Brennan leans in the doorway, bare arms folded across his chest.

"Really liked the idea of joining the circus, huh?"

Shalimar smiles slowly at his reflection in the mirror. She puts the comb down but doesn't turn to look at him.

"It was a nice change of scenery. Before it turned out to be a death camp."

Brennan straightens up and rolls his shoulders. "So it had nothing to do with Declan?"

"Just like running off to find the Guardian had nothing to do with Riley." He clears his throat and uses the silence as a cue to get more comfortable.

He walks to the bed as if it's his, and throws himself across it. Shalimar raises her eyebrow but doesn't object. She's not exactly against the concept of him being there. In fact, it seems to be a staple of some of her better dreams. The feral turns around and braces herself againt the dresser.

"Jealous you're not enough of a freak to make the cut?" She catches the pillow he hurls at her.

"It was a biased opinion. He wanted me out of the picture the minute I walked in."

Brennan stares up at the ceilng. His hands are behind his head, more a precaution than anything else. They had a mind of their own when it came to Shalimar. He doesn't look at her, doesn't need to. He knows she's looking at him. It makes the hair on the back of his neck rise.

"So what'd you do while I was gone?"

"I was flying." He can here the smile in her voice.

"Yeah?" Shalimar toys with a button on the pillow before dropping to the bed.

"At least, that's what it felt like." She leans back and rests her cheek on his stomach. He's warm underneath the black sleeveless shirt, and she can feel the ripple of his muscles as he breathes. "It was amazing Brennan. Like..." She squeezes the pillow tighter, "Like that was how I was meant to move."

The elemental's got his own ideas on how she should move and his brain quickly shuts down that train of thought. If she didn't feel his reaction, she'd sense it and as confident as Brennan is, she'd make sure he damn near spontaneously combusted before she let up about it.

Shalimar can feel the changes in him and she smiles. At least she still gets his attention. They fall quiet as Brennan wraps and unwraps a lock of her hair around his finger. She slips an arm around his waist.

"It's been a long road." Her heart clenches as she thinks about all the people and things that have been lost.

"Yeah." Brennan unwinds his finger and runs his hand through her hair.

Shalimar takes a deep breath. "I keep wondering how long we can keep this up."

"As long as we have to. There's always gonna be someone after us until we take them down. And if that means I'll still be kicking Dominion ass at the age of fifty, well..." The feral lets out an undignified snort. He pokes her in the side.

Shalimar squeals. "What the hell was that for?" She asks, trying to contain her laughter.

"No matter what happens, we will always be there to watch over you. There's no way we've come this far to give up. I'm mean we've beat Eckhart and Ashlocke. And hundreds of other lowlifes. A few guys in black suits? Piece of cake." She tightens her arm around him.

It sounds so easy, so believable when Brennan says it. Beat the bad guys, live happily ever after. And she can almost believe that that's all there is to it.

They're silent again, but Brennan's heart pounds in his chest. She's right. It seems as if lately, they've been fighting an uphill battle. Too many times has he thought that they weren't going to make it, that Shal wasn't going to make it or he'd never see her again. And being in that empty void was one of the scariest moments of his life.

"Hey, Shal."

"Hmm?"

"No more distractions?"

"Only if you promise to stop trying to save the world by yourself."

Brennan wraps an arm around her shoulder and breathes out slowly. "Deal." Back to Mutant X Fanfiction
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