Control 28

I would just like to say a special thank you to all the people who have been loyal to the story and gave replies to the chapter. No the story isn't over yet, yes... here is another chapter.

Chapter 28- Remembering

Morning didn't bring a too happy feeling to him as his eyes opened up to a brightly lit room. Groaning, he instantly closed his eyes again, hoping that the light would stay away from him and leave him to rest.

The thick cover over him was swept off him by strong hands, making his eyes shoot opened and blaze with a sudden anger.

Chris was neatly wrapping the cover up and dropped it at the foot of the bed; ignoring the glare Brennan was giving him.

Brennan rubbed his arms, feeling the chill in the mansion climb in bed with him. He still watched Chris as he moved about the room, fixing things in the right place and then finally he came to rest at the foot of the bed, waiting for some thing. Brennan couldn't help but try and annoy Chris, at least some bit. He quirked an eyebrow at him, hiding his smirk away in his brown eyes.

Chris folded his arms, "You may want to sleep in, but since you are in my home, it's my rules. You've had enough rest, and your needed. Its 2pm if you'd like to know".

Brennan's eyebrow dropped. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress a reply to Chris. They were their because Adam want them their. He had questioned Adam one of the days they were their, and their leaders reply was it was good for Shal to be around more... feral, or what ever they were. Brennan bit down on his lower lip hard, before swinging his legs to the floor and went to his small cupboard, where he found his loose black pants and a black top. He also had a black jacket with no sleeves, with a hood, and pulled that out as well.

Chris left as soon as Brennan looked at him, eyes shooting a small warning to the other man. Brennan quickly got changed, grateful there was at least some privacy. When changed, he fixed his hair and made sure he had his COM ring on. He didn't know yet what he was needed for... but some thing itched under his skin and was making him edgy.

Walking to the door he reached for the handle, to only watch it twist suddenly, and the door swing open, missing his face. Andy gave a start as he saw Brennan right in front of him, "Owe... I was coming to see you were up".

Brennan only gave him a grunt as he walked past him; "Chris was already on that...". He didn't want to start questioning people yet, but he had a feel some thing was wrong. The looks he got as he passed the others were enough to say some thing was up, and he was out of the loop.

Andy steered him towards the kitchen, instead of Chris's office where Adam and Chris spent all their time talking and working. Brennan made a mental note to visit later, as his stomach gave a rather loud growl that received a knowing smirk off Andy.

Every one was there as he entered. He saw his team mate sitting watching the TV and quickly went to join them. Cereals were offered to him, but he was too hungry to eat some thing so small.

He managed to nab a piece of Shalimar's bacon off her plate while receiving as little damage as possible. She caught the back of his hand with the flick of her fork, wagging it warningly at him as she gulped down a slice. She gave him a grin, to show she was kidding, but held her plate close to her.

Brennan finished off the bacon left in the kitchen, and was escorted out side with Andy and Shalimar.

Andy was starting to lead them easily into the surrounding woods, leaving a slightly startled Brennan behind. Shalimar was hanging back, waiting for him. When she saw the shiver in his eyes, she turned fully. Taking his large hand in her small one, she gave him an assuring smile. After a moment, he shook him self as if out of a spell, before slowly, following Andy and her into the surrounding mass of tree's that almost crushed in on them with their numbers.

Brennan watched their surrounding anxiously. His skin was tingling worse, making him feel like he was a radar to what ever was out in the woods. One glance at Shalimar told him she was watching their surroundings just as intently, while allowing a smooth and relaxed pose to deceive any predators out.

Andy just strolled along as if there was nothing at all to worry about. Brennan half missed a step and quickly tried to hide it as Shalimar's head spun in his direction, to make sure he was still there.

A secretive smile was shared between the two, before Andy's voice broke through their silent connection.

"We're here".

He was standing at the foot of a tree, looking up into its branches. Shalimar and Brennan proceeded to stand next to him to look up into the shadowed trees. The tree its self was a mammoth in size. It was bigger than the three-story mansion and reached at lease 20 feet higher. Brennan gulped, hoping he didn't have to reach the top.

Andy smiled up at the tree, "We need to collect some of the farrie berries on the tree, and they should be near the bottom, not too far up". Brennan allowed a long breath to escape. This was not going to be good.

Shalimar and Andy were already heading towards the tree, and started to climb up slowly. Andy pulled a rather large bag out of his pocket where it had been concealed, and tossed it to Brennan before continuing up. "Try to catch what were throw down. Don't want any of the other animals to run off with our meal".

Brennan swept the bag up, slightly grumbling as he thought, 'Why do I have to miss out on the fun'. But the thought of falling, changing his mind fast.

He could hear Andy and Shalimar's low voices as they talked, some thing about a dark red, and pale blue. Soon, blue and red berries were falling down in bunches, where Brennan dashed to catch them.

All of them fell into the bag, and he stared down at the bunch that filled the bag 1/4 of the way all ready.

Some thing hard landed on his head, and he growled up at an area where he could hear Shalimar giggling away with a snickering Andy. He was tempted to use his supply of berries to get them back.

The berries continued to fall until finally after 20 minutes of running and catching, Shalimar and Andy dropped down from the tree, landing easily on their feet and grinning at each other. Showing off between feral's wasn't rare.

Brennan shifted the now 3/4 full bag on the ground, staring at Andy as he approached to tie the bag at the top. Brennan easily hauled the bag up and over his shoulder to rest on his back, and they were back to the mansion in minutes.

Brennan dropped the bag in the awaiting hands of Peter, who rushed it off to the kitchen and started to prepare their evening dinner. Brennan couldn't recall them all having dinner together, but his memory was fading in and out every so often.

Brennan touched his temple in an attempt to retrieve some of his lost memories; he couldn't even remember when it had started. He had to strain to remember how he had joined the team mutant x. He had to search desperately for previous days, never mind weeks or months. He could pick bits and pieces out of when Shalimar came to visit him, when Andy came the first time... but trying to remember about a mysterious needle Jesse and Emma had explained to him about was a blur. His mind was slowly allowed to dive into the mist of unknown.

His back started to prickle suddenly, but he ignored it, while still standing in the living room where Shalimar and Andy had abandoned him. He wasn't bothered at the moment, his memories were more important.

He could feel where the needle had went in, and he remembered a blaze of heat that ran through his spine, being drove further into him, and spreading through the muscles in his back.

He started to pant, and leaned onto the counter in the living room, glancing at the couch and summarise if it was a better choice. Sighing, he abandoned the trail of thought, and sat down slowly on a stool near the marble table, allowing his tingling hand to rest on the cold surface.

The sudden remembrance from the previous night flooded into his brain frequently, allowing a higher dose of heat every time. Trying to cool down, he went to the outside door, and stood their, trying to lower his body temperature. It was slowly working, allowing the sudden knot in the middle of his shoulders to subside... but he didn't like it. The sudden feeling had brought on some thing that was out of his control... and the loss of control scared him for a few moments.

"Brennan..."

Turning, he looked around for the soft voice that had spoke his name. Emma stood just beyond arms reach, looking worriedly towards him. He gave her a small smile, but it didn't change her worried expression. Slowly, she moved to stand next to him, looking at the trees, and their beauty.

"I could feel some thing wrong. You were sending off high stress waves Brennan". He didn't talk, only watched the trees tiredly. Her green eyes studied him hard, forcing him to look at her. Now she looked even more worried. Small creases in her cheeks and forehead signalled stress, and he was just pushing more onto the load. Sighing, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hugging her to him. It seemed, she needed it as much as he, since she sighed as soon as her head hit his chest. He didn't realise how much he'd dodged her the past few days until he was actually facing her now.

Her being able to pick up on his emotions... her being able to tell when he was annoyed... worried... afraid. Being near her would remind him on how she would know him through and through. He tightened his hold on her, and she to him. They both must have sensed the others stress.

After a few minutes passed, she leaned back and smiled up at him. He couldn't help but feel a flow of brotherly love for her, and hoped to god nothing happened to her.

A stone layer formed on his mind, as he promised to him self he wasn't going to allow any thing to happen, not to her... not to Shalimar... not to any member of his team.

He released her from his grip before he started to squeeze her. His temper gave a small spark, and in return, she gave a small smirk and shook her head. She knew him through and through.

Shaking his head, he gave her a small push towards the living room, where Elayne stood, arms crossed and watching them. He could remember her stance when she had came to his room, in a bad mood and unwilling to remove his bandaged arm with a gentle hand.

He took another glance back, just catching a running shadow. His mind tried to trail the thought of where he'd saw it before. He could recall being near the cave with Adam and Shalimar... but once again his memories scattered. It was like chasing a group of chickens that squawked and scattered about, just out of reach, darting away at the last moment.

He finally followed Emma to the living room, where the room was lowly light. His heart skipped as he entered the room, which had mostly every one in.

No one was seated at the table yet, but it was flourished with the berries Shalimar, Andy and him had picked. It also had some varieties of meat on. He half wondered where they had gotten that from. There was a high range of animals in the forest, and he tried to drag his unwilling mind away from the topic. If he had to eat the meat, he'd be wondering what it was.

Shalimar was standing with Elayne to no surprise, both chattering away. Their words blended nicely with every one else's voices as they talked on various topics. But the two women's were talking rather fast, and their stances said they were anxious about some thing... more worried than any thing else.

As he was watching them, Shalimar turned and met his eyes, driving his mind to a stop. Every thing stopped in him. He could see Elayne was still talking to Shalimar, but her eyes were on him.

Heat burned a hole in his stomach, and he could feel it warm him back up from the chilly breeze from out side that drafted through the mansion. After a moment, Shalimar suddenly shook her head, returning her eyes back to Elayne who had slowly silenced, seeing her distraction.

After 10 minutes of standing about, it was around 3pm when Chris and Adam entered the room, and the groups of people greeted them with some smiles. Chris stood at the top of the long table and soon every one took a seat at the rather long table. Adam was sitting near the top, on Chris's left and still they were giving small talk to each other.

Brennan couldn't help but feel annoyed as Adam and Chris cast their eyes over to him continuously. He looked to Shalimar from across the table from him, and her talk with Elayne quickly was cut short. He looked at Jesse and Emma, but they were already silent, just sitting opposite each other.

From the top it was Chris and to the left, it was Adam and across from him was peter, then Andy who faced his son, then Brennan who faced Shalimar, then Emma who faced Elayne and then Jesse who faced Damien.

Brennan tried not to glance at Emma as her head started to wrinkle with worry. Sighing he gave her hand a small squeeze under the table and dropped it to her lap. She gave him a small smile, but her eyes were full of a sad knowing.

He conjured enough restraint to look at Chris, who was bluntly staring directly at him. Before he could even open his mouth, Peter started to talk. He may have been small, but his deep voice held a strength to it Brennan knew all to well.

"I'm glad that you are all here on time. Now tonight, this dinner is to unite new friends and family. Through a hard time, we have met our new friends, as they have through the same ordeal. Not only do we get to celebrate new friends, but Dr Kane seems to have found a small brake through".

All eyes turned to Adam, who was shaking his head, "A small one Peter, it may not make that much difference".
Peter waved it away, "Still, it will makes a difference... that's more than we can say". Every one of the others seemed to agree on that, and Chris gratefully ended it all by raising his glass and clanging with Adams, that riled down the table through every one else.

Brennan couldn't help but watch a small commotion going on silently between Damien and Elayne. She jolted suddenly, and elbowed Damien, and both acted like nothing had happened when some turned to them.

Brennan watched as Damien shifted close to Elayne, whispering some thing. Elayne was spinning her knife between her fingers, idly listening. Some thing he must have said sparked anger in her, as suddenly her hand came down, pointing the sharp knife down. Damien shuffled as, rescuing his hand just in time.

No one except mutant x looked that time. Every one else was well into their dinner.

Looking down at the meat, Brennan tried to pronounce the word in his head. Peter had told them what was on the menu before the started to eat. Beruno me' ronche he called the meat, and in simple tongue Andy called it a wild animal that lived in the forest around them. Brennan took a small taste, and found his taste buds devouring the juices out of the meat. He quickly decided to eat as fast as every one else who was wolfing down the delicious meat. He looked to Emma who was slurping a small piece of meat that dangled from her mouth. He shook his head and quickly turned away from feeling her embarrassment. She giggled at him, but that was all. The table was quite as they ate, till they were done.

The sun set fast in the forest, since they were on a remote island in the middle of nowhere. One thought of sanctuary brought a load of home sick to the surface. He couldn't wait to get back to his bed, his room, and normal food.

He shifted about after he'd finished, weirdly before every one else. Trying to take his mind off the clattering of the folks and knifes, he sipped at his drink of wine they had been given and dove back into his mind.

He tried to pick up from where he left off. It was in his room, when he had been sick not two nights ago. Thinking back, he remembered talking to Shal... after Elayne's brutal changing of his bandage. His shoulder gave a sudden throb, that felt so alive he half reached for it. His eyes remained unfocused on the table as he drove on.

Some thing had been happening to him... Shalimar had gone running. Adam and Chris suddenly burst in the room, panicking and rushing to him as if he was drowning. He got brief flashes of all the others standing in the hall, watching.

He didn't like it that Shalimar had suddenly disappeared out the room. The thought had been strong from the misty moments that he was sure of. He remembered Damien running off and then Shalimar was back.

Before the heat had blazed and drove every thing out of his mind, he remembered Andy being their one moment, and then Jesse. He felt confused on that. Jesse was staring into him with those piercing blue eyes. Them so fixated on him; they were the strongest things vivid in his mind. They held him in a stone pose for a moment before his world was torn from him. But he remembered Jesse's stone grip on him, trying to hold him to the reality they existed in.

His right hand started to tingle and finally prickle. Unknowingly, Brennan rubbed the back of his hand, willing the sensation to leave, but his mind was on an endless path to seek out his memories and fit them back, in the right slots properly.

Damien was back, and Chris was their, hovering over him with some thing. In defence to some thing... he had half pushed Chris away when he felt a small prick on his arm, but it hadn't stopped Chris from doing some thing. Every thing had gotten groggy, and then Emma hit him with one of her mind blast.

He looked at his little sister, who sat next to him, merrily chewing on a piece of meat. Jesse was watching her too, and when Brennan met his eyes, sadness over took those once alive and boyish eyes. Brennan didn't get any hint to what was wrong with him, since the molecular merely slouched in his chair, swirling his wine in its glass.

There was a sudden dull mood to the group of people, that set them all in the right mood Jesse was in. Flakes of worry wavered off every one, no one willing to keep eye contact with each other for more than 3 seconds.

Brennan rubbed more viciously at his hand, and defied a shiver as it hit his back. He didn't know Chris's all seeing eyes were on him once again, watching, and waiting.

Brennan sipped more of his wine, and leaned back, forcing the shivers from his spine down into the abyss. They kept creeping back up every so often, but not so much. By the time every one was finished, it was near four, and Peter was clearing things away.

Andy was setting up a film for them to watch, but Brennan wasn't listening to the choice that had been voted by various people around the table. He jumped to his feet when he realised he had been left at the table with Chris and Adam, and followed the others to the TV.

Sitting on the floor was better than sitting in the enclosed area of all the others who tussled for the seats. His head felt like it was being pressed in on, from inside and outside. He leaned back onto Emma and Shalimar's legs, sighing as the feeling lessened.

Emma gave his shoulder a small squeeze, and an encouraging smile filled with dread. Shalimar offered a pillow that he accepted and laid his head back on it, allowing his eyes to drift shut when the title of the DVD popped up on the large screen. It was an old one as he could remember... and a big favourite of Shalimar's and Emma's.

The title blurred from his mind, as did the rest of the real world, allowing him to be sucked in by the dream world.

What was that like guys?

I know I much be really annoying you when I drag it out like this.

But the longer you wait, the more you want.

I know, because when I finish a chapter, I want to write more when the replies come in.

So reply guys and you shall get more.

Thx 4 reading

Tunder28