When Every Second Counts
Chapter 14
Home
Jane walked along the beach at a leisurely pace. For once she felt completely safe. The stars were above and the moon had set. She was alone, but not lonely. She could have company if she ever needed it, but for now she did not feel it necessary.
The surf washed over her bare feet. Looking back the way she came, she noticed that the water had washed away her footprints in the sand. The sand that was behind her looked as unmarked as that which was before her. Even the sand beneath her feet now shifted with the comings and goings of the water.
She continued on her way unhindered. The sky grew lighter and the sun eventually rose over the shore's side of the horizon. When Jane turned to face the sun, its warmth on her skin and the light in her eyes brought her back to the more painful side of life that was reality.
The lieutenant that was driving the car had parked right under the sun. Oh well, Jane thought, there were worse ways to wake up.
She felt anything was better than the two week long stay in the infirmary and thoroughly being reprimanded by the medics for too much physical activity. Not that what she had been through recently was not bad. It was just that it seemed worse thinking about it when she had nothing but time to think about it and the events were still fresh in her memory.
No wait, there was still next week to think about. The end of her allotted recuperation period and beginning of God-only-knew how many debriefings and interrogations that awaited her. Damn. Well, a week was better than nothing at least.
She noticed Aki standing alone on the sidewalk as she climbed out of the military vehicle. The lieutenant saluted and excused herself as the scientist walked towards them. Jane ignored Aki's greeting and brushed past her, walking towards the building behind her.
The building, a tall nondescript structure of concrete and metal, was a type of military barracks. Its main use was to provide accommodations to soldiers and squads from other cities, although occasionally civilians or scientists were placed there. Jane was a partial exception; she had other places in Houston she could stay, but she had a choice because her squad was from New York. Or former squad. But no one would know that except her and Hein until the next week.
It was not a really a fair choice, and she made it without much deliberation.
Aki adamantly but silently followed Jane as she entered the building, through the lobby, and into a vacant elevator. Much to Jane's displeasure, that was where the silence ended.
"Just say it," the solider said flatly as Aki faltered over where to begin. The scientist sighed and closed her eyes.
"You love him, don't you?" the scientist asked at length. She studied the other woman carefully, looking for any sign or reaction. There were none.
"I admire him," Jane replied honestly, "He's a very capable person."
"Love?" Aki pressed. She was curious. She knew that Jane did not like her, but she wanted to know why.
"A long time ago," the solider said, "I might have."
"You ever tell him that?" the scientist knew it was probably none of her business, but she thought of Jane as a friend. Or at least she wanted to.
"Once,"
"What happened?"
"Ask Gray," Jane replied simply.
"I'm asking you," Aki said, a little louder than she meant to. "Sorry," she sighed, "He won't tell me."
"At the time," Jane said thoughtfully, "He was in love with a bold young doctor. But then we never got the chance to meet her before she left without warning and broke his heart." The elevator stopped its accent and the doors opened before Aki could respond and Jane stepped out gratefully. She proceeded down the unadorned hallway at a brisk pace.
"Wait!" Aki called out and followed the woman, "Is that why you don't like me?"
"One reason," Jane said, not slowing or stopping as Aki tried to keep up with her, "There are others, but nothing more personal."
"I'm sorry," Aki apologized again, and stopped walking, "Look, can we talk about this some other time?"
"Fine," Jane replied, not halting, "How about sometime next week?"
"Okay," Aki said hesitantly, "But Jane?" Gray loved casual, and had probably given the scientist permission to deal with the Deep Eyes on first- name basis. Jane was in no mood to correct or bother with Aki, but then she was not in a mood to deal with much, so the corporal turned around, "This is the one."
"Yeah, thanks," Jane said, retracing the few steps she had gone beyond the door Aki pointed to. She lingered beside the door a moment. Now that she was here, the feeling of uncertainty that had been with her since before the run through New York was almost unbearable.
And then, it just vanished. After all, what was there truly to be uncertain about? The war was over, and at least for this one week, she was free of obligation. Jane stopped thinking about past or future as the door slid open, and gestured for Aki to go first. She followed, with her eyes on the floor.
Although it was not exactly a life-threatening situation, she could have found a better time to ignore sight as a vital sense.
Jane stumbled backwards into the hall, instinctually trying to keep hers and Neil's balance. Somehow managing to keep steady, Jane closed her eyes and endured the not so tentative embrace. She would let him have this one liberty just because he lived. She was even thinking of apologizing for her side of the feud…
But that was before Neil overstepped his boundaries. The hug was barely acceptable. The kiss was not even close to being so.
Angered, Jane shoved the tech back into the apartment. She followed and gave him a second push further in when he did not move out of her way fast enough. She almost flinched when a hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Welcome back," Ryan beamed as the friendly gesture was returned.
"It's good to be back," Jane replied, casting a glance around the room. It was an average apartment, cold, steel-colored, and barely furnished. But that was not what she was looking for.
She noticed Gray standing with Aki in a corner of the room. He looked proud. They both looked happy. That was enough.
Jane smiled back at Ryan and tried to ignore Neil, who was grinning like an idiot. No one had seen what he did. Dropping him out a window would raise questions, so she would let him get away with it for the time being. She was in enough trouble as it was.
---
"You're sure you don't want to come?" Gray asked, pulling his coat on and straightening his clothes.
"Yep," Jane replied from the couch. Three days back and she was already back on the road to being misanthropic. No, there was something more to it, Gray thought, he just was not sure he wanted to place it.
"You know it wasn't your fault," he said, and stopped there. Suddenly, he realized what it was people were always trying to tell him when he screwed up. And he realized that Jane would have to figure it out on her own. "And what about that doctor?" he asked, trying to change the course of conversation slightly.
"I don't know," Jane said, sitting up, "I haven't seen her since… we got… separated." She had told Gray much of what had happened since Tucson, but she still kept much to herself.
"Maybe you should try to find her," Gray suggested, heading towards the door.
"Yeah, maybe," Jane mused. If nothing more, she could at least try to find out more about the woman. Curiosity suddenly sparked, "I'll try that."
"Have that little book I gave you?" Gray smiled at the positive reply, "Good, I'll send Neil back up. He can miss an hour or two to help with searching the database."
Jane tried to protest, but by then Gray was gone. "Oh God," she groaned, lying back down. Of course, then there was the book.
---
One little line did not mean much of anything, but now there were many lines together. She was scribbling another one. Between an almost complete silence - one that he tried to fill - and her scribbling, Neil was getting scared.
"What is that anyway?" he finally asked, waiting for the computer to finish its search.
"A book," Jane replied simply.
"Yeah, I see that," Neil said, "I mean, 'what are ya doin' with it?'"
"I am," Jane made it a point to speak the sentence slowly, "Writing down everything you do that I don't like, so I can remember and get you back for it later when I feel like it." A partial truth. Gray had given her the book for a slightly different reason. But, hey, she could use it to have fun and instill fear if she wanted.
"Wait," Neil began to protest, "Wait, wait, wait. That is not fair!"
Another line.
"Hey, I didn't do anything,"
And another. Neil faltered and was suddenly very quiet. She couldn't be serious, she just couldn't.
Jane stopped pacing and considered for a minute. She crossed out a few of the lines and closed the book. Neil looked at her with an almost awed expression on his face.
"Don't ask," she said in answer to his unvoiced question. He would have asked anyway, but the terminal beeped at him before he could.
"Okay, two hundred and six matches for 'Melissa Warren,' and 'Melissa Waren,'" Neil announced as Jane carried a chair over, placed it, and sat for a better vantage point of the computer.
"Try between the ages of twenty and forty-five," Jane said, watching carefully and trying to think of other ways to narrow the field.
"Ninety-seven,"
"Try the MFM program database," Jane said, "She said she was one of the recruits there."
"Lucky woman if she got through that alive," Neil said as he pulled up this screen, pushed away that, or put this other thing to one side for later, "Ya know I've heard there were over ninety percent casualties when they finally decided to pull that program? I mean, who would think that aliens would ever respect field medics? Especially ghost aliens…"
"Just," Jane said, "Shut up right there, would you?" She had a hard enough time believing in everything that had become fact recently. Ghost aliens and living planets would take a lot to get used to, and she was unsure as to whether she could believe such things.
"One match," Neil said, either not hearing or neglecting the request. He pulled the file, opened it, and began reading. He recognized the picture that came with the file, so there was no doubt in his mind this was the file they were looking for. Or at least there was none at first.
Jane leaned back in her chair. Everything matched, except this. One small detail. A death certificate dated 2061. Field death.
"This can't be right," Neil said, confused, "It…."
"Huh."
Suddenly, curiosity had disappeared.
---
Monday morning, the thought registered. Time to get up and face the world. But no, the alarm had not gone off yet. She could wait just a little longer.
Time passed, and yet the alarm still had yet to sound. Jane wondered how much time. Finally bringing herself to look, she raised her head up off the pillow and blinked at the clock. Cursing quite loudly, she pushed herself out of bed and hastily dressed. She was supposed to be in front of a committee at 6:30. It was well past 7:00.
That oh so small deviation from schedule meant quite a few things in her daily routine had to be ignored for the morning; shower, breakfast, and well meaning verbal abuse of peers to name a few. Things that were not routine, and not imperative, had to be ignored as well; such as that unfamiliar little box sitting on top of the alarm clock.
Jane stopped to examine the enigmatic box for a minute. Before she could find out what was inside it, the door slid open and the box was quickly pocketed.
"You're awake," she turned to face Gray, something about his tone of voice signaled for caution. He was not in a good mood.
"I've got to go," Jane glanced around the room, "My alarm didn't go off, an- "
"I had it shut off," Captain Edwards said coolly, cutting off her protest with a gesture of silence, "I thought maybe you could sleep in for once." He handed her the papers he was holding, "Read."
The papers, a copied three-page report and a letter, were swiftly and superficially read. The report was heavily censored, and the letter had six lines crossed out. There was not much to read.
"I don't know who you have for friends," Gray's voice startled Jane, she had almost forgot he was there, "But I'd start sending out some 'thank you' cards right about now if I were you." He smiled and continued, "Whoever it was did one hell of a thing for us all, but I'm curious about one sentence– 'reinstatement to the Deep Eyes'?"
"Uh," Jane read over the letter twice before looking up at him, "It's a long story,"
"You've got 'til noon, I've got a date," Gray stated.
"Well, where to start," Jane mused, sticking her hands in her pockets and suddenly remembering the box. A shadow passed over the room, but did not linger long. There would be time for it, and for healing and living. After all, there was still much to be done, and time with which to do it.
The End
Working Title: When Every Second Counts
Inspiration: A watching and a thought of hmm... that was close.
Noteworthy: This is a fic I cringe and grin sheepishly at. I don't think it's terrible, but I made a lot of mistakes (that no one called me for...), and there are probably a number more that I didn't catch. It was also fluid... very fluid, and I'd kept going back on things I'd tentatively planned (such as letting everyone die again, but in Shiny New Ways). Plus I'd relied heavily on feedback to decide where to go next - okay idea in theory, if you know what you're doing. When Every Second Counts was, however unstable the various aspects of it are (characterization, I always wince in thy direction), a springboard into various theories and threads and ideas that grew into their own strange inspirations. Also? I miss being able to write a chapter in a day.
Disambiguation: Melissa is... to say important isn't quite accurate, I guess what she is is important. It comes up in the unwritten sequel, but she's supposed to be part of a secret organization, and there's much subterfuge and deception and stuff.
Dedication: LadyKayoss, for she writes awesome fic which inspires the Little People.
Special Thanks: The Great Northern Lost Moose. Primarily, it was her idea to put Jane on Zeus, which made me go "Ooo!" She also inspired a bit of other thought and insight, for which I was (and still am!) grateful.
Series: When Every Second Counts; Seeing the Unseen.Derivative work of material © Square Pictures, Squaresoft, Square-Enix. Reformatted to abide by 'site standards. None of the original text has been modified, 'cept in case of typo.
