Collateral Damage: Chapter 2

See Prologue for disclaimer and other story notes.

Fallout

~*~

Brennan approached the front doors of the hotel cautiously. "I'm here Adam," he said quietly into his comm link.

"Brennan, I want you to wait for Shalimar and Emma. They're on their way."

Brennan paused. "How long until they get here?"

"They just left the bouncer's apartment. From across town in Friday afternoon traffic…I'd give them at least 20 minutes."

Brennan shook his head in frustration, moving again. "I can't wait, Adam."

"Brennan…"

Brennan cut him off. "I'll call you when I find him. I'm going in now."

He opened the door, knowing Adam was probably going to ream him later but also knowing that he couldn't expect him to communicate in a public lobby. He glanced around as he crossed to the elevator, seeing no one suspicious but noting the surveillance camera mounted over the desk. He started to push the 'up' button but paused when he noticed that the elevator was up on the 8th floor. Unwilling to wait, he headed for the nearby stairs.

Five flights later he was extremely grateful that he was in good shape. He exited the staircase, glancing both directions before following the room numbers until he found 512.

Here he paused. There was a maid two doors down with her cleaning cart who had taken note of him. He really didn't want to announce his presence, but he couldn't very well go busting into a room without a key while she was watching. He offered her a smile before turning to knock lightly on the door.

Apparently satisfied she entered room 508, leaving him alone in the hallway. As soon as she was safely inside Brennan focused on the lock. It was a standard keycard mechanism. With one more glance around he lit his fingers with electricity and gave the lock a jolt. It clicked, green light coming on, and he grasped the door handle and pushed.

He took a careful step into the room, prepared for someone to jump out and attack him. He was also prepared to find Jesse unconscious with any number of injuries.

But less than a foot inside, Brennan froze. Whatever he'd been expecting, this wasn't it.

Standing by the door he could see through the room to the balcony. The curtains and door had been flung open. Jesse was outside, looking fully mobile and dressed in nothing but the pants he's been wearing the night before. He was probably cold, but he had a bigger problem—he was on the other side of the railing.

Caution went out the window. Brennan tore across the room and was on the balcony before he'd had time to think about it. Jesse had turned to face the room such that he was holding on with both hands and standing on the bottom rung of the rail, but his eyes were focused downward. Brennan didn't stop to ask questions; he just reached for his friend.

He grasped the arm closest to him and wrapped his other arm around Jesse's back. His heart almost stopped a moment later when Jesse started struggling against him. "Jess, stop! Calm down!" he ordered, tightening his grip as he caught sight of the five story drop below them.

To his relief, Jesse obeyed. When the blue eyes finally rested on his and Jesse said, "Brennan?" the elemental realized that Jesse hadn't recognized who was with him until that moment.

Still, his heart was trip-hammering and his temper flared. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

Jesse stared at him, confusion and the remnants of panic in his eyes. "I heard something at the door," he explained stumblingly. "I didn't know…and I thought I should get away…"

"So you thought you'd just fly off?" Brennan didn't like this. Even though he was conscious and appeared unhurt, Jesse was obviously still out-of-it. He wanted him back on solid ground now.

"I was gonna climb…it seemed like a good idea at the time…" Jesse trailed off as his eyes focused on the ground and widened, as if just realizing how high he was.

"Let's get you back on my side, huh? Then we can talk about it," Brennan said with a calmness he didn't feel.

Jesse nodded, but his gaze stayed on the ground. "Jesse, look at me. Don't look down, just look at me." His tone broached no argument. With a visible effort, Jesse did as he was told. "Okay. I need you to climb back over. I'm gonna hold onto you so you won't fall, but you have to do the work." He waited for Jesse to nod, then shifted his grip to allow Jesse room to swing his legs back over the railing.

He was halfway over when Brennan's comm link suddenly came to life. "Brennan?" Adam's voice was anxious; it had been too long since Brennan had reported in.

It startled Jesse, who hadn't yet leveraged his weight from the other side. Brennan felt him slip and lunged forward to wrap his arms around him, grimacing at the additional strain on his own muscles as he took all of his friend's weight. "Not now Adam," he barked, then turned his full attention to Jesse. The younger man had lost his grip on the railing and was now clinging entirely to Brennan. And he was looking down again. "Jesse, look at me. I've got you," he gritted out. "I'm going to pull you back. You just concentrate on getting over."

With that he threw himself backwards, heaving Jesse right along with him. Jesse managed to get himself untangled from the railing, and seconds later they both crashed to the balcony floor.

Both were still lying on their backs, slightly stunned, when Adam spoke again. "Brennan? Brennan, what's happening?" If he'd thought Adam was anxious before, he was panicked now.

"I'm here, Adam." Brennan rolled onto his side to check on Jesse. When the younger man made eye contact and managed a slight nod, Brennan continued, "We're okay." He pushed himself upright and helped Jesse sit up.

"We?"

"Say something, Jess," Brennan encouraged.

Jesse rubbed a hand over his face. He was shaking. "I'm okay, Adam," he said weakly.

"Jesse." They heard Adam's relieved sigh. "We were worried."

Jesse had taken to studying the floor. He said nothing more. Instead Brennan put in, "I'm going to bring him home, Adam."

"Did you find anything in the room?"

"I think I should get him back to you," Brennan replied vaguely, knowing it would be enough for Adam to get the message—that he wasn't so sure Jesse was okay.

There was a lengthy pause, then, "Okay. Since the girls are headed over there anyway they can check out the hotel. You two come on back to Sanctuary."

"We'll see you soon," Brennan closed the conversation, then once again gave Jesse his full attention. He climbed to his feet then reached to help Jesse up. This time as he grasped the younger man's right arm he noticed a small red spot. He ignored it for the moment as he managed to get Jesse up and helped him back into the room. He sat him down on the unmade double bed, then crouched in front of him.

He had many questions he wanted to ask, but only one that took precedence. "Jess?" He placed his hands gently on either side of Jesse's face, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I…I don't know," Jesse finally responded.

That wasn't exactly an encouraging answer. Brennan rephrased, "Are you hurt?"

After a moment Jesse slowly shook his head. "I don't think so. I just feel…weird."

Brennan sighed softly, then managed to quirk a smile. "Weirder than normal, huh?"

The familiar teasing brought a small smile from Jesse, which reassured Brennan somewhat. He released Jesse's face to pat him lightly on the shoulder. "We'll let Adam take a look at you, okay?" After he got a nod, he cautiously continued, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Jesse shook his head. "I can't remember."

Brennan told himself not to push it. He needed to get Jesse safe and back to Sanctuary, then they could figure this out. "It's okay," he assured Jesse. After squeezing his friend's shoulder he stood. "I don't suppose you know where the rest of your clothes are," he said as he looked around.

"Couldn't find them," came the quiet answer.

Brennan looked down into the forlorn face. This helpless, contrite Jesse was so contrary to his usual self that Brennan hardly knew how to deal with him.

He pulled off his own jacket and draped it around his friend. As he helped Jesse slip the sleeves on, he paused to brush his fingers over the spot he had noticed earlier on his upper arm. It was a small, dried circle of blood. He'd let Adam play the doctor, but he was fairly certain what he was looking at.

It was a needle mark.

~*~

To be continued