The only place that was open at three am was The Key Stone Pub; a small bar and grill that was on the corner of a run-down looking strip mall in a shady part of the city. Most people avoided this part of town like the death but tonight it was the only place that Jesse wanted to be. For years he had been coming to this Pub for one soul reason, Kathy Stone.
Kathy was a new mutant that he had met when he first joined Mutant X. She was a mind reader, kind of like Emma, as well as a molecular. Her molecular power was what had attracted Jesse to her. It was focused on air and using air to move objects around, and for some reason this attracted Jesse's powers as well as Jesse's body.
It was a physical attraction at first, one that was about sex, but it had developed into a pure, though dysfunctional, friendship. Kathy expected nothing from Jesse and asked for nothing and it was the same for Jesse. Whenever they were together all of Jesse's 'good boy' behavior seemed to disappear and he became a whole other person. She provided a necessary outlet for his pent up emotions and never once judged him.
That was exactly what Jesse was looking for tonight.
He walked into the Pub and saw that there were still several people left, among them a few cops finishing up a late meal, a few cupules staying out really late and several drunks nearly passed out. Behind the counter, cleaning glasses was a red head, a little on the short side and curvy, with bright blue eyes and milk white skin. She was as beautiful as she was lively and dangerous.
Jesse knew that for a fact.
She had her back to the entrance but turned when Jesse came in, a smile already in place and her hands reaching for a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass.
"Hello there stranger. Just passing through or did you get a 'get out of Sanctuary free' card?" she asked as Jesse took one of the empty bar stoles.
Jesse gave tired smile and accepted the full shot glass, but he didn't respond. He downed the whiskey in one gulp then placed the glass down in front of Kathy.
Kathy, for her part, studied the man in front of her taking in everything that he was radiating. There was emptiness inside him and a weight that she had rarely seen before. Her eyes scanned his body as she poured him another round and took in his hollowed look. But it wasn't the fact that he looked half dead that stuck out the most to her; it was the absence of a silver ring on his right ring finger.
"You're signal again?" she asked, handing him back the glass. She waited as he gulped down the second shot and was not disappointed.
"I've deiced that Sanctuary is not my home after all," Jesse said softly as he toyed with the glass in his hand. There was a long pause before he placed the glass down again and accepted another shot. As he watched the dark honey colored liquid fill the glass he said, "I'm leaving Kathy, after tonight I won't be back."
Kathy was quite for a minuet. She wasn't surprised about Jesse's announcement, she had a feeling she had known about his feelings way before he was willing to admit them. She was just surprised that it had taken him so long to make the decision.
"Do they know yet?" she asked him, with a hint of aggression on the 'they.'
Kathy had never really like Mutant X, always finding them to goody-goody and holier then thou for her taste. There was no doubt in her mind that they did good work, and that they were needed. She had helped them several times with hiding new mutants and providing transport into the underground. But just because she agreed with what they were doing didn't mean she had to like them.
She didn't know why she didn't like them really. I mean, the god-like persona they put out was just an excuse. She had a feeling though, that it had to do with the fact that Jesse had been falling into a downward spiral since Emma and especially Brennan joined the team. And that Mutant X was slowly driving Jesse into his death.
She waited until he had downed his poison for a reply.
"They'll find out in the morning, or whenever they wake up. Shalimar and Brennan are getting married and they all were up a little late celebrating," Jesse said, watching as she poured him another.
"Not you?" Kathy asked.
"Nope…" he paused to down his drink… "I told them I had a head ach and went to bed early." There was another pause as Jesse put the glass down, this time rim down, "He's finally done it Kathy. He's finally driven me away."
The two fell silent. There was no need for Jesse to say more or for Kathy to say anything. He hadn't come looking for sympathy, and he wasn't there looking for someone to cuddle him. He was there because he wanted action, because he wanted to feel. He was there because he was on the edge of loseing it and needed someone to pull him back. He was there so he wouldn't have to face the build up of emotions in him just yet. He wanted, needed, someone to chase away the black numbness that was beckoning his soul to the void of living death. He was there because he trusted Kathy.
"It's closing time! Everybody out of the pool!" Kathy yelled, startling the rest of her patrons and the few waiters that she had left. "Frank, Devon, your keys stay, you go in a cab. Rest of you get out and I'll see you latter."
Jesse gave her a smile of gratitude; she always knew what to do.
Kathy lay motionless, her head resting on Jesse's chest. He was asleep and had been for awhile. His arms were draped around her, holding her gently in a knowing embrace that never failed to make her feel safe. That made her feel respected.
Every time she slept with Jesse she felt like a lady when other guys left her feeling like a slut. That was just Jesse, the way he was. He had been a constant rock in her life for a long time now and one she had always taken for granted. So now, as she pictured life without him she felt a stab of grief slash through her body.
Life with out Jesse meant life without a very close friend. It meant life without a man who knew her booth inside and out. She felt like she was losing a piece of her soul, and maybe that's why she was still awake watching him; ingraining every detail of his angelic face.
The pain and emptiness from earlier were gone now. Several hours of sex will do that for a person. And now Jesse looked as he always did after he spent sometime with her; calm, collected, and alive. Mutant X had taken so much from him; people had taken so much from him. He was always looked at as the good dependable person, the one that you always knew would be right there when you needed him. The one you always took for granted and never knew the value of until you were faced with life without them. She felt tears building up in her and knew that when he left her apartment today she would cry like she was morning the dead. She wondered if Mutant X would feel the same way. Had they even notice that he was gone yet?
Jesse sighed and his body shifted under the sheets, brining her attention back to the here and now. She smiled watching him trying to wake up and felt her hart flutter as his blue eyes opened and a smile broke the stillness of his face.
"Hello…" he mumbled as he pushed himself up ad leaned against the head board. The sheet that had been covering him slipped down the length of his body until it came to rest just before it exposed him completely. Kathy watched it hungrily, disappointed that it stayed in place.
The look on her face didn't go unnoticed by the blond and he laughed a lively, boyish sound that caused shivers to run down her spine. With one quick motion she close the gap between them and all her worries from a moment ago was forgotten.
Shalimar awoke from a pleasant slumber with a sigh. She wasn't sure what had awoken her, but she felt a sort of oddness with in her. Next to her, with his arms draped around her waist, was Brennan. Shal smiled as she studied the man that had stolen her hart. He looked so peaceful lying here in their bed, and she couldn't help but feel lucky.
For one of the fist times in a long time her life had being going right. She had a family that truly loved her, a man that would do anything for her and a job where she knew she was doing good. Life was good. The only down side to everything was Jesse.
There was something bothering him and had been for awhile now. What it was, she hadn't a clue. But she'd been sensing a growing hostility in the younger man as well as a growing unease and caged feeling. She got the sense that he wanted to run and would eventually. That he felt like Sanctuary was becoming a prison and everyone inside it was turning against him. Like tonight for example, when they were celebrating. Jesse had turned in early claming he had a head ach. But there was something in his manner that suggested otherwise. And it hurt Shalimar to think that she may have caused those feelings.
No longer able to sleep, Shalimar expertly removed herself from Brennan's hold and made her way out of their room. She took a moment at he door to study the room and try to remember when her room had become theirs'. She smiled when she couldn't and came to the decision that it really didn't matter.
As she lingered though, her mind drifting from happy memory to happy memory, that peg of weirdness came back. It was such a strange feeling, that it caused her to frown. Every instinct told her something was wrong, but she couldn't smell anything wrong, she couldn't see anything wrong, and she really couldn't place a finger on what was bothering her. So she started walking.
Whenever her mind was troubled she liked to go to the grand entranceway. It was her belief that the place she received her ring was the place that her life truly began and it made her feel safe. That was where she tiptoed her way to now.
When she reached the room she encountered a coldness that she had never felt there before. There was the sent in the air of fading anger and she wondered at it. Instantly she felt her body turn into her feral self, her Mr. Hyde. Her eyes glowed gold and she cautiously moved through the room, looking for the intruder who disturbed her place of peace.
She was scanning the halls, completely focused on the shadows when her foot hit something small but solid. She bent down to pick it up and brought it eye level.
There was enough light in the room for her to make out the object, and once her mind had distinguished what it had once been, there was no way for her to stop the tears that escaped like a flood.
For in her palm was a mangled, crushed silver ring that still had Jesse's sent clinging to it.