Chapter Text
"…es….hel….! Je…se!"
Why does he know that voice…? But… why can't he remember who it belongs to?
"Jes…se..!"
His ears are ringing as he snaps open his eyes, unable to make out anything other than a blurry dark mess. He looks around, his head whipping to and fro, which only makes it worse. His breathing picks up, he can't see, he doesn't know where he is. It's just darkness. He mind races, unable to grasp a single coherent thought. His breath is shortening, his body screaming to danger, run, RUN.
"JESSE!"
He whips around, his vision finally giving way to color.
Who-
His line of thought is cut off as his eyes meet a younger yet almost identical pair to his own. His sight clears as he looks at the face of a young child in front of him. A face so similar yet so different to his own.
"Jesse… are you okay?" The little one ask, concern in their pinched brow.
"Y-yeah, yeah.. I'm fine, kid…" He answers weakly, his own voice barely audible to himself. Glancing around he realizes he's sitting on an old worn couch with an old tv commercial acting as white noise. He almost zones out again before movement catches his eye; the child steps closer to him, worry in their eyes.
"Are you sure you're alright, brother..?"
What did they just say..? Jesse sighs as a haze clouds his thoughts, a pressure building in the back of his skull.
"I'm sure. Don't worry about me, James." He says on auto-pilot, not registering the name that's left his lips. Yet, it's one he remembers saying. It's such a familiar motion of his lips that strikes a long and buried cord in his heart. It's too fuzzy to recall, but he wishes he could. He wishes he could grab it and drag it back, to shout, to cry, to beg, but his hazy mind can't find the strength to remember why.
Get it together
A dark husky voice echoes through is mind, one that shouldn't be here at this moment in time, it shouldn't be clawing through his thoughts. Still, he listens to it and snaps himself out of his spiral. Looking up, there's a movie playing on the small TV now; an old action movie, one he's watched more times than they can count. When did it change? He couldn't have been out of it for that long?
Jesse turns his head to see that the child is next to him on the couch now. They're curled up in a blanket, knees tucked to their chest. A loud roar emits from the screen, causing the young one to jump slightly, inching closer to Jesse.
"Monsters giving you a fright?" He teases, or what feels to be him does. It feels as if he's taken the back seat in his own mind, yet this moment is clearer than the one before. The child reluctantly nods. Jesse opens up his arm, letting them cuddle into his side.
"Don't worry. No monsters will get you as long as I'm here." The man smiles down at the child, suddenly feeling smaller than he was.
"Promise…?" The child looks up at him.
"Promise. I'll always protect you. Always." The words sound farther now, like a faded echo. The moment slips from him and fades back into that empty endless void.
"You promised." A voice echoes. He looks up , but he can't find the source of it.
"What?" He responds, voice soft, as he turns around to try and find the source of it.
"You lied to me." It sounds again, louder, firmer. It's all around him, in his ears and in his mind.
"No, I-" He tries to defend but the voice shouts, the sound reverberating through his bones. It doesn't sound like just one voice anymore.
"YOU LIED. YOU LIED TO ME! YOU LIED!!"
Then there's screaming. The sound blood curdling, and terrifyingly familiar. It fills the void, ringing in his ears. His hands clamp down on his ears but it doesn't even muffle the noise. The sound reaches a fever pitch, piercing his ears.
Jesse begs and pleads for it to stop but his voice is drowned out by the sharp noise. He can't even tell his own screams have joined the chorus until his own voice is hoarse. It just gets louder, and louder, until a single voice breaks through.
"JESSE!"
His body jerks awake, a sinking feeling weighing in his chest as it heaved in ragged breaths. He stares at the ceiling, the edges of his vision blurry. His calloused fingers wipe his eyes to find tears to be the cause of the blurriness.
He just lies there for another moment trying to get his breath under control, but eventually fails as his shoulders hitch when more tears fall. He doesn't remember that last time he cried, but it seemed to greet him like an old friend as his frame shook with sobs. He tries to wipe away his tears, but they fall too quickly to make a difference. He sees the futility in it and just lets it happen.
He ends up curled up on his side, a death grip on his sheets and tears soaking his pillow, until the sun finally rises. He cries with not even a fly to comfort him in his moment of bitter anguish.
Walking into SDN, Jesse scrolls through various emails and updates on his phone, groaning as he does. After that whole episode he hadn't really gotten much sleep. Now he's just running on 4 hours of sleep and spite.
He heads up the stairs to the office floor heading to his desk. He tosses down his helmet and keys down in there usual spot. He was about to boot up his computer until he hears his name called.
He looks up to see a few members of his hero team. Glacier is power walking towards him with a bright, almost infectious, grin on her lips. Skybound is following right behind her, his wings sagging a little in relaxation and Jesse even notices Quickfoot's tiny form sitting on his shoulder,
"Jesse! You're later than you usual are. What held you up?" Glacier asks as she stops at the side of Jesse's desk, her head tilting slightly.
"Yeah, I'm just groggy and got caught up in traffic." He tries to say as calm as possible, he's grumpy, yes, but he doesn't want them to think he's upset at them.
"Traffic must've been bad then." Skybound comments, leaning on his cubicle wall.
He just hums in response turning back to turn on his computer. The trio seems to pick up on his mood then.
"We're not bothering you are we?" Glacier asks, brow furrowing.
"No," Jesse sighs, turning back towards them, "I just didn't get a good night's rest is all, and traffic making me late only made my mood worst."
"Nothing some food can't fix," Quickfoot finally but in, "what'cha pack for lunch? You could-"
"FUCKKK" Jesse groans, running his hands over his face, slumping back into his chair.
"I knew I was forgetting something…"
The other three just stare at him for a moment.
"Good job." Quickfoot deadpans, their small insect like wings twitching amusement.
"Jesse, I-"
"No, it's fine Glacier. I can just grab something from the vending machine when I'm hungry." He interrupts, knowing she's bound to try and help.
"Now, you three should gear up; first shifts about to start."
"Right." Skybound nods, wings fluttering at attention. Quickfoot just sends him a lazy salute before flying up from the shoulder they were residing on and zips toward the door with Skybound following. Glacier's dims a little before she places a hand on his shoulder.
"I hope your day will get better." She nods as she squeezes his shoulder. She flashes a warm smile as she pulls back, a coldness ghosting over where her hand was.
Jesse just watches them go, fondness making him smile a little before he looks back to his screen to start his shift.
Hours later, Jesse's mood slowly improved, but he still held a lingering grumpiness as his team had kept graciously reminding him off. They were on break for the moment, though nearing the end of it. Jesse had simply decided to walk around the office floor to try and calm down enough to try and let some of that grumpiness slip. He'd rather not be mad at his team.
Walking down the hall he bumps into someone. Looking he catches the man he bumped into mid-apology and sees it's Robert.
"Sorry I-"
"No, I should have been looking where I was going." Jesse assures, meeting the man's gaze.
"You alright?" He adds, noticing the tension in Robert's frame.
"Yeah- I," The man begins to respond but stops himself with a sigh. He pinches the bridge of his nose before looking back at Jesse.
"Kind of."
"Kind of?" Jesse raised a brow as he asked.
"Yeah. Kinda of. Someone thought it was a good idea to saddle some volunteer kid with my team." Robert begins resting a hand on his hip.
"Jeez- I feel bad for the kid."
"Don't. That kid is more of a brat than Flambae is."
"Really?" Jesse's eyes widen in surprise as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Yes! I thought it was odd at first but now it's causing such a negative effect on the team I'm having trouble keeping them civil with the guy." Robert drags a hand down his face in exasperation.
"Sounds like you job just got a shit-ton more complex." Jesse teases a like to try and lighten the mood, which causes a slight smile when it succeeds.
Robert huffs a small laugh as he meets Jesse gaze. "You have no idea."
His gaze is drawn down again as he spots Beef trot over to them both, little tail wagging. Robert bends down and pets the little guy before looking up at Jesse again.
"Sorry, didn't mean to throw all that on you, I was just trying to go on my break."
"No, it's fine, Robert. I don't mind listening." Jesse reassures with a grin.
"Then, thanks Jesse." Robert nods as he straightens up. He turns the corner and into the break room. Jesse watches his back for a moment before he continues on his way to his desk.
"Hey HEY!!" He hears Robert shout behind him. Jesse chuckles slightly to himself as he keeps walking.
Yeah, Robert's got his hands full.
He gets back to his desk but pauses as he looks down at it. Set with care he spots a sandwich set on a napkin and a mug of steaming coffee in front of his computer. His expression morphs into one of surprise the into fondness. He sits down and takes the mug. He takes a sip and grins as he realizes they remember how he like sugar in his coffee. Setting it back down he sees a sticky note on his keyboard. Picking it up it reads: Stopped by a sandwich place last dispatch. Thought you'd appreciate it! -Glacier and Giant.
Jesse chuckles to himself. Of course, leave it to the two sweethearts of his team to buy him lunch. He shakes his head slightly as a smile creeps onto his lips.
But, he wouldn't have any other way.