Chapter 68

When Hunter returned to the office, he was uncharacteristically quiet; a nice contrast to the rage he had previously exhibited. He had thought it over and was annoyed with himself for reacting the way he did. Jessie's explanation was perfectly logical. However, Hunter still had a niggling doubt about Alan's innocence. Although he did not know the man well, Hunter knew he felt intense hatred towards Alan - this was fuelled mainly from jealousy. 'Pull yourself together, man," he told himself.

OoOoO

By the following week, Hunter was acting as if nothing had happened. The bruise beneath Jessie's eye had almost completely faded. In the first days following his outburst, he noticed his colleagues were keeping their distance. He had frightened them. He decided to restore his – what he saw as friendship- to Anna and Jessie. They were hesitant at first but welcomed how calm he seemed. They hoped that this would be the end of the drama surrounding their colleague.

OoOoO

Cleo rocked her baby back and forth gently, smiling down at him. Lewis sat down beside his wife, putting his arm around her. She leant over and kissed him. Lewis stoked Hayden's cheek.

"It seems like just yesterday he came into the world," Cleo said quietly. "I can't believe it's been a year."

OoOoO

A few days after Hayden's first birthday, Jessie was having an extremely boring day at work. Anna was out surveying for a client and Hunter was in a consultation. Jessie was writing an extremely dull report. While she was thinking, she moulded water from her glass into bubbles and other shapes before guiding it towards her mouth. Little did she know that Hunter's consultation was shorter than normal. Hunter entered the room to their office. Jessie had not noticed that he had arrived. He watched in awe. Was she superhuman? The way she was controlling the water was as if he had just walked into a comic strip. He closed the door quietly and came closer, watching her hand's movements. Jessie stopped abruptly, feeling his presence behind her. She turned around.

"How long have you been here for?"

"I just arrived." Hunter replied. Jessie realised that he had probably seen a lot more than she'd like. He sat down at his desk. He had a silent look of wonder on his face. Was it all his imagination? It seemed unlikely. He had to ask although he knew she would probably deny it.

"Jess, be honest with me; did I just see that?"

"See what?" she feigned innocence.

"That water…you were controlling it." Hunter said.

"It must've been your imagination," Jessie replied. "Magic doesn't exist." Her façade was good. It almost convinced Hunter – but he knew what he saw.

"Right, my imagination…" he trailed off. He was looking at her with an analytical stare.

'At least he isn't going to confront me right now,' Jessie thought. She breathed a mental sigh of relief. 'How could I have been so stupid? I should have realised he could have returned at any moment.' She knew she would have to be on guard from now on. Hunter was suspicious and he would not give up until he had found something.

OoOoO

Jessie left work that day feeling awful; nervous and angry. She was angry with herself for being so careless. How could she have put herself in this much danger?

OoOoO

Anna had returned from surveying just after Jessie had left. Hunter was sitting at his desk examining an empty glass of water. He had a contemplative look on his face. Anna was packing up the last of her things when Hunter broke the silence.

"Anna, have you ever noticed anything weird about Jessie?"

She looked at him, a puzzled look on her face. What had triggered this?

"Weird? No. Why?" Hunter paused before answering.

"I have reason to believe that Jess is hiding something from us,"

"Of what nature?"

"I don't know yet," Hunter replied. "But I'm going to find out."

OoOoO

Rikki entered her bathroom and ran the cold-water tap until the bath was about a quarter-full. She then heated the water herself. She reached in and felt the temperature. Perfect. She quickly grabbed a towel and dried the water off before she had time to transform.

"Zane!" she called, "The bath's ready!"

Fi was pulling herself across the carpet on her stomach when Zane picked her up and carried her to the bath. Zane began to bathe his human daughter.

"She's getting big, isn't she," Rikki mused. Zane nodded with a laugh. Alex and Jay ran past the door giggling cheekily. 'Little troublemakers' Zane thought with a smirk. They definitely took after him. Suddenly, a bright electrical current raced across the water of the bathtub, zapping him away from his daughter. Rikki was eternally thankful that Fi could sit up without support at this point in her life.

"Zane!" she exclaimed. He was sprawled out on his back, unconscious. His clothes were sparking. "Please be okay," she said. She slowly began to draw the last of the electrical current from his body. She had developed the power to take away electricity as well as create it, just as she could do with fire. Rikki plucked Fi from the bath and placed her on the bathmat before lying down to transform without pain. She dried herself as quickly as possible calling to Cleo via mind speak to come and help. As a human once more, Rikki checked Zane. His breathing was shallow. He was still alive. Alive but unconscious. Cleo and Lewis came running.

"He's knocked out!" Rikki exclaimed hysterically.

"Rikki, panicking is not going to help him – tell us what happened," Cleo said calmly. She was feeling anything but. We were bathing Fi when a huge electrical current surged through th- the water and knocked him out."

"And Fi was in the water at the time?" Lewis asked.

"Yes," Rikki replied. Cleo and Lewis looked at the six-month baby who was pulling herself along the floor.

"But she's unaffected…" Cleo said. "Surely if she had been in the water…"

"Let's figure that out later, what do we do about Zane?" Rikki interrupted. "I've drawn the current from him so he's safe to touch,"

"We need to take him to the hospital," Lewis said simply.

A/N: Well, that was an action filled chapter! :P Don't hate me for the cliffy - I'll update soon. I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyway. Please tell me what you think.

Thanks so much for all the support - its really flattering. This story would've ended ages ago if not for reviews and all you supporters.

Thanks especially to the following for reviewing the previous chapter. It means a lot. (I know I say it everytime but it truly does.)

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