Chapter Six

Breathing in deeply then slowly stirring, she opened up her eyes. She couldn't open them up completely because the light in the room was somewhat hurtful. It had been too long since the last time her eyes met the brightness of light, so blinking a little her eyes soon adjusted to it. The blurry image in front of her slowly became more and more clear. She couldn't believe in what she was looking at. A face, a familiar face... A face that she missed madly and only saw in her sweetest dreams. It couldn't be true, could it? Could Jesse actually be right in front of her very eyes? Was it real or was it just another dream? Feeling the need to make sure he wasn't just a product of her desperate mind, she slowly lifted her hand and reached out to touch him. It hurt as she did it; her entire body hurt as she moved... The minute her hand softly touched his arm, she knew he was indeed real.

Jesse jumped up in the chair at the second he felt the warmth of her skin shooting out electricity into his body. His eyes shot up opened in surprise. Jesse saw the deepest blue eyes staring right back at him... She was awake; Emma was awake. Jesse wasn't quite sure if he was breathing or not but he knew he wasn't moving much.

'Emma managed to place herself sat on the bed. "Jesse..." She uttered his name in a hearty tone then Jesse watched tears roll off her eyes. It pained him deeply to see her that much vulnerable. He popped up from the chair and sat on the bed, wrapping his arms around Emma's body. She rested her heard on his shoulder and clutched tightly at his body. Emma silently let her tears fall as he had her within his arms...

"Emma..."

Even though there was so much both, Emma and Jesse, needed and wanted to talk about, neither of them said a thing after that; they simply remained in each other's embrace for a quite long while until Jesse came to sit on the chair again as Emma lay on the bed. The two stared at one another until sleep took over them completely...

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Jesse tried to switch his position and was awakened by the pain he felt as he faced the ground along with the chair he had spent the night sat in. He quickly regained his composure and remembered the miracle he had witnessed the night before. Jesse frowned when he didn't find her lying on the bed. He rushed through the cabin and found Emma outside; she was sitting on the steps of the front porch, her eyes roaming around, admiring everything.

"Hey!" Emma heard his voice echoing behind her. She only greeted him with a smile while he joined her on the floor. "I woke up... You weren't there... ... I..." Jesse began saying, gaining some of her words.

"Sorry." She mumbled with a grin but now she turned to face him. "I didn't want to wake you. I figured you were pretty worn out. So..."

Jesse was in some kind of a reverie, his eyes sparkling while he remained completely hypnotized by Emma; it was as if he couldn't even hear what she was saying. Emma noticed the way Jesse stared at her, she couldn't help herself so she just reached forward and pulled him into a soft grateful embrace. Her sudden act snapped Jesse out his reverie. "What? What was that for?" He asked.

"Thank you!" Emma replied looking straight into his eyes. "What you did for me... It was... I... I don't even know what would have happened to me if you didn't-"

"Shhh..." Jesse's finger came up and lightly touched her lips. "Don't... ... Don't think of it. K?" He droned letting his finger slid slowly away from her lips.

Emma watched his hand move away from her face then looked up at him again; a shy smile crept on his face as her eyes were on him. But some sort of awkwardness dawned, making their eyes stray and look ahead where Mother Nature lent them the perfect scenery.

The silence that filled the air between them lingered until Jesse spoke. "It's good to have you back, Em."

"It's good to be back." Emma responded then both fell back in silence...

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Jesse and Emma had the feeling of standing still. The hours slogged through out the day as Jesse watched Emma look at everything as if it was her very first time seeing the world. Every single thing gained a different color now; Emma felt like everything came to life; Jesse was totally amused by her. And when the night finally came and it gave them the opportunity to talk.

"What you're looking for?" Asked Jesse coming out of the bathroom.

Emma kept going through the drawers then she answered. "Scissors."

"What for?"

"You're cutting my hair." She announced releasing a scream. "Found it!"

Jesse was a little bit lost. "What do you mean? I'm cutting your hair?"

"Have you looked at me? I'm a mess." Emma closed the distance between them then extended the scissors to him. "Here."

"Are you crazy? I can't cut your hair. I don't know how to!" Jesse disputed with a grin on his lips.

Emma pulled a chair and placed herself sat. "Don't worry. I'll teach you."

Emma instructed Jesse through and through. He did exactly what she told him to. He handed her the mirror when he was done. "Don't blame me. I just followed your orders."

Emma rolled her eyes at his teasing. After observing how she looked having her hair shorter and with her doll fringe back, she was the one now doing the teasing. "Have you ever considered quitting this 'saving the world-full time-no glamour's- underpaid job' for 'a few hours a day-money spoiled-fashion and most of all fun job'?" She made a funny face and Jesse tilted his head to one side; he had no idea what she was talking about. "You'd make the hell of a hair-dresser, Jess!"

Jesse faked a laugh while Emma stood up and switched the subject of the conversation completely. "So? How are Brennan and Shalimar?"

Jesse looked up from his spot snapping in surprise. "Well... They're fine... ... They miss you, though... They miss you a lot actually."

"I miss them too." Emma replied in a faltering manner then felt a tear threatening to escape. She breathed in, doing her best to prevent it from falling. Emma had so many things to tell Jesse and falling into pieces right away was not what she had planned.

"What is it, Em?" Jesse's voice dropped a tone when he realized the sadness in her eyes. He walked to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her shoulders; he wanted to comfort her and make her feel that everything would be alright.

Emma felt uncomfortable and even a bit guilty when she felt his arms locking around her. She lightly pushed him away, action that caused him to wonder. "Jess, there's something I need to talk to you about..."

"Go ahead." He lowly retorted while they moved to sit on the couch.

"Right..." She heavily sighed and he stared at her face with concern and fear crossing his mind. "I don't think I can do this."

Jesse reached out and touched her hand. "It's okay, Em."

"No, it's not!" She blurted out then felt Jesse's hand pull away. "Remember that night you found me in the kitchen and I... I..."

"Yeah. I remember." Jesse said curtly in a soft voice. "How could I ever forget?"

Emma swallowed down and out of the sudden the tenderness she met in Jesse's eyes began to sting her. "Well... My... my powers, they overloaded way before that night, months even." Emma somehow managed to bring her eyes up to his; the tenderness she saw in him instants before were now turning into confusion. "Remember that mission in Kavakhstan?"

"Sure. Why do you ask?"

"What exactly do you remember?" Emma intensely looked at him as she inquired again.

"Everything." Jesse mumbled, searching his mind for the facts of that particular day. "I remember we being under attack as soon as we got there. I remember Shalimar and Brennan... Adam... Me fixing the Helix. I remember you watching my back..." As Jesse went on he couldn't help but remember what he felt when he saw Emma sitting over that rock and how beautiful she looked.

"I'm so sorry." Emma muttered and felt a tear rolling down her cheek. She sensed what Jesse felt as he described what he remember and that made her feel so small and weak. Jesse was in a total dark, he didn't know what he was supposed to do, he had no idea why she was behaving that way. "I lied to you."

"What? When? In Kavakhstan? Emma, what are you talking about?" Jesse's demanding voice echoed in her brain as she felt his tension growing at each second she hesitated in telling him what was really on her mind.

"I did something to you that day..." She ashamedly began to pour out her confession. Jesse's eyes widened in suspicious as he carefully kept listening to her. "I asked you what you remembered about that day because I knew what you were going to say. But the thing is... You don't remember everything that happened that day. And the reason why I know that is because I made you not to."

Jesse felt as if something had hit him on the back of his head or like he had fell into a dark hole where everything was cold. "I sensed some something approaching us... The Helix wasn't ready and you couldn't fix it in time. I needed to do something... ... I sent the soldiers a wave of a tremendous fear. It was so strong and that it knocked you down too... Jesse, you were confused, surprised and still under the effects of what I did to the soldiers. At that moment you realized what I was becoming, what my powers were able to do..." Emma went on and on telling him everything. Jesse just sat there; he was petrified. "Jesse, you have to understand. I didn't know what to do. I was freaking myself out. I couldn't allow anyone else to know what was happening to me... You, Adam, Brennan, Shalimar, you were not ready to handle that. I was not ready to handle that. I knew what you would do. I knew you would tell them, so I-"

"So you broke into my head and stole my memories... You erased my mind." Jesse was filled with so much resent. He lifted his eyes then scowled at her. "How could you?"

"Jesse, you don't understand..." She pleaded but it was no use.

"Yes, I do understand!" Jesse burst out and stood up. "What you did... Who gave you the right to get into my head and..." His words were hurtful but Emma didn't need his words. Jesse's feelings were so overwhelming that she was picking up every single thing he felt. "I can't believe you did that to me... Especially after sensing what I..." He ragingly groaned making Emma wince from in and outside. "What the hell am I to you, Emma? First you creep into my mind and steal my memories. Then you haunt me day and night... I thought I had lost it... That I was going completely crazy..."

"Jesse, please... Just listen to me. Let me finish." Emma's face was drowned in tears. The anger and resent Jesse felt was weakening her even more.

"No! You listen!" He blew out pointing at her face. "Tell me... Am just a toy you play with whenever you feel like?"

"Jesse, please stop!"

"Why?" He bluntly asked her.

"Because it hurts... It hurts so bad... I can't stand it... Please, Jesse... Please..." She weakly begged him then she fell on her knees.

At that moment Jesse was taken back to the present moment. It wasn't until he saw her so helpless that he remembered what they were doing there. Even though Jesse felt that she had betrayed him, seeing her sobbing like that and down on her knees... it hurt him more than he would admit, it made him speak with less anger but with more sadness, though. "Just tell me why... If you did what you did that day why did you come to me? Why?"

Emma was shaking, she tried to calm herself by taking a real deep breath then she explained. "That day when I entered your mind... A link was created between us. Because of what I did, your mind was somewhat connected to mine."

"So you came to me because basically you couldn't go to anyone else? Is that it?"

"No, Jesse. You're twisting everything." She sobbed one more time and for a brief moment their eyes met again.

Nervously running his fingers through his hair, Jesse tried to reason with himself, he wanted to put aside his bitter feelings and try to think more clearly. Emma knew how much it meant to him to know why she had chosen him over Brennan. "I could have gone to Brannan if I wanted to... Remember when I helped him to stabilize his own mutation? Well, that day a link was created between us too..." Jesse heard her words and because they were truthful, they were slowly soothing his heart. "I chose you because of that night in the kitchen... I knew what you would do... I knew that you wouldn't be guided by your anger and try to take down Eckhart on your own. And I know Adam knew that too. Brennan and Shalimar, they would jeopardize everything but you... I knew you'd be here for me... Just like you are now... Jess, I am so sorry."

How could he remain as cold and as hard as a stone after what she had confessed? Every reason he had to be mad at her was gone. Jesse understood that Emma was only scared. And the fact that she had chosen him to help her... It made all the difference. "If you thought of me that way why you're only telling me this now? Why didn't you tell me everything that night? It would have been so much easier."

"I wanted to. But Adam thought I'd put you in danger, so I didn't." Emma's confession had neared the end, she felt like some burden was taken off her back. "I told you all of this now because I couldn't do this to you anymore... I couldn't lie to you. It wouldn't be fair."

"Yeah. Let's just forget about it, okay?" Jesse kneeled down and squeezed her hands. He brushed a piece of hair away from her face and helped her to get back upon her feet.

Emma allowed herself a smile and the tears she felt falling were now drying. "There's one more thing I need to do, so things between us will be okay again."

"What is it?"

With seriousness in her eyes, Emma explained what she wanted to do. "My powers are still too strong, even with this medicine Adam developed... Jesse, I know exactly what is going inside of you right now. And I don't want you to be this way... Wondering if I'm reading you."

"What you wanna do, Emma?"

"I need you to allow me to get in your head again. But this time I need to be in there to help you create a barrier. That way I won't be able to do anything to you..."

Jesse was surprised and touched at the same time. "Wait... I don't know..."

"Yes, you do know. I know you want to. It's for the best." She looked straight into his eyes and he nodded in agreement. "I'm gonna connect myself to your mind, after that I need you to mass yourself. I'm gonna use your physical state to mass your mind against my powers. I don't know if it's gonna work but it's worth the try."

Emma gathered her strengths and asked him. "Ready?" Jesse nodded and a ray of light shot out of her forehead going straight into his. At that moment Jesse felt like his brain were being shattered, he almost didn't manage to mass but when he did, his eyes went blind and with his mind he saw some sort of a shield made of stone and iron rise right in front of him. The connection between Emma and Jesse was cut right away; both of them were violently thrown on opposite directions then falling to the ground. Jesse was the first to stand; he groggily moved to where Emma laid and grabbed her, pulling her up again.

Still grasping for breath, Jesse spoke. "Wanna give it try?" Emma knew what he meant so she nodded and he took a few steps back. Another blast of light shot out from Emma's head but this time at the second it penetrated Jesse's skin it came straight back to Emma, hitting her on the top of her head, knocking her down again. Jesse feared for her, she was not too strong to do such a thing. "Emma?" Again Jesse helped her to stand then led her to sit on the couch. "Are you okay?" He asked and she nodded in reply. "So?"

"It worked." She revealed with a smile.

"It means..."

"I don't sense a thing coming from you... You don't have to worry anymore." Emma snorted mildly then he pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you." Jesse whispered in her years.

Emma closed her eyes and only allowed herself to feel his warmth and tenderness surround her completely. She had done something good and she was proud of herself because of that. It was relieving not to keep any secrets from Jesse. Although, there was one thing she didn't tell him. Jesse figured that what Emma did was permanent but the truth was that it wasn't. Emma's plan only worked because, at that very moment, all that Jesse wanted was to feel safe within his own mind; he was terrified that Emma could find out what he kept within. That's why the will to keep her as far away as possible from his thoughts was tremendous and it provided Emma to do what she did. The barrier Jesse thought she had created was already there; Emma only helped him to see it. But once Jesse opened up to her completely again, all that work would be good for nothing. Things would go back to the way they were. But it was something he really didn't have to know right then. All the mattered was that he felt comfortable around her. And Emma needed his trust more than he could imagine.

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Due to what Emma and Jesse went through, their bodies and minds were extremely tired. Emma went to the room and Jesse fell asleep on the couch and he stayed that way until his body detected a cold breeze filling the air. Jesse was forced to wake up because of the coldness. His eyes opened and the first thing he saw was the opened door...

"Emma?" Emma was startled up by the sound of Jesse's voice. She turned and saw him wrapped up in a blanket, coming towards her.

"Hey."

"It's hard not to rely on your powers anymore, right?" He knowingly asked when he sided with her. Jesse saw how she looked when he appeared on the door, calling her name.

Emma nodded, saying in response. "Yeah. But it's okay... I even kinda like it."

"What you're doing here?"

"Can't sleep." She shortly answered glancing into the darkness that surrounded them.

Jesse observed her face and right then he realized he didn't need to be a psionic to know what was going through her head. "Can't sleep or don't want to?"

Emma shyly grinned at him. "Both."

Jesse let one side of the blanket fall as he extended his hand to her. "Come." He murmured. Emma hesitantly took his hand then he led her into the cabin then into the room again. He tucked her in, wrapped the blanket around himself once more and sat on the chair that faced the bed.

Emma knew what he was doing; he didn't say anything but she knew. Letting a soft smile escape her mouth she softly said to him. "Good night." With that Emma closed her eyes and let herself drift to sleep. The fear she had in her heart of going back to sleep and not being able to wake up again, was now gone. She knew nothing bad would happen while Jesse was there watching over her. Because of Jesse and all the things he was doing for her, for the very first time in her life, Emma felt that everything would finally be okay... ...

TBC