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Heath crouched next to Jesse behind someone's fence. They had just watched some NSF officers grab Luke and Nicco, and were on edge. What made the whole situation worse was that none of them had magic, and Heath's own mother was one of the officers. Jesse had seen his face for a split second, and he'd looked so hurt, before it went blank again.
It was blank now, probably hiding all the anger he felt for the way things were in this world. The four of them were criminals, as far as they knew, and everyone hated magic.
Heath interrupted Jesse's thoughts.
"We should keep moving." His voice was tight, carefully controlled.
"OK." Jesse followed Heath down the street for a few metres, when a hood was shoved over his head and someone pushed him into a vehicle.
Some time later, the hood was removed and Claude's face appeared, along with a warehouse.
"Claude! Oh, it is so good to see you! I've just-"
They glared at him "Be quiet, traitor."
Jesse's stomach dropped "Traitor? What do you-"
He was cut off by shouting. Heath.
"Where is he? What did you do to him? Are you listening, I said where-"
"Let him in." Claude called, continuing to scowl at Jesse.
Heath burst through the door. "Are you ok?" He asked Jesse, walking over. Jesse stood up from the chair.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Heath's worried eyes looked Jesse up and down, checking for injuries. He nodded and turned to Claude.
"Why did you kidnap us?" He asked.
"Kidnap? We were saving you from the NSF. Well, I didn't want to take Jesse, but its better where we can watch him." They said, "Its so good that you got out on your own though. How'd you manage that?"
Heath blinked. "Got out of where?" He asked, confused.
"The facility? Where else?"
Jesse stepped in "OK, I think we're all a bit confused. Me and Heath are from a different world, and there's no anti-magic police there."
Once again, Claude glared. "I told you, shut up, traitor."
"Hey, don't call him that, he hasn't done anything to you." Heath said angrily. "He's telling the truth. We're from another world, and our friends got taken by the cops, and we need to go find them."
Claude paused. "Oh." They said "Right. Um, come with me, the others need to hear this."
After a long discussion, a the beginnings of a plan were formed. Jesse would swap out with Traitor Jesse when he went to give his speech, and get into the facility. Then, he would find a way to get Luke, Nicco, and the alternate versions of the four of them put of it. The others, including Heath and Traitor Jesse, would go in as false guards and prisoners. They would then get everyone out, with the help of the person on the inside. Finally, Heath, Jesse and the others would go back to their world once their talisman was fixed.
Simple. What could go wrong?
As it turned out, many things. The first few parts of the plan went fine. Jesse got in, Heath and the rebels also made it past security and went off to find their people. Heath found Jesse with Jake's help(he'd turned out to be the spy) and the two of them were on their way to the prison cells. They'd made it through the first two corridors, when a squad of armed officers appeared.
Without thinking, Heath shoved Jesse back behind the corner as the officers started firing. He was just starting to follow, but a lucky shot sent a streak of pain through his side. With a cry, he fell behind the wall, against Jesse. Blood flowed steadily from the wound, covering Heath's hands as he tried to slow it.
"Heath!" Jesse froze in horror. This couldn't be happening, not to Heath, not now.
"Help me... up. We have... to... get away... from the... the guards." Heath reached a hand up as he choked out the words. Jesse took it and pulled him up, ignoring the blood that smeared on his fingers.
"Here, lean on me." Jesse wrapped Heath's arm around his shoulders and the two hurried back towards the supply closet, away from the guns and stomping boots.
The door slid open, then quickly closed behind them. Heath coughed, groaned in pain. He swayed, and Jesse took that as a sign to sit down.
"Jesse." Heath said weakly, "go... get the... others."
"I'm not gonna leave you here, Heath." Jesse promised.
"No, you *cough* you have to!*cough* 'll... just slow you *cough* down. " Crimson trickled from Heath's mouth.
"Heath, I won't leave you because if you die here alone, I'll never forgive myself. Either you come with me or we both stay here." Jesse said heatedly.
There was a pause, broken only by Heath's pained breathing.
"I'll go... with you." He said.
Relief flooded through Jesse.
"Thank you." He helped Heath up, and after listening for officers, they continued to the cells.
Every step Heath took was torture. He wanted to lie on the floor and bleed out quietly, instead of forcing himself to hold on to Jesse and keep moving. But he couldn't do that, Jesse didn't need to see him die. Besides, they had to get Luke and Nicco and go back to their world.
Taking another painful breath, Heath kept walking.
After several tense minutes, the pair made it to the cell Jake had described. Jesse swiped the keycard Luke had taken, and the door swung open.
"Finally!" Came Luke's voice as him and Nicco stepped out of the cell. "Where were you-"
He saw Heath, still being held upright by Jesse.
"Heath got shot by an NSF officer."
Jesse explained unnecessarily. "Now come on, we have to get out of here."
The four of them moved down the halls, relying on Jake's instructions to avoid guards. Their progress became slower as Heath's condition deteriorated. The tall teen was stumbling with every step and struggling for breath.
"Do you need to stop?' Jesse asked him quietly.
A headshake.
"OK." Said Jesse, adjusting his hold on Heath to support him better. They continued moving.
3 minutes later, they were out of the building and headed for the exit tunnel.
"No!" Jesse heard Nicco yell, and he looked away from Heath.
The tunnel was blocked.
There was a metal grate at the end of it, locked. Jesse's heart dropped.
This was quite possibly the worst day of all of their lives. They were stuck in another world with a broken talisman, their doubles were nowhere to be found, and Heath was bleeding out, getting weaker by the minute.
This was evidenced by his knees buckling. Jesse tried to catch him but was only partially successful.
"Sorry." Heath whispered as Jesse maneuvered him to lean against the wall. His face was contorted in pain despite his efforts to hide it.
"Its okay Heath, dont apologise." Jesse said quietly, trying to stop his voice from shaking.
Heath smiled sadly at him.
"Jesse, there's someone coming." Lukes voice interrupted the moment. Adrenaline kicked Jesse into action and he whipped around to look at the other end of the tunnel while moving in front of Heath.
"Get out of the way, I'm gonna break the gate!" Other Nicco yelled at them as she and their doubles ran to meet them.
It took Jesse and Luke to pull Heath to his feet and get ready to move.
"We need to fix our talisman and get back to our world." Jesse told Other Heath, who was looking horrified at the state of his double. Snapping to attention, he nodded and told them to wait until Other Nicco had broken down the gate.
Heath's world had been reduced to a haze of pain. He was vaguely aware of Jesse and Luke supporting him, but it was becoming increasingly hard to focus on anything other than his wound. It took all his resolve not to scream in pain at every minor movement. That would just be a distraction, and the others didn't need that.
A loud noise broke through the haze and Heath tried to move his head to see what had happened. He gave up after dust filled the tunnel and he started coughing. Fresh blood splattered on the ground and his vision faltered. Someone was saying his name, probably Jesse, but he was past being able to respond.
"Fix the talisman!" Jesse yelled at the doubles, forgetting all about being polite. The dust kicked up from the gate being broken had set Heath coughing again. He was still standing, but that was due to Luke and Jesse supporting him.
"Heath, you stay with us alright? You're not dying today." Jesse said desperately, ignoring the others. Heath kept coughing.
"The talismans fixed, let's do the portal spell." Luke said to Jesse, who nodded and recited it with the others minus Heath.
A blue edged circle appeared before them, and after saying thanks to their doubles, Heath, Jesse, Luke and Nicco stepped back into their world.
The second they were over the threshold, Jesse lowered Heath, who had stopped coughing, to the ground.
"Nicco, can you call Ellen and ask her to come here?" He asked distractedly, kneeling next to Heath. Then an idea struck him.
"Luke, can I have the talisman?"
Luke handed it over, not asking questions for once. Jesse hesitated, before pulling up Heath's shirt and placing the talisman on the wound. His eyes flicked to Heath's, which were closed.
Taking a breath, he put his hand on the talisman and channelled his magic into it. He didn't have a spell to chant, so he pictured Heath's wound healing instead.
Several seconds went by. Nothing happened. Jesse ignored Luke's questions as to what he was doing.
Then the talisman began to glow, golden light getting brighter and enveloping Heath's wound. Heath made a noise of discomfort as the bullet hole closed up.