Jesse and Lexa spent the next two days working side by side, as did Brennan and Shalimar. Jesse and Lexa worked in the medbay, where Jesse studied his medical record and tried to develop and understand his new power. Lexa spent the hours running decoding software and, when that failed, manually decoding individual lines of dominion developed code. Brennan and Shalimar finished moving in the furniture and taking care of mundane details – like shopping for food. When they had finished, they checked in some of the mutant other mutant contacts. As it had been for the past two weeks, with the exception of Kellogg's information, the Dominion's trail was completely cold, and all was quiet.
Finally, though, the time came for Jesse to try his hand at manipulating someone else's genetic structure. At an agreed upon time, the four of them were to meet in medbay. Katie had wanted to be there, but there had been a meeting with a family lawyer that she had been unable to reschedule. Jesse had encouraged her to keep the appointment. He did not know exactly what was going to happen, and he didn't want his sister there if something went wrong.
Brennan and Shalimar entered medbay still bickering from an argument – er, debate – they had started while adding some decorative touches to the common room.
"I don't care what you say. We're not going to hang it. I think Jesse and Lexa will agree with me."
"Come on, Shal. It's a classic!"
"I don't care. I like those things too. But I don't want to have to stare at a pile of bolts when I'm trying to relax. How about a poster of a tree? Better yet, how about a real one."
"Shal. It's a poster of a classic 1977 Harley Davidson motorcycle!" Brennan knew his cause was already lost, but kept up the good fight.
Shalimar tapped his chin with her forefinger. "Sorry, Sparky. Maybe next time."
When they entered the room, their expressions sobered. "What've you got? Are you guys ready to do this?"
Lexa looked up from the computer. "I finally managed to snap this code. I created and applied a decoder program. It's running now, but it won't be done for another couple of hours." Her voice was calm. The tapping of her finger on the countertop, though, betrayed her nervousness about the upcoming procedure.
Jesse was also strangely calm. His face was etched with determination. He explained what was happening, in part to keep Brennan and Shalimar in the loop, but also to review it in his own mind.
"Okay. My new ability only works on humans. That's because I use the specific energy frequencies of the human body in tandem with my own to break apart, rearrange and reform the molecules of the body. I couldn't find out how I healed my own structure. When I start the procedure, I'll have to spend a few seconds running a couple tests to see if I can figure it out which way I did it. Now, Lexa's not a pure elemental. The way she makes herself invisible actually uses a minor form of molecular manipulation. This is good, because that means that she will be able to withstand the test for a longer period of time or even a second time, thus giving me more time."
Jesse paused for breath, resting his hands on his hips. "Lexa, can you show Shalimar how to monitor the test? Brennan, can you come over hear for a sec?"
"Sure, man." Brennan lumbered over to the other side of the room to where Jesse stood. "What can I do?"
"Okay. Listen." He indicated a few keys on one of the pieces of equipment on the far side of the room. "These are the commands to initiate emergency measures."
"Jess –"
Jesse carefully kept his voice at a low volume. "Brennan. Something may go wrong. If I can't complete the procedure, we need to be prepared for anything, and I might not be able to do it."
Though his words were vague about the risks to his own safety, Brennan gathered that Jesse knew that this untested procedure was as just as risky for him as it was for Lexa. He clapped a hand on Jesse's shoulder. "I'll take care of it. But we're not gonna need it, got that?"
Jesse nodded, grateful for his friend's support. The two men returned to the other side of the room, where Lexa was standing next to Shalimar, who turned on Jesse, a determined look in her eye. "Lexa and I both agree. You need to wear this during the test, or we won't let you do it."
Jesse looked at what she held out in her hand. It was a biorhythms monitor. He reached out and took the small device and slid it into place on his neck.
Lexa and Shalimar both relaxed, grateful for not having encountered resistance. Then the feral was surprised when Lexa reached out and gave her a gentle hug. Shalimar squeezed back.
When she let go, Brennan was there to give Lexa a short side arm hug and to drop a brotherly kiss on the top of her head. "Good luck," he said. Then he looked up to Jesse as Lexa hopped onto the biobed. "You guys ready?"
"As we'll ever be." Jesse grasped Lexa's hand and they held tight to each other. He dropped a kiss on her lips, and then leaned his forehead against hers. For what might be the last time, they took comfort in each other's presence.
Lexa settled back in the bio bed. Jesse placed his hands on her hips, so as to be closer to the site of an adult's source of bone marrow production. He took a handful of deep breaths, preparing himself. Finally, he held his breath and Brennan and Shalimar watched as his hands and her entire body began to phase. After only a second, her body re-solidified except for the area around her pelvis.
What seemed like hours but was only seconds later, her body and his returned to normal density. Shalimar gave a relieved sigh.
But it wasn't over. The normal density only lasted long enough for Jesse to take another deep breath and Lexa to let out a gasp of pain. Then the area around her pelvis and Jesse's entire body phased. They remained that way for a good 30 seconds. A monitor behind Brennan began a shrill beeping. Shalimar turned frantically to check the device. "Lexa's pulse has skyrocketed. Jesse's has plummeted, his blood pressure too. They can't keep up this pace much longer." She and Brennan turned back to look at the other two, both of whom were in medically dangerous states, and inhaled sharply at what they saw.
Jesse had now shifted his body and Lexa's into a massed state. He remained so for another 30 seconds. A second alarm went off.
"SATs are dropping on both of them!"
More alarms went off, but Brennan and Shalimar couldn't tear their gazes away. When they could see him, they saw Jesse's eyes had closed, determination engraved on his face. He quickly shifted from the massed state into a phased one, and then back again. A small sound came from Lexa's throat, cut off when her body and mind lapsed into unconsciousness. Jesse changed back to a phased state. He shifted back and forth, never returning to normal density, never taking another breath. The shifts became faster and faster, eventually reaching a speed where the telltale red lines of Jesse's massed state created small, quick flashes of light as he reached high density and moved back to low.
"Two-hundred fifty seconds elapsed," a computer voice said.
"Over four minutes," Shalimar gave a Brennan a quick glance. "How long can Jesse hold his breath?"
Brennan didn't have a chance to answer. The red flashes stopped. Jesse and Lexa both returned to normal density. Lexa's body, which had remained rigid despite her unconscious state, slumped back into the seat. Jesse's eyes opened, and his head lifted sluggishly, and they could see his eyes. They were bright, unfocused, and blank. Then they rolled up into his head and his body collapsed to the floor.