Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or X Men.

Imaginary Friend

Chapter 14

This was too much for Lisa to handle. She was so pleased that she found Shalimar in safety but now…she wondered. "Alright…alright…just calm down…You stay right here." I need help. "I'm going to go back now, but I'll come back to see you later. Is that ok? Can I come back?" relieved to see Shalimar begin to relax, she smiled to cover her own uneasiness. She patted Shalimar's shoulder when she saw her nod. "Ok, I'll be back in a while. You stay right here." Lisa backed out of the room and locked the door.

Falling back against it and letting out a deep breath she almost cried herself. What in all creation happened to her? Cassandra…What can she do? Oh no, she's with Bobby. "I'm sorry Shal," she whispered. "Forgive me." Lisa checked the lock on the door again then ran up the stairs. When she got to the top of the stairs she stopped to turn a lock that didn't usually get used. Today she was taking no chances. No one would go back down there without her. Satisfied, she ran up to her room.

The com signal rang and Adam was closest to the terminal. "Hello?"

"Hello. May I please speak to Jesse Kilmartin?" Adam looked at Jesse as he came into view.

"Lisa? Are you ok?" Jesse could hear the tremble in her voice.

"Jesse, Thank God…Jesse, listen…" she crossed her fingers, "Is Brennan with you?"

"Um, no. Not right now." He shrugged his shoulders at the questioning look he got from Adam.

"Jesse, please whisper. I…I found Shalimar."

"What? Is she ok? Where is she? We'll be right there?"

"No, Jesse wait…" she called. "Listen to me. She's not herself. She's very distraught. I almost had her following me until I mentioned Brennan."

Brennan was coming around the corner and heard his name. When he saw Jesse's face he knew something broke. With his heart slamming against his chest he made his way to the console.

"Lisa, this is Adam, What do you mean, distraught?"

"I don't know. She's just talking nonsense. She was so frantic I was afraid for her. She made me promise not to tell Brennan where she was. She said that he'd never forgive her for lying to him."

"Lying?" Brennan couldn't help his reaction. "Lisa, where is she?"

"Oh, God,…Brennan…" Lisa gasped.

"Tell me, Lisa!" he demanded.

"She's here in the club." Lisa knew she had no choice but she hoped he would find out a little more gently. "I'll meet you. Oh wait, Cassandra's with your friend…Bobby. Whatever she did to Shal…"

"It's ok, We're keeping an eye on them. She can't hurt him."

"Ok…I'll be at the door."

"No," Jesse countered. "On the roof."

"The roof?"

"Trust me, Lisa."

"Of course." Deeply saddened she hung up the phone. "I'm so sorry, Shalimar."

Brennan turned toward the hangar but was stopped by Adam's strong hand on his arm.

"We're all going. Cassie did something. There's no telling what. Shalimar let Lisa near her. We let Evie go in first."

"If her feral side is wild she'll tear her apart," Brennan argued.

"No. Mentioning you set her off for some reason. We don't know what suddenly seeing you will do." Adam saw the sad acceptance in Brennan's face. "Evie," he called into his ring. "We found Shal. Meet us in the Helix. Kitty, you've got the babies and keep the link with Bobby stable." He nodded to the men and they left together.

Even though Lisa couldn't see it, she could feel the landing of some type of craft. If she hadn't been so upset about Shalimar she would have laughed to see a door open in thin air. Jesse was out first and walked to her side. She almost cried again to see the pain in Brennan's worry-worn face as she reached out for his hands. A man and woman she only remembered seeing once or twice exited before the doorway completely disappeared.

"Lisa, I'm Adam. This is my wife, Evie." The women smiled and nodded politely. "Please, first tell us is she safe right now?"

"Yes. I made sure to lock all the doors so no one else could go near her."

"Good. The club is closed, right?" Adam saw her nod. "Ok, let's go inside."

Once inside, Lisa led them to a side table and explained, "I had to go into the basement to get something out of storage. I happened to notice the tiny caution light on the electric box was on. It's there to signal that the rot gut room is in use. My hands were full…"

"Wait, rot gut room?" Jesse asked.

"A relic from the days of prohibition. Bar owners who had such rooms could continue running the bar without getting in trouble with the police." Adam explained. He turned back to Lisa. "Sound proof and usually camouflaged."

"Ours was one of the best in the area. It was never raided, so they tell me. I asked Tony, the bartender, if he had gone in there for anything. He told me Cassandra must have gone exploring after he told her about the history of the bar a few days back. I went down myself to check out the room and found Shalimar hiding under a blanket."

"Adam!" Brennan was getting more impatient by the minute with the knowledge that his wife was so close and yet he was being kept from her.

"Hey, come on, Man. I want to see her, too but we can't just surprise her by rushing in there." Jesse moved to his side as he paced.

"Jesse, pour him a shot," Lisa nodded to the bar and gave a small smile when he took her advice.

"Is she hurt?" Evie asked.

"Not that I could tell. She's just really confused… somehow. I don't know what Cassandra could have done to her." Lisa looked sadly at the men by the bar and lowered her voice. "She's adamant about not letting Brennan see her and she kept repeating how ugly she is."

"Evie, can you find her?" Adam asked.

Evie closed her eyes and reached out for her friend but all she could see was a wall. "No," she said. "There's a block up. I'm afraid to force my way around it without more information."

Adam raised his ring and spoke again. "Kitty, how's our link to Bobby?"

"It's holding. I've been listening in as they've walked through the park."

"I need you to patch us all together."

"Ok, Adam, it's done."

"Good girl, thank you." "Bob, listen carefully. We know where Shalimar is. We need a little time to get to her. Then I'll signal you to bring Cassandra back to the club."

"Here's a really nice quiet spot. Why don't we sit here for a while? I'm sure we can find…something to…talk…about." Adam heard Bobby's line and knew he understood.

Kitty also heard. She made sure her com wasn't on then whispered, "If you do much more than talking I know another girl who won't be."

"All right, we're going down. Bobby's got Cassandra occupied. We're going to stay outside the room while Lisa and Evie go in." Adam turned a stern look on Brennan. "Is that clear?"

TBC