"Jessica? Jessica, I need to speak with you! Where are you – Ah! There you are."
"I've been here the whole time." said Jesse, leaning against the door frame as she looked at the doctor.
Helen Magnus paused for a moment. "Of course you were."
"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Jesse asked, biting into an apple.
"Well, There's a visitor here that I thought you should meet." Magnus smiled. "Come with me. He's down in the foyer."
Jesse followed the doctor through the Sanctuary and into the front entranceway. As they past through the Shoe, she waved at the Mermaid in her tank. She'd made friends with most of the inhabitants of the place since she'd arrived, which were many and totally out of the ordinary. She supposed that was why they were called Abnormals.
"Jessica, I would like you to meet Jordan Duxon."
Jesse's jaw dropped. Standing right there in front of her was a man she hadn't seen in at least fifteen years. "Jordan!" she shrieked, running up and throwing her arms around the tall young man. "Oh, my God! I thought I'd never see you again!"
"Hey, kiddo." he said casually, though he sounded close to tears. "I missed ya."
His voice broke on the last word, and that sent Jesse crying. "I missed you, too. Oh, my God! Jordan!" she sobbed. After all this time, she couldn't believe she was seeing him again. He wasn't a thread connecting her to her past. He was an entire rope.
"I thought you were dead. I couldn't get a hold of you." he said, now obviously crying and hugging her tighter.
"I know, I'm sorry." she said. "I couldn't! I couldn't, Jordan. They – they erased my memory, they erased you!"
"Shh, shh, it's okay." he assured her, stroking her hair. "It's okay, I'm here now. Don't worry."
There was something very familiar about the scene, but Jesse assumed it was what happened after their parents died. They just stayed like that for a while, feeling immensely comforted by each others' presence. Magnus stood off to the side, smiling at the two siblings and feeling as though finally something about her work was complete.
Jordan sniffed and pulled back a little. "Hey, guess who I brought with me." he said shakily.
"Who?" Jesse asked, wiping her eyes.
He went to the door and opened it, then waved for someone outside to come in. "They're in the car." he explained. He opened the door wider, and the moment she saw the three people enter, it was too much. She collapsed to the floor, engulfed in tears.
"No, no, sweety don't cry!" said the first girl. "We're here now. It's all right."
Jesse couldn't even get the words out. She didn't know what to say. Crissa was crouched right in front of her. The girl she'd believed dead because of the monster attack.
"She's right, my darling." said the other woman. "There's nothing to cry about. You musn't be upset."
This woman was Delilah Duxon, Jesse's sister-in-law who had taken her in those days before Jordan got her to America. Following in her wake was a six-year-old boy. "This is Jason, our son. Jason, say hi to Aunt Jesse."
The small boy looked at his aunt, but he said absolutely nothing. Instead, he simply stepped forward and hugged the crying girl.
Jordan stopped dead as he walked over to them. His jaw dropped, as did Crissa's and Delilah's. Jesse was only slightly startled but otherwise not shocked at the boy's immediate liking to her.
"Ja-Jason? Jordan stuttered. "D-do you like Aunt Jesse?"
The boy didn't respond. He just held onto Jesse as though he'd known her for years. "What's the matter?" Jesse asked.
"Jason's severely autistic." Crissa answered as Delilah began to sob. "He doesn't normally respond to his parents, and he won't go near strangers."
"Maybe it's because I'm family." she suggested, though thoroughly shocked herself.
"I don't know." said Jordan. "But this is absolutely incredible."
"What's going on here?" someone who was not originally in the room asked. Jesse turned and saw Henry enter, looking confused at all the crying people, but mostly at Jesse.
"It's a little reunion, Henry. We managed to locate Jessica's family." said Magnus, she herself tearing up.
"Oh. Well, I hate to intrude upon such a feely-good moment, but we got some test results back that I figured you'd want to take a gander at." he said, showing Magnus his touch-screen control pad.
She studied the pad for a moment as the newly reunited family talked in low voices. "Yes, yes, you're quite right. I do find this rather intriguing." she said, more to herself than to Henry. She handed back the pad and approached Jordan, who had his arm around his sister. "Jordan, whenever you're ready, will you have Jesse lead you to my office?"
"Now?" he asked, wiping his eyes.
"No, no. When you're ready. I can have my servant take you to your rooms if you would like more privacy."
"That would be wonderful, thank you." he said, turning back to his sister and murmuring something. Jesse nodded and stood, helped by Crissa and Delilah. Magnus noted with interest how the family didn't react to seeing her Bigfoot-like servant, whom most were intimidated by.
"Henry," she murmured. "I would like you to come to my office with me. We need to discuss these results.
. . .
Jordan tapped on the slightly open door with his knuckles. "Dr. Magnus? You wanted to see me?" he called.
"Yes, Jordan, come in, come in." she said rising from her chair. The man entered, then seated himself where Magnus indicated. "I wanted to speak with you about your sister." she began.
"Has she done something wrong?" he asked.
"No, far from it. But I wasn't sure if you knew about what happened to her after you got her to America."
Jordan sighed and ran a hand over his face. "They got her, didn't they?" he asked in a low voice.
She was surprised. "Could you be more specific?"
"There was this cult or something that was after her when we were in London. We didn't tell her because we didn't want to scare her. I thought she'd be safe here, but I suppose not."
"Could you elaborate on this cult?"
"They knew about her...difference from other people, and I guess they wanted that for themselves. I can't say what they called themselves, but I know they'd do anything to get at her. They killed our parents."
"Wait, you say this cult killed your parents? Jessica told us it was some sort of feminine monster." said Magnus, confused.
"They must have given her something, a hallucinogen. Made her see things different from reality. I know nothing of a monster girl." he said worriedly.
"Maybe there was something she missed." said Magnus. "But there are other things we must discuss. We did some blood tests on your sister so we could tell her why everyone was afraid of her when she was younger."
"What? Why would you do that?" he asked, suddenly tense.
"She wanted to know more about her forgotten past." she told him, startled. "You would take that from her?"
"There's nothing to take." he snapped. "We loved her, she was family! We were never afraid of her."
"That isn't how she saw things."
"Dammit! You had no right to do that!"
"She asked us and she is of an age where she is allowed to make that decision." Magnus stated firmly. "Care to explain exactly why you are becoming so upset?"
"She's just a normal person. There was never anything wrong with her, she just thinks differently from other people. That's why the Cabal wanted her!"
"Mr. Duxon," she said coldly, removing her glasses. "You told me you didn't know the name of the cult."
"I-I didn't – I just remembered – Dammit, Doctor, you need to just stay out of what isn't your business!"
"Jordan, I am a doctor of Abnormals and as such this is my business!" she growled, rising. "Jessica's bloodwork shows traces of Abnormality the likes of which I have never seen. She needs a home where she can learn about herself and try to control it."
"There's nothing wrong with her and you'll do well to never mention it to her!" Jordan exclaimed, standing and leaving the room.
Magnus glared at his retreating figure, then she pulled out her phone. "Henry, I want you to get m everything you can on Jordan Duxon." she said.
"You got it, Doc."
. . .
Jesse stood before the vanity in her room, eternally grateful Crissa and Delilah had decided to go to their rooms for the night. It was happening again, and she knew they'd want to help. But they couldn't. No one could, not even Magnus.
She gripped the wood as pain engulfed her, and she stared at her reflection, tears running down her face. There was no physical difference, but she could feel it. Something clawing its way out of her. She couldn't let it. She wouldn't let it.
The moment she thought those words, she fell to the floor in agony. All those years of awful headaches that often kept her awake at night seemed like nothing. This was torture, and there was nothing to compare it to. She was changing. Something was changing her. Any way she looked at it, she knew she was no longer Jessica Duxon. She was something else.
Jesse gripped the wood and hauled herself to her feet, continuing to stare at her reflection. "Who are you!" she shrieked, knocking several things off the table-top with a defeated sweep of her arm.