Jayson: Part II

He couldn't believe it. This whole time, he thought Jeannie was dead, yet here she was, looking at Jayson like he was the ghost. Her face was gaunt as if she hadn't eaten since they were rescued. In fact, she didn't look anything like the blonde threatening to put Sergeant Heard's kidney on ice.

She stepped backward, stumbling as she tried to get away. "Who are you?" she asked in a trembling voice. "Are you another soldier here to hurt me?"

Jayson halted, slowly bringing his hands up in surrender. His voice shook with emotion as he tried to reason with her. "No. You were Eric's girlfriend. He was my best friend; you were my friend. Do you really not remember me?"

She shook her head, backing further away into the shadows. "Daniel, I want to go back inside."

The man he was just speaking to stepped between them, giving Jeannie a reassuring nod before turning to Jayson. His eyes weren't unkind, but they narrowed all the same, scrutinizing him as he kept Jeannie shielded with his large frame. When he spoke, his voice was low, out of earshot of her and Jayson's companion. "Listen, Echo is fragile right now. I don't know what happened to her, but it was enough to make her forget. Keep your mouth shut before you get yourself killed."

Jayson's chest heaved, and his fists clenched at his sides. Regardless if this man was telling the truth, the Council wasn't. Even worse, Taylor lied to him. He wanted to throw caution out the window, to say screw whatever happened to him, but then no one would ever discover the truth.

"You wanna know what happened?" he whispered in a harsh tone, "her boyfriend was killed protecting her, her mother treated her like shit until the very end, and she was bitten right after saving Whittaker's life. Then the government you serve lied and told us she died. Can you really claim innocence and say you didn't experiment on her?"

Jeannie whimpered behind Daniel. "He wouldn't hurt me. I don't know you, I don't remember anything from before this place, but he keeps me safe from the bad people."

"We can keep you safe," Jayson snarled, looking around Daniel. Jeannie shrank in on herself, refusing to meet his eye as he continued. "Did you forget Monica, your best friend? She cried over your death. She fought to let you into the compound in Phoenix when everyone else would have left you to die."

With his teeth barred between curled lips, Daniel shoved Jayson back. "I said keep your mouth shut," he hissed. "If you want to help, don't say anything."

Screw that. Jayson did an about-face and ran, pushing through the doors to the compound. Daniel shouted something behind him, but Jayson kept going. Where, he didn't know, but he needed to get away from all the lies. He needed to speak to someone, to Monica, someone he trusted with the truth.

One hallway merged into another until he was thoroughly lost. He didn't know how anyone could navigate this place, let alone the soldier after him as they ran blindly through the building. When it became clear he couldn't shake his pursuer, Jayson spun around just before Daniel caught up with him and swung.

Daniel immediately blocked, twisting Jayson's arm behind him, only for him to wiggle out of the bigger man's grasp and sweep his leg beneath Daniel's. The other man landed on his back with a loud thump, smacking his head on the tile when he went down.

Scrambling to his feet, Jayson took a defensive stance as Daniel groaned and found his bearings, rubbing the back of his head. "Not bad. You're lucky I'm on your side, or I could have you shot."

"Try it," Jayson growled. "I don't have much left to lose here."

Daniel slowly stood up; his bones popped at the joints, making him wince. He rolled his shoulders before leveling a firm gaze on Jayson. "Don't be stupid," he whispered. "I was serious when I said Benson would make life hell for you. You said you know Echo?"

"Her name isn't Echo. It's Jeannie. Taylor Whittaker told us she died. He was with us when all of this happened and knew what she meant to us. She shot her boyfriend after he was bitten so he wouldn't become a monster."

The other man sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That explains so much," he murmured. "She kept talking to herself when they had her in quarantine, but couldn't tell me what she was remembering."

Tears pricked Jayson's eyes, and he turned to punch the wall. It was so unfair. "Does she remember anything?"

"No. Losing your temper won't help her, but I promise you, I'm keeping her safe."

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

He brought his hand back to take another swing, but Daniel grabbed him by his shirt collar and shoved him against the wall, pressing his forearm against Jayson's windpipe. "Keep quiet. Seriously, I don't know how you survived this long. I can't stop them from running tests on her, but as long as she cooperates and you don't run around like a chicken with your head cut off, I can do something about it from inside."

Wait, what? Jayson stopped fighting and Daniel released him. Taking deep breaths, he said, "What do you mean?"

"Look, you wanna help? You need to pretend you never saw her. I can take care of Airman Wheeler, but the fewer people who know, the better."

"What about Monica? She's going to be in the labs. She's trustworthy, and she's Jeannie's best friend."

Daniel began to pace, bracing his hands on his head. "It's risky, but she might be able to help from the inside. Can you tip her off not to say anything? Benson will be expecting someone to try something."

"Doesn't he have files on everyone here? It wasn't a secret that she came in with us."

"You're right," Daniel sighed, stroking his jaw. "That means they will be briefing her at some point. She won't be able to talk about it, not with any of you. That doesn't mean we can't communicate through covert means though."

His temper had finally simmered, allowing him to think clearly. Daniel and Taylor weren't the enemies, no matter what had already transpired. Benson and John were the ones to keep an eye on, and now there was a chance to expose them.

"That sounds doable. She's my girlfriend, so maybe I could be like a middle man or something," he said gesturing his hands wildly as he tried to think of ways to help. "While Monica looks for a cure, she could try to rebuild their friendship. We could finally find out what's going on."

"It isn't that simple. Whatever is going on was set in motion long before the virus was made public. I can't speak for Mr Whittaker, but Benson wants to keep it quiet. He probably told you the story about going into retirement, but from what I understand, there was more to that story; something that involved a formal investigation. The charges were soon dropped, and then they were buried so deep, I doubt the CIA would know where to look for them."

Interesting. He certainly fit the profile of a questionable man with deadly secrets. That didn't mean it was impossible to discover them though. He just needed to be careful.

"What if I tried to get close to him through my counseling sessions with him? And even if we don't get close, I could at least establish a sense of trust so I could do some digging when he lets his guard down."

Daniel shook his head. "Don't count on it. He's too good at covering his tracks. Just get a message to your girlfriend. We can meet weekly or biweekly in the back for a cigarette once everyone turns in for the night. No one would question a friendly smoke, especially if I needed to keep Echo out of the public eye."

It could work. It had to work.

Jayson paced the narrow corridor, running his hands through his hair. So much could go wrong, but the world had already ended. What else did he have to lose?

"Okay," he said, thinking this scenario through out loud. "I will get with Monica as soon as she wakes up. I will also try to stop fighting Benson, at least openly, and let him think I'm only suffering side effects from my PTSD. Um...Monica can pass along some sort of coded message to Jeannie that would indicate when we could exchange information and you could do the same. After that...then what?"

Daniel squared his shoulders and clenched his jaw. He stood firm and spoke with the confidence of a man who had seen too much. "Then we take down the Council and save what's left of the world."

A conspiratorial smile tugged at Jayson's lips. There was nothing better than karma, and he would personally see this plan through—not only for himself, but for Jeannie, and most of all, Eric. Too many people had died, and it was time for those responsible to pay the price.