Disclaimer: I don't own Mutant X or X Men.
Imaginary Friend
Chapter 15
Shalimar heard the door latch. Again she hid under the blanket.
Lisa walked in by herself as Evie stood hidden by the door. "Shalimar? Shalimar, it's Lisa. Come out, Hon." She smiled when she saw the blanket move. Soon she saw Shalimar peek out from the folds of the musty material. With slow, fluid movements, Lisa moved closer. "I promised I would come back to see you. Are you still, ok?"
"Lisa, why did you come back here?" Shalimar reached for her hands. "Don't you know the doctor's will be mad if I get too many visitors?"
Brennan and Jesse both looked at Adam, who motioned for them to follow him to a safer distance. "She must believe she's back at the institution," Adam whispered.
"I have to get her out of there," Brennan took a step aside only to be body blocked by the blond molecular.
"Whoa, hold it. We can't just rush in there. Give Evie the chance to work. You know one way or another she's leaving with us." Adam knew he could only hold the man away from his wife for so long. He hoped and prayed that Evie could block the projections.
Confused but quick thinking, Lisa decided to play along. "It's ok. I got special permission. I told you that I would come back and help you, didn't I? Well, I brought someone to help. Is that ok? Now stay calm, I promise not to leave you, ok?" Lisa smiled as she saw Shalimar look up bravely. "Come in, please."
Evie slowly stepped into view. "Hello, Shalimar."
"Evie?" As her presence registered, Shalimar began to tremble.
Lisa could feel it. "Easy Shal. She's here to help us." It took all of her strength to hold on as the frightened woman tried to pull away.
"No, no! You can't be here! You can't see me! You can't see me!" Her fear finally consumed her as her feral senses took over. She pulled her hands away from the woman at her side. Her eyes were golden and she growled threateningly.
"Lisa," Evie spoke calmly. "DON'T move. Shalimar, listen to me. I know you can hear me. We're no threat to you. We're here to help you."
Shalimar jumped off the chair and moved further away from the door. Suddenly she stopped and lifted her head. Sniffing the air she recognized his scent.
Evie knew right away and she tried to reach into Shalimar's mind. Finding the same wall blocking her path she had to find another way. Turning away she pulled the door closed. She cringed when she felt the men jump at the sudden turn of events.
"NOOOOO! Shalimar screamed and leapt in caged fury around the room. Lisa was thrown against one wall. Boxes were broken. Evie tried to keep moving to avoid her but eventually was scratched and thrown onto the chair.
The men, hearing the commotion on the other side of the door, hurried to it. Jesse opened it and quickly moved in, immediately followed by Brennan, then Adam. "SHALIMAR!" Brennan called to still her.
With her back to him, Shalimar froze at the sound of his voice. In feral mode with her senses on high she could feel him in everything around her. Above everyone else she could hear his heart racing, feel his dominant presence, smell his…fear? A battle raged in her mind. Her feral side knew him, loved him, needed him. The projection in her rational mind was strong and seemed overwhelming. He was afraid of her, it accused. It screamed at her to run and hide. …Irrationally, the feral confused fear for rejection. He was her alpha male. He was her mate. But now he was…rejecting her… He couldn't be allowed to see her like this…
"Shalimar, I'm here. Listen to my voice." Brennan knew that even if he whispered she would hear him. He tried the best he could to keep the pounding of his heart down. She would hear that, too.
Seeing that Shalimar was still, Adam slowly and cautiously made his way to his wife. Meeting her eyes he opened his mind as she entered. Are you alright?
Yes, Darling, but she's got a block up that I can't get passed. She's desperate for us to not see her. Especially Brennan.
Jesse moved in as non-threatening a manner as he could. When he reached Lisa and saw that she was unconscious, he quickly checked for major injuries. Finding none, he sighed in relief and whispered to her. "Lisa…Lisa…come on, wake up."
"Jesse…" she felt his hand gently over her lips. Smiling at her, he helped her to her feet and let her lean on him as they watched their friends.
Shalimar slowly stood up straighter and let her hands fall gently to her sides. "Brennan," she whispered his name.
He knew the feral had been contained and he stepped closer to his wife. His hand reached out to her shoulder but was left in the air as she quickly moved further away. "Shalimar, don't…"
"Brennan, you…have to leave…" she panted as her words were strained. "I'm sorry…but…you have to…"
He could hear the quaking in her voice as she spoke. "I'm not leaving you. I love you." Quickly he advanced on her and took her by the shoulders.
She swiftly changed position under his hands and leapt to the far wall. "Get away!"
"Shal, please," Brennan moved closer again.
"No, get away! You can't see me!" she moved to one side with her stomach pressed firmly to the wall.
"I won't leave you, Shalimar. I'm gonna take you home." Brennan followed her step for step as if they were playing chess, until she was forced into a corner.
"Brennan," Adam stood at a slight distance behind him. "Step back," he whispered. "Don't trap her."
"Back up, Adam. It's ok. I know she won't attack me." Without further warning, Brennan used his conversation with Adam as distraction and threw himself against his wife. She began reacting just as he was about to make contact with her. He fought to pin her arms and legs as she tried desperately to get away without turning to face him. "Shalimar, stop! It's ok. I'll take care of you."
"No! No! Let me go! You don't understand! You can't see me like this! You can't see me this ugly!" She continued to struggle against his strong arms.
"What? Shalimar, you're not ugly. (struggle) You're beautiful, (struggle) the most beautiful woman in the world to me." (struggle)
"Not any more. (push) It was a lie. (kick) You can't see me now. (smack) I lied to you." (struggle) All the fighting only resulted in their falling over each other to the ground. Shalimar still faced away from Brennan.
"Jesse!" Brennan yelled and in an instant Jesse was there trying to grab and still her flailing arms and legs.
Brennan managed to pin her down long enough for Jesse to grab her arms over her head. They moved back and got her stretched out flat.
She still struggled fiercely. Jesse was being pulled and tossed until he finally massed and trapped her arms under his weight. Brennan couldn't still the legs in constant motion. Finally giving up on using his hands he dropped himself over her and straddled her thighs.
"Please, Baby, stop. Don't fight us," Brennan begged with tears in his eyes and voice.
"NOO!" she screamed. "Get away! Don't look at me!"
"Evie!" Brennan twisted to look over his shoulder. "Do something!"
Evie sighed. She had been trying to get into Shalimar's mind to try and calm her down. Nothing was working. What she was able to figure out made no sense to her. Working on the only information she had, Evie grabbed the blanket that Shalimar had hidden behind and moved quickly to Brennan's side. Covering Shalimar's upper body and head, she knelt and began trying to calm her friend. "Shal, listen to me. Stop fighting. Open your eyes. You're covered. Do you feel the blanket?" With pain in her eyes she met Brennan's confused ones. "Brennan can't see you. None of us can." She turned back to the figure on the floor. "I promise…I won't let anyone move the blanket…I promise. Please stop."
They all watched as Shalimar stopped the struggle. Their hearts broke at hearing her sob. Brennan tried to touch her but each time he did she struggled again. "I can't do anymore." Evie placed a loving hand on Brennan's back.
"But I can." Adam walked up to them and knelt beside his family. Slowly moving the edge of the blanket, he felt her begin to struggle. Seeing Jesse mass again he moved his head closer to hers as he soothed, "Shal, it's me, Sweetheart. I'm only touching your arm." He let her feel his fingers as they slid toward her shoulder. "I promise not to remove the blanket." He reached for a rip in the sleeve of Shalimar's shirt as Jesse kept her still. Quickly, he injected her with a strong sedative. In moments she was safely unconscious.
After all breathed a sigh of relief, Brennan reached for the blanket. He turned a grim face to Evie when she stopped him. "I promised her," was all she whispered.
TBC
