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!
My head lately has been swirling with numerous characters and stories, its been hard to try and sort them out. So sorry about the delay but I have my own stories to write which must take priority. Plus I have to plan and host a Harry Potter Party. Yeah!
Anyway a nice long chapter to keep you amused! Enjoy!
Griffin shifted uncomfortably in the small camp bed with his legs dangling off the edge. His fingers drummed impatiently on the cold metal frame. He was bored. Sighing he straightened his body and stretched several kinks from his neck.
Griffin scanned the room listening to the soft snores of other jumpers sleeping soundly. A pang of jealously hit him. Griffin was knackered. Beat in fact. He would sell his right arm to be able to close his eyes and drift into a dreamless sleep. Unfortunately his brain just didn't feel like playing ball tonight. His mind kept going over everything.
It's credulous to believe that so much has happened in a week. Meeting David, getting dumped in the power lines, meeting Regan in that god-forsaken hell-hole, finding a whole crew of jumpers just like him and not to mention the death of Roland. And that was the snag. Oh don't get him wrong, Griffin was ecstatic that Roland was now with his precious God but who killed him?
It wasn't Regan; she had been clear about that at the meeting. But who? Where there other jumpers at the dome that they didn't know about? If so why did they leave Regan there to rot? Questions circled his thoughts round and round. Why? How? Who?
Frustrated Griffin flopped onto his side wishing Willis would hurry up. The deadline set by Scott at the meeting had sailed past hours ago. Willis whined it was just too much information to sift and sort through. Both Willis and his programs were working overtime. Scott was probably still in the operations room pacing back and forth. The waiting started to grate on everyone's nerves so much that the small talk soon dwindled into silence and people starting jumping out the room in twos and threes. It wasn't long until Griffin and Regan left Scott alone berating Willis to get a move on but not before Scott had pointed out that Griffin was to sleep in the boy's dorm NOT his sister's bed.
After showing Griffin the boy's dorm and ensuring he had a bed, Regan had jumped to her room leaving Griffin to his questions. She was probably sound asleep. If anyone had been through the mill, it was Regan. The injuries she had endured in that place. God Griffin was there less than a week and it had left a mark on him. Regan was there nearly ten months.
"Boo"
A hand slapped on Griffin's shoulder causing him to startle.
"Fuck sake" Griffin's heart felt as though it would jump from his body "You scared me half to death"
"Sorry, too good an opportunity to pass up" giggled Regan.
Swinging his legs round, Griffin stood before being pulled by Regan into a vortex landing them in her room.
Regan's room was no bigger than her cell at the dome. Crammed into the small space were a single bed and a chest of drawers that doubled as desk. Above the desk was a shelf filled with snow-globes from every area of the world; China, New York, Egypt, everywhere. Leaning against the chest was a battered and worn baseball bat. Griffin picked it up out of habit and would have swung it if he had the room. Fearing he might break something, Griffin placed the bat back down. Writing caught his eye, down one side of the bat in crude scratched letters "PALADIN'S PLAYMATE was etched into the bat's wood.
"Nice" Griffin smirked at Regan who was taking off her black hoodie revealing a black t-shirt.
The room was slightly messy with coloured pens and scrap pieces of paper scattered everywhere. Folded tightly in a corner was an easel that was covered in smiley face stickers. The little box room didn't have a door instead the two of the four walls were covered in movie posters from Beverley Hill Cop to Star Wars to Rocky and Pulp fiction. Every available space was filled. The other two walls were adorned with drawings. However unlike Griffin's lair, these pictures weren't of Paladins but places all around the world. Griffin stood in awe glancing at the decorated walls.
"My jump sites" Regan plonked herself on her bed whose covers showed the face of a bespectacled boy with messy black hair dressed in what look like red and gold robes. Regan picked up a small golden pillow and clutched it to her chest. Following Regan's lead, Griffin fell onto the bed next to her.
"They're awesome, you can draw after all. What's with the creepy bloke on your bed? Doesn't that weird you out? I know I would be if some –
Before he could finish Regan had sprang to her feet in shock knocking the golden pillow onto her floor.
"It's Harry-freaking-potter" sang Regan "Don't tell me you don't know who Harry Potter is"
"Sorry should I?"
"It's the biggest phenomenon of the twenty-first century. Books, movies, toys everything. Heck there is even a theme-park. Personally I haven't been yet. But I promised myself when I got out of that dump; I was going to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. That's why I brought you here. I don't think I'm up to jumping that far just yet and nobody here is that keen on Harry Potter. Which I just do not understand: its freaking awesome. I want to go soooo badly. I want to try Butterbeer and go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and get fizzing whizzbees and cauldron cakes and Acid Pops. And I was hoping that you would come with me. Willis is going to be ages with the computer stuff. And I thought if we leave early I may just get to walk around the place. See Hogwarts and Hagrid's Hut before Scott starts barking orders at everyone and I need to be all serious again. Oh please please please say you will come with me. Don't think it would be half as much fun on my own."
Regan stood eagerly in front of Griffin, her breath ragged with excitement.
"Er... sure...why not" smiled Griffin rather awkwardly.
"Brilliant" Regan pulled Griffin into a tight hug before quickly turning away. Regan started rummaging on her desk looking for something. Giving a yelp of happiness, Regan shoved a piece of paper in Griffin's hand.
"For you, I drew it last night. Couldn't sleep. Bed's too comfy. Got used that slab."
Regan continued twittering on but Griffin wasn't paying attention. In his hand was a picture of him lounging in his cell at the dome. Griffin looked happy and relaxed in the drawing and sitting on his slab of a bed was a meatball sub.
"I thought you could keep it as a kinda souvenir thingy. Of our time spent at Paladin Paradise"
"At least you got my eyes and nose right this time" laughed Griffin before blocking a pillow that Regan had swung at his head "Ok sorry. It is good though. Thanks."
Griffin folded the drawing, placing it delicately in his jeans pocket.
"I... ah... wondered...I mean... if you are up to it. And there is no pressure if you don't want ... what I'm trying to is... well"
"God Griff, just spit it out. Haven't got all day for you to string a sentence together"
Griffin's lips crooked into a smile before turning serious.
"I wondered if you wanted to talk. About the dome. About Billy Boy"
"Oh him, dickhead aka Blake Edwards. Met him on my first outing in the dome; when he was nothing more than a little green, twisted, snotty-nosed twat-head" Regan plonked herself down on the bed next to Griffin, their knees bumping as she did so. Her hands held tight to the pillow as if squeezing her frustration out on it.
"Don't hold back on my account McGowan." Smirked Griffin
"What about him?" Regan uncurled her hands from the pillow.
"You both really hated each other"
"I hate all Paladins!" stated Regan indignantly
"You hated him more" Griffin pointed out simply.
"And you want to know why?"
"Well yeah, but I've been thinking as well. He really wanted to kill you"
"And" interrupted Regan
"Let me finish. I've been going over Roland's death in my head and who could have killed him? We have two options. One, there were other jumpers there we didn't know about in the dome with us? –"
"Which is plausible" interjected Regan
Giving her a scornful look, Griffin carried on as if there had been no interruptions
"-Or two, someone was aiming for you and got Roland instead."
"And you think it was Blake"
"Aye"
Regan looked deep in thought for a few seconds, scrunching her eyes in concentration.
"There is one flaw to each one of those theories"
"Which are" grunted Griffin slightly offended. It wasn't like Regan was coming up with any ideas.
"In answer to your first one, would fellow Jumpers just leave me there? I rather hope not"
"Maybe they thought you were dead or weren't able to get to you. They might have come back for you after we got you? Maybe waiting for when the coast was clear."
"Doubtful but likely I guess?" responded Regan although her voice wasn't convinced.
"What about option B. What's the flaw with that?"
"Billy Boy is a great marksman. Whenever he had a gun in the dome, he never missed. Not once. If he was going to shoot me, I'd be dead"
"Why do you call him Billy Boy?" questioned Griffin.
Regan arched her eyebrow at Griffin's diversion from topic.
"Because when I first met him, he used to stutter."
"So" confusion clearly in Griffin's eyes as he spoke.
"It's from It the Clown By Stephen King. The main character Bill has a stutter and the evil clown makes fun of him calling him B..b...b...billy Boy. Well I started calling Blake that, it really pissed him off." Regan snorted a laugh "Made his stutter worse. What was even better, the other Paladins started calling him Billy boy too. He started gunning for me after that I can tell ya. But why I hate him? Well that's not hard. He's a sadist. Takes far too much pleasure in hurting me. Half the injuries I got in that place were just from him. So yeah maybe I do hate Blake just a little more than other Paladins. But only because I'm scared of him just a little more than other Paladins"
Regan looked deathly white as she lay back on her bed. Guilt rose in Griffin's chest.
"Shit, Look I'm sorry I probed you. I shouldn't have. Just thinking out loud" Griffin forces a laugh to ease the mood.
Without smiling Regan continued staring at her bedroom's ceiling. Griffin raised his hand as if to comfort her, feeling awkward, Griffin smoothed down his hair instead.
"Regan I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me" whispered Griffin "Hey when do you want to be heading to this Henry Potter place"
"It's Harry Potter and don't try and change the subject" cried Regan sitting up so fast she startled Griffin "You always do that." Her hand smacked the pillow in anger.
Pffft
Regan jumped from the room leaving a jump-scar in her wake. Before Griffin could even contemplate in following her, Regan jumped back into the room holding a tub of strawberry ice-cream and two spoons. Tossing one of the spoons onto his lap, Regan flopped back onto the bed and opened the ice-cream.
"What the hell" said Griffin slightly frightened.
"When something gets too close. You shift gears. Change subjects. You wanted to talk about the dome. So we'll talk. It may be hard for me, hence the sugar boost, but I'm a big girl. Don't. Baby. Me. O'Connor" Gestating the spoon in the air with each pronounced word, Regan's eyes narrowed forcing Griffin to put up his hands in mock surrender. Regan plunged her spoon into the ice-cream taking a massive scoop.
"Okay" mumbled Griffin gingerly scooping up ice-cream with his spoon.
"And don't sulk, it's unbecoming" chided Regan. "Go on. Ask me anything"
After a few disgruntled moments which Regan was sure the words "mental chick" and "prefer chocolate" were the only words she could actually make out from his grunting, Griffin finally looked at Regan.
"How did you get me here? I mean I can jump with stuff but you can ... can..." Griffin struggled for words, he simply waved his spoon.
"I call it pushing rather than Jumping. I don't know the ins or out of it scientifically, but basically I create the wormhole-thingy and instead of going through it normally, I push something through it instead. At first I ended up pushing things to the wrong places as I couldn't control the jump-sites but with a little practice I eventually got the hang of it. Scott can push too. I think it's because both our parents are Jumpers. Kinda like double the power or something. "
Pausing to take another scoop of ice-cream, Regan continued with her mouth full.
"Ma wad shed we ware Ouper Archged."
" EH?"
Swallowing her ice-cream, Regan smiled at Griffin.
"Sorry, my dad said Scott and I were supercharged or something. But my mum reckoned any jumper could be taught to push. With enough training and power behind them that is. I mean most jumpers train so they can jump stuff with them. Starting small then using bigger and better stuff. Heck Chelsea told me David managed to jump a whole building. Probably why my brother wants him, he'd be perfect"
"Typical, you know he stole the whole building idea from me"
Regan smiled "I thought I told you to move pass the power lines thing."
"Easy for you to say"
"Any other questions?" Regan tactfully diverting the conversation back.
"What do you think? Can jumpers be trained to push?"
"Scott and I were training more experienced Jumpers before I left. Don't know if he succeeded. But yeah with enough determination anything is possible."
Smacking her lips Regan took another scoop of ice-cream. "Man I missed this stuff. I've decided I'm just going to get really fat. I mean size 18 or 20 maybe bigger. Like a whale or something."
Griffin gave an involuntary chuckle
"What was that you were saying about going off topic?"
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Fine, I'll stay on topic. Wouldn't want to be a hypocrite now would I?" Sarcasm surrounded Regan's words.
"Do you remember anything about Roland?" How he ended up dead?" asked Griffin
Regan didn't respond, choosing to bit her fingernails instead.
"Regan?" persisted Griffin
"I'm not sure if what I remember is real or a dream? It feels like a dream. I mean am I remembering what really happened or am I simply trying to fill in the blanks? You know?"
"What do you remember?" Griffin's voice was full of concern
"It's patchy at best" sighed Regan
"Just try"
"I remember pushing you here...protecting the wormhole" Taking time to collect her thoughts Regan takes another bite of ice-cream "The next thing I remember is stumbling down corridors. I couldn't concentrate. I kept trying to jump but my body was screaming in pain. Then Roland appeared from nowhere muttering about how we all go bad or something. My eyes went blurry and I couldn't see. I heard a gunshot. There was man but I couldn't make out who he was or what he looked like" Regan shakes her head as if she couldn't think anymore.
"A man? Are you sure? Could it have been Blake?" Griffin's heart raced with this new information.
"We've been through that! If it was Billy Boy, he wouldn't have missed me. I'd be dead. No I got the feeling this guy was someone big. Someone I've never met." A thought hit Regan; one she just remembered " Before I passed out he ordered everyone to leave"
"What?" Griffin's head nearly hit the roof as he jumped up "He just left you there? A Paladin just left a jumper there. Alive!"
"Maybe he thought I was dead? That Roland had just killed me"
"Possibly but why would then kill Roland?" anger surged in Griffin. Something was off.
Throwing her hands up in defeat, Regan struggled for an answer.
"You would have to ask him that"
Instead of answering, Griffin contemplated Regan's revelations. When he didn't talk for a few minutes Regan poked his leg.
"What are you thinking?"
"That maybe this guy who shot Roland is the big bad behind the DNA research. Just like Millie said, we find him, we find our answers"
"Maybe" Regan's face now mirrored Griffin's on sheer concentration. After a few moments, Griffin turned his body away from Regan but their thighs were still touching.
"There is one last thing I want to ask you. It's about how you pushed me here?" Griffin sounded nervous as he looked into Regan's eyes.
"I know it can be confusing the first time you hear about it. Like I said I don't understand the technicalities myself but I'll try and clarify what I can"
"No I understood the basic concept" Griffin started twiddling his thumbs gingerly.
"Then what is it?" Regan asked confused.
"Why'd you kiss me?" whispered Griffin, the question barely audible.
Regan lips curved into a devilish grin before she erupted in a fit of giggles.
"What's so funny? You're the one that kissed me!" Griffin snapped, slightly insulted by Regan's laughter. He turned his body towards her.
"I'm sorry" Regan wiped tears from her eyes and tried to stifle her laughs "You can stop looking so worried, I'm not going to jump your bones or anything. Not unless you wanted me to"
Regan's tone was playful before turning serious.
"I needed the connection so I could get you here without incident. Wouldn't want to splinch you now would I?" When Griffin just looked puzzled at Regan's attempt to lighten the mood, she continued.
"You truly don't know anything about Harry Potter. It doesn't matter. Plus since I learnt about you couple of years ago, I've had this kind of crush on you. You know like the Gambit thing. I thought I was going to kick the bucket. Couldn't die without never having kissed you. Especially as you were so close" Regan's cheeks pinked at this last comment, glancing up her eyes locked with Griffin. Instantly Griffin's heart burst with happiness and his chest swelled making it impossible to breath. Regan bit her bottom lip and leaned closer to his face.
Griffin's face flushed but before he could say or do anything, the overhead light started blinking red. Startled, Griffin stared at the light perplexed.
"It's cool don't worry" Regan re-assured Griffin as if reading his thoughts. Sliding her hand down the side of the bed, she hit a button making the lights turn green. "It's a knocker of sorts. The only way in my room is our way. So to keep privacy intact, Willis installed these lights. If someone wants to enter my room, they flick a switch in the ops room and hey presto; the lights flicker red. Then you simply hit this button to reply. Once for yes, come on in or twice to say you're indisposed. It's probably my brother"
Just as Regan finished explaining, Scott jumped into the room. Griffin immediately felt guilty as Scott glared at him visibly bothered at finding him in his little sister's room not to mention sitting closely on her bed. They were practically sitting on each other's lap. With the three of them in the small box room, it suddenly felt really cramped. In fact Griffin was starting to feel claustrophobic.
"Scott, you are supposed to wait two minutes after getting the all clear before jumping into my room. Griffin and I could have been up to anything in here. We could have been naked" mocked Regan.
Scott's eyes flared with this remark boring his eyes further into the Griffin's skull. Griffin slinked uncomfortably at this exchange wishing Regan hadn't chosen this time to be flippant with her remarks.
"Not on my watch Ace. Not if He wants to walk again" snarled Scott
Griffin clenched his fists, his body ready to pounce should Scott act on his threat. Sensing the tension in the air, Regan pushed herself up off the bed and faced her brother.
"Oh for crying out loud, it was a joke. Anyway, what did you want?"
"We've found another one"