4.05 Must Love Ferals
Shalimar trudged into the pristine kitchen in Haven. The carefully placed blue and white tiles felt terribly icy under her bare feet as she shuffled across the smooth floor. Her dark brown eyes were glassy and her usually thick, flowing hair was stringy and soaked with sweat. The feral's usually rosy cheeks and vibrant peaches and cream complexion had been replaced with chalky white coloring. The feline feral's lips appeared dry and cracked as she staggered to the kitchen sink and grabbed a navy blue coffee cup from the drainer. She looked longingly at the coffee pot and then her glassy eyes shifted to the refrigerator. The soft, cotton floral robe that she wore drug quietly behind her as she reached her destination and flung open the fridge, quickly scanning its contents before retrieving a large bottle of apple juice.
"Shal?"
Shalimar shoved the refrigerator door closed and saw Lexa standing in the doorway. "Lex? What're you doing up so early?"
"My God," Lexa gasped. "You look terrible!"
"It's nothing," the feral replied defiantly as she poured the mug to the brim full of the golden liquid.
"You and I both know that is a load of shit." The light elemental walked briskly over to the feral and snagged the bottle of juice from her hand.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Putting you back to bed," came the heated reply as the elemental grabbed the feral by the arm and started to pull her from the kitchen.
"Let go of me, Lexa," Shalimar hissed.
"You aren't strong enough to fight with me right now, Shal."
"I really don't have time for this.."
"You look like hell."
Shalimar's eyes flickered and her head dropped closer to her chest as she leaned more of her weight onto the table. Her bony hands trembled as she wrapped them around the whole of her coffee mug, bringing the chilly mug to her lips and began to gulp down the juice.
"I'm getting Brennan," the elemental replied as she turned to leave the kitchen.
"No!"
Standing with her back to the feline feral, Lexa's eyes shifted into tiny slits. "What aren't you telling me?"
"You're assuming-"
"Am I?"
"And why would I be?"
"You tell me."
The blonde took another slow sip of her apple juice, allowing the cold liquid to sit in her mouth a moment before sliding smoothly down the back of her throat. "I won't let you tell him anything."
The brunette swiveled to face the feral again. "Okay, if you go back to bed, we'll pretend this never happened." She held out a strong hand.
The blonde grasped Lexa's hand, her usual strength gone, and gave it a mild shake. She slapped the empty mug back down on the table and quietly left the room, leaving Lexa alone to wonder what was going on with the blonde.
Lexa looped her index finger through the handle of the mug and let it dangle on her finger. "What are you hiding, Shalimar Fox?"
----
"Shh, it's okay, baby." Emma was pacing anxiously around her room with a wailing child on her left hip. Surely her daughter's crying would've woken up all of Haven by now, but the psionic had used her highly advanced abilities to create the illusion of a peaceful quiet so that the rest of Mutant X could sleep peacefully.
Bailey's small face was beat red and her brown-red hair was matted to her face with salty tears. Tiny fists flung and her body trembled in her mother's arms.
Emma had been tempted to use a psionic blast on her daughter for several hours now, but she was afraid that if she attempted to tap into the young psionic's mind, she might be over come by Bailey's violent stream of emotions. Or worse, she might upset her daughter even more. So she remained pacing and occasionally humming quietly to the screaming child. Then a loud shattering pierced Emma's ears. Turning towards the sound, she saw a small golden frame slumped against the wall and a pile of shattered glass on the floor. "Oh baby," she sighed as she walked over to the broken picture and grabbed it, a small shard of glass slicing her finger as she did so. "Mmm!" The redhead placed her finger to her mouth in a desperate attempt to stop the crimson flow of blood. She bent down again, this time grabbing the photo successfully and staring intently at it. It was a picture of her and Adam, his arm looped lovingly around her petite waist, it had beena happy time long since past. In the picture, they were standing on a beach and the picture had captured the water lapping up at the edge of the sand.
The child's crying softened to a whimper as she too caught sight of her grinning parents in the picture. She wiggled a tiny fist and mentally tugged at the photo, before her mother finally gave in and allowed it to drift softly into her pudgy palm. "Momma," she gurgled as she traced the picture with her free hand.
"And that's-"
"Daddy," Bailey grinned before depositing a sloppy kiss directly onto the photo.
Emma's mouth hung open slightly. It was the first time that she'd ever heard her daughter say, 'daddy.'
----
Brennan shifted uneasily in his new bed, violently ripping from side to side and tearing the covers out. Something was bothering him and he couldn't place his finger on it. It had been two weeks since he'd come to Haven and something just wouldn't let him rest. Although he and Emma had talked, he was still avoiding her as he still wasn't sure how he felt about things. It just didn't seem real for him. The electric elemental pulled a fluffy white pillow from his face. His eyes had deep, dark circles under them and stubble had begun to grow darkly on his face as he'd stopped shaving.
----Flashback----
"So you never died?" Brennan Mulwray asked again.
Emma DeLauro shook her head. "No, Bren. I'm here, I have been since Naxcon. The only reason you remember my death so vividly is because I used my powers to make you remember it, so you wouldn't have any doubts."
"So you made an illusion of your own death?" The elemental ran a hand over his hair. "So you mean to tell me, that this here and now could also be an illusion?"
The psionic's face was solemn. "Yes."
"How am I suppose to tell what's real from what isn't?"
"You can't," the redhead relented. "You'll just have to trust me."
----Flashback----
Apart from keeping away from Emma, he'd noticed that Shalimar had been keeping away from him and Lexa was once again keeping her secrets. Which only left Jesse, but Brennan had realized he couldn't talk to him once he'd saw Jesse playing so happily with Bailey. The elemental let out a ragged breath as he rolled over and slapped his feet onto the carpet. Clothed in a white muscle shirt and blue boxers, he lumbered to his bathroom and clicked the door closed.
----
"Emma! Brennan!" Jesse's frantic voice bellowed through the eerily quiet hallway as the blonde male bonded down it. He stopped at Emma's room, banging his fist tightly against the door. "Emma! I just got something on the radar. One of the safe houses is being raided!"
The door flew open and the redhead, complete with the baby on her hip, tumbled out. "What?" Her voice was panicked.
"Yeah, it was one of the feral houses." The molecular grabbed his friend by the arm and pulled her down the hallway from whence he'd came, wrapping on the rest of the Mutant X teams' doors as he went. "Hurry up! We've got a problem!" He yelled, before disappearing around the corner with Emma and Bailey.
----20 Minutes Later----
Lexa walked into the room, her eyes narrowing in on Jesse. "What's going on?"
"Where's Shal and Brennan?"
"Brennan will be down in a few minutes, Shalimar isn't feeling well."
"Well she-"
"I said, she isn't feeling well." Lexa cut in, her voice like ice. The elemental was dressed in a deep purple halter and a pair of brand new black jeans, topped off with a pair ofblack onyx slingback heels, andher chocolate brown hair was pulled into a loose ponytail.
The molecular slid into the main chair and pulled himself up to the control panel, typing rapidly and bringing up a large holographic screen. "Look, all of those red dots are safe houses spread out across the United States." He pointed to a blinking red light in Las Vegas. "That's a feral safe house and it's just been raided. We need to get down there now, to see if there are any survivors. Or at the very least, to see if we can find out who did this."
"We know who did this," Lexa spat.
"Jesse's right," Emma replied, ignoring the elemental. "I'll go dress Bailey and I'll meet you guys in Rosa."
Lexa threw up her arms in exasperation. "I'll go tell Shalimar."
"What's wrong with her, Lex?"
"You'd have to ask her," the light elemental replied before she fled the room.
----
As Brennan pulled a pair of worn blue jeans over his legs, he heard a knock at his door. He secured the zipper and button. "Come in," he called as he slipped off his shirt and grabbed a royal blue cotton sleeved shirt.
"Meet us in Rosa, we're heading to Las Vegas."
"What?"
"That's where the feral safe house was broken in to."
"Thanks," Brennan mumbled as Emma shut the door. He quickly ran a brush over his head and grabbed his comlink from the corner of the dresser by his bed. With Emma's advanced technology, Jesse had been able to reconfigure the comlinks so that they couldn't be traced. With that, he headed out the door.
----5 Minutes Later----
Lexa rested her head in her hand, her elbow propped up on the arm rest as she peered out of one of Rosa's windows.
"So where exactly are we going, Jess?" Emma asked, glancing at him from the co-pilot's seat.
Jesse switched Rosa into auto-pilot, grabbing four printouts from a bag next to him, and handing them to his teammates. "Those are maps of the safe house and the surrounding areas." He once again reached into the bag and pulled out a large rolled up sheet. "These," he said as she unrolled the paper, "are the floor plans of the safe house. From what I can see, it was raided by the east entrance."
"Did you download the video surveillance footage?"
"It was cut," the molecular answered.
"Wonderful," Lexa's sarcastic voice cut in.
"Do we really need your sarcasm right now?" Brennan hissed.
"Guys!" Jesse threw a daring gaze towards the warring elementals. "We don't have time for a standoff."
Lexa pursed her lips and returned her attention to the window.
Brennan slouched back in his seat, refusing to look at any of them. His thoughts returned to Shalimar. Why didn't she come?
"We're here," Jesse said as a rumbling noise forced Sub Rosa to the ground, still in stealth mode.
"Which way should we go?" Emma asked, getting up and unhooking Bailey from her baby seat.
"Maybe you should stay here?" Jesse suggested, glancing to Bailey.
"No, I'm coming with you," the redhead shot back as she followed Lexa and Brennan off the craft.
Jesse let out a soft moan, as he got ahead of his teammates and led them to the south entrance of the safe house. "I think we should go in here." He was about to proceed, when he left Emma's hand on his chest. "What's wrong?"
"I'm going to scan the place with my powers," the telempath replied as she closed her eyes and began to search the house for any trace of life. She frowned as she opened them. "It feels like there may be someone in there, but it's faint."
Brennan waved his hand, motioning for everyone to step back. He swirled his hands together and then released a telsa coil at the door, causing the thick wooden door to explode inwards into a mound of wooden shards. Then he headed on inside.
"Stay with me," Jesse said as he grabbed the psionic's arm.
"Jess-"
"No." Jesse's word was simple, but final. He refused to allow Emma to die 'again,' and he refused to have Bailey go down with her.
Aghast at the scene, Lexa's hand flew to her nose and mouth. The thick stench of fresh blood and death permeated her nostrils. Her eyes were wide, staring at the bodies of the dead feral mutants that littered the floor.
"They were obviously searching for something," Emma noted as she stared at the ransacked safe house.
"Where's the life force that you sensed?"
"This way," Emma said as she stepped over a pile of debris and crossed into a room where the door was only half on.
"It looks like a kitchen," Jesse said as he followed her inside. Pots, pans, and broken chairs littered the floor. Blotches of food stained the walls and a stove burner was bright red, as it had been left on. He walked over and turned off the stove. "I don't see anyone in here, Em."
"This way," the psychic mutant replied as she grabbed the door handle of another door and opened it to reveal it led out to a backyard. Her hand flew to her mouth as her powers over powered her with pain. Dropping to her knees with Bailey in her arms, tears began to dribble from her dark eyes.
"Emma!" Jesse knelt down and embraced the emapth. "Where? What's wrong?"
The redhead pointed a finger towards a pile of debris. "O-over there, someone's alive," she gasped.
Lexa walked over to the pile and began to hurl the debris away, before she felt Jesse's strong hand on her shoulder.
"I think I have a better idea," Jesse said as he placed his hand on the pile and concentrated on phasing the entire pile.
"Thanks," Lexa mumbled before walking through the pile and then coming back moments later with the near lifeless body of a young woman. She laid the woman on the ground, as Jesse removed his hand from the debris. "Can you talk?" She asked, wiping a piece of bloodied hair from the side of the woman's face.
"Th-th.." The young woman started to shake violently as blood dribbled freely from the sides of her mouth. "S-suits.."
"Suits?"
"Let me.." Emma said, walking over and handing over her daughter to the molecular. "Shh, it's okay," she breathed as she sent a psionic blast into the woman's forehead. A flood of images ran through her mind as the mental scenes from what happened at the safe house, from the woman's perspective, passed over her. She opened her eyes to find the woman at peace, her physical pain gone due to Emma's power, allowing her to die peacefully. She wiped away a streak of black tears from her eyes. "It was horrible.."
"Hey!"
Brennan's head whirled around to see a group of men in the suits that were immune to their powers. "We've got trouble!"
"I thought you said nobody else was here?" Lexa snapped, pulling to her feet.
"Lex, now is not the time!" Jesse warned, as the group of men pulled out some type of special gun.
One of the men aimed the gun at Jesse and Bailey, shooting off what appeared to be a glowing bullet.
Bailey lifted her hands into the air and Jesse floated several feet into the air, over the bullet. Since Bailey had been in his arms, it had saved her too.
"Thanks," Jesse whispered to the little girl as he felt his feet touch the ground again.
"If only we had Shal here," Lexa grumbled as she launched herself into a spin kick and sent one of the agents into the side of the safe house. As she landed, a crack was heard, and she dropped to the ground. "Shit!"
"Lex!"
"Keep them away!" Lexa screeched, grasping her hand on her wounded ankle.
"Get Bailey out of here!" Emmayelled to Jesse.
Bailey narrowed her eyes and themound of debris that Jesse had phased earlier went pummeling at the band of agents, flinging them in all directions.
"Well," Jesse breathed. "They may be immune to our direct powers, but they aren't immune to objects thrown by our powers." He raced over to Lexa and held out his free hand. "Come on!"
"Jess-"
Bailey wiggled her pudgy fingers and Lexa began to hover in mid air.
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's get out of here!" Brennan hissed, leading the way back into the destroyed house and following their path back out to Rosa.
Jesse followed Brennan, still holding the baby telekinetic.
Bailey cooed, leaning over the molecular's shoulder with her tiny fists clenched as Lexa floated behind them, and her mother trailed behind Lexa. As Jesse reached Rosa, the child allowed Lexa to drop softly onto the ground.
Emma scooped Bailey into her arms and boarded Rosa.
Jesse grabbed Lexa, much to her displeasure, and carried her aboard.
The resounding clink of bullets against the side of the craft, echoed inside as everyone seated themselves, and Jesse took the shift to the air. Handing over control to Emma, Jesse left his seat and knelt down next to Lexa.
"Ow! Jess!" She screamed, slapping his hand away.
"I think you twisted your ankle," Jesse said as he slid the black slingback off her foot. Pointing an index finger at the missing heel on the shoe.
"Great!" The elemental's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Those were new, too."
"I'll never understand why you guys would rather hurt yourselves than just wear sneakers," the blonde grumbled as he peeled back the cuff of her black jeans and gently touched her slowly swelling ankle.
Lexa's face contorted in pain as she flinched back.
"Sorry," the molecular gave a sincere face. "Em, what kind of medical supplies do we have on here?"
Emma shifted the plane into auto-pilot and slid past the duo, grabbing a first aid kit from a shelf and handing it to Jesse.
"You have a craft like this and all you have for injuries is a simple first aid kit?"
"We don't have an infinite budget, Jess," Emma retorted as she knelt down next to Lexa. "Where does it hurt?"
Lexa narrowed her dark eyes. "What do you care?"
"Lex.."
Lexa pointed to a bluish spot on her foot. "That's the worst," she complied at Jesse's request.
"It looks like it's sprained," the molecular noted.
"Here," Emma said as she ignited a psionic globe atop her forehead and sent the ball into Lexa's head. "Does that help?"
Lexa placed her hand on her ankle. Although the brunette would never admit it, the pain was nothing more than a tickle now, even if Emma's psychic painkiller was only temporary. "No."
Emma rolled a pair of bright eyes. I'm emapthic too, you know. She mentally replied as she walked back to her seat.
"We should probably head back to Sanctuary."
"No!"
The male Mutant X members exchanged looks, they hadn't expected the same outburst from both the psionic and the light elemental, let alone in perfectunison.
Emma's face flushed. "We can't leave," she lowered her frantic tone. "The agents are still here and from what I saw, they were searching for something. Or someone." She pulled Bailey into her lap. "And there's still another feral safe house in the city."
"Where?"
"Just past The Strip," Lexa replied.
"How do you-"
"Doesn't matter," the light elemental replied. "We need to get a hotel and start a search. I'll let Shal what's going on."
This time Brennan tried to reason. "But we-"
"I don't care."
"She's right," Emma replied as she lightly bounced her daughter on her knee. "We have to take care of the new mutants first. We can't let them kill like that again." One handedly, she turned Sub Rosa around.
"Vegas, here we come," Brennan murmured as he peered out the window.
----
Shalimar pulled a soft turquoise cardigan over her head, slipping her arms into the soft sleeves. Although Haven was hot right now, she felt so cold. Unfortunately she couldn't ignore the faint cries that were ringing in her sensitive ears. Just like dogs have the ability to hear other dogs and various other faint sounds that normal people can't, the feline feral was able to pick up the cries of fellow ferals and they were terrified. Maybe it was her power advancing? The blonde shook her head furiously as she applied some color to her face, as she couldn't very well walk around looking like death. The feral slipped her feet into a pair of simple brown clogs to match her knee length brown and blue-green cottonskirt. If she'd been thinking clearly, she would've realized that clogs were not the best to wear if you were planning on fighting the government in a sickly state. Grabbing her purse from the door, she gave the room a once over before heading out with the distant feeling that she was possibly forgetting something. As she shut the door, the force of the slam caused a tiny silver ring to tumble off the end table and land just under the shadow of her bed.