AN: I debated about whether to make this part it's own chapter or make it part of the next and decided on the former. Warning: spoilers for "No Man Left Behind," although I may have taken a few liberties with the scences, since I can't remember them exactly...

Chapter 24: Bygones

"Jesse," Adam said squarely. "What do you mean you're trained? Jesse?"

"It started with Emma," he said quietly.

Adam stood up straight. "Of course," he said softly, bringing his fingertips to the bridge of his nose. "I taught her the methods when she first got here. It's important for telempaths to be able to withdraw from the minds of others. Getting trapped in the emotions and thoughts of others can potentially drive them crazy." Turning back to Jesse, he asked, "But why did she teach you? Most non-psionics couldn't learn or do any of those things."

Jesse shrugged. "She felt guilty," he said sadly.

Brennan still wasn't quite understanding why Emma would teach only Jesse, and then not tell any of the others about it. "I don't understand. What would she have to feel guilty about?"

Jesse took a deep breath and started pacing again. "Okay, well, do you guys remember when we pulled Captain Morrison out of Kovakhstan?" he asked Shalimar, Brennan and Adam. When they nodded in the affirmative, he continued. "Well, Emma and I were left behind to repair the Helix after it went down. But before we could finish, we were discovered by a contingent of local rebel soldiers. There was no way we could take them all on and still protect the Helix. So Emma went out on a limb and tried something new. She projected a huge burst of fear and terror. The guys went down like a ton of bricks, too terrified to move."

"Damn," Shalimar said softly. "I didn't think Emma was that powerful then."

"Yeah, well, that was the extent of her powers at the time. She didn't have enough control to direct the emotional charge. So everything within a 100 yard radius got hit by the blast, including me."

Shalimar swore under her breath again. "No wonder Emma felt guilty."

"That's not exactly the whole story, Shal," Jesse said. His shoulders rose and fell as he took a deep breath and then let it out. "She told me what she was going to do before she did it. And I agreed. It was our only option at that point. The problem was that the blast disabled me as well. I couldn't function well enough to stand or walk let alone make the last repairs to and fly the Helix. To make things worse, my proximity to Emma meant she was getting a secondary reading off whatever was happening to me. So she did the only thing she could." He paused, biting his lower lip, for another breath. "She went into my mind and constructed an emotional memory block. I recovered almost instantly, fixed the Helix, we took off and I had no idea memory of what happened whatsoever."

Brennan swore fiercely. David and Katie looked up, startled by the outburst. The others didn't seem surprised at the intensity of Brennan's voice. Katie looked from Jesse to Brennan to Adam to Shalimar and back again. "I don't understand. What does that mean?"

Adam looked over to Katie and said quietly, "Altering someone's memory like that, usually only short fragments of time – while easy for many psionics – is very dangerous for the recipient. It could result in brain damage or worse. Emma and Jesse were both lucky that it was successful. Furthermore, psionics – all mutants in general, really – even some of those who lack scruples, consider it to be crude and uncouth. No wonder Emma felt guilty."

The others nodded their agreement. Then something started nagging at Lexa's mind. "Jesse…if you had no memory of what happened, how did you even find out about it?"

Jesse made a face, grimacing at the memory. "The block only lasted for a couple months. It broke down completely in just a few days. Fortunately, Emma and I were the only ones at Sanctuary. You three –" he indicated Brennan, Shalimar and Adam, "– were working undercover on a mission…I don't remember which one right now. But she helped me deal with it, with the memories and the fear. She said she felt guilty for doing it to me. I reminded her that she didn't exactly have a choice at the time, although I was pretty angry about having to go through it, but she insisted on making up for it. She said that since my mind was somehow strong enough to break the block, it was probably strong enough to break other psionic holds – given some guidance. She decided I should learn some tactics to resist other psionics. So she started training me."

"You said it started with Emma."

"Yeah. A few months after...after Emma died, I started working with a telekinetic psionic named Ryan Hue. I taught him what Emma had taught me. As you know, Adam, teaching is one of the best ways to reinforce learning. Two months later, he went into the underground, so the lessons stopped. Then, a while back, I started working with Dr. Robinson."

Shalimar jerked to her feet. "Wait. Dr. Robinson? As in the Dominion's Dr. Robinson? Jess, how could you! She works for the Dominion!"

"We didn't do anything except practice attacks and blocks!" Jesse argued defensively. She didn't come here, and I didn't go there. We worked in a public place. And I made sure to guard my knowledge and memories from her whenever we did."

"I'm sure you did, but, jeez, Jess. Who knows what she reported back to the Dominion? Hell, what if she was able to dig in your mind and then put a memory block on you?!"

"It would have broken down by now, Brennan! Think about it," Jesse said edgily. "Emma was one of the strongest psionics out there, and her memory block only lasted two months. It's been almost seven months since I stopped working with Robinson. And the only reason I did it in the first place was because she noticed. After I was shot, she used her powers to connect you and me so that you could help me fight that god-forsaken bullet. She noticed that it took a hell of a lot of her energy to make the connection, and even then, if you'll take the time to remember, the connections never lasted long. Afterward, she asked me if I'd ever had anti-psionic training, and if I was willing to practice with her. Maybe it was because she looked like she needed a friend, maybe it was because the question made me miss Emma, but I said yes! If that pisses you off, fine. Sue me, I don't give a shit!"

"Yeah it pisses me off! But that's not what matters here. Even if you had your blocks or whatever in place, she still could have used you to find out stuff. She could have hurt the team."

"What kind of stuff are you talking about Brennan?! At that time, the Dominion practically controlled us! I don't think there was much about us that they didn't already know."

Lexa grimaced, remembering her original purpose for coming to Mutant X.

"They didn't know that you had had anti-psionic training," Brennan shouted back at Jesse. "Oh, wait, but then you just flat-out fucking told them that you did. And how could you not tell us about it! Who knows, it might have helped us somewhere along the way."

"Everyone's entitled to secrets Brennan. Sometimes lives depend on someone keeping their mouth shut."

"Yeah, but not the kind of secrets you've been keeping, Jesse. Think about all the secrets that you've been keeping all these years that we just found out about – your family, your time at Genomex. I thought I knew you, man. I thought you were my friend. I'm not so sure about that anymore."

"Hey, hey, all right. Enough already." Katie stepped between Jesse and Brennan. The interruption caused the two men to take their attention off each other and take a step back. "Look, this whole thing started when Jesse told us that he has the training to be an anchor for David if we decide to go into Jessica's mind. From what he's told me, it looks like he does have the training. And given the fact that whoever is behind all this is starting the attacks again, I say we let them go in. What do you think?"

Shalimar said nothing. She was standing in the corner next to Adam, opposite the room from Jesse, fuming silently. She was clearly just as upset as Brennan about Jesse's most recent revelations.

Lexa thought for a moment. Finally, she nodded. "I say go for it. They both know the risks. And we don't really have any other bright ideas right now." Silently, she thought, "I can't wait until this is over. We need a break. How long has it been since any of us got a decent night's sleep? Or anything more than a catnap for that matter."

"At least three days," David replied in her mind.

Lexa was startled for a second, and glanced over to David, who shrugged, causing her to remember that the involuntary link between herself and David hadn't faded yet. She pushed it to the back of her mind though, as they both turned to Adam for his opinion.

Adam felt their stares. "All right," he said after a while. "But I'm not exactly happy about it. Lexa's right, this is our best option at this point." Turning to Jesse and David, he emotionless asked, "Do you guys need anything?"

"No." Jesse looked from Adam to Jessica, sparing brief glances for Shalimar and Brennan along the way. Behind him, David grabbed two chairs. They sat down next to Jessica's biobed and set out to discover what made young Jessica Woodbury tick.