The First Age

Jay was uncharacteristically calm. Maybe it was the relief that Cayli was actually saved. Like whatever threat pounded down the door was minuscule in comparison. The door opened. He breathed. A flutter of white. Black shoes. Slender. Badges on his pocket. Stethoscope draped at the collar. A doctor. Diaz was sewn into the breast pocket of his jacket.

Jay's relief was palpable. Mid-50's with a smooth, hard face and high cheekbones. His eyes pierced like swords. When he found Jay's eyes, his expression flickered like he bit back what he was about to demand in exchange for something else. 

He tried to shoulder his way past Jay. The attempt did not go well for him. 

Jay put a hand on the man's chest. "Can I help you?" His stance was a wall this man was plain unable to breech. The doctor met Jay's gaze, clearly unaccustomed to being restricted from his own patients.

"I should ask you the same thing." He stated, setting his jaw. But the longer they looked into one another's eyes, the man seemed to relent. 

He shifted just enough to take up a less-threatening posture. 
"Cayli, are you alright? What's going on?" He called over Jay's shoulder, peering suspiciously into the room. 

Jay let the man pass.

Cayli brightened. "Nothing Dr. Diaz," she smiled at Natalie like secrets were shared between them. "My brother came to visit," she pointed. 

Jay smirked, lifting his hands in acceptance of the label. The rest of his worries were buried deep. This doctor was just a normal doctor. Nothing unusual about him. Except for the fact that he hospitalized a teenager for a cancer she obviously didn't have.

Mom and dad showed up at the door just then, peering in, watching. Jay waved them to quiet.

Dr. Diaz seemed unsure of the completion of his patient's explanation, however. He stalked around the bed, checking monitors and examining the bags slung from their poles.

A frown seemed to take him, then. Like he didn't understand what he was monitoring. He tapped out new commands on the screen, fingers flying over the prompts effortlessly. When the technology repeated the same findings, he frowned, leaned in and placed a hand on Cayli's forehead himself.

He faced them once more, but swallowed what was clearly on the tip of his tongue.

"Visiting hours aren't until 9 am." He stated, matter of fact despite the licking of lips, "you should both return later." 

Cayli shrugged without a care in the world, now. Jay, however, knew something wasn't right with this guy. He stared as the doc departed almost as swiftly as he entered.  

Jay glanced at Natalie, nodding, hoping she'd understand the request that she keep Cayli safe until he returned. Then a deft spin, and Jay chased after the doc. 

"Hold up a sec," he called, jogging briefly to catch him before he dodged into the stairwell. He glanced apologetically at Jensen as he passed.

The man didn't stop. Which was weird. 

Lines of power streaked forward. The doc tripped and caught himself on a handrail just before reaching the first step.  The metal door banged into place just after Jay slipped through. 

Diaz dusted himself off, squared his shoulders and faced Jay like he was completely not freaked out by what was going on. 
"What can I do for you, Mr. Carpenter?" 

A morbid smile tugged the corners of his mouth. "It's Lieutenant, actually." It slipped out barely before her realized what was said. Was he technically a lieutenant any more? 

The doc swallowed.

Jay physically blocked the doctor from entering until Cayli's recognition granted him passage. Natalie watched impassively as he squeezed himself in, choosing to stay put at Cayli's beside -- aside from to shift so she wasn't in the way while he completed a series of checks. After a moment his brow furrowed low, clearly aware that something in his patient had changed; but rather than confront the issue, he retreated hastily. He didn't even pause to ensure they left as requested.

Jay flashed her a look before he belted after him, his parents left reeling in the doorway. His dad's angry voice rang after him, demanding to know what he thought he was doing, while his mother's softer tones tried to placate. They began to argue the virtues of hurrying after and halting whatever foolish thing their son planned to do next. 

Natalie's expression stilled carefully as she realised she'd been left to the mercies of Jay's family; a stranger not entirely welcome amongst them.

Cayli seemed unperturbed, though. "So are you dating my brother?" 

She turned. Brief surprise registered at the question. Cayli's cheeks were still gaunt, her pallor still pale, but the life burst brilliant in her expression. Warm curiosity overspilled as, beneath the rough hospital blankets, her knee began to bounce with familiar restlessness. Natalie smirked as she pressed a hand to still it. She chose to answer the question she assumed Cayli was actually asking. "We worked together in Africa while I was teaching in a school outside Freetown. I'm here as an ambassador of sorts, to keep your brother out of trouble. Or try to." 

Cayli leaned in, one eye on her bickering parents. "See, Anna Marie works here now. She was his old girlfriend, and I know he was looking at rings before he left 'cus I.. uh.. well, anyway. And I just thought. You know, that maybe." Her bright blue eyes widened with the implication, until her earnestness faltered like a lead balloon. Realisation crowded her brows together in disappointment. "But... but he won't stay, will he. Not even if she forgave him." 

Natalie softened as Cayli's shoulders slumped, though the set of her gaze spoke more of determined frustration than defeat. It seemed Jay's little sister was a fierce one.

"He can't stay, Cay," she said gently. "It doesn't mean he doesn't want to. But we have some time, I promise." Obligations waited back home; Brandon had made that crystal clear. But Jay deserved this small sliver of happiness, and Natalie meant to ensure he took it -- personal cost to her or no. More to the point, she wondered if Iowa was really the best place to leave Cayli if her parents couldn't accept what she had become. Today's efforts nudged her from death's path, but being a channeler brought its own obstacles. And dangers.

Jay's mother finally bustled in, apparently having won the brief dispute. Her gaze washed over Natalie like a complication she chose not to acknowledge, pressing her palm to Cayli's head just as the doctor had done. "The preacher is a nice man," she was saying to her husband. "I've asked him to pray for our Cayli." Jay's dad only grunted as he followed her in, but she ploughed on regardless. "He's from the television, David. If God listens to anyone, it's Jensen James." 

"And who are you?" The words fired cold and abrupt. Jay's dad stared the question down, perhaps expecting Natalie to wilt beneath the crush. She did not take offence, though she was aware in her peripheral that Jay's mother's lips pursed tight -- discomfort or disapproval. Her pale gaze steadied the accusation in his. She considered the best answer to give.

But it was Cayli who spoke first.

"This is Natalie. She's a teacher. In Africa, dad."

His eyes swerved to his daughter, but the thick lines of his face remained rigid. His arms lay folded. Outside of the Custody was clearly what she meant, but it did not seem to sway him. "Thought you said you were leaving."

"But they only just got here!"

"Cay, you should be resting, sweetie," her mother interjected. She smoothed the hair from Cayli's face, still slick from sweat. Cayli pulled her hand away.

"But mom, I feel okay right now. Shouldn't we make the most of that? Please, daddy, I really want them to stay. I haven't seen Jay in more than a year!"

Rubbing her daughter's fingers, Jay's mother peered up a curious gaze then. Her tears had dried around red rimmed eyes, slightly swollen. She was the kind of thin that spoke of long vigils; of a life carved to a standstill around her daughter's illness. Perhaps she studied the shadows beneath Natalie's own eyes in turn, for her gaze suddenly jumped up in alarm. 

"Sweet mercy, did you all come here straight from the airport? Pastor James, can we get you anything? You must think us so rude!"

"It's a hospital not a damn party, Caroline."

"Which is no excuse for bad manners."

In her bed Cayli grinned and patted Natalie's hand.

[[Not sure if Jensen followed in; if he didn't I'll amend accordingly]]

Jay let himself sink against the stairwell door, crossed his arms and let the doctor squirm for a bit. The guy, although older with flecks of gray at his temples, was immaculately well-groomed. Maybe it was typical slick-doctor fashion, but he seemed out of the element for rural Iowa. Expensive products oiled his hair. His watch flashed like money. Light knows he didn't buy those shoes at the Des Moines mall. No wedding ring. So nothing or no one to tie him down to the region. His right hand had a gaudy gold ring, though. Probably some kind of med-school class-ring.

He did a pretty good job not fidgeting around beneath the scrutiny of Jay's study. He gave the man credit for that. And he covered up Cayli's entire Sickness, so he was ballsy. Jay was willing to give him a chance to dig his way out of the shit-up-to-his-eyeball pool he found himself swimming in.

"How long have you been my sister's doctor?"
It wasn't the question Diaz expected. He blinked silently a moment. "I met her a few days ago when she was admitted." The muscles in his cheeks flinched with a tight jaw. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go--" he started to descend the stairs. Jay didn't so much as move to chase him down. 

The poor guy was rather jarred when he walked straight into an invisible sheet of glass. He caught himself, dropping the things in his arms in the process. A pad toppled to the platform with a loud thud. 

The doc palmed at the invisible barrier a moment, then spun and glared up at Jay. Who was still leaning against the door unmoved but for feet crossed at the ankle now. He grinned.  The doc growled in annoyance, but slowly ascended the steps to carry on their conversation. The guy was clearly nervous, but damn, Jay kind of admired his backbone.

"And how soon after admitting her did you realize she had the Sickness?"  Jay waited patiently for an answer. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do with the information when it was provided. But he had to know how much this guy knew. What exactly did he intend to do with Cayli as she died in her bed of fevers and power?  

A device at the man's belt beeped. He glanced at the message, "I have to go now, Mr. Carpenter," he attempted to collect what he dropped, but the same impenetrable barrier remained. 

"Lieutenant. And how soon after, did you say?" Jay repeated.

The doc's chest swelled as he realized how quite literally he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He quickly climbed the stairs and rejoined Jay. When he spoke, he dropped his voice low like someone might be listening. "I knew what it was. She's not the only one that I've seen or heard about. These kids sometimes go missing after their diagnosis is registered with the CDC. I didn't want that to happen to her. So I played along with it. Does the Lieutenant find that answer satisfactory?" 

Jay held the man's gaze throughout an eruption of fresh beeps. The explanation made sense despite something about the man that didn't quite sit just right. Jay couldn't pin down what it was, though. Without any specific reason to push him farther, he nodded that the guy go on his way. 

Diaz sniffed in annoyance, grabbed his stuff and flew down the stairs, silencing the beeps as he went.  Jay, hand on the door handle, stopped himself from opening it. Stupid, senseless maybe, but something about that doctor wasn't quite right. Nobody was that altruistic. 

He flew down the stairs himself and stopped at the first-floor entrance. The air down here was fresh and crisp, not stagnant, uncirculated, utility-room air. 

The doc didn't go this way.  Jay shook his head, cursing himself for not following his instinct. The guy went outside. 

So much for the urgent beeps.

He pressed himself against the wall and gently cracked the door. The doc wasn't outside. In fact, he was't on the sidewalk either. 

He slipped out, eyes scanning the adjacent parking lot when the soft smack of a car-door being closed crept into his hearing.

He hurried toward it, circling around and approaching from behind until he came upon the shadow of a head sitting in a new Porsche. Nice car. Oddly out of place, again. But nice. Jay crouched behind a nearby truck, carefully peering over the hood.

Lines and lines of the power reached into the car as he did. What words were barely muffled were now amplified. Rushed, angry words. He held his breath as he listened.

Jay's mother swept the room with warmth now she had a focus, fuelled by Cayli's turn for the better and perhaps grateful for the distraction. Even his dad bristled less the more he looked to his daughter and absorbed hope for the first time. He sank into one of the chairs, rubbing a weary palm over his face, and let his wife do the fussing. 

Natalie let the normalcy wash over her, careful not to dwell. She could count on one hand the amount of time she'd spent with her own family over the past five years, and it dulled an ache in her chest she wasn't keen to examine. She didn't want to allow herself to feel comfortable here among Jay's. It felt almost like betrayal. 

Her parents once again distracted, Cayli's curious attention rebounded with new gumption. It was the power doing that, Natalie guessed, building quick bridges of sisterhood, or maybe it was simply an outlet for the loneliness ringing her in isolation since her Sickness. Either way she asked a lot of questions, like Natalie was a window into Jay's life. 

"What was it like in Africa?" 

The smile the question evoked was genuine, if a little sad. After the mess she'd left in London, Africa had been like balm to her soul. The country held something of her heart, though still not quite home; even there the roots she cast down, no matter how deep, took only cursory pressure to rip free. Natalie twisted to pull her wallet from her jeans pocket and offered out an image. It thudded a pang in her chest that curled away like smoke. 

"This was St. James."

"Was?" Cayli eagerly pulled the tech onto her lap, peering curiously at the flat, red brick building and its painted cross. Natalie hadn't intended for her to pick up on the past tense, but once confronted she didn't shy away from it either. She appraised an answer, quite sure Jay would not want to field questions about Masiaka from the mouth of his innocent little sister. But in the end she was blunt.

"Life doesn't ways have a happy ending."

"Hmmm." Cayli leaned back, thoughtful. Pillows cushioned her frail shoulders. "Jay doesn't talk about things like that." She began swiping through the images, silent as though unsure whether she ought to press for details, or if she would find herself shut out. After a moment she shot a quick glance at her father before changing the subject, though Natalie doubted it would be forgotten. Amusement lit her grin instead. "Have you got any pictures of my brother in his silly green beret?" 

Natalie smirked but shook her head. The record stopped before that morning she and Azu had discovered Kofi bleeding against the wall. Most of the people in the photos were gone, a fact she didn't feel the need to share. The album was full of bright white grins crowded too close to the lens. Of spraying dust and triumphantly raised arms at the kick of a ball through a stone marked goal. Of wide eyed delight the first time they saw the ocean, and of Azu arms folded, patient and proud. 

She didn't lean in to relive it; those images were too precious to delete, wrapped in genuinely happy memory, but it was sweet enough to hurt and she didn't want to see the ghosts of smiles and promises cut short. The wounds were still too raw.

Cayli grew quiet, absorbed, and Natalie let her mind drift, hoping that whatever hunch Jay chased he would return quickly. A mild headache burned pressure behind her eyes in protest of the scant rest she'd managed during the journey. The tension had flooded out with the relief but it left her on a ledge of exhaustion. That she could deal with; a frequent acquaintance these last few months. But she was desperate for a shower and clean clothes; the grit and grime of travel like a greasy second skin. It began to make her restless. 

Cay glanced up then, her eyes crinkled sly like a secret captured. "You have a message from Jay on here." 

Natalie blinked in surprise. She'd lost the original phone in the tunnels; had forgotten the voicemail would have backed up to her account. She hadn't listened to it again; had no intention to either. The fear in his voice carved a mark on her soul that needed no reminder... and certainly didn't need to be shared with his family. Natalie's eyes narrowed, but she seemed more amused than angry that Jay's little sister had used the opportunity to root through her phone. 

She just hoped to God Cayli didn't choose to hit play. 

A brow lifted, teasing disapproval. "I see the nosiness of little sisters is a universal trait."

But Cay only laughed, brushing it off. "You have sisters?" 

Glad of the distraction Natalie leaned in to press the pad of her thumb to homescreen. A flick brought the background image into focus. The ornate gothic architecture of their Swiss home, Alistair's favourite, arched turrets behind them. They sat on a blanket spread out on the grass, bordered by flowers burst forth by summer's touch. Frozen in innocent ignorance of the tornado that would decimate their family less than a year later. 

It was an old photo, Natalie still a teenager; only a matter of years ago, but it felt like another world. Isobel was the only one looking at the camera with a demure and ready smile. Alice laid out on her stomach, their mother's tickling fingers at her ribs trying to coax her upright and sensible for the portrait. Natalie smirked down at her little sister, pale hair shielding half her face, the sheet music in her lap rippling in the breeze. 

Her father wasn't in it, but only because he had taken it. 

It was one of the reasons she treasured it.

"Are you guys like princesses or something?" 

"No, of course not." She laughed at the wide-eyed wonder captured in Cayli's expression, and supposed it really was a million miles away from corn fields. The girl's head tilted around a puzzle. She blinked up at Natalie like she was something strange, but her lips pursed around questions she clearly planned to save for later.

"Mom," she called instead. "I really do feel better. When do I get to go home?"

When Caroline lept to her feet, Jensen followed, but his gaze was pulled in the direction Jay disappeared. Residues of the Gift's echo wafted like a permeating scent, but Jensen was torn between following and remaining. In the end, it was Caroline's concern over Cayli that made the decision.

When he next saw Cayli, he couldn't help but stare. The young lady seemed transformed in the past few minutes. The sickly girl was replaced with a vibrant teenager, whose personality was infectious (no pun intended). Jensen found himself chuckling along with her fussing over Natalie. 

Frankly, she posed questions that Jensen himself also wondered. Jay and Natalie chatted on the journey, but many details were obscure. She shattered the tension that previously choked the room of all mirth. Jensen nodded along in agreement with her request. 

"I assure you, there is nothing wrong with her." He almost couldn't believe it unless he witnessed the miracle himself. There was no explanation. He presented himself to Caroline, aware of the father's hesitation. Secrets permeated this family thick as blood, that much was obvious, especially to one who bore such secrets in years past, but hope crept in like light between dark clouds. Sometimes, that hope was painful to behold after getting accustomed to darkness.

"Sometimes, when God does answer a prayer, like healing a sick girl for instance, and it actually happens, it can be so unbelievable, that we tend to dismiss the miracle as happenstance. Cayli is well."

"That's what I am trying to tell you!" Dr. Diaz interrupted. Jay could only see an angle of his head, but the man gripped the steering wheel of his immaculate car like he wanted to rip it off and throw it at whoever he was talking to.
"The patient you sent me to monitor is cured. I saw it myself...."
Sent to monitor? Someone sent the doc to monitor Cayli. 
"I don't know. One of them must have guided her through the toxic stage. From what you told me, I gather it was the woman..."

The toxic stage had to be the sickness. While the someone on the other side spoke, Jay quickly pieced together the concept. With the exception of Evelyn Avalon, neither him nor any of the Nine knew a woman channeler. Barely even came up. Running into another guy channeler was rare enough. Like Vanders and Nox tried to tell him, to survive the sickness, you have to consciously seize the source of this power. Natalie walked Cayli through it. But the words she used...Drift.. Let go.. The vaguest suggestion that he let go and drift away in the power would burn him to a cinder. It was almost like Natalie and Cayli had an entirely different power at their reach.  It hit him. So obvious that Jay was washed with waves of stupidity for not seeing it sooner. Men and women couldn't guide each other through grasping the power. Like sensed like kind. Jay would have failed if he told Cayli all the ways he seized the power. She never would have done it and she would have died anyway. That this doctor and his evil overlord also knew it while Jay, an actual channeler, didn't grated like sandpaper on skin. 

"She's useless to us now, and I was certain that she was a key. She survived the sickness so long. I thought it was her youth, too. Fourteen."
A swell of pride filled his chest. Cay was tough as nails. Damn right she was a survivor.

The doctor's voice grew calmer. Perhaps like not all was lost after all. "Yes, I have all her records scans, DNA, samples. I'll submit them to your office as soon as possible. I have no reason to stay now. I'll be in the office tomorrow night, assuming these people have heard of airplanes." 

He started to disconnect when a sudden burst of new information interrupted. "I forgot to tell you, the patient's sibling - I told you about him - can channel." 

Jay was immediately wrenched from his thoughts. Diaz told the someone about him. What did he say?

"Definitely. He used it on me. I knew it when I saw it. There was no doubt. Competent too. Nothing like the waifs and orphans.. not even that one promising subject, that homeless  schmuck.. nothing like we've seen yet.... I don't think I can talk my way into samples from him, Ross. ... I don't know. The girl rambled on about a brother. I never paid attention. Only that he wasn't around. I see why. This one's not a nice guy."

Hey! Jay frowned. 

"I'm leaving tonight if possible. After I send the records, I'm packing my office and coming back."

The call disconnected and Jay slid into hiding as Diaz emerged. He pinched a spasm gripping his neck from twisting around to watch. The door smacked. Diaz hurried back to the hospital to send Cayli's records to someone who by all sounds of it had no business seeing it. 

Jay ducked toward the car. It was locked, of course. Biometric mechanism on the handle. Advanced stuff. Not like the good old days of rigging the handle loose from the window pane. 

He scanned the interior of the car, hand to his eyes. Leather interior. A few personal items. Nothing obviously nefarious. Except an empty diet pepsi bottle. Who drank that shit? Even if it was diet, Jay wouldn't turn one down right then. The darkness of the dashboard hid the identity of the caller. The power buzzed on his periphery. 

Worth a shot.

Earth to ground, spirit to spark, fire to short.. A baseball sized tangle sank into the door handle until it glowed red hot. A flash. Jay winced, but the mechanism failed. He opened the door and slipped into the leather seat like putting on a glove.

Damn that was a nice car.

He checked the perimeter just in case while activating the dashboard system. Last call: ten minutes. Location: Baltimore, MD. A relief it wasn't Arlington, VA. A call to the Pentagon would not have bode well. Contact: Roswell Jenkins.

Jay stared at the name.  It meant nothing to him.  But he memorized as much as he could about the contact in the meantime. Finally, he rifled through the car's compartments. Gum wrappers. A weird necklace that Jay held up to the light only to discard a moment later. But this. This was interesting. A security badge with NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH on the top. 

Maybe this wasn't boding well after all.  He slipped the badge into his jacket pocket and made his way back inside. But not without stopping at a drink machine for a soda. Technically, he carried two in each hand. Something of an offering as he returned to Cayli's room.

The doc was no where to be seen. Presumably he was shooting all kinds of secure shit off to Maryland now. The Jenkins guy was the one in power, though. Diaz was a minion. 

It was like a bubble burst when he returned. Dad looked up with a permanent scowl etched into the weight of his cheeks. Mom was trying to get Cayli to brush the mass of her hair. It was a darker blonde, similar to Jay's, and glossy and thick. Her cheeks were pink now. Her eyes bright. She all but hopped out of bed if she hadn't been tethered to machines when he came back in. 

He grinned at the room, whom collectively seemed to have been holding their breath the entire time he was gone. 
"Which one you want, kiddo?" He offered her the four soda options. She picked the electric yellow one much to mom's horror. Dad took one. Mom waved it away going on about drinking poison. Which was a little dramatic. Jay shrugged and offered the last two to Jensen and Natalie. Probably could have carried enough for everyone if he'd used the power, but given how he might make some poor guy have a heart attack, he opted to wait to being around healthier folks before channeling openly. 

Dad seemed to be staring at him like he was expecting them to pick up their stuff and scoot on out the door right then. Jay just smirked and sat on the foot of Cayli's bed, shoving her foot up and out of the way before he crushed it. 

"Comfortable," he said as his palm bounced on the flimsy mattress sarcastically. "You know, I once slept on a rock in Uganda more comfortable than this." Cayli laughed.

"What's Dr. Diaz been like? He take good care of you?" Jay ignored the others for now. He only had eyes for his little sister. She could lie to anyone except him. For the most part.

She tipped a shoulder. "Yah I guess so. He's funny though. Kept telling me I was a special case. He asked about weird stuff that doctors don't usually talk about."

Jay casually sipped at the drink. "Like what?"

She thought a moment. "Like what my favorite food was. Or if I remember the first time I ever got really hurt as a kid. And my dreams. He asked about my dreams a lot." 

Yep. Definitely some weird cult like shit going on. Maybe he was Atharim? But it didn't make sense. Didn't Atharim want to kill them all off? No snake symbols marked him Atharim.  

He twisted around when a nurse entered the room. She was pretty irritated that there were so many people packed inside. 
"I have your discharge papers, Miss Cayli." She elbowed her way in.

Cayli's grin beamed like the sun. 

"Discharge?! What?" Mom and dad both interrupted. They may fight more often than not, but they agreed Cayli belonged in the hospital.

"Dr. Diaz has discharged her." She said simply and went about disconnecting Cayli from all the equipment and tubes.  Jay opted to give the teenager some privacy so she could get dressed, but his own elated grin equaled hers. 

He downed the rest of the soda, chucked the can in the trash, and found the red face of his father.

"You did something, boy. What did you do? Threaten the poor doc?" Jay blinked. 
"Dad, If I threatened the guy, he'd be signing his soul over to us not signing some paperwork." He smirked, but the morbid humor did not amuse David. "No I didn't do anything." He crossed his arms and glanced down the hall. He'd pay good money to see the doc peek around the corner just then.

Instead, someone else came around the corner.  Two someone elses. 

He stepped around David who was otherwise oblivious to the oddity. Two guys stalked, gaits locked in step. Strong, brick-walls of guys that either spent way too many hours in the weight room or they were professional muscle. Their clothes were far too strategic for comfort. Guys like that did not look at hospital 'anti-gun' signs, shrug and turn around like they weren't allowed to enter. That's not what drew Jay's eye, though.

He recognized one of them: a little shit cousin of Amengual's. He studied every Amengual face he could find on the internet on the plane. Goddammit. That mother fucker.

His heart beat hard as he let the power fill him again and he rubbed his temple. He barely even realized it had been released at some point between the drink machine and Cayli's room. Through the flood, he latched onto the gaze of the nearest one, ready for the merest sign of threat to lash out. Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe he was seeing arrows in the dark.. Don't make a scene. Don't blow up a hospital. 

They did nothing, though. The pair proceeded without slowing. One glanced casually into Cay's room. The other held Jay's gaze like he wanted to crush his throat instead.

When they were gone, Jay hurried back inside, modesty be damned, and helped Cayli pack her stuff. Two minutes later, he was rushing them out to the parking lot, ordering them to fuck the truck and climb in the rental. 

He drove like a bat out of hell out of that parking lot.

Cayli was absolutely ecstatic. Jay was fucking terrified.

She stood from Cayli's bedside once Jay returned, seeking some place beyond his dad's scrutiny and his mum's avoidance. Her presence felt like trespass; she only stayed as long as she did because of Jay's flashed look before he took off, but she weathered the discomfort only as long as she had to. She declined the soda. Whatever had transpired with the doctor, Jay asked odd questions. Her brows tipped downwards, but there wouldn't be any ready answers while his parents were around. In any case, the immediate danger seemed to have passed, and he was here now. She took the opportunity to escape gratefully. 

The air breathed cooler out in the corridor. 

Cayli's questions ruptured old wounds. It was Natalie's own fault, of course; she didn't have to answer any of them. Exhaustion and emotion were a poor mix, the balance of self-control harder to win. She might have helped save Cayli's life, but it only called to question the failures trailing behind. Kofi's bleeding skull. Azu's calm smile as they pulled away from the refinery. He'd believed wholeheartedly in the sorts of miracles Jensen spoke so earnestly of. The two would have gotten along well. 

But God still hadn't saved him. 

She asked directions to the nearest bathroom. The fluorescent tube lights above burned her eyes, though she didn't need to glance in the mirror to know she looked like crap. She ran the water until it iced under her fingertips. Her mother's anguished sobbing was like a knot in her chest, but those burning threads of family were too hot to touch and she didn't want to follow where they led. Eleanor had sounded fine during the second call. Natalie was a shitty daughter, that wasn't exactly news. 

Stop thinking about it. 

It wouldn't normally bother her so much, but fatigue ripped holes in her usual composure; gave room for all those jagged edges to split through, and if she was going to have to wade through that wreckage, light knew she'd rather do it alone. There had to be a motel or something around here; somewhere she could try and sleep it off while Jay caught up with his family. After twenty odd hours travelling packed tight with strangers, some privacy sounded like luxury just then.  

She splashed cold water on her face, ran a palm over the back of her neck. It was shallow aid, but she only needed as much to fortify a mask. Everything else didn't matter much. She finally met the pale gaze of her reflection, loosened her hair and retied it back. Buying time until she felt okay. A shower. Some sleep, hopefully unbroken, and then she would be fine. Even skin-deep strength appeared like strength to everyone else, and that would suffice for now. 

Two men shouldered their way past on her return. "Assholes," she muttered, a sharp glower spiked up at them, acknowledged by neither. Her mood was brittle, easily inflamed by petty nuisances, but it was soon forgotten.

She stepped back into a whirlwind of urgency. 

Natalie knew what they must be thinking. That Jay jumped at ghosts. That the paranoia of war poisoned his brain; made him see enemies where there were none. She flashed a helpless look at Jensen, unsure what had triggered the sudden panic. For as composed as Jay was, it was a military composure. Something had spooked him enough that he needed his family out of the hospital. Now. Yet five minutes ago she'd never seen him smile brighter.

What the hell had happened?

By the time he ordered them into the SUV, his family's truck hastily abandoned, she was moments from digging her heels in; demanding the answers the others had to be wondering themselves. Or his mother and father at least; Cayli just seemed excited to leave, the nuances either lost or ignored. Jensen already expressed his concern. Jay hardly sounded sane. And Natalie's patience ran against razor wire; she hated the loss of control.

Only trust prevented her from sheer stubbornness. But she did catch hold of his arm in the parking lot. Her stare pinned him hard, you need to explain bitten out in harsh whisper before she released him. Fatigue washed her expression transparent; the concern was palpable. An unintended touch of fear ghosted before she blinked away. The last time he fell prey to this kind of blind instinct, he'd confessed to murder and offered himself up as a sacrifice.    

Her jaw hardened as she slipped into the shadows of the car. Her hear beat hard, even if she didn't know why.

This morning she'd woken up with a death sentence. 

And now she'd never felt more alive. 

The car was massive but it was still squishy once they all piled in. Cay couldn't keep the grin from her face even as mom helped pop her seatbelt in like she was five and dad muttered protests up front. They'd barely slammed the doors before Jay squealed them out of the parking lot. 

Idly, she tried to find the light again, until Natalie's elbow nudged her in the ribs. "Later." The woman didn't turn round, her eyes following the zip of scenery outside instead. Though there was a vacancy there too, like she wasn't really seeing anything at all. Her hair fluttered in a cracked draft from the window. 

She might as well have been made from ice. Though maybe that was a good thing. It didn't seem to bother Natalie that mom acted like she was invisible, or that dad's eyes narrowed with suspicion every time they strayed to her face in the rearview mirror. Mom fawned over Jensen James like he was the second coming, but the warmth of her introductions had only peripherally included their other guest. She wasn't rude of course. Mom was never rude. But. Well. Considering what Jay must have brought her here to do. 

It itched like an itch Cayli couldn't scratch keeping her mouth shut. 

Because why wouldn't she want the accolade? And why shouldn't she tell mom and dad what had happened? 

It made no sense! 

Though none of it really did. 

The woman had said she was an ambassador, whatever the hell that meant, but there was a giant leap to that from a teacher in Africa. Cayli had questions, enough she was fit to burst, but she wasn't stupid enough to ask them in front of her parents. NO ONE needed to be treated to the latest episode in dad's Why Russia is the Enemy of the World tirade. Especially since it seemed Jay was mixed up in his eyeballs with the CCD if he had to have an AMBASSADOR just to visit home.  

No one ever told her anything anyway. Even though she wasn't an eleven year old kid any more. 

Jay and dad acted like they were enemies, falling right back into old routines, but she knew how quickly it could escalate. Mom and dad didn't have to let Jay stay. She had no intention of throwing gasoline on that fire by bringing up the Custody. Or magic powers. Or why the hell they were speeding like a hell mouth just opened up right under their feet. 

She didn't even ask why Jay brought up so many funny questions about Doctor Diaz. 

At least not yet. 

She settled back in her seat, frustrated, but soon buried her attention in her wallet. She fired messages to the friends who'd kept in touch while she'd lurched in and out of school the last year. She'd missed a lot of classes this semester and mom had restricted her access to her wallet while she was in the hospital, in case it somehow made her illnes worse. Truthfully she had been in no fit state to argue let alone miss it. But now she was better... 

It had only been days but it felt like a lifetime. 

Her girlfriends would probably flock once they knew Jay was home. Some of her boy friends too. It was a small town and news would spread sooner or later, though for now she kept the secret to herself. She didn't tell them she was out either, though she did enquire what everyone was up to tonight. Meeting plans travelled like light from fingertips. There was always some party somewhere. Cay grinned. 

This was going to be an epic surprise.

I can't tell you. The plea stuck in his throat when Natalie confronted him. It felt like betrayal, him hoarding secrets. But crushing regret would have to wait. For now, Jay's priority was getting all of them safely away. 

Which was why the SUV blurred across county roads. There were basically no signs indicating what went where. Only a native could make any sense of the endlessness. Jay could make this drive in his sleep. In fact, he probably had more times than he'd admit.

The car was less tense only for the confidence in the miles opening between them and the hospital. He licked his lips a lot and rummaged around for water bottles discarded on the journey from the airport, hoping for a last few drops to ease the ache in the back of his throat. To the family, the destination was clear. The reason he took turns at dangerous speeds was less apparent and often met with an uproar of objections to recklessness.

He ignored the questions fully aware of how insane he was behaving. When dad raised his voice to the level of a demand, Jay almost slammed on the brakes just to drag him out by the collar for a chat. Instead, the burn of anger tensed his muscles to death gripping the wheel as he looked in the rear-view mirror. 

Jay was more aware of their perception than they thought. He'd asked for trust. He'd spent the last year saving all their necks, kept the lights on, and fixed the farm's books from afar. His sweat dug them out of the hole that was deepened by a cancer that never fucking existed. Cayli had the Sickness the whole time and his parents were too blinded by prejudice to face reality. Reality was they had two children that could channel and if they didn't accept it, they risked losing both to worser fates. Dammit Jay was not going to let his family fall apart after all this time holding them together at the seams. 

Whatever dad saw in the mirror was enough to stifle the incessant questioning. Jay glanced at Natalie a moment, careful to avoid Cayli glimpsing the darkness. This was pretty much his worst nightmare and she witnessed the powerlessness to stop it. Probably should have made him sick, but there were stronger emotions dulling the weakness to a dull roar. Jay kept driving.

About a mile before he reached the house, their speed slowed significantly below the limit. The change sparked silent glances among the passengers but blessed silence shrouded the interior. Jay had little focus on them anyway. The SUV rolled forward carefully. The ditches along both sides seemed undisturbed. Grasses were untrampled. Trees too small to hide anything bigger than a gas can, which was why he searched for broken stalks and foot prints instead. 

He held his breath for the turn from asphalt to gravel that was the drive leading up to the house. It was thankfully an uneventful drive except for the fact he was plunging straight back to a place he had no intention of returning like this. A nice Christmas holiday maybe. Aunt Sarah could bring that incredible cherry pie. Some snow piled up where the front-loaders shoved it out of the way. So long as it was the nice kind of cold and not the kill-you-slowly but not fast-enough kind of cold. The swing of an axe and scent of evergreen as he dragged back the tree. Hanging lights along the gutter as mom and Cayli yelled out corrections to the design. Now that would be a nice homecoming. 

This was pretty much as terrible as it could be. Though, it would be worse if there was a funeral in their future. Natalie prevented that fate. He would owe her the rest of his life with a debt he could never settle. Unless she caught herself in a third fire for him to save her from the flames? She was unlikely to appreciate the morbid sarcasm. Then again. Maybe not. Probably not the time, though.

He parked near the front door. There was a driveway that led to an unattached garage, but nobody used it unless there was a foot of snow in the forecast or maybe if there was hail in an approaching storm. t in this part of the country, nasty storms popped up unexpected enough that there often not enough warning to move the cars indoors.

Beyond the garage loomed a barn that was painted a fresh coat of red over a year ago. One of the tasks that Jay assigned to himself to fill the void that was every endless day when he found himself dumped home unexpectedly. A small measure of pride swelled despite the morbidity of the situation. There hadn't been time to paint the house, also. Its age showed.

Everyone filed out. Cayli sprinted to the front door begging Natalie to follow so she could show off her bedroom (and probably get more secret channeling practice). Mom and dad dragged themselves to the porch while Jay was distracted with scanning every last inch of the grounds for anything out of the ordinary. He seized the power of the Ascendancy to give him the senses he needed. Every blade of grass seemed in sharp focus. The stomp and creak of animals in the barn echoed closer than naturally should. The smell of dirt, manure, and last night's rain swirled. He'd kill to have had this power as a Raider. The nights he stared into darkness willing the enemy to show themselves. The times he swam against beating waves crashing onto shore or diving from the air into a landing pad of the unknown, the power could have changed every single tactic the Raiders used. Not to mention the silent macabre of death walking the dark without having to fire a single round of ammunition. Put two or three channeling Raiders together and they would have been unstoppable. Kind of a terrifying thought. Especially since just that kind of assignment in Africa awaited.

"Stop!" He ordered without thought for the command in his tone that expected obedience. Cayli looked up, confusion and impatience writ on her freshly brightened expression. God he was glad to see her so passionately strong.
"Give me the house key," he snatched it as mom dug it out of her purse and pushed his way forward. 

"Go back by Jensen and Natalie," he told Cayli as he came to the door. She wasn't happy about it, but Jay wasn't kidding. There weren't many times she could recall him acting like this, so she grumbled about it, but obeyed.

He called back to the others, "Stay by the car until I get back out. It should be a minute." Jensen would know if there was reason for alarm. Any uptick in channeling should be a red flag. 

He disappeared inside the house, screen door slamming on creaky hinges behind him.

What he saw made his heart sink. The living room was dark, or would be if it wasn't for the power brightening the world unnaturally. Furniture was all in place. No sounds but for an old clock ticking along a soothing rhythm. He fell asleep listening to those endless ticks many a night when restlessness pulled his soul elsewhere. Fireplace was cold. The pictures on the mantle remained - Cayli's most recent class picture alongside Jay in his baseball uniform: a bright, proud, cocky kid. Damn he missed baseball.

But it was the graduation portrait on the other side that forced him to look elsewhere. The brim of the cap pulled low to his eyes. The dress blues crisp and untainted. The flag draped behind. He considered turning the frame over, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. That guy suffered too much and worked too hard to just erase the memory like it never happened. That day was the best of his life, and he wasn't dead. Not yet anyway. He left it alone and quickly searched the house.

A minute later he waved everyone inside.  Once there, he took a breath and explained best he could.
"Pack some overnight bags. I'm taking all of us to a hotel until I figure out what to do." The only hotel in reasonable distance was one he'd rather cut off his arm than stay there... But it had at least a modicum of security. Casinos put up reasonable efforts at keeping weapons off the property. 

Not surprisingly, outbursts followed the announcement.

He really didn't want to scare Cayli, but the girl was smart, and she'd already been lied to for a year in the name of her best interests. Jay made mistakes before, but he wasn't going to repeat them again. 

"There's someone that wants to hurt this family." (aka: kidnap, torture and eventually execute. Probably shouldn't say it that way.) 

His gaze fixed on Cayli. "I won't let that happen." (aka: I will burn down the building before anyone laid a hand on you.)

"Take fifteen minutes to pack and we're getting back in the car." (aka: if its not in a bag, you're leaving it behind).

His voice softened, ignoring the tirade of questions and disbelief that followed as he made his way to the door. There was nothing inside he wanted except everything in the gun-safe, but would be a better guard out there anyway. 

"I'll be checking the barn." (aka: I want out of this house as quickly as possible).

Natalie's eyes half lidded as she watched the scenery blur passed, though one hand braced against the seat in front for the savage turns. The recklessness of their speed did not seem to bother her; the rhythm swept her thoughts numb of the worry, and though an atmosphere certainly shadowed the car she mostly ignored it in favour of the window; those brief moments when, if she closed her eyes and focused on the faint draft, felt just like escape.

Jay had joked about corn fields, but she'd never thought ahead to connect the dots, mostly because she'd never expected to actually find herself here in the place he grew up. But the dwelling he pulled up to was a farm; red painted barn, a house that had perhaps seen better days, surrounded by a flat horizon and grey skies. The curiosity in her stare was banked by the same caution that stilled her expression back at the ball. As the car crunched over the gravel she showed little inclination towards getting out despite Cayli's bright enthusiasm, pulled as far as leaning against the car door before Jay's words snapped surprised attention from his family.

Cayli obeyed, but furious question writ her expression. Though Natalie had no answers to offer.

After minutes inside he returned with cryptic explanations; stalked off leaving confusion rippling in his wake, like the strain of homecoming broke something inside.

The frustration tightened her chest, though if she was angry it was not at him. Or not entirely. Pressure weighted his shoulders like he carried mountains, unwilling to share the burden. She saw the fissures where darkness billowed, reminded of his head buried in his hands and the way it ached to watch powerless as he tried not to crumble. The wisp of half forgotten dreams circled like old friends. A man digging at sand. The hand that held her back from disturbing fate's path.

Though neither fate nor sense held sway in that moment. She followed against her better judgement.

Despite the swiftness of her stride she didn't follow to demand answers, though the snap of her previous words probably still bit his memory. If it was what he assumed she would not disabuse him of the notion; the aspersion would arm her against foolish mistakes like stolen kisses and skipped heartbeats, all of which belonged a lifetime away. Neither of them needed the distraction. Nor would she prise secrets from his lips he did not give willingly, though she knew she could -- one way or another. It was not what she wanted, even when impatience primed her for a petty war against the betrayal of that silence. Ascendancy's orders facilitated her path here, but she was hardly the most pliant of creatures. She would not have countenanced the journey on anything but the force of her own will; and though she might step quietly around his family, a little guarded, it did not stop her continually following into the eye of the storm if that was where he led.

The soft scent of horses greeted her in the barn's shadows. For a moment she watched Jay like he were something new. No longer the boyish legionnaire who grinned careless at the offer of a sly smile. Perhaps it was the power itself that shaped him now, infecting old wounds anew. Reforging something darker. It broke her heart to witness; a weakness she'd rather he not witness in turn, her gaze diffusing instead to the horse in its stall -- at least until the tie of that emotion cleared from her gaze. She did not speak, comfortable with her silence as she bridged the distance.