Author's note: Hey, Chylea! Hopefully this chapter will answer all your questions...

In which, depending on your point of view, Joanne is either very nasty or fairly ok.

Z and Jack exchanged brief glances. "You turned him in to SPD when his parents didn't even believe him?" Jack asked.

"Broke his heart doing it." Joanne agreed. "I swore to him, on everything I loved including him, that I would keep his secret. And then barely a month later Dr Manx came knocking on the door and took him away."

"Took him away." Jack repeated slowly.

"They knew about Sky and Syd all along. Bridge was new, so there were tests…I don't know. He was gone for four days, and they only brought him home then because he was pining so hard he was making himself sick. Dr Manx said he'd have to keep going back, monitoring and tests…and she told his parents not to touch him anymore."

"She told an eight year old boy's parents not to touch him?" Z demanded.

"He was nine, and that's not quite how she meant it; she meant skin-on-skin when he wasn't expecting it. He was…um. When he came home he was more or less non-responsive. Dr Manx explained that his powers were out of control and touch exacerbated it."

"Exacerbated?" Jack repeated.

"Made it worse." Joanne said, managing not to sound patronizing with a huge effort. "She never meant for his parents not to touch him at all, but that's how they took it." She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her good arm around them. "Bridge hated me. He literally couldn't stand the sight of me. Wouldn't talk to me, he screamed his head off the first time I went near him…his father let me go. And I left."

"You left without talking to him?" Z said.

"He wouldn't hear me." Joanne said tiredly. "And nor would his parents, and I never saw Kat Manx again, not until a few days ago."

"You didn't see Bridge, did you." Z said slowly. "Not until he wouldn't talk to you in the city."

"I knew how he was, more or less. I talked to his parents for the first five years or so."

"And then what happened?" Jack asked.

Joanne smiled wryly. "They stopped taking my calls. Bridge found out."

"This is why he won't talk to you?" Z asked.

"This is our dirty little secret." Joanne agreed.

"But that doesn't even make sense."

"I sold him out, Jack. I promised faithfully his secret was safe with me, and I broke it."

"For his own good."

"He was nine."

"He's not nine now!"

"Yeah." Joanne sat back, tired and pale. "That's sort of the point, isn't it. Can you tell Commander Cruger I'd like to leave now, please."

"Joanne." Z protested.

"And tell Bridge I'll not bother him again. And I'm sorry."

"He wants to talk to you." she insisted, leaning forward. "He just doesn't know it."

"I'm not going to force him, Z. More harm than good that way. Just please ask the commander if I can leave."

"We'll ask." Jack promised. "Come on, Z."

"Jack." she protested, even as he hauled her off the bed.

"Come on, Z."

"We can't leave it there." Z protested, following Jack along the corridors.

"Unless you want to lock them in a room together, I don't see what more we can do. Z…" Jack turned to face her, drawing them both to the side of the corridor. "We push Bridge on this, we'll destroy the team. Think about some of the people in your past, what would you do if they turned up here?"

Z started to answer and then stopped, grimacing. "There has to be something."

"He's not really angry. And he wants to talk to her. Leave things alone for now; I don't see Cruger letting her leave anytime soon."

"You're leaving tomorrow." Z said flatly.

Joanne nodded. "Commander Cruger has that thing tomorrow, the-congratulations-you-survived-an-attack thing?"

"Debriefing." Z corrected her.

"Right. That. After that I'm leaving."

"Why stay for that? You're not SPD…you won't be debriefed."

"I can't say." Joanne said carefully. "Please don't ask again."

"Why not?"

"I'll tell you. Please don't."

Z nodded. "You don't have to leave. Bridge wants to see you."

"Bridge is nine years old when he sees me, and he hates me. I've told you I'm not pushing. He'll know where I am if he wants me."

"Tell me something." Z said after a minute.

"You ask, I tell. That's how it works."

"Why did you ask Bridge to lie to you? Why 'things that are true?' "

"Because I needed to hear them." Joanne bit her lip. "That's not very helpful, is it? Give me a minute." She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, thinking. "Ok. You know I know truth from lies, right?"

"Ye-ah." Z said slowly.

"And—say if Bridge is very tired. He picks up thoughts, emotions, easier than usual, right? To the point of pain, sometimes."

"Yeah."

"If I'm very tired, truth and lies can overwhelm me. Until I can't tell the difference."

Z shook her head, and Joanne leaned over to take her empty glass from her nightstand. "Ok. This is made of superglass. That's true, right? So I can perceive it. It was manufactured on a KO35 satellite. That's true too. The last person who used it was…Boom? Is there someone…it's six months two days old, the last drink in it was orange juice, it's been used seven thousand three hundred thirteen times, the…" She yanked her gaze away, dropping it to the bed. "See?"

"You can do that with anything?"

"It's difficult. But anything. If I'm very tired, then…and when I can't tell truth from lies I need something I know to start from. And the only thing I know here is Bridge."

"You still trust him? Now?"

"To the end of the world." Joanne said solemnly. "And beyond if necessary. Bridge isn't capable of hurting people."

"I know." Z agreed softly.

"You guys love him so much. It means more than you know that he has that." She caught Z's eye. "I'm sorry I hurt him. I thought saving him from Broodwing's machine would be worth it."

"Was it?"

"It would have been. If I'd managed."

"Joanne…"

"Z." Joanne said tiredly. "Can you just…I'm so tired of feeling guilty about this. I'd do it over if I could. Bridge knows it, you know it, Kat knows it, everyone knows it. Staying here just makes it so much harder. I've done as much as I can to fix this. It's for Bridge to do now."

"How old were you?" Z asked suddenly.

"What?" Joanne blinked, thrown.

"When Bridge was nine. How old were you?"

"Seventeen. I'm not quite nine years older than him—I was sixteen when I started with his family."

"You're twenty…nine?"

"Yeah. My birthday's in a couple of months." She sat back. "Z, do you get where I'm coming from? If I push this at Bridge he won't hear it. It has to come from him or it's no use."

"Yeah." Z sighed. "I get it. Look, you need anything?"

"No. Thanks. My escort's back to watch out for me." Z glanced over at the two C Squad cadets lounging near the entrance of the infirmary. "But thanks. I'll see you tomorrow."

Z nodded slowly, wandering away. When the C Squad cadets looked up, she murmured, "If Cadet Carson comes down, let him in without question and page me."

"Yes ma'am."