"Em, can I ask you something?"

"Yup."

"How do you get away?" Emma’s reddish-brown hair blew loosely around her face. Closing her eyes did nothing to alleviate the glare of the mid-afternoon sun. She turned slightly, her cheek resting against the warm leather upholstery, to face Jesse.

"Away from what?"

"You know." Jesse chanced a look at her. He was never sure when he was asking too many questions, and when he was asking the wrong ones. "From the voices. The thoughts. The images. Everything that’s running around in your head."

"I don’t." She shrugged.

"You don’t what? Get away?"

"There’s no way to. Mental blocks only last a few hours, a few days if you’re desperate, but after that, the stress causes a headache worse than a tequila hangover."

"How do you sleep?"

"What’s with the q and a?" Emma squinted against the sun. Maybe the silver convertible wasn’t the best idea. They might as well be riding in a car covered in mirrors. She felt like she was baking.

"I..." Well, he couldn’t exactly say he’d been thinking about her, thinking about millions of scenarios in which it was him that made her happy, made that radiant smile take up permanent residence on her face, made the rest of the world disappear. He couldn’t exactly come out and say he was looking for ways to make everything all right, just for her.

"You..." She prompted.

"I’ve noticed how stressed you’ve been lately and I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help. You know, like go beat up random bad guys or something."

"Is that what this drive is about?" She smiled.

"Something like that." He smiled back.

She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The giddy nervousness radiating from Jesse was enough to widen her smile.

She wouldn’t pry; she had respect for him, but man, what she wouldn’t give to know what had him thrumming with that kind of energy.

An hour later, they were at the beach. Actually it was a beach. Which one still eluded her and at some point, she stopped caring. Instead, she watched intently as the man in front of her lead her down a slope of sand to the shoreline. He stopped just short of the water.

Jesse requested they leave their shoes, socks, and just about everything else, back in the car, which was securely parked and hidden just down the road.

He continued walking. Emma edged closer to the water.

Emma tested the water with one foot while trying to balance herself on the other. Satisfied that the water temperature was acceptable, she rolled up her pants to her knees and waded in.

Jesse turned. He was so caught up in his search that he hadn’t checked to make sure Emma was following. It’d be pretty hard to explain how he lost her on a private beach. An empty private beach. No one was around. Not even the neighbors on their individual property.

No one to kidnap her.

No one to see her now, knee deep in the ocean, leaning just a few inches forward, as if readying herself for flight.

Her head turned upwards, hands outstretched and feet far enough apart to gain purchase in the constantly shifting sand, Emma looked like everything Jesse could ever need to be content.

He turned back to the task at hand, determined to find what he was looking for.

Ten minutes later found Emma walking up the beach to join Jesse. He was sitting, cross-legged on the dry sand just out of reach of the lapping water. He held something in his hand and stared at it as if it held the answers to the universe, or maybe even mutation.

"What are you doing?"

It took a moment for Jesse to look up, but when he did, part of him wished he hadn’t. Emma stood above him, the sun framing her slim form. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to hold her, wrap his arms around that slender waist and feel her relax against him.

"I think the right word is show. I want to show you something." Something in the back of his mind was constantly asking him when he’d reverted to the point where he couldn’t form proper sentences; too many stutters and a smaller vocabulary since he’d seen Emma that morning.

"Okay..."

"But you can’t tell anyone. Not Adam, not Shal, not Brennan."

"I promise, Jess."

Jesse stared at the iridescent black shells in his hand and then up at Emma.

"Jesse," She said as she knelt in front of him, her knees sinking into warmth. "I won’t tell anyone. I swear."

Jesse held out his empty hand to her.

"I want you to...feel...what it’s like." Emma’s breath hitched. In some warped sense of morality, she wouldn’t intentionally invade her friends minds, but this...this was Jesse offering himself, his mind, to her.

"Are you sure?" Her hand hovered uncertainly above his. He grasped it firmly.

"Positive." He flexed the hand holding the shells before holding them out in front of him. "Watch."

It started in her arm, or was it his? A tingling that spread from her shoulder to her fingertips, radiating throughout her body. She felt as if she was melting and flying and coming together all in one moment. Her hand thrummed with energy...she felt like...

Like liquid, sliding through hundreds of mediums all at once, stopping and flowing harshly across ragged edges, smoothly against water worn stones, coolly against an endless plain, warmly like blood leaving a body.

She felt like she went on forever.

The shells slowly began to shift, melt from the edges to the very center, creating a controlled mass of black iridescence, neither dripping nor sliding along the pale, creased skin of Jesse’s palm.

"Jesse..." She breathed.

"Watch." The words were whispered as he concentrated on the shapeless puddle in his hand. The telltale glow spread down his arm as he solidified the substance in his hand.

She felt like she was...everywhere.

In the air, somewhere just outside herself.

So...quiet.

Floating in a way completely unlike anything she ever felt and she can’t help but breathe deeper, absorb the moment, and hope that she never forgets this feeling.

Just as suddenly, she was lead, sinking to the bottom of an invisible ocean where breathing and sight were possible but movement was not.

Jesse let go of her hand.

It took a few minutes for her breathing to return to normal, and a bit longer for her brain to fully assimilate what she’d felt.

"Emma, you ok?" She looked at Jesse, worry etching itself into his face.

"I’m...good...really good." She smiled. "This is what you wanted to show me?"

"I haven’t gotten a hold of it yet. I can liquefy anything. It’s the solidifying that I can’t get. I mean, obviously, this isn’t its natural shape." He held out his hand to show a black sphere that was once the shells.

"They’re not completely deformed. That’s got to be something, right?"

"I guess. I just don’t want to get my hopes up."

"You just need practice. I could help you sometime, if you want."

"Thanks."

Emma couldn’t think of anything cuter than Jesse blushing and avoiding her eyes any way he could.

The fact that she knew exactly what he was feeling at the moment didn’t make it any easier for her to hide the smile threatening to take over her face.

"So, anymore surprises planned for today?"

"No, just thought it’d be nice to spend a day at the beach. Of course, I could always take you back to sanctuary..."

"Nope, the beach is fine. I’m always looking to get away from that place. Gets a little stuffy, don’t you think?"

"Sometimes."

Emma stood up, dusting off her pants.

"Come on." She offered him her hand.

"Where are you going?"

"We are going to enjoy our day off." Jesse eyed her suspiciously but took her hand.

Jesse never knew Emma had a sadistic streak, not until they reached the water’s edge and she stuck her foot out, tripping him.

He would have landed face first if it weren’t for quick reflexes. Instead, he was elbow deep in water, hair dripping wet from the splash produced by his fall.

And Emma?

Emma was laughing harder than seemed healthy and any moment, Jesse thought she might explode.

Before she had time to react, Jesse was behind her, arms wrapped securely around her waist, dragging her into the water.

"Jesse! Put me down!"

"Ok." And he did just that, watching her splash unceremoniously, laughing when she glared up at him.

"That wasn’t fair."

"But it was funny."

Emma stood, ignoring the fact that she was completely soaked and wearing a white shirt. Thank God for black bras. She pushed her hair out of her face.

She took one step forward.

Jesse took one step back.

"Now, Em, it was only fair..."

"Oh, I’ll show you fair!"

~~

Jesse and Emma gave up their chase twenty minutes later, after running out of breath and energy.

~~

It was dark out when they finally decided to leave. The wind was blowing a cool breeze over their damp bodies, taking with it the last remnants of the once sweltering day.

The walk back to the car was spent in companionable silence.

They’d long since given in to the primal need to keep warm, Emma snug against Jesse’s body in an attempt to retain heat.

Emma waited outside the car while Jesse spread one of the quilts from the trunk on the seat. It was, admittedly, a poor attempt to limit the amount of water and sand that Adam and Brennan would no doubt whine about. He did the same to his side and took an extra one out for Emma, who was trying her best not to shiver.

Jesse ushered her in, closed her door and climbed into the driver’s side. He reached for the button to raise the top. Emma’s hand stopped him.

"Leave it down."

"You’re cold."

"I’ve got a comforter. See?" She pulled the quilt around her. "Nice and warm." Jesse eyed her skeptically. Emma rolled her eyes. "Will you drive already?"

"Yes ma’am." Jesse mocked saluted her.

He reached behind him and grabbed his jacket, shrugging it on before he revved the engine and pulled off.

~~

Emma was sleeping when they arrived at Sanctuary. Jesse pulled into the garage slowly, hoping not to jolt her awake. When the car was securely parked in its spot, he put the top up, Brennan got very anal about that, and removed the key from the ignition.

He didn’t get out.

Instead, he watched the almost childlike innocence of Emma while she slept. It was amazing how relaxed she was when she was sleeping, or the few times Jesse witnessed her meditating. Emma was all about finding balance and lately, it seemed that everything was attempting to throw her off center.

He watched her a few minutes, caught up in the light flicker of a smile and the delicate flutter of her eyes behind pale red eyelids as she dreamt.

Reluctantly, he called her name softly.

His hand was brushing the hair away from her face before his mind had the time to register the action.

"Jesse?" Her sleep-laden voice brought him back to the moment.

"We’re home."

Emma nodded and opened her door. Getting out, she stretched her muscles, slightly cramped from the ride back. Her clothes were still damp and she could feel sand in places she really didn’t want to think about. She slowly pulled out the blanket she was sitting on and shook it out, cringing at the amount of sand that fell from it. She looked over to see Jesse doing the same.

He set the alarm, although there was no real reason to. It wasn’t exactly easy to steal a car from a secret facility in the middle of a mountain. Still, old habits were hard to break.

Emma smirked. With mutants like Brennan, there wasn’t really a point to automatic alarms.

They took the elevator up to the ‘main floor’. It never occurred to anyone that Sanctuary had more than one floor. Or that the one floor itself could not just be called Sanctuary, Jesse mused. But really, it was too late to be logical and all he wanted to do was shower and climb into his warm, soft and unfortunately, empty bed.

Emma looked to Jesse, her heart responding to his sudden change in mood. Before she could say something, the elevator opened as Brennan and Shalimar were passing. Brennan’s arm was around Shal’s shoulder and hers was securely around his waist.

Shalimar turned at the sound of the elevator doors opening. Brennan followed suit.

Brennan smiled when he saw his teammates, and their damp clothes.

"Have fun?" There was no mistaking the teasing tone in Brennan’s voice.

"Yup." Was Jesse’s only response.

"Do anything interesting?" Emma had the suspicion that they’d been anticipating this since she and Jesse left.

"Maybe. But we’re tired, and very uncomfortable, so if it’s alright with you, we’ll be hitting the showers, and then our beds."

"They never let us have any fun." Shalimar pouted.

"Goodnight you two." Emma threw over her shoulder as she headed to her room.

An hour later and Emma was finally out of the bathroom. It took forever to get the sand out of her hair, for one, and almost as long to completely rid her body of it. As much fun as she had, she could have gone without bringing home the beach.

She toweled off her hair, idly reminding herself to buy some more hair dye.

Wrapping a towel around her waist, she squeezed a fair amount of conditioner into her hand. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around, finding Shalimar standing next to her, a smirk on her face.

"So," her feral friend hopped up onto the counter, "How was your day?"

"It was nice, thank you very much." She eyed Shalimar carefully. Emma knew she was up to something, she just didn't know what.

"When ya gonna make a move?" Emma's sudden movement was comical, so much so that it could almost be described as cartoonish. Her head swiveled faster than her body could account for and her eyes bulged slightly.

"Oh, please, as if we couldn't figure it out."

"Shal, honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course not, Em." Shal said sarcastically. For a telempath, she was being really difficult about sharing her feelings. "I'm talking about you and Jesse."

"What about us?" Emma refused to make eye contact with the feral, instead rubbing the conditioner into her hair.

"Come on! It's completely obvious that you guys have a thing for each other. I don't see what the problem is."

"Are you forgetting that we're a team? Dating a member of the team could jeporadize..."

"Blah blah blah. But you admit you're attracted to him, right?"

"Of course I am, but..."

"And we know he's attracted to you."

"Shalimar, you're not listening!"

"And you're thinking too much!" Shalimar slid off of the counter top. "Brennan and I have done a hell of a good job keeping work and play separate. Sometimes the two overlap and we deal with it when it happens but we're not going to give up before we even try."

"Now, wait a minute. You said you weren't together!"

"We weren't. At the time." Emma gave her the evil 'how could you not tell me' look. "We weren't! But later that night I went to his room and we talked and we thought we should see where life takes us."

"Talked. Is that what we're calling it now?" Emma winked.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. Anyway, this isn't about me and Brennan. This is about you and Jesse and you guys denying yourselves a chance at happiness."

"What am I supposed to do? Go up to him and say, hey, Jess, let's me and you get together some time?"

"Something like that, with a little less retro feel to it." Shalimar laughed.

"Oh shut up."

~~~

"Jess, wait up!" Brennan jogged after his friend. The younger blond was towel drying his hair on his way to his room, wearing only black work out pants. He stopped to let Brennan catch up.

"What's up?" They continued walking to Jesse's room.

"I should be asking you the same question." When Jesse gave him a confused looked, Brennan rolled his eyes. "Between you and Emma?"

Jesse actually looked startled. "Nothing. Why?"

"The question is, why not?"

"Listen, Dr. Suess, wanna try making sense here?" Brennan threw his arm over Jesse's bare shoulder.

"Jesse, what I'm asking is, why isn't there something between you and Emma?" Jesse stopped.

"What?" Brennan shook his head.

"I'm speaking English here, right?" Jesse glared at him.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I'm you're friend and friends want friends to be happy."

"You sound like an anti-drug commercial." Jesse opened the door to his room and walked in. Brennan followed.

"Would you take me seriously for one minute?" Jesse pulled on a white shirt and turned to face Brennan.

"You've got one minute." It was Brennan's turn to glare.

"You like Emma, right?"

"Of course..." Brennan stopped him. He knew where that was going.

"No, let me rephrase that. You like Emma as more than a friend, more than a teammate, right?"

"Maybe." The younger mutant actually blushed and Brennan was one step away from pulling out his and Jesse's hair.

"Yes or no. Very simple." Jesse hesitated.

"Yes."

"And Emma's interested in you, so I don't see what the issue is."

"You can't just assume she's interested."

"Sure I can. And it's more of a fact than an assumption. You two are just too blind to see what's right in front of you."

"Brennan, we're a team. I don't think being a couple and members of Mutant X would work. It's one or the other. Plus, she's Emma."

"Works fine for me and Shal. And I don't see how Emma being herself is an issue." Brennan shrugged. He was leaning against the door frame and Jesse had the sudden urge to throw something at the elemental.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I heard that correctly." Brennan wisely chose not to repeat himself.

"It's all up to you guys. Being a team doesn't have to ruin your relationship. If anything, it could be the one thing that strengthens you. We're all mature enough to work things out. I just don't think a fear of trying is a good enough reason to give up. And being part of a team sure as hell isn't a good enough reason to quit before you start. Just, think about it, ok? You guys deserve to be happy and if it's with eachother, who are you to deny yourself and her that?" Brennan gave one last smile before slipping out into the hallway.

~~~

Great, Emma thought. Now she couldn't sleep. With all those crazy notions that she and Jesse could have some sort of relationship floating around in her head, she wasn't sure she would ever be able to. What if Shalimar was right? What if it was possible to be more than friends and still have the same successful dynamic they'd had for over a year? Was she just afraid? And what was there to be afraid of? Love was about getting hurt and healing and what was life if you didn't take chances?

She was never going back to sleep. She threw off her covers and turned on her night lamp. She looked over the books on her night stand and huffed. What she really wanted to do was go and talk to Jesse but she didn't think they'd get very far at two thirty in the morning. Then again, there was no time like the present, right?

Sliding out of bed, she tip toed to the door and peeked out. Shalimar was always roaming the halls at weird hours and the last thing she wanted to do was be seen by the feral. She would never hear the end of it.

Emma had long since memorized all the areas of the hall that creaked and dutifully avoided them like one would a poisonous snake. She made it to Jesse's room before she realized what a stupid idea this was to begin with. Why was she listening to Shalimar? How did she even know Jesse wanted her? Or to the same degree that she wanted him? What if she made a complete fool out of herself?

Emma was starting the feel more than a little nervous.

She nearly had a heart attack when she saw Adam's form exit his room and start walking in her direction. There was just no way in hell she was explaining to Adam what she was doing outside of Jesse's room at this hour. The man just did not know how to let things go. Carefully she squeezed through the door and shut it before Adam could see her. At least she assumed he didn't see her. He didn't stop, so that had to be a good sign.

The light that flicked on behind her was definitely a bad sign.

"Emma?" Jesse's voice was groggy from sleep. Emma refused to admit that she found that kind of sexy. She winced and turned around slowly. If she really wanted to be honest, which she didn't, his hair all messy from sleep was kind of cute and the way his face was twisted in utter confusion was even cuter.

"Yeah."

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Great. Perfect. Why?"

"It's late."

"I'm really sorry to wake you." She started to slide the door open. Jesse cleared his throat. Now or never, he thought.

"Do you want to...stay?"

Emma was positive her heart stopped.

Jesse was positive his did too.

Emma could say no, bow out gracefully and run back to her room like the scared little girl so many people expected her to be. Or she could do what she really wanted and say yes and grant herself what she'd been denied for so long.

~~~

If ever there was a time Jesse wished for a different mutant power, say...telepathy, now would be the time. He would give anything to know what Emma was thinking. What she would say. Instead he waited in silence, wide awake and terrified. Because if Emma said no, he'd have to start from scratch, build a whole different type of relationship with her where the boundaries between what they are and never will be are clear.

Suddenly, Jesse doesn't think asking her to stay was the best idea he's had.

However, before he can retract his offer, she answered him.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like that very much." Jesse was sure he looked like an idiot because he couldn't stop smiling but that doesn't bother him at all. Emma was moving towards him, and he felt like it was in slow motion. She moved like only his dreams could imitate and if he had known it would have been this easy, he wouldn't have waited so long. He means in no way that Emma is easy, but he realizes there wasn't anything to be afraid of. At least not in the area he imagined.

Jesse pulled back the bed sheet and moved to the side, allowing Emma the space to climb in. When she settled in, with her back against his chest, he pulled the cover up to her shoulders and turned off the bed side lamp. He was almost ready to go back to sleep when her hand found his and she pulled his arm around her waist. He nestled his head in the crook of her neck and savored the smell of her hair. Hair that he could only imagine touching until this day. And seriously, if he had known it would be this easy, he would have done it a long time ago.

The things he's afraid of now are nothing like the ones that kept him from holding Emma close at night. Now, he's worried that he'll screw up and she'll hate him and now he wants to hit Brennan for introducing a new set of problems to him. He briefly wonders if Brennan has the same fears. He'll have to talk to him as soon as he's up in the morning. Well, maybe not that early.

Emma sighed. "Jess, stop thinking and sleep."

Jesse smiled and planted a kiss on Emma's neck. She shivered.

"Yes ma'am." He closed his eyes and tightened his arm around her waist to make sure this wasn't all a dream. Allowing himself one last reassurance, he drifted off to sleep.

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