20. Powerless

It was becoming harder and harder for Joe to convince himself that everything he was seeing was a memory. It all felt too real. But he had to urge himself to focus on the fact that it was all basically one big illusion. Especially now given the sight before him.

"Jordan..." Sydney giggled. "Stop it." Though the way she spoke clearly suggested she did not want him to stop.

"You know you like it," Jordan teased in his strange, implacable accent. He continued to shift around on top of her, his head occasionally dropping down to nip at her neck. They had a thin sheet on top of them, which Joe was very grateful for. He had no desire to know what was going on underneath that sheet. Though judging by the sighs and moans he could he hear, he had a pretty good idea.

They were lying on a mattress in the corner of small one room house. The floor was wooden and worn. The lone window was covered up with black fabric and the door was latched shut with several locks. The walls were bare, making it obvious this was not a permanent residence.

Joe shut his eyes and turned away. Sydney technically wasn't cheating on him, but it stung like she was. How much time had passed between this memory and the last one? The last thing Joe saw, these two had settled on an uneasy alliance. Their relationship had obviously progressed beyond that.

"Besides," Jordan went on, "when I do that, you don't even notice the needle." He slipped his hand out from under the covers and held up a small vial of glowing green blood. "See? All done. And you didn't feel a thing."

"Oh, I felt a lot of things. I just didn't feel the needle." Sydney winked at him.

Jordan chuckled and rolled over to lay next to her. He put his arm under her back and pulled her close to him. "You'd get to feel a lot more if you ran away with me already."

"Jordan, you know I can't do that. I have way too many obligations at Draylon." Sydney shifted so that she was laying on her side and looked into Jordan's coffee coloured eyes.

"But you want to." Jordan brushed her bangs away from her face. It was odd for Joe to see it scar free. He'd gotten so used to the token from her battle with Kerk. "You can still see your friends. You'd just be living a new life with me. We could both have better lives than what we have now. Happy ones."

"I don't deserve happiness," Sydney mumbled, casting her eyes downward. "Why should I get to live a happy life when I've taken it away from so many others?"

"Don't talk like that." Jordan tilted her chin up so he could gaze into her eyes. "You may have done some dark things in the past, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve a bright future. What about all the stuff you've done to make up for those bad things? All those secret missions you set yourself on to help others. Even letting me take your blood. This helps a lot of people."

"Then take more." Sydney thrust her arm forward, practically begging him to take more blood.

Jordan shook his head with a soft chuckle. "You and I both know you don't regenerate blood that quickly. If I draw too much, you'll die, and you won't be able to help anyone then."

Joe felt a sharp pang of jealousy shoot through him. Jordan had no right to touch his wife like that or touch her at all. And the way Sydney was gazing at him in return wasn't helping. That was how she was supposed to look at Joe, not Jordan.

Jordan shifted, causing the sheet to fall back, and revealing that he was wearing a black shirt, which made Joe feel a little better. At least they weren't completely naked under that sheet. He could convince himself that they were only making out, and nothing more.

"I would love to run away with you, but where would we go?" Sydney gestured around the tiny room. "Just stay in this little shack for the rest of our lives?"

"Of course not, I have plenty of getaway houses. Most of which are a lot nicer than this place. It all depends on which hospital I'm working out of at the time." Jordan softly gave Sydney a kiss. "I promise I could give you the life you deserve."

"Someday." Sydney smiled at him. "I can't stay at Draylon forever. I won't let myself."

"What do you mean?" Jordan slowly began to trace circles on Sydney's shoulder.

Sydney let out a content sigh and snuggled closer to Jordan. "I don't want to end up like the other gods. They've all been around too long. They haven't become cruel, but they're all so apathetic. We've had so many trials where all they see is facts and statistics, which I guess has its advantages, but I can't help but see these suspects as people with emotions and families. I can't sentence a man to a life in prison for trying to prevent the death of his wife. That's just not fair."

"Well, whenever you decide you're ready to leave, I'll be here. In the meantime," Jordan smirked and rolled over on top of her, "just lie back and let me take away all your worries."

Joe groaned and looked away. This was the last thing he wanted to see. What was so significant about this memory anyway? All the others had shown some key moment from Sydney's past. This moment didn't seem that special.

"What's that?" Joe heard Sydney say.

Joe risked a peek at the scene before him and was glad that the sheet was back in place.

"Hmm?" Jordan murmured, more focused on Sydney's body rather than her words. "Probably nothing."

"No, Jordan stop. What's on your back?"

"My-" Jordan instantly sat up. He snatched his shirt, which had been discarded in the heat of the moment, off of the floor. "It's nothing."

He leaned away from Sydney revealing his perfectly sculpted muscles and bronzed skin. Joe had never hated anyone more in his entire life.

"Clearly not." Sydney grabbed his shirt before he could put it on.

Jordan ran a hand through his thick, bronzed hair. "I swear I was going to tell you eventually. I just wanted you to get to know me first. I've done my best to cover it up, but I must have forgotten to do it today."

"Jordan..." Sydney gave him an uneasy look. "What is it? And why did you wait a year into our relationship to tell me?"

"Please don't freak out or do anything irrational." Jordan cautiously turned around, exposing his back to Sydney.

Sydney had a sharp intake of breath that was matched with Joe's own. On the upper left corner of Jordan's back was a glowing Egyptian eye. It was identical to the one on Joe's chest.

"I'm a Warp Wizard."

In the blink of an eye, Sydney's reflexes kicked in. She threw Jordan off of the mattress and pinned him against the wall, her forearm pushing against his neck.

"What the hell?!" Sydney spat in his face.

"Remember what I said about not doing anything irrational? This is what I meant," Jordan gasped out.

"You lied to me!" Sydney shoved him harder into the wall.

Jordan yelped in pain. "Technically, I didn't lie. I just didn't tell you everything about me. I know there's a feud between our people. That's why I didn't tell you. You would have killed me instantly!"

"And why shouldn't I kill you now?" Sydney held up her palm and it flared to life with a dangerous concentration of time energy.

"Because you love me? The past year couldn't have meant nothing to you! I meant everything I said about running away together. I'm not with the Warp Wizards anymore! That's why I live in a place like this! You can't kill me. Aren't I special to you?"

"No," Sydney growled. "Was any of the blood stuff true? You probably weren't even taking it to hospitals, just hoarding it for you and your wretched Warp Wizard companions!"

"What are you talking about? You know I give your blood to hospitals and infirmaries. I showed you them! You're letting what you think you know about Warp Wizards cloud you're judgement."

Sydney sneered at him and pulled back to attack.

"Wait! Wait!" Jordan flailed his arms and legs. "We can work together to find out the truth behind the Warp Wizards!"

Sydney halted, her hand dangerously close to his face. "The truth?"

"Yeah," Jordan eagerly nodded his head, euphoric that she had stopped her assault. "Don't you think it's weird how Isis, a goddess who has no control over time, gifted time magic to mortals? Doesn't that seem suspicious to you at all? There's a lot more to the story than what we've been told and I'm determined to find out the truth. I was hoping you would help me."

"Too bad." Sydney's eyes started to glow bright green.

"Please! Don't kill me. I love you, Sydney. You know I do. We could make it our mission to end this war between the time gods and Warp Wizards once and for all. Then we can have the happily ever after we both want."

Sydney barked out a harsh laugh. "Mission? My mission is to seek and destroy the enemy. And you are the enemy."

"But if you kill me, our people will be back at full-out war! No one will benefit from that!" Jordan desperately tried to escape.

"Not if they don't find your body." Sydney sneered, as if she found joy in the idea.

"What do you mean?" Jordan stilled, pure terror displayed on his face.

Sydney discarded the green orb in her palm and stared at the floor. "I take back what I said about you not being special to me."

"You do?" Jordan began to look hopeful.

"Mhmm. You will be the first person I kill that I won't have to feel guilty about enjoying it." She glared at Jordan, revealing solid black eyes. The shadows in the room drew close and danced around her feet.

"Sydney, no. Wait!"

Sydney placed her hand over Jordan's heart. "Subsisto."

Time stopped around Jordan's heart, his last breath escaped his lips, and his body slumped to the floor.

Sydney cackled, a wide grin spreading out over her face. She nudged Jordan's slack head with her foot. "Oh Jordan, you had so much potential."

Green mist gathered around them and they were gone in a flash of light.

Joe felt as though Sydney had stopped his heart too. His mind raced with a million thoughts. Could that have been Joe back in After Time if Skyler hadn't been there to stop Sydney from attacking him? She killed Jordan without a second thought... and she had enjoyed doing it.

Joe was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the scene had changed.

Joe now stood in a long hallway surrounded by stone walls. Sydney was in front of him, walking down the hall. For a moment, Joe thought that the memories were repeating themselves and he was about to witness her Warp Wizard torture again. (He would have to a word with Isis about that event.) But the thought was quickly dispelled when he realized Sydney turned a corner and entered a new room.

The first thing Joe noticed about the room was its size. You could several football fields inn here and still have room to spare. The walls were made of solid steel and gleamed from the bright lights hanging from the ceiling. The balcony they were standing on hung fifty feet over the floor.

Sydney stood in front of a wide desk with a control panel placed into the top. Her fingers jabbed at the buttons and touch screen. The landscape of the room altered with each motion.

The amount of aggression Sydney was using on the control pane told Joe something was wrong. How much time had passed between this memory and the last? On instinct, Joe wanted to reach out and sooth whatever was troubling her. But he might as well have been a ghost. There was nothing he could do but watch.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Joe jumped at the sudden voice and turned his head to see who had spoken. Skyler stood in the doorway with crossed arms and an angry scowl on his face. Skyler was usually a carefree person. Joe could count on one hand the amount of times he had seen or heard Skyler be angry.

"Throwing a party," Sydney responded sarcastically without looking over her shoulder. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're about to do something stupid. Incredibly stupid." Skyler stalked out of the entrance and over toward Sydney. He placed his hand on her shoulder and forced her to turn around and face him. "Think this through. Do you really want to be doing this in your condition?" His eyes darted down to her stomach.

Sydney smacked Skyler's hand away and focused on the controls again. "If this stupid baby can't deal with a little exercise, then it's no child of mine."

"Do you even hear yourself right now? Syd, if you get hurt out there, you will hurt your unborn child."

"Then I guess I'll just have to do my best to not get hurt." With one final sweep of her finger across the touch screen, Sydney started the simulation, and the room came to life.

Pillars rose out of the ground like rockets shooting off into space. Barriers and walls popped up between the gaps, creating a maze and obstacles. Fire spread down the tops of some of the walls, leaving only small gaps to jump through. Several people shaped targets popped up around the room from the ceiling to the floor far below. In a matter of seconds, the room had become a battle training ground.

All the lights in the room shut off. If it weren't for the green glow emitting from Sydney's body, Joe wouldn't have been able to see a thing. The glow was curious to Joe. In all the times he had seen Sydney use her goddess powers, she never glowed like this. Her eyes turned green and if she was using a lot of power, her veins traced bright green as well. But her whole body? What was she about to do?

Skyler grabbed Sydney's hand before she could step out onto the beginning platform. "Syd, think about this. Should you really be going full time goddess mode right now? That can't be good for-"

"I don't care!" Sydney snapped and cut him off. "I didn't ask for this! I don't want to be a mother I don't want to have this stupid child!" Sydney paused to catch her breath. "I need to vent, and I'm going to do that by obliterating those targets. If I go into time form in the process, then so be it."

The glower she gave Skyler would have made even the strongest of men run away screaming. Skyler merely tightened his grip on her. "I can't let you do this. You're angry, I get that, but you're also being irrational. Think with your head, not your heart."

Sydney snatched her hand back. The green glow around her turned black. "You sound like my mother."

"Maybe she's right."

Sydney growled, an eerie black shadow appearing in her hand. "If you want to live to see tomorrow, I suggest you stop talking."

"No." Skyler matched Sydney's steely gaze.

"Suit yourself," Sydney's voice took on a dark undertone. She raise her shadowy fist and struck out at Skyler.

He barely had time to jump out of the way before the shot hit him. It tore into his shoulder, and he fell to the ground with a scream, clutching his wound as blood poured out onto the floor.

Something clicked in Sydney's eyes. The dark glow around her faded. She dropped to her knees, letting out a string of Latin swears. "Sky! Oh gods... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean... We need to get you to the infirmary now." She helped him to his feet and let him out of the room. They went as fast as they could go with Skyler's injury.

Everything happened so quickly, Joe didn't have any time to process what he was seeing. Sydney was pregnant, that much he could tell. If she was still at Draylon, then that mean she was pregnant with JJ.

Joe's stomach flipped upside down. Ever since he had learned of JJ's existence and met him in After Time, he had barely seen or heard from his son. Sydney had done her best to inform Joe of what JJ was like and all the important moments in his life, but it wasn't the same as actually being there with him. Joe wanted to be a good father, but it was hard when JJ lived in a different dimension and had no way to communicate with them. He stared at the memory Sydney's stomach in earnest, noticing the slight protrusion.

Sydney and Skyler finally managed to make it to the infirmary and were rushed to a room. Sydney paced back and forth nervously while furiously scratching at her wrists. Joe could see small trails of blood sliding down her arm, and he cringed. he hated seeing her like this with nothing he could do to stop it. After about an hour, Skyler was completely patched up, and Sydney was by his side in an instant.

"Please don't hate me. I didn't mean to hurt you, I swear! I- I don't know what came over me. Are you going to be okay?" Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides.

"I'll be fine. I know you didn't mean it. You weren't you." Skyler turned away, a hint of fear in his eyes.

Sydney stared at his bandaged and stitched up wound. "I'm not keeping it."

"Not keeping what?" Skyler asked, confused.

"The baby. I can't be a mother. Look at me. I'm a mess. I nearly killed you!" Sydney placed her hands over her stomach, as if she could just pull the baby out.

"Syd, if you don't have a child, you can't leave Draylon. One slip-up is no reason to-"

"This happens all the time! I'm a monster, Skyler. These hands were made to kill, not love." Sydney returned to clawing her wrists. "I am powerless when it comes to controlling who I really am."

"How does Joe make you feel?"

Sydney blinked twice before Skyler's out-of-the-blue question fully registered. "What does Joe have to do with any of this? He doesn't even know I'm pregnant."

"Just answer the question."

Sydney sighed and raised her shoulders in a shrug. "Happy. Safe. Hopeful." A soft smile came to her lips. "Loved."

"Nothing like the way you feel when you have one of your dark break-downs?"

"Definitely not."

"Then do you really think that the solution to all this is to prevent yourself from ever being with him again? Because that's exactly what will happen if you don't keep the baby." Skyler offered her a sympathetic look. "And you need to tell him about the pregnancy. Anna's trial is not for another two days. After that, you know they'll be asked to leave."

"He's not even sixteen yet. I'm not going to take his life away from him with an unwanted child. Maybe I'll keep it, maybe I won't. Even if I get to leave Draylon and be with Joe, how do I know something like what I just did to you won't happen again? This evil is a part of who I am, not just some cold that will fade away in a day or two."

"I think you already answered that question." With a groan, Skyler pushed himself out of the hospital bed and stood on shaky legs. "Come on, we should leave. Don't you have a birthday party to plan?"

Before Joe had time to process anything, he felt himself being pulled away. Out of Sydney's memories and into an entirely new dream all of his own.


A/N - I'll try to update twice this week since I didn't update last week. Please review!