"Lexa, this is Madeline." Jesse held his hand out to the red-head. "Madeline Hart-Kilmartin. She's the informant that I've been talking to, but she is also my wife."
"Your wife!" Lexa raised her eyebrows. "I thought that you and I were getting married! Now you are telling me that you are already married to some woman that you have never once mentioned much less told me about! Please tell me that you meant your ex-wife!"
"He didn't." Madeline stated coolly. "Once we take care of a few things I will be able to once again assume my role as his wife."
Lexa felt hot tears building up in her eyes. "How could you do this to me, Jesse! All these years of talking and planning! I thought that you wanted to have a family with me! I thought that you would be content to grow old with me! How can you tell me all those things and then bring her in like this!"
"I thought she was dead! I meant every word that I said to you, Lexa. I do love you. I want to marry you, have this baby and more with you, grow old with you, and do everything else t hat we've always talked about doing together. I was married to Madeline twelve years ago, and I thought that she had been killed in a car wreck. When I went to pick her up tonight I had no clue that she was who she is. I thought that part of my life was a closed, bound, and locked book."
"I understand your shock, Lexa." Madeline said, oozing with fake sweetness and compassion. "I never expected to find out that Jesse had gotten engaged and was planning to start a family with another woman. You are just as much of a shock to me as I am to you."
"What are you going to do, Jess?" Lexa asked in a hurt tone. "What are you going to do now that you know that this part of your life is not a closed, bound, and locked book? Are you going to break up with me and go back to your first wife or are you going to go through with our wedding?"
"Lexa, I don't know what to do, especially not now that I know that we have a baby on the way. If I did end it with you and go back to Madeline it would be like I was abandoning my child, and we all know that I would never want to do that; but if I marry you we both know that inevitably you will end up accusing me of only doing the 'proper' thing."
"Is that all you would be doing?" Lexa asked in a tone that Jesse had not heard her use on him or anyone else in years. "If you choose to marry me would it only be because you impregnated me and don't want to abandon your child?"
"If I marry you it is because I love you." he started to reach for her hand but stopped at the glare she gave him. "It has always been that way and it will always be that way. I am just saying that this will not be an easy decision, one or both of you is going to get hurt. We are all going to have to sit down and talk. I don't even know why Madeline faked her own death and left me the way she did. I want to know that before I say what I'm going to do about all of this. We are talking about the rest of my life here."
"Then lets all go talk." Madeline took the lead and walked out of the hangar.
Jesse and Lexa followed her out and showed her the way to the living area. They took the sofa while Madeline sat down in an overstuffed arm chair.
"I guess it is best if we start this story from the beginning." Jesse sighed. "There is no other way to make it easy to understand. It all started thirteen years ago..."
Flashback to thirteen years before.
Jesse was hard at work when Adam came in talking on a cell phone. He looked up and watched as Adam walked back and forth in the room. For a year he had been living in Sanctuary full time and he still had a lot to learn from the older man.
It had not always been that good though. He had been engaged a year before. Engaged to marry his high school sweetheart. They had been planning the wedding when he started to have problems with his powers. It had started out as just a minor problem here and there and then escalated. That was when he had decided that he could not life the life of a rich brat any longer. He had left Alisha and gone on with his life.
Adam sighed as he hung up the phone. "Chris won't give me anything on that daughter of his!"
"Chris who?" Jesse asked absentmindedly.
"Chris Hart. He and most of his family work with the government. His youngest daughter is an information specialist, and her specialty is information on the GSA. I wanted to see if she could do some work for us."
Adam sat down in a chair near Jesse's computer. "You do a good job, but she knows some people with inside information. She probably could know if they were planning to raid one of our safe houses the second they started to make their plans."
"You don't have to apologize." Jesse looked up. "We need all of the help that we can get and if Miss Hart can give us faster, better information we need to do all we can to get her on the team."
Adam smiled proudly. Even though Jesse looked at most eighteen instead of twenty one, the younger man was wide beyond his years. "You don't know how happy I am to find out that you are not offended by this. After we get Madeline on the team I will see about doing what I can to find another guy to join so you have someone you can talk with."
"I've got you and Shal to talk to, so don't worry about it. The team will grow when the time is right." Jesse typed away furiously. "I've got an office number for a Miss Madeline Hart in the CIA. Are you interested?"
"You almost make me feel guilty about calling her to come in and help us out." Adam laughed as he dialed the phone number. "Why don't you go take some time and spare with Shalimar while I talk to Miss Hart."
"Right, I'll give you the space that you need." Jesse nodded as he got up and left the room.
One week later
Adam finished the final scan on the woman lying on the med bed and nodded in satisfaction. "Miss Hart, I am pleased to announce that you are in perfect health. I will call the team in and you can meet them."
"Alright." Madeline agreed as she smoothed out her white, linen dress. "I am anxious to meet the people that I will be working with."
"Good." Adam pressed a button to turn on the com system. "Jesse, Shalimar, I am ready for you to come meet Miss Hart."
"That is pretty impressive." Madeline said as she looked over one of the computers." You and the team must work hard on this place."
"We do." Adam turned off the scanning system. "They should be here in just a minute."
"No, we are here." Shalimar said as she and Jesse walked into the room.
"We've been waiting just down the hall for you to call us in."
"Why am I not surprised? I want you to meet Madeline Hart." Adam said as he put his hands on the shoulders of the petite redhead beside him. "She is one of the best information specialists that you will ever meet."
Shalimar stared at the woman for a moment, trying to get a feel for her. Finally she nodded, her decision about the woman made. "It is nice to meet you, Madeline. I hope that we will enjoy working together."
"It is nice to meet you too." Madeline smiled brightly. "I am sure that you and I will become very good friends."
Jesse continued to stare at the woman. He could not help but think that she was the most beautiful and the most perfect woman he had ever met. "It's nice to meet you, Madeline."
"Thank you." she gave him a slightly softer smile. "I understand that we will be working together a lot since you are the computer expert around here."
"We probably will. I hope you have a high tolerance for people. Shal says that I tend to be extremely annoying about my interest in computers and get on everyone's nerves by constantly talking about them."
"Trust me, you and I will work everything out. I am absolutely sure that we can."
"Shalimar, will you take Madeline and help her get her things set up. She wont be living with us full time, but occasionally she might have to spend the night. Tomorrow Jesse will be helping her with moving into her apartment." Adam explained as he led the two women to the door. He waited till the door closed behind them and then turned back to Jesse. "Jess, I think that we should have a word about Miss Hart."
"I don't have any problem with her working with me. I told you that from the start and I still mean it."
"I'm sure that you won't have any trouble working with her. What worries me is that you and Miss Hart might just find yourselves just a little too close. I realize that your break up with Alisha has been a difficult process for you, and I think that it is best for you to avoid getting involved with another woman so soon."
"Adam, I'm going to be working with her. Besides, she's a Hart. They are sworn enemies of my family and I have been taught to dislike them." Jesse sat down in a computer chair half smiling. "I will be working with her because you need us to work together. There won't be any foolishness going on behind the computers."
"Good." Adam nodded. "I want you to keep it that way."
The next day.
Jesse set the mattress down on the bed frame and carefully adjusted it. He cursed silently as he realized that he still had to bring in the dresser, mirror, and chest. "Madeline, where do you want the rest of the furniture?"
Madeline stepped into the room wearing only a robe and carrying clothes in her hand. Her dark red hair was covered in dust and oil. "Don't ask. I turned on the ceiling fan and now the whole front room is a mess. Why don't' you run down to the corner store and pick up a six pack of beers and some sandwiches while I shower. We can eat quickly and then clean up the front room so you have a chance to rest before dealing with the rest of the heavy bedroom furniture."
"Right." Jesse struggled to keep his eyes from focusing on her robe's very low neckline. "You shower and I'll go get the food."
"You're welcome to join me if you want." Madeline smiled provocatively and then giggled slightly.
"No, I'll get the food. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Madeline smiled as she watched him leave and then headed to the bathroom to get her shower.
Jesse left the apartment building and went to the small corner grocery store so he could pick up there lunch. He hand to be honest with himself, she was a very pretty woman and it would have been very easy to fall into temptation and join her in the shower, only her laughter that told him she was teasing had kept him from considering it too seriously. He quickly found the beer and then debated on what kind of sandwiches to get. Feeling almost childish he got some basic peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and went back to the apartment. When he stepped in the door he found Madeline with only a towel wrapped loosely around her body. "I've got lunch."
"Good." Madeline answered as she dug through one of her drawers. "I couldn't find my underwear earlier so I'm having to look for them now."
"You want me to start cleaning while you get dressed?" Jesse asked as he walked into the kitchen and put the food down on the counter. He had to do something to get his mind off the fact that only a towel covered the body of the woman and that he desperately wanted to find out exactly what was under that towel.
"I wanted to talk to you about something." Madeline stepped into the kitchen, still clad only in her towel. "I have a proposition for you, and I hope that you will consider it."
"What kind of proposition?" Jesse asked nervously as he leaned back against he counter.
"I'm used to having a good time, and frankly I don't want to waste the effort in finding a man to show me around the town. I want you to take me out and show me around town, at least until I can have some time to find a boyfriend. I'll get the pleasure of a guy's company while I discover what this place has to offer, and you will have the opportunity to satisfy those basic 'needs' that I know you have." She smirked slightly as she sauntered over to him and lightly brushed her lips against his. "Think about it, Jesse. We could both have a really good time."
"I can't accept your offer. Adam made me promise that I would keep my relationship with you completely professional." he slipped away from her. "I'm going to work on cleaning the front room while you get dressed."
"Jesse," Madeline purred, "this can be professional too. I just want you to show me around town and in exchange I give you a little bit of fun. You can look at that part as you helping me too. Women enjoy sex just as much as men do." she stepped closer to him again and put her hands on his chest. "At least think about it."
Jesse closed his eyes, unable to move. It had been a year since he had been with a woman. After his break up with Alisha he had not even been able to think about getting involved in another relationship. Now he had a woman practically begging him to use her. There was no need for them to make a commitment, and she probably knew more tricks to use in bed than any other woman he would ever meet. All he had to do was enjoy going out, enjoy her company, and enjoy what ever physicality came out of it. It was too much to resists. "We can give it a try."
Madeline smiled wickedly and kissed him. "I promise that I will make this work for you. I know that you don't want to get involved with me, but I think our arrangement will benefit both of us."
"I'm not sure how comfortable I am with this, but I'm willing to try." he kissed her softly, enjoying the feeling of her mouth on his.
"I'll take you to my bedroom and see if I can't reassure you about this." she grabbed his hand and led him out of the kitchen and into the bed room.
That night around one in the morning.
Jesse tried to sneak down the hall to his bedroom, holding his breath as he passed the lab. He and Madeline had finally managed to finish moving her stuff into the apartment. With each piece of furniture they had gotten in place they had 'celebrated' with another round of sex, and had gone all out with a marathon round after they finished the entire job. The last thing he wanted was to have to face Adam after having gone against the one thing the older man had asked of him.
"Getting in late aren't you?" Adam asked as Jesse tried to slip past the lab. "I expected you to be back hours ago."
"It took a while to get all of her furniture in and to help her set up some of the appliances. We hit a couple of small problems that we had to take care of, and she likes to enjoy a moment of happiness with each thing put in place." Jesse answered as he turned around, only half lying.
"I'm surprised that she didn't ask you
to stay over."
"She did, but I wanted to come back here so would have a chance to get a shower and put on some clean clothes before I got in bed."
"Don't allow her to intimidate you. She's a very forward woman, but comes with her job. You could probably take her down with in five seconds if you two were sparring."
"I don't know, Adam, she's pretty strong." Jesse half smiled as he remembered exactly how strong the woman was. He was definitely going to enjoying fooling around with her.
"Go on to bed, Madeline will need to be picked up tomorrow to help you with the computers while Shalimar and I go out of town for the week."
"You two are going out of town?" Jesse asked, completely confused.
"I told you about this last week. I have to go meet with someone and Shal is coming with me. I would bring you and Madeline along, but I want to have someone here to keep an eye on Sanctuary. It will give you time to get acquainted with Madeline and her time to learn about our systems."
"That's fine." Jesse nodded. "I'll make sure that she gets plenty of time working on the computers."
"I appreciate al of the work that you are putting into helping her adjust. I am sure that you remember how hard it can be to move to a new place where you don't know anyone."
"Yeah." Jesse sighed. "Madeline and I are probably going to go to a few places together so she can find out what there is to do around here."
"You are adjusting much better than I thought you would. I know that you have told me that you are alright with bringing Madeline in, but I can not get over the feeling that you must feel as if Madeline is here to replace you."
"No, not in the least. I mean, we need her help. I still have to help you with other things and maybe this will give me a chance to get out in the field more."
"I just want to make sure that you understand why she is here."
"She's here to help us. Do you want me to get upset or something? It doesn't bother me. Madeline is a nice woman and I'm completely alright with her being here."
"Alright, but I want you to let me know if anything bothers you. Madeline is going to be a part of the team, but I'm not going to let her cause trouble in the team that I have already built."
"She's not going to cause any trouble." Jesse smiled. "I'm sure that we are going to enjoy working together."
End of flashback
"You were in an arrangement like that!" Lexa asked incredulously. "That's nothing like you! I'm going to need a few minutes to cool off and get my thoughts together." she got up and walked out of the room.
"Hard to believe, isn't it, Blake." Madeline smiled slightly. "You and I were just using each other at the start. Do you even know exactly when our relationship went from an arrangement of friends with benefits to a real, solid, romantic relationship?"
"For me it was the first time we were together on that day when I moved you into your apartment. I never have liked the fact that we'd slept together before going out, but I can't change that fact. I could never accept the idea of just sleeping with you to satisfy my 'needs.' I knew that I was doing you a favor by taking you out on the town, but it just didn't sit right with me." he picked up the pregnancy test that Lexa had left of the coffee table. "Damn, I can't believe that she's pregnant. I can remember when she was completely against the idea of having children."
Flash back to 'The Prophecy'. episode 3.20
Jesse was working on the computers with Lexa just across the console from him. It was just another routine mission, but it was one that had his mind on the future. Was there a possibility that cold Lexa would ever agree to having a family.
"I'll tell ya," Lexa said as she worked, "I don't know what those link heads were thinking, two mutants having kids is stupid enough but mixing four…"
Jesse looked up at her in surprise "Whoa, back that up, just back that up. Two mutants having kids is stupid? Since when?"
"Since eighty percent of the time they are a biological disaster" Lexa answered in a matter of fact tone.
"What about the other twenty?" Jesse pushed.
Lexa shrugged slightly "Selfish impulse."
"Lexa, last time that I checked procreation was a basic human right"
"Well the last time I checked we aren't basic humans."
Jesse turned away from her looking down cast.
"Oh stop looking at me like I just killed your puppy." Lexa sighed. "You know I'm right Jesse. Our very existence is screwing with the natural order of things the only way for us to make it right again is to let us mutant die out, that's it." Lexa turned back to her work for a minute. "I've narrowed it down to three rock formations close to where Brennan and Riley last saw the Guardian. Do you want to come take a look?"
"You're ashamed of your mutation." Jesse answered.
Lexa stared at him. "Oh my god, what are you talking about?"
"I can't believe that I've never noticed it before." Jesse shook his head as he looked at her. "But admit it, deep down you're a self-loathing mutant." He got up and walked around to the other side of the computer, still not out of shock.
"Do you hear how stupid you're sounding right now or is it just me?"
"Well, I mean you're not exactly the poster child for the picture perfect family, so why should it surprise me that you're and anti-breeder."
"Ok. Well I'm also right. Tell me, Jess. How many times have we had to step in to advert a mutant caused disaster just with the few of us that exist so far?"
"That is such a cheap argument!"
"No, it's not!"
"Oh, come one! As if there is no criminals out in the normal society as well!"
"None that are their own personal biological weapons, no!"
Jesse sighed.
"It's evolution, Jess." Lexa said as she stepped closer to him. "Survival of the fittest. That's us. We'll live and we'll thrive, but the rest of humanity is going to die and that's not what's supposed to happen."
"What if it is?" Jesse question.
"What?" Lexa asked in disbelief.
"What if there are no cosmic accidents. What if Adam was supposed to create us, and we're the beginning of, I don't know, the beginning for a new phase of humanity."
"What ever helps you sleep at night." she turned away from him and went back to her computer. "I guess we're just going to have to agree to disagree, that's all."
"Fine."
"Fine."
Jesse sat quietly for a moment, but could not help but try again to press his argument. "Lexa, please. All I'm saying is that if there was a hundred little baby Lexa's running around in the world that were all going to grow up to be just like you I happen to think that the world would be a better place. A frustrating pig-headed, beautiful place."
Lexa turned to him, half smiling.
"What?" Jesse asked, slightly annoyed by the lack of progress in his conversation with the woman.
"Sometimes," Lexa answered as she walked over to him, "you know for a moron, you say exactly the right thing."
End of Flashback
"Blake," Madeline whispered as she moved to sit next to him, "I love you very much, but I can not stand to sit here not knowing if I even have a slight chance to win you back to me."
"Li, I don't know how I am going to handle this." he put the test down and took Madeline's hand. "You know that I love you very much. I never would have married you if I didn't love you, but I'm still trying to understand that you are still alive. I have spent twelve years getting used to the idea that you were dead, and then tonight I found out that you are still alive and that my fiancé is pregnant with my baby. Even if we don't get back together I am always going to love you. You were my first wife, and nothing can ever change that."
"I love you so much, Blake. You've got to understand that." Madeline whispered.
"Blake? Lexa asked as she stepped back into the room. "You do realize that his name is Jesse don't you?"