AN: Hello back. Second part to my supposedly one shot, requested by Smile Please10.

Jess needs to talk to someone, so she talks.

She finally calmed herself down enough to drive back home, not ready yet to face the others at the A.R.C. Everyone would still be working, so she had the apartment to herself.

She entered her place, not really paying attention to her surroundings until she heard someone clearing her throat.

Abby.

"I'm sorry. I won't pretend I haven't heard about what happened, Connor was pretty shaken about the whole thing. But I promised I'd call them if I heard about you, can I? I mean, without telling them you are here of course."

Surprised at the thoughtful act, Jess weakly smiled and nodded.

Abby moved away to call Connor, specifying that she heard about Jess without mentioning her presence at the apartment. Clearly, the news relieved the three men previously facing the FC's wrath, quite worried after she had stormed off.

When Connor had run to Abby, totally panicked, she had had to make him sit and take deep breathes before she could comprehend what had just happened. Knowing Jess probably as much as the young man, she had had some difficulty believing what he had been saying, but his version had then been confirmed by Matt, quite concerned himself. Like Lester, she had advised them not to be looking for her, hoping that Becker would follow that way of thinking. She had told them she would go back home in case Jess tried to reach them there, promising them to call them as soon as she heard anything about the young woman. She had been waiting since then, hoping that the Jess they knew was still in control somewhere, and not gone doing something rash.

She had been relieved when she had heard the door opening, knowing Connor wouldn't be home for a few more hours. Taking in her appearance, she had known Jess wouldn't be able to face the others right now, and that was precisely why she left out her location to Connor.

Jess was nothing like she ever remembered her to be: her clothes were wrinkled, as if put haphazardly, her posture was slouched down, her face wore traces of tears having fallen down, eyes red and puffy, blank stare. She just sat herself on the couch, watching the black screen of the TV.

As soon as she finished her call, Abby prepared some tea, hoping the drink would stir the brunette out of her state. She put the cup down in front of Jess, waiting for her to take it. And she waited.

After what seemed hours, but were actually mere minutes, Jess reached for the cup, holding it between her palms to warm herself up. She took a sip, then just held the cup.

"I think I overreacted."

Abby said nothing, feeling like Jess needing to sort it out by herself before actually talk about it.

"You have a younger brother, right?"

"Yes. Jack" the blonde replied, trying not to disturb Jess opening up.

"Brothers. You need to keep him in check, don't you?"

"All the time. Had to bail out from an anomaly once." Jess looked at her. "With Connor, Danny and Becker. Becker was not that happy about it. Danny probably came because he lost a brother the same way. And Connor…"

"Connor would follow you to the ends of times. Wait, he already has" Jess chuckled.

She sighed.

"We're the sisters. It's practically written down somewhere that we have to watch over them, and prevent them from making silly things. We're the wise ones, no matter if we're older or not. We have to look after them, to scold them, to reward them. We never applied for the job, but we have to."

There was a long silence.

"Did you have a brother?" Abby hesitantly asked.

"Erwann. It's Britton. My mother's side. No guy could approach me closer than three meters. He was taking his 'older brother' role to heart. Seriously. The fights we had about that… On the other hand, he quite was the ladies man: good looks, gentleman, polite, about to be a police officer… The dream guy."

She took another sip.

"Our parents were working a lot, so we were often together. You know, the cliché, big brother coming to school to take little sister home, hand in hand. We were that. We were three years apart. But he was still teaching me all about firearms and military, his passion. I knew French and British army ranks before I knew my multiplication tables, we were talking in alpha, bravo… I can still recite the alphabet that way. It was our thing.

"He was always there when something was wrong. Everyone knew not to touch me otherwise, beware, big brother to the help. A bit on the overbearing side, but I could not not be grateful.

"He always had this strong side of protecting the weaker ones, leading him to trouble most of the time. Once, I was so fed up about him overreacting once again about my protection that he taught me some moves to defend myself. I must say he was not really a good teacher, but I learnt my way in so that he didn't have to be always on my back.

"When he told us he was going into police academy, no one was surprised, quite the contrary. He seemed so happy about this. He finally could fulfill his dream: having the power to actually protect the ones who needed protection, with all the backup he needed, with people around him working for the same goal.

"I couldn't really have my brother away from me, we had been living so closely for our whole lives, it seemed impossible. I pleaded our parents to go with him, saying I would check on him and scold him if he wasn't paying attention. They agreed and I moved in with him to London.

"I actually had to keep him in check: as dedicated as he was in his studies, he always forgot about the 'real' side of life. I often had to remind him to pay the bills, to go shopping, even laundry didn't seem to be his thing."

Abby smiled.

"He was really a great student. Straight A's, dedicated… being a police officer was a real vocation for him.

"There was that one night, he had forgotten once again some items I asked him to pick, so I bullied him into going with me buying them in the little grocery shop there was down the street. Now, I'm thinking it could have waited the morrow but no, I wanted them now to keep up with my schedule.

"We heard gun shots and before I could stop him, Erwann was already on the move. He thought that all these trainings at the academy could actually let him act without any backup, protection nor weapon. I tried though, I swear I tried to stop him. He wouldn't listen to me. One of the gunmen was threatening the cashier, and next thing I know, Erwann is on the floor, bleeding."

She took a deep breath, shaking.

"I held him in my arms, waiting for the EMTs. Told him to hold on, while scolding him for being so reckless. He was dying and I was scolding him. What a sight. I held him, until his last breath. The rest is a bit of a blur. I remember being at the funerals, my parents on each side, saying nothing. The academy offered him the honors, considering his heroic act without even being graduated. It would have meant a lot to him. But I was just feeling the loss of my brother, I couldn't care less. I was thinking about how he didn't want to go that night, but I forced him, to 'educate' him. My parents had said nothing about it, but I know it was my fault he ended there, had I not insisted, he would have stayed at home, and the police would have arrived on time to stop the robbers, and he would still be alive."

Jess's tone was without emotion, as if she was merely stating facts, not remorse.

"Seeing how he acted there, he would have done the same a while later, protection or not" tried to reason Abby. "As far as I understand it, his sense of protecting the others overwhelmed the rest, the fact that you took him with you couldn't have changed that fact. That was who he was. London can be a dangerous city when you don't know it. This is not your fault his life ended there."

"I was supposed to keep an eye on him."

"That's what big brothers do. You're not to blame. The only one you can blame is the one holding the gun. If you begin to think about the 'what ifs', you'll never see the end of it. Life is a chain of reactions no one can predict. It's unexpected. That's why it's life. You can try to prevent an event from happening, but once it happens, you can only try and reduce the consequences."

Jess nodded, for the first time seeing the event into another light.

"He was always playing the hero. I swore to myself I wouldn't ever get close to other heroes."

She stopped. Put the now cold tea on the table.

"It's been three years today. I didn't even know it. I just…I was driving and then, I was in front of that store… I understood."

Abby understood to. Why that reaction, why now.

"I've never really thought about it, before now. I watch you guys going on the field, dealing with things that could be the end of you one day, and I can't do anything but see you approaching danger, fearing of you not coming back. You take risks, all of the time. And I'm just watching."

"You're not 'just' watching, Jess. You're our Field Coordinator. That means you're with us, on the field. If we make it, it's only because you helped us out, one way or another. We couldn't be able to do half of the things we do if you weren't there to find information or crack codes to access CCTV or else."

"When that works."

"Even when that doesn't work, you find a way around; I mean it, Jess. We've never had a FC before, we just went, and we kinda made it up right on site. And we lost people. Lots of them. You're here to prevent that. You see things we can't, and that's what saves lives. Unfortunately, sometimes it's not enough, but it's better than nothing. We're not your brother. We're not Erwann. We have each other's back, and you have our backs too. That makes a big difference. I won't say nothing will ever happen to you, because that's a lie, but you being with us decreases dramatically the chances of one of us not making it out alive."

"When you're not taking stupid risks."

"Believe me, after the stunt you pulled this morning, I can assure you the boys will think twice before going to an anomaly without backup. You had them totally terrified. God, even Matt didn't seem to know what to do after your departure. Connor was out of it, and I can't even imagine Becker" Abby laughed.

Jess hid her head in embarrassment.

"I think everyone witnessed my outburst."

"And I think it's for the best. Look, you had three of our best guys afraid of your reaction. Everyone will follow suit."

"I don't think I can face them anymore…"

"Come on, it was entirely justified. You asked them to wait for backup, they didn't. You're the FC, you should be listened to. Serves them right. The best now, is to go back to the A.R.C. as if nothing has ever happened. No one will try searching what the whole thing was about. But they will remember it, and won't mess with you for a while. And if ever you have another remark, you sure will be listened from now on."

"That's a good point" the brunette relented.

"Good, now, time for pizza, before Connor arrives and eat it all by himself!" the blonde jumped from the couch to take the phone from the receiver.

"Abby?"

"Hum?"

"What I told you about… can you…"

"My lips are sealed" Abby made a zip motion.

"But you know" she added, "when you have something like this running through your head… you should really talk about it. By the past, people thought they could handle it all by themselves, and it didn't work out very well. We're facing the same problems, the same fears. I'm not saying you should tell me everything, but talking to anyone would be great."

"You talk to Connor?"

"And to you too. Connor cannot understand it all sometimes. I need another friendly advice, or a girl advice. I come to you. You don't really notice it because you're that good of a listener, you're a natural. Eh, even Becker talks to you sometimes. We all need to vent to someone."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good."

Abby was about to dial when she stopped.

"Say, now that everyone fears you, do you think you can ask Lester for a pay rise?"

"Abby!"

"Just sayin'"

AN: And now it's definitely over. Sorry for the end, I was aiming for something a bit comical, but those words would actually be better in Connor's mouth.

Anyway, now this two-shot is definitely complete, I hope you liked it.