Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this story is based on the Mediator series written by the lovely Meg Cabot.

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CHAPTER 8

If life wasn't already strange enough without the whole mediator business Suze had to put up with pretty much every day, then what would her current state be considered? First, Slater snoozing on her doorstep, then the barn house that magically appeared several yards from her backyard, and then the acquaintance with an attractive young man who appeared so damn familiar.

Not what she would consider an average day in a mediator's life.

Helpless, Suze looked around the barn house, its familiarity causing her to feel even dizzier. The shelves, stalls and even the hay stacked on the floor made her feel as if some important part of her life had occurred here some time.

"I-I don't know. My friend told me to hide here from…something," she finally said, but not as confident as she should have. But the gut feeling telling her that something was wrong kept getting stronger and stronger.

The young guy, hair almost as dark as his eyes, gestured a very lightheaded Suze to sit on the little mountain of hay. Courteous as he was, he even offered her some water.

"Jesse." The name slipped out of her mouth, unexplainably, after she took a few sips from the water flask he had offered her.

Bewildered, he looked at her, studying her face warily before asking, "How do you know my name? I do not remember telling you anything like that."

For another strange reason, Suze knew other things about him. And she also knew that he would soon ask her if she had met any of his sisters, who were supposed to arrive to the boarding house in a few days for Jesse's marriage to someone…someone despicable.

"I know you."

"Appears like it, "he replied arrogantly. Perhaps it wasn't every day that he had girls randomly calling out his name. From his reaction, Suze could tell that he thought of her as a freak. Sadly, she felt like one.

But she had to reason with him. Make him understand that she knew him somehow. She had to find the blank pieces in her mind because in the back of her head, a part kept telling her that she was here for a reason. That Suze had a mission to fulfill.

"Listen, I know this is weird and all, but I feel as if we've had this meeting before. There is something so familiar about you. Your voice. Even your facial expressions." And something else. Something she couldn't get a grasp on because her heart seemed to remember something her mind didn't.

Although he was an undeniably handsome chump, she knew that there was something else. This inevitable pull, a longing that seemed to span from some time back. Maybe, this was what soul mates felt when they met each other.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to feel that way.

"I don't know who you are, and why you're here, but we need to get you some help. You look ill." The look on his face was rather stern for someone who attempted to be concerned.

Ya see? Not something a person would say to their soul mate, thought Suze disappointedly. Then another missing piece seemed to turn up though. "Did you say 'help'?"

"Yes," replied Jesse, his expression finally softening a little. "Why?"

"Now I remember. You wanted to become a doctor. But since you are the only son in your family, you have to take over the ranch…" Suze trailed off, puzzled at her knowledge of something so personal. But now she knew- there was something going on! This encounter wasn't random, and she could tell that this was a mediator mission.

But where were the ghosts?

Jesse, who knelt on the floor as they spoke, inched closer to her and grabbed her shoulders firmly. "How do you know that? How do you know such things about me?"

"Because we love or loved each other," she blurted out before she could stop herself. Ashamed and confused as to why she made such an allegation about a relationship with each other that neither of them knew about, she looked down, unable to look him into the eyes. Because when she had said it, she had felt it as well.

To her surprise, he let go of her arms and lifted her face with his finger under her chin, so that Suze would look into his eyes. Unable to avoid his gaze any longer, she looked up to see that he was studying her face intensely. He almost appeared desperate now to discover the truth. His eyes searched for something in her eyes.

"What is your name?" He asked, his voice suddenly very gentle and quiet.

"Susannah."

He repeated her name, softly, and Susannah closed her eyes. The sweetness of her name from his lips was so familiar, and she felt as though her heart that had felt like a desert minutes ago was finally quenched of its thirst.

But this moment was ruined by an ugly screech. Before Suze was able to register the whole situation properly, she saw a young woman she recognized as 'Maria' launching at them, a large knife in her hand.

"Suze, MOVE!" Paul was right behind Maria, and grabbed her arm before she was able to sink the knife into Jesse's back.

"How many more times? How many more times will you attempt to ruin me, stupid Mediator?" Screamed Maria, while Jesse helped Suze up and grabbed her hand to run past the now incapacitated Maria who was being held back by Paul.

How many more times? Could this have happened before? Although Suze's memory of what had happened for the past several days or so was quite blurry and confusing, she was starting to the puzzle pieces back together mentally.

With the lack of remembrance, Suze had to rely on her gut feeling. And it was telling her that Jesse had to survive whatever was going to happen to them now. But someone was missing. The picture was still incomplete.

"Going somewhere?" And there was the person that completed the puzzle; Diego, who wanted to kill Jesse. How many more times would this happen? Wow, now Maria finally made some sense.

"Suze! We can't do this anymore! Grab my hand and let's shift!" Although she was unaware of where Paul thought they were going to shift to, Suze knew that she had to go home, and talk to her Ghost Jesse. Her parents. Doc. Father Dom. Paul's grandfather.

Feeling more hopeless than ever, Suze grabbed Paul's hand and concentrated on the day she had first transitioned to the past. The day this never-ending occurrence of saving Jesse began.

With a force much more painful than ever, Suze felt as if she was caught in a tornado, and landed at her porch, once again. But this time she didn't have a chance to look around to see what century she had arrived at before passing out…

"Suze!"

"Oh my God. I hope she's okay," sobbed a lady, her voice so close. And so familiar...

"Doctor, will she be…"

"…hope so, but we'll have to run some tests before…"

"Should we wait…"

There was silence for a moment. Or rather, she couldn't hear anything for a few seconds, any sound blocked out. The sounds and voices kept phasing in and out.

"Susannah, it's me, Jesse." She didn't have to open her eyes to recognize that voice. Not that she was able to anyway. Everything was coming back slowly.

Eyelids heavy from fatigue and exhaustion, she mustered as much strength as she could to say something. "Jesse?"

"Hun, she just said 'Jesse'," exclaimed her mother, who would even have been happy to hear 'Abraham Lincoln' or something, as long as it was a word or two.

"Is he here," whispered a younger voice that Suze recognized to be Doc's.

"Querida, please tell me you're alright. Anything," begged Jesse. Suze wanted to reach her hand out to find his face and stroke his cheek, but she couldn't move.

She had failed him. Twice. Or was it three times? "I-I'm sorry, Jesse. I messed up again," she suddenly sobbed, her eye lids finally allowing her to open up a few times. Suze kept sobbing uncontrollably, finally able to raise her shaky to hide her face in it.

"Suze, who's Jesse? Sweetheart, it's us." Suze's mom placed her hand on Suze's forehead, while her bed seemed to be in motion.

"Susannah." Jesse was sobbing now too, but it seemed to be more out of relief, rather than grief.

"Where is…" Suze sat up to look for…

"What is it, Sweety?" Asked Andy, who appeared to be the calmest. Of her family members, only her parents and doc were on walking next to her down the hallway while she was being transported somewhere. Her room, perhaps.

There was someone, someone Suze had with her when she came here. Was it Paul? But when she looked behind her, Paul was lying unconscious on a stretcher.

Ignorant of the fact that her parents couldn't see Jesse, Suze grabbed him by his shirt. "I took him, you, with me. Where's the body. Is he still alive?"

"Suze, are you talking about the boy that had passed out next to you? Is his name Jesse?" Apparently her mother took Suze's strange behaviour as something like post-traumatic stress, since she no longer seemed to be puzzled.

"Yes," replied Suze, as another stretcher was passing Suze's from an opposite direction. When she turned back to Jesse, she saw that he had disappeared.

"He was already dead before reaching the hospital."