A/N: Well, it's been affirmed, this whole story will never come true. I'm a spoiler addict and I've read almost anything I can get my hands on and the plans for Jordan in the next season are not coming close to what I had hoped for. sighs Oh well. That's what fan fiction is for I suppose. To write what the writers forgot yay!
To Kennis, my number one fan. Thanks for all the ideas. They filled much more than a centimeter of the well!
XxXXXxxXXXxX
Jordan entered the room, shrugged off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. He examined his familiar suite to see Shawn resting on the cushioned, tan couch. He walked over and smiled at him. He had improved a lot since the man had last studied him in his sleep, the stroll they had earlier that day brought some color back into the young man's olive complexion. He noticed Shawn's eyes still had some dark rings underneath them. He also spotted a small smile creeping onto the younger man's face.
"Stop staring at me, it's weird." Shawn said, opening his dark eyes to face the deep brown ones.
"Sorry, I thought you were-" Jordan paused. "Why aren't you actually sleeping?" he asked, accusation threaded in his voice.
Shawn smiled his guilty smile from the center of the couch. He seemed to be making that hot, gorgeous, totally adorable (A/N: .:apologizes:. I just had to add that) grin a lot lately.
"I was sorta staying up to make sure things went well?" Shawn said, staring up to see a reaction. Jordan made that concerned expression and sat down on the couch, scooting Shawn's legs over.
"Ah great, he's in that lecture position" the younger man thought exasperatedly as he noted the hunched form and folded hands of his elder.
"Are you worried about something?" Jordan questioned, turning to Shawn. The healer fidgeted under his stare. Sure, he was worried about a lot of things: artichokes (for the obvious reason), heights, the local killer assassinating his newly resurrected father figure maybe?
"Just wanted to make sure there weren't any," he cleared his throat and wrinkled his eyebrows, "technical problems, you know, with the sound and stuff?"
Jordan nodded.
"You mean to tell me you wasted your precious and valuable sleeping time, which you very well needed, for the sound?" he asked, eyebrows rose slightly.
The man knew him too well... Okay, maybe it didn't exactly take a psychologist to tell that Shawn's story was a fake.
"Maybe I'm a little afraid that the same person who killed you will come back to finish you the job." Shawn said uncertainly, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of his red sweater.
Jordan sighed; he figured that was the case, he just needed Shawn to stop beating around the bush making up lies about sound defects. The boy was sometimes a very hard shell to crack but once you got through, it was an overflow of pent-up emotions.
"Shawn, I don't ever want you to think that way. I'm going to be all right. I'm sure whoever brought me back, has a different kind of plan for me than to just die again… Unless the persons that we're dealing with are very sick, then we might have a problem." He joked casually, but Shawn thought differently as a new wave of thought hit him.
The older man sighed once again.
"You need to stop thinking so hard, Shawn, nothing is going to happen. That last bit was a joke, the aliens or whatever the people who took us may be, are not sick. Okay?" Jordan said.
Shawn looked up and nodded.
Jordan smiled and got up from his position. Midway through leaving Shawn called out.
"I know who your killer is." He said. Jordan turned around suddenly, raised an eyebrow, and sat back down on the couch. The younger man had traces of nervousness and apprehension on his countenance. Should he tell him? What's the harm? Maybe it's the wrong thing to say. God, Shawn, why do you have such a big mouth?
"Mind sharing?" Jordan asked gently, breaking the inner argument Shawn was having about telling him who his murderer really was.
"It's Kyle, my cousin, the one that came here one time trying to see me." Shawn blurted out suddenly.
Jordan took it all in. A large number of thoughts crossed his mind but the younger man's voice halted them for the time being.
"He was possessed by something, something that made him black out and do stuff he didn't even remember." Again, a whole new flow of thoughts swam through Jordan's head. "But I healed him of it, that's why I'm so tired and sick."
The older man took it all in, it was so mind-boggling.
"Well, I'm not tired just because of de-possessing Kyle," Shawn continued. "There was also an epidemic…"
"I know about that." Jordan interrupted, still intent on swallowing the thing that possessed his cousin.
Shawn looked up surprised.
"What? How?" he asked quickly.
"Like you said earlier today, I have people who fill me in on that stuff." Jordan explained evenly.
"Yeah, but you said I was the only one who you trusted about that explaining stuff." Shawn defended, forgetting all about his last, major revealing.
"At that moment though, you were being childishly stubborn and I was being overly curious so I had to ask some one about how you got into the condition you were in."
"Oh." Shawn replied bitterly.
"It doesn't mean I don't trust you any less, Shawn." Jordan pointed out. "It just means that you should grow up some days and tell people what they need to know."
Shawn mumbled something about snobby businessmen but it was incoherent to the older man.
"Anyways," Jordan said, redirecting the unrelated conversation. "I needed to know, that epidemic going around sounded like serious business from what I hear from the medical staff. I'm overjoyed that you haven't been given any serious damage."
The part of Shawn's mind that always seemed to point out the wrongs whispered softly, Not yet.
Jordan looked around the room for a moment before landing his eyes on the clock. He whistled low.
"It is way too late for me right now and it is especially too late for you, Shawn," Jordan said pointedly, narrowing his eyes at the younger man. "You will not choose saving every living soul over your health again. You saved enough people in one week, you need to relax, understand?"
Shawn nodded sleepily. Noticing the time the Jordan had whistled at brought on the loads of weight on his eyelids.
"We can talk more in the morning but only until I think you look rested enough." Jordan instructed, making his way to his master bedroom. "Goodnight, Shawn."
"G'night." The younger man replied softly, finally falling into a deep slumber.
XxXXXxxXXXxX
Shawn opened his eyes to the bright morning light inflowing through the window to his right. He sat up and blinked, trying to focus his vision to the pile of magazines on the coffee table. Jordan had newspapers and magazines sent to the room to catch up on current event. Being gone for as long as he had been meant losing out on all the modern affairs.
One tabloid caught his attention in particular. The In Touch magazine had a picture of a very handsome Jordan on it with bold, yellow lettering titled "Back from the dead for his heir? pg.76"
Shawn immediately picked up the publication and flipped through the glossy pages until he found the correct sheet. On the front of the article was a fuzzy picture of the stroll Shawn and Jordan had gone on yesterday, wheelchair and all. Shawn stared incredulously at the picture. Sure, he had ple-henty of pictures taken by those prying paparazzi, but this time it felt more violating than usual. The young man told himself mentally that it was because he was in a wheelchair and he didn't want people to see him looking so vulnerable, but in the very back of his head he knew it had something to do with the man in the next room.
He skimmed through the editorial, knowing what he would find would probably be phony. Nobody truly knew what was going on except for him. Shawn had watched Jordan's whole, three-hour long dialogue and found it surprisingly vague. He was happy for the indistinctiveness though, allowing the real truth into those people's grimy hands was risky business.
Shawn rubbed his head, sometimes it was frustrating becoming famous so quickly. Not two years ago he remembered looking at these same magazines in the checkout lines, a couple of times he even flipped through them (not to drool over any hot girls of course, heh, heh…). He would never have guessed in any amount of years that he would be on that same publication because he was abducted and given healing powers. Yes, he was sure he'd escort anybody to an insane asylum if they had told him that.
The door to the left of him opened suddenly. Shawn turned his head to see Jordan walking out of it, wearing a soft purple dress shirt and his tan dress pants, he had his head buried in forms Shawn guessed must have been important. God, he was so happy that he didn't have to deal with all that stress and paperwork. He couldn't fathom how Jordan did it all with such ease. He supposed being in the realty business for so long, one would eventually acquire the skill.
Jordan looked up and spotted Shawn staring at him.
"You're up early." He said, bringing his attention back to his papers while simultaneously walking toward the suite's kitchen.
"They should put better blinds or some curtains in here. This room gets too bright for its own good." Shawn said, squinting his eyes in the light.
"I like the light; it makes things a lot less lifeless and dreary." Jordan said, pulling out a bottle of orange juice. "How are you feeling?"
"Better." Shawn said. He really was. He was able to sit up now, and that was progress, right?
"Do you think you would be able to accompany me to the NTAC offices? The agents there have some questions and I need a witness of some sort. It would be appreciated."
"Err…" Shawn said. He would actually love to go, he was getting a big case of cabin fever with this illness but his stomach never seemed to allow it. "I suppose."
Jordan walked over to the young man and felt his forehead. He was warm still but he did appear better. "Can you walk?"
Shawn sat up and slid his feet onto the carpet. He took a deep breath and took a hold of Jordan's offered hand. Jordan hauled him up onto shaky legs. Shawn stood there for a second and looked up, immediately an enormous wave of nausea took over him and he heaved up most likely all of the contents that were in his stomach onto the floor.
Shawn kneeled on the carpet, breathing heavily, vomit dripping from his mouth. Jordan stared at him with immense concern.
"I guess that's-" Shawn said between large breaths, "-a no on the walking question."
Jordan helped him to lie back on the couch. He picked up the phone to order some room service to clean up the mess and send up some stomach medicine.
"They should be here in a minute," Jordan told Shawn as he laid a damp cloth on the young man's head. "You really should take it easy, get some rest."
Shawn groaned.
"That's all I ever do but every time I even try to get up my stomach feels all ruptured and I barf up everything."
"It's just a flu, it should be gone soon if you don't push yourself like last night." Jordan reassured.
Shawn groaned once again. This sucked. He felt fine just minutes ago and now he felt like crap all over again. Maybe he was cursed, or the people who took him planted something in him that only gave him bad luck. If you really had the worst luck in the world, Jordan would still be dead. Do you know how many people would literally kill themselves to bring somebody back? The voice of reason was starting to get really annoying….
"I really need to get to NTAC; I'm already late as it is." Jordan explained, looking for his briefcase.
"Don't you still need a witness thing though?" Shawn asked.
"I'll just ask one of the third keys to accompany me," Jordan called from his bedroom.
"There's no chance of postponing it then?" Shawn asked. He actually didn't want Jordan to leave. It was inevitable that one would feel lonely when they had to stay in bed all day "resting" (more like feigning sleep when some one entered the room then staring at the ceiling).
Jordan smoothed out his suit jacket he had finished putting on.
"You know the government. They never wait for anybody; they like to be in charge. NTAC gets what NTAC wants." Jordan sighed. He felt a little guilty for leaving Shawn by himself but also knew full well that NTAC was not a trifling matter. It was either their way or the highway and Jordan was sure that the young man realized that.
The front door opened and two maids clad in light blue dresses entered with cleaning supplies and an orange pill bottle.
"Hello, Mr. Collier," the maid said nervously. "I thought you left."
Jordan shook his head reassuringly.
"Just on my way out actually. The mess is right here. I'm very sorry to pester you about it." Jordan said motioning toward the front of Shawn's couch.
"Oh no, it's no trouble at all." The first maid said taking out a rag and wiping up the mess. "Would you like to give Mr. Farrell his medicine now?"
"No, not yet. Could you please ask room service to bring some breakfast up?"
"Sure," she replied, picking up the phone.
Jordan walked over to Shawn and kneeled to his eye level.
"I'll try to be back soon, but most likely this meeting will last until early into the evening." Jordan said softly.
"Okay, sure." Shawn said, evidently getting depressed.
"Just try to keep yourself busy. We do have every channel known to existence up here," Jordan pointed out, causing Shawn to smile. "Stay out of trouble and get well soon, okay?"
Shawn nodded and Jordan exited the room. The young man sighed; he just knew this day was going to be dull.
XxXXXxxXXXxX
Jordan made his way down the stairs into the lobby of the exit. He strolled to a desk belonging to one of the secretaries there.
"Hello, Katherine," The secretary looked up in surprise from the laptop at the sound of her boss's boss's voice. "I need a third key to accompany me on my visit to NTAC. Do we have any available that have been around say… since my death?" It still felt weird saying such a thing to the man.
The secretary nodded and smiled, looking down to tap something into her laptop.
"Why yes, a Miss Liv had just become a first key on that day, would she be helpful?" she asked.
"Sure, bring her down, I'll be waiting in my limo out front. Thank you, Katherine"
"Sure."
XxXXXxxXXXxX
Liv walked nervously toward the exit of the center. She spotted the black limo out front, a driver positioned at the passenger back door. Oh, this was so nerve-wracking. She had never even met the man before and she was supposed to be the witness at his questioning. She couldn't believe she was replaced Shawn in this whole thing. He knew the resurrected businessman a million times better than anybody did, much less her. Oh, why couldn't Shawn have waited to give her that necklace one more day later?
She finally arrived at the black limo. The driver smiled at her and opened the door. She took a deep breath before entering and sliding onto the smooth, black leather seat. Jordan sat on the other side of her, talking on the phone. Yes, somebody up there must love her. The phone would surely keep her from having any uncomfortable small talk with the probably stuffy guru.
Jordan suddenly snapped the razor phone closed. Darn, there went her lifeline. She sighed, causing Jordan to notice her for the first time. She mentally cursed herself for that action. She could've been perfectly invisible if she hadn't done that!
"Oh, hello there," he said kindly. "I'm sorry I was tied up on the phone before. You must be Liv. I'm glad you agreed to come with me." She had to, didn't she?
"No problem," she replied equally kindly. "So, we're going to a questioning?"
"Yes, ma'am. It's just procedure, I suppose. When somebody comes back from the dead you have to be talked to about it. To be honest, I haven't the foggiest idea what happened while I was gone." Jordan said, smiling slightly.
Liv smiled. This guy wasn't so bad. She had this picture of being grumpy and nasty, kind of like she was when she first met Shawn.
"So, have you happened to meet Shawn?" Jordan asked after a momentary pause of silence. "He's about your age, tall."
"Um, yeah, he was actually the guy who made me first key." She said, uncomfortably. She wished Shawn were here to explain this sort of thing to him and not her. She wasn't exactly fond of her past and explaining where she'd been. "I was a mess before coming here, and Shawn took me out of it, saved me, by giving me job here."
Jordan smiled. That was sounded a lot like the young man. He always tried to help those in need. The people who took him had given him the perfect ability, one that would help save many.
"Where were you before this job then, if it's not to prying." Jordan asked, he was quite interested about their relationship.
"No where really. I was, how should I put this, a bum. I lived not two blocks from here under the bridge with my friends." She told him. This conversation was edgy, but Liv always managed to keep a calm face.
A light of realization dawned on Jordan's face.
"You were those people that Shawn was trying to help that one night. The ones that tried to use his healing power for all those other sick and poor people." He said slowly, looking up at the ending of his sentence.
Okay, now she was panicky. She knew he would be angry at her for taking advantage of his golden boy. Crap.
"You don't understand. I didn't know much about his ability at the time. I just wanted my friends to be out of there misery, you should of heard them crying out in pain. I had no money for the emergency room, so Shawn was the next best thing." She was breathing heavily now, tears brimming in her eyes, it was all true.
"I understand." Jordan said in his usual calm voice.
She looked up from her weeping.
"You do?"
"Yes. If I were in your position, I would've done the same thing. I know if I asked Shawn, he would've admitted to the same act. You're not in the wrong, Liv. I'm sorry if it sounded like I accused you."
Liv wiped her eyes. This guy was really all right. She liked to hear his comforting voice, it soothed her, but not as much as Shawn's voice. That voice was from the angels, she said once to herself.
"Thank you." She said meekly.
"Of course." Jordan replied, smiling slightly.
They arrived at the NTAC offices a few minutes later. The limo drew up to the front and the driver hopped out to open the side passenger door.
"Are you ready?" Jordan said, as Liv got out of the car.
"As much as I'll ever be." she replied.
They walked side by side into the office and were soon seated minutes later in the chambers of Agents Tom and Diana.
"I know what you're going to say, 'I told you so' right?" Jordan said kind-heartedly, settling himself on the hard chair in the questioning room.
"We don't like to rub that type of stuff in people's faces," Diana said with a smile. "So, how are you doing physically, mentally, and emotionally?"
"Wow, we just get right to the point," Jordan said, with a slight laugh.
"This is a questioning room." Tom snapped. The agent wasn't in the best of moods today. And he blamed the man sitting across from him.
"Somebody certainly is grumpy," Jordan replied at the spite of the agent.
"Yes, well, ever since you showed up, people feel it's some how our faults and we've been receiving any and all kinds of questions about your little resurrection." Tom said incitingly.
"Well, I apologize for coming back from the dead them, but, I'll have you know, it wasn't exactly my choice." Jordan said strongly.
"It's not like you care anyway what we're going through over here," Tom continued, ignoring the man's last comment, and looking Jordan square in the eye. "You just think NTAC is filth that will mess up all your plans, all your private plans. You know, the center could've been on its way to something great with Shawn as the head, but now you're back, screwing everything up!"
"Agent Baldwin," Liv said, making the two men who were staring daggers at each other finally notice she was in the room. "That's where you're wrong. Jordan is doing a lot to get the center back on track. Shawn really wasn't ready for all that control. He couldn't handle it, I saw him in the office sometimes, crying at the amount of work put on his shoulders. He was a mess, but, now that Jordan's back, all this weight has been taken off of him. He's back to his old self again, the old self that wasn't always grieving secretly and growing hard. Mr. Collier is really taking the center to immense degrees, whether you can see it or not, it's happening."
There was a silence in the room. Tom looked a bit ashamed. He wished he knew what his nephew was going through, but such a wish was near impossible with the tight security control in the center. He had never thought much about Shawn's emotional state. All of these events had happened so fast for a man so young. Heck, Tom didn't even think he'd be able to take such control of a huge corporation without cracking sometimes, and he was big and strong Baldwin. Tom sighed. He wanted to see Shawn, but with all the things that were happening, he knew that would be just as impossible as his first wish.
"You want to see him don't you?" Jordan said after a deep silence had filled the room. "I can see it in your eyes, you're worried about him."
Tom looked up in surprise. This guy was a successful businessman as well as a psychiatrist too?
"Yeah, I would." Tom admitted after staring at Jordan in amazement for a little while.
"After we finish this questioning, would you like to escort me back to the center?" Jordan asked.
"Sure." Tom answered. This had to be a dream. Since when did Jordan become Mr. Nice Guy? Maybe Tom was wrong about the man. Maybe there was something in him that Shawn saw that Tom didn't. He had never considered that he was judging Jordan on all the times he had met him before. Such times weren't exactly friendly, more like… hostile. The agent supposed he should try to be a bit less hypercritical in the future.
"Now that that's over with," Diana said with a sigh. "Can you answer the first question?"
"Of course. This is a questioning, is it not?"
XxXXXxxXXXxX
"How is Shawn anyway?" Tom asked, keeping his eyes on the road. Collier and Baldwin decided to take the agent's car to talk things over a bit before entering the center. It was six in the evening now and the questioning was, to everybody's immense relief, completed.
"He's a bit on the ill side, as is such the case when you heal as many people as he did." Jordan said. Tom gave him a worried glance. "He's alright, it's just a stomach flu, it shouldn't be blown up into something big. If he's done what I've told him to do, he should be fine."
"That's good," Tom said in relief. "Has he mentioned anything about me?"
Jordan thought for a moment. In all truth, Jordan and Shawn hadn't shared much about his family life. He didn't know if Shawn was even talking to his mom and brother still or if he'd made amends.
"Let's just say, I might need as much 'catching up' to do as you do." Jordan said in conclusiveness.
Tom nodded knowingly and took a turn down the familiar avenue to the 4400 canter.
XxXXXxxXXXxX
"Just through this door, let's keep quiet in case he's resting." Jordan said, walking towards a door at the end of the hall. He opened the heavy door with his key and ushered the agent in.
Jordan turned on the light as Tom made his was over to the sleeping form on the couch.
Tom sat on the chair facing the makeshift bed and smiled. Shawn looked much younger and peaceful in his sleep.
Jordan joined him behind the couch, above Shawn's head. He raked his fingers gently through the younger man's blonde hair, causing Shawn to stir.
"Ten more minutes, Jordan. I'm tired." He murmured in his sleep, turning his head opposite of where the touch came from.
"That's new," Tom said, affecting Shawn to open his eyes blearily at the familiar yet unfamiliar voice. "Jordan told me you hadn't been sleeping too well lately."
Shawn stared in confusion at the face before him.
"Uncle Tommy? What are you doing here?" Shawn asked, his voice raspy and full of weariness.
"I'll get you some water," Jordan said, leaving them in privacy for a moment.
"I came by to see what's going on with you," Tom said quietly so only Shawn could hear him. "I haven't heard from you in ages. The last I saw you was at quarantine, but that was a little smile and wave. I just wanted to come here and say…. I've been thinking about you, Shawn."
Shawn smiled tiredly.
"I've been thinking about you too, Uncle Tommy." Shawn said. "I'm sorry things have been so antagonistic between us, I didn't want them to be, but I had no choice sometimes…"
There was a silence as each of the males tried to put their heads around what each other had said. Tom broke it with a smile as he pulled up Shawn from his lying position and hugged him roughly. Shawn hugged back once he got over the surprise. Shawn didn't think Uncle Tommy had it in him. The man was always so gruff and sharp, especially towards Shawn, the "corrupter" of his innocent son. They were family though, Shawn pointed out, and family had to learn to look past things once in awhile. They held each other for a little longer before letting go. Tom stared at Shawn square in the eyes for a moment.
"I'm sorry," Tom said softly.
"For what?" Right then Shawn wasn't thinking straight. He was tired and all he could see was the blameless Uncle Tommy before him. Shawn could hear and see everything bad about some one yet still adore them; it was an attribute that got him in trouble many times before.
"What do you mean, 'for what'?" Tom asked incredulously. "For being cold to you about your mother and brother. I know you weren't comfortable with seeing them and I was just trying to push you into something again. I'm sorry about NTAC, but most of the time, they aren't in my control, but I do apologize for one thing most of all…"
Shawn gave him a confused expression. Wasn't that all he needed to apologize for? Shawn tried to think hard for something else but nothing was coming to mind. His stress and workload wasn't his Uncle Tommy's problem, so what else could there be?
"I'm sorry for talking all this crap about you, Shawn." Oh, Shawn realized, something he couldn't see. "I didn't know what you were going through. I hated that you tried to hide things from me and that you were acting like a jerk to your family and to NTAC, but, again, I didn't take the time to study what exactly you were going through. But most importantly, I'm sorry I called you a fool (among other things) for trusting in Jordan. I assumed he would corrupt you with crazy thoughts and other crap, but, of course, I didn't take the time to analyze the man. It's been weird for me today; I'm finally realizing how hypercritical I've been. I promise I'll take the time to judge people rightly, as a good lesson learned from you, Shawn. Again, I'm so sorry."
Shawn sat there stunned. This couldn't be the Uncle Tommy he knew, somehow he changed. Maybe it was from that new wife he had heard about or maybe it was his Uncle's mid-life crisis. Either way, Shawn was very happy that his uncle apologized. Shawn didn't think there were any more loads to be taken off his shoulder but he felt something in side his depart, maybe it was the stick up his butt? (A/N: That's for you, Kennis!)
Shawn quickly hugged his uncle again. God this felt weird, Shawn thought. Although this man he had in his arms was family, he had always felt him as some sort of mean stranger most of his childhood. There were times when his uncle could be nice, but, lately, Shawn had felt such a distance between them, he might as well have become that stranger and Shawn wouldn't even give a second glance.
Tom pulled out of the embrace first. He was glad he was reconciled with the young man. In truth, he had missed him a lot. Nobody would know it, not even Shawn, but he had indeed missed him.
Jordan stepped back into the room, carrying a glass of water.
"Are we done now?" Jordan asked kindly.
Tom nodded while staring at Shawn.
"Yeah." He stood up as Shawn lay down again. Tom turned to face Jordan and shook his hand. "Thank you for letting me see him."
"Anytime," Jordan replied, returning the handshake before handing Shawn the glass. Shawn took the proffered drink and gulped it down. "You can get beck to bed, Shawn, I'm just going to walk Tom out."
Shawn nodded and Tom and Jordan exited the room shortly after.
XxXXXxxXXXxX
"So he has settled things with his family." Jordan said after hearing the news from Tom. They were heading towards the exit of the center and Jordan had to ask the question out of much building curiosity. Jordan was glad actually. Although he was the one who told Shawn to break all former ties, he was glad that the young man persisted. He wouldn't make it very far in the business world, but Shawn would be a very noble man.
"Yeah, they've straightened out a lot of loose ends. His mother is very happy." Tom explained. They arrived at the exit and the two shook hands again, saying their farewells.
Jordan made his way back up the stairs to his suite before starting his paperwork load back in his office.
XxXXXxxXXXxX
Shawn was up earlier than usual, he could tell because it was still very much nighttime. He wasn't surprised since he had decided to roll in to bed at the ripe time of five in the evening. He checked a clock on the table beside him to see that it was only three in the morning. He groaned, he wasn't the least bit tired but there wasn't much to do at the moment except for sleep (like the rest of the world). Shawn opened his eyes and saw a light coming from Jordan's office. That guy needs to learn when to take a break. Shawn wanted to go in there and see what the man was up to but he wasn't sure if his stomach would allow it.
The young man sat there for a moment, staring at the door. Oh, screw this! Shawn was getting angry just looking at the door and doing nothing. He was growing curious even though he knew he would just find Jordan in there, typing away on his silver laptop. He slid two feet on the floor and, with much support from the side of the couch, Shawn heaved himself up. The young man's stomach gave quite a rumble, but Shawn whispered cuss words at it and, miraculously, it stopped. Huh, I should curse my stomach more often…
Shawn stood there, half trying to get used to his legs (which felt like jello, with all their shaking), and half trying to get over the swimming that was going on inside his head. A good five minutes later, Shawn actually felt fairly normal. He took a step towards the door with the light emanating from the cracks and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't immediately crash to the ground.
A few more difficult steps toward the door and Shawn felt another strong rumble coming from his stomach, not even the silent cuss words were helping this time though. Shawn just clenched his jaw closed very tightly, swallowing spits of sour vomit already making its way up his throat. Shawn made a face at the taste but pressed on to arrive at the door.
A few more steps Shawn would be there, but his stomach was becoming worse. Oh, shutup! Shawn thought to himself miserably. There was no turning back now though. It was either keep walking towards the door or drop right now and have another mess for the maids to clean up. The latter though wasn't a nice one at all so Shawn kept moving
Arriving at the door made the young man very happy. He felt like he had ran a marathon though, cold sweat was shining on his face and his breathing was coming out in big puffs through his nose (since he was still clenching his jaw for the vomit). He leaned his hot forehead against the cool feeling door, breathing strongly. Shawn wouldn't be surprised if Jordan came out of the room now with the fireplace poker in hand, Shawn reminded himself of some sort of killer the way he was leaning against the door like he was.
Shawn twisted the doorknob, causing Jordan to look up from his work he was so caught up into.
"Shawn?" he questioned. Shawn acknowledged the fact that Jordan looked exactly the way he looked in his mental picture of him… before spilling his guts out in the wastebasket by the door.
After the vomiting turned into nothing but dry heaving, Shawn leaned his head against the wall to his left. Jordan had left the room and returned with a glass of water which he lightly coerced Shawn into drinking.
The older man helped Shawn onto the leather sofa in his office and placed a cool towel on his head.
"What possessed you to walk over here at this time of the night?" Jordan asked, with a slight smile. He was kneeling to the right of Shawn, as the young man tried to control his rasping breathing.
Shawn groaned and shut his eyes tightly.
"I don't know." He answered his voice hoarse. "I just wanted to see if you were still awake. You shouldn't be working so late."
"Thank you for caring, Shawn, but it's really you you should be thinking about." Jordan reprimanded calmly.
"I was growing frustrated at thinking about me." Shawn replied, his eyes closed, but still coherent.
Jordan smiled.
"I understand, for tonight you can sleep here." Jordan said. "But, I'm sorry to inform you that I still have a bit more work to finish here before being fully done."
"That's all right." Shawn said.
Jordan studied Shawn's face for a moment before speaking again.
"I met a Miss Liv today. She says she knows you?" Jordan asked.
This got Shawn's attention as he opened his eyes slightly (which was a big feat in itself).
"Yeah, she was the girl I helped, how is she? I haven't heard from her in awhile…" Shawn said.
"She's really good from what I can tell." Jordan paused. "I like her. She stood up for me today, called me a good man. I don't hear that much."
"You don't hear it enough," Shawn corrected. "You're a good man, Jordan. People know it but Liv is just a special girl who was cool enough to point it out to you."
Jordan smiled slightly; Shawn had a smooth way of flattering and scolding at the same time.
"Thank you," Jordan said, smoothing some of Shawn's hair off of his forehead and readjusting the towel.
"Anytime." Shawn replied before Jordan knew he had lost the young man to the ever-strong pull of sleep.
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A/N: Okay, there's chapter 3 for you! I hope you guys liked it! I might do a chapter four, but ideas are very helpful and I would thoroughly enjoy a lot of them, please and thank you! I'm off to watch my DVD set of the 4400 S2 now, bye!
P.S. - Sorry, Kennis. I didn't really want to do Danny and Maia in this chapter. Maybe next one… but most likely no (they're not my favorite characters…). I hope it's all right!
Have a nice day,
Sarah