Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as short as it may be :)


"I told you, I didn't assist Mercer in anything." Jessi growled.

"Miss Adams, it is extremely difficult to believe that you would not aid the father of your daughter in his time of desperate need." the man said, circling around the table.

The man General Randall decided to have interrogate Jessi was none other than her own father, General Jacob Adams. Perhaps he thought that her father could be the one to get the truth out of her, but she knew different. She knew Randall and Cross were both watching behind that glass. She knew Cross wasn't blind and must have known that she told Alex something. But she also knew that he would stick by her, despite being so angry with her and having to cover her ass if it boiled down to that point.

"Well, he was clearly capable of trying to help himself, now wasn't he?" she spat.

"Look, I'm not your enemy. We're all just trying to understand why the events that occurred were even able to happen." her father explained simply.

"You're asking the wrong person, General." she stated.

"This would be so much easier if you just told us the truth." he tried once more.

"I am. Just because the man and I have a past, doesn't mean that I would jeopardize the very career I built for myself to save him from his own problems. He made his mistake and paid for it, end of story."

General Adams slammed his hand down on to the table, "Don't play games with me, Jessi-Lynn!"

"Enough." General Randall cut in, stepping into the room and her beloved Cross behind him.

"Captain, can you state the reason why Mercer was able to get to Penn Station in the first place; and why he wasn't eliminated beforehand?" Cross asked her, looking her dead in the eyes. He knew full well that what she was going to say next would be a lie, but he would accept it nonetheless.

"I don't know why he was able to get to Penn Station before I got to him. The only conversation we'd ever really have was pertaining to our daughter. He doesn't even know that I work for Blackwatch. In all the years that I've known him, I never gave him any reason to suspect as such. I was planning to eliminate him next, rather than leave him for last."

"General, that will be all." Cross said to General Adams, escorting him out of earshot.

"How did he know about codename: 'MOTHER'?"

Jessi waited for Cross to return, an assurance that her father could no longer hear anything, "I don't know how he knew about Elizabeth Greene'. I never spoke a word to him about anything. As I said, he doesn't even know I work for Blackwatch."

"What were you doing on the second of September?"

She glanced at Cross and back to Randall, "I was with Captain Cross, Sir." she stated simply.

Cross looked at her as Randall watched him, "Is this true, Captain?"

"Affirmative, Sir." he said without hesitation.

"And what were you two doing off-duty together?" General Randall raised an eyebrow as he asked Cross, seeming to take his word better than hers.

"We had coffee and were discussing the status of the Wisemen and Stealth teams; ways to improve their efficiency, Sir." he said with ease.

General Randall looked to Jessi, "Explain, Captain."

"We were discussing the possibility of having lighter gear to ease the amount that the Teams carry without risking protective gear or combat necessities, Sir, especially for the Stealth Team."

"Miss Adams," the General began, "Why didn't you eliminate Mercer?"

"I wasn't expecting him to do what he did, Sir. If I knew, we wouldn't be in this predicament."

"Captain, you are one of our finest. You have never given me a reason to doubt you, but this messy of a situation makes it difficult for me to decide on the next course of action for you."

"I'm the reason this happened, aren't I? Allow me rectify my mistake, Sir. Please, I owe it to everyone in the city. There are people roaming the streets, unaware of what danger they're in now, because of my failure to act on time. Most of all, I owe it to my daughter. I need to protect her." she requested.

"How can I know that you are to be trusted?"

"I will keep watch on her, Sir." Cross cut in, both the woman and the General looking at him. "As you said, Sir, she is a fine Captain and has never done anything to compromise our order. She leads one of the best teams we have to offer, a team that is necessary if we're to solve this problem effectively." he suggested, glaring at his fiancée.

General Randall stayed silent for several moments in contemplation. Finally, he looked to Jessi, "You are to earn my trust again and the trust of all others at Blackwatch, is that clear? If I find any faults, there will be harsh consequences."

"Yes, Sir."

He turned to Cross as Jessie stood and found her place next to him. "Dismissed."

They saluted the General and left immediately to her home.


"At what point did you think it was wise to hide the fact that Alex is still alive from me?" she asked, trying to keep her anger toward her fiancé at bay.

"He's not 'alive', Jess. He's not the same." he stated as he walked through the door of the lake house.

"He moves the same way, talks the same way. How is he not the same?" her eyebrows knitted in irritation.

"He's not human." Cross said nonchalantly, "Have you seen what he can do?"

"No. You had me staying at home until I was brought in for questioning." she reminded him.

"He's a murderer, Jess. He's strong, he's very powerful, he's not like the other runners. He's taken down aircraft with his own hands."

"That isn't possible. No strain has ever been able to be so powerful." she said, eyes shifting in thought.

"The virus he synthesized made it possible."

"The one with a basically ninety-nine-point-nine percent mortality rate? The one that kills everything it touches?"

"You and I both know that not everything dies when it comes into contact with these viruses. Furthermore, he's the first male runner."

"What you're telling me right now is that he's not like the other runners we've encountered, then?"

"Exactly."

"But...how..." she asked, slumping down on the couch.

"Your failure to do your duty as a leader of this organization has put us in this mess. On top of that, you wanted to take me down with you." he spat.

"I didn't want to take you down with me." she said, standing up and wincing from the pain in her abdomen.

"I covered your ass back there, and you know damn well I did! You would've had a bullet in your fucking head if it wasn't for me!" he said, stepping up to her.

Jessi looked at him in surprise and, honestly, she was a bit frightened. In all the years she'd known him, she never really heard him or seen him this angry before...now that she thought about it, she'd never seen him angry. He always had his emotions in check, "Well, you didn't have to cover me, Cross. You could have let me take the fall."

"What is with you and this fucking bastard?! What has he ever done that didn't end in your heart being broken?! Yet you take the fall for him, despite the fact that he'd never do the same for you! He unleashed a deadly virus onto the island that his own daughter resides on! He's an asshole, Jess! He's never gonna change! You told me that you were done with him! You said it was us from here on out! That's why there's a fucking ring on your finger, and I put it there!"

"I know..." she said in a whisper, her voice cracking. She turned and began walking away to her bedroom.

"Jess..." he called out, regretting his harsh words.

She said nothing. He followed her, only to have the door shut just before he could get to it. He heard the lock click, but still tried to open it.

"Babe, I'm sorry." he said, jiggling the handle, "Please, open the door."

"You're right..." he heard her muffled voice behind the door. She was crying. "He'll never change. I guess a part of me wanted to believe that my foolish decision when I was younger wouldn't be completely in vain. A part of me wants to think that I didn't throw away you and I being married for nothing. I wasn't interested in you that way back then. I was so young, I didn't think it was right. It's only when I got older that I realized it didn't matter. You were the one that stood by me. You were the one, not Alex..."

He made her cry. He'd never made her cry before. He slumped down to the floor outside of her bedroom door, "I should have saved you from all of this pain. You deserved better than this."

He looked up upon hearing the door open and Jessi stepped out into the hallway, extending her hand. He gently took hold of it and lifted himself off of the floor with his own weight.

She led him into the room, slowly zipping down his suit before looking into his eyes, "You weren't meant to save me, Cross. You were simply meant to let me love you."

"Why do you do this to me?" he asked her, gritting his teeth.

"Why do you allow it to happen?" she came back, still looking into his eyes.

"Because it's you..." he growled out before pressing his lips to hers, lifting her off of the floor and pressing her against the wall with her legs wrapped around him...


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