Jemma closed her eyes against the immediate, instinctive, NO! that was her gut reaction to that suggestion, and she tried to think it through. He was right. She’d seen a list of the different laboratories. Splitting up would give them a better chance at finding a functional cure and getting it out there. But being back in a lab and away from Jack would mean she’d be unable to Talk to him. She’d not only be trapped; she’d be alone.
“No,” sent Jack, taking her hand. His eyes were flashing at Myles, and she tried sending him a calming wave of emotion, but her own emotions were unsteady enough that she wasn’t sure whether it worked.
“Do you really think they’d let you be together this time, anyway?” sent Myles. “You escaped together. If you do this, even if they don’t automatically put one of you in a different facility, they’re never going to put you in the same room. They’re not going to risk it.”
“They don’t know we can Talk from different areas of the lab. They might not take the right precautions,” sent Jack. “We’ve got a better chance at this together.”
“They didn’t like you,” sent Jemma, in nearly a whisper. “Whether we end up back near home or in a different facility, they’re going to figure out who we are, if they don’t know from the beginning. And they didn’t like you. You started out fighting, and you didn’t cooperate until I asked you to. I think if we go back together, they’re going to take it out on you.” She turned her head to look at him. “I’m not going to take it very well if that happens.”
“You think it’ll be better if I’m somewhere else?”
“It might be, yes. If I go back home, and you go to a new place. They’ll have the notes, they’ll know who you are, but they won’t have both of us. They won’t have the anger, and they won’t be trying to keep us apart.”
“That’s because we’ll already be apart.” Jack’s jaw tightened and relaxed. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m open to ideas that don’t involve our being captured again,” she sent, appreciating Myles’s continued silence. “But if we’re going that route, as much as I hate it, yes, I think we should split up.”
Jack was quiet for several seconds. “Let’s think it through first. At least for tonight. Can we do that?”
Jemma nodded, and Myles’s phone buzzed. “We’ve got just tonight to really think it through,” he sent. “I’m needed back in D.C. by tomorrow evening. If we’re doing this, I can take one of you with me when I leave.”
TWENTY-SIX
Side Effects
“I don’t feel like I can help with this decision since I’m not the one risking myself,” sent Myles, “and I need to start packing, so I’ll let you two talk. If there’s anything I can do…” He gestured, almost a wave, in their direction, then left the room, shoulders slumped.
“What else is in here?” sent Jack, his mental tone low as he worked through the papers. Jemma moved close enough to look over his shoulder, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs.
“Way too much, really. Nothing that should’ve ever been left where anyone could find it.”
Jack nodded and continued reading as Jemma reread, confirming the information. She felt him tense at several of the same pieces of information she’d lingered over, and when he reached the part about death being likely, she felt him send a surge of denial. “You want to go back into a lab that was willing to continue testing you when they knew it might kill you?”
“If there were a way for us to stop that from happening otherwise? No.” Jemma’s tone was firm, and Jack turned to look at her while she Talked. “If they’d continued to test me after I was passed out? No. But Jack, doing this, it puts us closer to people who know how to save me, closer to a cure, not farther, which is where we’ll be if we keep running. And if they’re waiting for enough information before they release the cure, and I was giving them the most information? Then the best way to speed things up is for me to go back, even if we can’t find a way to release the cure ourselves.” Jack shook his head and went back to reading, flipping to the page that listed the testing facilities. Jemma reached over to point. “Here, look. Where we were being held, it’s one of the few facilities that are working on a cure alongside testing subjects.”
“Lucky.” Jack’s voice was laced with sarcasm.
Jemma ignored him. “It looks like they tried to spread them out. There’s the one on the Gulf Coast, one on the east coast, which I’m sure Myles knew before he suggested one of us come with him tomorrow, and one on the west coast. It looks like they had one near the Canadian border but closed it, along with a handful of others that weren’t researching cures,” she finished, pointing at several marked as permanently closed.
“The budget problems they mentioned, maybe,” Jack suggested.
“That’s something that isn’t addressed as much in here,” sent Jemma. “This definitely feels like it was written by one of the scientists, or a group of them, not by some military officer or government official. Someone who has a lot more first-hand knowledge of what's going on in the labs.”
“So, what, can we trust the information in it?”
“It fits what we know, right?”
“It does.” He set down the papers and leaned back, closing his eyes and reaching for Jemma’s hand. “You’re really sure enough this is our best option that you’re willing to go back to the lab with that sadistic piece of—”
“Yes, I am,” Jemma interrupted, watching Jack. He was keeping his tone neutral, his emotions detached. He was rubbing his thumb along hers, back and forth, the pressure from the tip of his thumb suggesting the action was more to remind himself that she was there than an absent gesture. “Jack, look at me.” He opened his eyes, turning his head toward her, his brown eyes just inches away. “You were the one who said we could get through anything, right?”
“Together. Together was a big part of that, Jemma. I know we can still do what we need to alone, okay? But we’re better as a team.” He shook his head again, without breaking eye contact. “We’ll keep our connection going as long as we can. It’s gotten stronger, I think, and who knows? Maybe we’ll still be able to Talk once we get to the labs.”
She squeezed his hand. “So we’re doing this?”
His mouth twitched in what looked like an attempt to smile. “Yeah.”
“We don’t exactly need to go pack, do we?”
This time, his lips did pull up to one side. “No, I suppose that’s one benefit to traveling light.”
Before she could study the impulse, Jemma leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Jack, the hug awkward thanks to their placement on the couch, knees knocking into thighs, arms locking together. Jack pulled her onto his lap to get a better grip, giving her a moment to pull away before he hid his face in the crook of her neck, his arms pulling her tight against him.
“I’ll miss you,” she sent. There was no way to know, really, how long it might be this time before she would see him again, how long it would be before she’d be free again, before she’d see her family. If all went well, though, then by the time they were out, everything should be back to normal, and everything would have been worth it.
Right?
“Same.” They stayed like that for several minutes, until Jack sent a wave of mild amusement. Jemma pulled back far enough to look at him, eyebrows raised, her hands resting on his shoulders, his at her waist. “One bit of information that got confirmed in that paperwork wasn’t all bad.” He grinned. “We really might be naturally telepathic, without any help. We just didn’t know it.”
“That is kinda cool, I’ll admit,” agreed Jemma. Myles walked back into the room, glancing at them and averting his eyes. Jack’s grip tightened for a moment before he released her, and Jemma shifted back to his side, letting her arm rest against his. He laced their fingers together, and they looked at Myles, waiting for him to speak.
“If one of you is coming with me,” he sent, finally, “I need to make travel arrangements. Or,
rather, I need to make them if I’m going alone. If I’m taking someone, we’ll go by car. Won’t need your ID, that way.”
“Bit of a drive, isn’t it?” asked Jack.
“Twelve hours. We’ll need to leave first thing in the morning.” He looked between the two of them. “Is, I mean, are you…”
“I’ll be coming with you,” sent Jack.
Myles nodded. “And Jemma?”
“I’ll be going back home,” she sent.
“I think,” Myles started, running a hand through his hair, “it’s probably best to let yourself be caught. Going directly to the facility would be a bit suspicious, but if you happen to be somewhere they find you, that might work.”
Jemma nodded agreement, then hesitated. “I’m not sure how I’m getting back. Do I need to do the train thing again?”
Myles shook his head. “I have a second car you can borrow. Nothing fancy, but it’ll work. Just make sure you aren’t anywhere near it when you let yourself get caught, okay? I don’t want my name mixed up in this.”
“That’s fine,” she agreed. “I appreciate the loan.”
“I’ll make sure the tank is full. That should be enough to get you there. Do you have some money in case something comes up?”
“You should take the cash,” sent Jack. “I’ll be with Myles until we get there.”
“It might take longer for you to get caught, though,” she sent. “They shouldn’t be looking for you so far from home.”
“She has a point,” sent Myles, turning to pace. “How do we get you caught without making it obvious you were trying?”
“Public library,” sent Jack. “Public library, borrowed computer, unprotected search. Something stupid and obvious on a public forum. They’ve never shown any interest in my computer skills. I don’t think they’d look too hard at catching me that way. At least not immediately.”
“Right then.” Myles rubbed his hands together. “The least I can do is offer you dinner. Local pizza place is used to me ordering extras and wouldn’t think anything of me ordering enough for three. What sounds good?”
“Before we do that,” Jack sent, “there’s something else.” Jemma looked at him, then at Myles, who shifted, waiting. “We understand that you don’t want to risk yourself, but you’re letting us do it, instead. Keeping an eye and an ear out is great, and we can’t thank you enough for the monetary help.”
“But?” The senator’s tone was laced with apprehension.
“But I’m not okay with agreeing to all but walk back in there and just be left in those places indefinitely. I want to know that you’re doing whatever you can out here to help us, and that if we don’t make it back out eventually, you’ll do whatever it takes, even if it means going public, to get us out of their hands.”
Jemma rubbed her arm. Myles’s attempt at lightening the mood had been completely shoved aside by Jack’s request, and the two men stared at each other. His request was reasonable, though, and it made her feel a lot better about proceeding.
“Okay,” sent the senator, finally, and some of the tension in the room faded. “How long, then, if I don’t hear from either of you? Another month? How long are we talking about, here?”
Closing her eyes, Jemma tried to imagine having to cope with the facility and the people in it for another month. Judging by Dr. Harris’s and Josh’s reactions, they’d only just started to see progress before she and Jack had left, so any shorter felt like a gamble. A month, though, had been long enough for her to collapse once; how many more times would she be signing on for if she agreed to a second, especially without Jack’s connection as an occasional buffer?
“What about two weeks?” she sent, opening her eyes and looking at Jack. “Two weeks, with us helping as much as we can. It sounds like the cure is almost ready, so hopefully, that’s enough time. If it’s not, I think by that point, maybe it’s your turn.” She shifted her gaze to Myles. “You’re not ready now, but things are getting worse. If we haven’t found a way to handle it ourselves within two weeks, can you be our backup?”
Jaw clenched, Myles nodded. “I’ll do everything I can out here and hope to God you get things settled before then. If all else fails, I’ll be ready to go public in two weeks.”
***
“It feels like we’re forgetting something,” sent Jack before they fell asleep, his arm wrapped around Jemma. “I can’t think of anything that we haven’t gone through, I just can’t quite shake the feeling. I think it’s because we’ll be leaving you behind. Are you still awake?”
Head tucked low on her arm, Jemma sent a wave of acknowledgment. “I’m pretty sure we’ve thought through all we can. We looked at the most recent layouts for the buildings, different areas to wait. We have our bags packed, so we’ll have them from when we leave until we get recaptured.” She felt his hand twitch against her side. “I’m not used to being the one who’s calm right before we do something.”
“Well, I’m used to you being amazing, so it doesn’t surprise me anyway.” His silent chuckle sent his warm breath moving against her neck. “I wonder whether we’d ever have figured out the telepathy thing. I mean, this enhanced it, but we spent enough time in the same building. It’s possible we’d have accidentally Talked eventually.”
Memories from before the Event seemed like they belonged to a different person. Jemma had been aware of who Jack was, a regular patron she saw multiple times a week, but she hadn’t even recognized his voice. Would they ever have connected well enough to figure out they could get along, never mind that they shared the ability to communicate telepathically?
“I guess it was an accident when we did finally Talk,” she reminded him, prompting another laugh. “You thought I was a ghost, and I thought I was going insane.”
“Mmm. That’s something that turned out better in reality, on both accounts.”
“Even with all this that’s going on?”
He fell silent. “Well, it’s not like I like the whole world-at-risk thing, or not being able to see my dad. But if anyone can get through this, we can, and if we get through this, it was definitely worth it, to be able to meet you, to get to know you like I do.”
“And if we don’t make it?” Her mental voice was almost a whisper.
“If we don’t make it,” he sent after a few seconds, “then I was probably screwed anyway, and I’m grateful for the time I got to spend with you.”
Another minute of quiet passed. “Are you going to be all right?” asked Jemma. “You kept shutting down tonight, earlier.”
She felt him tense against her for a second before he relaxed again with another breath of air against her neck. “Like I said, we’ll get through this. It’s just that in the meantime, I was upset. I don’t like this, you know? Splitting up, not being there to keep each other safe. When I’m upset like that, I know I can’t keep it from showing when I have our connection wide open, so yeah. I was shutting it down.”
“You don’t have to, you know.” She paused. “Sometimes I think you know what I’m feeling before I even know, even without the connection, and I’ve never been that great at reading people. I like that I can feel what you’re feeling. Even if you’re upset.”
After a moment, she felt him widen their connection, letting more of his emotion show. He was hesitant, unsure. His reluctance to separate from Jemma was only marginally outweighed by his trust. Throughout all of this was a strong thread of affection and understanding.
“Thank you,” she sent.
The connection narrowed back to its normal trickle, through which he sent a familiar wave of affection, echoed by the tightening of his arm around her. “Any time.”
***
“You take the phone, too,” sent Jack, handing her that and the cash. “I’ve got the text account on the laptop and can make more of those if I need to.” He looked toward Myles, already sitting in the driver’s seat of one of his cars. He’d pulled a second into the driveway for Jemma, handing her the keys with a brief handshake before
leaving them to say their goodbyes in the early morning light. “I still don’t like splitting up.” His lopsided grin told Jemma he wasn’t trying to argue, and she stepped closer to give him a hug. “Drive safely.”
“I will. We’re staying in touch as long as we can, remember? Assume that a dropped connection means the other was taken.”
“Right.” Jack squeezed her a little tighter before pulling back far enough to cup her face. She leaned forward to drop a light kiss on his lips, trying not to get distracted by the resulting surge in emotion, grinning at the surprised smirk he wore when she stepped back. “All right, Myles looks like he’s getting impatient.” Jack hugged her one more time before walking to the car and climbing in the passenger seat. As soon as he’d had time to buckle, they pulled away.
Jemma watched them leave before getting into her own borrowed vehicle. She took a moment to ground herself before starting it, smiling at the simple freedom of being able to drive a car again. She pulled forward and out onto the street, ignoring her destination and instead focusing on the open road ahead and on the comforting presence of Jack’s mental hand in hers.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Apart
Jemma turned up the volume on the radio when she was finally within reception range of her favorite station.
“It feels way more relaxed in your car than it is in ours,” sent Jack.
“Traffic?” she asked. “Or just tense?”
“Just tense. I think our senator feels pretty guilty. He’s barely talking, and every time he does, he manages to include an apology. We’re making pretty good time, though. Should end up there a bit ahead of schedule.”
“That’s good.” Jemma glanced at the mile marker as she passed it. “I’ve got maybe an hour and a half left.”
Listen (Muted Trilogy Book 2) Page 18