Chapter four: Conditions

POV: Kim Crawford

(the next day at school)

I need you to behave today, 'Jack'.

I will if you agree that I truly am Jack! I made a face. Maybe you are, or maybe I'm just going crazy. I shook my head and jumped off the bus, heading for the school. Yeah, on second thought, you're crazy. I mentally glared at him, or me, I couldn't decide. I sighed, going to my locker. It had been about a week since Jack's death. I still hadn't decided if the voice in my head was Jack, or just me trying to make myself feel better.

Jack? If it's really you, tell me something that only Jack would know. I asked as I walked to class. Okay, I am… scared to death of clowns. Nice try, but I already knew that. Hmm, I have a major crush on you? That's just something I'd like to hear him say. And, I'm pretty sure the real Jack would never admit that if it were true. I know… but it's true, and I might as well tell you, because I may be stuck like this forever…

I felt my mood drop at least ten levels; I could literally feel his sadness. Jack? Why did you do it? Do... what? That day on the cliffs, why did you let go? He was silent for several moments. Because, Jerry's like my brother. I couldn't let him fall. And you… I just, couldn't make you suffer like that. I didn't want to make you have to choose. And, I thought that if there was the slightest chance you might choose me, I didn't want to risk it.

I thought about that for a moment. Would I have let go of one of them to save the other? Probably not. I loved Jack, but I loved Jerry too –in an amiable sense- and there was no way I would want to label myself with the blame for the harm of either. I swallowed hard. Jack, I think it was very selfless of you to save us at the penalty of your own life, but I could have saved you.

Kim, you and I both know that's not true. The rope had snapped, you couldn't have held us both for much longer, and, I couldn't have held on for much longer anyway. Jack, I know you have this hero-mania to uphold, but don't you think you took it a little too far? I slid into my seat and opened my book, staring up at the teacher, but paying her no mind. What I did had nothing to do with my hero-complex, I did it for you guys.

I nodded, staring at my book, feeling little tears welling. But now all of us have to suffer from this loss. Jerry blames himself you know? He thinks it was his fault because he was walking too close to the edge. That's… actually kinda true… We need you Jack! I need you… I mean, he was testing his limits when he was walking literally on the edge. You mean the world to me! Us, I meant us. And it was his idea to even go there in the first place…

Jack! You're doing it again! Huh? Doing what? "Ugh! Never mind."I rolled my eyes and slammed my book shut. I slumped back in my chair, my arms crossed, not realizing right away that all eyes were on me. I looked around, just noticing. Oops… had I said that out loud…? "Kim Crawford, is there anything you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" Miss Karney asked. "Nope, I'm good." I told her, shaking my head.

I saw her face twitch. "Then keep your mouth shut, please. I'm trying to teach a class here." She went back to the board. I'm glad I don't have to put up with her anymore… oh wait, I do. Any chance you want to skip this class…? JACK! Stop getting me into trouble! That was all you, Kimmy. Oho, that's it. I jumped up. "Miss Karney, I don't feel well." I made my best 'I'm ready to puke face' as I clutched my stomach.

"Nurse's office, now." She said as I was already running for the door. I bolted down the hall towards the nurse's. I made a sharp turn and instead, bolted into the girls bathroom, and sat down, panting. "I think I'm going crazy, I'm hearing voices in my head!" I cried. Hey! I'm not just a voice! I covered my ears. "Make it stop, make it stop!" I cried, clutching at my head.

"I got to go, got to get out… make it stop!" I screamed. Kim! It's me! Just calm down! "No, no no no no no no no no!" I said rapidly, trying to make it stop. "I'm in control of my mind! My mind! My thoughts! My mind, my thoughts!" Kim! "No!" I whimpered, falling to my knees. Kim, it's really me! Please, you have to believe me! "No, stop! It's my mind! My control! My thoughts!" I cried. "Kim, please, just calm down!" Jack finally started using my voice, and that's when things really got confusing.

(A/N: okay, when Jack's using Kim's voice to speak, the quotation marks are bold, okay? (I.e. "Kim, it's me!" is when he's talking using her voice) When he's just speaking in her mind, there's no quotations, and the words are bold, okay? That really important!)

"Kim! Please! It's Jack! You have to believe me!" He cried. "No! Get out of my head!" I told him, writhing around on the floor. "Kim, listen to me, I'm not dead, I'm alive! I'm in your head! You have to help me!" I shook my head. "No, my body, my mind, my thoughts, I'm in control!" I told him. "No, you're not, I can control you too!" He made me slap myself. I gasped, putting a hand to my red cheek. "Don't hit me you stupid-" I had slapped myself, intending on it hurting him, but it had only stung me. "Ow…" I whimpered, rubbing my face.

"Kim, you have to calm down. You know as well as I do that this is real! You're not going crazy!" He told me, making me pace the floor. "But, how do I know my mind isn't just making me do all this so that I won't feel bad about losing you?" I cried. "You just have to trust me, okay?" He begged, making me clasp my hands together in a begging motion. "You have to stop making me do stuff! I don't care if this is real or not, this is my body! My mind! I want full control!" I demanded, stomping my foot down.

He made me laugh and flipped my hair. "But I like doing that." He made me do one of my signature know-it-all grins. "Seriously Jack! Stop! This is what made me lose it in the first place!" I cried, throwing my hands in the air. I started to walk out. All heads turned to me as I walked down the hall, arguing with myself. "You know as well as I do that stuff like this doesn't just happen, something special happened between us."

"Yeah? What was it? And how do we fix it?" I demanded. He made me shrug as he made my legs continue to carry me out of the school. "Who knows, it could have been some sort of paranormal phenomenon, a sub-existence. A parallel universe that somehow joined my mind with yours, who knows?" By now, we were half-way down the street. I got some pretty intense stares as I continued my fast pace walking and talking.

"Yes, that's a very interesting idée fixe. Care telling me how we can fix it?" I crossed my arms, glancing at someone who was giving me the 'are you nuts or something?' look. I tried to ignore them as Jack continued us toward home. "Well, I'm not exactly a wunderkind, we would need an expert on the super-natural for this." I rolled my eyes, throwing my hands up and letting them slap down to my sides.

"That's great, Jack, do you know any?" There was silence. "Ha, I knew it." We had reached my house and we went inside. I went up to my room, grateful no one was home yet so I wouldn't have to explain all this to anyone. I slumped down on my bed. "What are we going to do?" I murmured, staring at the ceiling. "There's not really that much we can do." He told me, making me sit up. "No, I want to rest." I made myself lie back down.

"Well, I have pent-up energy, I need to walk." He made me sit back up. "Stop!" I pushed me back down. "Up! Come on, Crawford, move!" He told me. "Don't feel like it." I sang, grabbing the sides of the bed and holding myself down. He continued yelling through my mouth, demanding that we get some exercise, while I continued yelling, demanding that we get some rest. "No." I finally won. I smiled and snuggled up, ready to fall asleep.

POV: Jack Brewer

(same time)

I grumbled, laying on the bed as Kim snored. "Come on, we need to get up." I made her say. She murmured in her sleep, but didn't move. I sighed, making her stand up and stretch. She continued sleeping. Boy, this was weird, it felt like I had full control of Kim's body while she was sleeping. This was my chance to take charge and figure out what was going on.

I smiled, looking in the mirror, practicing acting like Kim so no one would suspect anything. Finally deciding I could handle it, I went downstairs. Crap, her parents were home. "Hey, Kim. You're home early from school." Her mom was in the kitchen, unpacking groceries from a bag. I smiled. "Yep, they had a, half day at school today, so… I'm off to the dojo, bye!" Headed for the door.

"Hold on, young lady." I stopped, closing my eyes and making fists, then slowly turning to face her mother, offering a smile. "Yes, mom?" I asked. "You forgot your karate bag. Don't forget to pack extra clothes." She told me, smiling. I smile. "Oh, yeah, I uh, forgot." I laughed and headed upstairs, grabbing Kim's bag and running back down.

"Okay, see ya." I called, leaving. I sighed, puffing out my cheeks as I walked down the road. This was a completely strange and new feeling. I felt as though I was fully in control of Kim's body. I lifted my, erm, her hand and inspected it as I continued walking. I smoothed my… grr, I mean her hand over my…. HER cheek, reveling at how smooth it was. This was weird.

Without realizing it, I had made it to the dojo. I sighed dropping Kim's bag and plopping down. Oops, this doesn't look lady-like. I slapped my legs together, then put one leg over the other like I'd seen Kim do before. I rolled my eyes. Lady-like. Never thought I'd think, that before. I sighed, running a hand through my hair, then giving it a weird look when it kept going and going… man, Kim's hair was long, and really nice… I shook myself out of it.

"Hey, Kim." I didn't respond right away. "Oh, uh, hey." I smiled up at Rudy who had suddenly appeared in front of me. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep in a few days. He gave me a tight smile and sighed, plopping down on the bench beside me. "Life just hasn't been the same, since Jack…" He shook his head, unable to finish.

I felt my heartbreak for him. I desperately wanted to tell him I was alive, but I couldn't do that, no yet anyway. He sighed, patting my knee. "Well, get your gi on." He murmured. I nodded, watching him stand and go back into his office. "Hey Kim." I looked back to see the glum faces of Milton and Eddie. "Hey." I said quietly, giving them a tight smile.

Never before had I seen such a sad face as that of Jerry Martinez as he walked into the dojo, his face with healing scrapes on them from that day on the mountains. "Hey Jerry." We all said quietly. He didn't reply, he just threw his stuff in his locker and grabbed his gi, then headed for the bathroom.

I sighed, grabbing Kim's gi and following him. "Uh, Kim, that's the boys room." Milton was right behind me. Ooooops…. My face turned bright red. "Oh, yeah, I know." I made a quick turn and went into the girls room. Whoa, it smelled like, ten-thousand times better in there. I smiled and looked around. I went into one of the dressing stalls. I stared down at Kim's body. What if she woke up while I was undressing her? That would be awkward…

I shrugged, closing my eyes and undressing her quickly and dressing in the gi. I sighed, looking down. Dressing with your eyes closed was harder than one would think. Our pants were on backwards, and the shirt was all crooked. The guys would notice that. I straightened it up and slipped the pants off, being that the top was long enough to cover… that area. I slipped them back on the right way and walked out.

I walked into the battle of the century. Jerry was murdering the kicking dummy with kicks and punches. I stared, not sure what to do. I quickly decided by tip-toeing around him. "Okay, Kim, ready to work out?" Rudy asked tiredly, ignoring Jerry completely, even though he was destroying the dojo's equipment.

I nodded, getting into a fighting stance. Kim no longer had me to spar with, so she'd been sparring with Rudy the past few weeks. When she'd sparred, I had waited patiently in her mind, looking out. Now, I was in complete control, feeling as though her body was my own. This was going to be interesting.

Rudy and I began fighting. After about ten seconds, he was on the floor, moaning. I put my hands on my hips, smiling. "That all you got, Rudy?" I asked cockily, flipping Kim's hair. He moaned and stood up, staring at me. "Kim, that was incredible!" he cried. "I haven't seen anyone fight like that since…" He trailed off and stared at the floor. My smile vanished. I was Kim, I had to pretend that I was sad.

Rudy sighed. "Come on, let's see how well you do when I'm going all-in." He told me. I got back into a fighting stance. "Bring it on." I told him quietly. We were off. I swung a fist and he blocked it. I sent a kick and he caught it, pushing it down. Double kick. Same. I did a side-kick and he blocked it. I sent another side-kick to his other side and he received it to the ribs. He stumbled slightly, then re-balanced.

I felt Kim wake up. Kim, let's do this! She seemed startled out of her mind, causing me to lose balance. Wha? Where am I? What's going on? I cried out, covering our ears as her voice had pierced through my head, stopping and just standing in the middle of the mats, Rudy standing in front of us, in a fighting stance, the strangest look on his face.

"Kim… Are, you okay?" Rudy asked. As soon as Kim realized what I'd done, I felt her anger flair up inside us, and I once again, got the feeling of conflicting control of her body. "JACK!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, causing everyone in the room to cry out and cover their ears, then turn to stare at us. I felt our –I had begun to think of her body as 'our' body- blood drain from our face. She bit our lip and rubbed her arm uneasily, letting out a sheepish giggle.

She began fixing her hair absent-mindedly and chewing relentlessly on her lower lip. The feeling reminded me of when she'd kissed me, that day on the mountains. Jack?! What the he- ugh, heck are you doing? How did I get here?! She demanded, stalking over to the bench and grabbing a towel, sitting down, the look of 'if I could kill you by just thinking about it, I would' on her face.

I'm sorry, Okay? I've been cooped up in your head for so long now! I just wanted some freedom! She made a face and rolled her eyes. Okay, fine, but could you at least warn me before you do it while I'm sleeping? You freaked me out when I woke up here with Rudy in front of me making fists… To be fair, I did want to go out, and all you wanted was to sleep… so, you have no memory of anything that happened? She thought for a moment. Nope. Wait, what did you do…? She gave me that 'if you did anything stupid I'll kill you' tones.

I made her laugh. I just kissed Jerry, made out with Rudy, and ran around screaming, 'Jack is my superhero!' She shrieked, jumping up and throwing the towel. "Eww, ew ew ew!" She shrieked storming out of the dojo, ignoring the looks the guys were giving her.

She also ignored the looks random strangers gave her as she continued shrieking random swear words and insults as she stormed down the walk-way. Kim, calm down, I didn't mean it! She ignored me completely. She finally calmed down, but by then, we were halfway back to her house. By then, she was furious. "You're gross, really disgusting, Jack. That wasn't funny!" She cried, stomping her foot down, hard. "Ow, no need to get violent." I reasoned, putting her hands out in a civil manner.

"No! That, uggghh! Why do you do this to me?" She plopped down on her front porch, shoving her elbows into our knees and her fists into our chin. "Take it easy!" I cried. "No, you listen, Jack. I have had it! You can't keep controlling my body like this!" She told me. "Are you going to freak out at everything I say? Or are you going to actually listen?" I stood up and she grumbled. I started pacing the porch.

"Look, it's simple. I don't know how long we're going to be stuck like this, but we need to work out a way to deal with it until we find a solution." I told her, putting a hand on our hip. She slapped the hand away. "And stop, touching me." She hissed. "Kim!" I cried, throwing my hands up in frustration. "They're your hands!" I informed her, shoving them in her face. "Stop!" She cried, pulling away.

"Kim, you need to chill, okay?" I put our hands on her shoulders comfortingly. She sighed, staring at the ground. "Okay, Jack. If we have to deal with each other like this, we're going to have to lay down some rules." She told me, pulling our hands down. I made her nod.

"I'll go first, my first conditions are…"