Archive of Our Own ^beta

Arish shot at the oncoming gold mimics, bullets bouncing off their bodies. They marched closer. “Shit! Faden, what do we do?”

Jesse shot at the mimics as well, with the same result. “Fuck, I don’t know! We can’t let them get to Dylan. Or Emily. Or, fuck, anyone else.” The Rangers beside them fired at the enemies, to no avail. There were only six of the mimics, but Jesse knew they were invincible. She glanced around, seeing no other way out of Central Executive. They were cornered.

The goddamn Board and their fucking games.

She didn’t know how, but a few gold mimics from the Astral Plane bled through into their Plane and attacking the Bureau employees.

Why is this happening?

“Jesse! Arish!”

The Director flung around and saw Emily running up to them, Black Rock knives in her hands. “Emily? No, get back! It’s dangerous!”

“I don’t care!” Emily hissed. “I’m not going to sit back while you all get hurt.” She put her knives into her lab coat, pulling out a gun instead. “Let’s get cleaning.” She said, cocking her gun. Jesse simply nodded and returned to firing at the mimics.

This isn’t working. Fuck, what can I do?

Jesse glanced at the mimics, and froze when she saw only five. “Where’s the other one?” She wondered aloud, distracted. A sudden bullet lodged itself into her side, then another grazed her neck. “ Fuck!”

“Jesse!” Emily gasped. The redhead gripped her neck, coughing up blood. Emily dropped her gun and once again pulled her knives out, running to the gold mimics. She let out a scream, pushing the knife into the chest of one.

It shattered.

Emily widened her eyes, stunned and frozen, before shaking her head and dodging and ducking the bullets to stab the rest. Jesse let out a sigh and collapsed to the floor, trying to keep the blood from rushing down her injured neck.

Arish hesitantly dropped his own weapon and ran to Jesse, inspecting her wounds. “Faden? You still with me?” Jesse took a shaky deep breath and nodded, grimacing when the man touched her side. “Shit, looks bad. Let’s get you out of here.”

“No, no, Emily,” Jesse whispered, reaching out for the blonde. Her eyes widened.

The Rangers had stopped shooting, too stunned to try. In the middle of the room awhere the mimics once stood, Emily panted, dust coating her entire body and her knives in hand. Her eyes met with Jesse’s, and she gasped.

“Jesse,” Emily breathed, dropping her knives and running towards The Director. “Jesse!” She kneeled next to Jesse and pressed a hand to her side.

“T-there were six,” Jesse choked out. Arish held her up by her shoulders. “You got five.”

“Fuck,” Arish breathed. “Faden, where’s-“

“Dylan.” The redhead barely whispered.

Forgetting about her injuries, she immediately sprinted into the room where her comatose brother still settled. Inside, a single gold mimic walked up To Dylan’s cell.

“ Don’t fucking touch him!” Screeched Jesse, frantically shooting at the mimic. It shot back, causing yet another bullet to get stuck in her thigh. Letting out a pained scream, Jesse fell to the floor. “Dylan!”

The mimic trudged on, shooting at the glass that held Dylan.

It shattered.

She barely registered the doors being her opening, Arish and Emily sprinting inside. The blonde kneeled down, grabbing Jesse’s arm and pulling her up. Jesse’s arm weakly rested around Emily’s neck as the two stood, watching in horror as the mimic aimed its gun at Dylan.

No.

A deep, hot rage filled the pit of Jesse’s stomach, fueling her with strength. Polaris thrashed in her vision, frantic but encouraging. “I said,” Jesse stood straight, her body beginning to glow in a bright blue aura. She stepped forward, Emily and Arish behind her, frozen. “Don’t,” she wiped her mouth of blood. “Fucking,” the Service Weapon manifested in her hand, set to Pierce. “Touch,” she turned sideways, aiming carefully at the mimic. “Him.” Jesse charged up the shot, and her eyes hardened as the mimic turned to her and aimed its own gun.

“Jesse!” Emily screamed, running towards her. Before her gun could be fired, Emily leaped and pushed Jesse to the ground. The Director’s gun still went off, but hit the wall behind the cell instead. Jesse grunted from the impact of Emily along with landing on the ground, fire in her eyes and her body still glowing.

“Emily! Why are you-“

“You can’t!” The blonde growled above her. “Guns don’t work, the knives do! You would’ve shot Dylan instead.”

“Pope!” Arish shouted, diving for the two women. Quickly thinking, Jesse used Launch to pull a table to them and block the spray of bullets targeting the three. “Faden, what the fuck?” Jesse glanced at him, but then looked down at herself.

What the hell?

Her entire body was outlined with a bright blue, the same shade as Polaris. She vaguely registered that her bullet wounds from earlier no longer hurt, though they still remained.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to get to Dylan.

Jumping up, Jesse levitated and ground-slammed into the mimic, forcing it away from the cell. Jesse stood, eyes wide with absolute fury and brows furrowed so far she saw the small hairs. She gasped in breaths, chest heaving and anxiety spiking.

“Jesse!” Emily called, tossing a knife to Jesse’s feet. The redhead quickly grabbed it and dashed forward, successfully avoiding the bullets. However, one of them struck her in the stomach, making her stumble and fall to the floor. Gagging, Jesse threw the knife towards the mimic’s chest, but missed. Polaris weakly flared around her, finally fading away and leaving Jesse to deal with her previous pain along with the new wound.

No, no. Please, no.

As the mimic approached, it aimed its gun at Jesse’s head. She glared at it, snarling. Suddenly, it lurched forward and shattered above her, revealing Emily standing in front of her with a knife in hand. Her eyes were full of fear and worry, but determination.

“Jesse,” Emily whispered, setting the weapon down. The redhead grinned weakly.

“Hey,” she coughed. “Dylan’s okay?”

“He’s fine,” Arish called from inside the cell, checking the medical equipment. “But you’re not. Fuck, Faden, come on, you’re hurt bad.”

“No shit.” Jesse breathed, letting herself be pulled up by Emily. She cringed at the blood on Emily’s usually clean blouse, but widened her eyes when she realized it didn’t come from her. “Em. Em, you’re hurt.”

The blonde glanced down at her side, seeing blood coating her shirt. To Jesse’s surprise, Emily simply shrugged. “Just a graze. I’m okay. Come on, let’s get you patched up.” Hesitantly, Jesse nodded, and the two stood up. Emily held onto Jesse’s side, the redhead’s arm once again around her neck.

“Arish, stay with Dylan. Get more Rangers in here.” Jesse demanded. The officer nodded, instructing some Rangers from outside into the room. Jesse grimaced in pain.

Fuck, it hurts. Ah, shit.

She began seeing stars in her vision as Emily gently but quickly pulled them both out of the room, calling for Wells.

“Em…” Jesse breathed. Tears trickled from her eyes and down her cheeks. “Em, you’re hurt.”

“Not as bad as you, Jesse.” The blonde murmured, maneuvering them down the steps. Jesse stumbled, luckily not falling.

“I’m dizzy,” Jesse whispered, prompting Emily to slowly and carefully lean down and settle them both in the middle of the staircase.

“It’s okay, deep breaths,” Emily instructed, rubbing small circles on Jesse’s back. The redhead leaned into Emily’s uninjured side, breaths coming out in ragged gasps. “Stay with me, sweetie.”

I can’t. I can’t breathe.

Jesse felt her senses fogging and her pain fading. She barely heard Emily, but she realized she called out for Wells once again.

The last thing she felt was Emily pulling her closer, her lips on her forehead. The ringing in her ears grew louder and louder and louder. 

It shattered.