Disclaimer: I don't own this. If you recognize this, I didn't create it.

AN: Kindly words for my kindly reviewers.

AliasFan-MutantKitty: That is the most unique penname I've ever read. Cool! Here's the next chapter. Only a few more to go.

Mxfan214, Delauro, Emma, melodie568, Molecular 12: Thanx! I'm glad you like it.

BJVision: Didn't have to wait too long. I hope you like this.

Chapter 4-

Leo and Lexa Pierce arrived the next day. And their first meeting was with none other than Skyler Kilmartin. He came running from the common room, laughing loudly, trying to get away from his Uncle Brennan who was trying to tickle him. Immediately a scream went up as he ran pell-mell into Lexa's legs. He fell back, howling his confusion.

Emma came running around the corner from the lab at her son's scream. "Skyler? What's wrong baby? Tell Momma what's wrong?"

Skyler continued to scream just burying his face in his momma's shoulder. "Skyler wants Daddy!" he screamed, tightening his grip around her neck.

Emma's face crumpled and she stood, bouncing him gently to try and calm him. "Daddy's sleeping, baby. But it's okay, Momma's here. You're all right, just tell momma what's wrong."

The rest of the Mutant X team had come running at the little boy's shriek. Adam smiled at the sight of the Pierce twins. "Hello Lexa. Leo, how are you?"

Leo smiled at the scientist. "Hello, Dr. Kane. Thank you for calling us."

Adam turned to look at the other team members. Emma didn't look surprised, she had known they were coming, however Brennan and Shalimar looked about ready to attack. "Brennan, Shalimar, this is Leo and Lexa Pierce. They're twins and they're going to be filling out the team until Jesse is back on his feet."

Shalimar glared at Adam and stormed from the hallway, headed toward her own room. Brennan nodded his head sagely at the two new members before running after her. Emma shifted her son onto one hip, before holding out a hand. "Hi, I'm Emma Kilmartin. This is my son, Skyler."

Adam turned to look at Emma, shocked at her use of Jesse's name as her own. "Emma?"

"He's going to marry me when he wakes up so why prolong the inevitable?" Emma answered, knowing what had shocked the scientist.

Adam shrugged. It was sound logic and what's more, it was true. Emma even had Jesse's COM ring on a chain around her neck so that she could keep something of him close to her. "All right, Emma, why don't you show Leo and Lexa where their rooms are?"

"Okay. Can you take Skye? I was on my way to spend some time with Natalie and talk to Jesse when Skyler screamed."

"Sure. How about it, Skyler? You want to spend some time with Grandpa?"

Skyler giggled, his earlier fear forgotten as he leaned over toward his grandfather. "Grandpa." He giggled, sucking his thumb happily.

Emma turned toward the twins. "If you'll come with me, I'll show you around Sanctuary."

Leo turned to Lexa and nodded in response to his sister's hand on his arm. Come on, Leo. It'll be okay, I promise. Was the telepathic thought that Emma picked up from Lexa toward her brother.

Not wanting to interrupt the two, Emma merely turned her back and moved down the hall. She chose the two empty rooms across from hers and Jesse's. "These are your rooms. All the rooms on this side of the hall are occupied." She said, before stopping outside of Jesse's room. "Except this one."

"Why aren't we in that one then?"

"That's Jesse's room. I'm the only one who ever goes into that room anymore. It's strictly off limits to anyone else."

Lexa and Leo nodded as they entered their rooms, arguing telepathically about which one they wanted. Emma leaned back against the door to Jesse's room, sighing happily as the images of what they had done behind this door began to flood her mind. Jesse's chip activated and Emma could feel his mind reaching out for hers. She closed her eyes, reaching out to soothe him. Soon, Jesse, I'll be there soon. We have some new teammates that need to be settled in and then I'll be there to talk to you. I love you baby.

Jesse's answer was quiet but curious. I love you Em. Come to me soon, please.

Emma smiled and sent her boyfriend a tele-empathic caress before pulling away from him as Lexa and Leo exited the room. "Come on and I'll show you around."

Leo took his sister's hand tightly as Emma started to lead them around. Finally the only place to show them was the lab. Leo cocked his head at the sight of Natalie lying on the scanning chair. "Who is that?"

"That is my twin sister, Natalie. We rescued her from Genomex yesterday."

Lexa shrank back as she noticed the occupied pod by the wall. "You have pods in here? Adam didn't tell me that."

"We have pods for emergencies. Jesse's illness is an emergency."

Leo looked at the occupant of the pod. "That's Jesse Kilmartin? The man we're replacing?"

"Yes. That's my husband-to-be. He has cancer and my son, our son, Skyler can heal him. But Skyler is too young to control his powers. So Jesse and I agreed to have Adam put him in stasis until Skyler is old enough to heal his father. I come here everyday to see him and to connect with him tele-empathically. It's so he doesn't fight the pod." Emma said, taking a seat on the floor and running her fingers over the glass covering Jesse's pale features.

Lexa sat next to her, watching her closely. "You really love him, don't you?"

"I love him more than I love my own life. He was the reason I ran for three years. I didn't want anything to happen to him so when Genomex shot me with a tracker, I disconnected my COM ring, knowing that he couldn't follow me and put himself in harm's way. He didn't even know he had a son until nearly four days ago."

Leo squeezed both girls' shoulders. "I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Emma."

"Please, just Emma. Jesse will wake up in two years and he'll be healthy and I'll be able to hold him in my arms again."

Leo nodded, touching his sister's shoulder. "We'll leave you alone. I'm sure you want to spend some time with him and your sister without people you don't know crowding you."

Emma looked up at the man with kind eyes and smiled. "Thank you, Leo. I appreciate your consideration."

Leo nodded with a shrug and moved away, his sister following him closely. Lexa looked up at Leo as they exited the lab. "What are you thinking, Leo?"

"I'm thinking that it may not be so bad here. At least people won't experiment on me." Leo said with a small smile. Lexa smiled wanly in return and then they walked away toward their own rooms.

Emma closed her eyes and entered Jesse's mind. "Jess?"

Almost out of nowhere, Jesse materialized and attacked her, putting himself under her as they fell to the floor of the world they created together. "Hey." He said, leaning up to kiss her nose.

"Hi." She murmured, readjusting to catch his lips. "Are you okay?"

"I think so. I don't mind it so much now. The chip in my head can get a hold of you whenever I want to talk to you. You come to see me even if I haven't tried to connect with you. Skyler comes to see me whenever he thinks you won't know. I'm okay."

"That's good." She said, with a soft smile. "I love you Jesse."

"I love you Emma Kilmartin." He said, teasing her gently.

Emma jerked. "You know?"

"Of course. I figured you'd take my name as soon as I went into stasis. I don't mind. I like the way it sounds. Emma DeLauro Kilmartin. Yeah, I could live with that."

Emma giggled, kissing him. "I'm glad you approve."

Jesse sobered, conjuring up a wall behind the two in his head, before sitting up and leaning back against it with Emma still in his arms. "How's Natalie?"

"We retrieved her from the GSA yesterday. She's unconscious, but Adam says she should wake up soon. Leo and Lexa Pierce showed up today."

"And who are they?"

"They're twins. Adam recruited them to replace you until you get out of this nasty old pod. Lexa is a light elemental, according to her file and Leo can take on different forms. I'm not quite sure what he is."

"He's a multiple." Jesse said, supplying the term almost nonchalantly. "I'd heard about them, but I didn't know that they existed."

"Well, apparently they do because Leo Pierce is one."

"How are you handling everything? Me in this pod, two new teammates, Skyler?"

"I don't know. I miss you like crazy, but then I remember that you're in here so that you can stay alive for our son. Leo and Lexa seem okay, they're very protective of each other, but that's normal. And Skyler is so much like his daddy some times I just want to start to cry."

Jesse nodded, tightening his hold on her. They both looked up as they heard Adam's voice. "Emma? I know you're in Jesse's head, but there's a situation and I need you."

Emma shook her head against Jesse's chest, but found that he was fading. "Jesse? No."

"Go Emma. I'll see you again soon. I love you." He murmured, stroking her cheek with increasingly faint caresses.

"I love you." She replied as he disappeared.

Opening her eyes, she found herself in the lab, seated on the floor next to the pod. She reached up, wiping her eyes, before standing with Brennan's help. "Okay, what's up?"

"How's Jesse?" Adam asked with a sympathetic smile.

"He's dealing. He says it's not as bad as it was when Genomex actually had him. What's going on?"

Adam, seeing that she didn't want to talk, turned to the computer behind him. Emma leaned into Brennan as Adam started to relay the details of the mission. After the briefing was done, Emma left the rest of the team to get ready to go. As she was leaving she heard Adam murmured softly, "We miss you Jesse. Sleep well."