Come in with the Rain
I could go back to every laugh, but I don't wanna go there anymore
And I know all the steps up to your door, but I don't wanna go there anymore.
Terry and Dean peaked into Desiree's room to see the girl lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling with unblinking eyes that were focused on a different reality to the one in which they were currently living. The two men exchanged worried looks, before moving away from her room.
It had been almost seven months since the death of Derik Wilkes. It had taken Terry and Jake three months to coax the girl out of her self induced depression, though that hadn't done much since she had sunk back into it the next day. It had taken Unit One four of those seven months to convince Desiree to eat a proper meal before she starved herself to death. It had taken the unit five months to find out what happened on that fateful day.
It had taken six months to figure out that their youngest unit member was suffering from the guilt she felt at being the cause of somebody else's death. And no matter how many times people said that it wasn't her fault, she knew better.
The director of the AIS had even dropped by...well, after Jake went and got into a shouting match with the man anyway. He informed the girl that after being yelled at by his best agent, he'd changed the binding clause from every agent's contract so that under extreme circumstances, they were now free to divulge any information necessary in order to obtain the freedom of any hostages. The entire unit had figured that it only applied to other "innocent" lives, and not their own. Almost as one, they all rolled their eyes. The people they worked for were so compared for their welfare (insert massive sarcasm here).
Terry sighed, causing Dean to look over at him. "We should go get Jake," he said. Dean blinked and nodded, before feeling like he should change the subject.
"So...um," he glanced around, trying to find something else to talk about. Just as they were walking out of the DB, a man came walking in. He looked about twenty-five, with blonde hair, grey eyes, and a well built body. As he passed the two men, he greeted them with a smile.
"Terry. Dean. Good to see you on your feet again buddy," he said, clapping Dean on his shoulder.
"Thanks Charles," Dean grinned. Charles nodded at them, before ascending the stairs of he DB. Dean turned to Terry with a puzzled look on his face.
"I thought Charles is in Unit Two?"
"Well..." Terry shifted rather uncomfortably, "He was in Unit Two."
Dean raised an eyebrow, before understanding flashed across his eyes. "He's my replacement, isn't he?"
Terry sighed, before nodding.
After the mission in which Derik Wilkes had been killed had gone severely wrong, Dean had found himself lying on his death bed. It was really a miracle he survived. But after that, the doctors had told him that it would be best if he didn't return to the field, as the damage done to his spinal cord had limited his ability to react to high adrenaline situations. After talking to his wife and kids about it, Dean had handed in his resignation.
"The director shuffled around all the units quite a bit afterwards," Terry explained as the two set off to find Jake, "And Charles got moved up into our unit."
"Do you guys get along okay?"
Terry shrugged. "He gets along with me and Jake fine. But he has some problem with Dessi. I don't know what, but he's always picking on her and it drives me mental. You should have seen the argument him and Jake got into the other day during training – man, that was epic."
Dean let out a snort. "Yeah, Jake's really overprotective of that girl. You know, if it weren't for is constant denial, I'd say he was in love with her."
Terry raised his eyebrow at him. "If he was in love with her, why did he let her go off with Derik that day in the shopping centre?"
"He probably didn't realise he'd ask her out. Don't you remember that hissy fit he threw after she told him?"
There was a small silence as Terry contemplated this, before he ended it with a shudder. "This is just too weird to think about."
Dean grinned.
"Dean! OI Dean!"
The two spun around to see Jake running towards them, a grin on his face.
"Man, I haven't seen you in ages!" Jake exclaimed, clapping his former team mate on the shoulder. "How's everything going?"
"Everything's good," Dean smiled, "Actually, we were just coming to get you. We need to talk to you about something."
"What about?"
"Desiree," Terry said, "She's not doing any better. Last we saw, she's lying on her bed, staring at nothing."
Jake sighed, worry flickering behind his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair, before nodding. "Okay, I'll take care of it. Nice to see you again Dean. Take care. Terry, I want to see you on the shooting range in thirty minutes." And with that, Jake ran off towards the DB.
Terry and Dean exchanged wry grins. "Well, he hasn't changed," Dean said as they set off again.
Jake ran up the stairs of the DB, passing Charles on the way to tell him to leave for the shooting range. The man obeyed with haste. Jake took a deep breath before pushing open the unlocked door to Desiree's room.
The girl had fallen asleep in the time it took for Jake to arrive. She was currently tossing around slightly, muttering something under her breath. Jake entered her room, moving over to her bed to sit on it.
"No...Derik...no...please," Desiree murmured, her voice becoming slightly more frantic as she began to toss and turn more earnestly.
"Desiree, Dessi, wake up," Jake said, trying to restrain her.
"No, Derik! No...please!" Jake let go when it became obvious that holding her down was making nightmare worse.
"Desiree! Wake up!"
"...please...Derik, please...no..."
"Dessi! Wake up!" Jake shouted, roughly shaking the girl by her shoulders. Though she didn't wake, it did cause her to settle down a little.
"...please...no..." she murmured before her face screwed up slightly in confusion. "..Wha-?...Alex?"
Jake froze. It had been a couple of years since he'd last heard that name. Heck, he'd even forgotten about the boy. What on earth could cause the boy to appear in Desiree's nightmare? What the hell is going on?
"Alex...help me...Alex," Dessi's voice trailed off.
"...please...Derik, please...no...no...NO!" The girl screamed out.
She sat up very suddenly. Unprepared, Jake didn't move out of the way fast enough. The result was her head colliding with his rather ill-placed shoulder. A weak and muffled "ow" could be heard, causing Jake to chuckle softly before wrapping his arms around the girl, pulling her into a tight hug.
"Jake?" Dessi said softly, her voice still muffled by his shirt, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm very well, thank you for asking," Jake replied, resting his cheek on the top of her head, "And how are you?"
"Jake..." Desiree trailed off warningly, and even if her voice was muffled and still laced with sleep, the dangerous tone underlying his name was enough to cause his heart to beat faster in fear.
"Okay, okay," Jake said, "You were having a nightmare. Again."
"And you decided to wake me up by bashing my head against your shoulder?"
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! You sat up too fast!"
"It still wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been in the way, would it?"
"No," Jake conceded, "I suppose not."
Jake felt Desiree shift slightly, before pulling out of his arms. A second later, he was staring into her crystal blue eyes, laced with worry, confusion and guilt. She smiled slightly at him, moving to get out of bed before Jake stopped her with a gentle finger under her chin.
He didn't know what made him do it. He supposed that all the emotions he'd been repressing for years just erupted. Unusually for him, he never even stopped to think of the consequences. Later, he'd be so consumed by guilt that it would be ages until he'd be able to look into her eyes.
Jake leaned forwards and pressed his lips gently against Desiree's.
A second later, there was a sharp sting on the side of his cheek, causing him to fly sideways and tumble out of Desiree's bed. Looking up, he met cold blue eyes that were filled with anger.
"I can't believe you just did that, you insensitive bastard!" Desiree shouted, before turning on her heels and storming out of her room, leaving behind the unit leader to caress his red, inflamed cheek. Jake sat up with a soft groan, staring after the girl as his mind replaying the anger in her eyes, the pain of the slap, the hurt of the rejection and...
...and the single tear that had glided down her cheek.
.:X:.
Rejected much? I honestly never thought about the possibility of Jake being in love with Dessi, but then I went back over previous stories and I thought, yeah, he's too protective, too worried about Dessi. And so, this twist!
Thanks to all my reviewers!
Love Chariots99
