Author: scarypuffringo
Author's note: First I wanna thank you al for your comments. I didn't expect to get any review. Really! Thank you all. You guy have no idea how much your words mean to me. Now I wanna say that I'm sorry for taking so long to update. It's just that I am a busy girl and I got stuck in some scenes. By the way, thank you, Dorothy for all the information you sent me and for the ideas for the action scene. I don't think I did a good job on that but I couldn't come up with anything better.
I wanna apologize for the grammar mistakes you guys will find here and for the action scene. It is not good. The thing is I'm not good in describing action. I can see things happening but I can't describe them.
There is a song in this chapter. "Hello" (Evanescence). I was listening to this song one night and I saw a scene and that's how this story was born. (I hope I managed to describe this particular scene exactly the way I saw it in my head)
Anyway, thanks again and I hope you like this one. Please, just tell me the truth.
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Chapter Two
'Jesse… Jesse… …" Jesse abruptly opened up his eyes. It was late at night and three weeks had passed since the night where he saw Emma's face in his so called dream. The voice he thought he had just heard during his sleep minutes before wasn't Emma's. It was only the memory of those days still haunting him. Jesse tossed the covers aside and got up. He sluggishly walked out to his room's balcony. He was amazed by how extremely dark the woods out there seemed to be that night. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. How he wanted to pretend that he'd never had those dreams. How he wanted to simply erase those memories from his troubled mind but he couldn't. So Jesse just stood there, letting the cool night breeze blows around his body. He still didn't know what to do but right then it seemed not to be in his power to do something. Somehow he knew it and even accepted it. But how it tortured him not to know why he saw her, why she was calling for him… …. …
Another day had dawned and the hours flew by quickly. Jesse was in the lab. He was checking 'Proxy Blue' s brand new words on the underground world. But apparently he didn't hear a word that she said because 'Proxy' had already stopped talking and he still had his eyes fixed on the computer screen; he was not even blinking. Shalimar walked past the lad and caught vision of him with the corner of her eye. She noticed something was off with so she turned back and stood at the doorway, just watching him. She remained unnoticed for a quite long while until she decided to say something…
"Hey, Jess!" She beamed, walking towards him then joked after taking a glance at the screen. "Am I interrupting?"
Shalimar's voice forced him to step out of his trance and it also made him realize 'Proxy Blue' was mute. "Nah!! We were just talking." He slightly joked back.
"Dirty talk?" Shalimar teased, getting a smile out of him. She moved around his chair to face him and used the table as a support to her body. "So? How are you?" She asked and Jesse gave her a puzzles look. "I'm just asking because we haven't talked much lately. So?" Jesse reclined on the chair and studied her face. He knew exactly what she was trying to get out of him. "Are you… … You know? You're-"
"I'm fine. I'm terrific!" He lied to her and deep inside hoped she would buy it.
"You do look… … a lot better. Things look better." Shalimar stumbled on the words as she tried to figure out the right way to ask him about that day when he lost control of himself in front of her and Brennan.
"Shal?" Jesse warned.
"What?"
"I know what you're doing." He went on and heard her dispute back.
"I'm not doing anything." Jesse's smile faded as he looked up at her. The side of her mouth kicked up a little as she tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. "I'm just trying to find out if you're really okay and that you're not lying to me or anything." Shalimar softly put it. Her words made Jesse start wondering maybe it would be better if he just told her the truth. But he stopped those thoughts right away. He didn't even know what the truth was or what all those bad feelings meant. "You know you're like a brother to me, Jess. No matter what it is… I'll understand."
Jesse exhaled. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to let Shalimar know about the voice and the face and everything else. "Remember those dreams I sort of started telling you about?" He began. Shalimar saw something in his eyes that she hadn't see in a long while… She saw fear. "They… Well, I saw-" When Jesse was ready to reveal everything to her, Lexa walked into the lab in a mad rush, making Jesse change the subject of his conversation as quickly as her entrance. "I saw Amanda's sister the other day. She didn't recognized me." Shalimar frowned at that.
"Sorry to interrupt, guys. But I got a lead on something." Lexa said in a very serious tone which called their attention immediately. "My contact told me about an abandoned warehouse near the City Medical Center. Turns out that it's not abandoned. According to my sources it might be a cover for a gene-lab…"
"What, what are we after this time, exactly?" Shalimar showed interested in Lexa's information but did not forget about what she and Jesse were talking minutes before.
"Unfortunately, I don't know. I mean, I don't know for sure. But this warehouse is registered in the name of Dr. Vicent Arrigo." Lexa went on.
Jesse's brow furrowed at that name. "Wait. It's impossible! I mean, the guy is dead. Right?"
Lexa rolled her eyes at that and added. "My point exactly."
"So when do we leave?" Shalimar asked behind a smile.
"Whenever you're guys ready." Lexa responded and called Brennan through her comlink. "Brennan, get the Helix ready. We're leaving."
Shalimar waited until Lexa was out of year shot. "What was that?"
"What was what?' Jesse quizzed while he checked if there was any flaws in what Lexa had just informed. His research showed him that there was indeed a warehouse in he name of Dr. Vicent Arrigo. In fact, it said that he had recently bought it. "Shal, we better-"
"You were about to tell me what was going on with you and started nonsense talking when Lexa came in." Shalimar couldn't drop the case.
"I don't trust her." He admitted which made her gasp in wonder. "I mean, she is okay. But I keep asking myself why Adam never said a word about her. And what about all those top-secret informations she always get?"
"Well, it surprises me. I thought you two were making a pretty damn good team." Shalimar remarked and he nodded.
"I know. But that doesn't make her my friend. And she is obviously hiding something. I will only be able to trust her when I find out what."
Shalimar shrugged with a sigh. She looked down as something crossed her mind. "Maybe you're right. In fact, I'm starting to ask myself what she really wants with us."
Jesse knew Shalimar like the back of his hand. "Wait a minute. Where did that come from?" Shalimar didn't answer, she only pretended she didn't know what he was talking about. "Did Brennan talk to you?"
"About…" She put on an innocent face.
"Ahh!!! You know about the kiss, don't you?" She figured the reason why Shalimar said those things about Lexa. She only looked at him and nodded. "But how do you-"
"It's not my fault that you two talk so loudly." She tried to be ironic and Jesse got what she meant.
"You're not supposed to use your powers to hear other people's conversation." Jesse kidded and even laughed a little. "It bothers you? That Lexa and Brennan kissed."
"She kissed him." Shalimar quickly corrected Jesse. "And no, it doesn't bother me."
"That's not the-" Jesse was about to pour out another wit when he heard Brennan's voice.
"Hey! You two are going to sit around there all day or help us save the world."
Shalimar broke into a wide smile then she and Jesse headed to the Helix where Lexa and Brennan were already waiting for them.
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They got to the location. The place seemed to be empty. "Are you sure no one's here?" Brennan asked Lexa before shooting an electrical wave into the door's lock.
Lexa looked over Jesse to Shalimar then to Brennan. "I am sure. No doctors or any lab technicians Just a few security guards."
"Alright! Show time!" Brennan managed to opened the door and they quietly made their way in. Jesse went looking for the main computer while the others made sure he would have enough time to download all the database. Lexa caught sight of a guard. She manipulated the light, making herself invisible to his eyes and walked past him unnoticed. Brennan and Shalimar roamed about the place looking for something that told them what experiences were being made there. It was right then when Shalimar heard something.
"What was that?" She asked suspiciously.
Brennan looked around and saw noting. "I didn't hear anything."
"But I did." With those words, Shalimar's eyes turned gold as she carefully moved to the next to room. Brennan followed her.
"It's a total waste of time. There' nothing here. It's probably-"
"Shhh" She mouthed to him then saw another security guy checking around the place. They hid behind the door and waited until he was gone. "You think Jess, got luckier than us?"
"I hope so." Brennan mumbled… …
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Jesse finally found the main computer. To his surprised there wasn't any guard there. He phased in and stuck a disk in the computer and tried to break the code. As he did that, a man came out of nowhere and tried to strangle him. Jesse phased again, freeing himself from the man's grasp and also passing down through the floor, falling next to where Brennan and Shalimar were.
"Shal, behind you!" Jesse warned her as he touched the ground. Shalimar with her speed, turned around and knocked the guy out while Brennan found two other men hiding behind the curtains; he hit them with a electrical blast. Jesse tried to get to the way out but more and more men appeared. They were all armed. One of the men lifted his weapon and without a second thought pulled the trigger. Jesse luckily phased in time causing the bullet to hit one the security men. Brennan saw what happened and went helping his friend,
"Jess, get down!" Brennan ordered and hit the men that surrounded him with a tesla coil. They fell to the floor and the three ran out of there. Once outside the building, they noticed something was wrong. "Where's Lexa?'' Brennan asked, his eyes scanning around for her face.
"I don't know. I didn't see her." Jesse confusedly answered still wondering what had just happened to them.
Shalimar sighed and said. "She's still in there."
Inside the building, Lexa was standing next to a door. From where Shalimar, Brennan and Jesse were, they couldn't see anything else but to them it looked like she was talking to someone. A guard saw those three coming down from the roof and yelled. "Get them!" Lexa was startled but the man's screaming and looked up. In less than a minute she was surrounded by guards too. She blinded them with a blast of light. Shalimar and Jesse tried to get to her while Brennan got out of there to get the Helix. Before Shalimar and Jesse cold get to Lexa a man appeared from her back and shot her. Lexa fell to the floor while Shalimar went after the man. Jesse grabbed her in his arms and called Shalimar for help. "Shal!!" Shalimar stopped racing the shooter and jumped over Lexa and Jesse, knocking the rest of the guards down, clearing the way out.
When they got to the Helix, Brennan saw Lexa in Jesse's arms. "What happened?"
"She's got shot!" Shalimar filled him in and he quickly took off… … …
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Back at the Sanctuary, Lexa was already awake, Brennan was helping her to walk. The bullet went through her chest, next to her right shoulder. Brennan told Shalimar and Jesse that he was going to take her to the lab and take care of her wound. "You do that!" Shalimar said in a low voice. "Need help?"
"No, I can handle." Brennan said back. Noticing Lexa was too weak to walk, probably because she had lost a lot of blood, Brennan held her in his arms and ran to the lab as quick as he could.
"She's gonna be okay." Shalimar said and Jesse only nodded. She looked at him and couldn't help but notice he was not really worried. Shalimar noticed that Jesse was actually intrigued. "What is it, Jess? What you're thinking?"
He turned to her and firmly stated. "It was set up."
"We can not know that for sure." Shalimar jolted.
"She knew about this." Jesse accused Lexa which shocked Shalimar.
"How can you say that? Lexa was shot, remember?" Shalimar jumped in Lexa's defense. "Whoever her contact is… This person is the one we should blame for what happened."
Jesse wasn't convinced, he still had his doubts. He couldn't stop thinking about the image of her calmly standing there. "Yeah, whatever. But if I were you I wouldn't spend so much time alone with her anymore." After that he went to his room.
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After Brennan had taken cared of Lexa's wound, he carried her to up to her room. He laid her down on her bed. "Thank you." She weakly said to him.
"No problem." Brennan gave her a small smile and when he tried to stand again her arms stopped him. She, although very weakly, held his back and pulled him to her again, leaving only an inch away from heir lips.
"What can I do to thank you." She whispered, gazing into his eyes.
Brennan got lost in her intense look for an instant. He couldn't help but feel extremely attracted to her right then. "It wasn't me that got you out of there. It was Jesse."
"But you took care of me, he didn't." Lexa attempted to end the distance between their faces but Brennan pulled back.
"I can't."
"Is it because of Shalimar?'' Lexa asked, her voice not sounding as soft and gentle as before.
Brennan didn't answer. He just looked at her and said. "You need to rest." After that he left. Lexa waited a few minutes then locked her door. She deactivated the surveillance cameras for her room and grabbed her phone. After dialing a number she spoke. "It's me… Don't worry. They don't suspect anything. We can stick to the original plan…." She waited and listened to what, whoever on the line was had to say then she assured them. "The boy is not a problem anymore… … I'll keep in touch." She hung up and went back to bed… …
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Next morning Lexa was the first to get up. Brennan and Shalimar tried to talk to her into resting a little more but she insisted she was feeling fine. She headed to the lab as usual and Brennan and Shalimar went to the dojo to practice like they did every single morning… … Jesse was already up when he heard Brennan's weird noises. Jesse smile at himself at the thought of Brennan being bit by Shalimar. Before he left his room, he stopped in front of his mirror to check out his hair and saw someone standing behind him. He quickly turned around and saw her. His core started trembling right away. Jesse closed his eyes and when he opened them again, she was gone. He exited his room and when he was stepping down he saw her again. It was like she was running, like she was heading to somewhere. It looked again and again she was gone. 'Jesse… Jesse…' He heard her voice and to him it was like he had caught vision of her with the corner of his eyes again. He turned and there she was. She ran and he went after her. "Emma! Emma!!" He screamed. Shalimar and Brennan froze at the sound of her name. They looked at each other and went to check what was going on. Lexa heard Jesse's screaming from the lab too. She also followed the sound of his voice. Brennan and Shalimar didn't even have to leave the room, Jesse came in. It was like he was after something. The two stopped and just confusedly watched him. Jesse looked at the dojo and saw her again. 'Jesse…' This time she remained there. "Emma?!! Emma!!" He uttered her name and walked up to where the vision of her was. By then Lexa had already joined them in scene; she didn't do much but stayed there and watched Jesse lose control. "Emma!!" Jesse was getting closer to the image and as he walked up Shalimar felt for him. Brennan got confused and didn't know how to react to that. Jesse kept on walking, he saw her extending her arms to him and when he reached out to touch her hand, the image disappeared and he fell to the floor.
"Jess?" Shalimar called, not wanting him to notice the tears in her eyes.
Jesse looked at the empty spot and desperately started talking. "She was here. She was right here. I saw her." He looked at his two friends. His eyes pleading with them to believe him. Shalimar's mouth moved aimlessly and no sound came out of it. Watching him lilke that hurt her more than a thousand knifes penetrating her body. Brennan couldn't move much either. Emma was the closest to a sister to him, the memory of that fatal day flashed into his brain, it pained him to remember. "Come on! You guys have to believe me. I'm telling you. I saw Emma. She was right here. I saw her. Please, say that you believe me… Bren? Shal?" Jesse pleaded, he begged them to trust in what he was saying. But how could them? Jesse's face showed them things that only made them doubt everything, even his sanity. When they didn't say anything back Jesse lowered his face. His tormented mind was screaming and it was driving him insane. Jesse felt his eyes burning as he did his best to hold back the tears that had been threatening to escape. "I'm not crazy, Shal… You have to believe me… She was here… She-"
"Of course you're not crazy, Jess." Shalimar somehow managed to swallow down her own bitter feelings and find her voice again. She carefully stepped closer to where he laid and had to use all the power she had in her body to say those words to him. "You gotta let hr go, Jess… Just let her go." Jesse locked up into her eyes, she had his face held between her hands now. Shalimar forced a smile, showing him she understood. Jesse lowered his eyes again, he felt extremely weak and confused.
Brennan walked to his friend and with a hand on Jesse's shoulder he firmly, although softly, stated. "Emma is gone, Jess. She's dad and so is-"
"You think I don't know that?" Jesse burst out in anger and desperation. He fiercely pushed Brennan and Shalimar away. "I was there too." He blared out then began walking in circles. Jesse nervously ran his fingers through his hair and kept talking. "I was supposed to protect her. She trusted me. I was supposed to protect her."
His words were confusing his friends even more. "Jess, what you're talking about? Jesse?" Shalimar ask, not knowing what else to say.
Jesse stopped and looked at her and Brennan. "I promised her I would take care of her. I promised her I would never let anything bad happen to her. And I let her die."
"It wasn't your fault, pal." Brennan said. Him and Shalimar were frightened by what they saw. They feared for Jesse.
"No! I shouldn't have left her alone. If I had stayed five more minutes with her, I could have saved her. I could have… … Just five more minutes…"
"Jess, please don't do this to yourself!" Shalimar begged him to stop but it was too late. Jesse was already drowned in his inner emotions and at that right moment nothing she could say would make him come back to their reality. Jesse stopped gazed into emptiness then fell onto his knees.
After that a painful silence filled the air. Jesse's exaspered sighs were all they could hear. Brennan couldn't just stand there and watch Jesse helplessly, down on his knees, he just couldn't. Brennan went to him again and as soon as his hands touched Jesse's arms, in the right moment he tried to bring his friend back up on his feet, Jesse blurted out angrily again. "Let go of me!" Jesse tried to get rid of Brennan's hands. "Just get off me." And with that he stormed out. Shalimar wanted to go after him but Brennan didn't let her to. He only held her in his arms and let her release her tears.
"I'll walk you to your room." Brennan lowly said to her and when they began to walk they remembered about the fourth person that was in the room. Shalimar made him stop and oddly looked around. The place was empty. "Come on, Shal."
What Brennan and Shalimar didn't see was that Lexa left the place right after Jesse claimed he had saw Emma. She grabbed her phone and didn't even waited to see how it was going to end, she just disappeared… … …
"Playground school bell rings again
Rain clouds come to play again…"
Jesse felt like he couldn't breath inside Sanctuary, he had to get out of there. When he reached outside it didn't bother him the fact that it was raining. He just walked through those trees as his mind raced in fear and confusion. The pouring rain on his face made him feel fate had pulled some kind of trick on him. He felt that way because just breathing pained him to death. All emotions ran into his veins as he kept walking. Jesse didn't know where he was heading to but his heart led him to where him and the others had built a memorial for Adam and Emma… … …
"Has no one told you she's not breathing?"
Jesse looked down at the tombstone and his knees failed him right then. He fell down and suddenly the cold rain felt so warm to his skin. Jesse hadn't realized but it wasn't the raindrops touches he was feeling on his skin, it was the touch of his own tears falling down. Jesse remembered the night when he caught Emma crying alone in the kitchen. That night she confessed things to him that not even Brennan knew. Emma confessed she was losing control of her powers, that they were becoming stronger each time and that she was afraid of turning into a monster like Ashelock. He even could her sobs when she asked him to held her that night, he even could feel the touch of her soft hands clutching to his shoulders. She made him promise her that he would never let anything happen… … Jesse reached out and lightly ran his fingers over her name written on the tombstone… … …
"Hello!
I'm your mind giving you someone to talk to.
Hello!"
Shalimar and Brennan saw Jesse from her room's balcony. The scene of him touching the stone torn their hearts into a thousand pieces. "Jesse was always like this. You know?" Shalimar broke the silence as her eyes couldn't leave the picture of her friend on the rain. Brennan only listen to what she had to say. "I guess it's because of his dead put him through. I don't know. But the truth is that Jesse thinks that everything bad that happened to someone he loves or even someone he knows is his fault. He always think that he could have done something different… Something that would change everything… But I have to say that I never saw so lost and so …" Shalimar had to stop, the knot in her throat was getting in the way and almost didn't let her speak again. "I never saw him so… I don't even know how to describe what I see in Jesse right now." … … …
"If I smile and don't believe
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream
Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken…"
Brennan for the first time felt like he knew exactly what to say. It wasn't a secret that he was well know by his muscles than by his brain or his sentimental advices. But everything that was happening affected him too. He was also wounded and he somehow had a tine idea of how Jesse felt. Brennan sorta felt guilty too. "I wish there was something I could to help him, Brennan." Shalimar spoke again. "His like a brother to me. I can't watch him suffering like that."
"I know, Shal. I feel the same way. But Jesse will only feel better again when he stops blaming himself. Jesse has to forgive himself for whatever he think he did first. Then we'll have him back." Shalimar buried her face his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt safe in his scent. Brennan looked down and kissed the top of her head. Not too far away from those two still laid Jesse. The rain still poured and he still thought over everything him and Emma had shared in just one night. A night that he promised her he would never let anyone know it existed. Jesse turned face and saw Brennan and Shalimar watching over me. Those two could feel his disapproval even from that distance. "Let's go in." They left him to deal with his pain alone… He needed t be alone, that was the only thing Jesse knew for sure… … …
"Hello!
I'm the lie living for you so you can hide.
Don't cry…"
'Jesse… Jesse… ' It couldn't be. It was not happening again. Jesse squeezed his eyes as tight as he could and prayed her voice would go away. He couldn't bare to listen to her again. It was too much for him to take. "Please… God!!" He whispered to himself as the rain began to fall harder and harder… … …
"Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping…"
'Jesse…' He heard the sweet sound of her voice again. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Jesse fearfully lifted his eyes… …. … How he wanted his mind was playing with him. There she was, Emma. She was standing right in from of him. It was like she could see everything. It was like she was really there. Jesse didn't move after that. He just laid there, staring at the vision of her while he mentally contemplated the fact that whether or not he was crazy… His mixed up feelings in some way assured him he was not but how could he believe in himself after everything that had happened that day… He doubted himself, he doubted everything but there was one thing he didn't doubt. There was one thing that Jesse could never deny, it was the fact that he desperately wanted her to be there with him… He just wanted to believe it was true… As looked at her fading face, he could swore that she felt his pain… Jesse watched a tear slowing ran down her cheek instants before she disappeared… … …
"Hello!
I'm still here, all that's left of yesterday… … … … …"
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Lexa parked her car in a garage. She stepped out of the car and went to a door. She dialed a code and the door opened. It was and elevator. It took her to the 10th floor under the ground. It was a laboratory. Lexa headed straight to the lead doctor's office. He was with the back of his chair turned to her, she couldn't see his face. Lexa started throwing him the news. "We have a problem."
"The boy again?" The man asked.
"Yes. And there's more." Her words worried him which made him turn around and face her. Lexa looked straight into Mason Eckhart's eyes and said. "The problem has another name… … … Emma." Eckhart did not reply to that,. he only sat in silence… … In another level of the lad a doctor went checking on the mutants in stasis… … He got intrigued by what he saw happen. He called another doctor to observe the patient in stasis and this other man saw a tear roll of from a female mutant. He looked for her name in his files and it said, 'Emma Delauro'
TBC