Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People is the property of the CW. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: All time is based on the show airing in 2013-2014, so 8 years ago would mean 2005-2006. Italicized text indicates thoughts.
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14 Years Ago
A few days after meeting John, Roger saw the boy walk by his office. Well, it was more like a lab than an office. It was where he worked with electronics and gadgets.
"John!" Roger called for the boy, who promptly peeked his head in the door.
"Yes, sir," John replied.
"Call me Roger," he chuckled at the formality of the boy. "Come in. How have you been?"
"Okay, I guess," John said then cautiously stepped into the room and stood nervously by the door until something caught his eye.
"Is that a D chip, sir ... I mean Roger?" John walked over to the table where Roger was busy trying to pry open a tiny round disk.
"Yes, it is, John," Roger responded.
"I've never seen one that small before," John said, his eyes wide, fascinated with the object.
"Yeah, it's my latest project," Roger replied. "I've almost got it, but it's still not working quite right."
The boy came a bit closer and studied the device.
"Should this ... wire be connected?" John innocently asked, while pointing to it.
Roger did a double take, then pulled out a magnifying glass. He looked at it, then at John, then back to the device. Sure enough, one of the connections was loose.
"Well, not sure how I missed that, but thank you, John." He patted the boy on the back. "Good catch."
John grinned, pleased with being able to help.
Noticing the change in John, Roger had an idea. "How would you like to be my assistant here?"
"Sure," John said excitedly then sobered. "But, what about my training?"
"This would be in addition to your training," Roger told him. "I'll clear it with Jed."
Roger was sure it wouldn't be a problem. Jed liked the boy and tried to help him whenever he could - giving him extra time to practice when most of the other recruits had left; spending time with him, mentoring him.
Just as Roger had suspected, Jedikiah agreed to the arrangement. It started out as a couple of times during the week, but ended up being every day when John proved to be a very good assistant. Eventually Roger started giving John his own projects to work on.
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12 Years Ago
Jedikiah was concerned about John's progress with his powers. The boy had no trouble with teleportation, but he struggled with the other two. John was becoming more and more frustrated by it and, in turn, his attitude became more and more dour. Wanting to make sure it was an issue with his powers and not just normal teenage moodiness, Jedikiah decided to do something about it ... talk to his brother.
Roger and Jedikiah were walking to their cars after a long day when Jedikiah broached the subject with Roger.
"Rog, John has been having a hard time lately," Jedikiah started. "He's become moody and distant."
"Are you sure he's not just being a typical teenager?"
"It's possible, but I don't think that's it," Jedikiah paused, lost in thought for a moment. "I think it's his powers."
"How so?"
"During his teleportation training, he actively participates, but when they move on to the others, he starts to withdraw and act up. Even the trainers have noticed. They've tried to engage him, but that just causes him to rebel more."
"Hmmm ..." It was Roger's turn to mull it over. "Do you want me to work with him?"
"He does look up to you," Jedikiah replied. "So that should work in your favor. When can you begin?"
The next day when John showed up at the lab, Roger told him they were going on a little field trip. As they left Ultra headquarters, Roger told him to remember how they got there, so he would be able to get there on his own next time. The duo ended up in an abandoned subway station.
"Wow, cool," John exclaimed as he wandered around checking out some of the passageways and open spaces.
"Yeah, it is," Roger chuckled at the enthusiasm John was showing.
"How'd you find it?"
"Exploring, mainly," Roger replied. "We need to get to work."
Roger then guided John to a room where there was a raised platform. Some training mats had been laid out on the main floor.
"Now ... focus, John," Roger said as he began the session.
They had mock battles pushing each other and some other exercises Roger came up with to help John concentrate. The only rule Roger had was that John could not teleport. He told the boy that was the easy way out and he needed to work around it.
Having finished training for the day, they headed back to Ultra.
"John, do you remember what I said about keeping secrets?" Roger questioned the boy before leaving the underground station.
"Yeah, sure I do," John responded.
"Well this just so happens to be one of those secrets," Roger explained. "Don't let anybody else know about this place, okay?"
"Nobody?" John hesitated. "Not even Jed?"
"Nope, not even Jedikiah."
The boy looked conflicted for a couple moments, then agreed.
From that point on, they switched out working in the lab, with one-on-one powers training. As John progressed, the training became less intense and they would spend some of the time either exploring the underground subway station or fixing it up.
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9-1/2 Years Ago
John began training to become a full-fledged Ultra agent, so his time with Roger diminished. It pretty much came down to just conditioning and even that started to dwindle the more experience John received. Lab work was relegated to maybe once a week, if they were lucky. There wasn't much time for working in the lab when he was going out on assignments.
John missed being able to work on the various gadgets, but realized now was his time to focus on being an agent ... to become Ultra's best agent and to make Jedikiah proud.
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9 Years Ago
Once Roger realized what the Founder was planning with the Machine, he knew he had to talk to Jedikiah as soon as possible. Problem was … how to get the man out of Ultra, he practically lived there.
He figured out the best way would be to involve John. Jedikiah wouldn't miss the chance to spend some quality time with the boy … boy? John was quickly becoming a man. And the truth was, he missed working with him.
The next day he showed up at Jedikiah's office and quickly tapped on the door before walking in.
"Hey, Jed," Roger said. "Do you have a moment?"
"Sure you know my door is usually open to you," Jedikiah responded as he looked up from the report he had been reading. "What's up?"
"A paintball arena just opened nearby and thought it would be fun if you and I take John, especially since my boys are too young yet," Roger answered.
"Roger," Jedikiah was startled by the request, "really? Paintball?"
"Yeah, it will be fun. You know our kind usually doesn't get to do things like this. It will give us an opportunity to explore that side."
"And what side is that?"
"The gun-handling, human side."
Jedikiah suspected something else was afoot, but went along with it. He hadn't seen his brother or John much lately, so they picked up John and headed out. Roger and John had a great time, while Jedikiah … who lost each match … insisted they were cheating by using their powers. Roger and John feigned innocence, then started laughing.
"I knew it!" Jedikiah exclaimed as he got in the car and slammed the door. He didn't speak to either TP on the way back to Ultra. Once there, John excitedly jumped out of the car, thanked both brothers for the "field trip" then almost gleefully ran back into Ultra headquarters.
Just as Jedikiah was about to exit the vehicle, Roger stopped him by saying "we need to talk". Jedikiah froze in his seat and thought "here it is the real reason for this little adventure" and sullenly turned to look at Roger.
"What is it?" Jedikiah reluctantly inquired. He had a strong feeling that he did not want to know.
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8-1/2 Years Ago
Again it had been awhile since Roger had spent any time with John, so he approached Jedikiah to request John's assistance. John, fully decked out in a suit like any other Ultra agent, showed up at the lab on the assigned date and at the requested time. John was always punctual, but Roger was no where to be seen.
"Roger?" John called out as he briefly searched the area. When he didn't find the man, he paused, shrugged his shoulders and started checking out the various projects lying around. Finding one that piqued his interest, he took off his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves and sat down to work on it.
A few moments later, Roger walked through the back entrance carrying a small package.
"Hello, John. Sorry I'm late."
Glancing up, John noticed Roger was carrying something and asked "What's that?"
"Oh, just an early birthday gift," Roger replied and tossed it to John, who easily caught it and smiled.
"Really?"
Growing up in foster homes and then being raised at Ultra, didn't provide many opportunities for receiving gifts. Well, at least not like if he had been raised by a mom and dad. He imagined kids who had families probably received all kinds of gifts throughout the year. So, when he did receive one, he savored the experience. To this day, one of his most treasured possessions was the knife Jedikiah gave him for his birthday a few years ago.
"Thanks, Roger," John said as he opened it. "Wow, your watch? Are you sure you want to part with it?"
"Yes," Roger responded. "I want you to have it. Check this out."
Roger took the watch from John and popped open the face.
"Woah, there's a D chip inside?" John responded, looking on in amazement.
"A modified D chip," Roger explained. "This one blocks telepaths from reading your mind. It was a project I started years ago. The one you first helped me with. It took me a lot longer than planned, but I finally finished it."
"Cool." John put the watch on.
Roger hesitated, there was so much more he wanted to explain right now, but couldn't. There were things that had to happen a certain way.
"John, you are becoming a strong, brave man," Roger put his arm around John's shoulders. "Let this serve as a reminder of that ... and it doesn't hurt to have an extra layer of protection against telepaths."
Roger reached up and tousled John's hair.
"Hey," John objected and batted Roger's hand away. "Not the hair."
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8 Years Ago
Jedikiah entered the training room with confidence like he usually did, but this time there was also a grim purpose.
As soon as the man walked in, everybody stopped what they were doing and gathered around him. They knew it must be something important because the second in command rarely ever showed up here. If he did, it was usually just to observe, never to just barge in and interrupt the training. They were all standing at attention with their hands clasped behind their backs. John stood in the middle of the group.
"Thank you for your attention," Jedikiah told the group. "I have some disturbing news … my brother Roger has disappeared."
Gasps and whispers traveled through the group until Jedikiah continued. John's heart sank, but he tried to not let it show. The only movement he made was to switch his hands to grasp the watch he was wearing.
"We do not yet know what has happened to him ... whether he left of his own free will or was kidnapped. We are examining all evidence now. If any of you have information that will help find him, see me right away."
Before he left, he gave one final visual sweep of the room, lingering slightly on John to gauge how he took the news. There was sadness in his eyes, but the boy was hiding it well.
The truth was that Jedikiah knew why Roger disappeared, but he really did not know where he was. It was all part of their plan.