Chapter One
They're all quietly worried about Jayden.
He's valiantly trying to pretend nothing is wrong with him, to the point of staring blankly at them when any of them suggest otherwise. He trains with them and eats with them, but Mike's fairly sure that's because the girls keep dragging him out to join them.
Other than training and meals, though, he's either in his room or gone from the House. Entirely unfair as it is, Mike finds himself resenting his leader just a little. Isolating himself may make it easier on him, but it's not doing anything to help the others. He knows for a fact that Mia's suffering nightmares, and she had less interaction with Jayden while he was under Master Xandred's control than any of them.
Even his fighting has changed. Under Master Xandred Jayden had always been angry, and it showed when he fought, control sacrificed for anger induced strength. When he fights now he stays very focused, no matter what's actually going on. He's always very aware of the others, careful to stay at a distance to avoid endangering them; he's terrified of his control slipping mid-fight.
Master Xandred has been quiet, sending moogers but no Nighlok. Jayden stays out of the first couple of fights but joins in after that; he's quiet afterwards, but no worse than usual, and they relax their vigil a little.
There's an afternoon when they're fighting downtown; there's no Nighlok, so they're not morphed, tearing through moogers as always. Nothing seems wrong, so when Jayden drops his sword none of them are sure what's going on. Emily, closest to him, picks up his slack, but she has to call for help when he walks away from her. Kevin and Antonio converge on him; Mike battles his way to Emily's side.
"No!" Kevin's voice rises briefly above the noise of the fight. Mike risks a look over to see him physically push Jayden aside. Mike's breath catches, because that's a gap beyond them, and Jayden is trying desperately to get to it.
Antonio sets himself to protect them, trusting Kevin to corral Jayden. Mike turns his attention back to the fight. At least now they know why there's no Nighlok.
They finish off the moogers and gather in a loose circle around Jayden. He's barely aware of them, his whole body tense and straining towards the gap. Mike glances at it; it's glowing a deep, angry red, but there's nothing there, no voice, no Nighlok, nothing.
Emily steps forward, ignoring Antonio's hiss. "Jarrell?"
"Yes," he says absently. And then he's down, collapsing as though his strings have been cut; Emily darts forward to steady him, but they both end up on their knees. They're going to have some spectacular bruises. "No," he whispers. "Jayden. I'm Jayden, and you are not my master."
Antonio helps him up. He's trembling, but he stands under his own power and reaches back to help Emily up. "Are you all right?" he asks quietly.
"Are you?" she retorts, flexing her knees. "You look awful, Jayden."
"I'm fine." He twitches away from the hand she tries to lay on his arm. "It just took me by surprise. It won't happen again."
"What took you by surprise?"
"Master Xandred calling me."
"No one called you," Mia says uncertainly. He turns, suddenly focused on her, and she repeats, "No one called you, Jayden. The gap lit up, but no one said anything."
He looks at Kevin, who nods. "No one called you."
"I heard –" Jayden shakes his head. "Doesn't matter. Let's go."
"Jayden," Antonio starts.
"Let's go," he repeats, but he doesn't actually move until they do.
Back at the Shiba House he sits quietly while the others tell Ji what happened. They try to include him, but though he's following the conversation, he doesn't speak. Eventually Ji asks him point blank, "Has this happened before, Jayden?"
"No." Jayden rises to his feet. "Antonio, can I talk to you?"
"Jayden," Ji protests.
"It won't happen again. I know what to look for now. 'Tonio, please."
Antonio goes, following him to his room, where he watches Jayden pace for several minutes. "So, this talking thing," he says finally.
Jayden jumps, turning to him. "Stay here tonight."
"In the House?"
"Here."
"Sure," he agrees easily. "Sleepover, excellente."
Jayden drops onto the bed, head in hands. "I hear Master Xandred."
"I know, I was...there..." Antonio crouches beside him. "Not just today. You've heard him before."
"I didn't know he wasn't really talking. Not until you didn't hear him today."
"You knew he was Xandred," Antonio points out mildly. "What's he been saying?"
"He wants me back. Rule by his side." Jayden's hands twist in the blanket.
"You know he's lying."
He nods jerkily. "I'm not tempted. That's not – I woke up outside this morning, Antonio."
"Out..."
"Ready for practice. Two days ago I was in the kitchen and there was a meal ready."
"You're sleepwalking, Jay, that's all. Stress."
"Are you sure?" Jayden whispers. Antonio sighs softly. Whatever else is going on, his emotional control's shot.
He sits beside Jayden, deliberately jostling him. "It's stress," he says firmly. "Don't worry, Jay. I'll keep the bad monsters away."
He stays until Jayden is calmer, more like himself, and then slips out, drawing Mentor and Emily aside. "He's been sleepwalking," he tells them.
"Jayden's never walked in his sleep," Mentor says with a frown.
"He's never been under stress like this, either," Antonio points out. "He's been hearing Xandred for a while now."
Mentor shakes his head. "Xandred should not be able to reach him here in the House."
Only Jayden ever calls him Master Xandred now. If he's noticed that they don't use Master, he hasn't commented, but he never calls him anything else.
"Rofor reached Jayden here," Emily reminds him.
"What?"
"The Nighlok you fought, your first fight," she explains quickly. "He was able to watch Jayden here in the House
. None of us sensed him."
"So Xandred could actually be talking to him."
Ji concedes the point. "What does he hear?"
Antonio shrugs. "All's forgiven, apparently. Xandred wants him back. He isn't tempted," he adds at Ji's look. "He knows who he is. But this sleepwalking's bothering him. I'm staying tonight, I'll keep an eye on him."
"How can I help?" Emily asks.
"I need you to keep your eyes open, Emily. You knew what was wrong during the fight."
"Not really. I just knew that was how he looked when we trapped him in that box."
Antonio wraps an arm around her and kisses her forehead. "Keep watching."
"Sure. It's nearly dinner. Think you can get him to come eat?"
"Think you can get everyone to pretend today didn't happen?"
She does, mostly. There's a couple of cautious looks, but for the most part it's a normal meal. Mike keeps the conversation light, teasing Kevin and Mia in turn. They talk Jayden into the loudest, silliest card games they can think of after the meal, and he starts to relax as they play.
Emily breaks it up, claiming tiredness. Mia goes with her to check her knees. The boys half heartedly play another couple of hands before giving up and heading for bed.
Antonio talks idly for a while, switching from topic to topic without really paying attention. A memory from childhood bleeds into something he's seen on TV turns into a story from the years they spent apart. He keeps going until Jayden drifts off; then he sits up, ready in case anything happens.
It's almost dawn, and Antonio's dozing, when Jayden stirs, slipping out of bed and heading for the door. Antonio sits up, calling softly, "Jayden, where are you going?"
He freezes before answering, "Getting a drink. Go back to sleep."
"There's an unopened bottle of water on your desk, you watched me put it there. Want to try again?"
Jayden grimaces, looking away. "I want to go outside, that's all."
Antonio stands, watching him. "Jarrell." Jayden nods and he hisses, "You can't – you're just part of Jayden! You can't be walking around!"
"If you're looking for an explanation, I don't have one. All I know is I'm here."
"Then where's Jayden?"
"He's here too." His head tilts to one side. "He's sleeping at the moment, but he's here. He's under some stress, isn't he?"
"You've been talking to him."
"No, that really is Master Xandred." He smirks, the look so alien on Jayden's face Antonio has to restrain the impulse to slap it off. "He's lucky I'm here, you know. If my master was yelling at him without me here to buffer..." He trails off, shaking his head in mock sympathy.
"He's not your master, Jarrell. He'll kill you if you go back. You know that, don't you?"
"Careful. His triggers are gone, but mine aren't."
There's a knock at the door and Emily slides it open, glancing at them. "Morning, Antonio. Morning Jarrell. Mia's getting up, so if you want breakfast you should hurry."
"Mia," Jayden repeats.
"She doesn't cook as well as she thinks she does," Antonio tells him. "We're coming, Em."
"That really confused me, you know," Jayden says conversationally.
"What did?" Emily glances over her shoulder; Mike passes by, offering absent good mornings.
"He called you Em, that day in town. It took me a long time to figure out your actual name."
"Sorry," Antonio says half heartedly.
Jayden shrugs it off, and then his attention goes somewhere else. "Looks like I won't be joining you for breakfast," he says distantly. "Another time."
Antonio gets there just in time; Jayden sways dangerously, one hand going to his head. "What's..."
"Sit," Antonio tells him, pressing gently on his shoulder until he obeys, and then again until he lowers his head. "Em, there's water there..."
Emily passes it to Jayden; he sips obediently and colour seeps back into his face. "Are you all right?" she asks.
"Fine. What happened?" He straightens, looking more like himself, and glares at Antonio. "What happened?"
"You tried to go walking, but Emily interrupted you," Antonio tells him, catching Emily's eye. She grimaces but stays silent. "Mia's cooking, so we need to hurry up and be full before she's finished."
Jayden makes a face. "I'm not hungry..."
"Too bad, you're eating anyway. Come on. I'll set Emily on you if you try and get out of it."
Emily obliges with her saddest eyes and turned down lip and Jayden laughs, a true, unselfconscious laugh. "All right, I give in. Breakfast it is, then."
"Attagirl," Antonio tells her. "Come on, quick, before he starts brooding again."
"Hey," Jayden says mildly. Antonio grins, heading for the kitchen.
Mentor holds him back after breakfast, sending the others to begin practise. Emily lingers, joining them when the others have gone.
Antonio quietly explains what happened. Mentor sighs, sitting carefully. He's leaning heavily on his walking stick today. "What have you told Jayden?"
"Nothing yet, just that he was sleep walking. I don't know if Jarrell means us harm. He didn't last time, but something about him makes my skin crawl. What did you think, Em?"
She considers for a moment. "He just seemed confused to me. He obviously doesn't have Jayden's memories, or know what he's doing; you had to tell him about Mia."
"How long has he been sleepwalking?" Mentor asks.
"A couple of days, I think. That's all he told me. Why?"
"And how long has he been hearing Xandred?"
"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me." Antonio's frowning. "Why?"
"You think there's a link?" Emily asks.
"Jayden's been back with us for six weeks," Mentor says slowly. "If Jarrell's only been waking for a couple of days..."
"He said he was shielding Jayden," Antonio remembers. "From Xandred's calls."
"Hey!" Mike comes in through the dojo. "Are you guys coming? I'm getting tired of kicking everyone's ass."
"Hey!" Kevin hollers from outside.
Mike comes closer, growing more serious when he sees them. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Mentor says, standing slowly. "We're coming."
Mike nods, but he doesn't look convinced. "Good, cos the others need a break from me..."
"Hey!" Kevin yells again.
"...and I need Emily to show me that sweet twisty move she did yesterday." He links arms with her, drawing her out to the yard. Jayden's sparring with Kevin, grinning. He's breathless and tired but it's true tiredness this time and he's clearly enjoying himself.
Antonio manages not to be alone with him until they're heading for bed. No one's questioned him staying over again; they got used to it while Jayden was gone, and since he's been back Antonio's stayed on and off.
Jayden waits patiently until he comes in and slides the door closed behind him. "Well?"
"Well?" Antonio parrots, dropping onto the futon.
"I wasn't sleepwalking."
"Sure you were. Talking about bicycles. It was really weird."
"Antonio..."
He props himself up on one elbow, meeting Jayden's gaze. "Trust me?"
"Always," he says without hesitation.
"So trust me. Get some sleep."
Jayden wavers but finally gives in. "You're watching?"
"You won't get past me. Go on."