Sam squinted into the distance, but he could hardly see anything beyond the swarming sand. Even with most of his body covered in clothes and with sunglasses on, he still felt as if the tiny particles were digging into his soul.

Despite not needing to see beyond the shadow moving in front of him, his stomach still ached and something felt off. Even more so when a second shadow appeared through the sandstorm and continued to make its way towards him. It was barely three feet away when Sam realized it was Tom.

"Where's Angie?" he yelled over the howling wind.

"What do you mean?" Sam yelled back. He had no idea where Angie was because his position was between Skye and Jessie, so he hadn't really been paying attention to the movement of the others.

"I mean I think she fell behind." Without waiting for another answer, Tom charged forward and disappeared in the storm.

"Tom!" 

There was no use. His twin was gone and he had no idea what to do. Jessie had surpassed him already, so he was last in line. If he didn't move, he would either lose Tom or Skye. Screaming made no difference because it was impossible to hear anything.

Just what the hell was he supposed to do? He couldn't leave Tom in the middle of a sandstorm. He took his compass out and tried to pinpoint his direction. Skye was not going to move until he surpassed her. So keeping a straight line due east, he started walking, one shaky step after the other, his eyes squinted and peeled for any sign of movement.

It was stupid. Tom had gone off running. There was no way he would catch up this way, but running away from the others felt like suicide. Not like Tom had given him much of a choice. If only he could see properly, he was sure he'd be able to--

He froze as a shadow appeared through the wall of sand, growing larger with each passing second. Sam held his breath and could only let it out once he identified the approaching silhouette as his twin carrying an unconscious Angie.

"How far are we?" he yelled, continuing his stride towards the others.

Sam followed him gladly, half-running to keep up. "I think we should be there in about a half an hour."

"Angie's passed out and most likely severely dehydrated. She needs a hospital."

Sam agreed. They were all in danger of dehydration since their water supplies had run out about an hour ago and they still had to move. But now they had a new drive to increase their speed. So Sam jogged ahead and informed everyone that they had to get out of there now.

With a little less care, but more speed, they continued their way and finally got to Wadi El Rayan. The moment they found shelter, Skye and Jessie took over to care for Angie, but there was nothing they could do. She needed IV fluids as soon as possible.

A mad race to Cairo ensued, courtesy of Tom and Kyle, and in less then two hours, they were inside the hospital, waiting for the doctors to confirm what they already knew.

"We can't discharge her until she wakes up," the doctor said when Jessie raised the issue that they needed to get out of there like two hours ago.

"Predictably enough," she mumbled.

Sam bit his lip, totally getting why she was bouncing off the walls with nerves. Jerry and Jimmy would be landing soon and she wanted to be there. All of them did. And if they didn't catch the next plane out of there, no way that was happening.

"You guys should go," Tom said. Everyone turned to him, but he just shrugged. "We all want to be somewhere else, and there's not point for all of us to stay behind. Angie just needs someone to look after her and take her home."

"Tom, I should stay then," Kay said. "Seeing Jimmy again... I know how much that must mean to you."

He shook his head. "No, I want to do this. Don't worry about it. Plus, I want everyone to be safe."

Sam had to admit that he liked the idea of Tom staying behind more, too. And maybe, just maybe, Angie would wake up and they'd make up and everyone would be okay.

"I can't believe she drank that stupid infected water," Jessie mumbled under her breath. "I know that she must've been thirsty, but now we have no idea what was in it."

"I don't blame her," Kay said. "It must've been an accident."

"I'm sure it was," Jessie said with a sigh, then turned to Tom. "Thank you so much for this."

Tom gave her a one-armed hug. "Go make Jimmy happy." He took the rest of them in. "And I'll see you at home."

Sam nodded, aware they had to get out of there and to the airport now. He felt a little guilty, but they didn't have time for better ideas or more planning. If Tom said it was okay, then he should believe him. He needed to make sure the rest of his team was safe.

♠️

Angie's eyes felt like they were filled with sand. So did her throat, he nose, everything. She was breathing sand, drowning in it...

And yet, as she sat up, panting, she was in a sterile white room, safely on a hospital bed. Her eyes took in every clean corner, every inch of white sheet and finally rested on Tom. He sat on a chair placed next to her bed, his upper body laying next to her, his hand still in hers. He didn't have his sunglasses on.

He stirred at her movement and opened a lazy eye. Then he smiled. "Hey."

"What happened?" Her voice came out croaky, but at least she wasn't dead and there was no real sand in it.

"You passed out. I found you and we brought you to the hospital. You were severely dehydrated."

She could read between the lines. He'd probably been the first to notice she was missing, even if he was nowhere near her in line. He'd gone back, the others probably calling out for caution. And like the hero he was, he'd emerged from the sandstorm holding her.

Yes, it probably happened like that. But it was not what she was asking. They'd been running on a very tight schedule and she'd completely ruined it.

"The others."

"They took off for Huston to meet Jimmy and Jerry. I stayed behind to make sure you're fine before we go. Got us tickets to Chicago anyway, so we can meet everyone there."

"How long?"

"It's only been a day. You're fine."

She could read between the lines here as well. Even if he loved and got along with all his brothers, Tom still shared a connection with Jimmy which only growing up together could forge. They meant a lot to each other, and yet, Tom was missing out just to stay with her. Make sure she was fine. Because even if Jerry and Jimmy were technically landing that very day, they didn't have time to get there.

"What are you doing?"

He frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think this is?" She pointed from him to her.

His frown deepened, but in confusion rather than annoyance. "I'm choosing not to label it at the moment."

She sank bank into her pillows, biting back a groan. His actions spoke louder than any words ever did. He was still doing it, sacrificing everything for her. Except now she resented it because it felt like a way to put her in his debt.

He's the one who hurt you, the one who cheated.

You weren't exactly treating his fears right either.

Skye had pointed that out, mentioned how Tom being abandoned as a child could have much deeper roots into who he was. Black and white because the grey always hurt. And all her running, however justified, was nothing but another form of abandonment, someone he loved choosing something or someone else over him.

In her own ragged-street rat-teenager state of mind, she'd failed to see the changes. While she'd moved on from being defenseless and a target of potential abuse, Tom's trauma was much deeper. He couldn't just fix it by filling it with money.

"I'm not going to pressure you," he said, his voice neutral. "But I'm not going to stand by and do nothing either. I want to move back home, if that's okay. We don't have to share a room or anything, there are plenty."

"So you are pressuring me." 

"No. But you will need to decide at some point. You can't keep running from everything."

His words stung, even if there had been no trace of malice in his tone. Seeing him like this, sitting on her hospital bed, her eyes full of honesty... It all reminded her of better times, of times that were still possible.

"So that's it? You want to push this whole thing under the rug?" she asked, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"Hell no. What happened happened. I want us to acknowledge that and come out stronger."

Angie heaved a sigh and sank back into her pillows. She was thirsty again, and her head had a mild throb at the temples. His words made sense, but at the moment, she couldn't tell if she could or wanted that. Having no options was much easier.

♠️

Jessie had only seen Sarah a couple of times before, but right now, as the two of them waited for the spaceship carrying their boyfriends to land, she'd never felt closer or more connected to anyone. The others were also there, in the waiting room surveying the landing strip, but had taken their seats like normal people instead of standing by the glass like her and Sarah. 

"I can't believe this is happening," Sarah said rubbing her arms. "These two weeks felt like two decades."

"Tell me about it," Jessie mumbled. She'd had another three months without seeing Jimmy which made this even more nerve wrecking.

She couldn't wait to see him, hold him, talk to him. Everything he'd missed out on because of her paranoia and stupidity. But that was over. From now on, everything would be fine.

"It will be fine," she found herself saying.

"I'm sure it will," Sarah said, her tone a lot less nervous. "It's just a matter of minutes anyway."

She wasn't wrong. Soon they could see the spaceship touching down, making its way towards them painfully slow, its red parachute billowing in the wind. With every passing second, Jessie's heartbeat seemed to go faster until time itself expanded into an unrecognizable mass. It was coming closer, so close she could see everything perfectly from her position. The writing on the craft, the tiny movement of the door as the airlock deactivated.

"What's going on?" Kay asked from behind Jessie.

Until then, Jessie's eyes had been fixed on the spacecraft, completely ignoring anything else. But Kay's words made her focus on the rest of the runway and her stomach sank. An ambulance had stopped next to the ship and NASA staff milled about together with paramedics. She wasn't sure, but she believed Agency support staff was there as well.

"Jessie..." Sarah said, digging her fingers into her forearms.

Jessie could relate. The door to the ship opened and her heart stopped. It took mere seconds for Jerry and a blonde woman to appear in the doorway. Sarah relaxed, but Jessie's vision tunneled. It only became worse when Jerry went back inside together with the paramedics. When he next appeared, he was helping them carry down a gurney.

Through the secure glass of the waiting room, their eyes briefly met, and at that moment Jessie knew. She didn't even need to look at the gurney to know Jimmy was on it. And everything turned into a mayhem of noise, blurry images and the poignant smell of hospital disinfectant.

What had happened? How did it happen? Why couldn't she focus enough to find someone and ask? Jerry. Where was Jerry? In the flurry of people milling around, she'd lost him.

She had no idea how and when she moved, how they reached the hospital, but she suddenly found herself sitting on a white plastic chair while a doctor spoke rom somewhere above her head.

"... we're not sure what's wrong, he is breathing on his own, but all blood tests are coming out inconclusive."

Of course they did, because Jimmy had something running rampant through his veins which made sure nothing made sense. So even if they could identify the problem and prescribe a treatment, there was no guarantee that it would actually work. She needed to focus. She needed to know what was happening and somehow fix it.

But when she finally raised her eyes from her knees, the doctor was gone, leaving them with nothing but vagueness.

"It's a lot more complicated than that," Jerry said. With a deeply uncharacteristic paranoia, he checked his surroundings for potential listeners or cameras, after which he continued, his lips barely moving. "Just as I got him breathing again, Hannigan injected him with something. I have no idea what it was, and it's very unlikely we can flush it out now."

"God." Sam pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the hell happened out there?"

"I'm not sure either. Jimmy claimed he was done two days ago. Three days." Jerry let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Time is very loopy. So I don't know why he was outside, why Roberta Sanchez cut off his air, or why Hannigan injected him with whatever that thing was."

"We could find out." Jessie stood, her hands balled into fists. "What's stopping us from beating the information out o Hannigan?"

"I am."

Jessie had no idea why she was surprised to see Herrison there, looking as haggard as he always did when he had to deliver terrible news.

He reached them, his eyes misty and absent, his cheeks hallow and his face unshaven. "Sam, you were right."

Sam jumped. "About what?"

"It turns out Hannigan was a traitor working for Snitch Gravel after all. So even if he was initially a double agent, he decided whose interests he wanted to serve. Sanchez claims to have been following orders since Hannigan was in command. They also both accused Jimmy of sabotage, but we know better than to believe that."

"So this was Snitch Gravel?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"We believe so," Herrison said and let out a heavy sigh. "I'm so sick of this."

"You're sick of it?" Sam asked, rightfully pissed off. "How do you think we feel?"

"Worse. I know you feel worse. And this is definitely our fuck up. Which is why we're going to fix it. Take as much time off. Anything you need, we'll provide."

"Jimmy," Jesse said between her teeth. "We need Jimmy. Can you provide that?"

Of course he couldn't. No one could. So Jessie just let the world flow around her and sank her head into her hands. The story of outer space flew over her head, as did Sam's recounting of the news to Jerry. She already knew enough, and it didn't solve the issue.

When the doctors finally gave up trying to actively do anything for Jimmy but wait, she was the first one into his room. It killed her that he looked fine, just sleeping, and yet, as the hours went by he wasn't waking up.

His heart rate and breathing were normal, and there was brain activity, but something inside his body refused to let him recover, to allow him to open his eyes, smile at her and assure her everything was fine.

"Jessie, I think you should go get some sleep."

Jessie jerked awake and looked over her shoulder at Jerry. There were dark rings under his eyes and his hair was messier than usual. Outside, darkness had fallen like a heavy curtain, matching the emptiness she felt.

"No, I got this, I just needed to rest my eyes for a bit."

"You've been in here or over ten hours. I think you should go rest properly and be back in the morning."

"What if he wakes up?"

Jerry threw his twin a longing look. "I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon, Jessie. Space is difficult to understand and its effects on the human body are a mystery."

"This was not space, Jerry! This was Snitch Gravel and the Agency and everyone in between."

"He found out something," he suddenly said. "That's why he was out there. I don't believe that he'd screwed up. Jimmy doesn't do that."

"So you think those assholes, Hannigan and Sanchez, are right and Jimmy was actually trying to sabotage them?"

Jerry bit his lip, his eyes once again scanning the room for potential recording devices. "I know it sounds horrible, but yes. I think he was trying to undo what he'd done. And I also believe that the reason why is very important."

"He didn't tell you, did he?"

Jerry shook his head. Jessie stretched and stood too, her brain invigorated by the conversation.

"Did you tell the others?"

"Not yet. We need to go somewhere safe first." He crossed his arms over his chest and surveyed Jimmy. "The thing is, depending on who Hannigan was working for, what Jimmy knows can be dangerous for Snitch Gravel, the Agency, or both."

"You don't believe Herrison?" she asked, shocked.

"I don't believe the people who use Herrison as a puppet. And either way..." Jerry sighed and nodded towards his twin. "He's a liability right now, so I'm afraid someone will want to shut him up permanently."

She could see it. Jerry was right, at the moment, Jimmy and whatever he'd figured out was a huge danger to all the double crossing parties involved. It was hard for her to compute that Snitch Gravel might have some interest in outer space, but it wasn't impossible. Traitors were his thing after all.

"We need to protect him. We can't let them get to him."

"Agreed," Jerry said. "I'll talk to Sam and Herrison about moving him and--" He froze, his eyes widening.

Jessie's heart jumped into her throat. She twisted towards the bed and let out a yelp. Jimmy's eyes were open and he was watching them, listening as if assuring them that he was okay was not important.

"Jimmy," Jerry said, in lack of something better.

He didn't react in any way, his gaze moving from his twin to her and back. And at that moment she knew something was off, because he'd never looked at her with such indifference.

"Are you alright? Can you hear us?" Jerry moved closer to the bed, his voice low and soothing.

"Yes," Jimmy said, his voice a painful monotone.

"Do you have any idea who we are?" Her voice shook, and she hated herself for it.

He just shook his head this time, as if the news wasn't highly unsettling.

"Do you have any idea who you are?" Jerry pressed on.

Jimmy shook his head again, the same lack of interest towards the matter showing.

"Amnesia?" Jessie asked, even if she could already tell it wasn't. His reactions were off which could be the serum, but combined with the lack of representation of who he was, it was frightening.

"I don't think so," Jerry said, warily, then returned his attention to Jimmy. "Do you need anything?"

There was a mild frown on Jimmy's face as he pondered on this. "Juice," he finally said.

"Juice," Jerry said, as if to confirm. Then he swallowed heavily. "Would you also like a colorful straw?"

Jessie wanted to kick him for the insulting and irrelevant question, but it actually brought a small smile to Jimmy's face.

"Purple would be nice."

"Okay, purple it is." Jerry stood from the bed and grabbed Jessie's arm, dragging her out into the hallway.

"You seriously need me to get him juice with a purple straw?" she asked, yanking herself free.

"I've seen this before," he said, shutting her up instantly.

"Really? When? Where?"

"William. Kay's brother used to behave like this before he finally came to."

Dread and hope battled inside Jessie at the news. "So it means that whatever happened, there's a chance of recovery."

"Yes." Jerry didn't sound too certain. "But it means whatever Jimmy was injected with was probably used on William before him. Which brings into question the labs in Montana, the fact that Snitch Gravel knew William was alive when he disappeared, the Agency having him and him still working for them at the moment. " He took in a deep breath. "It also means it might take him years to snap out of it. It took William two."

The walls of the hospital came crashing down on Jessie, burying all sense of hope with them.

♠️♠️♠️

Aaaand... this is it. I know the climax is not what you've expected, but it went an entirely different way this time.

The Jimmy situation is incredibly messed up right now. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who was Hannigan working for and what is the point of all this? And what will happen to Jimmy now?

So what this climax lacks in punches in the face, it makes up for in mystery and frustration and very big things being tossed around.

Stay tuned for the final chapter of this huge ass book. Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed.