Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or X Men. I created Evie and the children in this world.

Note: There's a lot going on but I'm going to try to keep this going. Thank you for the reviews. They really give me a boost.

Imaginary Friend

Chapter 10

By now the club was beginning to pack out. Brennan and Jesse walked in the front door and noticed Paul standing guard. Finding out that he hadn't seen her and in fact just came on duty, they moved on and decided to spread out and work their way to the bar. Each had seen a few employees they knew but none had seen Shal.

Cassandra had begun her shift and was clearing off tables when she noticed the man who was sitting with Bobby last night. She smiled as she watched and waited for Bobby to appear. As the man sat at the bar and spoke to Tony, the bartender; another man sat beside him…but it wasn't who she wanted to see. Frowning she took her tray in the back to empty it.

"Any luck?" Jesse asked an increasingly anxious elemental.

"No, none. You?"

"Not so far? Everyone I talked to just started their shifts."

"Brennan? Jesse?" a soft voice called from behind them.

They both turned and greeted her with muted hellos.

Lisa had known them for a long time. She had seen them come to the club to celebrate, to dance off anxiety and even drink away frustrations. Never had she seen them…like this. Stepping closer with a frown she laid a hand on each man's arm. "Ok, now someone has to tell me what's going on. Are Kitty and Bryan ok?"

"They're fine," Jesse gave her a half smile. "thanks. I told Kitty about our conversation last night."

"Look, I've known you guys a long time now. What's up? First Shalimar, then…" She jumped in shock as both men reversed her hold on their arms.

"You saw Shal?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah. Hours ago." Lisa moved closer as she whispered, "What happened?"

Jesse saw Brennan lower his head. He understood the pain. "She didn't come home," he answered. "We're worried."

Brennan looked up when she gasped in surprise. "Did you talk to her?"

"Sure. I asked what brought her out so early. She said she just had to get out. I thought it was strange to see her here alone but she seemed ok. We mentioned Bryan and laughed a little."

"Did you see her talk to anyone? When did she leave?"

Her heart broke as Brennan's eyes pleaded with her for hope. "I didn't see her with anyone. I just gave her a soda then went to check the inventory. I was back in less than 5 minutes. She was gone." It was painful to watch both men sigh in defeat.

"Thanks," Brennan managed a small smile.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you any more than that." Lisa reached out and gave Brennan a quick hug.

"Come on, Brennan," Jesse urged. "Let's go home. Maybe Adam has a lead by now." Lisa stepped back as both men stood. "Lis, you have our number. Call us if she should show up or you hear anything."

"You know it." She watched the men leave then went behind the bar, still going over the memory in her mind, hoping she would remember something that might help.

"Friends of yours?" Cassandra's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Huh,…oh,…yeah. I've known them for a long time. Brennan's wife is missing. She was here earlier but she left. I wish she would have told me where she was going. Brennan's lost without her. They're really close." Lisa suddenly turned a smile to the new girl. "Talk about close, you certainly move fast. I saw you dancing with that guy during your break last night. He was with them, too. What was his name?" Lisa watched knowingly as Cassandra began to pink. "Bobby, that was it, wasn't it?"

The girl nodded shyly and looked down at her tray. "I thought he was…handsome."

"Yes, he is. You have good taste." Lisa smiled then turned and walked into the crowd with her tray and order pad.

"Hey, Tony," Cassandra called, "I'm due for a break. Be back in 10." She saw Tony wave in acknowledgement, then she headed for the basement.

Shalimar had tried to think. Nothing made sense. She thought she was going crazy. She desperately tried to put together the facts. There weren't many. Memory after memory began to resurface from her time at the institution. Her mind was attacked by a barrage of resurfacing feelings. Hurt at being rejected and abandoned by her parents. Fear of being left in a strange place. Panic as her powers grew. Low self esteem as she was unable to gain the approval of the doctors, no matter what she did. Helplessness as she was continually drugged and bound by orderlies who consistently mocked and mistreated her. Terror as one man came at her with unknown intentions. Brief glimpses of rest when she was alone in her cell. Times spent in fairyland with another little girl. After a while she began to wonder where she was. Sitting in the chair, she saw the teen walk through the door. "Hi, Shalimar," she heard her name and cringed. Her mind was spinning. "Cassie? Where am I?"

"What's the matter, Shal? Don't you remember? You're with me. You don't have to be afraid." The teen spoke soothingly to her. Cassandra was amazed that this seemingly strong woman had little strength of mind to deal with the confinement. I guess that's why she was in the institution to begin with. "Guess who I just saw?" She saw her questioning look. "I just saw your Prince Charming."

"Brennan," Shal whispered to herself. He was a strong presence in her heart.

"He's very handsome. So tall, dark and, oh,…those muscles. It's too bad really."

Shal looked at her with a frown. "What is?"

"Well, this fairytale you made up; it's really very tragic."

"Tragic? Cassie,…what…did you do?" Fear gripped Shalimar's heart.

"I didn't do anything. This was your story. Evidently you must have put a spell on the handsome prince. I'm sure he thought you were very beautiful. Now that you're back here the spell is broken. If he ever finds you, he'll see what you really look like. He'll probably be broken hearted. Then he'll be furious and wonder how you were able to hide such a thing from him for so long." Seeing her confusion, Cassandra turned and indicated the mirror standing to one side.

Shalimar was more confused than she had ever been.

Your stories are always so dark and gloomy. I guess you can't help it, being the way you are. That's why you always needed me to help you make it a fairytale and give you your happily-ever-afters. I have to go now. I'll come back later and see if I can help you improve this one. Maybe we can find a way to get your prince to accept you again. I'll have to think about it for a while."

With deep wondering ridges in her brow, Shalimar watched the teen turn and vanish through the door. More questions flooded her mind. She turned to the mirror once again and hesitantly approached it. The image she saw made her gasp and stopped her heart. Knobby and uncared for hands automatically reached toward her face. Discolored scars in lines and patches covered most of her face and neck. Her hair was tangled and nested. Claw-like scars ran down both her arms. Finally inhaling she closed her eyes and let out a terrible scream then collapsed to the floor in tears.

Just outside the door a woman smiled then returned to work.

On the way home Jesse got Brennan to at least be hopeful that Adam would have something. When they left the club both men were down but Brennan seemed to quickly fall into a despair the likes of which Jesse had never seen on him. When they got to Sanctuary they found Adam sitting at Jesse's computer, intently studying something on the screen.

"Anything?" he turned to them when they approached.

Brennan just shook his head and leaned against the wall with his arms hugging his chest.

"Lisa saw her there but didn't see anyone with her and didn't see her leave." Jesse reported. "Did you find anything?" Jesse turned and made eye contact with Brennan for support.

Adam followed his eyes and knew his boys were losing ground fast. "I pulled up Shalimar's files. I've been reading the notes I made after I first brought her here. I made no progress with her in the beginning. For as scared as she was I'm surprised now that she even let me near her then. I had to have almost all of her memories suppressed just to work with her. Then slowly over time we recovered the memories she has now. The memories from her time at the institution were extremely painful for her. We only grazed the surface and left it at that. She was so young, her mind quickly adjusted and she was able to move on instead of look back.

"She didn't seem that afraid of me," Jesse smiled, remembering.

Evie walked in and stood next to the men.

Adam smiled at her then continued to Jesse. "You were younger. Her feral pack instinct kicked in and the need to protect you took over. Before you came, she barely let me in the same room with her until after I had her memories blocked." Turning back to the computer he went on. "I also looked up the institution files. I pulled up the files on everyone there; staff and patients. I found something interesting. There was a young girl just younger than Shal and she was kept in the adjoining room. She is listed in the files as having some telepathic abilities. She wasn't a full telepath but seemed to be able to project her self into others' minds. There isn't any indication of mind reading or kinetic abilities. Her name was Cassandra Moore."

"Cassie" Jesse concluded for him.

"As in Cassandra?" Bobby walked in only hearing Jesse speak. "What about her?"

"She was another patient in the institution while Shal was there as a child." Jesse saw Bobby crease with thought. "Why?"

"Well, the girl that we saw in the supermarket," he made eye contact with Brennan then turned to Jesse, "the girl I danced with at the club…" He noticed Evie giving him a reproving look. "It's not like that," he told her. "I knew I recognized her and just had to know from where. When I saw her at the club I wanted to talk to her and clear up the mystery. That's all. She told me her name was Cassandra. I didn't get a last name."

"I didn't know about her being in the club," Brennan finally joined the conversation.

"You two were dancing when I talked to her. Then I danced with Shal and we had to bring her home. I didn't get the chance to tell you that I solved the mystery."

"I watched you with her but you didn't tell me her name," Jesse remembered.

"Her name wasn't important that I knew of. I just wanted to find out where I had seen her. What's going on?"

"Shalimar left here after she had a telepathic visit from an imaginary friend whom she hadn't seen since she was a child…Cassie." Adam filled him in.

"You said she was at the mansion for Remy's wedding," Jesse began.

"What?" Brennan was finding it hard to control any emotions at this point.

"That was the solution to the mystery. She was on the catering staff. While we were dancing she said that she doesn't stay in one place too long and last week moved here and took the job at the club. We finished the dance and she went back to work. I didn't suspect there was anymore than that. She seemed pretty nice."

"She was also eyeing you pretty well, as I remember," Jesse elbowed Bobby as he smirked.

"If this is the same girl, what does she want with Shal?" Brennan whispered, almost too exhausted to speak.

Adam continued to punch keys as he spoke. "I don't know. Institution records show that she was released about 6 years ago, sighting sufficient mental stability and low danger factor. There's no mention in the records of either,…about the other."

"So wait, you think that this Cassandra is the same Cassie that Shal knew as a child? And now she's here to what, get reacquainted?" Bobby felt like he was lost somewhere.

"It's possible…if it's the same girl. According to the records she can only project not read. We need to find out if it's her." Adam turned to Bobby. "Since you've already made contact, you're the one to go in; especially if she's shown some interest. How about it?"

"Sure, just let me call home and tell them I'll be another little while." Bobby saw Adam nod then turned to go to his room.

"Jubes, listen," he told her. "I need to stay and help out. Tell the professor that I'll contact him when I know something more…Don't worry, I'll keep my distance. I promise. I love you…I'll call you soon. Bye." He closed the cell phone and closed his eyes.

Bobby walked into the lab and found a very agitated Brennan arguing with Jesse. "No, Jess, I'm going."

"Brennan, listen man, give us a chance to try this. Let us go in the car. If we find anything you can fly in. This may not even be the same girl."

"Fine," Brennan sighed in defeat. "But I want to hear everything that comes up."

"No problem," Jesse agreed.

"Bob, come and sit here. I want to run a baseline scan on you. If we have any problems I want to make sure I can return you to Charles in one piece. I'm not interested in sending Hank a jigsaw puzzle." Adam smiled as he began his work.

When Adam was done, Evie walked up to his side. "I'm going to go into your mind for a short time. I want to erect a type of filter that will deter any projections from seeming real to you. You should be able to see them as intruders and not be fooled by them. Bobby nodded and Evie closed her eyes as she took his head into her hands. After a bit, she opened her eyes again and smiled. "Now, I'm going to give you a test." Without another word she walked out of the lab.

Bobby chuckled to himself as he waited for this test. What's she gonna do; make me moo like a cow or something? Before he could move, Jubilee walked in. At first glance his heart jumped to see her. But in an instant he noticed something different. As Jubilee got closer a cool bluish glow appeared around her. He watched in wonder as she stood in front of him and slowly put her arms around his neck. This is not real. It's not Jubes, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again he found a smiling Kitty with her hands locked around his neck. "Don't you think you should be in bed?"

"Are you coming with me?" she coo-ed.

Slowly he put his arms around her and pulled her closer. "Jesse would pulverize me." Bobby smiled and kissed her cheek as Evie and Jesse walked back into the lab.

"Well, I would say that worked, wouldn't you?" Evie came to stand beside him.

"It was kind of neat. There was this glow around her. After I closed my eyes and admitted it wasn't really Jubes, I could see Kitty."

"I think you're ready to go in," Adam said from the door. Remember, you are to go in and first find out if this is the same girl. I showed you the information we have so you can determine if there's a match. If so, look for clues for Shalimar." Adam handed him an ear piece and a silver rope chain. "These will keep us in communication. The mic in the chain is sensitive enough for you to whisper. I'll filter out the club noise from here. Don't push too hard at first. Get what you can and get out. We'll figure out our next move when you get back."

TBC