Shalimar stood in the dark of the lab staring at her younger brother. She was at a lose for anything to say, anything to do. If it was another one of his nightmares, she'd wake him. If he was sick, heartbroken, or hurt, she'd comfort him. Unfortunately though, he was dieing and there wasn't anything she could do. That is except for watch him, be with him, make sure that he wasn't alone.

He looked so weak, so dead, so hurt that she couldn't bear to touch him. His breathing was off, she could hear the gargling. His sent was off, though she couldn't quite place the difference. She bet if she looked into those clear sky eyes, they'd be cloudy. Her brother was dying and there was nothing she could do.

She signed, a long, angry bitter sigh, which did nothing to relieve her anger or pain.

She had thought that she'd lost him once, when he had first come to Sanctuary. He had gotten pneumonia, normally only a slight concern, but for a molecular…the constant and uncontrollable phasing and massing had worn him down. The suffocating attacks, when his lungs just stopped working, the fevers, it had almost been to much for his body. One night he had stopped breathing, his hart had stopped, and he had turned blue. It was a miracle he had lived. And that's what she needed now, a miracle.

"Come on Jesse, please pull through. You have to be ok, please Jesse," she begged quietly. There was no response except for the gargled breath and the beeping of the monitors.

"Shalimar?" Brennan called softly from the door. She didn't turn around, she kept staring at Jesse. "Adam wants you and I to take Jessica and Witson to the underground, get them there safely. Jessica's going to safe house five and Witson safe house seven. I'm taking Jessica…" he trailed off, eyes falling on Jess. "I can take them both if you'd like."

Part of her jumped at the chance, let Brennan do it, let him take the two former agents to the two farthest away safe houses they had, while she stayed with her brother. But something in her told her that Adam wanted her to go. There was a reason that she had to leave and it had to do with Jesse. 'And if Adam wants me gone, then that means he's going to try something drastic and he doesn't need the added stress of a worried mama lion hanging around.'

Turning around, she addressed Brennan, "No, no, I'm fine. They're ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah," Brennan answered, snapping his eyes back to Shalimar.

'He's been crying,' she thought, 'For Jesse…?'

Shalimar sighed and turned back to Jesse. She walked over to him and gently brushed sweet drenched blood hair out of his face. She smiled sadly at the angle like expression on his face. 'Doesn't matter what's wrong, if you're in agony or not, you always look like an angle. Why is that? Is it so anything bad coming your way while you were sleeping will think twice about hurting you? Then why didn't it work? Why doesn't it ever work? People keep hurting you….'

Jesse stirred ever so slightly, letting a small whimper escape his lips. She bit her lip to keep from crying. She refused to let herself break down now, not yet. She bent down, close to Jess' ear, "You hang tough bro. I'll be back soon, and I want to see you up and around, got it? I love you Jess, I love you." She gave him a loving kiss on his eye lids and then turned back to Brennan.

"Alright, let's go."

"Adam," Emma called softly into his room, "They've left."

"Alright Emma, I'll be in the lab in a minuet, why don't you go prep Jess?" he said with out looking at her. He was too caught up staring at a picture of a blond young man and a blond young woman, both covered in mud and looking very pleased with themselves.

Emma gave a sad smile and sent Adam a wave of comfort before she silently left him to happier times.

Adam barely noticed the extra comfort. He just stayed locked in his thoughts. 'God, I'm not a religious man, heaven knows I've cursed and denied you existence enough. But I know that Jesse has some faith; that he believes in something, so I'm asking you to keep him with us, to let me fix him on his behalf. Please God, don't give up on him, 'because I know he hasn't given up on you.'

"All set?" Adam asked as he entered the lab.

"He's as stable as he's going to get," Emma said, looking worriedly down at Jess.

"Which isn't much," Adam sighed.

"What is it exactly that you're going to do again?" Emma asked.

"I'm making a guess and acting on it. The gas has molded with his lungs, I'm going to see if we can undo that. You see the longer it stays in there, the more damage it does, the more likely we'll lose him. I'm also planning to, at the same time, fix the places they burned."

"How?" Emma asked, engrossed.

"Well, the amazing thing about molecules, at least Jesse's kind, is that if there's something that isn't a part of the body when they un-phase, it tends to push it out. The reason the gas entered Jess' body was because he was in a room full of it and he needs air to un-phase," Adam answered before Emma could ask the question. "I'm hoping that if we can stimulate a phase, we can replace the toxic air with pure oxygen."

"And that's where I come in, I'm going to make him phase. But how are you going to fix the burns?"

"After his lungs are clean, and he has sometime to rest, I'm going to take clones of healthy organ tissue and replace the damaged tissue. With any luck, that'll take care of it. First though, I need to get his lungs clear."

Emma was exhausted. It had taken her twenty minuets to get Jesse to phase; he had a lot of barriers to protect him, which was probably a good thing normally. And after she had gotten him to phase she had to make him hold it until Adam said it was clear, then to un-phase him. She had no idea how Jesse could manage to do that to himself day after day.

Now she sat, half awake, half a sleep, by his bed side. It looked like Adam's guess had been right; Jesse's lungs had been steadily improving. Soon he'd be ready for the surgery to repair his organs. It was all they had hoped for, finally good news amongst all the bad.

"Emma, you go get some rest. That was a major strain on you. I'll stay with him," Adam said, helping the young woman to her feet.

"Alright, but you be sure to get some too," Emma yawned, and with one final look at Jesse she went off to her room.

Adam took the seat vacated by Emma and stared at Jesse moment. He then took the young man's had gently in him and spoke softly, "We'll Jess, step one is cleared. But you're not out of the woods yet."