Darkness Falling

Bohemianbabe.

Archiving welcome with my permission.

Note: Thank you for the reviews everyone, especially redhead2. I look forward to hearing your comments on this new chapter. I especially want to know what you think about the little 'secret' Lexa will reveal about Jesse's past. That goes for everyone! I want feed back on how you feel about that idea.

Chapter 6:

The next day

Shalimar walked into the computer area to find Jesse hard at work. He had begun the decoding process immediately after he and Lexa had finished talking the day before, and had only stopped working when he had to. After nearly twenty four hours, Shalimar hoped that he was nearing the end of his work.

"There." Jesse said as he pressed a final button. The numbers on the screen disappeared and were replaced by a map.

"You broke the inscription?" Shalimar asked as she walked over to him.

"Finally. Now all we have to do is to wait for the next message." Jesse printed off the map and then turned to face her. "I didn't get a chance to talk to her yet, but I promise I'll do it soon. Yesterday was too much about me and her for me to explain why you did what you did."

"It's ok. I understand that you needed to talk about other things. She and I will eventually reconcile."

"We both know how badly she holds a grudge." Jesse turned back around and turned off the computer. "I'm going to get some sleep since I hardly got any last night."

"Just don't let Lexa join you or you'll never get any sleep."

"Like I'm going to deny her of her fun if she wants it." He smirked slightly. "I'm too tired to deal with her right now. I'll spend some time with her later."

"It will be nice to get you out of the lab for a while. I was beginning to think that you were going to move in there."

"I know it always felt like Adam lived in there." Jesse shook his head. "He sounded so confident that I could have found the cure. He knows I don't have much medical or science training with the exception of what he taught me."

"He taught you well. I think you had it right when you said you thought he was teaching you so you could take his place." Shalimar looked down at the floor for a second. "I have felt very safe putting my health in your hands over the past two years."

"You always know what to say to me. I guess that is what happens after living with a person for what, nearly fifteen years now?"

"Yeah. You know you'll be thirty-one soon. I can't believe how much time has past since the day you walked into Sanctuary."

"Do we really have to make a trip down memory lane?"

"We'll save it for my birthday." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Go get yourself some rest."

"Love you, Sis."

"Love you too, Little Brother." Shalimar smiled and watched him walk out of the room.

"So are you done telling him the newest batch of secrets you've gathered?" Lexa asked as she walked into the room. She sat down at the computer and turned it back on.

"Lexa, I was really only looking out for you. I did not want to do anything that would break your trust in me."

"What you did was a good thing." Lexa answered icily. "You reminded me why I shouldn't trust people."

"I guess that means you are through playing around at a relationship with Jesse?"

Lexa snapped her view up to look at the blonde woman. "What happens between me and Jesse is our business. If you have any kind of problem with us, say it to my face instead of hinting around at things."

"I've got no problem with you two being together. I'm just saying that relationships are built on trust, and if you're not going to trust people I don't see how you are going to learn to let him love you and to love him back."

"I think that my emotions have already been messed with enough by you. Now if you don't mind I have got some work that I'm supposed to be doing."

"Just remember that he is my family, and that he was my family long before he became whatever it is he is to you. If you hurt him in any way I promise you that you will regret doing it, you might even regret the day you were born." Shalimar turned and walked out of the room.

"I already regret the day I was born." Lexa muttered under her breath as she opened a file. She smiled slightly as she read the first line of type aloud to herself. "Lina Blair Kilmartin or Benito Willem Kilmartin." She stared at the names for a second and then closed out the computer.

Quietly walking she made her way to Jesse's room. She opened the door slightly and smiled as she watched him sleep. He had come in and crashed on the bed without bothering to take off anything but his shoes. She slipped into the room and picked up a blanket from the foot of his bed. Gently kissing his forehead as she leaned down over him, she covered him with the blanket and then left the room, closing the door behind her.

"So he finally managed to break the inscription?" Brennan asked when he saw Lexa leaving Jesse's room.

"Not too long ago. He was up all night working on it. I'll be glad when the mission is over and we have Adam back here so Jess can finally get some rest. He's been working almost non-stop since the day we lost Sanctuary and the Helix."

"We're all worried about him. He pulled through this kind of work for years under Adam's supervision so I'm pretty sure that he can handle another day or two of it." Brennan fell silent for a minute. "Do you want to go watch a movie or something? Shal is doing some sort of spa day thing since her birthday is in two days and Jess needs the sleep."

"I guess that could be fun. Better than worrying over the 'what ifs' of meeting Adam."

"It's not gonna be easy to bring him back here. Things have changed so much in this last year."

"You're right about that one. The last time I really worked in the same place as Adam he was my leader, in the last year we haven't had a leader. It is going to take a lot of getting used to that feeling again."

"Somehow I don't think he's going to come back in as our leader. I think this time around we'll all be equals."

"And maybe a few other things will change." Lexa smiled slightly. "Jesse is considering going back to college."

"I didn't know he ever went in the first place."

"He has a degree in English literature, and had started to study some medicine before he dropped out. I think he was just about done with the majority of his pre-med classes."

"So what when Adam comes back he's going to go back to college and finish getting his medical degree?"

"He might. He just doesn't want to bring up the subject around Shal since she got upset when he dropped out last time."

"I guess that a lot more things make sense, especially the fact that he was able to take over the lab work with out too much trouble." Brennan shook his head. "I just can't believe he never told me about it."

"Like I said, it's a sore spot with your girlfriend. She wanted him to finish getting the degree, but he felt it would be better to focus on his job with the Underground. I think he intended to go back when things settled down, but things never really settle down around here."

"So how did you find it out since he never talks about it?"

"I found the degree stashed away in a drawer when I was helping him go through the stuff that had survived the explosion. It's a good thing the bed rooms were on the other side of Sanctuary or everything might have been destroyed."

"I've thought of that every time I've played my guitar since that day. A lot of memories would have been lost if Adam hadn't made that provision."

"You'd better be careful or one of the others could see you going all soft with me." Lexa laughed.

"We'll just have to go watch us a real kick-butt action movie then."

That night.

Shalimar lay back in Brennan's bed trying to get herself to fall asleep. It had been a long day, and the next couple of days would be filled with even more excitement. Tomorrow they would get their next message from Adam, and be that much closer to having a chance at a real life; and then there was her birthday. For the past few days she had heard Brennan, Jesse, and Lexa whisper about some big surprise, but she could not figure out what it was.

Closing her eyes she let her senses do a sweep of Sanctuary. Once she was certain that everything and everyone was alright she managed to fall asleep.

Note2: Jesse with a medical degree! Well that should be something for all of you to think about. Let me know what you think, cause I really wanna know if I'm too far off-base with the idea that he could have done something like that.

Lotta luv

bohemianbabe