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Disclaimer: I don't own "Tuck Everlasting".

FOSTER EVERLASTING

CHAPTER NINETEEN: BROKEN

Miles also agreed to pick find the authorities after he checked and jotted down the train schedule, and James and Jesse rushed off towards the other side of town. Even though it was a many-mile journey, they flew through with only one thought in their mind. They never once spoke to each other, not even to discuss a plan. All they knew was that if Winnie was there, they'd save her, and if the killer was there as well, they'd kill him. Simple.

To be honest, they'd be less concerned if she could die. Death appeared not as a robber, but as a long-lost friend to the eternally young men. If she could enter that sweet sleep, at least she would not have to suffer.

But if the kidnapper kept her, and she was still alive...

Down they flew, through the windy paths and over a brook and ignoring the mosquitos and other insects of the night. At one point they nearly ran over a frog, but it undauntedly stared at them, as if to say, "Well, that was awfully rude of you" as they swept by without so much as a stumble.

If this was another false hope, they didn't know what they'd do.

Soon, even with their tunnel vision, they realized that there was a faint smokey smell in the atmosphere.

Indeed, moments later, their eyes began watering due to the smoke the wind was blowing their way.

"Something strange is going on!" Jesse gasped, the first time he'd spoken in perhaps an hour.

James coughed slightly as they hurried up a hill. "I don't even want to know what he did to her..."

They reached the crest of the hill and saw the church, a lovely if not small marvel, the baby of the Treegap community when the town consisted of but a few families, engulfed in flames.

They heard no screams.

The men said no more. They easily knocked the door over, and James quickly moved it aside in a moment of smart thinking, for fear that it too would become covered with flames and prevent their exit. Meanwhile, Jesse screamed out Winnie's name, searching the pews for the woman. With no little trepedition, he eyed the spots with the most flames, breathing out a sigh of relief each time there appeared to be no body in its midst.

Within the past twenty-four hours, he was finally beginning to see how much Winnie meant to him. The truth was, all this time he had been trying to decide who would be hurt less if he turned them down, Natasha or Winnie. Then, perhaps on a subconscious level, he attempted to compare the girls' characters and decide who was "better".

Really, though, they were both so incredibly sweet and funny and dear.

But it wasn't a matter of simple logic like that. The heart does not always make sense, and so Jesse came to the conclusion subconscously as he tried to find his friend of nearly forty years that while Natasha owned some of his heart, Winnie owned it all.

The moment he had been dreading came. An outline of a body crumpled appeared, but...no, it was a man. He could not make out much else. But as the fire danced on top of the man victoriously, the conquered did not stir. He was dead.

Jesse did not bother pulling him out but continued on his way. The smoke made him choke on the very air, and while he could not die of it, it did not excuse the fact that he could still pass out from it. From far away, he heard James say, "I'll start at the back of the church!" and rush past him, but he was too intent on his search to pay much mind. They needed to hurry out of here...

"Winnie!"

It was not the cry of one trying to find her. It was the cry of one who felt a mixture of victoriousness and pure horror.

There she lay, unconscious yet, of course, alive, but only in the most basic sense of the word.

She had not yet been burned, but her clothes were torn and her skin was scarred terribly. Already, the miraculous curse was working and had healed most of her wounds. But some were gaping open, and one could see blood oozing from them disturbingly.

Jesse had not been the one to find her. James was. The latter delicately wrapped his suit jacket around the battered woman-child and cradled her to him before Jesse could make it to them.

Creaking was heard over the crackling, and the men exchanged looks. As quickly as possible, they ran for their escape, with Jesse kicking away debris and James trying not to jostle Winnie too much.

They did not stop running until they were several hundred yards away. Then they fell-or at least Jesse fell; James was courteous enough to gently lie Winnie on the soft dew-covered grass before collapsing himself.

The sky was clouded with smoke, but after taking several minutes sputtering and hacking, they eventually recovered, as the wind was driving the smoke away from their direction. Regaining their strength, James told his companion to find Miles and let him know that they found Winnie, and that the police did not need to be involved.

"In the meantime, I'll take Winnie back to the cottage. Even with the magic, she still needs to be taken care of."

Jesse found a smidge of his old selfishness again and said a little lightly, "You've already carried her all this way. I'll take her home. You can find Miles."

It was then that he noticed James had been stroking Winnie's forehead, brushing away strands of hair with a trembling hand.

"That's all right," James finally said. "I'll take her."

Although he had to be exhausted, he stood and lifted Winnie. Her head nestled naturally under his head as he started walking. Jesse watched them for only a minute before looking away, squeezing his eyes shut and muttering a curse under his breath.

"Jesse!"

His head whipped up.

"Did you find the b-?"

Jesse glanced at Winnie at the use of the word but wryly realized that a lady really wasn't entirely "present". "I think we can smell him."

James's expression turned stormy. "Judas Priest. I was looking forward to killing him myself."

Jesse could smile at this, a smile which showed all his hatred and frustration. "I could say the same," he said, once again looking at Winnie's bloody body.

James went back on his way, and Jesse realized he should probably get up as well. He took a final glance at the church, which was now toppling. Then he slowly made his way towards town as dawn broke.

He stopped Miles in what Jesse assumed was only him pacing with indecisiveness just outside of the police station. "Don't go in there. We found Winnie and that son of a gun is dead."

Miles looked at him with a mixture of gladness and a strange look of humor. "Jesse," he chuckled a little helplessly. "You're always late. Late on getting out of bed, late on finding Winnie after she turned seventeen, and now this."

"What do you mean?" Jesse said in a low voice, dreading the answer.

"I'm just waiting for them to grab the proper paperwork for a missing person's notice. They already know she's gone."

Jesse's face fell. Then a chuckle fell out of his lips. "Then we have to move again, I guess. Maybe we can have a reunion another thirty years from now."

Miles groaned. "I'll let them know we found her, but they still know that she responds to Winnie Foster. I got away with telling them that she's the original Winifred's daughter, but..."

"It's still too risky," Jesse finished. "We really do need to leave again. And since we got here it's just been nothing but craziness." He ran a hand through his hair irritably, feeling the singed spots.

"How is Winnie doing, anyway?" Miles asked quietly.

"She'll be fine. The wounds were healing nicely when we got there, but she still looks bad. I can just imagine what they were like before..." He looked resentfully at the rising sun, as if hating that it was bringing light to this day when another light was nearly extinguished.

"I'll be there as soon as I talk to the department chief again. I'll see you back there."

"Sounds good."

Jesse turned to walk away.

"Jesse!"

He looked back at his brother, who stood with a sympathetic but resolute expression on his face.

"Don't you dare toy with her. Especially not now while she's recovering."

"Stay away from her unless you want her to get the wrong idea" was what he meant. Jesse knew this, and so he nodded solemnly.

"I swear, I won't ever hurt her again," he vowed, then made his exit, feeling that every step towards home felt like he was stepping on his own heart.