"Brennan," the elemental heard Emma's agitated voice come through his comlink. "Brennan, where are you?"
"Yeah, Em, I'm outside the shop. I was just giving a statement to the officers."
"I need you to bring me something to wear."
"Something to wear?" he echoed in confusion.
"Yeah. My clothes have been stolen."
"Stolen?"
"Yes," she snapped back. "Just check in the car for some spare clothes ok. I think there's an outfit from when Shal and I went to the lake the other day and hurry up. I'll be in the showers."
"Alright," he agreed and headed for the car.
Popping the trunk open he began to search for any clothes Emma could wear. He opened a backpack and rummaged through it finding only notebooks and a pair of binoculars. He removed a blanket that had been draped across the back seats and checked underneath. As he continued searching for clothes his phone rang, causing him to halt his actions and remove his cell phone from the hook of his pants pocket.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Brennan, it's Shal," a familiar feral voice energetically greeted from the other end.
"Oh, hey, Shal, how's everything going?"
"Ok but I'm keeping a close eye on Adam in the kitchen," she replied as she continued drying her legs off in her room.
"Yeah, sounds like a good idea," he chuckled as he closed the trunk to the car. He walked over to the back door and opened it to begin searching the backseat for any clothes.
"So where's my girl?" Shalimar asked, letting her long hair down from the towel it had been wrapped up in. She stood before the mirror and continued to dry off the remainder of her body.
"She's in the bridal shop."
"Well, can I talk to her?"
"She's kinda busy right now actually."
"Doing what? Did she get the cake?"
"Well," he hesitated, contemplating whether or not to inform the feral of their misadventures. "You could say that."
"What?"
"She's just changing. She had a little accident."
"Accident?" Shalimar asked, her tone quickly changed to that of worry and concern. "Brennan, what happened? Is Emma alright?"
"She's fine, Shal, she just spilled some cake on her dress."
"Is she hurt?"
"No, Shal, she's fine. I'm looking for some clothes here in the car."
"Oh, there's an outfit under the passenger seat."
Brennan reached under the passenger seat and pulled out a balled up set of clothing.
"Got it," he informed. "I gotta get goin', Shal. I'll talk to ya later."
"Hey, Bren, tell Emma I miss her ok," Shalimar asked, smiling to herself in the mirror as thoughts of the psionic danced through her head. She'd gone this long without seeing her many times, but the fact that she couldn't see her was what was getting to the feral.
Brennan smiled at words, "I will," he informed before hanging up and slipping the phone back into his pocket. He closed the door and headed into the bridal shop with the clothes.
"Em, I got the clothes. Where are you?" Brennan asked through his comlink.
"Come to the door of the women's showers," she answered.
Brennan approached the door with clothes in hand, stopping to knock when he reached it. Emma opened the door and Brennan couldn't help look her over as she stood there in a small, blue towel. She instantly reaching for the clothes and retreated back into the locker room to change.
"I'll wait in the lobby," he said only to have Emma's voice instantly answer him.
"I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "Just wait right there I'll be right out."
Brennan sighed and decided to listen to the psionic and leaned against the wall beside the door.
"So what the hell happened out there?" Emma's question came through his comlink.
"I don't know some jealous guy is all. I don't think he was after me or us. Just wrong timing."
"So you flirted with his girl and they attacked you and just happened to be mutants?"
"As far a I can tell."
"Brennan!"
"What?" he asked taken off guard by her raised, annoyed voice.
A few seconds later the door to the locker room flew open and Emma, still in her towel, stood in the doorway with a very displeased look on her face as she held up the green shirt.
"How am I supposed to wear this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Look at it!"
She held the shirt up to her chest to display how small it was and frowned at him.
"What's wrong with it?" he asked seemingly obliviously.
"It's like five sizes too small. It looks like it came off a teddy bear."
Brennan grinned, looking over the garment.
"Well, it's not the time to be picky, Em. You need to wear something."
"Brennan, I can't walk around in this."
"Emma, there aren't any other places on this street where you can buy a new shirt. We don't have time for anything else. Just put it on it's only for now."
Emma huffed in the realization he was right. Having so many things she still had to get done she knew she couldn't afford to take time out to go buy a new shirt and certainly couldn't wear the cake covered wedding dress out of the store. She retreated back into the locker room to continue getting dressed.
A few minutes later Brennan turned as the door beside him opened and Emma slowly stepped out, holding a bag with the wedding dress in it and clearly upset. He looked her up and down, grinning despite himself at the small shirt that the psionic had somehow managed to stuff herself into. The tight, revealing, green shirt clung to the psionic's body for dear life and only came down to the middle of her stomach, revealing the rest of her skin. The cotton shirt amplified the psionic breasts as it cupped her so tight she was surprised the back didn't rip open when she walked. The elemental found her much more attractive looking then silly in the small top. He tried but failed to hide how his eyes lit up as they trailed down to the tight, white pants she wore, or were wearing her by the looks of it. He wondered how she even managed to pull them up, smiling as the mental image entered his mind. He scanned his eyes down her legs, exposed from just below the knee down, with a slit up the sides to show just a little more of her smoothly shaven legs. He gulped, bringing his widened eyes back up to meet with the psionic's displeased blue gems.
Well," he began, "you look, uh, fine," he informed, knowing she looked somewhat silly but doubting anyone would mind at the sight of her.
"I look ridiculous, Brennan," she flatly stated, putting her free hand on her hip to prove his displeasure at wearing the outfit.
"We'll get you another shirt as soon as we can," he informed.
Emma sighed knowing there wasn't anything more she could do about the situation.
"Let me just pick out another cake before we go. I need to take this dress to a dry cleaners." She swung the bag over her left shoulder and began walking down the hall to the adjoined bridal bakery. "Ok just help me look through these cakes for something nice," she told him as the two began to search the display cases for anything she might be interested in.
"Ms. DeLauro," a clerk behind a nearby counter called, getting Emma's attention as she looked up at him.
"We're sorry for the incident earlier. We're happy to give you half off on anything you like."
"Thank you," she said with a smile, content to finally have some good news in her so far tangled web of torture. She turned her attention back to the display case before her, a beautiful cake catching her attention, lighting up her eyes.
"Excuse me," she called to the clerk who came right over to her aid. "I like this one. Can you personalize it for me with the orders from my napkins?"
"Sure thing, Ms. DeLauro."
"Great. I'll be back to pick it up in a couple hours." She turned to Brennan. "Ready?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh yeah," he replied. "I'm just gettin' a sweet tooth being around all this cake."
"And don't forget your napkins, Ms. DeLauro," the clerk said, handing her a large box which Brennan took off her hands.
"Thanks," she said to the man and smiled at Brennan, leading the way back down the hall.
"Hey, guys," Shalimar's voice came through Brennan's comlink as they reached the main waiting room. He set the box down by a chair.
"Hey, Shal," he greeted.
"Hey, Bren, where's Emma?"
"I'm here, Shal," she answered.
"Hey, honey, how are ya? Did ya get those clothes?"
"Yeah but they're kinda tight."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. I spilled some grape juice on them and had to take them to the dry cleaners. I noticed they were a little shrunk. Do they fit ok?"
"Well…I can deal with it," she replied, letting the sound of Shalimar's voice relax her.
"So what happened?" the feral asked.
"Oh nothing," Emma answered. "I was just running from, um down the street and I got knocked into the cake and all."
"Running? From what?"
"Nothing, Shal."
"Emma, what is it?"
"It's really nothing, Shal. Brennan just got into something with a jealous boyfriend of some woman and they chased us."
"Chased you? Were they mutants."
"Um, I didn't really notice," the psionic lied, not wanting to worry her fiancé on their wedding day.
"Emma," Shalimar flatly stated. Even though over the comlink Emma could see the look on the feral's face and knew she wasn't buying her "it's nothing" story.
"Shal, I told you," she continued in a sigh. "This woman was a psionic and they tried to attack us at first but then decided to make a break for it. The woman was arrested."
"What about the guy?"
"He got away."
"I'll be right there."
"No, Shal," Emma pouted, instantly regretting telling the feral what happened knowing how she'd panic. "We're fine. Really."
"Emma, you were attacked. You can't expect me to just sit here"
"No I expect you to do what you need to do today. Brennan and I are fine. We have a lot to do and so do you. Don't worry ok. You just worry about making everything perfect for when I get home ok."
"I don't think they had it out for us, Shal," Brennan informed. "I was flirting with the woman and the guy got jealous is all."
Shalimar sighed.
"Just hurry up and get back to Sanctuary," she said, worry clearly coming through in her voice. "And I want you to call me if there's anymore trouble."
"Ok, honey," Emma agreed. "I'll see you later ok."
"I miss you."
"I miss you too."
Emma smiled as the conversation ended and headed over to the front desk.
"I'm ready to pay," she informed, handing the woman a bill. "The man in the bakery told me my purchases would be half off because of the cake accident."
"Yes, Ms. DeLauro," the woman agreed and began to type.
"Hey, it's raining," Brennan said, gesturing with his head to the window and the downpour of rain slamming against it. A loud crack of thunder shook the shop and Emma rolled her eyes.
"This day just keeps getting better," she huffed as she handed a credit card to the woman and signed a bill.
"It'll get better, Emma," Brennan said and picked up the box.
"Let's go. We have just enough time to drop this dress off and make it to my hair appointment on time." She headed over to the door and held it open for Brennan with the large box. "Just stick that in the trunk for now," she said as the two prepared to make a run through the rain to the car.
"Brennan," she said as she came to halt in the pouring rain. Brennan lowered the box and turned to Emma.
"What?" he asked. He looked at her locked gaze and followed it with his eyes, watching as their car was towed around the corner and out of site.
"This can't be happening," Emma denied, shaking her head.
Brennan picked up the box once more and flung open the door to the bridal shop, dropping it inside.
"Come on," he said and turned to grab her arm. "Let's get out of the rain." He led the shocked psionic back into the bridal shop and out of the rain, late, for she was already soaked. He looked at the expression on her face as if she might break down right there. "Em, it'll be ok, we'll get through this," he tried to calm her and pulled the wet woman into a close hug. "Why don't we get you into the locker room and dry off," he suggested.
He picked up the box and carried it over to the front desk.
"Do you mind if I leave this here for a few minutes?"
"That's fine, sir," the woman answered and he dropped the box beside the desk at the confirmation.
Brennan turned back to Emma who stood motionless and in shock. He walked over to her and took her hand to lead her back into the locker room and escorted her inside. He was glad there wasn't anyone else inside and grabbed some towels and handed them to Emma who just sat motionless on the bench.
"Em," he said. "Why don't you dry off? You can wear my shirt if you want. It's not too wet." He reached down and pulled his shirt off, placing it on the bench beside her as an offering. He held out the blue towel to her until she finally turned to acknowledge him and slowly took it from his hand.
"I can't," she said softly, so soft he almost didn't hear her. "I just can't."
"What, Em?" he asked, sitting beside her to place a friendly hand on her shoulder.
"I can't do this."
"Do what?"
"I wonder why all this is happening, Brennan. Do you think it means something?"
"Means something? Emma, what are you talking about?"
She turned her face to his, a tear running down her checks and falling to the floor between them. He reached out, gently whipping it's soggy path off her soft skin.
"Maybe it's fate," she suggested, unaware her face was moving dangerously close to the elemental's. "I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier."
He felt her breath on his lips, steady at first, and then it stopped. She reached down and slowly pulled her wet shirt off, dropping it to the floor beside them. He watched her movement, mesmerized, hoping she'd continue but knowing somewhere inside she should stop as her lips pressed to his nipples, slowly savoring each one. He sighed as if to beg her to continue or question what was happening, he wasn't sure which. Her hand cupped his jaw and he opened his eyes she'd forced closed to stare at the wet red head before him. He thought he saw confusion in her light eyes but the next thing he knew her lips were pressing to his. He hesitated, only for a brief second, before wrapping his arms around her to pull her close, enjoying the amazing feel of her body and mouth against his own, and noticing that she too was quite taken at being in his arms.