"Hey, girl," Lara greeted as the blonde woman entered the nice and clean kitchen.

"Wow," she let out the surprise and raised her eyebrows at the tidiness of the room. "You managed to clean up Adam's mess."

The bent over chef rose from the stance she was in beside the fridge and threw away the last paper towel she'd been using to clean it out with knocking the door with her butt to close it. She headed over to the sink to begin to wash her hands as Shalimar braced herself on her arms at the neighboring counter top.

"Yeah," Lara agreed turning to look over her shoulder from the sink. "I haven't seen that much batter off a cake since, well you remember that night," the red head reminded flashing a sexy grin the feral always adored seeing.

"I think I've still got some batter in my belly button," he feral joked looking down at her exposed naval.

Lara grinned as she shut off the water and wiped her hands off on the towel handing from the stove. She leaned against the sink and starred at the feral all the while remaining silent and keeping her grin which Shalimar had always fallen prey to. And who wouldn't? She was after all a knockout.

With arrogance and boldness Lara took a couple steps forward and allowed her arms to grip the belt loop on the feral's jeans and pull her body closer to her own. Shalimar didn't resist and Lara kept her head down at first tracing her fingers over the exposed cleavage of the blonde, stroking the softness lightly. She lifted her eyes to the feral's, her low voice alluring as ever as she spoke.

"I could check for you. I mean again," she offered praying the feral would accept her small attempt at a seduction.

Shalimar closed her eyes briefly as the red head's hand gently skimmed it's way down her body before wrapping around the bottom of her thigh to tug her in even closer. Lara's head moved forward and before Shalimar even knew it soft lips were nipping at her neck instantly cranking the temperature inside her up from warm to hot in a split second.

Shalimar lifted her head back opening her eyes to catch the read head's attention knowing if she let this continue any further it would only be all that much more difficult for her to put an end to it.

"I don't think this is the right time," she informed, regretfully she knew, but necessarily.

Desperately wanted a replay of the passion they'd shared the day before, Lara decided to coax the feral a little further wanted to be sure the blonde wasn't in the mood before she abandoned her attempt all together.

"You sure?" she questioned letting her tongue escape her lips to taste the sweet skin on the feral's neck. Sweetness she'd been missing all too much lately.

"Yeah," the blonde informed after a slight moment's hesitation and took a step back to break their closeness. The truth of the matter was she couldn't stop thinking about Emma the entire time she'd been in the room or since she'd left the lab to be exact.

Lara agreed feeling somewhat bad for what had just happened and not just because she was turned down but for the feral's feelings as well.

"Well, I made some apple pie," she added in hopes of turning the mood back around. She turned to the counter behind her where the pie was still cooling and letting off quite a lovely smell.

"I know," Shalimar said taking a step towards it and letting herself take in a big whiff of the satisfying aroma. "Why do you think I came in here in the first place?"

She grinned and reached herself a plate from the overhead cupboard and removed a fork from the drawer underneath the counter.

"Do you want some?" she asked not wanting to be rude to her houseguest.

"I'm good, thanks."

Shalimar smiled and cut a piece to set on the plate. Placing the knife back down she lifted her hand as some of the pie had splattered on her already very appetizing fingers and began to slowly lick it off savoring every drop. Lara watched in enjoyment at the pleasurable expression on the feral's face as she tasted her goods.

"Well, at least I managed to satisfy you anyway," she said with a broad and bright smile as she watched the tantalizing sight.

Turning to look at the woman Shalimar smiled and wiped her hand on the towel beside her.

"Oh yeah. Thanks. I'm gonna go see if Emma's hungry," she informed before making her way over to the door turning before she exited. "Thanks again."

"How ya feelin'?" Brennan asked walking over to sit himself beside his new wife taking her hand in his own.

"Well, I've certainly been better but I guess it could be much worse." She offered him a soft smile that he couldn't help but return in kind. "Thank you for saving me."

"Anytime."

"How are you feeling?" she asked pausing as she tried to determine whether or not her question was understood. "About us," she added for certainty.

"Well it's a little late for cold feet now," he replied holding up his hand to remind her of the ring he still wore signifying his bind to her.

"Are you having cold feet?" she inquired unable to keep herself from reading him just a little. It wasn't just her intuition informing her he wasn't exactly ready to be married.

"I don't know about cold feet just…" he trailed off trying to think of a reasonable explanation.

"Second thoughts. Questions of whether or not this is entirely …" she cut herself off not knowing how to finish the statement as it only seemed to make sense in her head what she was unable to put into sensible words.

Brennan remained silent not sure he was ready to voice his feelings at the moment and open himself up to her although somewhere in the back of his head he knew she already had a pretty good idea of what that was.

"Yeah," she said turning her head to her sheets and playing with the top cover between her free hand's fingers nervously. Her statement was almost as if it was directed at his unvoiced thoughts and made Brennan's uneasiness increase. "I love you very much, Brennan," she finally spoke out. Brennan looked up at her words as her tone was eye catching.

"Why do I get the feeling you're about to add a not so happy extension to that sentence?"

Emma sighed not wanting to go through with what she knew she had to and almost hated herself for knowing better than to continue living something she couldn't trust.

"I'm not sure what we did was right. I can't trust my feelings and if I can't do that then I can't be married to you. I can't live in something I'm not secure and comfortable in. I know at one point I would have probably jumped at the chance to be your wife but I can't play that part right now. Not under these circumstances."

Brennan remained silent knowing he needn't speak for the psionic was most likely reading him that very moment whether she intended to or not. He let his hand remove itself from her palm but instead of pulling back he kept it there to play with her fingers and trace his own over the smooth skin of her palms, the thoughts and feelings of her hands on his body replaying themselves over in his head.

"I know you know this is right, Brennan. If we ever did get together I'd want it to be real. Really real. All you and all me. Not impulses and hormones flipping the switch on our sexual attraction."

Brennan's eyes lifted slightly at her bold statement but he knew she was right. He had wanted her since the first time he was speechless at the sight of her. But was he really in love with her enough to dedicate his entire life to her from now on? He couldn't answer the question to his own heart let alone offer her any.

"So you wanna go back out with Shal?" he asked seemingly out of the clear blue sky.

"I didn't say that. I just don't think you and I should stay married right now. I'm not saying this to hurt you, Brennan, it's t help both of us do what's right not just for me but for you too. I know you aren't entirely comfortable with this yet and I don't want that between us. All these factors don't seem to lead to a happy ending if we stay married. For either of us."

Brennan sighed not liking what he was hearing and not liking the fact he knew deep down it was the truth either.

"Alright," he answered clutching her hand slightly. "If you need space I'll give it to you. The last thing I want is any problems between us." He smiled and raised her hand to place a soft kiss on it a sweet grin spreading across his face at the task. Standing slightly he leaned over to kiss the woman's forehead and after doing so felt her hands on his neck pulling him down to her mouth.

Standing in the doorway as she was heading back to check up on Emma, Shalimar watched as the psionic placed a kiss on the dark haired man's lips instantly feeling jealously rearing it's ugly head inside her feral belly. She didn't like the feeling of it. She knew she shouldn't be jealous of a soft, friendly kiss and it wasn't anything she'd normally be jealous of if the red head was actually still her own. But she wasn't. She was still Brennan's and the thought turned her stomach. As much as she wanted to hate the elemental she couldn't for she knew she too had the very same feelings as he and it wasn't as if he hadn't been altered by those psionics.

Brennan stood back up after what felt like forever to Shalimar though it was only a few seconds and smiled at the psionic before turning to the door where the peeping feral had been watching although not intentionally. Knowing it was best he show himself out he headed towards the door giving Shalimar a friendly smile as he left which to his surprise was repaid with one of the same.

"Hey, Shal," Emma called after her husband had left.

"Hey, hun," she replied and strode over to her bedside.

"Mmm something smells good."

"You like it? New hairspray," the feral replied before allowing the plate of pie to become visually accessible to the psionic.

Emma smiled and felt her stomach rumble at the sight of the delicious looking food and attempted to sit herself up. It turned out to be a bad idea though for the pain in her side reminded her she wasn't in any condition for the movement and she groaned at the discomfort.

"Hey, careful," Shalimar reminded bracing a hand behind the psionic's head and sitting herself down. "Let's get your energy back up," she informed handing the plate to the grateful woman.

Emma wasn't shy about taking the offering and began to polish it off as soon as it came into her hungry hands.

"So uh," Shalimar began not wanting to pry. "What happened with you and Brennan?" she asked deciding she was just desperate enough for information to do so.

"Well, I told him I didn't think we should stay married under such uncomfortable circumstances."

"Oh."

Emma looked at the feral who she could tell was holding back the biggest smile ever and grinned at the cuteness of it all.

"You can let it show, Shal," she said before taking another bite from the delicious pie and grinning as she shifted her eyes to the blonde who couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the statement.

"Well it's not the worst news I've had all week."

"Yeah well we won't be married much longer. We're gonna get an annulment as soon as we can," she answered. Although her mouth was full of pie Shalimar's ears seemed to instantly spring up at the new knowledge.

"Annulment?" she echoed trying to be sure she'd heard correctly. "You mean you two didn't…"

Emma finished chewing her pie before answering.

"No. We didn't have a chance."

"Oh. So it's just that you didn't have a chance?"

"I don't know exactly. He went to get some ice and…at the motel and never came back."

"So you would've if he had come back?"

Emma paused thinking the question over. Did she really want to answer that? She sighed knowing it would be best if she played it honest as she didn't need any more confusion in her life or love life at the moment.

"I think so yes."

Shalimar nodded seeming to hide her emotions really well except for the new feeling Emma was picking up from her.

"Why? Did you and Lara?"

There it was, Shalimar thought. The moment she knew she'd have to face and wasn't sure how she was going to or how Emma was going to deal with the truth. Taking a deep breath Shalimar looked down pausing as if to prep herself before speaking.

"Oh," Emma's voice replied before the feral had chance to speak a word. The thought hurt more than Emma had anticipated but remembered Shalimar wasn't hers anymore and she was the one who'd married someone else and could hardly hold the feral to decisions she made while under the influence of the impulses.

"We're not together," Shalimar finally stated. "I mean me and Lara. We're not a couple. The effects of the impulses and desires was only temporary I'm sure you noticed."

"Yeah," Emma replied somehow losing her appetite suddenly. She placed her fork on her plate to signify she was through and couldn't seem to evade the sad look in her eyes and Shalimar couldn't help but notice.

"Emma, I think-"

"Shalimar, Emma, we got some information you need to know about," Adam said walking his way into the lab followed by Lara, Jesse, and Brennan.

Shalimar furled her bow and didn't much appreciate being barged in on every time she was with a girl. It seemed to become a pattern and was quite a frustrating one at that. However she couldn't resist the opportunity to learn more useful information.

"What is it?" she asked turning around to look at the display screen as Adam stood typing.

"I've been doing some research and I think the gang that's been after you is still in town."

"Wait a minute you mean there's more crazy's out there with a grudge against us?" Emma asked upset in the fact that her troubles were yet to be over.

"Not more. The same."

"Wait a minute I thought this whole thing was put into motion by Felicia?" Jesse asked. "She was the reason Caleb came after Emma in the first place it was to get back at Shalimar. She sent him after her starting this whole mess."

"That's true but she's also got friends. Powerful friends who by being her allies have become our enemies," Adam explained turning to Emma. "I did a little research on that vision you told me about and," he paused punching in a few number until a map was displayed on the screen. "Ten eighty. Felicia rented an office building under an alias right next to the church you all were in and I think that's where she was holding her meetings."

"You think we should check it out?" Brennan asked eager to shot off some sparks as soon as possible.

"Yes there could be more threats there you need to deal with. Emma and Lara, you two will stay here with me. Shalimar, you, Jesse, and Brennan should head over there immediately before they leave so we can get the element of surprise."

"I'm ready," Brennan said eagerly clutching his fist in his hand.

"Great. Shalimar, Helix in five minutes."

Adam smiled before heading out. Brennan did the same anxious to get in a little punching bag time in as a warm up before leaving and Jesse left as well to check his computer before they departed.

"Here, I'll take that," Lara offered reaching out for Emma's pie plate.

Emma smiled and handed the woman the plate.

"Thanks."

"I guess I'll see you when you get back, Shal," Lara said before leaving the two alone in the lab while she headed back to the kitchen.