When Robert stepped out the elevator, he didn't know what to do, he paced outside of the penthouse door. He didn't want to leave Jessie alone, but what choice did he have. He knew if he kept pushing she would leave and under the circumstances that was out of the question. He put his hand on the doorknob and leaned forward, resting his forehead on the door. "Dammit, Patrick, I'm not you. I don't know what to do...how to make her see she's not alone. I thought I had this.." He shook his head. "I don't. Jessie's lost. She needs you. I need you...to help me bring her back." He took a deep breath and opened the door.

John sat up when Robert walked in and frowned when he noticed the look on his face and that Jessie wasn't with him. "I'm guessing your talk with Jessie didn't go well."

"Yeah, that would be an understatement. If anything, I think I made things worse." Robert started to pace again.

"I'm going back down there-" John started to get up, but Robert stopped pacing and stood in front of him. "Robert, we can't just leave her down there to-"

"We can and we will..for now."

"Robert, she needs-"

"Jessie will leave, John," Robert told him. The pleading look on his face was making him feel worse, but he needed to make John understand. " I saw it in her eyes and I heard it in her voice."

"But shouldn't that be the reason we go down and get her? What's stopping her from just walking out the front door now?" John almost shouted.

Robert sat down next to him. "You." He put his hand on John's shoulder. "You're the reason. She promised you she would come back up here and she will...for you."

John shook his head. "I don't know, Robert. How could you be so sure?"

"Because she needs you. That I'm sure of. You were there with her. You're the only one that can help her through it." He sat on the couch and leaned back into the cushion and sighed. "I can't. I know that now." He thought about Jessie having to watch Patrick die. He looked over at John. "She got mad...she told me about having to watch Pat die."

John leaned forward and looked down at the floor. He didn't know what to say. He was drunk the night he had told Robert what happened that day and he hadn't talked about it since. He didn't think he could without a few drinks in him.

"It's okay, John, we don't have to talk about it." He reached over and rubbed John's back. "Jessie...I pushed her and I think it just came out."

John took a deep breath. "After it happened..." Still looking at the floor, he wiped at his eyes with the palms of his hands. "I couldn't go to her...I couldn't move. Dammit..." He wiped at his eyes again.

Robert moved his hand to the back of John's head and rubbed gently. He couldn't help but smile when John leaned into his touch and let out a calming breath. "It's okay John. You know you're safe with me." John nodded under his hand. "You can keep going or you can stop, okay?" John nodded again. "Either way I'm here for you, okay?"

John continued, he needed to. "Krieger put me in the bunker first.." He took a deep quivering breath. "And in those few moments, it took him to go back and get Jessie...I was scared to death. I thought for sure Langston was going to hurt her or worse." He shook his head. "When he brought her to me, at first, she didn't want me near her, she just curled up in the corner and cried." He looked up at Robert. "When she finally said something, she said...'he dragged him away'.." His voice broke. "She had to watch him die and then watched Langston drag his body away. I couldn't save her from any of it." John looked down again and put his head in his hands. "We told you we would protect all of you...that you would be safe-"

"No." Robert stopped John before he could say anything else. He moved closer and put his arm around him. "John, you are not going down that road, got it? Look at me." When John didn't respond, he raised his voice to, hopefully, bring him back from where he was headed. "Look at me, John."

"What.," John said weakly as he turned to look at Robert.

"You are Patrick O'Doyle's son, for sure." Robert shook his head, but couldn't stop a small smile from escaping. "It's not your fault kid, got it? And it's not your team's fault. If the VCTF didn't get involved we may have all been killed...and you and Jessie would've never happened. She would've never known her big brother." Robert squeezed the younger man's shoulder when he nodded and brushed tears from his face. "The way things turned out... IS the way it turned out and we all have to come to terms with it."

"I know." John put his head in his hands again, rubbed his temples and grimaced, letting out a soft groan.

Robert was watching him and noticed the hair on his forehead was damp with sweat. He reached over and laid the back of his hand on John's forehead. It was warm. He moved John's hands away from his face. "Hey, are you okay? You feel okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired." He looked down at the dry blood on his sweatpants. "My leg hurts. I guess I'm doing too much."

Robert stood up. " Okay, that's it.." He reached down and pulled John up, gently, by the arm. "C'mon, let's go..."

John looked at him confused. "What...where are we going?"

"Your room. We're gonna see what's going on with your leg and then you ARE going to lay down and rest. Now, c'mon, let's go."

"But-" John started to protest.

"No buts, John, if I have to put you over my shoulder and carry you in there, I will. I promise you, I'll do it. Now, are you walking or am I carrying you?"

John knew Robert couldn't carry him, even if he had to, but he wasn't sure the older man wouldn't give it a try, so he gave in. "Okay, okay." He followed Robert to the guest room and sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's really not that bad, Robert." He told Robert as he walked by him and went into the bathroom. He heard Robert rustling around in the cabinets. "Did you hear me? I said it's not that bad."

"I heard you..." Robert said coming out of the bathroom with a box of gauze and a wet towel. "I just want to see for myself." He nodded towards John's leg. "So, let's see.."

John slid off his sweatpants. There were scattered spots of dry blood on the bandage but nothing else and nothing fresh. That was a good sign. He unwrapped the bandage around his thigh and revealed the gauze underneath. There was a lot more blood on the gauze, but it was dry. He started to pull away the gauze and Robert grimaced at the wound that it was covering.

"John..."

John looked up at him. "Razor wire. Langston wrapped it around my leg, twisted it and then yanked it out..." He looked down at his thigh and shook his head, trying to push back the memory of what happened. "I never want to feel that again."

Robert put his hand on John's shoulder. "You won't..it's over." He pulled a desk chair over and sat in front of him. "C'mon lets get you cleaned up." He handed John the damp towel and watched as John, gently, went over his wounds with it. Robert thought it looked good. It wasn't red or inflamed. There was nothing oozing from anywhere and his stitches looked good. They worked in silence. John laid down the gauze while Robert wrapped the bandage back around it, to hold it all in place.

"That wasn't so bad," John said relieved. The way he felt, he was expecting it to look a lot worse.

Robert put the discarded gauze in the wastebasket and brought the towel to the bathroom. He came out with a bottle of Motrin and a glass of water. He noticed John's medications on the dresser and picked out the pain killer. He gave John the water, then shook two Motrin into his hand. "For your fever." He told him. "You just felt warm, but in your condition, warm can get hot quickly if you don't take care of it." After John swallowed the Motrin, he gave him two Percocet.

"Robert-"

Robert knew what he was going to say. "Don't worry about Jessie. If she's not up here in an hour I'll go down and get her myself, I Promise."

"Okay, fine." John knew he wasn't going to win. "I'm only taking one though." He put a tablet on the table by his bed and took the other one. He swung his leg up gently and settled into the bed. "An hour, right? You promised."

"I did...and I will." Robert walked to the doorway and turned around. He watched John until his eyes closed. "Sleep well, John." He stepped out of the room, turning off the light and closing the door behind him.


Jessie was torn between wanting to leave and needing to stay, because of John. She had stopped drinking. Her talk with Robert had sobered her up some and she lost interest in it, besides she started to feel a bit queasy. She was going to need something, though, before she went back to the penthouse. Before she went any further into the next few days. She looked at her phone. If she called, who she was thinking about calling, Joey would lose it. Robert would be everything...sad, angry, disappointed. And Brian would probably kill him, something he's wanted to do for a long time. She didn't have much choice though. There was no time to chase something down and even if she did, she didn't know anyone she could trust to keep it quiet. He would have something for her and he could get it to her asap, so she picked up the phone and called him.

Jim Callahan pulled up in front of her building and parked. She watched him get out of the car as the valet approached him. He nodded towards Jessie, who was sitting on a bench, slipped the guy a couple of bills and ran over to her.

"Thanks for coming, Jimmy. This is probably the last place you-"

"Jesus, your gonna catch your death out here. Are you crazy?" The first thing Jimmy had noticed was that she wasn't wearing a jacket or shoes and the air was damp and cold from the rain that would soon fall. He took off his jacket and tried to give it to her, but she shook her head, so he sat down next to her. "You okay?" He touched her hand. "Jessie, you're cold."

"It feels good."

"Let's go inside."

"I thought you didn't want to meet inside. You don't want anyone to see you with me. Isn't that what you said?"

"After this morning, can you blame me? Your boyfriend wants to kick my ass and I'm not looking to be pounded into the floor by Kerrigan. That guy has had it out for me since he found you that day and you know it."

Jessie nodded. "I know."

"Exactly. And as much as I don't wanna trade punches with Joey or pulverized by Kerrigan, I definitely don't want you to get sick and wind up back in the hospital you just left." He took her hand and stood up, pulling her with him. "C'mon let's go inside."

They went inside and she led him to the bar. "You want a drink?" She asked as they sat down at a table. He shook his head. She shrugged and motioned the waiter over to order something for herself.

Jimmy was watching her. He could tell she had been drinking and she didn't look well, but he still couldn't keep her eyes off her. He loved her. They had dated in high school until their senior year, but it had all fallen apart when she cleaned herself up after the overdose. After that, Patrick made sure she stayed away from anyone that was going to pull her into that life again. Any time he could spend with her, without Joey or Patrick's goons were around, was a gift. When she finally looked at him, he smiled. "So, what do you need? More Provigil?"

"Something better." She told him. "Stronger."

"I have some Molly."

Jessie thought about it for a minute. She had taken Molly before, back in her days with him, and although it would do what she needed, it had other effects she didn't want. She shook her head. "No, Dad's service is tomorrow, I don't wanna act like I'm at a rave."

"Good call." After giving it some thought, Jimmy reached into one pocket, then another. He leaned across the table, took her hand in his and slipped two small bags into it discreetly. "One is Provigil. I figured that was what you were gonna as for. The other bag is 30mg Adderall. My own personal stuff. it will do what you want. Start with one and see how it works for you and go from there. Takes about an hour to really kick in, if you swallow it. Works faster if you inhale though, that's what I do."

Jessie put the bags into her pocket. "Thanks, Jimmy."

He reached for her hand again. "I'm happy to help. I miss you."

Jessie knew he still had feelings for her, so as not to encourage him, she gently pulled her hand away. "Jimmy-"

He smiled at her, to let her know it was okay. "I know, I know. Joey right? Well, I just hope he knows what he has and how lucky he is to have it."

She started to correct him. She wanted to tell him she was the lucky one, not Joey, but he didn't want to hurt his feelings.

After a moment of awkward silence, Jimmy stood up. "I should go before someone from my fan club shows up."

Jessie couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. Okay." Then seriously. "Thank you for helping me out Jimmy."

He walked around to her side of the table, leaned down and kissed her cheek. "If you need anything else, call me."

"I will. Thanks again."


Tbc...