Disclaimer : I'm sure you already know I don't own anything from perfect dark. Only some characters like Sarah, Nathaniel or Susan are mine.

A/N: Sorry if I'm a bit late. Teachers were cruel and gave me stupid homework...

Chapter 5: The calm before the storm

"How did you cut yourself so deeply, it's horrible…" said a disgusted Nathaniel.

"If you're not able to handle blood, ask Sarah to do it, I'll be happy if she does", answered Jonathan with a very bored tone.

"You know he must learn Jonathan, let him a chance", replied Sarah.

"Well, I'll give him a chance only if he learn to shut up sometimes…"

Sarah Taylor sighed. These two brothers were always arguing. She wandered where they could hold these strange personalities. Well, she'll never know, because they came from nowhere…they never said anything about their past, and they don't have any real family names. Probably because they have none, she thought to herself. Someone knock on the door.

"Ah, you're there. Come on, miss dark, and take a seat. I must take a look on you wound.

Joanna sat at the only free chair. She always hated to see a doctor. Sarah looked at the places where the five bullets were shot and removed quickly by the best doctors of Datadyne corp.

"They've done a very good job. You were healed by real doctors aren't you"?

"Yes, there were good doctors…too good to work at such a place."

"Not all the people who work at Datadyne are bad people. Some of them are as dangerous as Grimshaw or Suzan."

"EEEEEWWWWW! What happened to your feet?! Were you bitten by a shark or what", asked Nathaniel.

"Two of them were completely frozen when I fell in the water after the plane crash. They had to amputate them. You have a problem with this mister-no-one-can-be-more-a-wuss-than-me?"

"The plea isn't completely healed. You'd better not run for a few other days or it will bleed", said Sarah as looked at Jon's feet.

"I'm only walking and it hurts. I will only run if my life depends on it."

"I'm finished miss Dark. Now you can leave but don't forget to take care of yourself", said Suzan to Joanna.

"Hey! That's unfair! She only stay a few minutes and she can leave when it's been half an hour that I'm here and this fool isn't finished yet", Jonathan said falsely angry.

Nathaniel shot him a glare and the two women laugh. Joanna left with a big smile on her face to annoy Jon even more. Nathaniel was finished with him half an hour later. It was now 5 and a half and he decided to go eat with all the other employees that were obligated to stay late. Joanna and him had to see Carrington before leaving the institute. He was very annoyed to see that Suzan and Foster were there. There were also Velvet, who was apparently waiting her boyfriend, Grmshaw, Elvis, and…well…you know who.

"Hi Jon", said a lot of them at the same time.

"Hi everyone", said Jonathan lazily.

Velvet looked at him with a worried look.

"Did Sarah or Nathaniel drug you, you seem very down", asked anxiously Velvet.

"No, I'm just tired. I had a very long day and my only wish is to meet my beloved bed again".

"Maybe you should get some coffee, it will help you to stay awake", said Elvis with eyes that were incredibly big.

"No thanks. I think I'll just eat something and leave", answered Jonathan

"No, no! You must take a real dinner and eat with us. We want to know every details from your mission with Joanna", said Grimshaw with a very fascinated look.

"Why don't you ask Joanna? I'm tired and I don't want to talk about this right now. It will takes age to tell you if I tell it with every details like you want".

"We wanted to ask Joanna but she answered us the same answer that you gave to us", said Foster with puppy dog eyes.

"Well…maybe tomorrow.

Everyone sighed. They were all disappointed that they cannot hear the story right now.

"Did you looked like a real couple", asked Foster with a very interested look in his eyes.

"What do you mean by real couple", questioned Jonathan.

"Did you kiss often, oh come on! We didn't have any details about this. Tell us Jonathan", said Foster with a childish tone.

Joanna got up from her chair. She had just finished eating. She shot a glare at Foster and quickly approached Jonathan. She sat next to him and kissed him deeply. Jonathan was very surprised by this strange reaction from Joanna. Everyone looked at them as with a mouth shaped as an o. After she had finished she looked at everyone.

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? GO; TELL TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS THAT I KISSED JONATHAN. COME ON! GO SPREAD RUMORS! YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ELSE!» shouted Joanna in her terrible anger.

Joanna left and goes to her own office. Everyone looked at each other in disbelief. Jonathan looked at the wall. Is that really happened, he thought to himself. He knew she only do it because she was tired to be associated to him in all the rumors. He knew it because her kiss didn't show any love or affection. It was done like she was obligated to do it. He shot a glare to everyone and left. He was very angry because they've hurt her.

"Hey Jon, where are you going? You didn't eat anything", asked Suzan

"I'm not angry anymore", he calmly answered.

He wanted to see her. He wanted to ask her why she has done this even if he already knew the answer. Her office door was open. She was sitting at her desk and was looking some folders. She looked at him.

"What do you want", asked coldly Joanna.

"You know why I've come. Why did you do this Jo"?

"Didn't you hear the rumors Jonathan? They told that I was pregnant and that you were the father", angrily shouted Joanna.

"…………………"

Jonathan wasn't able to say anything. He had heard rumors that him and Jo were secretly dating but he never heard something like this before.

"Where…where is that idea coming from. We…we didn't do anything. You…you're not pregnant, aren't you", asked worriedly Jonathan.

"Of course not! They think I'm pregnant because I've taken some weight, but I never thought I looked like a pregnant woman. Am I that fat", asked desperately Joanna.

"Damn, Jo, no! You're alright like you are. You don't have to care with such stupid rumors. It's probably some jealous woman that tried to find you a weak place, but you don't have any Jo."

"Why would they be jealous", asked curiously Joanna.

"Jo, they're jealous of what you look like. You're the most wonderful woman of the entire institute Jo, they have very good reasons to be jealous"

Joanna looked at him with a look of disbelief. Did he just say that or did she just imagined it. She saw Jonathan turned red as a tomato. Maybe this was because of him that there were rumors about them, not just because of the mission they shared.

"Don't look at me like this Jo. Ask any men from the institute, they all have the same opinion as me", shyly said Jon.

Joanna smiled. Maybe he was right. She shouldn't care about the rumors. Like Jonathan said, it's only jealous girls who wanted her to suffer.

"Thanks Jonathan, I feel better now. I'm sorry for this kiss, it was very impulsive from me. The rumors will spread even more now."

"It's alright, I've never cared about these rumours. We should go see Carrington now, it's time to go."

They left Joanna's office and they go to Carrington's office. She seemed again very busy but he quickly saw them.

"Joanna, Jonathan, please take a seat", said Carrington happily.

"Well, it seems that the mission was a success even if you weren't very lucky. I'm glad you're safe. How did you get out of the terrible situations you were in", asked Carrington.

"Jonathan had been very courageous sir. To complete our mission even if it seemed to be failed, he used…well…my kind of technique. I wasn't very useful in the infiltration. I was more useful as a bodyguard."

Jonathan didn't even blushed. He was too tired to really hear what Joanna was saying. The only thing he ate in the entire day was a light breakfast. He was starving and wanted to sleep. Carrington looked at him strangely.

"Jonathan, you didn't listen to any words of what we were discussing. Are you alright, you look pale", worriedly asked Carrington.

"I'm sad to tell you that I'm extremely tired. I think I'm gonna fell asleep on my feet."

"You can go home, now. You deserved it after such a successful mission. Joanna will talk to me about this alone. Go now, and don't come tomorrow, I give you the day-off."

"Thanks mister Carrington. You're a very generous man", answered Jon as he left.

******************************

"STUPID CAR! WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING?!", desperately shouted Jonathan.

He looked around. Everyone had already left except for Joanna and Carrington. He sighed. Even his brother wasn't there. He heard footsteps behind him and looked who it was.

"Jonathan?"

"Joanna, what are you doing here"?

"I could ask you the same question. I'm finished with the report, I was leaving now. Why didn't you leave yet?", curiously asked Joanna.

"My car isn't working. Maybe something is broken in it. I don't know what I'm going to do, Nathaniel already left."

"Velvet told me that she was going to your home with Nathaniel. Maybe you should go to my apartment, even if you were to your home, I don't think you'll be able to sleep much. I will tell someone to check on you car tomorrow", said Joanna.

"Thanks a lot Jo. You're very kind you know", said Jonathan.

"You're welcome", answered Joanna.

Jonathan looked at her. Definitively, she was even prettier without her wig. Don't think about this, he thought to himself. He entered Joanna car, elevated in the air, and left the institute. Suzan looked them leave. The plan with the car worked successfully she thought to herself. She was looking forward to tell this to Foster tomorrow.

****************************** 

20 minutes later at Joanna's apartment.

"Okay, you're gonna sleep in my room and I'm gonna sleep in Velvet's room", said Joanna

"Alright…"

Joanna showed Jonathan where was her room and he instantly go in. She thought that it will be better for her if she follow his example. Today had been a long and rude day. Carrington wanted her to tell Jon some things he wanted him to know, but it'll wait until tomorrow she thought to herself.

3 pm

"Jo, wake up."

Joanna opened lazily her eyes to see Velvet and Nathaniel looking at her.

"What do you want", she lazily asked.

"Can you just get out of my bed? We lost electricity and it's damn cold outside. We could not stay any longer in this freezing house. Nathaniel and I need to sleep somewhere so get out."

"Why don't you just go sleep on the couch, Jon's in my room, I can't go there".

"We need privacy and don't tell me that you're shy to sleep with Jon. You didn't seem to be in your mission with him", answered Velvet.

She threw Jo out of the bed and she kicked her until she reached the exit of her chamber and closed the door. Jo was very surprised of her location when she reopened her eyes.

"Shit, I guess I don't have any other choice left", she said to herself

She reached for her room, opened the door and almost had a heart attack when she saw Jon fully awake, in front of her.

"What the hell!? What are you doing up at such an hour? She scared me to death", said a very surprised Joanna.

"I…I was going to the bathroom, I don't feel alright…I think I'm going to throw up", said weakly Jonathan.

Joanna quickly showed him where was the bathroom, she didn't want him to get sick everywhere in her apartment. It seems that he didn't want her to help him because he tried to close the door behind him. Joanna held the door to not him let do.

"Are you sure you'll be alright", asked anxiously Joanna

Jonathan didn't respond and ran to reach the toilet. He reached just before he thrown up.

"Yeah, now I think I'll be alright", answered Jon as he fell on the floor.

"JON!", shouted a horrified Joanna.

Joanna helped him to stand up. He felt incredibly weak and he didn't know why. No…he knew why…this dream was so terrible that it was enough to make him sick.

"Jonathan, do you know why did you get sick, you didn't ate anything last night", asked worriedly Joanna.

"I've done a nightmare…that's all…"

"There's something you don't want to tell me…"

"I want to return to bed now…" 

Jon slowly returned to Joanna's chamber. He didn't know why she was following him but he won't complain to have her next to him.

"Velvet arrived and wanted me to go in my chamber, is that disturb you, I can always go on the couch you know?"

"No…it's okay.

Jonathan had a really good reason to be enough anxious to get him sick. In his terrible nightmare that was suffering enough to make him throw up, he saw Joanna being killed by a strange woman he already saw. This woman had a noodle in her hands and injected it in Joanna's arm. She instantly fell on the ground, dead, with an empty smile on her face. The woman looked at him.

"She only dies because of you, Jonathan", said the voice of the woman that was boiling with insanity.

He chilled just as he remembered this thought. He didn't to think about this anymore, he just wanted to sleep peacefully as Joanna was doing right now. He took her in his arms. He didn't cared if he was going to 'die' tomorrow, he just wanted to have her near of him. At least, he thought to himself, I know she is alive, not being killed by this strange woman. Somewhere in his heart, he knew something was wrong, this dream meant something that he didn't understand. After a few minutes, he fell asleep. 

Rage cross her mind. They were invincible. She had killed at least fifty people at the plane crash but…they survived. If they didn't die in such catastrophy, she will have to meet them personally, with a few of her friends, and make them wish they had never born. She didn't hate the young woman; she just wanted to kill her to make suffer the one who love her…the one who destroyed her life. Her leader had assigned her one task, and she was going to fail…because of him. Yes…he was going to pay. Her first son is going to pay…

***************************

Joanna opened her eyes. She looked at the clock, 12:30. Shit, how did I sleep all this time she thought to herself. Jonathan had already got up, because he wasn't anywhere in her room. As she got up, a very energetic Jonathan appeared in her room.

"Hi Jo, what a wonderful day don't you think? Are you hungry? I can make you your breakfast if you want", asked happily Jonathan.

"No thanks, I'm not very hungry. You seem to feel better now, aren't you", asked Joanna with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, I think so ", answered Jonathan.

He looked at her. Even if she wore some kind of pink pyjama, and that she had the messiest hair in the world, she was beautiful.

"Carrington wanted me to tell you some things he judged very important", seriously said Joanna.

"Tell me, you have all my attention".

"First of all, the plane didn't crash for nothing. He thinks that someone tried to kill us. We don't have any idea of who it is. The only thing we know is that Datadyne had nothing to do with this and the Skedars neither. Do you have some question about this Jonathan", asked Joanna.

Jonathan didn't want to say anything about this but he had a really bad feeling about it. He was sure that the person who tried to kill them was someone he already knew personally. Someone he already saw…he didn't know where…

"Jonathan, you didn't respond. You look worried. Is there something wrong…you can tell me you know…", asked worriedly Joanna.

"No…no it's alright. Did Carrington wanted to tell me something else", asked Jonathan.

"Yes, he also said that you impressed him in the last mission. He wanted to inform you that he'd be pleased if you want to do assault mission sometime. It's kinda funny. The one who always said that running and shooting everywhere was the most stupid way to accomplish his goal", said Joanna

He always thought that assault mission were real suicide but, if he accepts, he could be with her more often. No…a waste of time, he thought to himself. Joanna didn't loved him and never will.

"Did he say something else", asked Jon who just wanted to change the subject.

"He will begin his researches on the Skedars today. He'll try to find a weak point as soon as possible. Personally, I think it'll take a while before we'll go on the Skedar planet to destroy them. It won't be until Carrington find a weak point and that Foster makes a weapon that will use the thing that can destroy a Skedar without any difficulty. The only thing we can do now is to wait".

"I see……."

"Jonathan…I have an important question to ask you…"said Joanna very shyly.

Jonathan felt his heart beat well more quickly. What was that thing she wanted to ask him? He looked at the floor. He wasn't able to look at her in the eyes.

"Y-Yes…".

"During the mission, Trent said that you didn't have any family name…why…", asked curiously Joanna

This question totally caught Jonathan off guard. He didn't thought she would ask something like this. He sighed; he hated to talk about this. But…he didn't mind to tell her…maybe she will take him in pity and…he'll have the right to have a free hug.

"The government know me as Jonathan Fraser, but it's not my real name…it's a false one…", answered Jonathan.

"But…what is your real family name, why didn't you give it to Carrington".

"I don't have any real family name because I never knew who were my parents. An old and lonely woman took care of my brother and me until I was 19. She was a sick woman, and couldn't survive any longer. She told me before dying that she had suffered from terrible illness during a few years, but she waited for me to become an adult, who could take care of my brother and myself. When I was a child, she told me that my parents were too poor to take care of me and that someday, I will meet them but…this was a lie… Before dying, she told me all the truth. My mother was a prostitute, and my father was one of her client. For a reason I didn't know, she didn't kill me. When I was born, she brought me to the woman who takes care of me because she knew she was someone she could trust. A few years after, she did the same thing with my brother, probably with a different father. I never knew what was her name but anyway I never wanted to know. My real mother was the one who took care of me during all my childhood", answered Jonathan with a sad tone.

Joanna gasped. She didn't know what to say. She never thought that Jon and his brother were unwanted child. She felt bad for them. Behind their annoying jokes were two lonely boys. She grew up in a normal family with normal parents; she couldn't understand how he felt.

"I'm sorry Jonathan. I didn't want you to think about such terrible memories", answered Joanna with a sad smile on her face.

She gave him a hug. At least, he thought to himself, talking about this gave him a gift that he liked. He heard footsteps approaching the chamber.

"What are you doing Jonathan. Is it that hard to wake Joanna up", asked Velvet.

She looked at them with a very surprised look. They didn't seem to notice that she was there. She slowly left Joanna's room. They probably want to be alone for now, she thought to herself. She went to the kitchen. Nathaniel was waiting for her.

"Vel, where are the others", asked curiously Nathaniel.

"I think they want to be alone for now. It seems that these rumors were not that wrong after all", calmly answered Velvet.

Nathaniel looked at her with an understanding look. He smiled; he always knew Jon had a crush for Jo. He could read his brother's thought very easily…

***********************************

Carrington was working hard in his laboratory. After a few hours of researches, he had found a lot of weak place to the specimen he had. This was too easy, he thought to himself. A few elements that aren't dangerous for humans were very dangerous for Skedars. He was satisfied. He knew his plan was going to work. He now knew Trent will not attack him, he was sure of it. Trent Easton was an impulsive man, if he wanted to do a payback, he would have do it sooner. In a few weeks, he will be able to send his best agents on the Skedar planet to destroy them. These terrible living beings didn't deserve to live; they've killed enough of Maians and Humans.

End of Chapter 5

A/N: Damn! This chapter was too long! I needed to put some blabla before the next chapter. Maybe the next chapter will be longer than this one because a lot of important things will happen during the next chapter. Sorry if I'm a bit late. I wasn't able to finish this chapter for Friday because of: my stupid teachers who decided to give me a lot of boring and stupid homework, my brother kicked my ass because he needed the computer to work on his well more longer homework than mine because he's at university and…I think that's all. I think the next chapter will be finished and posted before next weekend. Maybe I'll be able to write two, we never know…

Peachrocks: Well…I've already thought about this and I was supposed to explain that the president had been killed by Trent Easton a few weeks after the mission with the crash site but I skip that part so…forget what you said…I'm sure you're beginning to see who caused the crash. It'll be explained more clearly next chapter. Thanks for your review!

Spider-bear: I know I'm cruel…Jonathan didn't tell anything to Joanna but I didn't wanted this moment to come right now…but if Joanna's clever, maybe she noticed something with Jon's behavior…maybe that you'll be very happy very soon, I tell you. Thank you for your review.

Check later this week, another chapter will be there…I'm almost sure you'll appreciate it a lot…JJJ

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