Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews; it's always a pleasure reading them. I'm really sorry it has taken me so long to update, shame on me. lol
AN- Just to point out this story is set where the whole business with Eckhart and Naxcon didn't happen so Brennan didn't kill Eckhart like he did in the series, I will explain all in a future chapter but I just wanted to clear that up so no one gets too confused. I hope this note helps but please let me know if I need to explain anything.
Note: - italics is the dreamscape
Chapter Seven
"Jess…..Jesse wake up" Emma whispered bending down and gentling shaking him.
"Hmmm…..what…..Emma what's up?" Jesse groggily replied slowly sitting up.
"It's Brennan, I'm really worried about him he seems to be finding it harder and harder to breath, Jesse I think he's bleeding internally" Emma whispered in response worry etched across her face as she glanced behind her at Brennan who was lying at the other side of the room asleep.
"I know Emma but there's nothing more I can do for him, not until we get out of here, you know that I've tried everything I can think of to disable the energy field" Jesse told her raising his voice slightly with frustration.
"We can't just sit here and watch him die Jesse" Emma yelled back.
"I never said we would but….."
"Come on guys you aren't going to help him by fighting, now I have an idea if either of you are interested" Isabel said interrupting.
"Sorry, I'm just worried that's all" Emma said.
"You're not the only one; I'm worried about him too"
"Yeah I know Jess, this is all just so frustrating" she smiled "So what's your idea Isabel?"
"Do you think the energy field still works when the door is opened?"
"I don't know, probably not. I would have thought it would need to be deactivated before anyone can enter or leave the room, why?" Jesse said looking at her slightly confused.
"It's probably a bit of a long shot but what if we make him think he reactivated the energy field after he leaves then you will be able to phase us out of here"
"That's a great idea" Emma said enthusiastically.
"We'll have to time it right though, remember we all need to get out of here and get Shal out without being seen" Jesse added sounding less confident.
"It's worth a shot Jesse. I mean do we really have much to lose?"
"No not really. Okay so we just sit tight and wait for him to show up, hopefully we won't have to wait to long…" he paused when he heard a soft groan coming from Brennan and he walked over kneeling down beside him "Hey, how you feeling?"
"Not so good" Brennan replied wincing as he tried to sit up.
"Here let me help you" Jesse said helping him sit against the wall "God Bren, you're getting a fever" he worryingly added.
"I'll be fine Jess, I'm just tired"
"Well I need for you to stay awake so I can keep an eye on you" Jesse told him.
"Yes, Dr Kilmartin" Brennan sarcastically mumbled.
"Good, we think we have a way out of here but it's a bit a long shot" Jesse said trying to make conversation hoping to take Brennan's mind off sleeping.
"Oh Yeah"
"Yeah, when someone comes in to see us" Jesse paused when Brennan sniggered. "What's so funny?" he asked looking slightly confused.
"Nothing, you just make it sound as though they are coming to visit us rather than kill us" Brennan huskily responded.
"So sorry, okay so when they come in to kill us" Jesse continued only to stop when Brennan instead of laughing started coughing uncontrollably "God Bren I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made you laugh" he added apologetically.
"It's…..o…kay….my….fa….fault" Brennan tried to say while still coughing.
"No I should have thought…." Jesse once again tried to apologise only to be silenced when Brennan put his hand on his shoulder and gently shook his head although this time Brennan waiting until he had stopped coughing before he spoke "Jess stop it, you are doing the best you can under the circumstances. So stop beating yourself up and tell me this plan"
"Sure, okay so when someone comes in they need to deactivate the energy field that is stopping us from using our powers, we are hoping that that will buy us enough time for Emma to manipulate their mind into thinking that they've re activated it on their way out"
"Sounds good" Brennan groggily replied his eyes half shut.
"Come on Bren stay with me" Jesse demanded.
"I'm tired Jess, I just want to sleep"
"I know bro but it's not safe for you to sleep. I'm worried that you have some serious internal damage and if you go to sleep I might not be able to wake you up when its time to go" Jesse explained deciding it was probably best being as honest as possible.
"Fine…you…need…talk to me…then" Brennan mumbled.
"Deal, what you want me to talk about?"
"Any….thing…just tell…me….a…..few jokes"
"I have a better idea how about I tell you about the dreamscape Shal is in" Jesse smiled when Brennan opened his eyes wider knowing talking about Shalimar would buy him more time.
"Jess, is that such a good idea, I mean that's kind of personal and well she will kill you for telling him" Emma whispered sitting down next to him.
"Come on Em, you can see how alert he is I doubt he will remember a word I say and besides I need to talk to him about something that will keep his interest do you have a better topic than Shal?"
"No, but don't say I didn't warn you" Emma smiled before standing and returning to her spot next to Isabel.
"So as I was saying, Isabel quickly probed Shal and you will never guess who she is married to in this dream world"
"Who?"
"I'll give you two guesses then I'll tell you"
Brennan groaned then nodded knowing he would have to play Jesse's little game "Adam?"
"No, god no that's gross Brennan he is like a father to her why on earth would she dream about being married to him?"
"Sorry. Well that only leaves you and me and she thinks of us as brothers so wouldn't that be gross too?" Brennan asked fighting to keep his eyes open.
"She might think of one of us as a brother but the other I'm not so sure"
"So who is it then?"
"I told you, you have to guess" Jesse smiled again when Brennan opened his eyes slightly to look at him.
"Fine….I….guess….you"
Jesse opened his mouth to respond when the sound of the door opening caught his attention and he jumped to his feet.
"So how are you all doing? Comfortable I hope" Jefferson sarcastically asked as he entered the room.
"We're just fine, you?" Jesse replied just as sarcastically.
"Just wonderful I have all four members of Mutant X as my prisoners and it is only a matter of time before I have my father's murderer as well. I hope you are going to be a little more sensible than Brennan and tell me where I can find Adam"
"Sorry to disappoint you but I would never betray Adam like that"
"Even if it means sacrificing two of your team mates"
"Okay then how about I will tell you where Adam is if you let Brennan and Shalimar go first"
"Ah a deal, I knew you were the level headed one Jesse but I'm afraid as willing as I to do a deal with you I am not stupid and I will need Adam before I let your friends go"
"And how do we know you will let them go?" Emma asked speaking for the first time.
"You will just have to take my word for it, I am an honest man Emma" Jefferson smiled at her causing a shiver to run up her back.
"Well if you are so honest why are you holding us here against our will?" Emma challenged.
"Nice try but I'm not going to play your game. You have two hours to make your decision Mr Kilmartin and if I were you I would take my deal, Mr Mulwray doesn't look as though he will last must longer" Jefferson stated before turning to leave.
"I'll think about it" Jesse replied.
Emma focused her mind and sent an image of Jefferson setting the energy field to his mind just as he was closing the door behind him, she waited a few moments until she could no longer sense him close by before she turned to Jesse "Try and phase the wall Jess"
"Okay, here goes nothing" Jesse replied before taking a deep breath and touching the wall. "It worked well done Emma I knew you could do it, what do you say to getting out of here guys?"
"I say lead the way" Isabel chirpily said.
"Why don't you phase into the next room and see what's in there we really want to take Brennan out of here before we go get Shal it will be easier if something goes wrong" Emma suggested.
"Good idea, wait here I'll be back in a minute" he said before phasing through the wall and reappearing a minute later "There's nothing much next door looks like another cell we can leave Bren in there, Isabel can stay with him while we go and get Shal" he walked over to Brennan kneeling down beside him "Hear that bro we're getting out of here" a soft groan and a slight nod from Brennan told him he had heard.
"Do you need a hand with him" Emma asked kneeling down next to them.
"Yeah take his legs but we'll need to be careful with him, I really hope we can make it out undetected" Jesse replied as he gently pulled Brennan forward and went round behind him "Ready?" seeing Emma nod they both lifted Brennan who had now lost consciousness and slowly walked towards the wall with Isabel right behind them. Once they were safely in the other room they set Brennan down against the back wall "Lets go Emma we don't have a lot of time"
"Okay take care of him for us and we will be back as soon as we can" Emma told Isabel before following Jesse.
"I will and be careful" Isabel said sitting down next to Brennan.
Jesse and Emma made there way down the corridor and entered the room where Shalimar had been the last time they had seen her, they both let out a sigh of relief when she was still there.
"How she doing?" Jesse asked.
"She looks okay and her pulse is strong but I'm not really sure lets just get out of here and hopefully Isabel can help her" Emma worryingly replied.
"You'll get no arguments from me" Jesse picked Shalimar up and they both made there way back to Isabel and Brennan.
"That was quick" Isabel commented as they came through the door.
"Yeah she was right where we left her, did he wake up while we were gone?" Jesse asked.
"No sorry"
"Now the problem is how do we get out of here, I can't carry Brennan by myself without causing him more harm and I doubt either of you can handle carrying Shalimar by yourself"
"Isabel do you think you can wake Shal?" Emma asked.
"I should be able to but it might take me a while, are you sure you want to do it here?"
"I don't really see any other way out of here" Jesse said.
"Okay" Isabel smiled before turning to Shalimar and connected their minds.
Shalimar was lying on top of her bed staring at the ceiling when she heard a soft knock on her door she slowly sat up seeing her dad appear through the door.
"Hi sweetheart, I've made you some dinner"
"Thanks Dad but I'm not all that hungry"
"Shalimar you haven't eaten anything in days, you can't go on like this you are going to make yourself ill" Nicholas walked over and sat down next her putting his hand on her shoulder "Please sweetheart, I hate seeing you like this" he added almost pleading.
"I said I'm not hungry" she snapped.
"Think about your son, what all this is doing to him he has just lost his dad he needs his mommy"
"Well I need my husband but I can't have him can I? So please just leave me alone" Shalimar choked out laying back down, tears swelling in her eyes.
Nicholas sighed "Okay I'll leave you alone but please don't shut us out, do you want me to take Joshua home with me again tonight?"
"If you like" she absently stated.
"I'll be back first thing in the morning so we can finalise the funeral arrangements" he paused waiting for a response "Shalimar, did you hear me?" he added when he got none.
"Yeah, I heard you"
"I'll see you tomorrow then"
"Yeah"
"I will leave your dinner in the oven just in case you get hungry later on" he added before making his way back down stairs, he grabbed his jacket putting it on before picking up Joshua and heading out the front door.
"Hi, can I help you?" Nicholas asked when he seen a woman standing on the porch arm raised obviously about to ring the doorbell.
"Oh, erm…yeah, I was looking for Shalimar is she home?" Isabel nervously asked.
"Yes, she is resting at the moment. Can I help you?"
"Sorry where are my manners. My name is Isabel I work with Shalimar I just thought I would stop by too see how she is"
"That's really nice of you, being honest she isn't coping very well" he explained.
"It's a hard time for her, I lost my dad recently and I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for Shal's support, would you mind if I went in to see her?"
"Eh…I guess not, I am just heading home, so go on in she is up in her room" he smiled before stepping past her.
"Thanks, Mr Fox"
Isabel slowly made her way up the stairs to see Shalimar lying on her bed through the half open bedroom door, she cleared her throat so not to startle her "Shalimar, my name is Isabel"
"Who are you?" Shalimar frowned sitting up.
"Like I said my name is Isabel and I'm here to help you, I know this is going to be hard to understand but this isn't real you are in a dream world and I need you to take my hand and come back with me to the real world" she said reaching her hand out inviting her to take it.
"What are you talking about this isn't real, you're crazy. How did you get into my house?" Shalimar asked getting slightly agitated.
"Your dad let me in. I know it sounds strange but please trust me you are not supposed to be living this life"
"Oh really! So what kind of life am I supposed to be living?" she sarcastically asked.
"You are a new mutant and a member of a team called Mutant X, there are five of you all together Adam who is your leader, then there's Emma, Jesse and Brennan"
"What kind of sick joke do you think you are playing? How dare you, Brennan is dead, get out of my house" Shalimar said her voice breaking.
"You have to believe me I'm telling you the truth, Brennan is alive"
"GET OUT" Shalimar yelled.
"Shalimar please" Isabel pleaded.
"I SAID GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT" Shalimar hysterically yelled pushing Isabel out of the room and slamming the door behind her.
Isabel gasped as she felt herself be thrown from Shalimar's mind "We've got a problem"
"What, is she okay?" Emma asked.
"I can't get her to leave, she truly believes that the world she is in is real and nothing I said would convince her other wise, I'm sorry"
"It's not your fault, Shal can be a very stubborn woman and she is also a feral so when she sets her mind on something it can be near impossible to change it" Jesse smiled "So plan B then"
"I didn't know we had a plan B" Emma looked at him hopefully.
"We don't but we are going to have to come up with one and fast"
"Oh"
They all sat in silence for what felt like hours but was in fact only a few minutes "Right we have two choice either we take Bren and Shal out in two trips or you two carry Shal and we will have to take our chances on me not doing Brennan anymore damage by carrying him myself"
"I think we should just get out of here, waiting could probably do him just as much harm Jess, look at him he can hardly breath as it is" Emma said.
"Let's go then" Jesse added just as the door opening caught his attention and he jumped to his feet.
"What do you think you are doing?" Simon asked from the doorway.
TBC
So was it worth the wait? I hope so. Once again sorry it took me so long to update and I promise you wont have to wait as long for the next chapter.