Chapter Text
Abandoned Office Tower, Seattle, PISA, 0400 Hours
As the building shook around them, Jensen held. He didn’t collapse. He didn’t falter. He just kept pushing his hands together as the explosion tried to grow, again, and again, and again… Jared cocked his head to the side. It wasn’t stopping.
“What’s wrong?” he said as he came up on Jensen’s right side. When he didn’t get a response, he repeated the question in thought. Jensen’s bad ear, there was no way for him to make out the words over the noise of three thousand people running down thirty-something flights of stairs, or levitating down the elevator shaft. Jared had to give it to Sterling and the other telekinetics he’d been training in the past few months. Their control and mastery of telekinesis was beautiful. They’d never get everyone out with the stairs and the one working elevator otherwise.
“There’s both a secondary and tertiary device. It essentially keeps re-exploding, and I have to keep containing it,” he looked up at Jared, beads of sweat pooling on his forehead and dripping into his eyes. “I’ve got to give it to Morgan, I think he figured out exactly how I survived and how we got out of Haven.”
Jared frowned. “Well, if he has, he never let on.” He shrugged, then shuddered at the phantom feeling of a gunshot blooming on his chest, his heart not beating. “Then again, he never let on that he had me made years ago and suspected you from the moment you showed up, so that’s not saying much.”
“Dude killed his own sister,” Jensen said, softly. “She was the reality warper scientist—he manipulated her to turn public opinion against all of us. Felicia said he’s terrified of anything he can’t control, and the hatred and rage he channels from that pretty much wipes out anything else in him.”
Jared cocked an eyebrow in question.
“Kathryn shared her memory with me, and I shared it with Felicia, who was able to truthsay off a third-hand memory of a television broadcast.” He shook his head despite the obvious strain. “And people think I’m the terrifyingly powerful one.”
A snort of disbelief escaped Jared’s lips. “Jensen, you’re containing multiple explosions… with your mind. I think there’s plenty of terrifying power to go around.”
Jensen grunted and nodded, Jared’s words apparently drawing his attention back to the arduous task that was currently taking most of his power. “I’m pretty sure Morgan rigged this to try to burn me out. If I have to keep containing this, I’ll overtax and slip into a coma—he figured that much out from the aftermath of Haven. This thing is tied into the gas main. If I let go, or I burn out, the whole thing is going to go, and if I try to forcibly disconnect it, there’s a very good chance it blows any way, and if it doesn’t the force I’d need to rip out the connections will destabilize the building.”
Jared thought it over. He wondered if he could just will an explosion out of reality. If he did that though, would the explosion really stop, or would it really explode and kill everyone, and they would only be alive as long as he maintained the illusion of a change? Sometimes his changes were permanent, usually they were semi-permanent. He didn’t know if he could take a chance with that—it was back to gambling with nearly 2973 lives—well 2977, with him, Jensen, Felicia, and Kathryn in the mix.
As Jared was lost in thought, Felicia and Sterling came running up. “The 38th floor is clear, as is every floor above it,” Sterling said, his chest heaving with the strain of jogging half a block after levitating a thousand or so people down about 750 feet. “As soon as the stairwell empties, we’ll be good to go.”
Felicia looked from Sterling back to Jared and then to Jensen. “Well that’s the good news. Bad news is, VAC is coming and they’re coming fast. I just ran into what I think is the rest of Jared and Kathryn’s old team and Jared’s old-old team by the loading dock. They know something’s up and they’re not buying the masking. Morgan must have convinced them everything about the building is a lie, and they’re looking for a way in. I commanded the lot of them to get the fuck away, but that will wear off after a couple dozen blocks or so. If we’re lucky they might run off to Belltown, but they’ll be back. We’ve gotta go.” She cocked her head to the side, the way Jared had seen Jensen do so many times, and realized they must share that tic from years of living and working together, back before Haven fell. “By the way, what is the plan? Please tell me there’s a plan for actually getting folks across the border that is more sophisticated than me yelling commands at people, Jensen deflecting bullets, and Jared trying to make us invisible.
This time Sterling looked at Felecia incredulously. “We were going to commandeer a train using your hacking expertise and Kathryn’s electrokinesis. Jared was going to hide the train; while Jensen and I and the other telekinetics were going to, block people, deflect bullets, and the like. Briana’s going to read anyone we need to read, for you to, yes command, and then Yadira can offer extra cover with a wind storm, or teleport anyone who needs it.”
Jensen must have either read Felicia’s thoughts or seen something in her expression, because he shook his head and said. “Think nightcrawler, not blink. She’s gotta be in contact with the people, and it’s gotta be line of sight, more or less. Yadira can’t teleport 3000 people to Canada from here.
Jared looked around at the barely controlled chaos. They were so close, but so close to being trapped. There had to be something. He believed it. They could do it. “Jensen,” he said at last, his voice cracking. “What if, instead of stopping it, when we get everyone clear, you let it explode, only you control the blast so the building comes down in a way that doesn’t destabilize everything around it.”
“What?” Jensen asked.
“It’s not that far to the train station from here. Ten minutes on foot, and it’s still pre-dawn. I can hide us while we go. If you wait until the last second, can you rip the connection to the gas main as Yadira teleports you out? She can get you clear enough to not die when the building comes down.”
“I think so,” Jensen answered, uncertainly.
“How long until you’ll overtax?” Jared asked, judging by the way Felicia was giving him side-eye, she’d figured out there was something going on between the two of them.
“Twenty, maybe thirty minutes.”
“And if you want to have anything leftover to help us escape?”
Jensen glared up at him. Jared was afraid Jensen would say it was already too late, but instead he said, “maybe five minutes. But any longer and—no guarantees.”
Jared ran over the nascent plan in his mind. Jensen blinked and looked at him.
“No, Jared, that’s crazy.”
“Care to let us in?” Sterling asked.
“The stairwell’s almost clear,” Jensen said.
It’s clear now came Briana’s insistent thoughts across from across the building.
“Correction it’s clear now.” Jared paused, swallowed, and took a deep breath. “Everyone make a run for the train station, except Jensen and Yadira. I can hide us all as we go. As long as we run, in five minutes, when Jensen has to clear out, we’ll be clear of the blast, in case things don’t go exactly to plan. At the five-minute mark, Yadira teleports Jensen as far as she can go towards the train station. Jensen yanks the connection to the gas main and directs the collapse. Building comes down like a giant pancake. We have a massive distraction about five blocks from VAC headquarters. We go with the rest of the train. I keep it hidden, everybody—does their thing.”
“Jared, no,” Jensen said shaking his head, even more sweat building on it. “Can you even—”
But the answer was simple. When I start to burn out, I lose control of myself first.” Jared pushed down the snarling, animal of panic that rose in his chest every time he thought about letting his true self be seen. The air rippled around him, and he knew from the surprise on Felicia and Sterling’s faces, they were seeing him as he really was. “As long as I don’t mask myself, I can hold it all. And hey,” he shrugged, I’m one more distraction.”
They all grudgingly agreed, and Jared pressed a needy kiss to Jensen’s lips before he ran off.
Les than five minutes later, when they were all still too close to the tower for comfort, a boom echoed across the city like a thunderclap. A wave of warm, compressed air smacked Jared in the face and tried to buffet him off his feet.
Two seconds later, he heard an electrical pop. There was Yadira, as promised, holding a very shaky looking Jensen.
On the skyline the offset, arching, unfinished tower, swayed and began to fall.
“Jared,” I don’t have the energy to contain that much dust particulate, so we gotta go, now,” Jensen panted as Yadira set him on his feet.
Jared nodded, reached out for Jensen hand, and set off at a run, confident that somewhere up ahead, Felicia, Briana, and Kathryn were stealing them a train.
As they ran, they heard the wail and moan of approaching sirens, but every single one, passed them by, even with Jared displaying his full markings unconcealed from the public. Everyone was running towards the collapsing tower. No one was following them.
~~~
Taking an invisible train towards a mountain pass and a border was a jarring experience, Jensen found.
While they were passing through the outskirts of Seattle and its suburb, several times Jensen had had to physically move cars off the train tracks at intersections because there was nothing to indicate to the cars that a train was there, and while Jared’s control was mind-bending, Jensen didn’t want to test what would happen if Jared willed the train to pass through the cars.
On several other occasions, Jensen had watched as police cars and VAC vehicles with their sirens and lights on had driven towards them, only to pass them by. VAC was having little luck pinpointing exactly where their over-stuffed twenty-car train was headed. Which was good, because with so many of them, they were packed in like sardines. If not for Kathryn’s manipulation of the train itself, there was no way it would be able to run, especially as it climbed in elevation towards the pass.
Arriving at the border complex itself had been even stranger. Briana had reached out to the customs agents on the Canadian side and told them there was an invisible train incoming with 2977 asylum seekers, all mutants, requesting invocation of Section 20 of the Seven Nations’ Treaty on behalf of herself and the other Canadian citizens in their midst. If that didn’t work, Felicia was going to get on the PA system, with Kathryn routing it to outside speakers to command everyone to let them pass.
Briana’s request had worked, and the train had crept up to the border, while perplexed and doubtful looking Canadian officials had lowered the barriers on their side.
Unfortunately, they had gotten only the first three cars across the border when the VAC had shown up and opened fire. Now Jensen, along with Sterling and his trainees, were deflecting bullets, and in Jensen’s case, literally shoving helicopters back, up, and away out of range, while the mutant refugees ran from car to car up to the front of the train to exit through the first three cars.
The rest of the train, where Jensen was, was stuck in the no-man’s-land of sorts between the PISA and Canadian gates with some of the cars technically on PISA soil and others on Canadian soil.
He felt another wave of intent as a black SUV came bouncing up the tracks and tried to ram the invisible train from behind. Realizing what was happening, Jensen reached out and yanked the SUV off the tracks, tossing it to a skid across a parking lot on the PISA side of the crossing.
“This is the last car, then we’re clear,” someone yelled at Jensen where he was crouched in the doorway of the eleventh car.
Of course, as if to jinx it, at that moment, another helicopter roared over the treetops and began its decent to land in the PISA-side parking lot. As Jensen was trying to push the helicopter back, and keep it from landing, he almost missed the intent of the sniper strapped into a second helicopter that came over the rise behind it. At the last second, Jensen pushed with all his might, shoving both helicopters back and deflecting the bullet back at the first helicopter. It must have hit a fuel tank, because the force of the resulting explosion knocked Jensen on his ass.
Dazed, he was confused by the sudden influx of noise and pings of bullets.
“Shit, Jensen, it’s time to go!” it was Sterling who called out, squeezing his way back down the train around the throngs of people running to get out. As suddenly as they had started the bullets stopped, and then Stirling was levitating them both, outside along the train until finally they crossed the border.
“Thanks,” Jensen croaked, as he landed on the ground in a slump. Jared, in all his infinity-adorned glory came running over and dropped to his knees by Jensen’s side.
“We did it, Jensen. You did it. We all did it—we’re clear. I dropped the illusion on the train, but VAC can’t see anyone on this side of the border. Come on,” he leaned forward and kissed Jensen’s forehead. “Stay with me.”
“Thanks for—” Jensen tried, but he couldn’t make the words come out. “Thanks for, calling for me,” he managed, before the strain of the past twenty-four hours caught up with him and the world blinked out.
~~~
Epilogue
“It’s ready,” Felicia said, her voice and physical proximity drawing Jensen out of his mid-morning nap.
He was curled up against Jared, lying half on Jared’s chest, and when he moved, Jared stirred.
Jensen hated to wake him, but this step was important for both of them. For everyone.
Two months after their escape from Seattle, and Jared and Jensen were both still weak. Jensen still had some days, where his right arm wouldn't cooperate, or his leg crumbled. Jared was so burned out from manipulating so many different elements for so long, he hadn’t even tried to mask his nature, his markings on full display for everyone to see, although Jensen was willing to bet that was at least as much not wanting to as it was not being able to.
Misha, who had seen them both in person this time, said Jared was healing and there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t regain his full abilities again, or that it would take ten years to recharge as it had apparently with Alaina. But Jensen still worried.
Of course, Misha was more worried about Jensen, and kept muttering about permanent brain damage and increased risk of massive stroke. Jensen wasn't getting the pacemaker removed any time soon. But he was okay with that, he was already as healed as he needed to be.
That was the one thing about him that made him so unique in the eyes of many. While expending all his energy did knock him out and temporarily incapacitate him, as soon as he regained consciousness, it was back. Of course other injuries could render him unconscious longer, but they'd finally figure out, it wasn't Jensen's powers that put him in a coma, that was just his body's response to healing. Now that he was awake, he let his senses spread out, felt the currents and shifting mass around him—Jared breathing beneath him, Felicia standing nearby, Kathryn in the hall, then more people in more rooms, the bones of the building shifting imperceptibly in the wind, the air, the trees, the ground, beyond, outer space, the moon, and in between, satellites, thousands of them some in polar orbits, spy satellites doing their long loop-the-loops, equatorial satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
Of course, the best news of all since he woke up was learning that Morgan was dead. The sniper round Jensen had deflected had killed Morgan as well as his helicopter. Part of Jensen didn't believe it. There would always be a part of him that remembered Morgan rambling like a madman as he walked Jensen to his execution, always the memories of Morgan watching all, popping out of the woodwork at the worst possible time. He expected that sort of behavior to mean Morgan was somehow, immortal. But he was just a person. A flawed, misguided, fallible person, and now, for the first time, people around the world, even in PISA were starting to question Morgan's teachings, his actions, and his words.
Jensen looked up at the sky. Up there was one satellite in particular, waiting for him to make a broadcast that might change all their fates. Thanks to Kathryn’s skill with electromagnetic fields and Felicia’s combined truthsaying and hacking ability, they had an uplink, and he and Jared were about to make history.
“Come on, Jared,” wake up, he prompted.
Jared stirred, his eyes slowly blinking open, the smile on his face was its own reward. “We ready to go?”
“We’re ready,” Jared agreed. “Let’s go make history and tell our people we’ve built a new Haven safe from the VAC’s grasp.
The End