Disclaimer: JQ characters belong to HB & Turner
Productions. Charles Wallace, Meg and everything associated to the "Time"
trilogy belongs to Madeleine L'Engle. Characters used without permission.
No $$ made for this venture. Enjoy! ^_^.  Category: Adventure, Episodal,
X-over, a touch of Fantasy Rating: Some language and concepts for mature
audiences Archivers: Not a problem, as long as you tell me where you put
this baby! ^_^.  Summary: The action starts

The Ripple Effect (7/?)  by: Ina-chan

        Jessie stopped and leaned against a tree to cool down the fire
burning in her lungs. She desperately scanned her surroundings, holding
back the tears of desperation blurring her eyes. It has been ten minutes
now since she ran off and left Jonny and Charles Wallace alone. It was so
instantaneous that Charles almost didn't catch Jonny in time. In fact...
for a split second, she also saw herself start to fade... She didn't stick
around to find out if her best friend is okay. Something was happening to
his mother and Jessie was the only one capable of doing something about
it.  Ignoring Charles Wallace's warnings... she ran. She MUST to find
her...
	 "WHERE ARE YOU?" She called out to the world in frustration
	And the world answered her with silence. 
	She glanced at her hands and wondered how much longer she'll be
able to see them... 
	"Hey! What's the rush?" 
	"There was an accident in Gerard Street." 
	The girl looked up at the two students in surprise. A sense of
cold dread started to fill entire being. With her heart pounding in her
ears, she ran after them... until a crowd gathering around a sidewalk came
into her filed of vision.
	"No..." She whispered softly and started to run faster
	She pushed her way through the crowd, only to be pushed back by a
woman aggressively demanding curious passerby's to "move back". Jessie
wedged herself between two high school visitors to view a blonde woman
cradled in the arms of a red haired young man.
	Ms. "Bouncer" knelt down beside the unconscious woman, "Rach?
Rach? C'mon girl, don't scare us like this." 
	"Rob, for the last time," Rach called out groggily, "TOUCH
football." 
	The other woman grinned and looked up in the crowd, "She'll be
okay." 
	Jessie closed her eyes and sighed with relief as the crowd fell
into a round of applause. 
	"All right, show's over!" The woman called out as she shooed the
crowd away
	The crowd thinned as the woman thanked her friend's saviour, and
the young man stood up to leave.
	Jessie frowned as she finally began to understand Meg's earlier
words regarding the future scientist's intellect regarding the affairs of
the heart. He certainly doesn't grab the opportunity even when its served
to him on a silver platter, does he? 
	"Benton! That was soooo cool!" A kid suddenly called out
	"Yeah! Can you do it again?" 
	"No," Benton replied flatly, "And neither should you. It was
stupid and dangerous. Now where's Dee?" 
	The group looked back to a young boy standing apart from the crowd
meekly. 
	Benton crossed his arms and looked down on the child sternly, "You
are in SERIOUS trouble, young man." 
	"I'm sorry," Dee choked painfully. He looked up at the young man
hopefully, "You're not going to tell my Dad about this, are you?" 
	The red head replied with a austere glare, "We'll see..." 
	Dee started to sob. 
	Benton sighed as his glare softened and he took the boy's hand in
reassurance. 
	Jessie watched the scene silently as the group started to walk
away. 
	<18 years in the past but already with the distinguishing traits
of a wonderful father.>
	"Jonny?" Jessie turned around to the direction of the comment,
only to see stranger looking at her blankly, "Uhmm... sorry... did you say
something to me?" 
	The student looked at her strangely and shook his head. 
	"Sorry," Jessie mumbled. With a puzzled frown, she turned back to
check on Rachel. 
	 It
whispered again. 
	Her instincts blaring danger signals, Jessie quickly skimmed her
surroundings... but found no even near her. Sweat started to bead on her
forehead as suspicion formed in her mind... 
	
	"Who are you?" Jessie whispered fiercely as she walked around,
trying to identify her enemy
	
	Jessie spun around in frustration. The cold sensation of fear
gnawing at the pit of her stomach... heightening her senses. She crouched
down a bit, like a wild feline preparing for the kill.  The breeze seemed
to have a sudden sinister frigidity...  the bright campus ground seemed to
have a sudden dimness...  with the shadows from the tree shade reaching
for her from the ground... and a sound... buzzing... like a million tiny
wings fluttering... rising to crescendo... piercing through the air. 
 	
	Jessie closed her eyes and covered her ears, "Stop it..." 
	But the noise only grew louder... engulfing her... 
	She staggered to hold on to a tree branch as her knees buckled
under her weight. 
	Unnoticed, the shadows lifted itself from the ground and swirled
gracefully around her... 
	 It whispered softly with great certainty. 
	Jessie opened her eyes, "It's all his fault." 

***
	"What's wrong?" 
	Hadji looked at the older woman with a start. Then shook his head
as if to clear it, "It is nothing. For a moment, I just had a strange
feeling..." 
	"Seems like you have a natural gift for kything," Meg commented
	"Kything?" 
	The older woman's forehead crumpled in thought, "I don't know if I
can explain it... since I don't really understand how it works myself.
It's like communicating with another person without words." 
	Hadji raised an eyebrow, "Like telepathy?" 
	"Not quite... something like that... only you know exactly what's
happening to the other person. Thoughts, feelings, experience..." 
	"It sounds very profound." 
	Meg shrugged, "I does... I personally wouldn't believe in it if I
didn't experience it myself." 
	"You can do that?" 
	The young woman shrugged again, "Not quite. I'm afraid that's
Charles Wallace's department. But Mrs. Wh-- I mean the people who taught
us told us that anyone can do it.  Only some people are better at it than
others. I'm just able to kythe consciously with Charles... and a few times
with Calvin." 
	"Who's Calvin?" 
	"A friend." The woman coughed suddenly, while turning two shades
of red. She quickly dumped a folder and several notebooks in front of the
Indian, "Here are the rest of Benton's notes. I hope they'll be some help.
Benton has this annoying habit of keeping the extremely important details
in his head." 
	Hadji frowned, "How exactly did you get these?" 
	"A little luck and..." Meg gave him an impish grin as she fixed a
loose bobby pin on her hair, "Let's just say that all that time I spent in
detention after school is finally paying off." 
	Hadji sighed as he leafed through a notebook, "At the rate we are
going, we will need all the luck we can get."
	Meg crossed her arms and looked at the window absently, "Well... I
just hope that my brother and your friends are having better luck..." 
	
***
	They found her sitting under a tree, curled up into a protective
ball...
	"Jessie!" Jonny exclaimed as he began to rush toward his best
friend
	Charles Wallace grabbed the other boy's arm before he could take a
step closer, "Jonny... wait. Something's not right." 
	Jonny looked at the smaller boy in apprehension, "What do you
mean?" 
	"The wind..." Charles began uncertainty, "Its trying to warn us of
something." 
	The blonde shook away from the other boy's grip, "Then what are we
waiting for?  There's something wrong with Jessie, we have to help her." 
	"Jonny..." 
	But the other boy was already at the distraught girl's side. 
	Jonny knelt down in front of the girl, "Jessie?" 
	The girl lifted her head bit and Jonny saw her lips move to form
inaudible words. 
	"What is it Jessie?" Jonny asked as he moved closer to hear what
she was saying. 
	"...its all your fault..." 
	"What did you say?" Jonny asked again, uncertain if he heard the
whispered words correctly
	Jessie lifted her head and opened her eyes to look at him. 
	Jonny shrank back as he found himself staring into a pair of
unfamiliar green eyes. 
	"Jonny! Get away from her!" Charles Wallace commanded
	He didn't know how she did it... 
	One moment he was kneeling in front of her... the next he found
himself flying in the air and crashing into the ground, winded.
	"This... child... is my opponent?" Jessie's voice... yet at the
same time... unlike her voice droned in monotone. But disbelief was
apparent in her words, "How absolutely pathetic Charles. This is too
easy." 
	"Jessie..." Jonny began, confused
	"I can break you easily with one hand tied behind my back," She
picked up a makeshift of a staff on ground that the she obviously
fashioned earlier from a tree branch. Then she turned to the bewildered
blonde, a blank smile slowly curling on her lips, "...morir... Iohanatan." 
	
(To be continued) 
 
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