obviously hadn't been sleeping much either, but she still thought she looked beautiful.
Whoa, beautiful? Don't start to think that way, Emma. It's just Shalimar's emotions affecting you. She's your friend and she's under a love spell.
"Okay, I want all of you, except Shalimar, to go out looking for this Michael."
"Hey hold on. I'm not staying back here at Sanctuary. I'm going."
"No, you're not."
"Yes I am. I'm good at investigating and if anything should happen I'm a strong fighter."
"She's right Adam," Brennan said.
"Fine, you'll all go. I want this guy back here so I can figure out a way to cure what he did to you Shal."
"Jesse and Brennan broke in. "Wait, wait, wait, he did something to her? What did he do?"
"It's nothing dangerous. I just want him back here so we can find out more about this guy, okay?"
The guys were about to protest, but Emma broke in:" It's fine Adam. We'll leave now."
-
When the team got inside the Double Helix, Emma noticed that Shalimar sat away from her and on the whole flight she didn't as much as look her way.
This really worried Emma because they needed to work as a whole team and if this is how she and Shalimar would be around each other it wasn't going to work; both considering work and private. Shalimar was her best friend and she didn't want them to fight. It would all probably go away when they got Shalimar back to normal. Fear suddenly struck Emma. What if they couldn't get Shalimar back to normal?
"Okay, we're here," Jesse said, cutting in on Emma's thoughts. Emma gave him an innocent smile, but was glad he had interrupted because she was driving herself insane with all the thinking and what ifs.
-
When they were inside the bar, they split up, each walking in separate directions. Emma searched telempathically through the crowd trying to find the guy, but she only felt the normal feelings in a bar. She had to slow down because of all the emotions she had opened up for and almost jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and locked eyes with Shalimar.
"Shal, you scared me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"Why aren't you looking for Michael?"
"I think we need to talk."
"Is this really the best timing? We are supposed to find the guy who did this to you."
"Did what, Em? Why haven't anybody told me what he did to me?"
"Eh, I don't think you would believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
"Well, he gave you some kind of toxin or something that works as, eh, kinda as a love spell."
Shal laughed. "A love spell?" Emma was trying to hide that her cheeks were starting to feel very warm. She saw Shalimar still smiling before she realized that Emma was being serious. Emma didn't know how to interpret the expression on Shal's face. "What are you trying to say, Em?"
"I'm saying that you're under a love spell that makes you think and feel stuff that isn't real."
"So you're saying-" Shal stepped closer towards Emma. "-that what I feel for you isn't real?"
Emma was blushing, but her body wouldn't move away when Shalimar leaned her chin against Emma's, starting to talk into her ear. Emma could feel Shalimar's breath as she spoke.
"So you're trying to say that my interest in you is because I'm under a spell? That the excitement I'm feeling is not real?"
Emma had to swallow hard, her body frozen in place. Unintentionally she felt her body becoming warm and her stomach tied itself.
"Yes, yes, that's what I'm saying." Her breathing was starting to get slightly uneven.
"Okay," was all Shalimar answered before kissing Emma on the chin, her lips lingering there for a while, telling Emma that it wasn't just a friendly kiss. That wasn't what Emma noticed though. It was the tone in Shal's voice, a tone that told Emma that this was far from over. What scared her even more than the kiss and the tone in Shal's voice was how her body was acting. She knew what this feeling was and that worried her. She just prayed to God that they would find this Michael very soon so he could turn Shalimar back to normal, before either one of them did something they would regret.
They were interrupted by a man running past them with Brennan and Jesse following.
-
AN: What do you think about the chapter? Sorry for the waiting, but I've been busy and have been at a loss of inspiration…