So, I decided to start writing my own version of Sanctuary. For those of you who have read my works, you know this is my style and it's just what I do. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sanctuary. I do own Jessica.
. . .
She looked around, not searching for a book this time. Though it was difficult, being in the huge main library of the city, Magnus needed to control herself. She was looking for a person. Possibly an Abnormal.
There. By the fantasy section. She was unusually pretty for a librarian; slim, a little curvy, with sleek dark hair pulled into a pony-tail. She wore gray dress pants and a lavender blouse with black, fashionable glasses. She was replacing books back onto the shelves with a studious expression. Magnus approached her confidence.
"Hello, may I help you, miss?" she asked with a mildly curious expression.
"Actually, yes." said Magnus, removing her own glasses. "You wouldn't happen to be Jessica Duxon, would you?"
"Why, yes." she said, surprised. "Can I ask who's wondering?"
Magnus smiled. "My name is Dr. Helen Magnus. I heard about you from your colleague."
"Which one, Briant?" Jessica asked.
"The very same." Magnus replied. "He told me you were one of the best on the force, but that you had-"
"A mind for the unnatural? Yeah, I've heard." she interrupted, rolling her eyes. "Why are you looking for good officers again?"
"I believe you'll be an excellent addition to the Sanctuary."
Jessica looked taken aback. "The what?"
"I can tell you more, but not here."
She looked unsure, as though she wanted to know but uneasy about the vacant promises it could provide. "I don't know. What are you asking me?"
"I want you to come with me so I can show you what I'm talking about. We deal with mysterious and wonderful things, Jessica, and sometimes it gets dangerous. We might need you to help us with those things." Magnus looked her in the eye. "Are you willing?"
Jessica backed up and flattened herself against a bookshelf, looking fearful. "This isn't a joke, is it?"
"No." said Magnus, looking at the girl with compassion. This must be a shock for her, but she should have dealt with things like Abnormals before, if her information was right. "Here's my card if you change your mind."
The girl took the card wordlessly, taking one last look at Magnus before she grabbed the book cart and moved off to another section. The Abnormal doctor watched her go, knowing they would meet again.
. . .
Jesse woke up the next morning to the sound of her alarm. Time to get ready for the day. She rolled over and spotted the business card on the nightstand. She stared at it, trying to see if she could make the decision that had eluded her the night before. She couldn't, so she rolled over onto her back and thought about what Chief Bryant would say. There was no one she looked up to mare than that man, who seemed to handle everything with ease.
But this problem was so personalized, she couldn't imagine anything he could say. That doctor yesterday was so odd, talking about things that were wonderful and dangerous. It didn't seem real. And she'd called her Jessica. The officer hadn't been called that since her last job interview six years ago. Where had she come from?
But, time was running out and she would be late for work, so she pulled on her uniform and headed over to the station on her black motorcycle.
"Hey, Jess." said Officer Duncan.
"Hey, Scott." said Jesse, entering the office with a tray of coffees. "Latte for you?"
"Yeah, thanks. I think Josh had the black." he said as she handed him the coffee.
"Thanks. Here's your bagel."
"Oh, hey, we didn't make you go to the bakery." he said, happily surprised.
"That's why I get up early. People are hungry." she replied, handing the other officers their breakfast.
"You have got to be the nicest person I've ever met."
"Tell that to the gun." she joked, tapping her belt.
"Hey, Jess, I got a call for you." said Chief Bryant, poking his head out of his office. "Downtown by the arena."
"What've they got?" she asked.
"Say there's been a robbery at the bank, but no one seems to know what happened. Or remember." he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the bank was robbed, and there were several witnesses, but everyone says nothing happened." He gave her a look. "It's right up your alley. I'm thinking blackmail or someone's scaring them into silence, but it's your case. Better get down there."
"Can I take the new bike?" I asked excitedly.
"You're the only one who knows how to drive it." he said, disappearing back into his office.
"Yes!" Jesse whispered, pumping her fist. Scott laughed as she dashed out of the offices and hopped onto the blue-and-white bike, turning on the siren and speeding off for downtown New York.
"Officer! Officer, over here!" called one of the other policemen when she'd entered the bank. She headed over.
"What've we got?"
"So, at exactly nine o' clock this morning twenty-five thousand dollars in cash was stolen from the bank." said the commanding officer.
"Did we catch the guy on tape?" Jesse asked.
"That's just it." he said. "There's no tape."
"Come again?"
"This guy's smarter than the others. He took the security tape as he was roaming the facility."
"How would he have the time before the police came?" she asked, startled.
"No one knows." he said. "And that's another thing. Everyone swears they saw nothing. We questioned everyone in the..."
Jesse was only half-listening. She'd just seen someone go by the window who looked a little strange. Something in her gut told her this guy was someone she needed to confront. Maybe he even had something to do with the robbery. "Excuse me for a moment, officer. I'll be back." Even though he'd been interrupted, the officer didn't seem to mind her departure. She dashed out the door and down the brick alley by the bank. She saw him by the dumpster, heading to the fence at the end of the alley. "Excuse me sir! Excuse me, can you please stop for a moment? Sir!"
The moment he knew she was onto him, he took off. She followed in hot pursuit, gaining the whole time. She managed to corner him by the fence. "I won't hurt you if you do this right." she said. "Now, tell me, did you have anything to do with the bank robbery that happened this morning?"
"So what if I did? Why should I tell you?" he laughed.
"Because I am an officer of the law and you will do what I say."
"No." he said simply, chuckling slightly.
Jesse grabbed him by the front of the shirt as he tried to take off again and pinned him against the fence. "You're coming with me!" she snarled. He swung both his arms up at the same time, catching her in the chest. She heard something crack, and an explosive pain erupted within her. She automatically pulled out her gun and fired two shots at the figure running down the other end of the alley. She knew she'd hit him. She'd seen it. Holding her lower rib cage, she jogged down to where his body should have lain.
But it wasn't there. There was no sign of him at all. No blood, no body, no bullets.
"Are you all right?" asked someone she couldn't see. Jesse turned, wincing at the pain in her ribs. There, at the opening of the alley, she saw the strange doctor from the library.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"The same thing you were." Dr. Magnus answered. "Until he got away."
"What, are you with the police now, too?" she asked, gritting her teeth and sitting down against the brick wall. She pulled on her radio, fully intending to call for backup.
"No, but I do something quite similar. That was a pretty spectacular performance you just executed. Not many can do that." She said, impressed.
"Yeah, training comes with the job. Hey, Bryant, I need some backup down here. I caught the guy who did the robbery, but he got away. I'm not in any shape to run after him." Jesse said into the radio.
"Where did he head off to?" was the answering call on the radio.
"Down South Street, looked like he was on his way to Barry."
"Do we need a medical vehicle?"
"As far as I know, I was the only one hurt. I'll be able to get back to the station all right. Go get him."
"Profile?"
"Tall, pale, bald. Black trench coat. Scar below hos right eye. British..."
Jesse gave a detailed account of the man who'd attacked her, the whole while being watched by Dr. Magnus. When her conversation was over, she put the radio down, paused for a moment, then painfully stood up.
"Would you like me to take a look at your ribs?" Magnus asked.
"No, I'll be fine until I get to the hospital." Jesse answered, heading out of the alley.
"I'll drive you. You're in no fit condition to ride that motorcycle anyway."
"Says you." She retorted.
"I would know, actually." Magnus said patiently. "My daughter drives a motorcycle."
"Kudos for you. Can I go now?"
"I would like to drive you to the hospital. It would make me feel better."
"I don't live to make you happy, Doc. Just let me do my thing." Jesse said, attempting to get onto the bike.
"Do you want to know why that man you shot isn't dead?" Magnus asked suddenly.
"Probably because I missed."
"You know as well as I that isn't true. You're the best shot on the force, and there were no bullets in the alley." She smiled. "You hit him both times, Jessica. I was standing right there."
Jesse looked at the other woman, thinking. She knew she'd hit him twice, but she figured she'd sound crazy if the guy was totally fine, like she knew he was. The two prospects were so conflicting, it made her head hurt and she didn't want to think about it. But there was something weird about this case. People who didn't remember a robbery, a man who won't die. She wanted answers.
"Fine."
Magnus smiled and opened the car door for her. The doctor got in on the other side and backed the car out of the parking lot of the bank. "I've been trying to contact you for a while." she began.
"Why? I'm not that special." said Jesse.
"See, there's the problem." said Magnus, smiling a little. "Everyone has told you for so long that all you are is just a great member of the force but that's absolutely not true. You've got excellent talent and a great eye for the out of place. We could use you."
"Okay, you've told me that already. The only reason I got in this car was so you could help me with this case. So out with it. What do you know?"
Magnus sighed. "The man you're after is something we call an Abnormal. Someone whose DNA has been altered drastically past the norm. This one happens to have...regeneration built into his."
Jesse turned to stare at Magnus when she realized the woman looked highly uncomfortable. Her shoulders were tense, and expression was carefully indifferent. "You know this guy, don't you?"
"Once I did. He's...changed."
Jesse rolled her eyes. "I can't believe this. All of this is just a set-up to get me to join Sanctuary, isn't it?"
"No, Jessica, I promise you it's not."
"And stop calling me Jessica! You sound like my mother!"
"But you don't mind that, do you?"
Jesse was slightly confused. "Of course I do! Why would I bother saying it if I didn't?"
"That's a brilliant American accent, by the way." she said, changing the subject.
"Of course it is. I'm American."
"Stop fooling yourself." Magnus said harshly. "Why are you running from your past, Jessica? You moved here from England when you were twelve, do you remember why?"
"I - no, what the hell are you talking about? I've lived here all my life."
"Jessica, stop this!" she exclaimed, whipping the car around so fast Jesse had to grip the sides of her seat. "If you won't tell me who you are and where you came from, then so be it. I only ask you to tell me why it's so important that you forget!"
"Look, I have no idea, who you are, and I'm about to call you in for operating a vehicle under the influence. My name is Jessica Duxon, I live in an apartment on the south side of the city, and I work for the New York police. I grew up in Philadelphia with my parents, Aida and Luke, where they still reside today. I visit them every Christmas and I've never been to England in my life. I remember every important and unimportant thing in my life since the time I was three. What past is there to forget?"
Magnus parked the car and stared at her. "You really don't know who you are, do you?"
"I just told you who I am!" Jesse yelled, wincing as the shouting pained her ribs.
The doctor gave her a pitying look. "Come on. Let's get you inside, it's starting to rain." She came around and helped the officer to get out of the car, then to get through the doors of the building they were parked at.
"What the hell is this place?" Jesse snapped upon entering. "This definitely doesn't look like any hospital I've ever been in."
"That's because it's not." said Magnus a little guiltily. "It's the Sanctuary."