Disclaimer: The Tribe does not belong to me. This is a work of fan-created fiction intended only to fill out my FanFic 100 quota and to smash those lurking bunnies.
Note: This should go somewhere at the beginning of s5 before Jay's had a reason to really get to hate Mega. It was going to be a longer series, but it doesn't want to go further than this.
"Tell me who did this to you." Jay felt helpless as he watched Mega's rapid deterioration. The racing pulse he could feel against his cheek began to slow down as the jerking and twitching body in his arms gradually stilled. For only a moment Jay took this as a good sign, until he felt the warm breaths against his neck become more spaced out, more uneven.
"Java," Mega had gasped out as his body went limp in Jay's arms, his breathing trailing off to nothing. Panic rising inside him, Jay carefully pulled Mega down off the chair and laid him out on the floor, looking up as a pair of guards rushed in. One glance at the body of their commander on the floor and they raised their wrist blasters at Jay, the distinctive high-pitched whine slicing through the soft sighing of the computers.
"He's been poisoned, goddamn it!" One of the guards scowled, began to pull his wrist back. "Not by me," Jay was quick to amend, glancing between them and Mega. He knew the window of time in which he could bring the General back was narrow and getting narrower, and that he didn't have time for arguing. "Go apprehend Java." The guards hesitated, sharing a look of indecision. Pulling himself together, Jay summoned the last scraps of the commander he had been and barked out, "now!" The two turned and fled off down the hall, the whine of their blasters following them. Once they were out of sight, Jay turned back to Mega and hesitated. He'd taken a life guarding class when he was thirteen, but that had been more than seven years ago, and an entire lifetime away. The frantic adrenaline rushing through his system wasn't helping his memory any, either, and that awful helpless feeling began to reassert itself. The idea of watching anyone die scared him, but the thought of Mega dying here, in front of him, while there was still something he could have done, woke a sick feeling of dread in him. That thought was enough to knock him out of his near-panicked state, and he reached down and deliberately took Mega's glasses off and set them up on one of the surrounding desks with a soft 'click'. Ignoring a faintly mocking voice in the back of his mind, Jay pinched Mega's nose shut and inhaled deeply, bending to seal his mouth over Mega's and force his breath into paralysed lungs. Trying not to think about the way Mega's lips felt against his at a time like this, Jay sat back on his heels and silently counted to five. There was no movement from the body on the ground. Pinching Mega's nose again, he leaned forward and repeated the process. Behind him he heard someone stumble into the room.
"Oh my God." Jay vaguely recognised the voice as belonging to Amber. He forced himself not to react until he'd passed all of the air from his lungs to Mega's. "What the hell are you doing?" Jay sat up and watched Mega's chest intently, counting in his head between words.
One,"He's," two, "dying." Three. "Been," four, "poisoned." Five. Jay locked lips with Mega again, and caught himself wishing that the circumstances could have been better. His own pulse was a dull roar in his ears, belying his carefully maintained outer calm. Tears pricked menacingly at the backs of his eyeballs.
"And you have to give him mouth-to-mouth?" Amber sounded sarcastic, but her tone grew more uncertain as she stepped over Mega's legs and came into Jay's field of vision. He felt a pang of regret as he noticed how tired she looked, like she hadn't slept in days, but that was nothing compared to the tide of worry for Mega's life that was consuming him.
"Stopped breathing," Jay explained succinctly. Four. Five. Mega's lips were warm and soft, and Jay felt a perplexing little stab of embarrassment that hadn't been present before Amber had walked into the room. Sure Jay was doing what he thought was necessary, and sure he was scared out of his wits, but on some level, some perverse part of him was enjoying the way Mega's mouth felt.
"What poison makes you stop breathing?" He was surprised to find that he was getting a bit irritated by her questions, and by her mere presence. This was the girl he was in love with. This was the girl who had been in the forefront of his mind since he had met her. This was the girl who was distracting him from saving Mega's life.
"Most of them do," Jay snapped as he came up for air again, "that's the general idea behind poisoning somebody." The anger behind his words was unexpected, and he tried unsuccessfully to shove his own feelings onto the back burner for the time being. More important things were at stake. Amber remained blessedly silent for the next few minutes, pulling up a chair next to him. Jay's attention was almost all focused on Mega, and so he missed the strange looks Amber was giving him between breaths, her lips parted as though she was about to speak. He found himself resting his fingertips lightly on Mega's neck as he watched for any sign of life, more for the mere sake of maintained contact than anything else. Throughout this Mega's heartbeat hadn't faded, although it had dropped to a nearly imperceptible pulse against his fingertips. The poison had stopped his breath, but it apparently hadn't quite stopped his heart. Jay felt a sliver of hope.
"Do you know who...?" Amber's voice was much quieter now, more of a background presence than a demand. Jay glanced up at her.
"He said Java." There was another soft sound from Amber's direction, dismissal or possibly agreement. The rhythm of pinch, breathe, release, and wait was beginning to become familiar to Jay, the deep breaths and slow exhalation calming his frayed nerves a bit. The hand on Mega's neck moved to unconsciously brush over the prickly fuzz of his hair. He'd buzzed it again recently, Jay noticed, nearly down to its roots. Not that Mega would ever let his hair grow much longer than this. Everything about him was so clipped, so restrained. His expression now was as relaxed-looking as Jay had ever seen him. That didn't seem right..
"I'm going to go now," Amber said so softly Jay nearly missed it, slowly pushing her chair back. She stood over Jay and Mega for a long moment, staring down at them with an unreadable expression. Jay's attention remained fixed on Mega as he nodded to her and waved distractedly. After she had gone, Jay risked a glance at her receding form over his shoulder, between breaths. She hadn't seemed to care whether Mega lived or died, a thought that disturbed Jay although it didn't particularly surprise him. He wondered if her reaction would have been so understated if it had been him poisoned, with Mega trying to bring him back.
"Don't die," he whispered, staring intently down at Mega's apparently peaceful face. Bending to administer another breath, he let his eyes slide closed and, acting on a sudden whim, touched his tongue lightly to Mega's. The contact lasted only a moment before he pulled back, feeling ashamed of himself, but he couldn't deny feeling a guilty little thrill shoot through him. "Don't die," Jay repeated. "Please. I still need you here." Sealing his mouth over Mega's again, Jay slid two fingertips over his throat until he found a pulse, weak but gradually steadying. "I can't fix the world alone. Please don't leave me," he pleaded as their lips parted, resting his forehead against Mega's. Ved was gone, Ram was gone, Ebony hated him, Amber was trying to pretend he didn't exist... so many of the people Jay had loved were leaving his life, one by one. Jay forced back tears, feeling the ugly helplessness wash over him again. He didn't know for certain what he felt for Mega, and Mega's feelings for anyone were always a mystery. But the boy had been something like Jay's friend in the Technos for so many years, had been a faithful ally in bringing down Ram's rule. Losing this last remaining companion might be enough to break Jay's heart. Opening his eyes with a start, he cursed softly as he realised that he'd lost count of the seconds between breaths. Squashing a surge of returning panic, he moved to press his lips to Mega's again when he felt a faint breath of warmth against his skin. Jay sat back on his heels and stared intently at Mega's chest, praying silently but fervently to whatever benevolent Gods were listening. There. Mega's chest rose and fell, a minute but definite movement.
Inundated with relief, Jay felt an almost painful burning in his chest as he stared down at the unconscious but alive boy. One hand came to rest on the silver plate on Mega's chest, feeling the heartbeat and the faint movement with each shallow breath that was taken. Jay sat like that for a long time before more Technos came, to tell him that Java had been captured trying to sneak out and to help him take Mega to his room. He insisted on keeping a close watch over Mega and on carrying him there, bearing the General's slight weight with ease. That night he did not sleep, and in the morning the guards who came to wake him found him with his head resting on his arms, his arms folded on the pillow beside Mega's head.