DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sanctuary or its characters. I do own Jessica and her family.
. . .
"Good morning, Jesse." said Magnus, looking up from her laptop. The corner of her mouth twitched as she took in the girl's plaid pajama pants and the blue shirt. "I hope I didn't wake you."
"No, it's okay." she said groggily, running a hand through her long hair. "Needed to get up anyways. What do you need?"
"We were taking a look at your bloodwork, and-" Henry began.
"Oh, the bloodwork?" said Jesse flippantly. "We don't really need to go over that, do we?"
Henry stared at her. "You went through two weeks of testing to get this. Why are you backing out?"
"I – I'm not backing out, I just...Okay, what did you find?" she asked nervously.
Magnus looked at her from above her reading glasses, then turned back to her laptop. "Well, it seems you have an extraordinarily rare Abnormality in your blood."
"How rare?" Jesse asked.
"I have never seen anything like it before." said Magnus. "There's absolutely nothing in your DNA I can put together to make sense of. I don't even think you have a species." The doctor gave her a stunned look. "I think you're either the last or simply the only one."
"Yes, but the only one of what?" Jesse asked.
"I really don't know."
"Well, not yet, anyway." said Henry. "We got some stuff cookin but for now we're just goin off whatever we can see."
"So what does that mean for me?" Jesse asked.
"We were hoping you could tell us." said Magnus, removing her glasses. "Will said you used to have headaches at night. Is that still happening?"
"No." she lied. She didn't want them to know anything about what went on behind her locked door. She didn't want them doing unwanted tests on her. "I think it had something to do with getting my memory back."
"Ah. I see." said the doctor, seeming as though she didn't entirely believe the girl but saying nothing. "Anything out of the ordinary happen to you that you know shouldn't happen?"
Jesse thought this time before answering. She knew Dr. Magnus had known she'd lied. But she couldn't let anyone know. "Not that I can think of."
Magnus nodded. "I see. Well, I suppose there's nothing further to say, so you may go get breakfast."
"Thanks for the info." Jesse said, turning to leave.
"Hey, Jess, wait a sec." said Henry, jogging over to her. "I heard yelling and stuff coming from your room last night." he said in a low voice. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I was just watching a movie on my ipod." she said casually. "I yell at the characters sometimes."
He gave her a look that clearly said he wasn't sure if he should believe her. "Okay. Well, maybe you should take it easy for a couple days. You don't look so good."
"It's eight in the morning, Henry." she said. "I never look so good at that time."
. . .
Jesse walked down the hall on the way to her room when someone grabbed her and pulled her to the side. She was about to yell when she realized it was Will. "Oh, it's you." she said, hand over her heart from the scare.
"Did I startle you?" he asked, grinning mischievously.
"A little." she admitted. "What are you doing?"
"Well, since your family arrived, we haven't had much time to do this." He pulled her in, hand on her lower back, and kissed her.
She smiled into his lips. It felt like so long since they'd been alone. She was glad for the interruption.
Suddenly, there was a cough from behind them. They stopped kissing as though caught in a criminal act, and Jesse turned around. "Oh, hi, Jordan." she said a little breathlessly. "We were just-"
"I know what you were 'just.'" he said, looking a little as though he were punched in the gut, but he recovered himself. "Next time, do it in a closet or something."
"Yeah, I need to get to the...um...thing." Jesse giggled, straightening her shirt. She looked at Will to ask him to lunch later, but he looked a little surprised and scared at being caught by his girlfriend's big brother while he was making out with her. "I'll just catch you later." she told him, straightening his collar.
"Uh, Jess, while I've got you over here, Delilah wanted me to tell you she left something in your room she though you'd like." said Jordan.
"Thanks, bro." Jesse said, heading to her room. She was just thinking about going to visit the Shoe when she stopped dead in the doorway. Little Jason was seated on her bed, staring at a small notebook she wrote in when she got bored. His little legs dangled over the side, and he looked completely content to just sit and stare.
"Whatcha lookin at, bud?" she asked quietly, going to sit next to him on the bed. He looked up at her, but said nothing. "Are you reading my stories?"
Jason looked back down at the notebook, turning back the page with a pudgy little hand. He looked back up at her, as if to say something.
"Do you want me to read it to you?" she asked. He just kept staring at her with his big brown eyes. It struck her just how much the boy looked like his father. She assumed Jordan must be very proud to have a son. She'd never though about it before, but she wondered if maybe she would ever have children.
Jesse reached over and gently tugged the notebook out of his grasp, and he gave it up willingly. She looked at the page he was on, and saw it was the story of a demon girl she'd written a few months back. "Is this what you want to hear?"
The boy just stared at her, so she returned her attention to the notebook and began reading. "Dementia stared at her reflection in the window, willing her mind to believe this was real, that it was actually happening. Now was the time to fight.
"She arched her back as the change came upon her. First, the horns appeared, then the fangs. The pointed tail surfaced, then the hair changed from bleached-blond to black. Her eyes, always the last to change, became red as the rage took over her. She-"
Suddenly, Jason started making high-pitched wailing sounds. "What is it?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong? Is it too scary for you?"
He didn't answer her. Didn't even look at her. He merely stared at the door, seeming to be frightened. Jesse followed his gaze, but saw nothing. Just then, her head began to hurt as it had the night before. "Ow!" she whispered, holding her head. "No, not now." She opened her eyes and looked at the small boy still looking fearfully at the door. "Jason, you need to go now." she told him, scooping him up off the bed. "Aunt Jess will see you later, okay?"
Jason wailed in protest as she carried him to the door. He struggled against her arms, but she held him firmly.
"Hey, Jess." said Henry, coming down the hallway with the Big Guy by his side. "What's going on?"
"Nothing. I just need some time to myself for a while." she snapped, struggling to keep Jason from going back into the room.
"No need to bite my head off, I get it." he said, looking concerned. "Maybe I should take the little guy for a while. You don't look so hot."
"Thank you, Henry, for the update." she said shortly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but you just need to leave me alone for a while."
"Yeah, Jess, got it." he said, picking up the squirming Jason. Suddenly, the Big Guy grabbed her as she tried to go back into the room and held her close to him, placing a big hairy hand on her forehead.
"Put me down!" she snapped, struggling against his hold. She had little time left. She needed to get back into the room before she was unable to stand. She didn't know what would happen after that if she wasn't left to herself.
He dropped her back to the floor and grunted, "Fever. You are not well."
"Yes, I know, now please, I'm serious, just leave me alone."
"Hey, come on, Big Guy. Leave her be. Go make some tea, or something." said Henry, now looking fairly worried. Jesse dashed back into the room and slammed the door just as she felt something rising out of her, nearly consuming her.
"No." she whispered, making her way to the vanity. As long as she kept her normal appearance in site, she assumed she could keep herself sane.
. . .
Henry stared at the door behind which Jesse had just vanished. He was concerned for her; he knew what it was like to suddenly be hit with frustrating illness, and to want nothing but privacy. He shifted the small, moaning child in his arms as he spotted Jesse's brother coming down the hallway. "Oh, hey, Jordan. Do you want your son back?"
"In a minute." said the man. Henry noted how exhausted and stressed he look, and how he seemed to be lost in thought.
"Hey, man, you okay? There must be some kind of bug goin around, 'cause your sister wasn't lookin too good, either." he said.
Jordan's head snapped up. "What? Where is she?"
"Dude, chill." said the tech, confused. "She's totally going to stay with the living. She just went into her room, but visiting hours are over and – okay, or you could just go in, that's cool, too." he continued as the brother dashed into the bedroom.
"Jess? You okay?" Jordan asked, spotting his sister by the vanity.
"Jordan. Leave." she forced out through clenched teeth. "Please."
"No, I'm not leaving you." he said quietly. "Not this time. Come here." He stepped forward and tried to wrap his arms around her, but she fought him off.
"I said leave!" she exclaimed, sounding like she was losing control. "It's not – it's not safe around me!"
"You don't know that." he told her firmly. "You're okay, Jess. Trust me."
"No!" she screamed, knocking several things off the vanity table. "There's something wrong with me!"
"No, Jess, you're wrong." he said. "There's nothing wrong with you. You just need to calm down. Deep breaths. It'll all be over soon if you just calm down."
Jesse shook violently as she struggled to stay calm. Her breathing came ragged and harsh, and she kept her eyes closed. Jordan went to her, surrounding her in his strong arms. She began to sob into his shoulder, and he felt her start shaking even more. "Jesse, calm down." he commanded. "There's nothing to be afraid of. Shh, it's okay. I'm here now."
It suddenly hit Jesse that she knew where she'd seen this before. It wasn't after her parents died. It was after every time she had an "episode." This had been happening all her former life. Now that her memory was back, it was happening again.
"Jordan," she whispered once she'd calmed down enough to speak. "this isn't the first time this has happened, is it?"
She heard him sigh. "No. And it's far from the last."
She nodded. "So what is it?"
"We don't know. We've been trying to find out without other people knowing."
Jesse nodded again. "Thank you."
"Anytime."
