Chapter LII
It was the following day. Arrangements were being made to transport everyone to Massachusetts. Giana had decided to spend some time away from the group, opting to seek out Jack. He hadn't said a word since the press conference.
"Come on, Jack," she pled. They were in his family's temporary quarters. "You can't shut down again."
He spun, his hands at his sides, balled into fists. "What do you want me to do, Giana?!"
"Talk to me!" she cried. "We can't go another six months like this!"
"You left!"
"You let me go! You said it was okay!"
He made a strangled noise. "You told me not to tell you to stay, remember?!"
Of course she did. "I NEEDED YOU, JACK!" She grabbed his shoulders. "Xander was under XANA's control and somehow got to France, and he attacked me in the factory and almost killed me, and I couldn't tell anyone—"
"You saw him?!"
"I THOUGHT IT WAS A CLONE! I didn't realize it was actually him until the CIA confirmed he was still alive and with your dad!" She let go, averting her gaze to the floor. "It doesn't matter anyway." She shouldered past him and headed for the door.
"Giana, wait."
"He's dead!" she repeated for the thousandth time, turning to face him again.
He took a step forward. "I KNOW!"
"He died trying to save me!" She balled her hands into fists at her sides. "How the hell do you think that makes me feel?!"
"Like shit," he realized, quiet.
"I hated him so much for what he did before," she admitted, averting her gaze. "And I was finally able to move on. Hell, he had even tried to change — after one of our last encounters, before the fight…" She shook her head, trying to forget. "He helped Jeremie get us back. And he used his knowledge of the Men in Black to lead us right to where we needed to be."
Jack remained silent.
"One of the agents told him he was a traitor," she recalled. "And Xander killed him. Astrid said the surveillance footage showed that agent pulling out a gun and aiming it at me. It was right before the feed cut out."
"I just feel so helpless." He fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "If I'd known… I could've—"
"It's better you didn't." She knelt down across from him, gently placing a hand on his arm. "I couldn't handle losing both of you."
She felt him relax the slightest bit.
They remained like that, in comfortable silence, until the internal battle she'd been waging had come to a head: "I was dead," she blurted out.
He made eye contact with her, noticing her somber expression. "What?"
"There were complications after they removed the bullet," she explained. "I saw Xander. When they were trying to revive me."
He tried to keep his face neutral.
"We watched younger versions of ourselves share our first kiss the night of your guys' Bar Mitzvah," she continued. "I thanked him for saving me, and he apologized… And then he said he'd be fine, and that I should wake up." She closed her eyes. "I know it wasn't a dream."
"I believe you." He looked down at his hands. "It's just… I dunno. None of this seems real."
"That's how I felt when they took Sissi and I to the factory for the first time." She moved to a sitting position. "I didn't let them know, but I wanted to run. Immediately. I wanted to get Vega and go back to my grandparents' and then come home. I wanted to throw the key to my dorm room in the Seine, and for my parents to pull me out of Kadic. I didn't want to be involved." She felt a lump forming in her throat. "I didn't ask to save the damn world."
"Why didn't you leave?" he questioned. "You could've easily just walked right out and gone back to your room like nothing had happened."
"There was an attack," she explained. "And… I guess, there was a small part of me that kind of wanted the adventure." She paused, taking a deep breath, trying not to cry again. "Once Sissi and I had been virtualized, that was it. There was no going back. We were bound to the mission."
"I just… I can't believe I didn't know that wasn't him in the car." He stood, plucking a toss pillow off the sofa, gripping it tightly. "I'm his twin! I should've known something wasn't right!"
"Tori thought it was him, too," she heard herself say. "I… I called her to tell her everything before the press conference. I didn't want her to find out from the news." She paused a beat. "I'm glad I'm done with Lyoko."
"Why?"
"I always felt… less than."
His expression fell. "What do you mean?"
"When I was virtualized on to Lyoko, I was… normal." She got to her feet, closing the gap between them. "I could see everything, Jack. The monsters that came at us, from fifty — even a hundred! — meters away? Perfect. Nothing was blurry, nothing was hazy. It wasn't just one big mass of color."
"Did you tell them?"
"It took a while for me to realize what was going on," she responded, avoiding the question. "I thought it was just some weird side-effect of the virtualization sequence. But then we started destroying supercomputers in the real world, via the Replikas, and… it stuck." She sat down, suddenly emotionally drained. "I saw Xander, fully, at the Men in Black's compound. And I saw him again, when he threw himself in front of me — in front of the gun — and we fell to the floor, and he died. It was the most horrific thing I've ever experienced. And I can't get that image out of my head."
He joined her, taking her hands in his. "Did you tell them?"
"No." She closed her eyes. "They knew I gained the perfect vision, and that it had added side-effects when I was devirtualized. But… no. I didn't tell them. I don't know if I will."
He was about to respond, when the door to the apartment burst open. "There you are!"
Giana stood in a flurry. "Mémé?!" she sputtered. "Pépé?!" A third person entered a moment later. "Quentin?!" She closed her eyes and shook her head, but they were still there when she opened them. She addressed them in French: "How the hell did you get here?!"
The couple rushed to her, catching her in an embrace. Quentin stayed by the door, his hands clasped behind his back. "I cannot believe you did something so reckless," Pauline said in a rush, smoothing the brunette's hair. "You put yourself in so much danger, do you understand that?! I mean, yes, you saved the world of course, but—"
She stopped herself, looking past the girl and noticing Jack, who'd dropped the throw pillow to the floor.
"Jacques!" She pulled him into a hug similar to Giana's. "I'm so deeply sorry for your loss."
"Thank you," he mumbled, also switching to French and starting to feel very uncomfortable. "And, it's Jack, ma'am."
"Of course." She took a step back, observing the duo. Jean-Luc had let go of his granddaughter and sought refuge in an armchair. "Did we interrupt something?"
"It's fine," Giana responded in a rush. "But… again, how did you get here?"
"We flew, Miss," Quentin said simply, still stationed by the door.
"He's right," Jean-Luc drawled. "Your mother called to inform us of your escapades and we knew we had to be on the next flight out of Paris."
"Are you alright?" Pauline demanded, placing her hands on Giana's shoulders. She examined the girl closer. "They said you were shot."
"I'm better now," the girl explained, breaking away. She stepped back. "Still in a little pain, but mainly tired."
"Did you make sure it's kosher?" Giana pestered.
"Yes, dear," Janine replied, for probably about the thousandth time.
"Because Jack's family eats kosher during the holidays—"
"I'm aware, darling." She looked up from the food she was preparing, making eye contact with her daughter across the island. "I did a little online research."
"I don't understand why you can't have someone else do it," Pauline drawled, poised delicately on the sofa. She was flipping through channels on the TV in an attempt to find something in French. "I thought the Agency was taking care of your meals."
"Maman," Janine started, trying to keep her growing frustration at bay, "please. Unlike you, I enjoy cooking." She put the casserole dish in the oven. "Plus, it's the least I can do. Jane and her family are in the middle of processing a lot of trauma right now."
Pauline looked to her granddaughter. "Where's Nico?"
"He's angrily kicking a soccer ball somewhere," the girl replied. "His phone hasn't stopped ringing since the press conference. Every college and university in the country wants him, but he still hasn't opened the letter from Columbia."
The woman arched an eyebrow. "So, why don't you do it for him?"
"Maman," Janine warned.
"She's right, Mémé." Giana wrung her hands. "Going through someone's mail is a crime."
"Oh, pish posh, he's your brother!" The woman stood. "I'll do it myself!"
Giana flew from her seat at the kitchen island, blocking an attempt by her grandmother to enter Nico's room. "Mémé, wait!" She tried a different approach: "You can barely speak English!"
"But I can read it fairly well," the woman asserted. "This is no way to conduct yourself, young lady—"
"Do not talk to my daughter that way," Janine snapped.
Pauline scowled, turning to face her daughter. "Your father and I tried our hardest to take good care of her while she attended Kadic! Maybe, if you had let her stay with us instead of enrolling her as a boarder—"
"Stop it!" Giana cried.
"She wanted to be a boarding student!" Janine shouted. "And Sal and I let her, because she is a strong, independent, young woman who does not need you and Papa to take care of her!"
"But then she got involved with that boy," Pauline scoffed, "and his friends—"
"And they saved the world, Maman!"
The older woman threw her arms up in exasperation. "She ran amok, Janine! Always skipping out on dinners, making excuses, getting Quentin involved, no less! She deserted her own tea before it even started—"
Giana made a strangled noise. "I didn't even want a tea!"
Pauline and Janine straightened, staring at her.
"I didn't even want to be involved with Lyoko, but I did," the girl continued. "I was afraid, but people needed help, my help, and look where it got us!" Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes. "XANA might be gone but Xander's dead, again, and now everybody knows everything, and we're not safe anymore!"
Her mother tried to reach for her, to pull her in for a hug, but the girl dodged; instead, she headed for the front door, grabbing her coat and swiftly harnessing the dog.
Pauline attempted to stop her. "Giana—"
"I need to be by myself," they heard her say, muffled, as the door closed after them.
Pauline frowned. "Aren't you going to go after her?"
Janine, tired, moved back into the kitchen. "No."
"But—"
"Listen." She started washing a pan in the sink. "She's been through a lot. Between Xander, and Lyoko, and XANA…" And almost dying…
Pauline took a seat at the island. "Why is Xander such a sore subject for her?"
Janine stiffened.
"I'm genuinely curious."
"He hurt her," she replied, quiet. "Physically, and emotionally."
Pauline gasped.
"Sal and I didn't know until after she broke up with him. I think Nico found out at some point, but he let her tell us when she was ready." She paused, closing her eyes for a brief moment. "It was bad, Maman. He was stalking her. She couldn't leave school by herself for fear of getting hurt. She didn't feel safe." A lump formed in her throat. "My daughter didn't feel safe because of a boy."
"Oh, my…"
"So, we took out a restraining order on him," she continued. "And then Liam apparently faked his death and had him join the MIB, and… You know the rest."
"I…" Pauline blinked. "I had no idea." Uncharacteristically resting her elbows on the counter, she buried her face in her hands. "That explains it."
"What?"
"I was trying to set her up with Clarice's grandson, Blaise," she said. "For the Bal. Anyway, something went wrong, and I think she kicked him, and he left. I then brought up Xander in the argument that followed, and… You should've seen her face, Janine."
The woman leaned against the other side of the island, making eye contact with her mother.
"It was like I took a part of her, ripped it out, and shred it to pieces."
"You didn't know. We kept the situation very private."
Pauline stood abruptly. "I should go talk to her—"
Janine grabbed her arm. "No. Give her space. She'll come back."
"Hey."
Giana stopped short, letting out a breath as Yumi approached. She felt herself relax.
The older girl took in her expression. "Wanna get out of here?"
"Right," she scoffed. "They have guards everywhere. We're internationally recognized now."
"But you can disappear."
She thought a moment. And even though it was a terrible idea, it was also wonderful. Maybe getting off the CIA's grounds was exactly what she needed.
"I'll try."
Grabbing Yumi's hand, she made them, and Vega, disappear.
"Where to?"
"There's a coffee shop less than a block away," her friend said. "Let's go. We can talk."
She smiled. "Okay."
"… So, then I left." Giana stared down into her mug of hot chocolate. "I didn't want to listen to them argue anymore."
Yumi put her latte down on the coffee table between them. "Has it always been like this?"
"I think she's always been like this," she replied. "But I'm sure a lot of it has to do with me being visually impaired." She leaned back in the armchair she'd been occupying. "I don't get it. They don't treat Nico like he's fragile."
"But he's also a boy," Yumi pointed out. "It's a double standard."
"It's crap, is what it is."
"I know." She sighed. "My parents are the same with Hiroki; even though he's the younger sibling, he's viewed in a different regard."
"My father was always overprotective," Giana said. "You know; I told you. But then once the Xander thing happened, there was a period of time where my parents just… let me do whatever the hell I wanted. I think they thought that, if they tried to restrict my actions, it would be like they were interfering with the grieving process." She paused a beat. "Plus, they didn't know how to act once I'd told them about what he did to me. It was like they were afraid to say or do the wrong thing — they didn't know how to go about it." She took another sip of hot chocolate. "I can't wait to shut down the supercomputer. Go back to leading a normal life."
Yumi had been listening, but something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. There was a woman sitting at the bar while the baristas made their coffees, but she carried herself differently from the other customers. And she realized she'd been casting fleeting glances back at them.
The girl leaned in. "We need to get out of here," she said in a whisper. "Now."
The brunette frowned. "Why?"
"I think that lady's watching us." She finished the rest of her latte. "Finish your drink and get up like normal — don't make any sudden movements. We don't want her to know we saw her."
Nodding slowly, the girl complied, putting the empty mug back in its place and standing slowly with Vega. Buttoning her coat, she instructed the dog to follow Yumi out of the café and out on to the crowded streets of Arlington.
They blended in well with the midday rush, considering it was a Wednesday.
"I think we're clear," Yumi breathed. "Do your thing."
They faded from view, immediately garnering gasps and whispers from those closest to them. Bundled up in their winter clothes, not many people had recognized them while on the streets, and the patrons at the café had pretty much left them alone.
But the disappearing act drew attention.
Someone exclaimed that they got it on video, excitedly pumping their fist in the air as they stared at their phone. Giana swore.
"What?" Yumi whispered, as they continued to hurry down the busy sidewalk. She could almost see the Embassies. They weren't far from the safe haven of the CIA.
"I knew this wasn't a good idea. They know who we are," the girl translated. "Someone got our disappearance on video."
"Oh, we are so, so screwed."
