Finding Jess (First Wave)

by Mikayla Lane

  “To me that says we not only won, but we are way ahead of this, because of Jax and her unconventional plan. No, I didn’t know all of it. I couldn’t. And neither could any other Valendran, including both of you.” Reven tried to defend Jax.

  “And Jess was still taken and could have been killed!” Banatar began, but was interrupted when Jess and Amun came in the door.

  “We don’t mean to interrupt you, but Jess has something to say about that.” Amun said, letting Jess into the conference room ahead of him.

  “I’m so sorry. But I had to do it.” Jess walked past Amun and immediately fell into Jax’s arms.

  “It’s ok honey. I had already expected exactly what happened, and you did wonderful! You were so brave!” Jax gave Jess a genuine hug in response.

  “Please don’t blame Jax for my mistake. Please. I wasn’t supposed to be there. She had told one of the other girls to be me, knowing that I… they would be taken. I couldn’t let someone else take the chance meant for me. Please understand it wasn’t her. I had to do this; I had to prove I could be strong enough.” Jess couldn’t help it; she started to cry. Amun put his arms around her and held her tight, giving her his strength.

  “Jess, you had nothing to prove to anyone. You’ve done more for our women than anyone else other than Banatar himself, why would you think you had to risk your life again?” Ivint asked gently, not wanting to upset Jess any more than she seemed to be already.

  “Because, I had to know I could be a good enough mother for Lily; that I could not only protect her with my life, but that I could be worthy of having her… and Amun.” Jess admitted so quietly everyone had to strain to hear her.

  “Oh Jess… you have more courage than any warrior I have ever met. I am more than honored to have earned the right to have someone so beautiful and courageous by my side.” Amun tried to hide his own tears by hugging Jess to him.

  “Jess, you were a hero just by being yourself. You didn’t need to do this to show who you really are; you already did that. This time… it was my turn to be your hero.” Jax hugged both Amun and Jess.

  Jess pulled away from both of them, wiped her tears as best as she could, and stood as bravely as she could in front of Ivint and Banatar.

  “I would like to formally request leniency for Jax and Reven. Her plan would have been perfect if the right victim had been where she should have been, if it hadn’t been for me. Please… I don’t know what you do to people you think did something wrong… but please don’t do anything to Jax or Reven. Please.” Jess couldn’t continue; her tears made it, so she could no longer speak, and she just clung desperately to Jax and Amun.

  All Jess could think of were the horrible things she suffered through whenever the Relians in the camp thought she did something wrong. It killed her inside to think that through her actions, she may have sentenced Reven and Jax to those nasty punishments.

  “Jess, I don’t know how much you know about us, but we would never do anything bad to Jax for disobeying orders. She’s like a daughter to me, and she knows it; which is why I yell at her so much.” Banatar tried to smile at Jess, but it didn’t have the effect; he thought it would.

  “Jess, I can’t tell you how much I respect you. If you say you changed Jax’s plans for your own purposes, I believe you. And I will not hold her accountable for your actions. But it does not dissolve her of the responsibility I gave her.” Banatar said with a lot less anger in his voice now as he looked to Ivint for help with the distressed girl.

  “Jess, we do not have the kind of punishments you may be thinking of. They will not be harmed in any way. Ever. I promise you that. But yelling at them… that’s something they are both used to by now.” Ivint said with a sigh and a grin at Reven.

  “Thank you, Sir. Jax… thank you. For giving me back my life. For making me feel like I was strong enough to be a mother. To be a mate. I can never repay you for what you have given me. I can only say that I hope when we finally try to have a ceremony again, that you will not only be there, but you and Reven will be on watch.” Jess held Jax’s hands and glared at Banatar, who sighed in exasperation and threw his hands up in the air.

  “Jess, I never meant for you to go through yet another trial by fire. Your loyalties were known long before you graced our home with your presence. And I truly mean that. If you chose to exert your power, then I refuse to say anything more that may take from you your hard-earned ability. Accept my apologies and my heartfelt wish that you and Amun and Lily live happily.” Banatar was done. It was extremely hard to be angry at Jax when the person they were supposed to protect came to her defense.

  “Thank you Sir!” Jess ran up to Banatar and surprised him with a hug that he returned immediately.

  “You are more than welcome, Jess. I’m sure Maggie might need some help getting the children ready to go if you’re feeling up to it.” Banatar really didn’t have time for this right now and wanted to get as much of this day cleared up before they moved to the warehouse district in Knoxville.

  “I’ll be happy to help, Sir.” Jess allowed Amun to lead her out of the conference room and down the hallways towards Lily and the other children.

  “Sir, if I may be free to speak?” Lt. David Jacobs came in through the open door to the room as well.

  “In Jax’s defense, it was Gibly who recruited me to your cause, not Jax. I didn’t meet Jax until much later, when she decided my particular talents would help you. I’m sorry; I've lost my manners. I m be a little loopy after sitting in that tree for so long. Forgive me. I’m Lt. David Jacobs; I was the one in the tree you met earlier.” David held his hand out to Banatar and Ivint, hoping to save Jax from… he didn’t know what. What the hell do aliens know about honor and why was he trying to save her? He didn’t have a clue, but Gibly smiled at him and that was enough for him.

  “Lt. Jacobs, it is a pleasure to meet you. We can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. I’m sure we can come up with suitable recompense for your time assisting us,” Banatar offered.

  “I would rather appreciate the opportunity to offer you a job. That shot was impressive, and the fact that you avoided detection in that small tree for four days… I am very interested in your work and would like the chance to speak with you more; when time allows of course.” Ivint said to the Navy Seal standing at attention in the doorway.

  “We are, as I’m sure you noticed in the process of moving locations for safety purposes; I was hoping that we could persuade you to come with us and maybe provide us a unique insight into the workings of the military and the American government. If it’s something you are interested in of course.” Ivint knew that any warrior willing to camp out in a tree for four days would be more than happy to learn more about them.

  “I would be honored Sir. Thank you for the opportunity to assist you and your brethren.” David wasn’t sure what else to add. He wasn’t certain if Banatar was playing bad cop and Ivint good cop, but he figured his time to say his peace was over now. Giving Jax a friendly pat on the shoulder, he walked back out of the open door and sat down at the chairs outside of the room.

  “If we are going to talk about my Jax, then I must admit that I was talking to the lieutenant long before I told Jax about him. We bonded before Jax had anything to do with it,” Gibly added to the eye rolling of Banatar.

  “She didn’t need an excuse to be insubordinate! She has always been that way! All you’re doing is giving her a way to escape responsibility by congratulating her!” Banatar may have been less angry, but he was still frustrated.

  “No, you can’t disregard what she has to say because you don’t like it. There have been more times than I can count where I relied on Ivint to trust me, and you have not. You call her your second i command, and you rely on her. But you don’t like the methods that achieve results. You can’t have it both ways. We have delivered to you a traitor, as requested, and another prisoner. Not including the fact that no one was hurt. What more do you expect? Because if it is more than that, we ma
y not be able to comply.” Reven tried one more time to calm Banatar.

  “Lt. Jacobs, you may as well come in now. Your being outside is kind of pointless at this juncture.” Banatar conceded.

  He couldn’t possibly argue the plan when every person had already absolved her of it, and he really thought the plan had been brilliant (what he knew of it anyway). Obviously, he was going to have to have a private talk with Jax regarding all of this. Much later though.

  “Sir, Tricia is on the phone. She says it’s important.” The voice came abruptly over the building intercom system startling everyone since they had become used to using the Valendran comm systems which were much more private.

  “Give me a moment.” Banatar said quickly, grabbing the phone in the middle of the table.

  “Tricia? Yes, I know. The warehouse district. We’re just losing the two then? Yes. Thank you as always, child. Are you and Tristan well? I’m glad to hear it. I’ll see you in a few weeks.” Banatar sighed heavily as he hung up the phone.

  “Well, the government has decided to take this place and our ranch in Oklahoma under an imminent domain. Luckily, it’s only the two properties we have under the same business name, so the warehouse district and the other locations are secure for now. But we do need to hurry if we’re going to get out of here, and to the warehouse before they come to evict us. I suggest we table any more of this discussion until after we’ve resettled everyone at the new facility.” Banatar said, not the least surprised at the government’s antics. This wasn’t the first time that they had claimed imminent domain when they found one of their safe houses, and he figured it wouldn’t be the last either. In this new technology era, it was getting more and more difficult for them to hide from their enemies.

  “Then I suggest we get things packed and transferred as quickly as possible. Risk and Lagor have set up a port station that should be able to take everything but the vehicles. Now that the traitor is no longer a threat, I will have more men sent from Adaria to assist. We can meet again once the location is up and running.” Ivint told them before walking out of the room and dismissing them.

  “So tell me how you trained the birds to attack Atane.” Reven whispered to Jax, wondering what the joke was when she started laughing at him.

  “I didn’t train them; I asked them to do it. My gift is the ability to speak to animals. Probably, one of the reasons Gibly and I get along so well. And I didn’t need you to defend me, you know.” Jax whispered angrily back at Reven.

  “You don’t need anyone to defend you Jax. But a babysitter sounds better every moment.” Reven joked with her and enjoyed seeing her face flame with embarrassment. Realizing she was getting ready to retaliate, he ran to catch up to Ivint.

  “What do you need me to do, Jax?” David Jacobs asked, not quite sure what all was going on.

  “Well we need some help getting the equipment and supplies to the port station. If you don’t mind some pretty back-breaking work?" Jax asked with a smile, knowing full well the man obviously didn’t mind hard work if the bulging muscles on his body were any indication.

  “After being in that tree for four days, I would love to do some physical labor.” David laughed and followed Jax down the hall, Gibly close on their heels.

  Epilogue

  Jess wakened immediately when she heard the tiny footsteps padding lightly to the bed she was sharing with Amun at the warehouse in Knoxville.

  “Come here baby.” Jess leaned up and pulled the covers up so that Lily could climb in with her. Once Lily had climbed in, Jess cuddled the little girl tightly to her and breathed in the wonderful scent of her baby shampoo.

  They’d only been at the warehouse a week, but things had already calmed down into the regular routine the children were used to and things were going very smoothly; all things considered.

  Jess was really glad when she’d found out that Jax and Reven weren’t going to be in trouble for her plan. Apparently, when she was finally able to explain the whole thing to Ivint and Banatar, they were very impressed with the way she had executed it.

  Between having all the women dressed as her to confuse everyone, the way she had created only one feasible way in or out of the compound for the traitor and had it defended to the max, and even her foresight in having Reven bring down Adaria crew instead of trusting the forces already there, had proven to be solid and carefully thought out. Even Lt. David Jacobs was proving to have invaluable insight and knowledge that they needed and had become a permanent member of their slightly ragtag crew.

  Ivint had offered for them to move to Adaria permanently or even Valendra if she wished, but Jess couldn’t bring herself to do it. This was her home; it was all she knew. And even though she’d go anywhere for Amun and Lily, she felt there was more that she needed to accomplish here. She didn’t know what it was, but she knew she was right.

  “How are my girls this morning? And why are we up so early?” Amun asked dragging both Lily and Jess towards him at one time and hugging them both, to Lily’s giggling delight.

  “I couldn’t sleep anymore and missed you. So I came to see if you were awake yet,” Lily admitted with a smile.

  “Oh I see. That’s ok then.” Amun gave his little one a genuine smile, then moved his hips slightly enough for Jess to suck in a gasp as she felt the hard length of his cock pressed up against her back.

  “Lily, why don’t you go see if Maggie is up yet, and if she wants to help us make pancakes for everyone this morning?” Jess suggested, giving Amun a hungry look.

  “Pancakes!!! Yay!!!” Amun waited until he heard Lily bang out of the door to their rooms, before pulling Jess underneath him.

  “I love you so much.” Jess whispered as she leaned up and kissed him passionately, tunneling her fingers through his soft curls to pull him closer.

  “I love you more than life, Amalaya. It may have taken many galaxies to find my heart, but you and our Lily are worth every star I had to pass to get here to find you.” Amun whispered and vowed to show her just how much he loved her as, he started pulling her nightgown off.

  *****

  Banatar paced the new room set up as a conference room in the warehouses that they currently occupied. They bought the entire block of a dilapidated and run down row of warehouses near downtown Knoxville and the Market Square area and converted them to their need's years ago.

  This was the first time they’d ever had to occupy it for more than a few days though; he just couldn’t bring himself to leave the area. Not while Dare was still missing, not while there was even a slim chance, he could get her back.

  He waited silently as everyone else entered the room. Ivint, having just come back from visiting his mate, Sacara aboard the Adaria, sat beside him. Jax, Reven, Niklosi, Simya, Risk, Ivint’s son Scaden and Lt. David Jacobs quickly filed into the room and took seats around the table.

  At Ivint’s nod, Niklosi began, “After interrogating the two prisoners, searching the area and speaking to witnesses, I think it’s safe to say that Dare and Balduen were taken. We aren’t sure if she was heading to this location or not, but Balduen must have spotted her and realized she was one of the gifted women and followed her.”

  “Unfortunately, it seems that whoever she was trying to evade found them both. They were taken away in a black van, with heavily tinted windows and the license plate obscured. There have been no other sightings of them since their initial abduction that we could find.”

  “Sirs? If I may?” David asked Ivint and Banatar. At Ivint’s nod, he continued. “Jax and Gibly told me about Dare, and I called a few of my friends who are also out of the service and working… not so legal jobs in order to survive.”

  “There has been a surge in requests for mercenaries lately, and it appears some of them are from the Relians looking for help in finding and abducting more women… and children.” At their concerned looks, David rushed to reassure them.

  “The majority of us ex-military would never do something to harm a woman or child, and these me
n are not accepting the jobs. However, one man, in particular, that we call ‘Tiny’ was hoping to find out more so that they can neutralize the threat he felt they presented.”

  “He was able to get close enough to a location, here in Tennessee where he saw a woman, fitting Dare’s description screaming out a name he didn’t understand very well as she was dragged from one room to another. He thought she called the man ‘baldy’.” David ignored the startled gasps from around the table and continued.

  “We have the location, and preliminary recon has shown that there is enough evidence to suggest that there are captives being held there. But at this time, we can’t say for sure that it’s Dare and Balduen without further recon and a plan to get inside. Which is where I thought Jax and Reven could help.” David finished shooting a quick wink at Jax, while Reven growled low in his throat at him causing him to laugh out loud. Although he loved irritating the big guy, he truly did admire and respect him.

  “Did she look well?” Banatar asked, trying hard not to hope too much.

  “She looked a little worse for wear, but she was whole and mobile.” David wished he’d had more information for the old guy; he couldn’t imagine having his child go missing; and if the Relians truly did have her, she was in a desperate situation.

  “I want a plan by tomorrow night. Can you do that?” Banatar looked directly at Jax and Reven when he asked the question.

  “We’ll get all the information and get something to you by then.” Jax agreed, looking at Reven’s nod for confirmation that they could do it.

  “I’ll get you the maps and local information on the location and any other Intel I can come up with that may be useful to you.” Risk offered immediately before leaving the room to do just that.

  “You will of course, have full support from us in any way that you need.” Ivint added, placing a comforting hand on Banatar’s shoulder.

  “Thank you. All of you. I just want my little girl back home.” Banatar said before he walked out of the room, the sadness in his eyes tearing at everyone still in the room.