Chapter Two
Antonio establishes a fragile truce with Jarrell. There's no real trust on either side; Jarrell's not making any secret of his loyalties, but there's little he can do. He only has any power when Jayden's asleep. Antonio keeps an eye on him, but he doesn't interfere in anything Jarrell does – mostly practising or walking in the grounds.
It only takes a few days for Antonio to wear out, though. He's been resting in the afternoons, but for several days in a row Master Xandred sends Nighlok and after the third or fourth he's too exhausted to hide it, almost falling off his stool at the house.
Emily takes his place. If he'd been even a little less tired he'd have refused, but he can't concentrate enough to come up with any good arguments, especially since they haven't told the others yet. Mentor doesn't like it, but he's a worse choice. He makes Emily promise to call for help if she needs it.
Jayden apologises seven different ways and tries to send her back to her own room another three before she throws a pillow at him. "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't willing," she reminds him.
Jayden glances at the door. "Why is he so tired? I'm not that tired."
"He sits up. You're very quiet when you start sneaking around, apparently." Jayden's staring at her, and she grins. "I'm not doing that. Catch."
She tosses him a small circle of cloth and he catches it, studying it ruefully. "Really?"
"Think I'm sitting up all night?"
He sighs, wrapping it around his wrist. The bells sewn onto it chime softly every time he moves. "If you tell Mike about this..."
Emily grins, settling to sleep.
The bells wake her a little before dawn and she sits up, blinking. "You awake?"
"Em." Her vision adjusts and she can see him sitting on the bed, examining the strip of cloth. "Your idea?"
"How could you tell?"
"It's a bit practical for Antonio. Can I take it off now?"
She holds out a hand, taking the cloth from him and watching him roam around the room. "What is it you want, Jarrell?"
"Want?"
He says it as though he doesn't recognise the word.
"Want," she repeats. "I didn't think of it until he said it, but you're not exhausting him, and you could be. He's not tired."
"No good to me if he's too tired for me to do anything."
"Maybe," she agrees. "Why do you only – he'll be awake in another hour."
He smirks over his shoulder at her. "You have some theory?"
"I think you don't know what to do," she says softly. He stills and she goes on quietly, "You can't go back to – where you were. Not unless you do something really definite here to prove your loyalty. But you don't hate us enough for that."
He doesn't answer. Emily smiles faintly, standing and pretending not to see him tense. "Come on."
"What?"
"No one else is up yet." She grins. "Ice cream."
"Ice cream," he repeats disbelievingly.
"Sure. Have you had any yet? I've been hiding some for a special occasion."
"What's special about this?" He trails behind her.
"We're awake." She has to stifle a laugh at the look he gives her. "Sometimes you have to celebrate the little things, Jarrell."
He smiles suddenly. "Thank you."
"For?" She waves him to the table, digging into the back of the freezer, behind the peas.
"Antonio doesn't use my name."
She unearths the ice cream, grinning in triumph, and he smiles faintly. "Antonio's...complicated."
"He doesn't like me being here."
"I don't think he knows what to think about you."
"He loves – the other one." Jarrell stabs at the ice cream she offers him.
"We all love Jayden." Emily says the name deliberately and he flinches, pushing away from the table a little. "But that doesn't mean we hate you."
"You don't." He relaxes a little, tasting the ice cream. "Mia said that Antonio's given his life to – " He swallows. "Jayden."
Emily smiles proudly. "You really don't have his memories, do you?"
"No."
"How long do you have?"
His gaze goes inwards. "A while yet."
"Well. Welcome to the history of Jayden Shiba."
"Overexposure won't work, you know. Hearing that name more often doesn't make me less likely to react."
"You haven't attacked me yet."
"Yet," he mutters, but he's smiling and so is she.
She gets through the basic history of the rangers and Jayden's childhood friendship with Antonio before he shifts. "He's waking up."
"We can finish tomorrow." She takes his bowl, dropping it into the sink. "Put your head down or he'll fall over."
Jarrell makes a face but lowers his head, resting it in his arms on the table. Emily rinses the bowls and sets them aside.
Jayden sits up, glancing around. "Morning," she says quietly.
"Morning." He glances at his bare wrist. "It worked?"
"It worked," she agreed. "You didn't like it any better asleep than you did awake, but it worked."
"Emily?"
"Yeah?"
"It's sleepwalking, right?"
She hesitates too long, and she knows it. But he pretends to believe her when she says, "Of course. What else would it be?"