Actually, we had a lot to do. We had to figure out what I was going to say, who was going with me and who would go with Stephen, and what we would do when this whole thing turned into the shit show it was likely to become. It was late and everyone was tired, but no one wanted to sleep. Kennedy and Stephen went back to the AV room to watch for visitors. Kennedy laughed that he didn’t have the mind for scheming, anyway. I was sad to see him leave. His seemingly ceaseless good mood helped keep everyone’s spirits up.
We turned back on the outside lights and set the alarms so we would know if anyone slipped past the watch. I joined Sean at the bar and poured myself a glass of amber liqueur while I explained the plan to him. He didn’t look up from his glass while I talked.
“That’s a stupid idea,” he said when I was done. “You’ll be lucky if they don’t shoot you in the head before you get a word out of that pretty mouth of yours.”
“Why are you such an ass?” He just smiled at the mirror. “Well, you’ll have a front-row seat for the action, then. I want you to go with me. If things do go to hell, you’ll get to do all that fighting you want so badly.”
He looked down at his half finished drink. “I want to go back to my normal fucking life.”
“Yeah, me too, but we can’t, Sean. Any of us. So you might as well suck it up and help.”
He laughed and took a long drink. “Alright angel.” He turned to look at me finally, with a smile that would turn the stoniest heart to jelly. “I’ll watch your back while you try the diplomatic approach. But if things go bad, know that I will take out as many of those assholes as I can before I go down.”
“I’m counting on it. That’s why I want you to come. It’s not that I don’t trust the others, but if things go bad, I need to know someone is with me that will act.” He nodded.
We discussed detail after detail, went round and round until my head ached. Everyone finally agreed that I should talk, but no one agreed about what should be said. Kennedy and Stephen figured I knew what needed to be done and were happy to let me do it. Which was ridiculous, as I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Ben, however, wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to give us all up in the first five minutes, which, of course made everyone suspicious that was exactly what I planned to do. Colin wanted me to avoid threatening anyone, which I would absolutely not agree to since playing to their fear was the foundation of the idea to begin with.
“What motivation do they have to listen if they’re not scared of us?” I asked him. He saw my point but still tried to tone down any threat I approached. He was also unhappy I had asked Sean to accompany me.
“He’s too much of a hothead, Jemma,” Colin said. “He’s likely to start throwing people around at the first raised voice. I could go. I can watch your back if it comes to that or Mel even.”
“If things go bad, I’ll need someone who can act quickly. It would take too much time for you to do anything, and it would be too dangerous for Mel to just go charging in.”
He sighed. I tried to argue more, but he stopped me. “Fine, you’re right. Mel was a bad idea, and I used the whole fountain earlier, so I’m basically out of ammo.”
“That was incredible, by the way, what you did with the water.” He didn’t look pleased with the compliment.
“I have always loved the water.” He chuckled bitterly and leaned tiredly against the table. “That’s how I figured out what I could do, you know? After the fire, I was really unnerved. I sent everyone away because I was afraid they’d get hurt by what I was. Everyone but Celia and Fletch because they’re stubborn as mules and think if they’re not here, the house will fall down around me. Anyway, I was feeling low and being by the water has always helped, so I went to sit by one of the little pounds in the garden. The water felt different, familiar somehow. I just thought about bringing it to me.” He looked amused. “I nearly drowned myself. But I’ve got a little better control now. I just kind of direct it where I want it to go. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain, but I feel like I could do more if I ever had the chance to work at it.”
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One change in the plan I didn’t like was Cooper’s suggestion that Ben go with me and let Sean stay with Stephen. His reasoning made sense. Ben could tip me off if anyone was lying or looking to cause trouble. But I didn’t like the idea of having to trust Ben to be honest or not cause problems. I gave in after Ben made an offhand comment about us using aliases, just in case. He winked at me when no one was watching. I really didn’t like him.
I suggested that Cooper try to get a good look at whoever was in charge. “If you have to, you could change to look like them and maybe, I don’t know, buy us some time if things go bad.”
“Well, yes,” he said uncomfortably. “I can’t actually change my body, height and weight and such. Hair and eye color, even skin color are cake but, well... I would rather not change my face if I don’t have to. I tried that once, changed my nose.” He pointed to his face and winced. “I don’t know how it all works exactly. I just think of a color and concentrate, but it’s different when changing big things. Things sort of melt and then reform. It hurts a lot. I still miss my old nose sometimes.” He shuddered. “No, I would rather not if I don’t have to.”
Fletch brought out food later in the night. Ham sandwiches stacked on a big silver tray. He stared at the plain sandwiches as if they had deeply offended him.
“We haven’t had a chance to go shopping.” Colin whispered to me when he was out of earshot. While everyone sat down to eat, I slipped upstairs to change out of my blood-stained clothes. I was exhausted again, but it was the kind of exhaustion that a dose of caffeine could cure. Thinking would be easier if I had some sleep, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to, even if there was time. I was surprised to find Nate standing in the hall waiting for me when I stepped out of my room. He looked as tired as I felt. He had discarded his long sleeve shirt and his rumpled tee shirt was only half tucked into his jeans. His thick, sandy hair was sticking up in places and his boyish face was pale.
“Um...” he ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t get the chance to say thank you earlier.” He looked at me earnestly. “You saved my life tonight Jemma.”
“No. It’s ok Nate. Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you about my ability because I was scared and, I don’t know, saying it out loud made it more real somehow, I guess.” I looked at the floor. “It’s stupid, I know.”
“But you told Sean?” His face was calm, but I thought I heard hurt in his voice.
“No. I mean, yes, but not willingly. He found out when he woke up. I was there with him and he…,” I hesitated. Maybe telling him Sean had thrown me into a table wasn’t the best idea. “I didn’t tell him. He just saw. I asked him not to say anything. You said it yourself. It’s personal.” He was looking at me, just looking, but there was something so intimate about that look it made me blush.
“I should be the one out there with you.” The change in subject and the passion in his deep voice startled me.
“No. Nate, I don’t want to see you get hurt. I couldn’t do what I needed to if you were there. I…” Why did I say that? “And if I screw this up…if you got hurt because I screw this up...” I finished rather lamely. That had not been what I’d meant to say.
He stepped closer. I had to look up to meet his eyes. “And do you think I could?” He asked quietly. “Do you think I want to sit back and watch you walk into danger and not be able to help you? If something goes wrong...” He reached down and gently touched my cheek, “Jemma, I don’t want you to get hurt either.”
His touch made my heart flutter. I wanted to say something, anything, but I just stared up at him stupidly. He had beautiful eyes. Why had I never noticed that before? And he was so close. He brushed his fingers along my cheek and I felt his hand on the small of my back as he gently pulled me closer until I was pressed against him. I reached up to pull his mouth to mine.
“Ehmm.”
I jumped back so quickly I bounced off the wall behind me. Nate jerked his hand back and turned to face Cooper, who was standing at the end of the hall.
He looked completely unconcerned about what he had just interrupted. “Colin asked me to come find you, Jemma. He has some other suggestions he wants to discuss.” He said it matter-of-factly, then turned and walked away.
Nate stood there for a moment, looking at me. His reddening face was a mix of emotions I couldn’t read. I wanted to ease the tension that had risen between us, but I just stood there staring back at him, my heart still pounding from the scare, or maybe from the memory of his touch. He turned and followed Cooper down the stairs without a word.