Author's Note: You guys are just amazing! I seriously had given up on this
story and a few months on I'm still getting reviews asking me to
continue!!!! It is because of this and this alone that I am posting this
chapter. To all that have reviewed I'd like to thank you all soooo much for
your support. This story would have been a dead end without you and that's
the truth. I've made this chapter a little bit longer than my usual
chapters cos you all so deserve it for being so patient. This one is for
all of you guys, hope you enjoy it...
p.s Just a reminder that this is set sometime in the first season where Emma was still around. Apologies in advance to all Brennan fans cos I've made him out to be a bit mean in this one but I think I sorta had to to bring out this particular storyline. So don't be too mad okay...
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sanctuary
"Emma!!" Shalimar cried out as she saw the psionic jerk violently backwards and fall to the floor unconscious. Adam and Brennan were already by her side. After checking her breathing, Adam motioned for her to be brought to the med bay for a more thorough check up.
"Here, give her this. Adam said to Shalimar handing her a bottle of ointment. Taking it, Shalimar lifted Emma's head allowing her to inhale the strong smell of the ointment. Emma's eyes flickered open and she gave a soft moan as she immediately tried to lift her head.
"Don't. Don't try to move." Shalimar said slowly bringing Emma's head back down on the head rest of the med chair.
"Do you feel okay?" Adam asked concern in his voice.
"Yeah. I think so. My head hurts though. What happened?" Emma asked confused trying to recall the events that led her to the med bay.
"We were hoping you'd tell us." Adam said looking up at Shalimar and Brennan who were hovering worriedly around Emma. "You were trying to get a connection to Jesse and all of a sudden you fell unconscious. Don't you remember anything".
"I.. I.. don't know". Emma said frowning trying hard to recall what just happened. "I remember trying to get the connection and I'm not sure whether I was able to or not but what I do remember is that all of a sudden there was this strong force slamming into me. I don't remember anything after that."
"What do you supposed happened?" Shalimar asked Adam anxiously.
"I'm not sure." Adam answered racking his brain.
"Well, what does it mean? If Emma got a connection doesn't that mean Jesse's still alive???" Shalimar persisted impatiently.
"Well yes, if she did get a connection..." Adam answered, looking at Shalimar her eyes lighting up with hope.
"Well then how do you explain what happened to Emma? What was the force Emma was talking about then?" Brennan queried, curious himself.
"I don't know. It could be anything. It could have been a mental shield he put up as soon as he felt Emma's presence. But to be able to do that with such force, unlikely." Adam said thoughtfully.
"So we're right back where we started." Brennan said slumping down on his seat as he turned to see Shalimar get up from her seat and head out of the lab.
"Where are you going?" he said immediately straightening up again.
"I don't know about you but I'm going to find out what the hell in happening here?" Shalimar said as she walked out of the room.
Warehouse
"Is he dead?" Xavier asked as he looked at the limp form of the molecular at his feet.
"Not yet". Lena answered as she made her way to the main computer console. "If I hadn't pulled out as I did, he probably would have been. I only had time to download some information, but not all. It should be enough for a start though. Just a couple more sessions and you can rid of him for good."
"Excellent." Xavier said as he watched Lena put on the head set she had especially designed to transfer the information she obtained from Jesse into his computer. He had seen it many a times but it never failed to fascinate him. Her gifts were extraordinary and had helped him rise among the ranks as a formidable leader and he found it a most fruitful partnership in more ways than one.
"Lets get straight down to business than." Xavier said motioning for his men.
Sanctuary
"I'm coming with you." Brennan said stepping in front of her as she made her way to the garage.
"I think you've done enough" Shalimar said brushing past him without slowing down her step.
"Shalimar, please." Brennan said falling in step with her. "I know you're angry...You have every right to be and I'm sorry. But please. Don't shut me out. Not now. Jesse may need all the help he can get."
Shalimar paused before she took the keys to her bike. After a split second of deliberation she changed her mind and opted for the keys to the beamer which she threw to Brennan without saying a word.
"So where are we going?" Brennan asked from behind the wheel.
"To the cemetery" Shalimar answered looking out the window.
"But Emma and I have already checked it out." Brennan started in protest but stopped abruptly when Shalimar turned to give him a look which clearly said that she was not in the mood to argue.
"As you wish." Brennan shrugged as he revved up the engine.
Shalimar was angry. She was going crazy with worry about Jesse and Brennan for his part was being a complete jerk.
"What exactly is it about Jesse that you have such a problem with?" Shalimar said after about ten minutes of deafening silence, no longer able to contain herself.
"What? Nothing" Brennan answered surprised by the question. "I don't have a problem with him! It was just the stunt he pulled yesterday." Brennan said as he glanced over at Shalimar. "You've got to admit it was downright careless of him and it could have gotten you killed."
"Well than shouldn't I be the one giving him the hard time?" Shalimar said.
"Well yeah. Actually you should, Adam should, but no one seems to. I don't understand it. Why are you all trying to protect him? He needs to have a little life experience. He doesn't need to be molly cuddled" Brennan said.
"Believe me. He's got plenty of life experience... even more than I thought he did." Shalimar said her voice taking on a distant tone before she continued more feverently. "What I don't understand is where do you get off judging him? I mean you come into this team with all your so called 'life experiences' and street knowledge and you think you're all that." Shalimar continued in full on feral rage. "If you think Jesse's the one slowing us down maybe you should take a step back and look at the big picture. Jesse has been nothing but a good friend and a good team-mate. He's even gone out of his way to save your ass and ours for that matter, numerous times. And the one time he makes a mistake you're all over him. If there is a problem, here, it's not with Jesse. It's with you. Whatever chip you've got on your shoulder, you better get rid of it because that is the only thing slowing us down." Shalimar finished as she stepped out of the vehicle which had stopped in front of the cemetery and slammed the door behind her.
Brennan was seething in anger at Shalimar's words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Shutting off the engine, he quickly opened the door to catch up with Shalimar.
"What the hell are you saying?" Brennan asked angrily.
"What I'm saying is if you could get off of your high horse, maybe things would be a whole lot easier for all of us." Shalimar said as she crossed the road to the cemetery.
Brennan stared at Shalimar as she walked ahead in utter disbelief. "Look." He said running up to catch up with her. "I don't know what exactly it is that you have going on with Jesse. But whatever it is, it's screwing up your judgment big time. I mean he's got you neatly wrapped around his fingers to the point that you can't even see it when he screws up!!" Brennan countered back in anger.
"What? What I have going on with Jesse? What the hell are you talking about? Jesse is like a brother to me." Shalimar said incredulously. "If anything, my judgment is crystal clear. I've known him a lot longer than you have...and by god if you make a quip about my not knowing him because I didn't know he had a sister, I swear I will beat the crap out of you and you'll hurt in places you never knew existed." Shalimar finished as he left Brennan standing in the middle of the cemetery and headed off in a smoldering rage, to look for Eleanor's grave.
Brennan stood there rooted looking at Shalimar as she walked off in fury, trying to process what she was saying. His mind focusing only on a part of what she had said. The most important part as far as he was concerned. There was nothing going on between her and Jesse! He hadn't been sure, but her protectiveness towards Jesse plagued him with an uncertainty that was killing him. But finally, he had gotten the confirmation he wanted.
The relief flooded through him drowning his anger. He had never been so pleased to hear her say the words. Common sense told him that he should still be angry at her outburst and her accusations. Common sense also told him that his focus right now should not be at her confirmation but at their task at hand which was to find Jesse. He just wished he had some more common sense where Shalimar was concerned. He gave himself a mental kick as he regrouped and ran to catch up with Shalimar.
"Shal, look. I don't want to fight." He said as he caught up to the feral. "Let's just do what we need to do here to help Jesse."
"Never thought I would hear you say something smart for once." Shalimar said dryly not totally over her anger.
Trying hard to ignore the retort, Brennan queried "What exactly are we doing here?"
"Looking for something, anything to give us a clue as to what might have happened" Shalimar said kneeling down at Eleanor's grave, reading the inscription still with disbelief at the knowledge that Jesse had kept this from her.
Swallowing her hurt, she quickly turned on her feral senses scouting the grounds for something that Emma and Brennan could have missed earlier.
Jesse slowly opened his eyes trying to brace himself against the assault to his brains as the light flooded his vision. He grimaced in pain as he tried to focus the visions swimming before him. He attempted to lift his head but the excruciating pain that resulted forced him back down to the floor.
The memory of Lena's hands on his face and the image of her eyes appeared before him and he shivered. What struck a fear in his heart however was what he had seen. The strings and strings of data that flowed against the black of her eye. Data that made up his memories, his secrets, his thoughts, his knowledge. She had unlocked his mind and found access to all that she wanted.
He closed his eyes in shame at how easily he had given up the information. His heart went heavy with dread as a familiar sense of guilt settled at the thought of what that information would be used for, the pain he would have caused and the lives he would have ruined...
p.s Just a reminder that this is set sometime in the first season where Emma was still around. Apologies in advance to all Brennan fans cos I've made him out to be a bit mean in this one but I think I sorta had to to bring out this particular storyline. So don't be too mad okay...
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sanctuary
"Emma!!" Shalimar cried out as she saw the psionic jerk violently backwards and fall to the floor unconscious. Adam and Brennan were already by her side. After checking her breathing, Adam motioned for her to be brought to the med bay for a more thorough check up.
"Here, give her this. Adam said to Shalimar handing her a bottle of ointment. Taking it, Shalimar lifted Emma's head allowing her to inhale the strong smell of the ointment. Emma's eyes flickered open and she gave a soft moan as she immediately tried to lift her head.
"Don't. Don't try to move." Shalimar said slowly bringing Emma's head back down on the head rest of the med chair.
"Do you feel okay?" Adam asked concern in his voice.
"Yeah. I think so. My head hurts though. What happened?" Emma asked confused trying to recall the events that led her to the med bay.
"We were hoping you'd tell us." Adam said looking up at Shalimar and Brennan who were hovering worriedly around Emma. "You were trying to get a connection to Jesse and all of a sudden you fell unconscious. Don't you remember anything".
"I.. I.. don't know". Emma said frowning trying hard to recall what just happened. "I remember trying to get the connection and I'm not sure whether I was able to or not but what I do remember is that all of a sudden there was this strong force slamming into me. I don't remember anything after that."
"What do you supposed happened?" Shalimar asked Adam anxiously.
"I'm not sure." Adam answered racking his brain.
"Well, what does it mean? If Emma got a connection doesn't that mean Jesse's still alive???" Shalimar persisted impatiently.
"Well yes, if she did get a connection..." Adam answered, looking at Shalimar her eyes lighting up with hope.
"Well then how do you explain what happened to Emma? What was the force Emma was talking about then?" Brennan queried, curious himself.
"I don't know. It could be anything. It could have been a mental shield he put up as soon as he felt Emma's presence. But to be able to do that with such force, unlikely." Adam said thoughtfully.
"So we're right back where we started." Brennan said slumping down on his seat as he turned to see Shalimar get up from her seat and head out of the lab.
"Where are you going?" he said immediately straightening up again.
"I don't know about you but I'm going to find out what the hell in happening here?" Shalimar said as she walked out of the room.
Warehouse
"Is he dead?" Xavier asked as he looked at the limp form of the molecular at his feet.
"Not yet". Lena answered as she made her way to the main computer console. "If I hadn't pulled out as I did, he probably would have been. I only had time to download some information, but not all. It should be enough for a start though. Just a couple more sessions and you can rid of him for good."
"Excellent." Xavier said as he watched Lena put on the head set she had especially designed to transfer the information she obtained from Jesse into his computer. He had seen it many a times but it never failed to fascinate him. Her gifts were extraordinary and had helped him rise among the ranks as a formidable leader and he found it a most fruitful partnership in more ways than one.
"Lets get straight down to business than." Xavier said motioning for his men.
Sanctuary
"I'm coming with you." Brennan said stepping in front of her as she made her way to the garage.
"I think you've done enough" Shalimar said brushing past him without slowing down her step.
"Shalimar, please." Brennan said falling in step with her. "I know you're angry...You have every right to be and I'm sorry. But please. Don't shut me out. Not now. Jesse may need all the help he can get."
Shalimar paused before she took the keys to her bike. After a split second of deliberation she changed her mind and opted for the keys to the beamer which she threw to Brennan without saying a word.
"So where are we going?" Brennan asked from behind the wheel.
"To the cemetery" Shalimar answered looking out the window.
"But Emma and I have already checked it out." Brennan started in protest but stopped abruptly when Shalimar turned to give him a look which clearly said that she was not in the mood to argue.
"As you wish." Brennan shrugged as he revved up the engine.
Shalimar was angry. She was going crazy with worry about Jesse and Brennan for his part was being a complete jerk.
"What exactly is it about Jesse that you have such a problem with?" Shalimar said after about ten minutes of deafening silence, no longer able to contain herself.
"What? Nothing" Brennan answered surprised by the question. "I don't have a problem with him! It was just the stunt he pulled yesterday." Brennan said as he glanced over at Shalimar. "You've got to admit it was downright careless of him and it could have gotten you killed."
"Well than shouldn't I be the one giving him the hard time?" Shalimar said.
"Well yeah. Actually you should, Adam should, but no one seems to. I don't understand it. Why are you all trying to protect him? He needs to have a little life experience. He doesn't need to be molly cuddled" Brennan said.
"Believe me. He's got plenty of life experience... even more than I thought he did." Shalimar said her voice taking on a distant tone before she continued more feverently. "What I don't understand is where do you get off judging him? I mean you come into this team with all your so called 'life experiences' and street knowledge and you think you're all that." Shalimar continued in full on feral rage. "If you think Jesse's the one slowing us down maybe you should take a step back and look at the big picture. Jesse has been nothing but a good friend and a good team-mate. He's even gone out of his way to save your ass and ours for that matter, numerous times. And the one time he makes a mistake you're all over him. If there is a problem, here, it's not with Jesse. It's with you. Whatever chip you've got on your shoulder, you better get rid of it because that is the only thing slowing us down." Shalimar finished as she stepped out of the vehicle which had stopped in front of the cemetery and slammed the door behind her.
Brennan was seething in anger at Shalimar's words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Shutting off the engine, he quickly opened the door to catch up with Shalimar.
"What the hell are you saying?" Brennan asked angrily.
"What I'm saying is if you could get off of your high horse, maybe things would be a whole lot easier for all of us." Shalimar said as she crossed the road to the cemetery.
Brennan stared at Shalimar as she walked ahead in utter disbelief. "Look." He said running up to catch up with her. "I don't know what exactly it is that you have going on with Jesse. But whatever it is, it's screwing up your judgment big time. I mean he's got you neatly wrapped around his fingers to the point that you can't even see it when he screws up!!" Brennan countered back in anger.
"What? What I have going on with Jesse? What the hell are you talking about? Jesse is like a brother to me." Shalimar said incredulously. "If anything, my judgment is crystal clear. I've known him a lot longer than you have...and by god if you make a quip about my not knowing him because I didn't know he had a sister, I swear I will beat the crap out of you and you'll hurt in places you never knew existed." Shalimar finished as he left Brennan standing in the middle of the cemetery and headed off in a smoldering rage, to look for Eleanor's grave.
Brennan stood there rooted looking at Shalimar as she walked off in fury, trying to process what she was saying. His mind focusing only on a part of what she had said. The most important part as far as he was concerned. There was nothing going on between her and Jesse! He hadn't been sure, but her protectiveness towards Jesse plagued him with an uncertainty that was killing him. But finally, he had gotten the confirmation he wanted.
The relief flooded through him drowning his anger. He had never been so pleased to hear her say the words. Common sense told him that he should still be angry at her outburst and her accusations. Common sense also told him that his focus right now should not be at her confirmation but at their task at hand which was to find Jesse. He just wished he had some more common sense where Shalimar was concerned. He gave himself a mental kick as he regrouped and ran to catch up with Shalimar.
"Shal, look. I don't want to fight." He said as he caught up to the feral. "Let's just do what we need to do here to help Jesse."
"Never thought I would hear you say something smart for once." Shalimar said dryly not totally over her anger.
Trying hard to ignore the retort, Brennan queried "What exactly are we doing here?"
"Looking for something, anything to give us a clue as to what might have happened" Shalimar said kneeling down at Eleanor's grave, reading the inscription still with disbelief at the knowledge that Jesse had kept this from her.
Swallowing her hurt, she quickly turned on her feral senses scouting the grounds for something that Emma and Brennan could have missed earlier.
Jesse slowly opened his eyes trying to brace himself against the assault to his brains as the light flooded his vision. He grimaced in pain as he tried to focus the visions swimming before him. He attempted to lift his head but the excruciating pain that resulted forced him back down to the floor.
The memory of Lena's hands on his face and the image of her eyes appeared before him and he shivered. What struck a fear in his heart however was what he had seen. The strings and strings of data that flowed against the black of her eye. Data that made up his memories, his secrets, his thoughts, his knowledge. She had unlocked his mind and found access to all that she wanted.
He closed his eyes in shame at how easily he had given up the information. His heart went heavy with dread as a familiar sense of guilt settled at the thought of what that information would be used for, the pain he would have caused and the lives he would have ruined...