PoV: Julia

It's just a dream, just a dream, I tried to convince myself as I sprinted out out the back alley, heart pounding, my mind convinced that she was following.

I didn't know who she was, but she haunted my dreams for years. The dream was always choppy, one scene in a bedroom, then suddenly we were in a park, then we're in a kitchen.

It always ended in the kitchen, I remembered that much. And I was always terrified.

Then David, Jason, whoever he was, said that name, and there she was again. Brown curly hair, furious expression, towering over me in a mad rage.

And all I knew to do was run. Run away, hide, and maybe she wouldn't find me.

And so I did. I ran out of the alleyway and took a left, running as fast as I could.

Just a dream, it's just a dream! I screamed at myself internally, but my terror was too strong. I somehow knew this person, and I knew I couldn't stop them, I couldn’t fight back, all I could do was run or hide.

An image flashed into my mind, the woman towering over me, my cheek stinging from her hitting me a second before.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and my sprint got even faster. Tears ran down my cheeks as I ran, and I didn't even try to stop them.

I approached an intersection, just as a car began to turn, blocking my path. Instinctively, I vaulted the hood of the car and kept running, ignoring the sound of screeching brakes.

I passed a furniture store, then ducked into their parking lot, heart pounding in my throat.

A memory surfaced in my mind, a woman’s voice, the woman’s voice, “Useless, worthless! How am I supposed to run a household when you can’t even tie your shoes?”

A sob burst out as I cowered in the shadow of the buildings. Words swirled around my mind, hopeless, stupid, useless.

“I’m sorry,” I found myself whispering, almost as if I was reciting from memory, “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again. You are right.”

Someone raced past, spotted me, then turned back, approaching me cautiously.

I couldn't make them out very well through my tears, so I shied away, trying to make myself as small as possible.

“Bianca-” they started, but the name caused me to wince, and they stopped.

I bolted, feinting to the left, then dashing to the right, running as fast as I could.

As I ran, I could hear their footsteps behind me. Spontaneously, I sprinted across the street, but almost as soon as I reached the other side, a hand grabbed my wrist.

I tried to wriggle free, but I couldn’t.

“Hey, calm down,” he said kindly, “It’s okay, you are safe. I won’t hurt you, I want to protect you.”

I looked at him through my tears, looking for something I could trust in his face, and something seemed almost familiar about him. There was a word, his name maybe?

“Zio?” I said hesitantly, and his eyes widened.

“You remember me?” he asked, his grip loosening slightly on my wrist.

“I… I don’t know,” I shook my head trying to piece together the images flooding my mind, “You… wore a uniform and… you taught me how to hide, how to use my surroundings,” I looked up at him again, my cheeks damp, “Who are you?”

“I’m your Uncle,” his tone was gentle, as if he was scared of me running off again, “I’m impressed that you even remembered me, it’s been years.”

Slowly my brain began to piece things together, but that only made things more confusing, “Zio, that’s… Italian for uncle. Why do I know you as the Italian word for uncle? Why… why do I know you? You’re the villain, the person I’m supposed to take down eventually, so why… do I instinctively trust you?”

“I’m not certain, but I did know you when you were little, age three, I believe,” he seemed so hopeful, and almost as if he was trying to hold back his excitement, “and… I do remember teaching you stealth techniques.”

I worked to control my breathing, then a thought struck me, “Where is Kaylee?” Suddenly I realized how stupid I was being. This man was the best of the best, and I was just accepting his story that he was my uncle? He’d been a ways behind me, which would have given him ample time to do who knows what to Kaylee.

“She sent me ahe-”

I didn’t let him get any farther than that. I twisted my arm, getting my wrist free, and punched him with my other hand, hard. I tried to follow it up by hitting him in the groin, but he danced out of kicking reach, falling into his own fighting stance.

“I didn't touch her,” Jason lied, standing far enough away that I couldn't reach him very easily, “She sent me ahead, she said that she wouldn't be able to catch up with you, and that I could prove that I'm trustworthy.”

I laughed, “Even Kaylee wouldn't take that big of a risk,” then I charged him, stepping to the side just before he sidestepped, and elbowed him in the back.

He hissed in pain, but moved away again, this time with a bit more distance.

“Julia, I'm not going to fight back,” he said, “Kaylee will be here soon, then she can prove my claim.”

My mind raced, trying to figure out how he was planning to trick me into thinking Kaylee had sent him ahead. Was he blackmailing her somehow? No, that's unlikely, maybe he somehow has an imposter? Don't be daft, Julia, that's just as unlikely.

I continued to glare at him suspiciously, still ready to fight, “I don't trust you.”

“What happened to the instinct that told you to trust me?” Jason asked, sounding nothing more than curious, but I wasn't going to be fooled so easily.

“I realized it was likely to get me killed, so I shut it down,” I answered, as confidently as I could.

“Could… you revive it or something?” Kaylee came up from behind me, panting and limping, “Please?”

I stepped back a bit, positioning myself so I could watch both her and Jason. I looked at Kaylee but kept Jason in my peripheral vision.

“Kaylee, are you all right?” I asked, trying to refocus myself. Why had I broken down like that? It wasn’t anything like me, but I’d been overwhelmed with terror and memories.

“I’m fine, you?” she was also standing so she could see both of us comfortably, but didn’t seem very suspicious of Jason.

“I’m fine,” I answered, “What happened back there?”

“Um, you mean the alley? Well, you freaked out, I realized there was absolutely no way I could catch you, even if I wasn’t limping, so I confirmed his identity, and took a leap of faith,” she avoided my eyes, “Look, I know it was a stupid move, but it looks like it paid off. Do you know what happened to you?”

I froze, not wanting to share how fallen apart so easily. That sort of thing was not supposed to happen, I was supposed to be perfect.

“It looked like she was overwhelmed by memories,” Jason said quietly, “And based on how intense the reaction was, I’d say they were artificially hidden.”

“That’s impossible!” I protested, “And what would you know about the subject anyway?”

Kaylee snorted, “Um, I think he knows a lot, actually. Remember how I said that the movies featured an amnesiac? That’s him,“ she nodded her head in Jason’s direction.

“But… why would Da- why would he repress my memories?” I realized that I’d closed my eyes, squeezing them shut as I struggled to make sense of everything. Finally, I looked up, focusing on Jason, “No, that can’t be right. You… you’re trying to trick me, turn me against Castle. It won’t happen,” I glared at him, “Who sent you here?”

Jason’s eyes widened, “You work for Castle? No, no one sent me. I got a tip from a friend that I had a niece out in the world, so I began to track you down. I’m not trying to trick you, I want…” he trailed off, looking disoriented, sad, almost lonely, “I want to know my niece.”

Again, the part that wanted to trust him surfaced, and I tried to stop it. He seems convinced he’s my uncle! How is that even possible? And were my memories tampered with? Would Dad do such a thing? I noticed that my breathing was becoming irregular, and I tried to calm myself, but it was not working. I realized that in order to take care of myself, I would have to let my guard down, and there was no way I was doing that with Jason Bourne in sight. I realized that he hadn’t picked up the gun I must have dropped, though I couldn't actually remember it leaving my hand.

I gritted my teeth, then turned and ran, heading into the parking lot of the nearby grocery store, a part of me looking for the safety that being with civilians provided, and a part of me just needing to get away at all costs.

I glanced behind me to see if he was following, but instead, I saw him and Kaylee talking, Kaylee’s being very animated in her gestures, as usual, and Jason was moderately animated as well, much to my surprise.

Based on her motions with her hands, it looked like Kaylee was telling Jason to stay there, and she looked fairly upset, possibly even angry.

I stopped to watch, letting myself focus on surveillance, rather than the internal chaos.

Kaylee had thrown her hands up in the air, and it looked like she was yelling at him.

How is she so confident with him? I wondered, shaking my head, Even if she does think he’s not dangerous, why is she so comfortable telling him off, or whatever she’s doing.

It looked like their argument was dying down, and Kaylee turned, heading my direction, without Jason. She saw me watching, and hurried over to catch me, but I turned to run again.

“Wait!” Kaylee called after me, “Julia, stop!”

I kept running, weaving in between cars. As I ran, I saw that the back of my hand was still covered in blood from my earlier fight in the other parking lot. I groaned, realizing I was not very presentable after that fight.

Kaylee called after me again, “Megan, stop!”

I stopped, Julia responding to the order, Megan responding to her older sister.

Kaylee caught up with me, “Why did you run?”

“Look, I… I need some space,” I took a couple steps back, but she matched them, keeping the distance between us the same.

“That is something I can’t really do right now. I need a better idea of what is going on, then I can leave you alone,” she continued to be firm, keeping eye contact with me.

I took a deep breath, still trying to steady myself, “What do you need?

She swallowed nervously, “What happened when he said that full name?”

I tensed up, the woman’s whispers coming back, Incompetent, stupid, uncaring. I closed my eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were once again threatening to fall. Steeling myself, I met Kaylee’s gaze, “The name brought back a nightmare. I haven’t  had it happen outside of sleep for years, but when he said that name, and the tone, I… It came back.”

Kaylee nodded slowly, concern all over her face, “So the nightmare came back, and that made you run for some reason?”

“Yes,” I answered, “Also, what’s the deal with Jason Bourne? Why did you trust him?”

She looked around uncomfortably, “Um, yeah… I know that was a bad idea, but-”

I cut her off, “I don’t need to hear all that, I need to know why! Why would you trust him?”

“Because he’s not a bad guy anymore! If there is any truth in the movies, then he has left the secret agent life as far behind him as he can! And, I mean, if he’s right about the niece thing, don’t you want to know?” She snapped, “Why are you so stuck on the idea of him being bad?”

“Because he’s been presented to me as bad my entire life!” I shouted back, “That’s what Rosebush is for, it’s what I am for! I was created to take him down! And now he comes up out of nowhere with this ludicrous story about being my uncle! And somehow, I remember him, I remember…” I trailed off, tears flowing down my cheeks again. I leaned against the car behind me, and slid myself down to the ground, “I don’t know what’s going on, Kaylee,” I admitted, “I have no idea what’s happening.”

She crouched down in front of me, meeting my eyes, “How can I help?”

I sighed, then asked, “Who is David Webb, and what does he have to do with Jason Bourne?”

Kaylee took a deep breath, “I’ll tell you what I know from the movies, and stuff I’ve heard from friends about the books, but I don’t know what of it is true or not.
David Webb is Jason Bourne’s birth name, and he’s a completely different person from the assassin person who is Jason Bourne.
In the movies, Jason gets amnesia and then has to figure out who he is, with the confusion of multiple passports all with different names, learning that he can speak multiple languages, and at one point he’s recognized as one alias, then has a meeting as another.
In the end, he finds out he was a spy assassin person, and he declares he wants out. That’s how the first movie ends.
But his past keeps coming back again and again, as he never really remembers everything, and he feels really guilty for everything he did as an assassin. He learns more about himself through the movies, and in the third one, he learns that he was born David Webb, um… somewhere in Missouri, I think.
Anyways, at the end of every movie he tries to go back to being normal, and at the beginning of the next one, he’s always called back for some reason.”

“So David Webb is just another name for Jason Bourne?” I interjected.

“No! David Webb is the part of Jason that is a normal decent person!” She corrected me quickly, “Maybe it’s like how you have your different aliases with different skills and personalities, as you were telling me earlier? I don’t really know, but I do believe David is a good person with good intentions.”

I looked down at my feet, “But what if I’m related to him?” I mumbled, “And what if he’s right, what if Dad did tamper with my memories?”

“Um… yeah, I have no idea,” Kaylee admitted.

I glared up at her, “That’s not helpful.”

“I know, but it’s also true. I have no idea what to do here, but I’d recommend we do something,” she sighed, “Okay, let’s start somewhere basic, do you trust these new memories?”

I thought about it for a second before answering, “Yes.”

“Are you willing to trust David slash Jason at all?” she continued.

Again, I paused to think, because on one side, trusting him seemed like trusting… I don’t know, any childhood monster, but on the other side, if I was going to get answers, I’d need something that meant Dad couldn’t just brush me off, and showing up with Jason Bourne, not as a prisoner, would definitely do that. I sighed, “Trusting him seems like the better of two evils. Hopefully, it doesn't get us killed.”

“Could you stop being so pessimistic?” Kaylee asked, sighing again, “Anyways, do you think you are able to have a civilized conversation with him now?”

I nodded, “Let’s go chat with an assassin, shall we?”

Kaylee cocked her head at me, “Have you ever assassinated people?”

“Well, yes, but… oh never mind,” I looked away, admiring a nearby bus stop shelter.

She laughed, “Great, I guess I get to chat with two assassins, what could go wrong?”