Jumper – The Next Level
Please note that I do not own the rights to any of the characters that are Steven Gould's creations. I do own Regan McGowan and others that I've made up. I will stay true to Steven's genius though and try and combine the movie and books.
This jumps off from the film but I'm using ideas from the books throughout. Let me know what you guys think – honestly!
I must say thanx for the reviews, I'm glad that you all are enjoying my fic. Let's hope it you enjoy the next chapter just as much!
Sorry for the late update but I'm redrafting a film script at the moment and Neb is getting a little testy. Apparently he wouldn't say this or do that so contemplating killing him off (lol). Anyway enjoy this chapter.
Griffin's heart slammed against his chest.
Regan's bed was empty. The sheets were pulled back and she wasn't there. Where was she? She should be here in bed. Why wasn't she in bed?
"Celebrated heads of state or especially great communicators. Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh!" Regan's voice sang out as she re-entered the medical suite. Her hands clutched a towel as she shook her hair.
She had gotten changed into combat trousers and a black tee. Her clothes were dangerously loose due to her captivity. Regan smiled as her eyes rested on Griffin.
"You're supposed to be in bed" Griffin mildly chided as he jumped into the seat next to her bed. His hands clutched a brown paper bag which Griffin now held out to Regan.
"I know, but I needed to shower. It's going to be a bitch to get these knots out. Might just shave it all off. Save time"
Regan sat on the edge of her bed, her body relaxed and her mind settled. A hot shower can work wonders on tired bones. She was practically purring. Regan quickly whips the bag from Griffin's outstretched hand.
"You would look weird as a baldie" laughed Griffin picturing Regan completely dome-topped.
"What's this?" Regan tilted her head slight wonderment sparkled in her eyes. Regan sniffs the bag. "Smells like food"
"Well it's no horse but I have it on good authority this is better"
Regan tears open the bag and her hearts leaps.
"It's a cheeseburger" Her face exploded in a wide toothy grin.
"Topped with hot sauce and loaded with cheese" Griffin's heart had settled and was pleased to see so had Regan.
"Oh my fucking god" Regan devouring the cheeseburger in fifteen seconds flat, smacking her lips she grins at Griffin. "That was amazing, truly a cheeseburger in paradise"
Resting back on her bed, Regan smiled. Griffin stands dumping the rubbish in a bin.
"Glad I can be of assistance and now that you have been feed and watered, I'gotta go"
"Go where?" Regan rests on her elbows, her belly slightly bloated
"Scott's hosting some sort of meeting to discuss tactics or something"
"I should come then" Regan goes to get up. She catches her breath as pain resonates through her body.
"No, you should rest. Doctors orders" Griffin guides her back down onto the pillows "This is becoming a habit McGowan"
"Yeah well, you better head to your meeting, you mustn't be late or brother dearest will be mad" Regan said, her voice clipped.
"Okay, I'll come by after and check on you" Griffin said before jumping.
"Don't bother" scowled Regan into his scar.
XOXOXOXO
She was mad at him. That was clear.
Griffin's mind whirled.
Regan was happy then mad. Man he still didn't understand women.
Griffin twirled his seat in the conference room waiting for the show to start. Scott huddled with a couple of guys in one corner. He knew Steven and the geek, Phil or something. The others he didn't know. The conference room held an oblong table with twelve seats. There was a white board on the far wall. David and Millie snuggled together across the table.
God I want to smack that guy.
The nurse Sarah walked in with a tall black guy who was carrying a large cardboard box. This guy was huge. Built like a brick shit-house. He must have cracked a joke as Sarah whipped her head back and broke out in raucous laughter announcing their arrival. Griffin watched as they took their seats. And he didn't appear to be the only one scrutinising their every move. Scott's eyes never left Sarah.
What was this? Jealously. Well well Scotty boy has a crush on the nurse.
"Right if everyone is here, we'll get started" Scott addressed the room. The room hushed in anticipation. "Steven? How 'bout you start? Run us through your recon of the dome"
Steven stood at ease as he relayed the information. Steven's voice was clipped, professional.
"After entering the dome at eighteen hundred hours, Team B and I scouted the lower quadrants of the dome as instructed. The team uncovered one computer suite filled with top of the range equipment. It appeared the hard-drive had been infected with a virus so everything was grabbed, bagged and tagged. Said equipment was passed to IT specialist Willis Barnes."
Willis, not Phil, His folks must've been cruel.
"Whilst exploring the upper left sections we came across one DB as identified as Roland Cox and the unconscious body of Regan McGowan. I personally contacted Scott, leader of Team One to highlight our locations and discoveries. McGowan and Cox were then transported back to HQ at eighteen thirty-three."
Jerking a curt nod to Scott, Steven indicated his conclusion by taking his seat.
"Will, lead us through what you've uncovered so far"
"Hey" Will blushed as he stood to take the floor "IT specialist Willis Barnes."
"Whatchu talking bout Willis" mocked one of Steve's men causing murmured laughter to scatter around the room.
"Ha Ha Rick like I haven't heard that one before"
"Just get on with it" snipped Scott. His stare countered any further interruptions. Scott's patience was wearing thin already, and they only just started
"Sorry, eh... as Steven reported, Team B uncovered two computer cells at the site and I've managed to get in. Now the system was wiped but not professionally, there are still echoes."
"Echoes?" David voiced the confusion of the group
"An echo is like a smudge or imprint that is left behind whenever you try to delete a file. If you have the right finesse you can resurrect the file"
"And have you managed to resurrect the files?" Sarah questioned.
"Is the Pope a catholic?" quips Will
The group look at Will dumbfounded.
"The answer's yes" Will's face reddening as his joke falls like a lead balloon. "I haven't managed to fully decrypt the files yet as finesse takes time, but what I've found in Regan's is really interesting."
"Like?" Griffin's interest suddenly peaking.
"Here, I'll show you"
Will taps the keys of his laptop and the white screen blinks on. The screen is filled with two columns. On the left hand side was a row of dates starting ten months ago. The right hand side was filled with comments. Griffin scrunched his eyes to read one of the entries.
Subject peaked at 120 volts quickly adapting to the stun gun. Subject took down two opponents in process. No Kills. Subject's injuries sustained as follows...
"Basically, the charts talk of her trials in the dome and with their latest weapons. How she fares and how adaptable her body is to them. There are notes on the injuries she has sustained in each trial and healing of previous injuries. But there is also a report attached detailing her genetic make-up. There seems to be a lot of research on how her DNA is constructed and comparing it to non-jumpers"
"Why?" asked David
"Isn't it obvious, they're trying to find the missing link. Figure out how we can teleport" criticized Griffin.
"This isn't good. If they can figure that out, they may develop a pathogen to alter our DNA to remove the genetic link" added Sarah, shock registering in her voice. "Taking away our ability to jump evens the playing field"
"Making us easier to kill" stated Griffin blankly.
"From what I can see from Regan's reports, they weren't close to any sort of breakthrough citing that they needed different specimens to complete the research. There are other reports and files on the system but I haven't smoothed all the smudges yet. It's going to take some time."
"Good, I want a full de-brief of the computer's contents by Oh Nine hundred tomorrow"
Will was about to object but Scott's steely gaze had any defiance quickly frittering out. Dejected, Will took his seat and immediately began tapping buttons. He muttered expletives quietly under his breath.
"Sarah, autopsy results on our resident Paladin?" ordered Scott
Unlike the others Sarah remained seated. Delving into the box, Sarah pulled out a large pile of handouts.
"Nate, can you hand out these for me please?"
Taking the pile from Sarah, Nate the shit brick-house stood and starting handing everyone a copy. It reminded Griffin of second grade at school. He hoped there wasn't a pop quiz.
"As you can see from your copy, I have emphasized the salient points of the autopsy. As suspected Roland died from a GSW to the parietal part of the skull in downward trajectory. There is no exit wound; therefore I managed to recover the bullet. A .22 calibre. It was pretty busted up but I passed it onto Nate anyway. There was no GSR around the wound or on the victim hands. Apart from the GSW, Roland appeared to have no other wounds. Regan is a completely different matter. If you turn to page 3 there is a full list of her injuries, healed or otherwise."
The silence in the room was broken by the sound of ten people turning their handouts in unison. A sharp intake of breath quickly resonated off the walls. Sarah continued.
"Hairline fracture on right scaphoid wrist-bone, costochondral separation of fourth and fifth ribs on left side, Contusions on first, second and third ribs, Contusions on the lower back, abdomen, upper thighs, Facial contusions and possible greenstick fracture of nasal cartilage. Healed fracture of the right metacarpal index bone. Healed hairline fracture of the right talus bone".
Fuck Regan had been in the wars.
"Fuckers" muttered Griffin
"Shit, Regan's one tough cookie"
Scott glared at Will as he imagined the pain and abuse his little sister must have gone through in that hell-hole. Will crouches in his chair, feeling embarrassed by his observation.
"She'll heal Scott" smoothed Sarah. This time she stood, moving to Scott to comfort him by placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Nate why don't you take us through ballistics, you said you have something hinky" commanded Sarah as she lowered Scott into a seat.
"Yeah, well" Nate cleared his throat "Uh, Will can you put the reconstruction on screen for me"
"Sure"
The screen changed from Regan's report to a computer generated image of a long corridor. A blue man kneeled in the middle of the floor whilst standing 20 feet behind a pink man held a gun at arm's length. The gun is clearing pointing at the blue man. Nate walked to the white screen to conduct his section of the de-brief.
"From the trajectory of the bullet wound, Roland would have to have been kneeling approx 18 feet from the shooter. The shooter is suspected to be Regan as she was found with the gun in her hand. As known from Steven's report, Regan was found lying next to Roland with him perpendicular to her feet."
The image on screen jumped to show both the pink and blue men lying down in the centre of the corridor.
"That would mean Regan would have sneaked behind Roland, shot him then jumped to check her work. My guess is that she passed out from her injuries."
"So what's the hinky?" enquired Steven
"I checked Regan for GSR, negative. Even with a .22 caliber gun, there would be GSR and there isn't"
"Which means what exactly" confusion rising in Griffin's voice as he spoke.
"It means I didn't kill him" Regan announced her arrival into the conference room causing heads to turn in her direction. Sarah's eyebrows cocked in question.
"I know, I know, I'm supposed to be resting but I've been playing this whole thing in my head. One I don't remember having a gun or getting one. Two I could barely see never mind shot someone and Three if I took him down, I damn well going to remember it. I was in bad shape Scott. I couldn't have killed Roland Cox."
"Then who did?" David voiced everyone's thoughts "And more importantly why"
Scott jumped to his sister's side pulling a chair with him. Regan sat without protest. All this walking malarkey was sure taking its toll on her. Once Regan was cared for, Scott turned to the team.
"We need to find out as I have a feeling this is going to get worse"
Everyone looked at each, no-one knowing quite was to say.
"I've been thinking" Millie piped up for the first time since the meeting began "Will, you said that the Paladins were looking for the missing link to find out how you guys can teleport. Right?"
"And?" Griffin snapped
"Well, what if they don't just want to take away the ability but give it to non-jumpers" Millie stated candidly.
"They could follow us anywhere" David said catching on to Millie's point.
"That would mean they don't want to even any playing field rather tip the balance in their favour" added Regan
"Eavesdropping where we Regan?" smirked Scott
"Of course big bro" smiled Regan before turning serious "What do we do?"
"Will who ran the experiments on Regan's DNA" asked Millie
"Eh, I haven't exactly got that far yet, why?" replied Will
"My guess is that one guy would have been in charge of the process. Find him, Find your answers"
"And not to mention Roland's killer" said Griffin, nodding his approval.
"Okay Will concentrate on the files surrounding the DNA research. The deadline has been moved to twenty-one hundred tonight. Until then, everyone rest up. We start bright and early tomorrow morning" dismissed Scott.
Will jumped immediately from the room, tapping his comp's buttons as he went. Regan claps her hands and smiles menacingly.
"Meeting adjourned"