Nalaniangel24
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Service Learning Hours
Service Learning Hours
by Nalaniangel
Rated PG
Summary: A girl listens to Brennan tell of the end of Mutant X.
A/N: for all of you who haven't been in high school recently, Service Learning hours are the required amount of hours a student must spend giving back to his/her community.
Kate looked down at the scribbled list in her hand. She wished her school hadn’t assigned her to this- 20 hours working in a retirement home. And not just any retirement home- it was a retirement home for the mentally unstable. In other words- a building full of old, crazy, people and she had to keep company. First on her list was Adam Kane.
She knocked on the door. Kate had been told most of the people on her list would not answer the door. To her surprise, a middle-aged man greeted her.
"Are you Adam?" Kate asked doubtfully.
The man laughed. "I'm Brennan Mulwray."
She nodded, feeling the name sounded vaguely familiar. She looked past him to the man in the bed. "That's Adam," she guessed.
Brennan stood, blocking her path inside, almost protectively. "Who are you?"
Kate held up her list. "Community service for my high school. I'm supposed visit him."
Brennan looked at the seven names written on the piece of paper. He moved back to let her in, but she could still feel him staring at her.
"He's asleep right now," Brennan said. "I was just waiting until he wakes up."
Kate looked at the folder next to Adam's bed. "He's gonna be out for a while. The doctor gave him a few sleeping pills." Brennan looked over at her questioningly. "I took a medical class in school so I could," she paused, "volunteer here."
"The other choices were that bad?"
"Picking up trash, working at the recycling plant, sewing band costumes," she listed. "This was worth the extra class."
Brennan nodded, returning his attention back to Adam. "Don't you have other people to visit?" he asked after a long silence.
"I have to knock out 5 hours here and if I go visit the next person, they could be awake," she said.
"Sounds like you really care," he said sarcastically.
"I care about other stuff, just not this," she explained. He waited, prompting more from Kate. "Like I care about crime."
"Fighting it or committing it?" he asked.
"Fighting it," she said quickly. "I've never been in trouble before."
"Good," Brennan said, almost condescendingly.
"Why do you say it like that?" she asked.
"Because I know about crime- both sides. I don't like either one," he said. "It's not worth it to risk everything to fix a few wrongs."
"I think it is," she snapped. Then curiously, she asked, "Why do you disapprove, though?"
Brennan sighed; like he was giving up a battle he didn't mind loosing. Kate waited patiently, shifting her gaze from Brennan to Adam.
"I used to fight the bad guys," he said.
Kate waited, a little bored. Nothing Brennan could say could change her mind about going into law enforcement, but his story sounded like it would take a while to tell. Whatever it was hadn't taken much provoking.
"I used to fight," he repeated. "Then my wife was killed. It was my fault because I had to go fight. I was stupid."
"It's not stupid to want to help people," she said.
"I wasn't helping people," Brennan said. "Nobody was going to get hurt by him that day. Adam even told me to stay where I was until someone else came with me. Fighting wasn't helping Shalimar."
He paused so he wouldn't cry. "Ashlocke was too powerful for me."
"Ashlocke…" Kate said, trying to place the name. All of the sudden, the realization dawned on her. "Oh my gosh, you're from Mutant X, aren't you?"
"I was."
"What ever happened to that?"
"If you stop talking for five seconds I'll tell you," he said. Brennan leaned forward a bit so that he felt he was talking to Kate and Adam. "It was all my fault. I messed it all up. We- me, Shalimar, Jesse, and Emma- were all sort of stupid sometimes. We would rush into situations without knowing what we were getting ourselves into. We knew there were consequences for everything we did- Adam made sure of that- but we never really cared about them. I wasn't thinking when we found Ashlocke."
Brennan twisted his silver ring around his finger. "Adam, I found him," he said, watching Gabriel Ashlocke from his motorcycle. Ashlocke was standing in a motel room high up. Either he hadn't sensed, or seen, Brennan yet, or he didn't care.
"Great, now stay there until Jesse comes," Adam ordered. Brennan impatiently, sent a small bolt of electricity into the concrete. "Brennan, don't do anything without Jesse," he repeated.
Brennan didn't answer. He ran up the steps into the motel. From the fifteenth floor, Ashlocke appeared at the balcony and watched Brennan run in. Quickly forming a plan in his mind he disappeared again.
Adam angrily hit the wall. He brought his ring close to his mouth. "Jesse, Emma, get to Brennan as fast as you can."
Brennan kicked Gabriel's door in. Ashlocke stood, already waiting.
"Are you going to kill me?" he asked, toying with him.
"Why shouldn't I?" Brennan asked, painfully aware that Ashlocke could kill him with just a thought.
"There's no reason not to. I assume your friends are already on their way?" Ashlocke asked.
"What's it to you?" Brennan asked. "You're not going to be around long enough to see them anyways. But I'll make you a deal- I won't kill you if you let Shalimar's mind go."
Ashlocke laughed. "Are you kidding me? She's far too valuable to me to let go. I always find her anger so-"
Brennan lit up his fingers with a ball of electricity and shot it at him. "Never talk about my wife that way," he said.
Ashlocke absorbed it and threw it at him.
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4/24/2004, 6:51 pm
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Nalaniangel24
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Re: Service Learning Hours
Kate listened, enthralled. Brennan paused again so that he wouldn't cry. "I woke up a few hours later. Ashlocke used my ring to talk to Shalimar. He told her that he was going to kill me. For the rest of my life I'll never forgive him for using me to get to her.
"They came to rescue me a few hours later."
Shalimar sat on the ground, crying against Adam. "I can't let him die," she whispered. "I can't let him die."
"We'll find a way to get him back alive, Shalimar, don't worry. Besides, it's not good for you."
Shalimar put her hand on her stomach. "Okay," she agreed. "So how are we going to do it?"
"Jesse will go in, grab Brennan, and phase to the ground level while Emma shields Brennan and Jesse from psyonic attacks," Adam said, figuring it all out.
"And what about you and me?" Shalimar asked.
"We'll wait outside for them in the Helix, then come back here. I don't think Brennan got seriously hurt," Adam said. He sighed as Shalimar choked back another sob. He was always saying too much for his own good.
"All I could think about was her," Brennan said, now letting his tears flow freely. "I would have died for her. I tried. Have you ever been in love?"
"No," Kate answered.
"I was, before I met Shalimar. We started out as friends, but after a while, our relationship became more than friendship, more than love. I'll never share that with anyone ever again. It would be impossible. Shal and I were made for each other. We were both wild, but we loved each other enough to keep the other safe. I think that was the best thing she ever gave me.
"We got married in the forest surrounding where we lived. Emma made flower chains and hung them everywhere. After a while, Shal wanted to have a baby, but I didn't. It would be too cruel to bring somebody into the world we lived in. We ended up trying."
"And did she have a baby?" Kate asked.
"Four months pregnant," he answered, barely in a whisper.
Jesse and Emma walked up the stairs, alert and cautious. Emma knew exactly where he was, but the prospect of fighting Ashlocke, or even meeting up with him, was terrifying. Jesse could close his eyes and remember Ashlocke almost murder Adam. Emma had memories of finding Adam already dead.
"Ready?" Emma whispered, both standing pressed against the wall outside the motel room.
Jesse nodded. He ran in and grabbed Brennan, trying to phase them through the ground. Ashlocke shot out a hand, a trail of blue light freezing them in place.
"You shouldn't have done that," he said, walking closer, creating electricity in his hands.
Emma concentrated on Ashlocke, trying to disrupt his telekinesis. She managed to touch his mind enough for his concentration to falter.
Ashlocke's blue light flickered. Brennan took the opportunity to push Jesse through the open doors over the balcony. He knew that the swimming pool would break his fall. This was his mistake and if anyone would pay for it, it would be himself. He looked over the balcony at Adam and Shalimar.
Shal looked up at her husband. He was beaten and worn, but his spirit wasn't broken yet. As proof, Jesse swam to the edge of the pool, alive. Brennan would protect his family at all costs, even to death. A deep sense of love burst inside her and she ran up the steps into the hotel.
"That was a big mistake," Ashlocke shouted, grabbing Brennan with his telekinesis and throwing him against the wall.
"You're not going to win," Brennan said confidently, although he was on the ground. He shot a bolt of electricity at Gabriel but he absorbed it and shot it back at Brennan.
It hit him in the chest, sending Brennan sliding across the floor. "You see, I've already won. I have you, Shalimar, I'll soon have your baby."
Shalimar ran in and stood in the doorway. "Let him go," she shouted, trembling with rage.
"You're not actually going to fight me, are you, Shalimar? You know that wouldn't be good for you or your baby," Ashlocke taunted.
"No, I'm not going to fight you," she said. "I'm offering you a deal. Me for him."
"Shal, don't," Brennan said forcefully.
"Don't worry," Shalimar said. "It'll be okay."
Ashlocke smiled, his mind working. "Deal."
Shalimar ran over to Brennan and bent down. He touched her face. "Don't do this," he whispered.
"I have to," she said. "I love you."
He kissed her. "I'm not leaving without you," he promised.
"Yes you are," she whispered, helping him up. Shalimar started to cry. "Don't ever forget that I love you."
"I'm not leaving," Brennan repeated, putting his arm around her.
"That's the first smart thing you've said all day," Ashlocke said, approaching them. "You didn't actually trust me, Shalimar, did you?"
Ashlocke hit her with an electric blot. She collapsed in his arms, dead. Brennan looked in her beautiful eyes for the last time before closing them. He laid her gently on the floor and turned on Ashlocke, who stood on the balcony, seething with hatred.
"I thought she was worth more to you alive," he shouted, hitting the wall. It cracked and broke under his force.
"Hey, it was a two for one special. I kill her; I destroy you. How could I resist?" Ashlocke taunted. Brennan clasped his hands together then pulled them slowly apart, forming an electric bolt shining white with energy. He threw it at Ashlocke, but missed. It hit the balcony, which crumpled and fell, bringing Ashlocke along with it.
Kate felt a tear slide down her own cheek and she quickly wiped it away.
"We didn't find Ashlocke in the wreckage and I didn't see him again until he died in our lab. If he hadn't been holding a city hostage, I would have killed him. But then I wouldn't have learned anything from Shalimar. Two million people would have had to pay for my stupidity."
Brennan looked down at the silver wedding band on his left hand and at the similar comm.-ring on his right. "It was my mistake and she shouldn't have died. It was my fault."
"No, it wasn't."
Kate jumped at the sound. Adam opened his eyes. "It wasn't your fault, it was mine. She was under my protection that day and I should have stopped her from running in."
"There was no way to stop Shal," Brennan said. "Do you remember that week when Emma thought she was loosing her powers?"
Kate walked out of Adam's room, letting the two of them reminicse in privacy. She wiped away another tear and closed the door, but she could still hear Brennan and Adam talking. Between the two of them, Shalimar would never be forgotten. Kate knew she never would.
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4/24/2004, 6:52 pm
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