Damage

As the tension in the room continues to rise, it seemed everyone was growing more and more nervous. Not everyone understood the situation, or what was really happening. But Joel couldn't stand it any longer. He doesn't like what's going on, and wants to help, but for an unexplainable reason, all he can manages is to grab some equipment and head outdoors, following in the path of Axel and Jess.

Rocky and Max remain. Though nervous as well, they look to their friends for direction. Something was very strange. The previous argument was forgotten. This seemed much more important now.

Jen looks up at Katie with worry, reaching out a hand to her, but her friend slips past, towards Jason. It wasn't a surprise, but Jen's concern is evident. She'd seen Jason go down before, and she knew the effects it had on Katie, but something did seem very wrong.

She turns quickly to Mike. "Rick. He's...?"

"The physician from TJY." Mike grabs his cell phone from his pocket. "It's too late for him to be there probably, but I'll find him."

Jen nods her thanks, and watches her friends a ways away in the hall by the exit. She wanted to go to them, but already her nervousness had increased, and it took all she had not to want to leave the room altogether. She knew it was from Katie, but still, her own emotions weren't making things any easier. She also knew if she got any closer it would just get worse. She could do nothing right now. Her presence and words would mean nothing to them.


Joel makes it outside with a box, the fresh air an immediate relief. It was almost a shock to suddenly feel the nervousness gone. Strange.

His arms full, he glances to the side where Axel and Jess were still near the building, not having gone to any of the pickups yet, though Axel still had the extension cord in his hand. Joel knew his friend had merely slipped out to avoid the scene as he himself had.

"Not so great in there," he comments. "Something weird happening with Jason and Katie, and now Mike is calling somebody."

Axel runs the cord through his hands, his brow furrowing in concern. "Well what's wrong?"

"I don't know. What I do know is that I've never felt anything like it before, and I wouldn't care to again." Joel continues his route to pack up the equipment, finding it easier to keep his hands busy than try to figure out what was happening.

Axel sighs and looks to Jess, glad they were out of the war zone. "Sorry about all this," he apologizes, even though he doesn't understand. "Hope you enjoyed the concert anyway. I'm glad you got to come."

Seeing Taylor at the pickup, Joel realizes she hadn’t been inside for a while. “Man, I wish I woulda missed what just happened too,” he comments. “Good choice staying out here.”

Not getting a response, he lifts an eyebrow. Coming closer, he sees Taylor’s head is hanging, and even closer, he sees that quite possibly, she’d been crying. “Whoa, you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Taylor sniffs and forces a smile. “It’s nothing.”

“Well it don’t look like nothing.” Joel sets the guitar case down and lays a hand on her shoulder. “Kyle was the center of attention in there for a while, what about you?”

“It’s nothing,” Taylor repeats as she takes a deep breath. But looking up at her cousin, another tear escapes. “Oh, Joel… I feel like an idiot.”

As she leans into him to bury her face in his shoulder, he’s taken by surprise, but wraps his arms around her gently. “Hey,” he croons, “what is it, hmm? What happened?” While his tone is calm, he wracks his brain for any information he’d forgotten. This was turning out to be some kind of evening.

Taylor just lets him hold her for a minute before finally withdrawing and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m okay now…” She takes a deep breath, calming herself. “I’m okay… really.”

Joel cocks his head. “You sure?”

“Yeah.” She nods emphatically. “I’m sorry.”

“Well don’t be sorry.” He turns to adjust one of the boxes. “I just want to make sure you’re alright.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Taylor nods again. “Just, um… I’ll wait in my car until we load up, okay?”

“Alright.” Joel shrugs, turning to leave. He was there for her, but he also knew that when Taylor didn’t want to talk, there wasn’t much he could do about it.


"Phil, what's going on?" Rocky asks his friend with worry.

Phil glances to Mike, who is still on the phone, then back to Rocky. His face is tense with concern. "I'll explain in a few minutes. For now, just keep getting your equipment together."

"But..." Rocky looks down towards where Jason and Katie were. "I don't understand. Why isn't anyone helping them?"

"Staying back is helping them," Phil counters. "Please... trust me. Help is coming."


Jason fights to remain conscious, barely able to distinguish Katie's words to him. As she slides down next to him then takes his hand, he can feel his emotions surging in her direction. They boil and spark, let loose through tiny cracks and forcefully drawn out through the smallest spaces. Jason cries out in pain. Never before had it hurt so badly. It was as if there was a dam, holding back the waters of a raging river.

Katie's drawing force puts more and more pressure on the wall, as if creating cracks for the emotions to spurt through with force. But the main waters remained trapped, unable to flow.

Jason's mind is so clouded with rampant images, thoughts and feelings that he can't even communicate with Katie. He knew he was hurting her. He knew that something was wrong. But he couldn't seem to stop it. His grip tightens around Katie's hand as the sweat starts to run down his face. His eyes were closed, his body rigid with the overwhelming tension.

Katie...

His communication was weak.

No... you can't... it's too much...

His emotions were painful and the pressure was building. But it was as if there was no way to open the dam. There was a feeling... a feeling oh so deep that he had finally succeeded in burying past his subconscious. It had been bundled tightly together and stuffed into the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, a triumph as it would never have to surface again. But...within those locked feelings was the key. He had the strength to dig down deep and pull those feelings up again, but without realizing the impact that the flashbacks of his childhood had, he does not know to release them.

The efforts of Katie, however, don't go unfelt. It seemed an eternity, but it was only minutes before just enough emotions were released. However few and however painfully, it took off just enough pressure. Jason's emotional state was still extremely unstable, still raging wildly and out of control. But for now... for at least a little while, enough emotions had been pulled out of him to leave room before another eruption.

Jason's heartrate begins to slow again, his body still shaking, but not as badly. His surroundings come into focus again, though they're dim. Every muscle in his body aches, and his grip loosens on Katie's hand. Though his eyes are shut, it's as if he can see her perfectly. "I'm sorry," he manages to whisper. "I... I don't know what's wrong."

Though calm for the moment, he was too weak to move. But something scared him even more than his own state. Katie wasn't responding. "Katie," he speaks hoarsely. His grip tightens again and he forces his eyes open. His lifeline was slumped next to him, a still form.

A desperation rises within him. All it does is make his emotions build back up faster, but he can't help it. "Katie no," he says a little louder. "Don't let go... come on..."

Shifting his weight, he puts a hand to Katie's face, running a thumb down her cheek. "Please," he whispers, his weak voice wavering. "Don't let go." He could feel the normal, relaxed pulse of the emotional flow, and knew that she had blacked out.

"Jason?"

Jason can barely get his eyes to work, but he finally looks up to see the familiar face. "Rick." He swallows hard. "Rick, she's hurt... please... help her..."

"It's okay, Jason. I'm gonna try to help you both." Rick immediately starts checking both of them over. He'd been on his way home when Mike had gotten a hold of him, so it had been a quick trip to the community building. He had driven as fast as he dared, sensing that this was something he hadn't quite encountered before.

"What happened?" he questions.

Jason leans back against the wall and shakes his head lamely. "I... I don't know. I... I lost my temper. It took over. I couldn't... couldn't stop it. Then Katie..." He winces as his headache returns with a sharp pain that surged through his skull.

"Katie what?" Rick moves to her, taking her pulse, and shining a light into her dim eyes.

Jason tries to think straight. His emotions were building again. Why hadn't they all been released? Why hadn't they broken free? Why had Katie's efforts only taken the harshest ones off the top? He should be empty. He should be on his way to recovery, not on his way to another episode. But he could feel it coming. "She... she tried to help. But it was too much."

"Is it over?"

"No." Jason shakes his head again. "I don't... I mean... I don't know why. It... it should be. But.. it..." His eyes start to roll back in his head.

"Jason!" Rick gives him a slight jolt. "Jason, stick with me here. Come on. Fight it. What's happening?"

"I don't know," Jason mumbles. "It's not the same..."

Seeing that someone was looking after Jason and Katie, Phil thinks it best to now inform Cryptic quickly before any assumptions can be made. He gestures to the door, suggesting that Rocky and Max follow him out.

Once in the fresh air, they join up with Joel, then move to where Axel and Jess still were. Taylor isn't to be found at the moment, but Phil doesn't wait to locate her.

"What's really going on?" Rocky asks, confused. "Are they okay in there? Who's the new guy?"

Phil nods. "They will be. And that's Rick - he's a physician. It's just..." He looks at his friends, knowing that he spoke the unbelievable. "Jason and Katie... they're special. We don't know why, but Jason has an emotional..." He fishes for the right words. "...battlefield inside of him."

Max squints one eye. "You mean like a disorder or something?"

"No... not really." Phil sighs. "Take general emotions. Then put them on a scale of one to ten. A one is what 'normal' people generally feel and deal with. Jason... he'd be an eleven."

Axel quirks an eyebrow and glances to Jess. He'd heard bits and pieces about this through Carson, but had never gotten the full story.

Phil continues. "Because the intensity is so great, Jason has the ability to manipulate those emotions into sort of a...." Again, he's at a loss for words.

"Energy source," Axel concludes.

Phil nods, grateful. "Exactly. And with that energy source, he can sometimes even manipulate objects and the like."

"Whoa." Rocky's eyes are wide, finding this all very peculiar. "So... what happened in there?"

"Well, if you had an energy source like that inside of you, do you think it would be easy?" Phil shakes his head. "There's a downside. Every so often, the emotions build to a climax beyond Jason's control. It's like they need a way out. They affect him physically, causing pain and making him sick within seconds. Usually it happens if he gets upset and doesn't monitor himself. Sometimes a bad spell involves flashbacks from a traumatic experience he had as a kid."

Phil shrugs, feeling as though he couldn't explain it much better than that. "And Katie... she's the exact opposite. Instead of emitting emotions, she absorbs them. For Jason, she's his life support, because with all that emotional build-up, without Katie, that energy would have nowhere to go."

"But..." Joel cocks his head. "If... he gets sick like that... without Katie, wouldn't that kill him?"

Phil nods grimly. "Yes. It would. That's why she is so important. She feels everything Jason feels, as long as there is no barrier. Which is why she was hit so hard in there. Jason lost control and to her, it's like getting hit with a freight train. Not to mention, when she gets too uptight or manipulates her own strengths, she can make any one of us feel high as a kite, or as scared as a hunted animal. Hence, why we all got so nervous in there."

The silence that follows is a strange one. This was so bizarre that if the others didn't trust Phil, they would say he was out of his mind.

"Jason would die without Kate," Axel contemplates. "Is it the same for her?"

"I think so," Phil answers. "See... it's almost like Jason's emotions are poisonous to him, and therefore have to be regularly drawn out. But to Katie, they're an antidote."

"So..." Rocky tries to ask the right questions. "What, um... what happens now?"

"Well... usually Katie can get Jason calmed down, and it just takes a while for them both to settle back down again. Just takes time, really. Usually both are worn out by the time it's over though."

"They can communicate with each other, can't they."

Phil lifts an eyebrow at Axel's statement. "How did you know that?"

Axel shrugs. "Just watching them. They hardly ever say a word to each other, but they're constantly one step ahead as if everything is planned out. Telepathy?"

"I don't know," Phil admits. "It's all connected - you'd have to ask them."

"Does this happen often?" Max asks.

"No. I was surprised at this one. Usually it's something that triggers a flashback that will cause an outbreak like that, but tonight it seemed different. I don't know why."

"Dude, this is crazy, you realize this." Max folds his arms across his chest. "I mean like... sci-fi crazy."

Phil can't help a little grin. "Stick around long enough and you'll get used to it. Jason and Katie are two great people."

Axel's mind has still been at work. "I bet all that can come in handy with the Elite."

"Yeah. You remember Scott Johnson?" Phil waits to receive the nods. "I guess Jason and Katie worked pretty well together on that rescue mission. I wouldn't be surprised if they were called on duty more often because of what they can do."

Another pause lingers before Phil's shoulders drop a little bit. "Look, um... This whole thing wouldn't have happened if there hadn't been an argument. I want to apologize to you guys for that. It was uncalled for and... I'm sorry. I guess I was just surprised. If I hadn't gotten so riled, Jason wouldn't have either."

"Well, Kyle blind sighted you," Rocky admits. "And I guess we did too. He didn't want us to tell anybody from JetStream about it because he didn't want it to be a big deal. But... maybe we didn't realize just what how big a deal it really was. So..." He looks to Max, Joel and Axel, then back to Phil. "We're sorry too."

Phil smiles a little. "You guys all really did sound fantastic."

"JetStream did too," Joel compliments. "You've got it together, that's for sure. All four of you."

The "four" makes Phil think. "I guess I owe an apology to that fourth member."

"Kyle be okay?" Axel questions.

Phil nods. "Yeah. I'll talk to him. We'll work it out."

Rocky sighs and sets his hands on his hips. "Well... I guess there's only one thing to do then."

"What's that?"

Rocky offers a wry grin, and glances in Jess' direction to ensure she's included. "Go for pizza. We have to celebrate something tonight. If it's not the awesome show, it's the awesome friendships we've got going here."

Phil shakes his head, so grateful for Rocky's leading. "Sounds good to me. Why don't you all go on ahead? I want to make sure Jason and Katie will be okay, then at least Jen and I will come up to meet you guys."

"Sounds good."

"Alright. Thanks, Rocky." A firm handshake between the friends seals the fact that there are no hard feelings lingering between them, or the bands.

After Phil heads back inside, Rocky looks around the parking lot. "Joel, where's that cousin of yours?"

"Oh..." Joel hesitates. "She's in her car I think. Let me go see if she's ready to head on out." He jogs over to he car beside the pickups, and within moments, he's back. "She said to go on without her."

Axel quirks an eyebrow. Taylor never turned down time with the guys.

Rocky senses the same strangeness. "She okay?"

"Yeah, it's just... well..." Joel shrugs. "When I came out here earlier she'd been crying or something, but she wouldn't say why."

Rocky furrows his brow, concerned. "Well it wasn't the fight - she's been out here. She wouldn't say anything?"

"Nope." Joel shrugs again. "Figured I shouldn't press the issue when she said she'd be fine. But just now she didn't look like she really wanted to go anywhere. Said she'd help load up the last things then go home."

Axel can feel the heat creeping up the back of his neck again, and he doesn't look anybody in the eye for several moments. "Taylor and I..."

The other guys look to him quickly for an explanation.

"...we had a bit of a misunderstanding earlier. That could be it."

"You guys fight or what?" Max asks.

Axel shakes his head. "I didn't think so. But maybe she did." He didn't like skirting around the truth, but how was he supposed to say that Taylor had hauled off and kissed him, let alone, without his approval? It would just sound wrong, not to mention it would embarrass her further if she found out the others knew. "I don't think she was feeling the greatest anyway."

"Yeah, it's probably that time of the month." Joel rolls his eyes. Suddenly though, his face turns crimson. He hadn't even thought about the fact that Jess was standing right there. His complete embarrassment is more than obvious as his eyes widen.

Axel looks at him calmly through the tense pause that was just waiting for laughter to erupt. "Well, Joel. That, um... that very well could be." He nods, pursing his lips in thought. "And how does your foot taste tonight?"

Rocky and Max both burst out laughing, and eventually Joel joins them too, though a bit sheepishly. "So. Pizza. Yes. Moving on. Are we going or what?"

As the gang goes to finish loading the equipment, Axel glances over to Jess, his eyes sparking with humor, even though he hadn't joined in the laughter. "So is Stormy gonna join us, or do I have to keep everyone in line by myself tonight?"


"Mike, I need your help." Rick looks over his shoulder as Phil rejoins them. "And you too. We have to get Jason and Katie down to the infirmary. Neither one of them are coming out of this and I don't know why. Jason's ready to explode again, and Katie is growing weaker."

Within minutes, Mike, Phil and Rick are working together to carry Katie to Rick's car, then help Jason out as well. His knees buckle and he has to rely on his friends' strength to get him there, finally sinking into the car seat next to Katie, pulling her close in the hopes that somehow him being near would help. But the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach warned him that his presence might just make things worse at this point. She'd already had an overdose of his emotions.

It isn't long before a foursome arrives at TJY. Plans had shifted, and now Phil and Jen had stayed behind to be with Cryptic, while Mike had been the one to go and help Rick.

With a bit of a struggle, Rick lends support to Jason, while Mike carries Katie into the building. Rick has to flip on the lights, then makes his way as quickly as possible towards the infirmary, kicking the door open.

The intrusion sends Scott bolt upright, having almost been dozing off. But seeing Jason and Katie, he is quick to slide off the bed, giving Mike room to deposit Katie onto the blankets.

"What's wrong?" Scott asks quickly.

"Jason had a bad spell," Rick responds. "Otherwise, I don't know."

"Is having," Jason mumbles a correction.

Rick gets Jason to sit on the examining table, then moves back to Katie, checking her vitals again. Mike stands back out of the way, watching and waiting for any instructions. Scott's eyes roam the room back and forth, back and forth, still shook up by the sudden intrusion, while at the same time, a sickening worry had taken over him. Forgetting about caution, he approaches the bed slowly, reaching down gently to push aside a lock of hair from Katie's face. She looked so pale. He strokes her hair softly, a quiet murmur on his lips. "You're stronger than this, Alice... don't let the queen of hearts win. Come home."


"Talk to me, Jason, what's happening?" Rick questions as he examines his now-patient.

"I... I don't know." Though alert enough to communicate, Jason still felt as if he were pausing before a wreck. The emotions were too much... too strong.

Rick shines a light into his eyes. His own worry increasing. This was so far beyond the medical field. "What was different about this time?" Not receiving a response, he tries to keep Jason from passing out. "Come on, Hotshot, stay with me. What was different?"

Jason furrows his brow, finding it hard to think. "There was no... no episode. Just... blank."

"You mean no flashback?"

"Uh-uh."

Rick's mind works quickly, and he looks his younger friend in the eye. "Jason, remember when I told you the reason for your flashbacks? Because your past holds the strongest feelings, and your emotions feed on that event in your mind?"

Jason grows more lethargic and barely nods.

Rick continues, though he wasn't even sure if he was speaking the truth. It really was a shot in the dark, but right now it was all he had. "They need those strong feelings, Jason. Your emotions need a way to break out. Why didn't you have a flashback this time?"

Jason struggles to think, and gropes for any sense of security. "Katie..." he mumbles. "I need..."

Rick forces him to look him in the eye. "She's stable for the moment. You need to think... why didn't you have a flashback?"

"I didn't... I got over them." Jason wracks his brain. "Since last time. I don't... don't think about it anymore. It's gone."

Rick tries to calculate quickly. "You sure it's gone? Or did you just bury it?"

"It hurts," Jason complains in almost a whimper.

"I know... I know." Rick looks over his shoulder to Katie, then back to Jason. "You've got to pull it back out. I know you don't want to. But your emotions need that conduit."

Jason shakes his head. "I can't. It's too deep."

"You have to. If you don't, Katie is going to get worse. There's too many mixed signals, and the emotions she is getting are too condensed. You've got to release the negative so they'll run out and stop hitting her."

"But... but letting them go could... would make her worse."

"I don't know if her being unconscious makes a difference," Rick admits. "But if not, I know that if you fall into a bad spell, it's still going to do some damage to her. But if you don't, Jason... it will be far worse. You need to do this... You need to let it go so you can calm down again, so Katie will have enough peace and quiet to pull through."

Rick pauses, searching Jason's face. "Tell me about your past," he orders firmly.

"No."

"Tell me about Alex," Rick prompts. It pained him to do this, but it was the only thing he could think of. He was desperate. "Where did he take you?"

Jason closes his eyes shut tight. He didn't want to think about this. He'd finally managed to bury all of those things. Why was Rick forcing him to bring them out again? "His house."

"What did it look like?"

"It was small... dark."

"How did he treat you?"

Jason starts to shut down, not wanting to go there.

Rick takes him by the shoulders, giving him a short shake, his voice raising. "Talk, or you're going back into that room!"

Jason's eyes snap up to meet Rick's, the look of a terrified little boy surfacing. "No," he begs. "Don't."

"So help me, I will!" Rick glares at him. "You'll be locked in there. In the dark. Alone. No food. And Alex is coming."

"No!"

"Yes! He's coming and he's going to hit you again. He's going to scream at you again. Remember the room? Remember? How does it feel, Jason? No one is coming. You're alone and all you want to do is die."

"No!" Jason's scream sends an overhead light into a shower of sparks. His memories are ripped from their secure hiding place, creating the world of nightmares he hated so much. "No," he moans, leaning down to lay on his side and curl up. But the damage Rick had accomplished was enough to push him over the edge.

His body shakes and be breaks out in a cold sweat. He was back in that horrid room again. A gash was on his hand. He'd tried to get out. Blood came from the broken blisters on his fingers after he'd tried to claw through the wall. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that he could hear Alex coming. The shadow appears beneath the door. Jason cowers in the corner. The beating was coming... again. It was coming. And there was no way out.

Tears stream down his face as he starts to mumble incoherent words and he rocks, still curled up tightly. Reality was lost, and his emotions poured forth, bursting from their prison. Nearby equipment rattles and the other lights flicker, but no damages is done as the emotions are not condensed or aimed, but simply hurled into oblivion.

Jason writhes in pain, mumbling as he tries to find reality again. It hurt... it hurt so much. But there was finally some release. Finally, finally, his emotions had a way to flow, as if a dam had been opened. Feeding off of his negative feelings and horrific memories, they surged forth through the barriers, pouring out to leave behind their own scars.

Rick stands close, watching Katie, and knowing that whatever was happening, even if she were unconscious, it was affecting her. He could only pray that there was no permanent damage and that when Jason could finally settle down, that she would be able to pull through. It was his only hope. And if it didn't work... he would blame himself for forcing the situation to worsen by provoking Jason into this state.

"Come on, Jason," he prompts gently. "I know you can pull yourself out of it."

"Can he?" Mike questions from the other side of the room. "I thought he needed Katie."

"It depends on the severity of the episode," Rick answers. "Pray that this one is severe enough to get rid of enough emotions that we can be in the safe zone, but that it will be weak enough that he can pull himself out of it."

"What if he doesn't?"

Rick grits his teeth, not wanting to answer that one. He wasn't about to lose two patients, let alone two friends.

"Rick?"

He spins around to Jason once more. "Jason. You still with me?"

Jason's eyes flutter open as the fog begins to lift. He blinks, not even wanting to move, his body hurt so much. "What... I..."

"Slowly," Rick directs, laying a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Easy does it. You're safe. You're in the infirmary."

"Alex..."

"He's gone. You're okay."

Jason swallows hard. He felt so weak. But the tension was gone. The horrid pressure had been released. "Katie?"

Rick glances over his shoulder. "She'll be okay," he assures. "Just sit tight." He didn't understand how Jason was able to pull himself out of such a severe episode, but his hunch was that despite Katie's unconsciousness, her presence alone had still served to create a place for Jason's emotions to go. But now that the negative onslaught was over, Rick could only hope that the flow really had stopped, and if it had, that it would be enough to bring Katie back.

Scott eases down in a chair next to the bed, his hands folded as his elbows rested on his knees, a silent prayer being lifted up. For the first time, he had someone else to focus on, other than himself. They needed the attention more than he did.