Chapter 36
Alex and Trip did everything they could for Jen with the first aid kit, but she was too badly hurt. However, the Time Force reinforcements arrived in less than ten minutes. "Alex!" Katie called. "They're here."
Alex moved from Jen and walked out. He found his father staring frozen at his wife, who stood in shock next to Katie and Lucas. "Alexander, what is this?" Richard Drake asked his son angrily.
"This is The Mistress, sir. We have evidence and some mutants who are willing to testify she's The Mistress," Alexander explained.
"Alexander! This is your mother!" the older man yelled, exasperated. "And she's all beaten up and handcuffed!"
"She's a criminal who resisted arrest, sir," Alex whispered, his toneless voice back. "If you don't mind, sir, I need to take my wife to a regeneration chamber now, or she'll die." He walked away, towards the doctors.
Richard approached Samantha. "Sam, what happened here? What are you doing here?" he asked sweetly.
She looked at him, still in shock. "I did it, Richard. They are right, I did," she said with a voice that didn't sound like her own.
"Why, Sam?" Richard asked, hurt.
"Because I had to," she answered sadly, guilt suddenly filling her heart for the first time. Not only guilt found a way to her heart, also realization of her self-deception. She had thought all along she had a mission. She had thought all along she had to do what she was doing, that those people didn't matter, that she had a good reason to kill Jen. But now, suddenly, she realized she didn't. She had been wrong all along, and had hurt not only several people she didn't know, she had also hurt her family. The mutant one and the human one.
Samantha sighed. "It's over now, isn't it?" she asked the two officers guarding her.
"Yes, it is," Katie said coldly.
*************************************
The medical unit rushed towards the time ship they had landed in a clearing in the abandoned farm estate. They were carrying Jen, or what was left of her, on a stretcher, and were trying to stabilize her vital signs. Alex decided not to follow them for now; he couldn't stand to see Jennifer in that state.
"Alexander," his mother whispered as he approached them with a first aid kit in his hand and Trip on his heels. "Is she going to be okay?"
"I recommend you not to say anything unless your attorney is here," was Alex's dry and cold answer.
"Son," Samantha said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, I was crazed, lost in a fantasy, I'm really sorry for everything."
"It's too late now to be sorry, assuming you're not lying," Alex answered, not looking at her. "And if you are, it's not working. At least not on me."
Samantha fell quiet while Alex pulled out some bandages and medication and began treating some of her injuries in silence, with his saddened face, that was crowned by two angry blue eyes.
"When are we leaving?" Katie asked.
Alex looked up at her. "I don't know," he admitted. "The H.C. was saying something about debriefing here, so we could interrogate the Simmonses and the Collinses too. If we do that, we might stay for fifteen days, maybe even a month, depending on how fast Jennifer and Josephine recover. They came equipped for this eventuality, bringing with them containers to keep The Mistress and her mutants in custody until we go back to the future."
Katie, Trip, and Lucas nodded silently, and then their gazes moved further, beyond Alex. The Colonel turned around and saw the head of the medical division walking to him gravely. He took a deep breath, a sudden trembling taking over him, as the fear of losing Jen invaded him suddenly.
"Colonel Drake," the doctor said, offering his hand. Alex took it clumsily, his mind on his wife. "I have news. Not good or bad."
"Please, just tell me," Alex pleaded.
"She's pretty beaten up, with the medical technology of the twenty-first century she would have probably died," the doctor said gravely, but then he presented Alex with a small smile. "But that's not the case, we got her into the regeneration chamber on time, and the treatment has begun. She'll be back out of danger in no time at all, but the pain will remain for a little longer." Alex nodded, his face a bit brighter. He was okay with Jen having to lie down for a while, he would take care of her every need. "But I do have bad news. Jennifer was pregnant, but with this beating, the baby didn't stand a chance. I'm sorry, she miscarried," the doctor announced. Alex closed his eyes with a pained expression that suddenly turned angry. He clenched his fist and hit the air, a tear of impotence running down his cheek.
"The third one," he whispered. Katie moved to him and hugged him gently. "The third baby we've lost," he told her.
"I know, I know," she soothed. "It will be okay, you have to be strong, Alex, you have to be strong for her."
He nodded, his face showing how lost in his impotence he felt. He turned to the doctor. "Can I see her now?" he asked.
"Yes, please, follow me," the doctor agreed, leading the way.
*********************************
The next morning, Kevin stepped into Jessica's room and smiled at the sight of her holding her baby in her arms and tenderly caressing her little head. It reminded him so much of Josephine when the twins had been born. "Hey," he whispered, more than said.
She looked up and smiled. "Hey," she answered with the happy look new mothers can't take off their faces. "Did you see her?" she asked proudly.
"Yeah, I saw her at the nursery," he commented.
"Where's Phine?" Jessica asked, looking at the door. "Why didn't she come?"
"She's here," Kevin said nervously. He didn't know if that was the right moment to fill Jessica in, but Josephine wanted to see her. "Have you talked to Wes?"
"About what?" the woman asked.
Wes walked into the room in that moment, pushing a wheel chair. "Kevin, what a surprise, is everything okay?" he asked uneasily. Jessica straightened on the bed, holding her daughter firmly.
"Jossie wants to see Jessica," Kevin said tiredly.
"Sure," Wes said after a moment of hesitation. "I brought the wheel chair to help her do that," he said truthfully.
Kevin nodded and walked towards the door, where a nurse was coming in, to take Caroline, as their parents had been calling her to avoid confusing her with Jen, away.
Jessica handed the baby to the nurse reluctantly, and Caroline began complaining, with a moaning that didn't make it to a cry. Jessica caressed her baby's tummy and soothed her with a smile, "Ssh! Ssh!" the nurse smiled and walked out of the room.
Wes approached Jessica with a hair brush in his hand.
"What did I miss?" Jessica asked when Wes began brushing her hair.
"The big final battle," he said simply.
"Oh, my God!" Jessica said, scared, turning to face her husband. "Is Phine ok?" she asked nervously.
"Yes, she's fi--"
"And the children?! Are they alive?!" she kept interrogating.
"Yes, they are--" Wes said quickly, but she kept interrupting him.
"And the Rangers? Are they okay? Did they win? Why didn't you tell me? What- -" she shut up when Wes put his finger over her lips.
"I'll explain everything later, right now, your sister is hurt, and she wants to see you," he said.
"Hurt? Hurt how?" Jessica asked as Wes helped her to her feet, and supported her as she made her short way to the wheel chair.
"The Mistress." he hesitated. Something told him his wife didn't need to hear her sister had been tortured. "Tried to kill her, you know, like the Rangers said. So she was stabbed," he explained.
"Is she going to be all right?" Jessica sounded scared. Wes pushed the wheel chair out of the room.
"Yes, fortunately the stab wound didn't reach anything too important. She's in a lot of pain, but she'll be all right," he promised. A few doors down the hall, he stopped and knocked.
"Come in," Kevin said from the inside.
Wes opened the door and found Kevin caressing Josephine's hair. The woman's eyes were closed but she seemed relaxed. The twins were sitting silently in the visitor's chairs, not really behaving like children.
"Phine," Jessica said as Wes placed her next to her sister's bed.
Josephine turned to her and opened her clear green eyes. "Sica," she whispered excitedly. "I heard she was born already, congratulations."
"Thanks," Jessica said, taking her sister's hand in hers. "How are you doing? Does it hurt too much?"
"Not now, they've drugged me," Josephine admitted. "I really don't remember much, I think I was crazed. I could have sworn the twins had been stabbed. Must have been the pain."
"Yeah," Kevin said caressing her hair absentmindedly, looking at his children.
"Is there anything you need?" Wes asked.
"Not now, thanks," Josephine answered. "But I can't wait to meet my niece."
************************************
Alex was sitting next to Jen, holding her hand tenderly. He hadn't slept all night, keeping an eye on her. She had left the Regeneration Chamber in the middle of the night, and had been taken to a rest quarter. No human power could separate Alex from his wife in that moment.
She stirred; Alex straightened his back and held her hand tighter. He knew what it felt like, waking up after staying in the regeneration chamber. He had felt dizzy, confused and in pain, he imagined that must be how newborns felt. She winced, her eyes still closed.
"Take it easy, baby," he pleaded. "Just rest, it will be okay."
"Alex?" she asked in a hoarse voice, so unlike her own.
"Yes, honey, it's me, just rest." He caressed her hair and kissed her hand.
"What happened?" she asked, sounding lost.
"You don't remember?"
"I was in a controlled dream, can't tell the difference between what really happened and what didn't happen at all," she admitted, wincing again.
"Shh! Try to go back to sleep now."
"Are you actually asking me to get some sleep?" she asked with a ghost of a smile.
"Yes, I am, get some more rest, you'll need it."
"Did it work, Alex? Did we catch her?" she asked.
"Yes, we caught her. She's in custody now, pretending to be really sorry for everything she did."
She let out a sigh. "Well, at least I got to beat her up," she said, her voice sounding yielding.
"She's not walking out of this, Jen, I promise," he said firmly.
"Jessica had her baby," Jen said, in a drowsy voice. "They named her after me."
"Are you reading their minds now?"
"Yes," she said simply. "I'm bored, and I need an untroubled mind to rest my powers on. I think I'll take the newborn's..."
"You do that," he told her sweetly. He kissed her hand again. "Have I told you how happy I am you made it?"
"No."
"I'm very happy you didn't die on me, then. I'm glad we'll get to live together for a long time," he said, causing a small smile on her face. "I love you so much," he declared, pressing her hand against his cheek with his own fingers.
"And I love you," she whispered, barely moving her lips. "We lost another one."
"Don't think about it now," he said, caressing her face.
Jen lay there, her eyes closed, her face relaxed. He though she had fallen asleep, until another small mischievous smile appeared in her face.
"What is it?" he asked, even if he thought she was reacting to one of her controlled dreams.
"She's a psychic, Alex," Jen whispered. "Caroline Collins is a born psychic."
to be continued.
Alex and Trip did everything they could for Jen with the first aid kit, but she was too badly hurt. However, the Time Force reinforcements arrived in less than ten minutes. "Alex!" Katie called. "They're here."
Alex moved from Jen and walked out. He found his father staring frozen at his wife, who stood in shock next to Katie and Lucas. "Alexander, what is this?" Richard Drake asked his son angrily.
"This is The Mistress, sir. We have evidence and some mutants who are willing to testify she's The Mistress," Alexander explained.
"Alexander! This is your mother!" the older man yelled, exasperated. "And she's all beaten up and handcuffed!"
"She's a criminal who resisted arrest, sir," Alex whispered, his toneless voice back. "If you don't mind, sir, I need to take my wife to a regeneration chamber now, or she'll die." He walked away, towards the doctors.
Richard approached Samantha. "Sam, what happened here? What are you doing here?" he asked sweetly.
She looked at him, still in shock. "I did it, Richard. They are right, I did," she said with a voice that didn't sound like her own.
"Why, Sam?" Richard asked, hurt.
"Because I had to," she answered sadly, guilt suddenly filling her heart for the first time. Not only guilt found a way to her heart, also realization of her self-deception. She had thought all along she had a mission. She had thought all along she had to do what she was doing, that those people didn't matter, that she had a good reason to kill Jen. But now, suddenly, she realized she didn't. She had been wrong all along, and had hurt not only several people she didn't know, she had also hurt her family. The mutant one and the human one.
Samantha sighed. "It's over now, isn't it?" she asked the two officers guarding her.
"Yes, it is," Katie said coldly.
*************************************
The medical unit rushed towards the time ship they had landed in a clearing in the abandoned farm estate. They were carrying Jen, or what was left of her, on a stretcher, and were trying to stabilize her vital signs. Alex decided not to follow them for now; he couldn't stand to see Jennifer in that state.
"Alexander," his mother whispered as he approached them with a first aid kit in his hand and Trip on his heels. "Is she going to be okay?"
"I recommend you not to say anything unless your attorney is here," was Alex's dry and cold answer.
"Son," Samantha said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry, I was crazed, lost in a fantasy, I'm really sorry for everything."
"It's too late now to be sorry, assuming you're not lying," Alex answered, not looking at her. "And if you are, it's not working. At least not on me."
Samantha fell quiet while Alex pulled out some bandages and medication and began treating some of her injuries in silence, with his saddened face, that was crowned by two angry blue eyes.
"When are we leaving?" Katie asked.
Alex looked up at her. "I don't know," he admitted. "The H.C. was saying something about debriefing here, so we could interrogate the Simmonses and the Collinses too. If we do that, we might stay for fifteen days, maybe even a month, depending on how fast Jennifer and Josephine recover. They came equipped for this eventuality, bringing with them containers to keep The Mistress and her mutants in custody until we go back to the future."
Katie, Trip, and Lucas nodded silently, and then their gazes moved further, beyond Alex. The Colonel turned around and saw the head of the medical division walking to him gravely. He took a deep breath, a sudden trembling taking over him, as the fear of losing Jen invaded him suddenly.
"Colonel Drake," the doctor said, offering his hand. Alex took it clumsily, his mind on his wife. "I have news. Not good or bad."
"Please, just tell me," Alex pleaded.
"She's pretty beaten up, with the medical technology of the twenty-first century she would have probably died," the doctor said gravely, but then he presented Alex with a small smile. "But that's not the case, we got her into the regeneration chamber on time, and the treatment has begun. She'll be back out of danger in no time at all, but the pain will remain for a little longer." Alex nodded, his face a bit brighter. He was okay with Jen having to lie down for a while, he would take care of her every need. "But I do have bad news. Jennifer was pregnant, but with this beating, the baby didn't stand a chance. I'm sorry, she miscarried," the doctor announced. Alex closed his eyes with a pained expression that suddenly turned angry. He clenched his fist and hit the air, a tear of impotence running down his cheek.
"The third one," he whispered. Katie moved to him and hugged him gently. "The third baby we've lost," he told her.
"I know, I know," she soothed. "It will be okay, you have to be strong, Alex, you have to be strong for her."
He nodded, his face showing how lost in his impotence he felt. He turned to the doctor. "Can I see her now?" he asked.
"Yes, please, follow me," the doctor agreed, leading the way.
*********************************
The next morning, Kevin stepped into Jessica's room and smiled at the sight of her holding her baby in her arms and tenderly caressing her little head. It reminded him so much of Josephine when the twins had been born. "Hey," he whispered, more than said.
She looked up and smiled. "Hey," she answered with the happy look new mothers can't take off their faces. "Did you see her?" she asked proudly.
"Yeah, I saw her at the nursery," he commented.
"Where's Phine?" Jessica asked, looking at the door. "Why didn't she come?"
"She's here," Kevin said nervously. He didn't know if that was the right moment to fill Jessica in, but Josephine wanted to see her. "Have you talked to Wes?"
"About what?" the woman asked.
Wes walked into the room in that moment, pushing a wheel chair. "Kevin, what a surprise, is everything okay?" he asked uneasily. Jessica straightened on the bed, holding her daughter firmly.
"Jossie wants to see Jessica," Kevin said tiredly.
"Sure," Wes said after a moment of hesitation. "I brought the wheel chair to help her do that," he said truthfully.
Kevin nodded and walked towards the door, where a nurse was coming in, to take Caroline, as their parents had been calling her to avoid confusing her with Jen, away.
Jessica handed the baby to the nurse reluctantly, and Caroline began complaining, with a moaning that didn't make it to a cry. Jessica caressed her baby's tummy and soothed her with a smile, "Ssh! Ssh!" the nurse smiled and walked out of the room.
Wes approached Jessica with a hair brush in his hand.
"What did I miss?" Jessica asked when Wes began brushing her hair.
"The big final battle," he said simply.
"Oh, my God!" Jessica said, scared, turning to face her husband. "Is Phine ok?" she asked nervously.
"Yes, she's fi--"
"And the children?! Are they alive?!" she kept interrogating.
"Yes, they are--" Wes said quickly, but she kept interrupting him.
"And the Rangers? Are they okay? Did they win? Why didn't you tell me? What- -" she shut up when Wes put his finger over her lips.
"I'll explain everything later, right now, your sister is hurt, and she wants to see you," he said.
"Hurt? Hurt how?" Jessica asked as Wes helped her to her feet, and supported her as she made her short way to the wheel chair.
"The Mistress." he hesitated. Something told him his wife didn't need to hear her sister had been tortured. "Tried to kill her, you know, like the Rangers said. So she was stabbed," he explained.
"Is she going to be all right?" Jessica sounded scared. Wes pushed the wheel chair out of the room.
"Yes, fortunately the stab wound didn't reach anything too important. She's in a lot of pain, but she'll be all right," he promised. A few doors down the hall, he stopped and knocked.
"Come in," Kevin said from the inside.
Wes opened the door and found Kevin caressing Josephine's hair. The woman's eyes were closed but she seemed relaxed. The twins were sitting silently in the visitor's chairs, not really behaving like children.
"Phine," Jessica said as Wes placed her next to her sister's bed.
Josephine turned to her and opened her clear green eyes. "Sica," she whispered excitedly. "I heard she was born already, congratulations."
"Thanks," Jessica said, taking her sister's hand in hers. "How are you doing? Does it hurt too much?"
"Not now, they've drugged me," Josephine admitted. "I really don't remember much, I think I was crazed. I could have sworn the twins had been stabbed. Must have been the pain."
"Yeah," Kevin said caressing her hair absentmindedly, looking at his children.
"Is there anything you need?" Wes asked.
"Not now, thanks," Josephine answered. "But I can't wait to meet my niece."
************************************
Alex was sitting next to Jen, holding her hand tenderly. He hadn't slept all night, keeping an eye on her. She had left the Regeneration Chamber in the middle of the night, and had been taken to a rest quarter. No human power could separate Alex from his wife in that moment.
She stirred; Alex straightened his back and held her hand tighter. He knew what it felt like, waking up after staying in the regeneration chamber. He had felt dizzy, confused and in pain, he imagined that must be how newborns felt. She winced, her eyes still closed.
"Take it easy, baby," he pleaded. "Just rest, it will be okay."
"Alex?" she asked in a hoarse voice, so unlike her own.
"Yes, honey, it's me, just rest." He caressed her hair and kissed her hand.
"What happened?" she asked, sounding lost.
"You don't remember?"
"I was in a controlled dream, can't tell the difference between what really happened and what didn't happen at all," she admitted, wincing again.
"Shh! Try to go back to sleep now."
"Are you actually asking me to get some sleep?" she asked with a ghost of a smile.
"Yes, I am, get some more rest, you'll need it."
"Did it work, Alex? Did we catch her?" she asked.
"Yes, we caught her. She's in custody now, pretending to be really sorry for everything she did."
She let out a sigh. "Well, at least I got to beat her up," she said, her voice sounding yielding.
"She's not walking out of this, Jen, I promise," he said firmly.
"Jessica had her baby," Jen said, in a drowsy voice. "They named her after me."
"Are you reading their minds now?"
"Yes," she said simply. "I'm bored, and I need an untroubled mind to rest my powers on. I think I'll take the newborn's..."
"You do that," he told her sweetly. He kissed her hand again. "Have I told you how happy I am you made it?"
"No."
"I'm very happy you didn't die on me, then. I'm glad we'll get to live together for a long time," he said, causing a small smile on her face. "I love you so much," he declared, pressing her hand against his cheek with his own fingers.
"And I love you," she whispered, barely moving her lips. "We lost another one."
"Don't think about it now," he said, caressing her face.
Jen lay there, her eyes closed, her face relaxed. He though she had fallen asleep, until another small mischievous smile appeared in her face.
"What is it?" he asked, even if he thought she was reacting to one of her controlled dreams.
"She's a psychic, Alex," Jen whispered. "Caroline Collins is a born psychic."
to be continued.
