chyp: Thanx again for reviewing. I'm glad you're starting to like it a little more. Sometimes it takes me a while to get things set up for any kind of action, so thanx for bearing through it.
Quillsandbolts: That one novel-length review you sent was very…long! I liked reading it, though. I like your ideas for storylines, too. There just may be something like it in the next episode… And I'm trying to go for more 'situational' plotlines, so just kinda hold my hand through it all.
Raya: Booby, always glad to hear that you're having a good time! Who doesn't hate Lina by now? And Jimmy is starting to simmer down a little bit, which is a good thing for the other two, I guess. And no, John is not Wesley's father. HA!
Wesley sat in the back room of the car shop. Bryan, Rich, and Mike kept his hands tied behind his back when he wasn't "working." He was very uncomfortable, sitting on the cold, hard ground. He only stared at the walls and wondered if they would ever let him go. In the two days that he had been in their custody, they had already robbed all the banks in Oxford and sixteen more in Atlanta. Wesley felt weak and tired; the extensive and continuous use of his powers had started to take its toll on him. He wanted to talk to his brothers, or at least let them know that he was still alive. He wondered why these things always happened to him.
Mike entered the room, holding a cup of water. He bent down and gave it to Wesley, but Wesley only kicked it away, trying to kick Mike in the process. Mike picked up the cup, left to refill it, and returned. He set the cup down and grabbed Wesley by the shirt, leaning in very close to Wesley's face.
"Look," he said, "you don't have a choice in this. We bring you water and you drink it. We bring you food and you eat it. If you keep acting up, you know what's gonna happen. Our friend will set off that bomb and blow everybody in that building away. So now, are…you…thirsty?"
Wesley reluctantly drank the water Mike had given him. He wanted to spit it at Mike, but he knew that it wouldn't be the best thing to do at that time. He swallowed it and looked at Mike. Of the three, Mike seemed to be the "nicest," if he had to choose. Rich definitely was a loose cannon, while Bryan seemed like the ringleader-type. Mike only had a mean streak, which just paled in comparison with the other two.
"Can't you let me go now?" Wesley asked him. "Don't y'all have enough money? We've hit like twenty banks in two days. That has to stand for something."
"You're funny, kid," Mike said. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen," Wesley answered.
"Seventeen and in college already," Mike said to himself. "Look, kid, no matter what anyone says to you, stay in school. Don't let anybody take your education away from you."
"Like y'all?" Wesley asked, laughing nervously. "It's Monday. I'm missing classes on account of y'all."
"Don't push it," Mike said.
"Look here, Mister…Kidnapper," Wesley said, "if y'all are worried about me turning y'all in, I won't. See, this power I have, it's a secret. I can't risk anybody knowing about it. And even if I did turn y'all in, which I won't, I'd have to explain how everything happened. Nobody would ever believe me. Let me go. I promise I won't say a word to anybody about it."
"You think we're gonna let you go now?" Mike asked, amused. "You've seen our faces. That's already too much info you have on us. Sorry, kid, can't take any chances."
"Mike!" Bryan's voice called from another room. "Get in here! What are you doin' back there?"
"Nothing," Matthew said, closing the Book of Light. "There's nothing in here that can help us. Any other ideas?"
"No," James said. "This is so frustrating!"
He pounded his fist on the desk, distressed about the whole situation. He felt that everything was his fault. If he hadn't taken the whole Stephanie thing too far, Wesley might still be around. He felt horrible. As he kept running the events of the past days over in his head, an energy began building inside him. It felt like a combination of forces, racking his brain, trying to pull it apart. It all culminated and James felt a ringing in his ears. He looked up and saw…himself…twice! He had created a clone of himself and he could see through its eyes as well as his own. Matthew just sat there, staring intently at what was happening.
"Jimmy?" Matthew asked.
"What?" James and the clone asked simultaneously. "Good! You see it, too!"
"Can you stop with the twin talk thing?" Matthew asked. "It's annoying."
"I can't help it," James and his clone answered. "It says what I say. To make things worse, I can see what it sees, so my vision's all screwed up. Why do these things always happen to me?"
"Your powers are growing, I guess," Matthew said, now examining the clone. It felt real, like an actual person. Matthew waved his hand in front of the clone's eyes.
"Stop that!" James and the clone cried. "It's messing with my eyes!"
"Then why don't you make the clone look at something else besides you," Matthew suggested. "That's it!"
"What?" the two Jameses asked.
"Our powers seem to advance or change when we need them to, right?" Matthew said. "I'm sure there's a reason for this."
"What do you mean?" James and James asked together.
"Just listen," Matthew said. "Don't speak. I think that you can project yourself, your clone I mean, to wherever Wesley is. Once you find out where he is, we'll be able to find him."
"But I…" James and his clone tried to say before Matthew covered the clone's mouth. By doing that, the real James also became unable to speak.
"Strange," Matthew commented. "Now you need to concentrate. Think about whatever caused you to make this clone in the first place. Bring back those feelings, but this time concentrate on finding Wesley."
"I don't know if it'll work," James and the clone said. "It's making me tired to keep the two of us here at the same time. I can barely control what's happening."
"Jimmy!" Matthew snapped, "this is not the time to get critical. We have a brother to save and criminals to prosecute. Concentrate, dammit!"
James closed his eyes and pictured his youngest brother. He once again thought about how bad he felt because Wesley had been taken. It took a while, but he managed to force the same feelings from before back into his body. Matthew watched as the clone disappeared and James opened his eyes, squinting.
What a way to clone yourself, huh? It's all weird, like something that's never been heard of before. The only way I can explain it is like this: by cloning, Jimmy is sort of moving a part of him into another place. I suppose that's why he's having the problems that he is. He'll hopefully get into it, though. AND, looks like Mike, one of the three bad guys, has a bit of a soft spot. Will it last? Can Wesley talk his way out of this situation? I know the answer…