A/N: Ah, yes. Now, for those of you who aren't good at keeping track of these things, it's going to get very confusing. And y'all just might hate me. So, please, if need be, calm down before you review this chapter (Yes, Nicole, that was pointed at you. just kidding.) So, yeah, enjoy.

Chapter 6

Why had he done that? This was the question that ran through Derek's mind as he lay awake later that night. He hadn't meant to kiss Suze. In fact, in the two years since Amelia had been exorcised, he'd barely paid any attention to any other girl. And this was Suze-the girl engaged to his brother-in-law for God's sake.

He sighed, turning over onto his side and closing his eyes. He didn't know what he was going to do.

"Derek?" a voice said quietly from beside his bed.

Derek sat up squinting in the darkness. "Emily." Emily Harris had come to the Agency the year after he had, and he'd befriended her. She had been with him when he found out about Amelia's exorcism, and he'd been there when she died.

Emily hadn't died the way most people did. It had been an experiment for the Agency really. They had both been forced to sign a sort of contract that stated that when they died, they would allow the Agency to use their ghosts to test other mediator's powers and to do whatever else they needed from them.

The Agency hadn't been entirely sure if it would actually work. So, they had picked one of the resident mediators-at the time, it had only been Derek and Emily-to test it on. They picked Emily because out of the two, she was the least powerful.

Derek still remembered the day she'd been killed. He hadn't meant to see it. In fact, he had done everything he could to stay away from the room it was happening in. He couldn't take seeing another person he cared about be taken away from his by the Agency.

The only problem was that for some reason the Agency had changed the room it took place in at the last minute. Derek never found out why, but it made him sick to think of the possibilities. Anyway, he had been on his way to lunch, and the door had been left open. He had walked past it just in time to see the scientists give Emily the injection. He didn't know what was in the shot, but whatever it was, it didn't kill her instantly. She would have fallen, he realized later, except that she'd been strapped to a table.

Derek had rushed in just as the scientists left the room.

"D-Derek," she had whispered to him as he reached her side. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Oh, Em, I'm sorry," he'd said, though he was never sure what specifically he was apologizing for.

"Derek, I-I-" She hadn't been able to finish her sentence. She had let out one last shuddering breath, and then she was gone. But he knew. In his heart, he knew what she'd meant to say. He didn't know what hurt more- losing his best friend and learning that she'd loved him all those years-or losing her and knowing that she died with the knowledge that he could never love her back in the way she deserved.

All this ran through Derek's mind as he looked at Emily Harris-or, rather, her ghost. The Agency had certainly been happy to find out that there experiment worked.

It was yet another reason Derek wanted to destroy it.

"What wrong?" he asked her, pulling back the covers on the bed. Emily rarely ever came to his room. The only reason she would come was if there was an emergency.

"There's something you need to see," she answered, a bit of desperation in her voice. She grabbed his arm and pulled.

Derek slipped out of bed. Wordlessly, he followed Emily out of the room, and was vaguely aware of traveling through the Agency's building, past all of the labs and the rooms and storage. They finally stopped in front of a door that, though it looked like most of the doors in the place, made Derek feel sick to his stomach. It didn't matter that it had been years since he'd been inside, he still remembered what was-or had been-behind that door.

Behind that door was where the Agency kept the ghosts that they had a specific purpose for. They weren't used for tests or anything like that. They were completely under the Agency's control, and, whether they liked it or not, had to tell the Agency anything and everything that they witnessed.

Amelia had once been behind that door.

Derek's hands clenched into fists at his sides. He had to take a moment to calm down before he could take out his keycard to open that door. Pushing open the door, he walked inside, Emily right behind him. He stood there for a long moment, staring at the ghost on the bench across the room. Derek knew that the ghost couldn't see him. He was staring straight ahead, unable to look anywhere else.

Derek took a deep breath. He had a lot of explaining to do, he knew. A part of him-the traitorous part, the part that made him kiss Suze-was glad he couldn't move, because he knew that if it were possible, the minute Derek finished talking, Jesse would have killed him.

***

The next morning I waited for Derek outside of his room. I was going to tell him that I couldn't help him. I mean, I could, but I couldn't help him prepare for it.

I waited for him for a good fifteen minutes, by which time I had totally missed breakfast-though, it tasted no better than dinner, at least it was food.

I sighed, turning to leave, but instead I collided right with a ghost. It wasn't the first time since I'd arrived at the Agency that I'd come into contact with one-a ghost, I mean-but it was certainly the first time I'd done so outside of the labs.

"Are you Suze?" the girl blurted out. She looked like she was maybe a year older than I was, with curly auburn hair falling just past her shoulders. She was actually kind of pretty. You know, in an unconventional sort of way.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Emily Harris." She glanced over her shoulder, like she was checking to see that no on was watching us. "Look, there's something you really need to see." Without another word, she turned and hurried down the hallway.

Well, what else could I do? I followed her through the maze of hallways until we finally came to a large metal door. The door looked a lot like all the other doors around it except for one thing.

Derek was leaning against it.

"What's going on?" I demanded.

Derek smiled, looking far calmer than I felt just then, especially after the night before. "Suze, there's something-or rather someone-you should see."

I narrowed my eyes. "Who?"

He glanced at Emily for a second, than looked back at me. "It's Jesse." Before I could lunge at the door like I wanted to right then, he held up a hand. "Wait, there's something you should know first."

"What is it?"

"First of all, I told Jesse everything-"

"You did what?"

"I told him about what happened last night, and about me and Amelia. Look, right now, Jesse's under the Agency's control. Anything they want him to do, he has to do it." He pursed his lips together firmly. "He'd even try to hurt one of us."

I stared at him. "He wouldn't do that," I protested, though a part of me believed him. I knew from experience that anyone with our-meaning people like Derek and me-powers could make Jesse do anything they wanted.

Looking away from Derek, I said, "Let me see him."

Derek was silent for a moment. Then, "Okay. Just one more thing. Remember, you can't tell him anything about what we're planning, all right? If you tell him, there's no way it can work. Because the moment the creeps who are doing this to him talk to him, he's going to have to tell them everything." His voice had taken on a tone I couldn't quite decipher. So I just nodded and he let me in.

I closed the door behind me so that I could have a bit of privacy with Jesse, and then I looked up and gasped.

Jesse looked much as he had the last time I'd seen him, only a few days before. The only difference is that he didn't move when I came in, he didn't so much as blink. His dark eyes looked empty, staring at the blank wall across from him.

"Jesse?" I whispered, my voice sounding loud in the empty room. He didn't respond, but I knew he heard me. I crossed the room and kneeled in front of him, taking his hand. It was colder and clammier than I remembered it ever being.

I closed my eyes. "Jesse, I'm so sorry that this is happening to you," I said softly, leaning my head on his knee. "It's my fault that this happened." I squeezed his hand tightly, hoping beyond hope that he would respond. But of course he didn't. When I looked up at him, he hadn't even moved his head an inch. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, but I fought them back.

Despite Derek's warning, I felt like I had to say something, anything that would let Jesse know that everything was going to be all right. At least, I hoped it would.

"Look, Jess," I said slowly. "We're going to get out of here. This is going to be over soon, I promise." I bit my lip, still fighting back my tears, only I was losing badly. God, I hated crying.

Just before I finally left, I could have sworn I felt Jesse squeeze my hand, just a little.

But no, it was only my imagination.

***

If there was anything Jesse ever wanted most in his life-or afterlife-it was right then as Susannah told him the one thing that might just get her killed.

Not that she knew that, of course. Oh, Jesse was sure that Derek had told her the dangers of telling him what they had planned. But he was fairly certain that Derek had not mentioned the full extent of what would happen.

It was hours before the man finally came in. Jesse had recognized him the moment he'd first walked in the door, but then he had simply been ordered to forget the man's name. After all, if he happened to tell Emily, then surely Derek would find out, and from him, Susannah would know the truth.

"Hello, Jesse," the man said in a cheerful tone. He sat down on the bench beside him. "Have you had any more visitors since last night?"

Jesse tried to fight him, he really did. But in the end he told the man everything.

When he'd left, Jesse felt a horrible sense of foreboding. He prayed that Susannah would find a way to escape, but he wondered at what price she would have to do so.

***

A/N: mwahaha. Want to know who "the man" is? Well, do you? I'm not telling. Actually, you'll find out soon. Bet you can't guess who he is though.