Second Chances

Brian moved, throwing his arms around Jenn. He was alive. Her relief nearly knocked her over, and as she sat up she pulled him with her, cradling him in her arms. She ran her hands over him, reassuring herself that he was all right.

He seemed only to want to hold her tightly. She could feel him trembling, or maybe that was her, she wasn’t sure anymore. But then, God, he lifted his face, and just like that, he was kissing her. Kissing her as if the world were coming to an end.

This was what she should have wanted more than anything else in the world. Brian, with all of his passion and joy, and those smart-aleck comments that always made her smile. Brian, with his million-watt grin, and his sparkling eyes. Brian, not just her best friend, but the keeper of her heart and soul---her lover, her life.

If only she had fought as hard for him as she’d fought to develop her theories on time travel….

But what ifs weren’t any use to her now. Jenn had come too far down her own path ever to turn back. But Jennifer, Jennifer still had a chance to choose between heaven over hell.

Only Jenn was finding out first hand just how very hard it was to let go once she held heaven in her arms.

Especially since heaven was kissing her with a fierceness and intensity that damn near took her breath away. He wanted her as badly as she wanted him. Jenn couldn’t stop her feelings of elation.

But what she had to do instead was stop kissing him.

It took everything Jenn had in her to pull back. And even then, it was only the fact that they were in danger that made her stop.

“We have to get out of here.” Her voice sounded hoarse.

“Let’s go back to my hotel.” She could hear his desire in his voice, see it in his eyes. God, he thought she was talking about……

“I mean, we can if ya want,” he added more softly, almost uncertainly.

I want, she wanted to tell him. God, do I want….

“No, Bri,” she said instead, “I meant whoever did this might come back. We need to get inside. We are sitting ducks out here.”

“Who was that? Who would shoot at us?”

As Jenn got to her feet, she stayed in a crouch. “Not us---me.” Taking his hand and staying low to the ground, she started moving between the cars.

“But why?”

He figured it out himself, and as she answered they spoke in unison. “The Wells Project.”

“I assumed the working model of the Enterprise was in my lab at NASA when it was destroyed. She glanced back at him. “And you know that old saying about the word assume.”

“You mean, when you assume, you and me get a bullet in the ass?”

Jenn had to laugh. Somehow the worse thing that could have happened had happened. Merlin agents had followed her into the past, using techniques she herself had written about to find her. It was possible to trace the Enterprise as it traveled through time.

But despite the danger, Brian had still managed to make her laugh.

Still, the situation was extremely sobering. It had not taken the Merlin agents long to track her here. Only a few days. It had probably taken them a whole lot less than that, but she estimated high just to be safe. They knew that she and Brian were friends, so they followed that lead right to them.

That left her maybe twenty-four hours if she was really lucky. After twenty-four hours, she’d be a dead woman. It would be possible for the Merlin agents to make another leap through time then. This time, they’d arrive before her, and when she made the jump, when she arrived naked in Brian’s backyard, they’d be there waiting. And they’d kill her. Twenty-four hours. God, the clock was ticking.

As they entered her motel room, Jenn locked and chained the door. Not that that would really do any good if someone was determined to see them dead. Brian sat quietly on the edge of the bed.

Jenn sank onto the bed and grabbed his hands. “I’m sorry I got you involved in this. I should have stayed far away from you. If I’d been thinking straight, I would have realized that James Dixon would never let something like the Wells Project be destroyed.”

“James Dixon?”

“Out of all the Merlin agents I dealt with, he seemed to be the one in charge. If he’s here, if he’s behind this…”

“What?” Brian prompted softly. “Talk to me.”

“This whole situation has just gone from difficult to near impossible. Dixon knows that I need to get close to Jennifer to keep her from developing time-travel.”

“Jennifer!” Brian said suddenly. “Merlin can get to you through Jennifer. If they kill her, you’ll be dead too.”

“No, that’s not a problem.”

“But…”

“They won’t risk hurting Jennifer. They need her alive. My bet is they won’t even get near her, for fear of interfering with the natural course of events. No, I’m the one Dixon needs to get rid of. If I get within fifty feet of Jennifer, Merlin is going to be there to stop me cold.”

“What about me?” Brian asked. “I could approach Jennifer…”

“No. They’ll be looking for you too. They know who you are. They know what you did in the future.”

He studied her face. “What exactly did I do?”

Jenn was silent for a long time. When she finally spoke, her voice was almost unnaturally matter-of-fact. “I told you what you did. You saved my life.”

“How?” Brian asked urgently.

She just couldn’t tell him.

Brian felt a surge of frustration. Why wouldn’t she talk to him? He could see the pain etched into the lines of her face. Nothing mattered but fixing the mistake she’d made. She worked hard to stay in control, never to lose sight of her single goal. Her control had slipped only when she’d given in to passion. She’d dropped her guard only when she’d kissed him. But those kisses were wrong, or so Jenn said when she’d regained her precious control. They were mistakes that weren’t meant to happen. When Jenn had kissed him, Brian thought he’d found all of the answers he’d ever been searching for. But Jenn had only found that she’d make a mistake.

“I’m sure that the Merlin agents already know about the party at the Hard Rock. That is no longer an option.” Jenn stated, pacing across the floor. “Now I have to figure out another way for you and Jennifer to meet.”

She spoke so quietly as if nothing about this insanity affected her personally. Well maybe it didn’t. She wasn’t the one who was going to have to attempt to change the mind of a woman he knew damn well wasn’t interested in changing at all.

“I don’t know how you think I’m ever going to be able to talk Jennifer into something as huge as changing her career.” His voice shook, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t care, anyway. He had every right to be upset, dammit. He’d been shot at and Jenn wouldn’t talk to him about what was going on. He’d found everything he’d ever wanted, only to realize he hadn’t found anything at all. Because the kind of love he wanted was a love that was returned.

“Just be yourself. She won’t be able to resist you.”

He rose to his feet as his temper blazed. “Resist what? What exactly is it you want me to do, Jenn?”

But she wasn’t going to let him fight with her. She turned away.

She was so calm, so cool. Brian wanted to see beneath her façade. He wanted to get a rise out of her. He wanted to see something in her besides this grim determination. “You want me to sleep with her, right? Okay. You win. I’ll do it. But I have to warn you. If I have sex with Jennifer, you’ll have a memory of it too.”

“Brian, this isn’t about sex. At least not entirely. It’s more complicated than that.”

“Complicated is putting it mildly.” His voice cracked. “I don’t know why you think I have the power to make Jennifer change her entire life. You tell me she won’t be able to resist me. But, hey! YOU have no problem resisting me. All you do is push me away…”

Jenn turned away with a forceful exhale of air halfway between laughter and a sob. She paced toward the sink.

Brian met her gaze in the mirror, and he knew from the heat in her eyes that something he’d said had managed to put a crack in her control. If she were ever going to open up and talk to him, it was now or never.

“Ok,” he said as she turned to face him. “You said it’s complicated. Tell me what you mean. Make me understand!”

Jenn took several steps toward him, but then stopped, running both hands up her face. She swore, softly but steadily.

“Please?” He reached out to touch her arm.

She pulled away as if he’d burned her. “Brian, shit---I can’t explain. Not without……Not easily.”

“So it won’t be easy. Do you think any of this is easy for ME? Do you think it’s going to be easy for me to seduce some stranger who both is and isn’t the woman I really want to be with? I don’t want to make love to Jennifer, I want to make love to YOU!” Oh, damn, he’d gone and told her far too much. But now that he’d started, he couldn’t seem to stop himself. “Except, she’s you. She’s part of you, and if I DO make love to her, I’m making love to you, too, aren’t I? And…and… it’s SO FUCKING CONFUSING!”

There were tears in her eyes as she stood there, just looking at him. “Dear God,” she whispered, “I’ve done this all wrong.”

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