A Mutant X fic

Emotion
By: Montez

Disclaimer: Just found them, totally love them, but sadly don't own them.

A/N: This is my first Mutant X fanfic as I have only recently discovered this incredible show, so please be kind as I'm finding my footing in the Mutant X arena.

Summary: Adam's thoughts when he sees Brennan lying on the floor of Loreen Templeton's apartment at the end of 'Deadly Desire', if you haven't seen that episode you may not understand this story.

Adam had watched from the shadows as Shalimar spoke with Brennan, then gave him a kiss on the cheek. That kiss transmitting the anti-venom to counter act Loreen Templeton's mutant toxin that allowed her to control any man she wanted. As Shalimar approached him, Adam couldn't help but wonder what would happen when Loreen's influence wore off of Brennan. He knew the woman was deadly when confronted, he just hoped Brennan would realize what was happening before it was too late.

The attack on Emma during her and Jesse's attempted to interrupt Loreen's meeting to sell the Anamight to the GSA was proof of how powerful Loreen's control was over the men she influenced. Adam felt that it was Brennan trying to fight that control when confronted by his friends, his family that had saved Emma's life. Brennan could have easily killed the psionic, but had only knocked her unconscious, while not even attempting to take on Jesse.

However, it was the waiting now, that allowed Adam's thoughts to drift, his emotions to come to the surface. These four young people, who had come into his life, had somehow become very important to Adam. They were more than just a team he lead; they were his family, his children. It was his involvement when they were children that had created their mutation, so to say they were his children wasn't a stretch in his mind and though he had helped hundreds of New Mutants over his years since leaving Genomax, these four had seemed to have found a special place in his heart.

There had been several time, even before Emma and Brennan had joined the team that Adam found himself fearing for the lives of Jesse and Shalimar, there were more close calls than he cared to count. However, with the addition of Emma and Brennan the fear doubled and somehow Brennan seemed to be on the receiving end of some of the worst they had encountered. The first time being just a few months after Brennan had joined the team. A Russian mercenary shot him with a weapon that started to slowly destroy his Mutant DNA along with his vital organs. Upon obtaining the weapon and reversal sequence, Adam stood, finding himself praying that when he pulled the trigger on the same weapon that it would save Brennan's life instead of ending it. In those few seconds after pulling the trigger, having watched as the young mutant's body arched in the exam chair, then his vitals flat-lining, Adam was sure he had just killed a member of his family. It was only when Brennan drew in a ragged breath and the heart monitor picked up a steady beating heart, did Adam finally breath.

Now, now was something that was beyond his control, it wasn't something that was being controlled in his lab. This woman was a truly deadly threat to his family; Adam only hoped the anti-venom would be enough to clear Brennan's mind and allow the young man to get away from Loreen before she realized what was happening. It was after several minutes passed that Adam and Shalimar headed up to the apartment, hoping to intercept a compliant Brennan once they arrived.

Having not encountered Brennan on their way up, Adam and Shalimar cautiously approached the door of Loreen's apartment. Adam had hope everything would transpire with little incident as Shalimar was still recovering from the bullet wound that she had received on her arm in the first confrontation with Loreen and her two man team of thieves as they tried to still the Anamight from the scientist who created it. Even though Adam had no doubt that the young feral could still hold her own in a fight, he didn't want to have to place her in that situation.

Approaching the door they didn't hear any sounds coming from the apartment, Adam tested the knob and was surprised to find it left unlocked. Confident that the anti-venom would be working enough that if Brennan saw him enter the apartment that he wouldn't attack him, Adam opened the door and walked steadily down the hall, knowing Shalimar was close behind.

"Fleeing your little love nest?" Adam said as he saw Loreen walking backwards toward him. As he stopped it was then he saw the reason she was walking backwards, Brennan's lifeless body lay about fifteen feet away on the floor. "What'd you do to him?" Adam's own fear spiked as he quickly made his way to the fallen elemental, not even hearing Loreen's answer. Quickly kneeling next to the young man he reached toward his neck, noticing the puncture wounds on Brennan.

Adam glanced up as he heard the thump of a body hitting the floor, then Shalimar kneeling in front of him, "His heart rates dropping, we need to get him out of here." Adam spoke as he started to raise Brennan's unconscious form up, Shalimar offering what assistance she could.

Shalimar raised her hand toward her face as she helped Adam get Brennan up, "Jesse we need your help down here now, Brennan's hurt!" she nearly shouted into her comlink. She knew she would be of little help getting Brennan up to the Helix on the roof and though Adam was surprisingly stronger than he looked, Brennan still had several inches and about thirty pounds on the smaller man. Just as they got Brennan to his feet, Jesse came running in the door and without a word grabbed his team members other arm as Adam and he quickly removed Brennan from the apartment, Shalimar close behind.

Upon reaching the Double Helix Adam and Jesse lowered Brennan into the built in cot on the wall of the aircraft and as Shalimar strapped him in, Jesse quickly readied the jet for take off, while Adam administered another dose of the anti-venom in hopes it would counteract the lethal injection of venom from Loreen's stingers. Jesse ignored the deathly silence that was coming from behind him and he headed the plane back toward Sanctuary. However, the eerie stillness from the normally, almost hyper elemental wasn't lost on Adam or Shalimar.

Within minutes they were entering the hanger where Emma met them with another dose of the anti-venom. Administering it quickly, Jesse and Adam made their way toward the lab to start monitoring Brennan. Once placing the unconscious man in the exam chair, Jesse brought up his vitals on the computer as Emma began the scan, "He's burning up!" Emma said, worry lacing her voice.

"His temperature is 107; I thought you gave him the anti-venom, Adam." Jesse's worried tone joined Emma's.

"I did, it just hasn't had time to work yet," Adam's strained voice said as he turned from his position next to Jesse to look at Emma and Shalimar who were next to Brennan. "If we don't get his body temperature down, he could suffer brain damage."

Shalimar could see the fear in Adam's eyes as she met them. "What if we cover his body in ice?" Desperation was filling them now as the possibility of loosing Brennan in more ways than one was becoming the unspoken fear.

"Yeah, anything that will help." Adam nodded as Shalimar turned to try and do something to help the fallen man.

"Well this will be quicker" Emma spoke, as the look of intense concentration overtook her expression, then her focus shifted to Brennan's face. Within seconds the young man's body temperature dropped two degrees.

"It's down two degrees." Jesse said as he nodded, monitoring the computer.

"Good Emma, keep going." Adam spoke encouragingly as the psionic remained focused.

"It's to 102." Jesse spoke again as Adam nodded.

"Good," Glancing at Emma, Adam saw her break her connection to Brennan, "He's out of the woods now." Adam watched as Shalimar stepped closer and gently touched the side of Brennan's face. He smiled to himself slightly as he returned his attention back to the monitor Jesse was watching.

Once Brennan's temperature dropped to around 100, Jesse and Adam got him to his room and changed him into a pair of track pants as he clothing was wet from the sweat his extreme fever had caused. Getting him situated into bed, they left the elemental to sleep off the aftereffects of the poisoning. Adam had set up a wireless monitor in the younger man's room to watch over him incase he experienced any problems. However, throughout the night each of the members of Mutant X found themselves drifting into Brennan's room to check on him, each realizing just how close they had come to loosing him.

It was during one of these times that Adam found himself watching the young man rest. His stillness was still a concern to Adam, but the fact his temperature was back to normal and all other vital functions were within normal ranges did bring comfort to the older man. It was during this quiet time that Adam finally realized what these four young people really meant to him. When he had entered that apartment and saw Brennan on the floor, a fear went through him that he could only imagine was like that of a parent finding their child that way and though Adam's 'children' were well into adulthood and had experienced what they had in life before coming to be with him, it was that fear that made Adam want to protect his family that much more.

He could only do so much when it came to their mutantancy and with the training he had designed for them he tried to prepare them for nearly every situation he could think of, but with the number of Genomax Children still out their and with the variety of mutations that the gene-therapy had unwittingly causes it was impossible to prepare them for everything, this latest case with Loreen Templeton proving just how deadly the unknown could be. Adam knew that with how close they came to loosing Brennan, it would turn out to be a lesson all of them would learn from; caution was never something they should take for granted, nor should they ever underestimate who they were confronted with, no matter what.

For Adam knew, as any parent does, that one day he would not be around anymore and they would be left to look out for themselves and each other. Sitting there, watching Brennan sleep, all Adam could hope for was that he had prepared them enough to take care of each other, to take care of their family.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know how I did, I was a little unsure.