Dangerous Infatuation

6: Ezra

Brennan and Jesse were still sitting at the bar. The blond Mutant was done with telling Brennan what had happened on Friday night at the Sanctuary.
Jesse didn’t dare to look at him for fear of being judged for what he’d done, for what he felt. So he kept his eyes on the table, waiting for Brennan to have the first word about it.
He would have seen the smile on the tall, dark haired Elemental if he would have faced him. Brennan was the last to think badly about him. There was nothing wrong with falling for Shalimar, even after all this time they knew each other. Sometimes love chose the strangest ways to get people together.
He turned until he could see Jesse. The smile seemed to be attached to his features.
“What do think I am going to do? Tell you to leave her alone, it’s no good for her, you’re just not the right man for her?”
Jesse shrugged his shoulders, very unsure and almost afraid. He had no idea what he was going to think at all…
Brennan kept on talking, putting his hand on Jesse’s arm to grab his attention. His voice was low and steady and he meant exactly what he said:
“I don’t know anyone better for Shalimar. You are all she needs!”
He squeezed his arm, nodded towards Jesse and stood up.
“Think about it! I’ll be back in a minute.”
Brennan left Jesse alone with his thoughts and disappeared through the curtains into the hall, where he found his way to the bathroom.

~~*~~


Two days earlier.
The door to the smoke filled room opened and the tall, blond man walked into it. His body was muscle-packed all over, his shoulders broad, his stomach tight. A slim waist with long, strong legs finished the picture of a dangerous weapon. Piercing blue eyes searched the room and found, what they were looking for.
He passed the gamblers with their cards, hats deep in the faces and guns quiet visibly in their holsters under thin jackets.
He reached the table with a single person sitting on it, going through some papers. Without being asked, he seated himself, laying his big hands flat on the table.
“You have what I want?”
The skinny man lifted his eyes from the papers, eyeing him suspicious. A scar ran straight over his entire face, marking him.
“Depends on who wants it!”

The blond man answered in a very low voice, anger clearly speaking out of it.
“I am Ezra and you better don’t play with me!”
Fear crept for a second over the scar-face, before he got a grip on himself. He nodded and took something out of a bag under the table.
The first thing was a little syringe with a green liquid in it. The second thing looked almost like a gun.
Scar-face held it in his hand, showing it to Ezra.
“You put the syringe in here, cock it and shoot. Best place would be in the neck or the arm. Whatever you can get!”
Ezra just nodded and put a pile of money on the table. He stood up and walked away, not looking back for one single moment.
“Ass!”
Scar-face turned his attention back to the papers again.

~~*~~

Brennan closed up his zipper, washed his hands and turned to leave the filthy little bathroom. He took the doorknob but before he could pull the door, it smashed open and against his head. The impact brought him to his knees. Dark shadows danced in front of his eyes when two strong hands pulled him up and against the wall.
He tried to focus and create an energy blast with his hands but he was to slow.
“No, you don’t”, was all he heard before two heavy fists connected with the side of his head and brought down the lights.

The collapsing body of the Mutant was caught, lifted with powerful arms over the attackers shoulder and carried away. Nobody noticed the strange couple walking over the dark parking lot to the silver Audi.
Ezra dropped the unconscious body carelessly on the ground, searching the pockets for the keys. As soon as he had found them, the shape-shifter took another careful look around but no one watched them. He opened the trunk of the car and heaved Brennan into it. Right then, the dark haired Mutant stirred.
His vision was quite blurry as Brennan opened his eyes. He saw the shadow leaning down over him and felt his sleeve being pulled up. He tried to push the man away but his head was hurting badly and his thoughts were spinning in his mind. He felt a little sting when the needle pieced his skin.
‘He is going to drug me… I need help. Jesse…”
He wasn’t able to say a word. His mouth was all of a sudden very dry. A feeling of heaviness spread through his entire body. His mind was still clear and he focused on the only person he knew was able to help him now. If he could only reach her…
Ezra watched the man’s body fall limp. The eyes were still focused on his own, very clear, and filled with fear. He smiled a devilish smile.
“Enjoy the ride!”
With a bang he closed the door.
Ezra took a deep breath. He still smiled the same evil smile.
Everything worked out just fine. He concentrated and for the split of a second, his eyes lit up before the blue of them turned into dark brown. The dark of the night swallowed the rest of the transformation…


Jesse looked up when he noticed the shadow besides him.
“You’re ready to go home?”
He nodded and smiled back slightly.
“Yes Brennan. Let’s go home!”


Tbc


Note: I have Jesse right where I wanted him. No, that’s wrong… Where Ezra wanted to have him, evil grin!
Please leave some reviews. Ezra can be really mean if he won’t get some!!! Runs and hides scared in the box under her bed


7: Captured

Emma sat cross-legged on the floor, deep in meditation. Her hands were relaxed on her knees, her breathing calm and steady. She didn’t mind Shalimar practising her kata close by. There was nothing that could disturb her concentration.
She let her mind float, reaching out for peace and balance.
Shalimar was concentrating, too. But hers was centred on her moves, powerful and exactly on point. Just as she executed a spin-kick, she heard Emma scream. A high, painful noise that filled the room.
Quickly she turned around to her friend, finding her outstretched on the floor, holding her head in agony. Tears watered her eyes, bringing no release from the pain.
“Emma, what happened? What is it ? Em? Emma?”
She didn’t answer, couldn’t. Her body shook with cramps. Shalimar grabbed her by the shoulder, trying to calm and hold her down at the same time. She needed help.
“ADAM!!”
The door to the lab flung open and Adam came running. One look at the young Mutant on the floor and he went to his knees, placing a warm palm on Emma’s forehead. He needed to get her attention.
“Emma, listen to me. Open your eyes. Look at me Emma!”
Sobbing from the sudden rush of pain she obeyed slowly. Her body was still convulsing with tremors but it slowly calmed down now that she was focused on Adam.
“That’s good, relax. Deep breaths, slowly Emma!”
He took her pulse while he kept stroking her head. He sighed with relieve when her body finally lay still, breathing almost normally.
Adam gave her a little more time to recover from the attack before he asked his question.
“What happened?”
Emma wiped away her tears and sat up with some help from Shalimar.
“Brennan! Something is wrong. It was like he invaded my mind, trying to show me something. There was so much fear and pain in him. He is trapped somewhere but I don’t know where…”
She stopped for a second, trying to relive the moment Brennan had connected with her.
“He seemed to be trapped in his body and thoughts. For a second the version was very clear. He couldn’t move, couldn’t talk or scream. I felt the pain all this brought him. But then his thoughts were blurring and ended up very confused before the connection broke.”
A shadow of worry crossed Adam’s eyes. Very quick but not unnoticed.
“Can you get up? Come on, I’ll help you.”
Adam and Shalimar took each one of Emma’s arms and put her onto her feet. She felt a bit dizzy but after some deep breaths it was better and they all walked over to the computer. Shalimar was still holding Emma, ine she she felt sick again but nothing happened.
Just when Adam was about to open a connection over the comm link, the door opened and Jesse, and to the surprise of the rest of them, Brennan came walking in.
Adam was the first to rush over to him. He took his shoulder, looking deep into his eyes.
“Are you ok? What happened to you?”
Surprised, Jesse looked at Brennan and then to Adam.
“What do you mean with ‘what happened’? Nothing happened. We just came from a bar where we had some drinks.”
Emma shook her head in disbelieve. Her eyes found Brennan’s and she watched him carefully.
“I felt you calling out for help. I felt your pain… and you were so scared.”
Brennan freed himself from Adam’s grip. He shook his head, the look on his face slightly annoyed and… confused?
“What do you mean, you felt my pain? I didn’t call for anybody. I am fine.”
“Let’s go to the lab and check you out then. Just to make sure, you’re ok!”
“The hell you will. Asked Jesse. I am all right. Nothing unusual happened!”
He turned around to leave but Shalimar stepped in his way.
“Don’t get angry! But the way Emma reacted made us really worried about you.”
He just snarled at her to leave him alone and hurried out of the room, leaving some confused people behind.


“What happened? I want details!”
Adam turned his attention to Jesse but he just shrugged his shoulders.
“We had a couple of drinks, sat at the bar and talked. Brennent ent to the bathroom and when he came back, we left.”
“Nothing unusual?” Shalimar had asked him now. Jesse barely looked at her when he answered.
“The only thing unusual was, that I was allowed to drive home this time. He didn’t even fight with me for the keys. That’s no reason to call for help, though!”
“I’ll go and talk to him.”
Emma wanted to go but Jesse stopped her.
“Let me go. We…. We’ve been talking a lot today.” He sent a quick glance over to Shalimar.
“He will tell me if something is wrong.”


Jesse found Brennan sitting in the kitchen on the table.
“I don’t know what Emma had but when we go to the lab, we could find out.”
Brennan didn’t answer.
“If you don’t want to go in the chair, we could put her in it and poke around in her brain a little bit.”
Jesse tried to make a joke out of the situation to calm him down.
“That could be fun, don’t you think?”
He just looked at Jesse lost in thought. A smile crept over his face he he nodded.
“All right.”


Adam was in the lab when the door opened and Jesse and Brennan came in. The Elemental looked around like he was seeing it for the first time, taking in every little detail. He looked back at Jesse, then at the chair. Adam could see the thoughts racing through his head.
“You’re ready to get checked out?”
Brennan turned his attention towards him, staring at him for a moment. Then he shook his head.
“No, I am not.”
Still, he sat down on the chair, his feet never leaving the floor. He looked ready to run if necessary.
“Come on Brennan, it won’t hurt you and I don’t bite, remember?”
He shook his head again.
“No, I don’t want to!” His voice shook from suppressed anger.
“Leave us alone! I have to talk with Jesse.”
Brennan’s tone was unacceptably demanding and rude. Adam swallowed a harsh response, not allowing his anger to overtake his worries.
Jesse cut into their ‘conversation’ and his voice was as calm as Adam’s actually needed to be.
“Maybe Brennan would feel better if we chat a bit first, Adam. I’ll leave him to you in a few minutes. Let’s say half an hour? Is that ok with you?”
“Of ce.” e.” His voice was fairly calm.
“I’ll go and get some coffee.”
He looked one last time at Brennan before he turned around and left them alone.
Brennan smiled. Good, nobody had noticed anything. He, or rather Ezra, was right where he wanted to be.
Alone with Jesse, amongst his friends and not one of them knew that he would be dead in 30 minutes…
Tbc

Authors note: My thanks to BluJay. I simply forgot about that but here we go now. Hope you approve with the way I wrote it down. Still not nearly done but I think I will write some more today. Need a break though and evil as I am grin, it’s about time. Building up the suspense again, LOL! Please tell me what you think as always. Samwise says Hi, by the way. He needs some cuddles…


8: Finding Brennan

Adam had left Shalimar and Emma to prepare everything he needed to check out Brennan. Both of the women were lost deep in thought.
Emma turned towards Shal and looked her straight in the eye. From the looked on her face she must have had the same thought.
“Something is wrong!”
“Terribly wrong!”
Shalimar started to pace, playing with her hair, curling it around her finger at the same time.
“You know that my senses are very strong, it’s just the Feral side of me. Every person has a special smell; it’s like an aura they carry. And no two people smell the same, woman or men.”
Emma looked at her friend. She knew what she was trying to say.
“Did Brennan smell like Brennan?”
Shalimar shook her head, uncertain how to answer.
“I am not quite sure. He smelled like… nothing and everything!”
Emma was a bit confused.
“What do you mean?”
Shal stopped walking for a moment. Emma could see that she didn’t really know what she meant herself.
“Usually he smells like earth. Like pure energy and a bit spicy. Very manI haI have no idea how else I could describe it.”
She paused for a moment, lost in memories.
“When he came in with Jesse, I didn’t get that scent. I got a complete overload of scents. It was like he stood in a huge crowd.”
Emma stood up.
“You want to go to the lab and see if you can find something unusual?”
Shal laughed out loud.
“What am I supposed to do? Go and ‘smell’ him up? No, I have a better idea. You sneak into his head and see what you can get! That is less inconspicuous!”
Emma agreed, nodding her head.
“I can try.”
The two Mutants walked over to Shalimar’s room in case Brennan or Jesse came back. Emma sat down on the bed and tried to relax while Shal seated herself on the floor in front of the bed, watching her friend.
She started focusing in on Brennan.
‘Brennan. Can you hear me?’
No answer. She concentrated harder, imagining his big, brown eyes.
‘Brennan, can you here me? Answer please. Where are you?’
Her mind wandered in complete blackness, searching for the single light that was him.
All of a sudden the pain was there again, like this morning when Brennan tried to contact her.
‘Emma.’ Very far away and soft.
She could see him in the distance. She walked towards him but as soon as she took a step, he was gone again.
‘Brennan, stay with me!’
He appeared again, just for a split second to her right, closer this time.
She could feel the pain he felt, the dizziness holding him in its arms.
Brennan, come to me!’
Her mind voice called out to him, soft yet urgent, but he slipped slowly away again.
‘It’s so hard… can’t focus on you!’
It didn’t work. She had to try something new.
Shalimar saw little gleaming drops of perspiration appear on her partner’s forehead and a look of desperation on her face. She wished she could help Emma. She took her hands in her own, hoping to give her a bit of strength. She looked like she needed it.
Emma felt tired. It was an exhausting process chasing after him without really finding him. But she couldn’t give up now, he needed her help.
‘Brennan, look around. Where are you?’
For a moment she saw him very clearly. He lay in the dark, trying to find something with his hands he could show her. Then he slipped away again.
An angry little noise escaped from her. Why couldn’t he stay with her?
‘Brennan, for God’s sake you have to try again. I need a clue, something, anything please!?’
She was loosing him, could feel him drifting away.
He reached out one last time with his hands. He was almost completely gone when she smelled it. She had found what she was looking for…
With deep breaths that were closer to wrenching sobs, Emma opened her eyes. Her whole body shook violently and she collapsed on the bed. Shalimar was beside her in an instant, taking the shivering Mutant in her arms.
She whispered soothing words to her while holding her close. Emma wanted to push her away and sit up but Shal kept her on the bed in a strong embrace.
“Calm down. Everything is fine, you are alright!”
“Nothing is ok, we have to find Brennan!”
More sobs escaped her.
“He is not with Jesse…”
She was really thrashing around now in order to free herself from Shalimar’s grip. Finally, she let her go and Emma jumped out of the bed.
’Come on, I think I know where he is! We to to go!”
For a moment nothing happened. Shalimar kept on sitting on the bed, her features clearly showing shock. Fear shone brightly in her eyes, while creeping up and down her spine.
He is not with Jesse…
The words echoed over and over in her ears. But WHO was together with Jesse if not Brennan?
Her voice shivered slightly when she gave her orders to Emma.
“You go and find Brennan. I need to look for Jesse!”

Tbc.


Disclaimer: Read the other chapters! I claim Brennan for tonight, I need company, LMAO!
Author’s note: Thanks to good ol’ Wolverine and his ‘No two women smell alike’!


9: Pool of Blood

Jesse watched Adam leave before facing Brennan once more. He wasn’t sitting anymore. Instead he was wandering around the lab, picking some of the medical instruments up before dropping them carelessly back down onto the table.
He wanted to give him some time so he sat down in the chair Brennan had vacated, his feet relaxed on the floor.
“What’s up, bro?”
No answer. Brennan threw a quick glance over to him and just kept on walking around.
Ok, he obviously needed more time. All right, that was fine with Jesse. He kept wondering what could be bothering Brennan that much. Nothing unusual had happened since they came back, except for Emma’s vision or whatever you’d call it.
Brennan walked into his peripheral vision, and then Jesse heard footsteps from the dark-haired Mutant come up behind him.
He trusted his partner so he did not feel the need to watch his every step. He never expected the next move…
The dark, brown eyes were fixed on the blond Mutant facing away from him. An evil smile loomed in the changing face. The tall shape of Brennan disappeared and the much broader form of Ezra stood in the lab instead. He slid one hand into the inside pocket of his jacket, taking the injection gun out of it.
Two fast steps brought him close to the younger Mutant. He wrapped his free arm tightly around Jesse’s neck, choking him while he pulled him far enough back until he lost his balance. He pressed the gun hard against his neck and pulled the trigger.
Immediately, Jesse’s body fell limp as the green liquid in the syringe rushed through his veins. Ezra pulled his body roughly onto the chair, holding his neck in a strong one-handed grip, still smiling that evil grin.
Jesse looked at Ezra with big eyes. Pain and fear could be seen in them like in Brennan’s eyes before. It was a terrible feeling being fully conscious but at the same time unable to move or do anything at all. He could only stare and wait.
“She was my one and only! I would have gone to the ends of the earth for her, you know that?”
Jesse heard him clearly even though he didn’t understand what he meant.
“My beautiful Puerto Rican Lady. And you took her away from me!”
Ezra pulled a huge hunter’s knife from under his jacket and showed it to Jesse. He could see his reflection in the shining blade. He was scared…
Ezra’s voice was barely a whisper when he spoke on.
“You will pay for it!”
He let go of Jesse’s neck and grabbed his right wrist. The knife cut easily deep into the skin, slashing the veins wide open. The same happened with the other side.
e fee felt the cutting sting but the drug wouldn’t allow himscrescream out his pain. He could only let out a small whimper of pain, not even loud enough for his friends to hear. The blood soaked ihis his clothes, making them stick to his skin before his arms slipped from his torso, hanging motionless down the chair.
And somewhere on her way to the garage, Emma stumbled as the silent rush of agonizing pain hit her like a fist, screaming into her ears…


Shalimar ran the few yards through the hall towards the lab. She was almost there when the door opened and Jesse came out. She jumped in surprise as Adam’s spoke up from behind her at the same time.
“You talked with Brennan?”
Jesse nodded, a light smile spreading over his face. Shalimar looked on with huge eyes at her friend who winked at her.
“He is fine, he just needs some minutes for himself. Then you can go and check him out as much as you want, old man!”
Shal’s breathing was harsh. Something was wrong. She could sense it.
“What was up with him?”
Adam asked, already turning again as Jesse took him by the arm, almost dragging him away from the door.
“You better ask him that yourself. It is kind of personal. What’s for dinner today?”
The last question took a bit of the tension from Adam, making him laugh.
“You have to ask the ladies. Shalimar, you coming?”
She couldn’t move and just stared at them. They didn’t notice and walked on.
The scent…
It was the same way Brennan had smelled earlier this day. This wasn’t Jesse. No two men smelled alike. Whoever was with Adam right now, wasn’t Jesse.

Shalimar looked at the door to the lab, straining her ears to hear a single sound. Then she turned to head down the hall, that Adam and ‘Jesse’ had walked down a moment ago.
The feeling of danger spread through her body. Adam was in trouble if this wasn’t Jesse. But how could she know for sure?
Ready to follow the two men, she stopped in mid-step, her eyes turning yellow and catlike.
The tiniest noise reached her ears.
‘Drip, drip, drip…’ Like the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement. She inhaled deeply. That was no water dripping.
She smelled blood!
Shalimar almost broke the button that opened the door when she hit it with her fist. Forgotten was Adam, he could help himself.
Her ring gave a buzz. Emma’s scared voice filled the hall while the glass door slid to the side too slowly in her opinion. Still, it was too fast to prepare her for the sight before her…
“Shalimar! Jesse... something bad happened.”
She heard Emma crying over the comm-link at the same moment she saw Jesse lying in the chair. He looked asleep, if you looked past all the blood on the floor. It was too much…

Tbc.

Abrupt end, I know. Big, fat yawn but I am so tired…

10: Brennan and Emma

Emma couldn’t keep herself from falling down. Crying, she called out for Shalimar, tel her her what she had felt. The place Brennan was trapped in was very dark, pitch-black like the night. Jesse’s place was red. Like Blood!
She hesitated for a moment, unsure if the better choice would be calling Adam instead of going to look for Brennan all by herself. Emma wiped her tears away and dropped that thought quickly. Brennan needed her help and this place was the Sanctuarhat hat possibly could happen to her in here? She completely suppressed the trouble Jesse was in, keeping her mind on the dark, haired Mutant for now.
She got to her feet again, running the last few feet to the garage. The door made a squeaky noise as she opened it.
Emma could smell gas and oil, the typical scents of a parking garage occupied by cars. The large room was dark and silent. Afraid her own courage would fail her, she stopped after taking a few steps inside.
“Brennan?”
What, if she was wrong and he wasn’t here? What if she read the clues he’d sent her wrong?
Her worries were blown away when she heard muffled noises. A sound like something striking metal, and a little moan. No one was calling out to her, but at least Emma knew she was right.
She moved swiftly over to the silver Audi. The tiny sound was gone and she didn’t hear anything. The light switched on as she opened the driver’s side door. He wasn’t in there.
Emma sat down in the seat and pushed the button to open the trunk. She left the door open, the dim light enough to light her way. She took a deep breath in order to brace herself for what could be waiting for her in the trunk.
The back of the car was hidden in shadows, she could barely see what was inside.
Emma was waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness when a small sigh reached her ears. She leaned forward, using her hands as her guide to feel for the person lying somewhere in the shadows before her.
Another small groan greeted her when her hands touched a face, Brennan’s face. Emma found his eyes were closed, her fingertips gliding over the eyelids. She found no blood but when she reached the left side of his head, she felt his body stiffen in pain.
He let out a hissing moan.
“Careful!”
His voice sounded raw.
“You ok? Are you hurt?”
She felt his answering nod more than she saw it.
“Everything is hurting.”
His voice a bit slurred.
Trying not to move Brennan more than absolutely necessary, she searched the rest of his body for injuries but couldn’t find any sign of blood or gashes.
“Wanna do this again, later in my room, honey?”
Emma couldn’t stop a satisfied smile when he heard his response. She breathed a small sigh of relief. If he felt good enough to tease her than it couldn’t be too bad.
“Brennan, listen to me, what happened?”
“He knocked me out and drugged me. It hurt, still does…”
Emma heard the pain and effort in his words.
“But at least I can think straight again and even talk.”
“The drug must wear of then. You think, you can get out of the trunk if I help you?”
“I’ll try!”
“Wait!”
Emma took his legs and pulled them over the side of the trunk. Brennan grabbed onto her shoulders in order to steady himself and together they managed to get him into a sitting position.
He leaned heavily against her when dizziness and pain rushed through him. He bit hard down on his lip to keep in his sounds of pain. It didn’t work, though.
For a minute or two they didn’t move at all. Emma knew how much pain he was in. She heard his stifled cries on her shoulder and reached out with her mind, sending soothing images over to Brennan. Slowly he relaxed in her arms, the shivers fading away with the help she’d given him.
“You think we can try?”
“Yes!” Sobbing.
Emma pulled his arm around her neck and stood up, getting Brennan in a standing position. It took a lot of strength, to keep the Elemental on his feet.
“Ok?”
Brennan only nodded of his head. He needed his breath to stand and try not to fall down.
Slowly, they made their way out of the garage. As soon as they reached the door, Emma wished she’d called for Adam. The once powerful Mutant was very weak and heavy in her arms. There just wasn’t time to regret it. They could do that later…

Tbc.