STANDARD DISCLAIMER: JQ characters are not mine, but the non-JQ characters on this chapter are my creations. Any similarities to fictional or actual people, living or dead is just really, really weird. I'm not making any cash from this, it's just purecrazy fun!

June 2, 2009

Into the Valley of Darkness
Chapter 3 Act 3: The First Step
by Ina-chan

"No, I am NOT okay."

John stepped back and instinctively raised his hands in the air in surrender, narrowly avoiding Jessie's muddy boot as the girl aimed for his knees when he held out his hand to help her up. Based on the sharp daggers the girl was shooting at him as she wiped the mud off from her eyes, John figured that holding back the mirth that was threatening to burst from his chest was likely the best course of action.

"This is the last time I let you be in charge of anything," Jessie grumbled as she struggled to her feet and tried to wipe off the heavy goop that clung stubbornly to her clothes.

"And what would you rather do? Hitchhike cross country in the main roads, alert the police, and get caught before we even started?" The boy retorted accusingly.

"That risk doesn't look very bad right now," Jessie replied as she unceremoniously flicked a glob of dirt at him.

"Well I'm sorry that I don't have the power to command the weather on my beck and call," John retorted. "But I didn't hear any objections to the plan earlier."

"Because I was momentarily blinded and stunned by the fleeting idea that you weren't an idiot after all," Jessie snapped back before turning her annoyance to the third member of their party who was following them in a relatively safe distance. "The hell Blu!!! What are you waiting for!?!?!?!! Someone to detonate a bomb behind you?!?!?!"

John snorted as the other boy ignored their impatient fire-haired companion and continued to walk in his leisurely pace. "Geez, stop being such a nag… It'll be at least a good four days before the school catches on that we're not with Dr. Ross' during the school holidays. By then, we'll be halfway across the Atlantic."

"Right," Jessie replied uncertainly with a frown.

The boy sighed upon seeing her expression, "Stop it."

"What?"

"This isn't like you at all."

"What?!?"

"Worrying," John sighed again, before switching to a more serious tone. "He's going to be very pissed, but he'll understand."

An unreadable expression flashed across Jessie's face as she turned away and watched the younger boy inch closer, "Dr. Ross wouldn't agree to this stupid plan if he knew."

John sighed, but considering their current situation, figured it was best to let it go. "Yeah, but he'll also understand in the end. He seemed like the type who'll continue to do anything to help her."

Jessie raised an eyebrow, "How would you know that? You only met Dr. Ross once or twice."

"I don't have to be good buddies with him to figure it out," The blonde snorted as he gave a significant gesture towards the other boy's approaching figure.

"And since when have you been an expert on human behavior?"

"Nah," John gave her a leveled gaze. "I just know that we men just have the irrational tendency to follow every whim and command of the woman who has complete power over them."

Jessie gave him another unreadable expression before completely turning around to walk stiffly towards their lagging companion. "Goddammit Blu! Don't you dare stop! DOUBLE TIME! NOW!!!"

"Why do I even try?" John mumbled in annoyance as he shoved his hands on his pockets as he watched the girl grab the younger boy's hand through hooded eyes.

"Blu!" Jessie growled with increasing irritation as the younger boy stopped moving as soon as she started to tug his arm. "We don't have time for this. Cmon! We have to get out of here before we run out of light."

But boy refused to move from the fallen log where Jessie lost her footing earlier, and seemed more determined to stubbornly root himself on the ground rather than follow her orders. Jessie let out an exasperated cry and threw her hand up in the air.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," John sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, as if to ward a headache. "Give him a break Jessie. We've been walking through this muck the whole day. You refused to rest for more than fifteen minutes, not even for lunch."

Jessie turned to him incredulously. "Since when did you become Mr. Sensitive?"

"Look, I know you're angry and miserable," John replied patiently, "and I'm used to how you blow off steam. But the Blu-man here isn't me and dragging him into your aura of misery is obviously not going to help matters."

As if to emphasize the older boy's point, Blu decided to take that opportunity to sit on the ground against the log and hugged his knees.

"Great… just wonderful!"

"Look… Max mentioned an old abandoned farmhouse approximately…." John announced as he peered unto the GPS in his watch, "half a mile south from here. It's a bit of a detour, but at the rate we're going, we won't reach our first stop before the light goes out anyway. The rain doesn't look like its going to let up any time soon either. We might as well find a place where we can warm up and stay dry."

"An old abandoned farmhouse," Jessie stared at him blandly. "Isn't that convenient…"

"Oh, how could I have been so stupid? You figured me out." John replied in the same tone. "It's where I lure innocent virgins and then bury them in woods after I had my way with them."

"I suppose it's better than being out in this rain," Jessie let out an indignant snort as she grabbed the younger boy's hand again. "Let's go Blu."

However, the younger blonde still refused to move.

"Oh for the love of…" Jessie muttered as she crouched down beside the boy, brushing a clump of wet hair from her face, "Blu, what is it?"

It was only then that she noticed. The unmistakable hitch in Blu's breathing and how he was staring intently at a specific area of the thick brushwood behind him, from the corner of his eyes. Jessie instinctively loosened the straps of her back pack and ducked behind the fallen wood. Without a word, John silently followed her lead.

It felt like an eternity as John watched the bushes intently. The soft pitter patter of the rain and their nervous breaths punctuating the deafening silence until they heard it…

/Crack!/

The mere sound of a twig on the ground snapping under pressure boomed in their ears like thunder. John felt Jessie's hand reach anxiously for his. His surprised gaze met her deer-in-headlights expression from opposite end of the younger boy positioned between them. Though at the time, his mind couldn't decide if he was surprised with the fact that she actually reached out to him for comfort, or if it was from seeing that un-Jessie-like expression on her face. Nonetheless, John couldn't help but feel a surge of inexplicable anger start to well within him. He gave her a reassuring squeeze, before reluctantly pulling away from her to reach for his knapsack.

/Crack!/

It was closer. The sound and its implication pulled Jessie back to reality. Jessie couldn't help but feel a surge of inexplicable anger start to well with her. Though her mind couldn't decide at the time if she was angry that she allowed her feelings show in a lapse of momentary weakness, or the fact that he pulled away when she allowed herself to depend on him. She already knew better than to put her faith in him.

There's no time for that, Jessie. She scolded herself silently as her body tensed to get ready for attack as the thick shroud of leafless shrubbery before them quavered and shook, as if violently struggling in an unseen battle… until finally, the tall shrubbery finally gave way and allowed a hooded figure to burst through them.

"Don't move." John's voice sounded unnaturally dangerous, that Jessie almost stumbled forward off balance as her body instinctively obeyed the command in mid-leap.

The stranger made an unintelligible sound and started to move toward them, but instantly froze and raised both hands up in the air at the sound of a distinctive click. Jessie held her breath at the sound as well as she slowly turned to look at her friend.

"Take off your belt or shoelaces and throw it in front of you. Your choice."

"Can't we---" The stranger began calmly.

"Did I tell you to talk?"

The stranger reluctantly and cautiously unbuckled his belt and obeyed the original order.

Jessie didn't even try to stifle the sharp intake of breath that got caught in her throat when she first caught the sight of John calmly brandishing a revolver at the interloper. It wasn't really the sight of her friend holding a weapon that chilled her blood. It was the expression on his face and the tone of his voice. It scared the hell out of her. She's only seen someone act like this before...

"Turn around. Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head where I can see them."

Once.

"Jessie."

And she never wanted to see that expression on anyone's face ever again.

"Jessie!"

Jessie jumped at the sound of his voice. He motioned towards the belt and she somehow managed to recover to obey his silent order. She as she looped the belt over one of their prisoner's wrists, she pulled at the hood to see his face. Her eyes widened as she met an equally surprised familiar set of brown eyes. "You…"

The young man gave her a nervous grin, "Despite the circumstances, I'm very happy to see you."

"Jessie?"

"Its okay, put the gun down," Jessie replied as she helped Hadji back on his feet. "He's a friend."

"A friend?" The girl's introduction seemed to have made the boy even angrier, that for a moment Jessie thought that Hadji looked more fearful for his life than their earlier encounter.

"I'm sorry," Jessie whispered to Hadji apologetically, before snapping back at the other boy. "John, don't be such a douche."

"Ah!" Hadji eyed the other boy as comprehension dawned on his face. "Your overprotective father..."

Despite herself, Jessie laughed.

The irony behind mirror images was that despite behaving and acting opposite to the other, mirror images were still, in a true sense, still one being. And that's how Melana always saw her sister and her self.

Despite their distinct personalities and their contrasting styles in approaching certain… situations… they were essentially the same person. She wasn't quite sure when it first started, but even as children, they seemed to have an unconscious decision to often times take the opposite approach to a situation. Working together always meant going head to head on certain decisions. There were more instances than she can count when they found themselves like this. Across each other, holding back the urge to gouge each other's eyes out and being forced to make compromises. Often times, it worked to their advantage…in most situations.

Melana allowed an uncharacteristic smile to pull the corners of her lips. She knew her sister inside out as well as Anaya reads her like an open book. Despite their contrasting personalities both sisters knew better than anyone how the other feels and reacts to moments like these.

And at the moment, Anaya was annoyed. "Why did you do that?"

"He wanted to be more useful and I needed an errand boy," Melana replied blandly with a shrug. "It was a win-win situation."

"Sending him out alone in the middle of nowhere in this weather is a win-win situation?" Anaya rebutted, not bothering to hide her ire as she leaned on the desk between them.

Melana raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound as if your little pet is incapable of protecting himself. Wasn't it your idea to let him tag along as part of your 'self-confidence' building exercise?"

"Stop calling him my pet," Anaya's own eyebrow twitched unconsciously at the remark. Her lips thinning into a line, in an honorable attempt to avoid her twin's baiting. "You know better than anyone else the complications that could arise if something were to happen to him."

"Of course. Wasn't I the one who tried to warn you from the very beginning?" Melana replied curtly before giving her sister a leveled look. "Or are you finally admitting that you brought him for your own selfish motives?"

"What are the transmitter codes? I'll retrieve him myself," Anaya demanded as she leaned even closer.

"I never intended to hide it from you," Melana retorted with a hint of amusement as she unceremoniously slid a portable GPS tracker across the desk towards her sister. Without another word, Anaya grabbed the device and spun around her heels to leave the room in a huff. "Though… do you think this would be beneficial to your pet's little self-help program?"

Anaya paused to give her sister a venomous glare. "Stop calling him my pet."

"Of course its not that he's not used to you coming to his rescue, even though his general location is technically still within the embassy's perimeter…" Melana remarked, ignoring her twin's ire, "…in which your presence could complicate a rather simple, yet delicate operation."

"Sister… what did you do?" Anaya asked in a dangerously low voice.

Melana gave her an uncharacteristic smile. "I needed an errand boy to fetch a very important package."

"You didn't…"

"It's your fault you know."

"My fault?"

"You hesitated."

"This has nothing to do with him."

Melana gave her a sardonic laugh in reply.

"He need not be involved in a family matter."

"So you're saying now, after all you've said and done, you have no intention on elevating the status of your little pet into anything more than?"

Anaya froze and gaped at her twin incredulously, "W-what did you say?"

"You can fool yourself for as long as you wish, Sister," Melana continued, returning to her cold, serious businesslike demeanor. "But you know as well as I do that we can't fool each other. If you wish me to accept him, then he must prove that he would be willing to get his own hands dirty. Better to shoot a lying jade before it sings it treacherous song twice, don't you think?"

"If you were not my sister…" Anaya began in a low voice.

"If I were not your sister, you would have been executed for your own treachery," Melana shot back. "You may have forgotten, or forgiven, or simply don't care, but I haven't. I will never rest until all that belongs to us is rightfully restored. All of those responsible for tainting Father's honour are punished."

A pained expression flashed across the other Zin daughter's features for a few moments. "Sister, is it worth the price you are paying?"

An uncharacteristic flash of anger crossed Melana's own face, "If you truly love our family, that question would not even cross your mind!"

Anaya clenched her fists and quickly spun around, quickly making her way across the room and towards the door.

"Running away again?" Melana called out after her mockingly.

Anaya paused by the door a few moments, not bothering to look back. "0600 hours."

"Very well."

With that, Anaya stepped out of the room and silently closed the door behind her, leaving Melana to lean back in her seat, something that may resemble triumphant smile slightly curling the corners of her lips, marring her stony features.

End of Chapter 3 Act 3
To be continued

Author's Squawk:

Wow… this one took a lot longer to write. Blame it on RL crap. I'm actually a bit disappointed to see how short the scene is…

Ina-chan