Then He Left - Part 1
Part 1: Leaving and Falling Apart
Outside:
Jesse left the Sanctuary, 'Sanctuary, what a joke', he thought, once he thought he was safe with the team, then he finds out what had happened. Quickly, he moved out of the hideout, moving towards the nearest highway, moving over and through the surrounding terrain. He phased in and out, not aware he was doing it, his ability manifesting on reflex, not requiring the control he usually had to summon.
After several hours of walking, he eventually found a car willingly to pick him up. A kindly old woman had taken pity on the forlorn figure wandering down the side of the highway. Jesse looked up as the car slowed to a stop next to him, a tinge of fear ran through him, who was stopping and why. When he saw the old woman, who reminded him of the favourite grandmother you always saw in the films beckoning him over, his worry left him.
"Where are you going, young man?" the woman said in a motherly tone.
"Anywhere" came the reply.
"I don't know where that is, but I could help you get to city if you want."
Jesse smiled, the first time he had smiled since remembering, "Sure, if its no trouble"
"Its no trouble, looks like rain anyway, you'd catch your death of cold out here."
The woman opened the passenger door, motioning to him to get in. Jesse complied, saying as he got in, "You know it isn't safe to pick up strangers on the highway?"
The woman laughed, "Maybe, but who is it not safe for?" as she said this she revealed a rather large handgun hidden in the crook of her arm.
Jesse just stared at the incongruous image of the old woman with the large weapon. "Guess you know what you are doing then"
"That's right, son, I knew you weren't going to hurt me, just something you learn as you get older, you seem to have your own problems and don't look like the type to attack an old woman."
Jesse nodded. The old woman started the car going again, driving down the highway towards the city. Jesse looked back briefly, at the life he was leaving behind, a shred of regret ran through him, then the anger rose in him again. Forcing it down, not wanting to lose control in the woman's car, he lent back in the seat and closed his eyes, a dreamless sleep coming to him swiftly as exhaustion overtook him.
Sanctuary:
The team was not reacting well to the situation, after finding the picture and ring, worry, anger and a range of emotions began to set in. Shalimar, her instincts to protect, to hunt him down and drag him back, demanding an explanation for what had happened fought against her more human aspects, her worry about him, what had set him off, what he was going to do. She paced round the lounge room they had moved to. Her control of herself pressed to the limit, her constant pacing the only outlet she had at the moment as Brennan and Adam debated over what to do.
Adam was shocked by the turn in events, never once had he envisioned something like this happening to Jesse, the quiet one, the one who people could forget, Brennan was more likely in his opinion to do something like this, possibly Emma if something serious were to happen to her. But not Jesse, even Shalimar in some ways was more likely to do this, even though it would conflict with her feral instincts. Not understanding what had set him off, he listened as Brennan ranted on, Brennan wanted to go after him, drag him back and if necessary beat some sense into him. Adam almost smiled at the image, a turnaround from the initial stages when Brennan had joined the team where people were more likely to do that to him, with his solo, "I know better what to do" attitude.
"We need to understand why this happened first, Brennan" he tried to reason with the younger man, "Jesse would not lose control like that if it wasn't for a good reason."
"Maybe something was affecting him, another mutant, a psionic maybe" Brennan replied, "We should go and get him, so we can identify if there is a threat or not to the rest of us."
"The records don't indicate another mutant in sanctuary at the time of the incident, and maybe bringing him back would only increase the likelihood of this happening again, we need to understand before we can help him and bring him back."
"How do we even find him?" Shalimar interjected to the conversation, her voice edged with impatience with the talking and debating of the two men, she wanted to go do something to help her friend, "In case you forgot, he took off his ring, we can't track him, how will we find him if we wait much longer?"
Brennan looked at Adam, as if to say well come up with an answer to that one.
"Time heals us all, maybe that is all he needs, time, then he will come back on his own", Adam said half-heartedly.
Brennan snorted, "Resorting to clichés now, face it, you don't know what to do and while you spend time thinking about it we could be out looking for Jesse."
Shalimar screamed, not a scream of fear but of anger and frustration, then stalked out of the room, "If you aren't going to do anything, I will, I will find him and bring him back"
"Shalimar, come back" Adam pleaded, "Wait till we know what happened better"
His words feel on deaf ears, Shalimar quickly, running with all her speed out of the Sanctuary, following the faint scent left by Jesse on his exit.
Brennan just looked at Adam, the older man's shoulders slumped as his team fell apart around him, trying to sound hopeful but failing, "Maybe she'll find him and he'll be back sooner than we think"
Adam just looked at him, shaking his head, "Maybe, but we still need to find out what happened"
In an effort to reduce the tension, Brennan agreed, "Yes, why don't we go over the security footage again, try and see if we missed anything, see if something looks out of place, while Shalimar attempts to find our lost boy"
Realising the attempt at a truce, Adam agreed, the two men left the lounge to go to a computer to analyse the security footage, despair and worry evident in their expressions and movement.
All this time, no one had asked Emma about anything, not realising she had been silent the whole time. Emma sat in one of the chairs in the room, the chair Jesse always used, trying to feel for him. Hoping somehow she could connect with him, but each time she tried, a wall of anger and hate blocked her, the only thing was who's anger was it, hers or his. She curled up in the chair, clutching his inactive ring tightly in her hands, remembering him. Slowly she realised what could have set him off, remembering the mission to retrieve the weapon, how she blanked his memory. Unable to think how this was affecting her friend, how the others would react if they found out, she cried silently, for Jesse, for the team and for herself, how she may have lost the trust of the team if they found out and how she lost Jesse, possibly not only his trust but never to see him again.
Part 1: Leaving and Falling Apart
Outside:
Jesse left the Sanctuary, 'Sanctuary, what a joke', he thought, once he thought he was safe with the team, then he finds out what had happened. Quickly, he moved out of the hideout, moving towards the nearest highway, moving over and through the surrounding terrain. He phased in and out, not aware he was doing it, his ability manifesting on reflex, not requiring the control he usually had to summon.
After several hours of walking, he eventually found a car willingly to pick him up. A kindly old woman had taken pity on the forlorn figure wandering down the side of the highway. Jesse looked up as the car slowed to a stop next to him, a tinge of fear ran through him, who was stopping and why. When he saw the old woman, who reminded him of the favourite grandmother you always saw in the films beckoning him over, his worry left him.
"Where are you going, young man?" the woman said in a motherly tone.
"Anywhere" came the reply.
"I don't know where that is, but I could help you get to city if you want."
Jesse smiled, the first time he had smiled since remembering, "Sure, if its no trouble"
"Its no trouble, looks like rain anyway, you'd catch your death of cold out here."
The woman opened the passenger door, motioning to him to get in. Jesse complied, saying as he got in, "You know it isn't safe to pick up strangers on the highway?"
The woman laughed, "Maybe, but who is it not safe for?" as she said this she revealed a rather large handgun hidden in the crook of her arm.
Jesse just stared at the incongruous image of the old woman with the large weapon. "Guess you know what you are doing then"
"That's right, son, I knew you weren't going to hurt me, just something you learn as you get older, you seem to have your own problems and don't look like the type to attack an old woman."
Jesse nodded. The old woman started the car going again, driving down the highway towards the city. Jesse looked back briefly, at the life he was leaving behind, a shred of regret ran through him, then the anger rose in him again. Forcing it down, not wanting to lose control in the woman's car, he lent back in the seat and closed his eyes, a dreamless sleep coming to him swiftly as exhaustion overtook him.
Sanctuary:
The team was not reacting well to the situation, after finding the picture and ring, worry, anger and a range of emotions began to set in. Shalimar, her instincts to protect, to hunt him down and drag him back, demanding an explanation for what had happened fought against her more human aspects, her worry about him, what had set him off, what he was going to do. She paced round the lounge room they had moved to. Her control of herself pressed to the limit, her constant pacing the only outlet she had at the moment as Brennan and Adam debated over what to do.
Adam was shocked by the turn in events, never once had he envisioned something like this happening to Jesse, the quiet one, the one who people could forget, Brennan was more likely in his opinion to do something like this, possibly Emma if something serious were to happen to her. But not Jesse, even Shalimar in some ways was more likely to do this, even though it would conflict with her feral instincts. Not understanding what had set him off, he listened as Brennan ranted on, Brennan wanted to go after him, drag him back and if necessary beat some sense into him. Adam almost smiled at the image, a turnaround from the initial stages when Brennan had joined the team where people were more likely to do that to him, with his solo, "I know better what to do" attitude.
"We need to understand why this happened first, Brennan" he tried to reason with the younger man, "Jesse would not lose control like that if it wasn't for a good reason."
"Maybe something was affecting him, another mutant, a psionic maybe" Brennan replied, "We should go and get him, so we can identify if there is a threat or not to the rest of us."
"The records don't indicate another mutant in sanctuary at the time of the incident, and maybe bringing him back would only increase the likelihood of this happening again, we need to understand before we can help him and bring him back."
"How do we even find him?" Shalimar interjected to the conversation, her voice edged with impatience with the talking and debating of the two men, she wanted to go do something to help her friend, "In case you forgot, he took off his ring, we can't track him, how will we find him if we wait much longer?"
Brennan looked at Adam, as if to say well come up with an answer to that one.
"Time heals us all, maybe that is all he needs, time, then he will come back on his own", Adam said half-heartedly.
Brennan snorted, "Resorting to clichés now, face it, you don't know what to do and while you spend time thinking about it we could be out looking for Jesse."
Shalimar screamed, not a scream of fear but of anger and frustration, then stalked out of the room, "If you aren't going to do anything, I will, I will find him and bring him back"
"Shalimar, come back" Adam pleaded, "Wait till we know what happened better"
His words feel on deaf ears, Shalimar quickly, running with all her speed out of the Sanctuary, following the faint scent left by Jesse on his exit.
Brennan just looked at Adam, the older man's shoulders slumped as his team fell apart around him, trying to sound hopeful but failing, "Maybe she'll find him and he'll be back sooner than we think"
Adam just looked at him, shaking his head, "Maybe, but we still need to find out what happened"
In an effort to reduce the tension, Brennan agreed, "Yes, why don't we go over the security footage again, try and see if we missed anything, see if something looks out of place, while Shalimar attempts to find our lost boy"
Realising the attempt at a truce, Adam agreed, the two men left the lounge to go to a computer to analyse the security footage, despair and worry evident in their expressions and movement.
All this time, no one had asked Emma about anything, not realising she had been silent the whole time. Emma sat in one of the chairs in the room, the chair Jesse always used, trying to feel for him. Hoping somehow she could connect with him, but each time she tried, a wall of anger and hate blocked her, the only thing was who's anger was it, hers or his. She curled up in the chair, clutching his inactive ring tightly in her hands, remembering him. Slowly she realised what could have set him off, remembering the mission to retrieve the weapon, how she blanked his memory. Unable to think how this was affecting her friend, how the others would react if they found out, she cried silently, for Jesse, for the team and for herself, how she may have lost the trust of the team if they found out and how she lost Jesse, possibly not only his trust but never to see him again.