It was a long night for the members of Mutant X. For some reason the pneumonia had spread through Jesse's system faster then even Adam had seen. There was no longer any doubt, Jesse was going to die. Brennan and Emma switched places by Jesse side through out the night, taking turns with fetching the coffee or sleeping. Shalimar however refused to leave Jesse side, and when ever any one approached her, sent them a growl.

Jesse deteriorated over the night and into the next day. His lungs started to fail and the breathing tub Adam had to put in was attached to life support. His fever spiked and it sent Jesse in to a coma. He stopped responding to voices, to touch, and finally to pain. His kidneys started to shut down as his fever continued to climb.

No matter what Adam did, there was no improvement and he feared that infection had set in as well as pneumonia. By noon it became clear that booth his lungs were full with mucus and the breathing machine was doing little good.

"Isn't there anything you can do Adam!" Brennan cried when Adam informed them, yet again, of Jesse's determination.

"I have tried everything that I can, everything that medicine has. Jesse doesn't have the strength to fight anymore. There's nothing I can do…" Adam said, defeated. Form then on, no one said anything.

Then came what they all feared. It was exactly as Adam had said, Jesse's powers started to go haywire. It was something that was both beautiful and horrifying. The different ripples running along his skin, the red bands followed the almost transparent bands…they were all held spellbound.

It lasted about a half hour, Jesse's power spasms, before they gave way into full scale convulsions and by then they all knew there was going to be no miracle. Jesse's hart gave out about six that night.

At about ten that night, while everyone else was still locked in their own grief, Shalimar slipped silently out of Sanctuary. After Jesse had died, Emma had broken down into a crying fit. She couldn't help herself, for she had always loved the charming blond. Brennan, who had set his face, had carried her to her room, and once he was sure she was settled, had gone to the dojo. He was still there. Adam had locked himself away in his rooms, saying nothing to anyone. Shalimar herself hadn't moved from her position by his side.

In times when her emotions ran to high she would often revert to her feral self. Let the animal take control and become pure predator. It was a form of self-defense she had always had, ever since she had been a child and her father had sent her to the hospital. It had served her well in the past for animals always knew what to do. They were black and white creatures, live or die. There were no gray areas in their minds. And now the instincts were demanding her to run. This was one time, though; her animal instinct wouldn't win out.

She sat there, letting death over power her senses, as she watched the last signs of life slip away from her pack mate. She held his hand in a death grip as it grew cold. Stared at his face and was awed at how young and peaceful he looked. Finally after she had convinced herself that Jesse was dead, she stood up. Softly she kissed Jesse's brow and then covered him carefully in a sheet. Shalimar left with out looking back.

The first thing she did was walk through Sanctuary. She checked on Emma, who was now in a restless sleep. The younger girl was hart broken and lost, Shalimar knew that she loved Jesse and also knew that she had never told him. But she would deal with that latter, right now Emma was safe. She next checked on Adam, who had locked himself away. She knew he was in his room, probably staring into the fire place he had there, trying hard to reclaim that professional detachment he had. It wouldn't work; Jesse had been more a son to him the Noah had been a father. There was no way for him to detach from that. Brennan was the last person she checked on. He was working himself into exhaustion. If you're too tired to think, you're too tired to dream… a theory Shal had put to the test many times. Brennan would be fine; he would push back his emotions every day until he could work it all out with his fists. But out of all of them, Shal worried about him the least.

Her rounds finished she made her way to her room. Changed quickly into black pants and shirt, pulled her hair back and took off her ring. She was going hunting and wanted no distractions. It was eight by the time Shalimar made it to the garage, found her bike and left Sanctuary.

Shalimar was on the prowl, she had found where Manson lived, a comfy little house outside of the city with a lot of security, thanks to Jesse. He had kept very orderly files on them and a quick stop at a safe house had given her everything she needed to find them.

She could sense him, sitting smugly in his bed, thinking that he was safe. She could feel his every move and some how knew that he was alone. Oh how she was going to love this.

Silently she snuck up to the house, skillfully avoiding the numerous security systems scattered about as if some sixth sense told herwhere they were.She made her way to the back door, somehow knowing it was going to be the weakest link in the armor. She rattled a few windows as she moved, made a few nosies, smiling in satisfaction as she felt his fear rise. She was rewarded when she got a whiff of fear.

Shalimar smiled as she broke through the door and heared the startled scream. The smell of fear and panic hit her instintly, pushing out any humanity she had. By the time she reached them she was completly feral. He never had a chance.

Brennan scanned the crowed in front of him. It was a high price, high class dance club. The kind of place that Jesse had spent most of his life going to and hated every second of it. It was exactly the place that Brennan had followed Laura Brooks to. He didn't know how he had found her, didn't even really remember leaving Sanctuary, just showing up here.

She was dancing, moving freely and gracefully with a hint of desperation. Her dress was short and fitted at the top, but flowing at the skirt. There were a few man crowding around her, none of them all that young, and the scattered as Brennan made his way to her.

As the music stopped and she looked around, wondering where her dancing partners had fled, Brennan reached her. "May I have this dance?" he asked her with harshness to his voice.

Laura turned around startled, she had recognized him. "You…!" she started and tried to run but Brannan was too quick for her and grabbed her. He pulled her to the back of the club out of everyone's vision.

"Let go of me! Help!" she shouted, for all the good it did her. The music had started again, drowning out any noise. But Brennan let her go, his eyes burning into her.

Smiling smugly at her presumed control over Brennan she said sadistically, "Shouldn't you be at home tending to your pathetic little freak?"

That was the wrong thing to say, the very worst thing to say. Brennan garbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall. Bending low, to whisper in her ear he said, "Jesse died five hours ago. Now it's your turn."

With a gruesome hissing sound and the rank smell of cooked flesh, Laura sank to the floor.

Eckhart was behind his desk staring out the window of his empire. He had been so close to getting Adam and his pet freaks that he had started plans for a victory dinner. But of course, as always, things had gone wrong. He didn't count on the determination of the Mutant X team or Jesse's inner strength. And he defiantly wasn't prepared for Emma's stronger powers.

He cursed the young mutant for the thousandth time, whishing that she was his to control. A buzzer went off on his phone breaking Eckhart's thoughts. He sighed, and angry sound, and answered.

"What!" he snapped at the security agent.

"There's something in the building sir," the man said, nervously.

"What do you mean there's something in the building? You're suppose to keep things out!"

"But sir…"

"No buts! Find what ever it is and deal with it, what else am I paying you for?" Eckhart growled. He hung up before the man had time to tell him that the intruder was boldly heading right for him and the agents had no idea what it was.

Eckhart, now nervous himself, flipped a switch on his desk and instantly his security monitors came into view. From what he could see, whatever was in the building was doing nothing to hide or avoid confrontation, but at the same time was annoyingly avoiding every trap and camera in the entire place. Even more worrisome was the fact that it was heading straight for him. He could see the place that the intruder had been, for his agents had been completely pulverized, many laying dead. Then there were the places where the intruder had yet to be, which had hordes of agents but he still couldn't find what he was looking for. The only thing he saw was a growing area of covered ground.

"Damn it, why won't you show yourself?" Eckhart sneered, and on cue the door to his office busted open. He quickly turned and faced the intruder letting out a gasp as he saw nothing.

"What the hell?" he said, brow creased in frustration and fear.

"Hello Eckhart…."

The voice was curl, smug and familiar. If Eckhart didn't know any better he would have thought it was Jesse Kilmartion. "Who are you?" he asked, hoping that he sounded more confident and secure then he felt.

"Your past coming back to kill you," the voice answered simply and that was the last thing Eckhart would hear before his lungs exploded.

Back at Sanctuary Emma's restless sleep gave way to peace, a wicked smile forming her lips. Her job was done.
Well, there you have it. It's over. So sad...why'd i have to kill Jesse? Well, if you don't like it, ya know what? turn the page. :)