Part XI
Eber was pacing the room with a clipped, tense stride, deep in thought. She paused in one corner of the room and let out a feral growl. The first sound he had heard from her, the growl made Jesse jump, and suddenly Eber was spinning towards him, body tense and ready for a fight. She stopped inches from him and he held still, suddenly scared of the small feral. She had killed, so young and yet a killer. The thought seemed silly as she saw who it was she relaxed, stepping back out of his space and looking at him quizzically. This was Eber, they had only just met and he felt like he could trust her, rely on her in a fight. This news hadn't changed who she was, only who he perceived her as.
[You have a funny look on your face.] She told him.
[I've never heard you make a sound before.]
[I didn't know you were there. What did I do?]
[You growled, like a big cat.]
[I've never heard myself, or a big cat.] She laughed, a strange silent laugh that lit up her face. [Normally I can stop myself, but it takes concentration and my mind is on other things.] She explained, the humour gone, her face serious. [It's hard to know when I'm making noise, so it's even harder to stop myself. Do you understand?] He nodded.
[It wasn't a bad thing, just unexpected.]
[It's a bad thing when it can show you up when you're hiding. We are always hiding, and running.] She looked sad, almost ready to cry.
[Adam has told Sharon something, and asked her to keep it from you. It's hard for her, she's never had to keep anything from you before. That's why she's acting strangely.] He explained, hoping it would be enough.
[Why would she keep anything from me.] She looked confused. [There have never been any secrets between us.]
[For now it is best, you have to trust me. You trust me?]
[Of course.] She replied, face open and honest. How could she be a killer?
"Sharon?" Brennan asked as he saw the psionic piling her few possessions into the bag the two had brought with them. "What are you doing?"
"I'm leaving." She answered calmly.
"Why, I thought you were both staying until tomorrow morning?"
"No. No, I can't do this any more. Eber can't leave, she needs someone to talk for her. Jesse can sign, she'll be fine here, and you can make sure nothing happens to her." The calm facade was slipping, tears starting to fall. "I'm a risk to her. I can't be a risk to my best friend."
"So you're just leaving. Running away from her, just like that. You think that's going to make things better?"
"It'll be safer for her. I don't want to hurt her." She was sobbing now, still pushing things into the small bag. Brennan grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her and found his head spinning so fast he thought he might fall with the dizziness.
And then it stopped.
He opened his eyes to bright light, confusing in its intensity. He squinted until his eyes adapted, and then he was confused.
"You IDIOT! Don't touch anything, don't you dare touch anything." Sharon was looking panicked as they stood in the middle of the memory room, the memories swirling around them. He watched a single sphere, like an oversized marble, as it rotated around them in a small circle.
"What do you mean?" He asked absently as he continued tracking the one sphere. Looking inside of the shape, movement seemed to crystallise for him, showing him a moving picture of light and distant sound. He pointed at the shape, looking back at Sharon. "This is one of my memories isn't it."
"Yes, well done. Ten out of ten for observation to the elemental, now what do you think we should do, huh? I could jump out now and leave us both with nightmares of whichever memory you happen to hit on the way out for the next few months, or we could wait until someone else comes along and pulls us out. Not that they would know how, because only Eber knows that and she's not allowed in here at the moment just in case we release a homicidal maniac which has been hiding behind her memory wall for four years." Her voice, which had been slowly raising in pitch and speed throughout the tirade, broke as she began to cry again. Brennan watched for a moment before realising what was going on and pulling her into a hug.
"Hey, shush. You're going to have to run that by me again slowly."
"I have to have someone on the outside to pull me out of a read. I can't do it by myself unless it's Eber I'm reading, and I wouldn't fall into a read with her anyway. The memories won't let me out on my own in a normal mind."
"Why can you pull out of 'reads' with Eber?" He asked.
"In Eber's mind, about there" She gestured to a point about three metres away from where they stood. "There is a wall where her memories end, when she was given the drug to take away her memory. It makes it easy for me to control because there's fewer memories. Your mind stretches out there, there's a long way to go to the edge, the boundary. I can't control that many memories at once."
"OK, so we wait. Eber's a resourceful girl, she can explain to someone else what to do."
"What if they don't come?"
"I'll take my chances with the nightmares."
Eber stepped into the room and stopped short as she found Sharon and Brennan fixed in place, a frown on Sharon's face clear to her from where she stood. It was quite obvious what had happened. Brennan had gone to touch Sharon for what ever reason, not realising what would happen. Reaching out to touch Sharon to help her pull out of the read, Eber found herself stopped short by a hand on her arm. She looked up to find Jesse at her side.
[What is it?] She asked, turning back to him.
[You can't go in to her mind.] He said, looking apologetic.
[Why not!] She asked angrily.
[Can I do what you were about to do?] She shrugged in response. [What were you doing?]
[Going to pull her out, she can't do it herself.] She explained.
[Pull her out? Like you did with me.] She nodded, frowning still. [Can I do it?] She shrugged again. [Can I try?] With no further explanation she took hold of his hand and placed it on Sharon's neck.
He opened his eyes inside Brennan's memory room with Sharon and Brennan both looking on, curious.
"I think I'm here to pull you out." He offered.
"You think?" Brennan asked.
"Well I wasn't offered much of an explanation, so I'm not quite sure how to do it."
"Think about your feet and step towards Jesse." Sharon told Brennan.
"My feet?" He asked, incredulous.
"Yes, your feet. You know, the things on the ends of your legs?"
"I know what my feet are, why am I thinking about them?"
"Look at your feet now, do they feel odd?"
"They feel like I'll get pins and needles when I get up."
"Now think about your real feet, not the ones you see." Brennan frowned, but stepped forward just the same. Jesse watched open-mouthed as he seemed to pop out of existence, and the room around them started to dissolve.
He opened his eyes to see the other three watching him curiously.
"What?" He asked.
"You looked like you were asleep for a minute." Brennan laughed.
"Brennan, Jesse, can I have you in the lab please." Adam's voice came over the comm. links.
"We're coming Adam." Jesse responded, offering Sharon and Eber a smile before following Brennan out of the room. Alone, Eber remembered what Jesse had said and fought not to meet Sharon's eyes as she asked.
[Why are you packing?] Sharon looked about her guiltily.
[We're leaving tomorrow, remember?]
[Where are my things?]
[I was just getting them.]
[What has Adam told you? Why would you leave without me?] Eber asked, tears pricking at the back of her eyes. Sharon sat down on the bed, struggling for composure and fighting to still her shaking hands.
[Something about your past. Something I don't want you to know, because it might hurt you. Do you understand? It doesn't change anything, I just need to learn how to keep my thoughts quiet when I talk to you.]
[Why are you leaving? Can't Adam teach you that?] Sharon sighed, looking at the bag beside her for a moment before taking a seat on the bed.
[I'm not leaving. I just needed a moment.] She laughed softly. [Can we do this? Talk like this until I learn some control?]
[Forever if we have to. Don't leave me.] Sharon pulled Eber into a hug.
[Let's go and see what the others are doing. We have to ask for an extension on our training.]
AN: Believe me when I say this is going somewhere, it's just taking a while to get there.