Chapter 3
"What happened?" Adam pulled a book off the medical room bed.
"It was a trap." Brennan set Jesse's limp form down, "They had a bomb. Andi teleported Shal and Emma out, and Jesse phased through the walls. We got out just as the place exploded. The explosion threw us forward and next thing, Jesse's unconscious."
Adam took Jesse's pulse and began to connect wires to him.
"What's wrong?" Josh entered from the control room.
In one swift movement Andi had crossed the room, grabbed Josh by his shirt and slammed him against the nearest wall. "What the hell?" Josh looked amazed.
"You set us up, you son of a bitch!" Andi yelled.
"What are you talking about?" Josh asked, trying to break free. Brennan crossed the room and pulled her back, holding her arms tightly.
"Who were they, huh? How did they know you?" Andi yelled, "Were you sent to kill me? To kill Mutant X? Well?"
"Andi," Adam said calmly, "It couldn't have been him. It was Genomex, you know that."
"Yeah, but they asked for Josh. Josh worked at Genomex." Emma explained.
Realisation dawned on Josh's face, "Oh God."
"What?" Andi tried to break free of Brennan's grasp, "What do you mean oh god?"
Josh hung his head, "My father."
"What?" Shalimar asked, speaking for the first time since Jesse had been knocked unconscious as her eyes flashed dangerously.
"My father…" Josh answered, "He's a scientist at Genomex."
"Why didn't you tell us this? No, forget that, why would he want you back if you'd helped one of the mutants escaped?" Adam asked, gesturing towards Andi.
"He knows it was me who freed Andi. He knows I hate his work- I always have. Lately Eckhart has been… putting him down… threatening him with redundancy if he doesn't provide better results from his research. My freeing mutants would be the last straw for Eckhart, and Eckhart would fire him. But my father probably struck a deal with Eckhart…" Josh thought carefully, "He probably told Eckhart, that if Eckhart didn't fire him… he would find me… and provide Eckhart with the key members of Mutant X."
"But how could your father know you're with us?" Adam asked.
"He wouldn't," Josh replied, "But it would be an educated guess. I had been asking about Mutant X for a while. And if I wasn't with you, it would be a bluff."
"And Jess could die because of him!" Andi cried.
"Jesse will be fine." Adam placed a hand on her shoulder and signalled for Brennan to let go, "He'll be awake in a few days, if not tomorrow."
Andi looked around at every one, took another look at Jesse and ran out of the room.
"Andi, can I come in?" Emma's head poked round the door. Andi sat cross-legged on the middle of the bed, her arms around a pillow.
Emma sat down on the edge of the bed, "Are you okay?" Andi sniffed and nodded. Emma placed a hand on Andi's hand, "What's wrong?"
"It's something Shalimar said." Andi said quietly, "And I'm afraid she might be right."
"What did Shal say?"
"She said that it was obvious that Jesse and I liked each other… a lot."
"I'd said love is a more accurate word."
"You think she's right?"
"Andi, I'm a telempath and I have never felt feelings as strong from Jesse like the feelings he has for you. And I can feel you too. You want to let him in, but something's stopping you. What is it?"
Andi stood up, "Em, you saw me in there. I couldn't control myself. I lost it because I thought Josh might have had something to do with Jesse's getting hurt."
"And it's natural to feel angry and protective."
"That wasn't anger; that was pure rage. What if someone hurts Jesse when we're out? What if I lose control? Can I be trusted not to screw everything up?"
Emma pulled Andi back onto the bed, "Andi, you need to tell him how you feel. If you don't it'll just stay pent up inside you, until you do lose control and 'rage'."
"Oh yeah it's gonna' be easy, him being unconscious and all."
"Andi, you're gonna' have to tell him eventually." She got up to leave, "Adam says you can go see him if you want."
"Can I come in?" Andi stood at the doorway to the med room. Adam looked up from monitor beside Jesse's bed and nodded.
"Adam, look," Andi began, "I'm really sorry. My anger got the better of me. I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it," Adam said, cutting her off, "We all make mistakes. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to check something on the computer."
"But you have a computer there…" Andi started, but he was gone. She frowned, shook her head and sat down beside the bed.
She opened her mouth a few times as thought trying to say something. Eventually she slipped her hand into his and began, speaking as quickly as possibly to get it all it… "Look Jesse, I know you can't hear me but I have to tell you before it drives me mad. I like you. I mean really like you. Emma says that it's love… I don't know. All I know is that as you lay unconscious all I wanted to do was kill Josh. I was so worried; it felt like a bullet ripping through me. I keep thinking of you; I can't sleep. I just… I needed to tell you. I love you." Nicci leant over and kissed his forehead, "I just wanted you to know, but I guess you never will."
"Look Jesse, I know you can't hear me but I have to tell you before it drives me mad. I like you. I mean really like you. Emma says that it's love… I don't know. All I know is that as you lay unconscious all I wanted to do was kill Josh. I was so worried; it felt like a bullet ripping through me. I keep thinking of you; I can't sleep. I just… I needed to tell you. I love you. I just wanted you to know, but I guess you never will."
Jesse tried to respond, but his body and mind wouldn't let him. He wanted to tell her that he could hear her and he felt the same way, but nothing worked. He just lay there, in darkness.
"Okay, here goes…" Emma touched Jesse's temple, closed her eyes and concentrated. The rest watched her. After a while she stopped, "Nope, it's no good. He won't let me in."
"He won't let you in?" Shalimar asked, "How is that possible?"
"His mind won't let me enter." Emma explained, "Only willing minds can let me in. It could there's something in there he doesn't want me to know about… a feeling that his subconscious is shielding from everyone."
Adam flipped a few pages on his chart. A minute later he sighed, "Fine… Andi try telepathy."
Andi sat up, "What? It's not safe, you know that. My powers aren't fully developed."
"Don't worry," Emma took her hand, "I'll weigh you down. You won't lose control as long as we're connected."
Andi sat beside Jesse, and lifted his hand. As Andi intertwined her and Jesse's fingers, Emma touched Andi's temple.
"Ready?" Andi asked. Emma nodded and they both shut their eyes.
Jesse? Jesse, can you hear me? Andi found herself in a large, white, empty room, surrounded by folders. She lifted one up and opened it. What appeared to be a TV screen played an image. She saw Emma standing in the middle of a road, and suddenly the image moved closer and Emma was pushed off the road. The image changed to that of a car, which the 'camera' passed right through.
That's the first time I met Emma. Andi looked at Jesse.
You have this in your head? That's just weird. Andi said.
Why is it weird?
Because they're all folders.
To you they're folders, to me they're memories.
Well, you need to do some cleaning up. Get a file cabinet or something.
Is there something you wanted?
Yeah, bossman wants you out.
Bossman?
Adam. Look, we need you. Its bad enough being down one mutant, but the worry is driving us insane.
Us?
Well mainly me, but that's not the point.
Andi?Emma's voice sounded, I can't keep up this connection. You need to get out.
Andi turned back to Jesse, Come out with me?
I'll be out soon; I've got some stuff I want to… do. Tell the others not to worry.
I'll be there when you wake.
"I think he's waking up…"
"Go get Adam."
"Sshh! You'll wake Andi up."
"Good, she should be awake."
"I was already awake you losers."
"Well get up, Jesse's waking up."
"Jesse? Jesse, can you hear me?"
"Ugh, bright light!" Jesse held up a hand to shield his eyes.
"Jesse, can you hear me?" Adam leaned over him.
"Loud and clear, boss man." Jesse replied.
"Boss man?"
"Ugh, sorry. I think I have a little bit of residual 'Andiness' from when she was in my head." Jesse sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
"You remember that? We thought you couldn't hear anything?" Shalimar said.
"No, I heard everything." he replied, looking pointedly at Andi.
"Good, at least we know your ears work," Adam said sarcastically, "Right, can you all leave? I need to check Jesse over."
"A full examination?" Shalimar murmured to Andi, smirking, "I'm sure you'd love to help." Andi gasped, hit Shalimar on the arm and walked out of the room as quickly as possible.
"You heard everything?" Emma asked Jesse.
Jesse nodded, "Yeah, I heard it all. Including what Andi said to me about how she… how she felt."
"What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm going to tell her the truth."
Jesse walked into the living room, where Emma, Josh, Brennan and Shalimar were assembled. The team had decided that what had happened wasn't Josh's fault, he had been forgiven and he was now devising a plan to help them get into Genomex.
"Where's Andi?" Jesse asked.
"In the dojo last time I saw her." Shalimar replied absentmindedly.
"Thanks." Jesse answered and walked off to the dojo.
When he got there, Andi was working out. He stopped for a moment, watching her fight invisible opponents. He watched her body move, her muscles expanding and contracting under her vest top and loose bottoms. He unzipped his jacket and set it on the bench. He walked to behind her and waited. Suddenly she turned around and he blocked her fist. She stumbled back surprised.
"You weren't prepared for that. You must be aware of all around you and be ready to take on anything that's thrown at you from anywhere. You need to adapt your stances to prepare for attacks from all around." Jesse said. He twisted her round, and pushed her body until she was in the proper stance. All the while Andi remained silent.
Jesse looked at her to check the stance and shook his head, "Your leg should be twisted at an angle." He bent over and ran a hand down her leg.
"Okay!" Andi broke her silence, and stepped back, "Stop." She walked over to the bench and picked up her water.
"What's wrong?" Jesse asked as he followed her.
"I can't do this." she replied.
"Do what?"
"This! I can't act like nothing happened. You said yourself that you heard everything, so you must have heard what I told you. You don't even seem to care! Now I'm embarrassed and I won't be able to work with you and-" her words were cut short as Jesse's lips locked over hers.
She breathed deeply as their embrace broke. "I love you too," Jesse whispered, "I've loved you since the moment you fell into my arms up in that mountain top." He kissed her again, "I love everything about you. Your eyes, your smile, and the way your hair moves when you're fighting. I even love your stubbornness and independence. But most of all I love the way I could sit with you for hours… just talking. I could talk all night just to hear you breath."
Andi slipped her arms around his neck, and pulled him in for another passionate embrace.