Lukas didn't have an iron stomach or anything, but he'd never thrown up from just looking at something.

That nearly changed when he got a good look at Jesse's back.

The blonde dry-heaved from where he was now leaning against the wall, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to forget the nightmarish patchwork of bruises and cuts and scars that was Jesse's back.

He wasn't having much success.

Harper had already left the room, having showed them in and then left again, a supremely uncomfortable look on her face. Now Lukas knew why.

Reuben was at Lukas's feet, nudging the blonde comfortingly and letting out a soft whine himself.

Ivor looked rather uncomfortable by the sight, too, but he hadn't reacted as much as Lukas was. The only sign of how disturbed he was was the perturbed expression on his face, and the way his hand was tightening on the bedside table.

"Notch..." Lukas finally managed to lean away from the wall and come back over to the bed, although his stomach was still rebelling and telling him to throw up. "Who'd do this to anyone?" Let alone Jesse, he added silently.

Ivor's hand tightened even more on the bedside table. "I might have... an idea of who," he muttered, dark blue eyes getting even darker.

Lukas's head snapped up and around to look at him, but Ivor ignored him as he pulled out several potion ingredients and potions, sorting through them. "Well, I don't think I can do very much to fix... this," and he indicated Jesse's back, "but I can at least make sure that the cuts on her back aren't infected, and maybe get rid of some of the minor bruises."

"Can't you just give her... I don't know- something stronger?" Lukas suggested, because his eyes were fixated on the nightmare that was Jesse's back and he just couldn't imagine where she'd even gotten some of these injuries."

Ivor sighed and shook his head a bit. "Potions aren't some magical cure-all, you know. Too much build-up in the system over too short of a period of time, and there are some odd... side effects. And seeing the state Jesse's in right now, I'd really rather not put her through said side effects."

"You fixed Ellegaard up in that time," Lukas pointed out.

"And the episode simply didn't show the side effects that she probably experienced afterwards, although that Petra surely watched some of them occur," Ivor was quick to counter. "Also, spider venom, while a rather dangerous way to enhance a potion's strength, also tends to get rid of most of the side effects. However, we don't have any spider venom in the vicinity, so I'd rather not try to put Jesse through the side effects."

Lukas paused, raising his eyebrow. (Not that he could do it properly, either. Honestly, the only two people who could manage it properly were Ivor and Jesse.) "What even are the side effects?" he wondered.

"Dizziness, nausea, and the tendency to want to projectile vomit are some of the ones that come most immediately to my mind," Ivor was quick to respond. He paused a moment later. "And muscle spasms. Muscle spasms are also rather likely."

Lukas stared at Ivor as the man mixed together some ingredients, raising a bottle to eye level and squinting at it intently, as if trying to see through it.

"If it makes you feel any better, Ellegaard probably only went through the dizziness, nausea, and a few odd muscle spasms," the black-haired man said, after a few awkward moments of silence.

"It really doesn't, but good to know."

"Mmm."

There was another silence as Lukas watched Ivor mix together a few more ingredients, before something occurred to him. "Hey, Ivor? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Lukas paused in the middle of opening his mouth to ask the next part. "... oh. Well, yes, I did." A long pause as he tried to figure out another way to ask. "Can I ask you two more questions, then?"

Ivor paused for a moment himself, dark blue eyes flicking to Lukas. The blonde could've sworn that he saw a smirk twitch over Ivor's face. "... clever. Ask away, then."

"You... asked me if I wanted to come with you. But I haven't really been able to do anything to help you... so is there a reason you asked me to come?" Lukas asked, tentatively.

Ivor kept looking at Lukas out of the corner of his eye, before going back to mixing his potion ingredients. "Sort of. I was wondering if you wanted to administer the potion to her?"

"... sorry?"

Ivor clarified at the sight of Lukas's bemused face. "The potion doesn't work nearly as well if Jesse isn't awake to ingest it. I don't know why; I think it's because when one goes to sleep everything in the system is basically resting, so it wouldn't circulate as well. So I was wondering if you wanted to stay in here with her."

Lukas blinked at Ivor, before looking back down at Jesse, and then back at Ivor. "Well, of course, but why can't you do it?"

Ivor paused again, staring at the potion ingredients for a long minute before speaking up again. "Because I don't think I can stay in here until Jesse wakes up naturally without breaking something." And with that, he set the potion bottle down on the bedside table, the liquid a luminous sort of teal-green shade. "It should be done, just shake it up every ten minutes. I'm going to leave before I smash something."

And after tugging Jesse's top back down over her back he was gone.

Lukas watched Ivor go, before carefully easing himself into a sitting position on the bed, being careful not to jostle Jesse too much. The bed creaked a bit under his weight, but otherwise nothing happened. He then lifted Reuben onto the bed next to him, the pig sitting patiently next to him on the bed and not trying to wake Jesse up.

It was going to be a while to wait.


Petra and Jace had been walking for a while now.

Petra had been wandering the hallways for so long now, Jace was a bit lost. Hopefully, Petra knew where they were going.

Finally, Petra came to a stop and turned around to see Jace. He noticed that her eyes were filled with concern. "Jace, are you okay?" she asked, voice low.

Jace shrugged a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Petra brushed a few strands of red hair out of her eyes, still staring at Jace in concern. "I saw how you reacted when Reuben... well, you know."

Did she really have to remind him? His chest tightened painfully, a spear of pain driving through his chest at the accidental reminder.

"It's not nearly as bad as how Jesse reacted, but..." Petra paused, shaking her head a bit as she stared at Jace. "... you can't just be okay after that."

Jace shrugged again. It was barely more than a twitch of the shoulders. "Well, I'm just fine," he replied, stubbornly.

Jace was optimistic and cheerful most of the time, but he was also the type of person to dig his heels in.

Thank Notch Petra was just as stubborn.

"Are you?" she snapped back, actually making Jace flinch in surprise. "You just broke down into tears back in the living room. You just watched one of your best friends die. There's no way you're 'just fine' after that." The gentle tone was completely gone, her 'just fine' outlined in air quotes and nearly dripping with sarcasm.

"If you don't mind my saying so, Petra, I'd rather not talk about it," Jace responded dully.

He internally winced at how formal he sounded, but Petra should've known that he just didn't want to discuss this. Every minute his eyes closed, he could see Reuben- Reuben's horribly pale body, the sad look on his pig's face, the way Reuben tried to move- tried to comfort him... and just couldn't.

"I do mind your saying so. And we're not leaving this hallway until we talk about it," Petra snapped, stepping forward so sharply that Jace flinched again. It looked as though she might try to slap him to his senses as she raised her hand again, eyes hard with something that he couldn't identify. Anger? Irritation?

Instead of slapping him, like he'd expected, she cupped his face with surprising gentleness, making him aware that something wet was coming down his face. She pulled her hand away and held it up for him to see, gleaming tears glittering on her fingertips.

He hadn't even realized that he was starting to cry again.

Petra's sharp gaze softened, and she reached out and cupped his face again. "We're not letting him die in our time, Jace. We're not letting anyone die. And you're not doing this alone." She stepped a little closer, reaching out with her other hand. "You don't deserve to do this alone."

The pain in Jace's chest doubled back, and he let out a little gasp, his fists clenching as tears welled up in his eyes. Petra stepped a little closer again and leaned her forehead forward, letting it gently rest against his. "We're here for you, Jace," she told him quietly. She paused for a moment, before telling him firmly, "I'm here for you."

A sob came out of Jace's mouth, quite unbidden. His shoulders started shaking as more and more began to sneak their way past his mental wall, and he raised his arms automatically.

Petra released his face and pulled him into a tight hug, the shorter male's face buried in her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her. He let out a sob again, squeezing his eyes shut into the comforting darkness her shoulder provided for him.

Petra didn't do anything except tighten her grip on the mocha-haired boy. Slowly, she leaned against the wall, and let herself slowly slide to the ground, the shorter male folding up on himself as well. But she didn't say anything.

She didn't have to.

She just let him cry.


Jesse wasn't sure how long it was from when everything had gone dark. But when she came to, she was a bit surprised- pleasantly so, actually- to find that she was comfortable and warm. She wanted nothing more than to just stay asleep.

And then she remembered exactly why the last thing she'd seen before everything had gone dark was Ivor's face, and her heart sank.

She mumbled and came to a slow sitting position, rubbing her eyes tiredly. An oinking sound rang out, and Jesse blinked before looking down to see Reuben nudging Jesse, tilting his head back so he could look at her clearly with those brown eyes.

"Jesse?" The black-haired girl's head looked up from Reuben to see someone else sitting right on the edge of the bed. Honestly, it was a bit of a surprise that she hadn't spotted him immediately. "Hey, you awake?"

Jesse nodded at Lukas, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm up." She spotted something else sitting on her bedside table- a potion bottle with a teal-green substance inside. It looked a bit like colored shaving cream, honestly- and pointed at it. "What's that?"

Lukas took it and uncorked it, holding it out to Jesse. "Ivor made it. It's something for..." He paused, before gesturing at her. "Well... you know. Your back."

Jesse's heart sank even further.

So they knew, now.

Pretending it wasn't really bothering her, she reached out and took the bottle, giving him a faint smile. "Oh. I see." Tilting the bottle back, she let the substance pour down her throat. The initial taste was a bit sweet and a bit sour, but then it gave way to a more lemony taste than before.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Lukas staring at her as she swallowed the potion and set the bottle back on her bedside table, but she was careful to directly avoid his gaze for a bit. When she could no longer do so, she looked up at Lukas and gave him a faint smile again, about to open her mouth and say something- anything- when he interrupted. "Jesse, are you okay?"

She paused, nodded, and was about to give her usual answer when he reached out and laid his hand on her wrist, staring into her eyes in concern. "Please... please don't lie."

Jesse sat there for a moment, her smile still on her face, before it faded away.

She could've lied to him, of course. She could've done the same thing she'd done to a thousand people before who'd asked, nodding and telling them she was fine, or pretending to be happy when she was really breaking inside.

But she couldn't, for some reason.

Not this time.

Not with Lukas.

"Well..." She paused for a few moments, before finally finishing, "No. I'm not. But... it's okay."

Lukas's hand tightened, closing on her wrist, accidentally making Jesse flinch a bit.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, his voice having dropped a bit in both volume and pitch. It was actually a little frightening, to see the usually mild blonde staring at her so intensely.

"... ah... my dad beats me," Jesse spoke dully, glancing away from Lukas.

Lukas's hand tightened again, squeezing her wrist. She chanced a look at him. The blonde was practically glaring at her now, so she dropped her gaze back to the bed awkwardly. There was a long silence. "Why?"

"... he... blames me for my mother dying. Says it's my fault. I... honestly don't know if it is or not," she told him, honestly. There wasn't any point in hiding it from Lukas. If she tried, he would just keep trying until he finally wheedled the truth out of her. "But he blames me for it."

"... jeez..." And Jesse found herself being pulled into a tight hug. The moment she'd just gotten used to this fact, he'd released her again and was holding her at arms' length, hands tight on her shoulders as his blue eyes searched hers. "Why didn't you tell anybody? A family member, a-a friend, someone- anyone."

Jesse stared at him for a long minute, before glancing away again. "... I'm sure people don't want to hear about my problems. And... I... don't really have friends."

She paused for a moment, pretending not to notice the confused look in Lukas's eyes. He was just about to open his mouth and say something, when she interjected again, having remembered something. "Well- I did have one friend. His name was Chris," she said, eyes softening as she remembered. "He was one of the people who was willing to come anywhere near me."

She spotted the blonde's questioning look in her peripheral vision, and shrugged a bit. "People thought I was a troublemaker. I'd always come to school with dirty clothes, or looking beat-up, or I'd miss school altogether. And my dad told everyone I was, just to take my punishment a step further."

"And people believed him?" Lukas interrupted her, although it seemed to be more impulse than anything.

Jesse gave him a faint smile, even though what she was talking about was no smiling matter. "Well, I never said anything to the contrary, because if I did, I'd just get punished even worse. Besides," and she gave him a shrug, although it was really only more of a twitch of the shoulders. "Adults tend to believe other adults. They're not so quick to believe children."

"So parents just kept their kids away from me, and as we got older... people just stayed away from me, anyway." She paused again, before continuing slowly, a faint smile beginning to play over her mouth, "But Chris didn't mind that. He was kind of like me, I guess. A bit of an outcast..." Her smile faded as she remembered more about Chris. And as she remembered exactly why she'd tried to forget him.

Lukas waited for her to continue. When she didn't, he gently prompted, "So... what happened to him?"

Jesse closed her eyes. It was easier to deal with the painful feeling manifesting in her stomach and heart in the dark. "He died."

The bed creaked violently and there was the explosive sound of shattering glass. Jesse's eyes flew wide open to see what had happened.

Lukas and Reuben were both staring at the potion bottle that Lukas had knocked onto the floor in shock- or anger- or- well- something. The blonde's blue eyes slowly moved from the potion bottle back to Jesse, still wide with shock. "What?" he asked her, in a whisper.

Jesse sighed, slumping back into her pillows, staring into her lap aimlessly. "Chris got bullied a lot already, and he got a lot of flak for being friends with me from family and friends. They were good people, so... I guess they didn't want to see their kid hanging out with the town misfit. A few of the bullies started focusing all of their attention on him, and I didn't know anything about it. He'd hide it from me whenever I got to see him." Deep breath in. Deep breath out. "So, I guess it got to be a bit too much, and he... jumped off of a bridge and..."

Lukas reached out and took her hands, making her blink and look up.

She hadn't even realized her hands had started shaking until he'd grabbed ahold of them.

"Is that why you reacted that way when..." Lukas trailed off, glancing at Reuben awkwardly.

She got the gist of what he meant. "Yeah... and why I'll do anything for my friends. I've only ever had one friend, so... I thought to myself, 'If I ever have friends, I'm going to protect them with everything I've got'..." A lump formed in Jesse's throat, one that swallowing just made worse. "If I'm going to die, I'm going to die protecting for my precious friends."

There was a long silence in the room, Lukas's hands still steadying her trembling ones as he stared at her and the black-haired girl carefully avoided his gaze. Finally, Jesse said, in a quiet voice, "So... I guess you know now."

"Know what?"

Jesse glanced at Lukas from where she was still sitting. No, he wasn't teasing or making fun of her. He was genuinely confused.

"That I'm a freak. I'm no good for anything... I just cause trouble for everyone and everything." Tears clouded her vision, and she dropped her eyes from Lukas. "I even killed someone..."

Lukas's hand reached out and grabbed ahold of her shoulders, making her look back at Lukas in surprise as he dragged her upright into a suggestion. "Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true, isn't it-?"

He dragged her even closer, Jesse's eyes flying open even wider-

His lips made contact with her forehead.

Reuben let out a squeal as the two of them sat like that, Lukas's hands tight on her upper arms and Jesse's eyes wide as she stared at a stray thread on his leather jacket, feeling warmth creep into her cheeks.

Finally, Lukas gently pushed her away, his own cheeks rather pink and his blue eyes fixated on her lap. "None of that's your fault. None of that's true. Don't ever say that again. You don't have to do this alone. You don't deserve to do that alone."

Jesse stared at him, mouth open slightly.

She felt tears spring into her eyes, and the next thing she said came out in a sob.

Lukas pulled her into a hug, her face buried in his shoulder, and the black-haired girl crumpled completely.

For a long time afterwards, the two of them were intertwined in a tight hug, Jesse just crying her heart out and Lukas keeping his arms around her while Reuben watched, although at a respective distance.

She hadn't known how much she needed this until she'd gotten it.


A/N: LUKESSE AND JETRA (or Jactra, depending on how nitpicky you're being with the ship names) FINALLY DO A THING! (And no, it's not that thing.) And Jetra has less of a thing than Lukesse.

I tried xD

Ugh. I don't think I did a very good job on this chapter. Hnnngggh. (flops over)

Well, anyway, next chapter we return to watching the episode!

Kaos Ruin: (cracks up) Really? Well, tell them thank you! Also, if you don't mind my asking, what's your job?

Emily The Avenger: It may have just gotten even more intense...

Nutmeg: (hugs back) Yeah...

S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Shhh, don't spoil it for other people who may or may not have read Hybrid yet! xD / Thanks for the waffle!

Meow Shadow: I'd stay there too, tbh xD / Ahh, I see. / And you find out here!

LunarStarsMoons: (points) Here, have the Lukesse fluff xD

the indecisive bird: Dude, I've played it over 12 times xD I've had the game since it first came out in 2015. xD xD xD / No spoilers~

CrystalTearsofFaith: (dives under desk) I'M SORRY

NinaNaranja: Well, I'm glad to see you're excited xD

LittleAngelbun: (flails with you)

sailor . mikuchan: That's quite accurate, unfortunately xD

J.M.M.: Mmm, I might. / x3

RapidSammi: (Backs away nervously)

AquaK13: (scratches head) (looks at chapter and back to you)

Rabbits rule: Uhh, yep. (points) / (awkwardly hides)

Darkbeast Dend: (smiles and nods)

homeworkoverload: (laughs) I'll see if my parents have time to take me.

... guys.

We have officially broken Hybrid's record on reviews.

How-

Why-

When-

Guys, seriously, thank you. You have no idea how much writing this story and seeing that people like my work means to me. I almost stood up in the middle of Chinese class this morning and cheered at the top of my lungs. Thank you all so much!

x.X. A.L. X.x