Author's note: hey hey! My thanks to all the kind people who reviewed! You guys make my day! Just a note to Cilay (sorry if I spelt that wrong! :S ), I tried to send you an email to answer your question, but it said the email address didn't exist! (dontja hate that!) So if you could give it to me again, I'd be more then happy to answer you! Oh and by the way, my favourite character is Jesse- although I love the rest of them too!
~Chapter Three~
Shalimar choked back a laugh and elbowed Brennen in the ribs when she caught sight of the look on the young mutant's face. Brennen looked at her and smiled, the gleam in his eyes telling her that he was ready to give Jesse a hard time about this later. Jesse, on the other hand, was totally oblivious to the girl's infatuation. He brushed off her jacket as she looked at him with shining eyes and asked her what her name was. She stood there for a moment looking at him, as if lost in her own little world. He stopped brushing her off and looked at her.
"Are sure you're alright?" his voice full of genuine concern. She nodded enthusiastically and said
"I am, thanks to you!" At this a laugh escaped Brennen and Shalimar, which they quickly smothered. Jesse gave them a dirty look and then smiled at the girl,
"Well actually, it was all of us. We're part of a group called Mutant X- we help protect mutants from the Genetic Security Agency, the GSA. Those were the people who were chasing you." She nodded, a frown creasing her forehead. Seeing this Jesse quickly continued. "But don't worry! Your safe now…by the way, I'm Jesse," he extended his hand to her, which she quickly took and shook vigorously. With his free hand he pointed to the others "and that's Shalimar and Brennen…"
"Nice to meet you" she said, still looking at Jesse. He laughed, a little nervously, and pulled his hand away from her (which she hadn't stopped shaking all through the introductions).
"Well…." He said, before clearing his throat a couple times, "We should be getting back to Sanctuary. Adam wants to take a look at….oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name…?"
"Tina" She said quickly "Tina Andrews." And, to his embarrassment, shook his hand again. He looked at Shalimar and Brennen, his eyes pleading for them to do something. Brennen laughed and stepped in.
"Come on Tina. I'll show you to the Helix." She tore her eyes away from Jesse and looked at him.
"Helix…?"
"Come with me and I'll show you…" he said, putting his hand on the small of her back and giving her a gentle push away from Jesse. As they walked away, Shalimar slung an arm around Jesse's shoulders.
"Wow Jess," she said, her voice tinged with laughter. "Your very own fan club!"
He pushed her arm off his shoulders as she burst into laughter and said,
"Ha ha, very funny…"
"Oh, it is … just wait till Adam and Emma find out!"
AT SANCTUARY
Adam and Emma looked up from the computer console when they heard the sound of voices coming in through the garage. The voices drew nearer, until Brennen, Jesse, Shalimar and a young girl came into view. She was short and chubby with a round, rosy face accented by bright blue eyes, and framed by a halo of blond curls that reached her chin. But it wasn't her physical appearance that caught Emma's attention. She got a strong mental hit of the girl and was still puzzled by it when the group reached her.
"Tina," Brennen said, "This is Adam and Emma" Adam smiled and shook her hand, but when the girl saw Emma, she frowned and gave her a dark look. Emma extended her hand to the girl, but she just turned to Adam and said,
"Jesse said you wanted to 'check me out'?" Adam, still confused by the girl's odd behavior toward Emma stammered out
"Well yes, actually, I did…" Tina smiled at him and said,
"Then lead the way!" Adam looked at her, then Emma, then the rest of the team, and then led Tina down the corridor towards the lab, Tina chattering excitedly at him all the way.
"Ok, what was that?" Shalimar said, looking at Emma. Emma shrugged and said,
"I'm not sure, but I got a really weird hit off her when she came in…"
"Like what?" laughed Brennen "Her incredibly massive crush on Jesse?" Shalimar laughed as Jesse scowled and punched Brennen in the arm.
"Well, yes, actually…" Emma said, making Shalimar and Brennen laugh harder, while Emma continued, "But it was strange…I don't know…" she shook her head and looked at Jesse "All I know is that you should tell her right now Jess that nothing can happen between you two…and make sure she understands." Shalimar laughed again,
"Obviously she knows nothing can happen…she's what, like 15?"Emma shook her head again,
"I'm not so sure she does…when I got the hit her perception of reality seemed…disoriented…just promise me you'll talk to her, ok Jesse?" Jesse looked at her, slightly unnerved by her words
"Ok, Em…I promise…"
LATER, IN THE LAB
Jesse entered the lab slowly and saw Tina sitting on the examination chair. She was looking around her curiously, humming a tune quietly to herself. Jesse laughed at himself for being nervous. Emma was wrong about Tina. She was young, but she would understand. He cleared his throat and stepped further into the lab. She spun around quickly in her seat at the noise and smiled widely when she saw it was Jesse.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, "You came to visit me!" He smiled but shook his head
"Actually, I came to talk to you about something." She cocked her head to the side and said,
"Oh yeah, what's that?" he smiled at her and pulled up a chair so that they were sitting facing each other. He took a deep breath and said,
"Listen, Tina…I know that you have these…feelings towards me…" she blushed suddenly but smiled widely at his words. He cleared his throat and inwardly cursed himself for being so bad at these types of situations. He cleared his throat again and continued, "But you have to understand that nothing can ever happen between us…ever…" he winced as her smile came crashing down. She looked quickly down at her hands, a tear leaking from one of her bright eyes. "It's not you! It's nothing to do with you…" he blurted, attempting to stop her from crying, "It's just that I'm too old for you…understand…?" her eyes suddenly hardened as she looked at him and nodded. He smiled and stood up. "Good…" he breathed, relieved it was over. He walked over to one of the computers and began to go through her files, "Now let's see how you're doing…" She stood up slowly from the examination chair, her hands curling into fists.
"No Jesse." She whispered to herself walking slowly over to him "It's YOU who doesn't understand…"
"Did you say something…?" he asked turning around to find her standing right behind him. He jumped back in surprise and was opened his mouth to speak when he noticed her pupils were growing. They slowly enlarged until her entire eyes were black. He stood rigidly, staring into the endless darkness of her eyes, and slowly felt himself being pulled back into his mind. He tried to fight it, but it was useless. He had no control over himself anymore. He was a prisoner of his own mind.
She saw his eyes glaze over and his body relax and she knew her power was absolute. Her pupils shrank back to their normal size and she smiled.
"There now," she said, reaching up and smoothing a lock of blond hair away from his face. "Isn't that better?" He nodded slowly and she ran her finger down the side of his face.
"Good. Now kiss me…"
^^^^
Oh no! What will happen to my poor little Jesse! Tune in soon to chapter four to find out!
Hurray! Chapter three done!! Phew! That was tiring! Ok, tell me what you think, please and thank you-if you guys like it, I'll keep writin' it!
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