Chapter 13
"Brennan, no! Wait!"
Lexa's warning came too late. There was a brilliant blue flicker of electricity, followed by a bright flash of sparks and a crackling sound.
Jesse looked up from the computer he'd just installed. Shalimar looked over from the sheet of catwalk she was carrying into the room. Both saw Lexa coming up from a crouch and Brennan shying away from a panel in the wall.
"I told you to wait until I completed the connections before you juiced the generator."
"You said you were done!"
I said 'almost done," Brennan. 'Almost done.'"
Brennan shrugged. "Sorry."
"Yeah, I'm sure you are. You almost electrocuted me!"
"Do Shalimar and I need to put you two on a time out?"
Both Lexa and Brennan looked guiltily up at Jesse. "No," they mumbled, followed by apologies to each other.
Jesse put down the keyboard he had been holding. "Look guys, it's getting late, why don't you go back to the house. Grab something to eat, maybe? I'm almost done here. I'll be up in an hour or two."
Down the hall, Shalimar fitted the last piece of catwalk into place. Returning to the room, she said, "That sounds like a good idea. We've been down here since 6 this morning and it's almost 8 o'clock." She looked over to Brennan for his opinion.
Brennan nodded. He was getting tired, given the 18-hour days they'd been pulling for the past 9 days. They had almost all the equipment in place, and it was just a matter of installing it and taking care of the details. He was working on the last series of electrical connections, which were proving a bit temperamental.
Shalimar turned back to Jesse. "You promise that you'll be up to the house in an hour or two. Last time you said that, you were gone almost four hours. I don't want to have to come and drag you back."
"You won't have to. I promise."
"All right then." Shalimar grabbed the sleeve of Brennan's shirt and dragged him toward the entrance. As she passed Lexa, she paused. "You coming?" she asked quietly.
Lexa shook her head. "I'm going to stay. I'm almost done with all the welding."
Shalimar followed Lexa's gaze and saw Jesse, who had picked the keyboard again and was focused on the monitors. "Keep an eye on him? Make sure he leaves?"
Lexa looked back to Shalimar's eyes. "I was planning on it."
Feeling assured, Shalimar started to push Brennan towards the entrance once again. Come on, big boy. Let's go see if we can rustle up some grub. Then maybe we can get some sleep."
"Can I sleep with you? There're monsters under my bed." Brennan gave her a sly smile.
Shalimar gave an exaggerated sigh. "I guess so. I'm sure I'll find some way of making you feel better."
"I sure hope so."
Lexa watched them leave, smiling at their use of double entendres. She spared another glance over at Jesse before grabbing a pair of welder's glasses from the pile of tools on the floor and moving to weld the last piece of catwalk into place.
.
.
From the corner of his eye, Jesse watched Shalimar and Brennan leave. Lexa didn't, however. He saw her glance over at him before returning to the welding she had been doing earlier in the day.
Jesse huffed. Lexa was probably still here so she could keep an eye on him. They probably all expected him to snap. He knew that he had been more reserved and terse than usual, though he had made an effort not to be.
Jesse continued his work with the keyboard, opening and closing files, activating, updating and transferring software.
He supposed he couldn't be mad at his friends though. They were concerned. Almost every morning he was asked how he was feeling, or if he wanted to come with one of them to pick up some equipment, and get out of The Cave, as they had unofficially dubbed it. Jesse had politely refused each time. He wanted to get everything set up, and quickly. Meanwhile, they were tip-toeing around him, even Katie, who had been doing her own work, but visited on occasion, seeing if there was anything she could do to help. Rebuilding his relationship with Katie was something else he wanted to do, but knew that, given the grand scheme of things, it would have to be put on the back burner.
The sooner Sanctuary and the medbay were established, the sooner he could get to work on Adam's files about their genetic instability. Something told him that they didn't have much time on that front. Keeping busy had helped him push that little nagging into the corner of his mind. He was satisfied with the pace they had established. The infrastructure was now all in place; Lexa, he could see, was finishing the welding. Brennan was almost done with the electrical systems. Shalimar had set up a dojo – she insisted that she needed someplace to release some energy – and helped the others drag in the furniture. He had adjusted and set up the security systems, allowing the other three to gain access. In addition to re-establishing many of Adam's safeguards, he had added some new ones of his own. Pretty much all that remained was to shift things around to their desired position. Well, that and go grocery shopping. Right now though, he wanted to finish tying in Adam's medical records into the new system so that he could get a fresh start tomorrow on his own research.
A little more than an hour later, the computer finally gave him the message he wanted: "Upload Complete." Shutting down the system, he glanced up to where he had last seen Lexa. She wasn't there. Hitting the last keystroke, he moved around the terminal and headed into the main cavern. On the left side of his vision, he caught sight of a dark head against a sofa situated in the middle of the room. As he approached, he noticed that she hadn't turned to face him. Lexa was usually very alert, even while she was relaxed. She must be asleep, he realized. He hadn't known she was that tired. He softened his steps. Coming around the corner of the sofa, he knelt down to her side, intending to gently wake her, but he froze.
She was so beautiful. Whether she admitted it or not, she had so many emotions, and each one changed her face. Each one was beautiful, and each one melted his heart. He had seen her when she was angry, when she was afraid, sorrowful, bleak, joyful, lost and sarcastic. But he had never seen her asleep. Not unconscious, but the peaceful, relaxed state of healthy sleep. He felt a familiar tightness in his chest. He admired her abilities, but it was moments like this, where she seemed to need someone else, that really got to him. He reached out to touch her, running a light hand across her brow, and brushing aside a stray lock of hair. "Will you stay?" he whispered to her slumbering form. "I don't want you to go."
After a few more moments of watching her sleep, Jesse gave her arm a light shake. "Lex, come on. Time to go."
Her eyes opened slowly, and then blinked a few times to clear the cobwebs of sleep. Finally focusing on him, she gave a half smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep. What time is it?"
"It's only been an hour since Brennan and Shalimar left. I kept my promise. Now come on, let's get back to the house before they send out a search party anyway."
Lexa allowed him to help her up and lead her toward the door. He wasn't letting go of her hand, she noted, glancing at her left hand in his right. And she didn't want him to, she realized. His large hand was warm and comfortable. It was something stable amidst all the turmoil. Just like him. She didn't know when it happened, but at some point during her adventures with Mutant X, Jesse had become an anchor. He was a steady force, and his sweet dedication and enthusiasm was a wonderful contradiction from the people and life in which she had grown up. She kept telling herself that it couldn't last. That something would happen to tear them apart, so she shouldn't get involved. But she wanted too. Arrghh! The thoughts were running through her head and every time she thought she had made a decision, something happened to screw it up, sending her mind spinning again. For now, she would just wait, she decided. Something was sure to happen soon that would tip the scales. Then she would make her final decision.
By now, the two mutants had made their way to the entrance. Jesse paused for a moment to reengage the security systems, never letting go of her hand, and they continued on their way back to the house.
Jesse was surprised that she hadn't withdrawn her hand. Other times when he had initiated contact, Lexa had pulled away after a few moments. He liked holding her hand. Absently, he began rubbing his thumb along hers. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.
Lexa shifted her attention from their joined hands to his face. "Yeah, why?"
"You just seem unusually quiet."
"You'd prefer a noisy chatterbox?"
Jesse chuckled. "No, no. It's just that besides arguing with Brennan or talking to Katie a couple times, you haven't said much." After Lexa didn't answer, he continued. "We never really talked about what happened at Dominion headquarters."
"Jess, I told you. You're not exactly a closed book."
Jesse gave her a sad smile. "No, not about that. Believe me, as much as I'd like to define what's between us, and get it out in the open, I don't think I could handle it right now. There are too many other things that have to take priority right now. I meant about what your contact told you."
She sighed. "I don't know. It's hard to deal with, knowing that I was a different person at one point, someone I don't even remember being. I mean, what if I become that person again?"
Jesse squeezed her hand. "I don't think that's even possible. You're stronger now than you were then. And you have friends. We won't let anything happen to you."
She paused. "Logically, I know that's true, but it's still hard for me to accept it. Hell, who knows, I might expire before that anything like that happens."
"Hey, hey, we don't know when your date is. It might not be for another 20 or 30 years."
"No, Jesse. When I was captured, I was taken in front of one of the council meetings. They told me that their tests and Adam's research showed that my expiry date was coming up soon."
Jesse abruptly stopped walking. He looked Lexa in the eye. "Did they say exactly when it was?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, damn it!" When he saw Lexa's startled expression at his outburst, Jesse closed his eyes, making an effort to calm himself. The deadline for finding how he had been cured was looming ever more. "I need to know how much time I have to find that cure. Did they say when?"
"No, just 'soon.'" Her free hand reached out to touch his cheek. Tipping her head back a little, she leaned in and touched her lips to his, pulling back before either of them gave in to the desire to deepen the kiss. "Thank you," she whispered against his mouth as she drew back.
"For what?" he whispered back, running the tip of his tongue over his lips to savor the kiss.
"For tipping the scales." At Jesse's confused look, she smiled softly at him and gently shook her head. "Come on," she said, squeezing his hand and giving it a small tug. "Let's get back to our friends."