Don't own anything...blah, blah, blah...
I hope that everyone has liked the story up to this point. This is the last easy going chapter for a while!
As always thanks to Stephanie, Rachel, and Sara for all of their continued help. Thanks to everyone who has been nice enough to give me reviews. I'm kinda like a junkie for them these days.
I've been trying to post a chapter every day or two. I had to convert my files and do some editing so if you read the original you know there are some changes I have made here and there to the story. I hope it reads okay.
The time to pack and leave had finally come. Lexa and Shalimar were more then ready to go, almost pushing Angel and Beau out the door. As nice as this place had been they both needed a change of scenery. The smell from the docks was also really getting on their nerves. The fish packing plant was only a few blocks away, and whenever the boats returned from their expeditions the whole place reeked of fish.
The move between was actually very uneventful, almost to Shalimar's dismay. She wanted something to happen, but then again didn't. She was tired of being bored, and tired of hiding, if something didn't break soon she might find herself hunting out the Dominion just to have something to attack.
The new safe house was much like it was described by Beau. It wasn't much to look at from the outside. It looked like a smallish house built on the edge of the beach just far enough and high enough from the water to avoid most of Mother Nature's moods. The house was shrouded in some trees and the beach was small, no more then a mile long, but had high rock faces on both sides offering privacy and creating a nice bay. The moonlight shone over it brilliantly reflecting on the water.
Shalimar smiled to herself as she looked off the porch, then frowned realizing how cold it was, and the fact that the beach would have little use unless the temperature rose about 40 degrees. Walking into the house she noticed a fully furnished den/living room taking up most of the front of the house, an open doorway leading to the kitchen on the right side, a door in the middle, and a hall on the left leading to what she assumed were bedrooms.
"Okay, here is the tour." Beau's heavily accented voice caught her attention. "In here the kitchen, I already stocked it so we should be good for a week or so. The living room, we have satellite TV, so we can at least watch movies." He said with a large grin remembering the few safe houses they stayed at with no real options for television.
He began to walk down the hallway and Shalimar heard Angel stifle a giggle as Beau's size made the house seem that much smaller. The two looked at each other and shared a knowing grin. There were three bedrooms and one full bathroom, which made the three women groan. three women, one bathroom; this could border on unpleasant.
Lexa continued to look around and caught Beau's eye. He shot her a knowing smile and said, "Did you think that is all?" He walked to the door between the kitchen and the hallway that looked like it could have been a closet door and opened it to reveal a closet. Then he hit a button on the side of the door jam and the closet revolved to show a set of steps descending into a lit area. "This is where the real safe house is!" He said with a triumphant grin as the others hurtled past him to see the lower level.
The downstairs was big, a lot bigger then the upstairs, probably close to double the size. It had computer banks set up and online, a gym, a mini lab, some hammocks against the far wall, and two separate bathrooms.
"Gotta give it to Adam, he knew how to build it right." Lexa said whistling at the room. The computers were set up behind the stairs, the lab opposite them, complete with table and most medical supplies. The gym was set up at the bottom of the stairs with a full bathroom on both sides of the basement. The hammocks were set up in the corner adjacent to the gym. It wasn't huge, but it definitely would give them some much needed room to separate and not grate on each others nerves.
"So how long are we planning on staying here?" Shalimar asked looking at the others.
"We're not sure just yet, but hopefully for a little while. We are far enough from most people that we can have some privacy and you two can get outside." Angel said with a knowing smile.
"I like it already!" Shalimar said as she bounded up the stairs calling dibs on the middle room facing the ocean.
"That's the brightest I've seen her in days," Beau remarked knowing how tough it had been on her the past month.
"Well, hopefully it will get better when we get all of these corporations figured out." Lexa said sitting at the computer bank and searching the data that was loaded and comparing it with her palm computer, updating and checking files. "We need a little stability to find Jesse and Brennan." The pain in her voice was unmistakable. For as hard as Lexa was, she wasn't ready to give up on the man that had worked so hard to win her trust.
Upstairs, Shalimar was already making herself at home in the room. She had unloaded most of her stuff, which took a span of less then five minutes considering that she had very few belongings anymore. Less then fifteen outfits and some boots, a few knickknacks that she had found at one of the safe houses, no doubt left behind by previous tenants, her favorite perfumes, and the stuff she had retrieved from Sanctuary were all she had left to her name. The bike that was in the garage was hers, and she was glad she had bought it when she did. It was a great bike, but she couldn't help missing her old one.
Once the unpacking had finished she looked around and decided to empty her pack from Sanctuary. She fingered the photo album and sat on the bed flipping though the pictures that were taken over the years. Was Brennan's hair really that long? Was Jesse's hair really that short? "Emma…" Shalimar barely realized she said the name aloud. She looked at the goofy pictures of her being fireman carried by Brennan to the water down by the beach and remembered going down the one day for a picnic and trying to tan. The next thing she knew she was over Brennan's shoulder threatening his life if he dunked her in the water. They had both ended up soaking wet. There were lots of pictures of her and Brennan; she smiled realizing that they had always shared a sort of kinship even when they were denying their attraction to each other.
She realized with a start that she was more sad seeing the pictures of her, Jesse and Brennan together then of seeing the ones of her and Emma. Adam used to say that time helped to heal the hurt, maybe he was right. It didn't hurt so much to be reminded of Emma now. She was happy to have the pictures to jog old memories. She realized that they hadn't added any since Emma died. Shalimar began to think that when they got the guys back, they should start a new album, to commemorate their new family.
She got up and pulled out the rest of the contents of the bag. She placed the unicorn snow globe on the dresser next to the porcelain cat curled in a ball and the ceramic dragon. Then Brennan's books were placed on the desk with his journal. The jewelry went in the top dresser drawer, and she checked the pack to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything when she felt something in the side pocket and slammed her hand to her head in a feeling of stupidity. The disk, Shalimar remembered, the one that she had found in the bay at Sanctuary and she was instantly furious with herself. With all the commotion when she had returned to the warehouse and the argument with Lexa she had forgotten all about it.
She still heard everyone downstairs, and debated over going down and trying to see what was on it while they were all down there. After a debate with herself she decided to wait until the others went to sleep. It was almost 11 o'clock, and everyone should be turning in soon. If it was nothing then she didn't want to tell Lexa that she had returned to Sanctuary if she didn't have to. Lexa would be furious if she found out Shalimar had returned there and risked getting captured or followed. No the prudent move would be to wait until they had gone to bed, and then she could see if there was anything valuable on the disk. She looked around and decided to read more of the journal to kill time until everyone else was asleep, which shouldn't be long considering the hour and the long past few days.
October 8, 2002
Boy was Adam pissed at Shal and me. I guess more so at Shal. She has kitchen duty for two weeks and bathroom duty for one. I feel like a little kid sometimes. Adam will assign us chores when he's mad sometimes and it is kind of funny. I guess he gets frustrated and treats us like children, but Shal is acting a little nutty. I don't have Ashlocke in my head so I can't really judge.
Shalimar has been clinging to Emma lately when we are at Sanctuary. I guess that is good. Emma is getting a lot stronger and helping Shal to deal with this asshole who is trying to get to her mind.
I never imagined resurrecting someone before, and I guess with all of the technology I've seen it shouldn't have been surprising, but I was definitely not expecting that curve ball. I'd have hated to see what could have happened if we hadn't stopped her. This mad man needs to be stopped, and I don't know why Adam is so hell bent on "correcting his mistake." I hate blind trust and that's what Adam asks of us a lot. It is unnerving to have to follow something and not know what I'm doing sometimes.
Shalimar has decided that since she is back she needs to redo a lot of training. Jesse and I are about worn to the bone. She has decimated a lot of the simulations and pleaded with us to both take her on while she was blindfolded. Sounds easy, right? I think her trip helped to center her better or something because she had both of us flat on our backs inside of 5 minutes. Jesse was nursing a black eye and my damn arm still hurts. She still wants to go though.
Jesse and I decided to go out tomorrow. We invited the girls, but thankfully both have declined. I think some guy time is in order. Jesse and I actually caught ourselves being drug into a debate about shoes with Shal and Emma, they thought it was hysterical. That was the point that we both decided we needed to get out. We were talking about this bar over on Juniper. It is a dive, but we can go and drink ourselves stupid. There are a few hot girls that are dancers there. So the night should turn good.
The way things are going it looks like we won't get out much for a while. Ashlocke is back on the radar and Adam thinks a few other factions are up to something. I really wish Adam would tell me more. Sometimes I just want to yell at him for being so damn secretive. We are all part of this and I know that he wouldn't send us in unprepared, but it gets annoying dealing with some of the stuff that comes up halfway through these missions.
Shalimar was caught up in the past; reliving the pain of having Ashlocke in her head, and all of her attempts to fight her way away from him. Brennan and Jesse both took some hard beatings from her in training at that point. She had felt horrible, but at the same time she was so confused. No one had been able to help, and Emma had worked so hard on trying to keep Shalimar centered that it took a toll on her. She had noticed Brennan's reluctance at accepting blind orders, even then, but for some reason he stayed with them and continued the fight. There were so many times they all had questions, most of the times Brennan was the only one to voice them. Shalimar and Jesse had gotten very accustomed to Adam's ways and trusted him. Brennan never had that blind trust. He had always been a loner, and it was tough for him to follow direction without question. Shalimar had always admired what a capable leader that Brennan could make with some work. Now they were in a strange state of being. No true leader, they were more of a democracy. Lexa liked to be in charge, but Shalimar wasn't willing to relinquish her rights to a say in matters. The system they had now seemed to be working. She could only imagine what would happen when they were all back together.
October 30, 2002
There is always this feeling I get when things seem like they are too slow, but it is like the calm before the storm. It is in the back of my mind and in my gut. Emma gets it too from what she tells me. I guess being a psionic it is easier for her to pick up on not only moods, but maybe like a 6th sense where she can just tell. I just hate it when my instinct is right.
I almost died again a few weeks ago. Shal and Emma saved my ass again. I hate electrocuting myself. It sucks because once I've lost control it starts arcing over me. This was all because of some radical militants who felt they never earned their dues.
Jesse could have been killed thanks to them, and it was all over money. They really weren't half as self-rightous as they thought they were. Looking back, we all were yelling at him to make himself solid again, but he was trying already so what was the purpose? The only thing that helped was trying to keep all his particles together by generating that electrical field.
I can't believe that we were all so stupid to take the bait like that, and Jesse taking risks like that. He can be so dependant sometimes, but then I see him do these amazing things without thinking anything about it. Jesse is one of the smartest people I know, but he has to already know that. Maybe I'll tell him one day because he really has to learn not to doubt himself.
I am so glad I don't remember the 70's. Aside from a lot of nice rides, they really had an awful style of dress. At least Shal was there with me, but that was also part of the reason we wound up where we did. I mean face it; we are most likely the only two that would have jumped first and asked questions later. We were lucky that Jesse was right behind us and managed to figure out what happened. Shal told me about young Adam, and I have to admit when I saw him, she was right. He was still so open and naïve. I never really imagined what he was like before all of the betrayal and corruption. I'm just thankful that we managed to stop Ashlocke from altering his younger self without causing changes to the past. I'd hate to imagine what Ashlocke would be like as an almost invincible being.
I've never been a nature lover, Adam and Shal both know this, so I don't know why Adam insisted that I go with Shal to that forest to research that wild being. I actually offered to do Jesse or Emma's chores for two weeks so I could get out of going. They just laughed and told me that it would be fun to share a camper with Shalimar and do some exploring. Emma even went as far as implying that maybe I'll say something about my feelings. I could have smacked her for that. Damn empaths! Jesse just told me that I was a big boy and not to worry because Shalimar could take care of me if I got scared of any creepy crawlies that freaked me out. Sometimes he has way too much fun at my expense.
So instead of a little recon mission and some fun with Shalimar, I come back with a colony of bug bites, and a sick Shalimar. Yeah, fun times all around. I don't think I will ever truly understand the feral psyche; Shal is so territorial, but at the same time so empathetic to her own kind. I know she is scared that she will mutate into that, and I guess that has left some doubts in my mind about what is in store for all of us. It is just sick what people will do to others. How messed up do you have to be to do experiments on another human being?
Adam sat with all four of us the other night and reassured us that he is doing all of his scans and keeping an eye on us to make sure that doesn't happen. I have a tough time believing him sometimes. We all just recently went through what he calls a 'mutant growth spurt.' What's going to happen when it happens again and again? Will I just turn into a ball of energy and dissipate? I hate thinking about the bad, but when the doubt presents itself, it is tough not to dwell on it.
Shalimar gazed at the page and the fear of unknowing reared its head in the back of her mind. They were all still walking time bombs. No one knew if they would die tomorrow or not. Seeing what had happened to other mutants who had their powers mutate out of control was scary. They didn't have Adam to do scans and research their changes anymore. They were on their own.
Worry over Jesse and Brennan and how they were fairing didn't help. Half the time Beau and Angel were forcing her and Lexa to eat and take care of themselves better. It was difficult not knowing. She was almost envious of her ignorant self who thought that Adam would always be there and he had a handle on their mutations. She had been trying so hard not to think of it, but the fear coiled itself in her stomach and refused to leave.