Timeout

By: ChocolateEclar

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot/Jenny Carroll, including Jesse (PLEASE!) Suze, Paul, Father D, CeeCee, Adam, etc.

Claimer: I own Miss Evelyn "Eve" Gemma and the plot. (I still wish I owned Jesse instead of Eve.) I may not own the fact that Jesse has five sisters (ages 6-16 when he died), but I do own who the five girls are – i.e. their personalities and names. In short, I also own Juanita "Nita" De Silva, Estefana De Silva, Felicidad "Felly" De Silva, Dolores "Dolly" De Silva, and most of all Carmen De Silva.

To universalcall: Thank you! Jesse is lovely, isn't he? He was barely in the last chapter I'm afraid. (Technically, all I did was mention him, but whatever.) laughs

To Esodes08: Yes, I know Jesse wasn't in the last chapter. I felt like I did when reading most of "Darkest Hour." (You know how he's gone for like 100 pages! That nearly killed me! laughs)

No, the party hasn't occurred yet. I said in the last chapter that during announcements Suze missed the announcement of the party because she was with Jesse trying to convince Eve to "move on." Thanks again!

To Clavel: Yeah, Suze taught Gail not to mess with her boyfriend. laughs Cliffies are good. I love writing them, but sometimes it hurts to read them on ff.net and have to wait for updates. Thanks again!

To muzacgurl: Thank you!

To aZn-DiViN3-bLeU: laughs Yeah, Suze showed Gail, and Eve definitely needs How to Ask for Help 101. Thanks again!

To Evil Gypsy: I like when Jesse is alive too. Sometimes it means he can't help Suze in the same way as he usually does though. Thanks for the review!

To BloodyRayne: Thanks.

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I had horrible difficulties with this chapter. First it was much too short and then I couldn't find a good place to stop! laughs

Chapter 17: Bad Idea

Operation Stakeout. Not one of my better ideas. It began with me hiding in my bathroom with a bunch of pillows under the covers of my bed across the room – to make it look like I was sleeping. And continues with a lot of waiting.

Or should I say it began with Jesse saying this wasn't a very good idea?

Well, that's what he said in more words. He was all like if he were still dead he wouldn't be pleased at me.

Which, as I pointed out to him, is fine because I don't want to be friends with Eve.

He still thought it was a bad idea. You'd think I'd know to listen to the instincts of my formerly dead/now mediator boyfriend, but of course not. I'm such an idiot.

So to say I was surprised when Paul and Eve appeared behind me – from my spot behind the bathroom door in the dark – would've been an understatement. I nearly screamed. I still scrambled backwards – bonking my head on the doorknob.

I swore and got to my feet, as Paul purred, "Nice to see you too, Simon."

"What the heck are you doing here?" I hissed softly so as not to wake up the whole house – except I didn't say "heck."

"Just visiting," Eve cooed.

"Yeah, right," I snapped. "You're just visiting at midnight."

Chuckling, Paul advanced towards me – only to be shoved away by me. "Now, now, Suze. We're just here to show you something."

"How did you get in here?" I retorted, backing out of the bathroom.

"Eve transported me of course. You could do it too you know," Paul replied, following me.

I could hear the wind whistling through the open window above the window seat. If I could just reach it…

"You're not going anywhere, Susannah," said Eve, appearing behind me. I could see her auburn-haired reflection in the mirror above my dresser, grinning.

I snapped and elbowed her in the stomach. She cried out and stumbled as I ran for the window. I hurried out of it…just as Paul took hold of my arm.

I wasn't thinking so much about what you'd expect – Paul and Eve – but more along the lines of, 'If Jesse were still dead I could call him!' The irony was plausible.

I yanked free of Paul and lost my balance on the roof of the porch. I went flying off the roof and landed on the dirt below in much the same fashion as when Diego had thrown me. Except this time I didn't land in a hole. I still lost consciousness though.

I awoke to pain and bewilderment. I blinked up at the ceiling from where I laid on unfamiliar concrete and slowly sat up. My head hurt like all heck, but what worried me more was the fact that there was a lifeless me still lying down with her eyes closed with ropes binding her wrists and ankles.

Oh my God. Was I dead? Had the fall killed me? The fall? It all came back then. Paul. Eve. The roof. Where was I? It wasn't like when I'd been exorcised. Then there had been no pain. Now I ached. Not just my head – but my whole body.

I stood up and stared down at my "body." What was going on?

"Calm down. I'm just demonstrating one of the abilities you have as a shifter, Suze," said a voice from behind me. I spun around to see Paul Slater leaning against a pale gray wall.

"I'll calm down after my fist connects with your face!" I shrieked.

"You're just a temporary ghost," Paul explained as smoothly as if I had just been polite.

"I don't care what I am… Just fix it!" I snapped.

"No, you can do it by yourself," said Paul with an amused smirk. "By the way, the pain I know you're feeling will only increase the longer you're a ghost."

Just great… I gritted my teeth as a little spasm of pain hit my body. Shutting my eyes, I concentrated on getting my body back…and it worked.

Suddenly, I was tied up on the floor again with the pain of the fall off my roof rushing through me. It wasn't as bad as the being-dead ache though.

I stumbled and stood up. Glowering at Paul, I said, "So Eve's another one of your minions."

"You could say that," said Paul.

I really hate that smile.

It was at that moment that Eve came crashing through a wall as ghosts do – that is, she just flew right through it. A door slammed open behind her to reveal Jesse. He looked mighty pissed off as he scowled as Eve and then at Paul. He looked hot in a black T-shirt and pants. He finally noticed me after a moment, bruised and battered behind Paul, who was turned towards Jesse.

"Ah, Mr. De Silva," greeted Paul coolly. "I figured it wouldn't take long for you to get here. It is my understanding from what Eve has picked up from the dead that you are living and a mediator… What I wonder is: are you a shifter?" Of course Paul would want to size up his enemy.

"Susannah," stated Jesse, ignoring Paul. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, Jesse. I'm fine," I lied. "How'd you get here?" Wherever here is, that is. On second thought, we're probably back in Dr. Slaski's house.

"Are you able to go to the Shadowland, De Silva? I doubt it. Someone like you can't possibly be a shifter," Paul interrupted our reunion snidely.

"If that were true, I wouldn't be one," I snapped.

Paul laughed at that. And I could tell he wasn't laughing with me. "Let me get to the point," he declared. "I brought you here to show you what you can do since you seem so adamant on staying clear of me. I led De Silva here by a note to bring him right where I wanted him. Now I will show you what a true shifter can do to a mere revived person." That was when Jesse's body collapsed and his ghost appeared. At first, Jesse was disoriented, but then he noticed the look upon my face – one of absolute horror – before he realized what had happened and did something any pissed off ghost tends to do: chuck stuff at the one who made them so angry.

In other words, Paul soon found the little wooden table in the corner of the room levitated and launched at his head. I guess Jesse hadn't lost his touch.

Eve let out a shriek and dematerialized – I guess there's no honor among villains – while Paul just smirked and snapped the fingers of his right hand. The table froze as Paul stated, "I made you a temporary ghost, and as such, I control your power, De Silva."

He smirked and added, "As I told Suze before, it hurts to be a temporary ghost – to be ripped from your body… Doesn't it, De Silva?"

I could tell it did hurt. Mine had hurt a lot because of the injuries my body had sustained before I had been torn from it; Jesse's hurt more mentally than physically. Can you imagine dying again after being dead so long and then alive so little? Jesse – MY Jesse – was in pain, and I couldn't stand it! I could tell he was biting it back by the way his shoulders and face were tense.

I did the only thing I could think of in that situation. I punched Paul right in the lower jaw. He'd been concentrating so hard on controlling Jesse's powers that he hadn't been paying attention to me. For a second, Paul lost his hold. Then he snapped around, regained control of Jesse, and tore me from my body. I had been unconscious the last time. I wished I were still. Unconscious, I mean.

Note to self: Learn how to stop people from doing that against my will.

"Susannah!" yelled Jesse.

I squinted at the table, trying to lift it. It shook from where it laid on the ground before I felt my body freeze up by Paul. He had control of my power as well.

He tied up the other stiff body lying on the floor - Jesse's – and then placed Jesse and I back into our bodies. Laughing, he left the room.

There was nothing we could do to stop him.

"Querida…" said Jesse from where he laid against the opposite wall with his arms tied behind his back and his ankles linked together with rope. "You lied to me."

"Huh?" I blinked.

"You were hurt when I came here. Now you look like you've been run over by a wagon," Jesse insisted.

"Thanks for the compliment, Jesse," I said dryly.

"I mean it, Susannah."

"I know."

Jesse let out a sigh. "I'll untie your wrists."

"How?" I asked inquisitively.

"My sisters used to tie me to fences all the time and leave me in the field for hours," Jesse explained. "I had to learn how to untie myself."

Sure enough, his wrists were free as he unlocked his ankles and went over to me. He released me and stood back.

"Does my family know I'm gone?" I asked.

"Father Dominic told them he had you come to the school early to work on a project," Jesse replied, standing up. He studied the door – a steel one with no handle on this side. Paul was getting smarter.

"Susannah," Jesse said, "can you do what Slater did?"

It took me a while to figure out what he meant. "Turn you into a temporary ghost?" I queried.

"Yes," Jesse answered, glancing back at me in the dimly lit room.

It would hurt him. Even if it meant being stuck there, I couldn't hurt Jesse. "No," I lied.

"Querida, I know you can," Jesse insisted.

"How do you know you can't?" I hissed.

"I highly doubt it. I was not born a mediator. I doubt it would be very natural for me to be one of the "shifters," Jesse responded.

"I won't do it, Jesse," I persisted.

"Then we'll just stay here until Slater returns?" challenged Jesse.

I slumped against the wall. "No. There has to be another way."

"Even if you became a temporary ghost, you wouldn't be able to open the door, Susannah," said Jesse. "You wouldn't be a ghost long enough to be capable of doing that."

Frowning, I said, "I'll try it anyway."

A ghost floated inside then. "Nice try, but that won't work," Eve hissed.

"Why not?" I snapped.

Eve flipped her auburn hair over her shoulder and replied, "I was a shifter too, darling. I learned everything I know about them from Paul's grandfather. I was with him until I died even while he was married!" She grinned at that.

This was news to me. Eve had been Dr. Slaski's girlfriend? It must've been before he realized what going to the Shadowland does to the body. He had to have been between thirty-five and fourty and cheating on his wife! Jeez. I see where Paul got some of his player attitude.

Jesse seemed a bit shocked by Eve's exclamation. I guess it was more common to shoot people for love than to cheat.

"It'll work," I said firmly.

Eve laughed airily. "It'll achieve nothing," she stated.

"We'll see," I said with a smile.

So what if I couldn't move or unlock a door? I could still dematerialize. That was like the first thing ghosts learned.

Jesse studied my face, searching for what I meant. Eve, on the other hand, just shrugged and said, "Fine. You have fun with that. Just don't get stuck as a ghost." She smirked and dematerialized.

Just don't get stuck as a ghost.

Oh great. That sounds encouraging.

A/N: As I said before, this chapter was difficult…but I hope you all like it. It took me like four days on and off to write it, while usually I can write a chapter in two or three sittings.

A/N 2: As always: REVIEW! Bye!