Genetics: 1159

A few minutes later Legend’s all white SUV flew down the highway with Nona curled comfortably in the backseat and Jordan in the front flinching at every bump and pothole.

“I’m sorry,” Legend said for the tenth time as another bump in the road made her bite her lip. She had reclined her seat to try and get more comfortable but it was doing little to aid her misery. She was silently grateful she had been unconscious when she was wounded the first time. Maybe conversation would keep her mind off the pain.

“How did you know about…about her?” She asked him quietly in case Nona was not as asleep as she seemed. He glanced at her, his expression grim, as she looked so very pale to him at the moment. Jordan was in serious pain and he couldn’t figure out why her injuries weren’t reversed with the jump.

“Saw it on the news. Jumped back right then but it didn’t work. Not then, or the times after…” This was news to Jordan.

“What happened?”

“Lost her twice, the both of you the last time.” He sighed but kept his eyes on the road. “That’s when I decided to get myself arrested so when you were ready, you would know where to find me. I knew we would have a small window so I made sure they took me to the same precinct.”

Jordan nodded and let her head fall back against the seat. She was so very tired now. Her eyes began to slide closed against her wishes. Just as she was losing herself to the fog, Legend jerked the car to a stop. Before she could react, her door was wrenched open and she was pulled from the car into Kurt’s waiting arms. He clung desperately to her and she him. Hot tears spilled down her face onto his neck as she let all the pent-up emotion out. He pulled away from her, pecking her lips lightly.

“Let’s get you inside.” He nodded to Legend who had scooped Nona up and they made their way into the home of Kurt’s parents. Jordan refused to be carried but her feet barely touched the ground as Kurt hurried her along. Once inside, Legend deposited Nona on the couch to be examined and Kurt herded Jordan into an overstuffed smoking chair that she found uncomfortably familiar. He began to look her over but she pushed him away.

“Her first.” She stated jutting her chin towards Nona. Kurt frowned but complied, in no time flat having bandaged Nona’s wrists where they had been burned and applying a salve to the other small burns that dotted her body.

“You set her on fire?” He asked for what seemed to her to be the hundredth time.

“It was… the only thing I could… think of… at the time,” She explained through labored breaths.

Kurt and Legend exchanged worried looks. Tucking a blanket around the still exhausted Nona, they each pulled Jordan to her feet and helped her stumble to the guest bedroom. Once inside, they laid her gently on the bed, careful of her bleeding back and broken ribs. Legend brought Kurt’s medical kit in from the living room and excused himself to sit with Nona.

Lying on the soft bed on her side felt like heaven to Jordan after the torturous car ride but she knew it couldn’t last as Kurt began to cut the bloodied shirt away from her body. When he pulled the shirt apart, the fabric that clung to the blood on her skin tugged painfully at her wounds. She gasped and groaned until the garment was removed. Kurt also made short work of her sports bra but modesty was the furthest thing from her mind. She must have drifted off, for when she awoke he was cleaning her back with a warm cloth, readying the skin for stitches. He had also propped her head up on soft pillows and draped a blanket across her; protecting what little modesty she had left.

“How did this happen?” Kurt asked her as he gave her a local anesthetic and began closing the re-opened wounds. Kurt recognized his work immediately. Surgeons closed wounds with a knot distinct only to them. How was that possible? Jordan didn’t respond right away and he assumed she had drifted off again.

“Windshield…” She gasped groggily as apparently she wasn’t as numb as he had hoped. He administered another dose knowing he had quite a bit more doctoring to do and it would all be painful.

“I don’t understand.”

He tried to keep her talking as he worked, keep her mind off the pain if she felt any. He tied off one wound and moved to the next, relieved that the bleeding had all but stopped. “Jordan, help me understand.” He pressed when she failed to respond again. The blood loss was taking its toll; she was minutes away from unconsciousness.

“We were fighting and she hit me soooo… hard…” Now her sentences were dropping off. He looked over her back to see her lids half-closed, her face slack. It was no use. She needed to rest and forcing her to stay awake through this ordeal would be difficult for everyone. When her eyes slid all the way shut, Kurt felt a rush of relief. If anyone deserved to rest, she did.

Once he had closed, cleaned, and bandaged the wounds on her back, he taped her broken ribs (he guessed there were at least three but it was difficult to tell without an x-ray) and covered her entire torso with a thick layer of gauze to keep everything in place. Kurt didn’t expect her to wake anytime soon as he had given her a small dose of muscle relaxant to ease her broken ribs. That combined with the overwhelming exhaustion she seemed to be feeling and the blood loss, all made for a potent sleeping potion. He positioned her to one side of the bed so he could easily check her bandages, and then pulled the blanket over her bare shoulders, stopping briefly to deposit a kiss on one of them. He noticed something on her arm as he tucked her in. Looking closer he realized it was a message.

“Clever girl,” he whispered proudly. Jordan must have written it on herself in case she forgot or was unable to fill the others in. Kurt snapped a picture of it on his phone. Once he was sure the pic was saved, he washed the message away quickly and finished tucking her in, not sure how many members of the team should see it.

“Get some rest, love. You did good today.” He whispered to her sleeping form before slipping from the room.

As soon as the door to her room was closed, Kurt raced down the hall to find Legend. Someone had to warn the team what was going on and neither of their leaders was in a position to give orders. He rounded the corner and slammed headlong into Nona!

“You’re up!” He exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady the both of them. He looked over her quickly and though she had slight bags under eyes and bandages over the burns Jordan had given her, she seemed to be fine overall.

“Um, yeah, what’s wrong? Is it Jordan?” She glanced anxiously around him to the closed door at the end of the hall. “How bad is it?” Kurt let go of her shoulders and shook his head as he reached for his phone.

“No, no she’s okay… considering,” He began before pulling the picture up. “I was on my way to show something to Legend, but I think you should see it first. “ He waited quietly while Nona read and reread the message, seemingly not believing what she had read. There was no denying Jordan’s handwriting. She had written it on her left arm, which offered more proof she had done it herself, since she was right handed.

“We need to call the team NOW!” She made sure she was far away from Jordan’s room before she yelled for Legend. He bolted out the kitchen like a shot, his eyes roving over her looking for further injury.

“What happened?! You okay? Jordan?” It was obvious to Kurt that he was much closer to Jordan than just a friend; he behaved more like an overprotective big brother. He wondered why Legend and Nona were separated since he clearly cared so much for the family. Nona put a reassuring hand on his chest before she spoke.

“Everybody’s good. What could have happened to me in five minutes?” She asked trying to use humor to calm him. It didn’t seem to work as his brow furrowed and he muttered, “You’d be surprised.” Nona didn’t miss the way his mood darkened and she realized that from his perspective, a few minutes could feel like a lifetime.

“I need to show you something but you can’t get mad and send your people off all half-cocked, okay?” His frown deepened but he nodded and waited for her to show him. The message was simple: CLU is traitor, Nona in trouble, destroy Nanites with fire, call Legend, call Kurt. Legend’s head popped up immediately.

“Get Rico.” Was all he said as he stalked around the room. Since the three of them had grown up together, it made sense that he was the first person from the team Legend would ask for. “How do we find this CLU?”

“Legend just wait, okay?” Nona could see the rage boiling inside him, the outcome of which was never good.

“I’m not gonna kill him…not yet anyway.” It suddenly became clear to Kurt why Nona kept Legend at arm’s length. He seemed all too comfortable with resorting to violence, a scary way to live with a family.

“I don’t know,” she responded. “But we need to find him fast. From what you’ve already told me, he could release our identities at any time, especially once he finds out Jordan and I didn’t kill each other. I’d say we’ve got 12 hours, maybe a day?” Kurt huffed and headed down the hall to retrieve Jordan when a hand on his arm stopped him.

“No, let her sleep. She’s been through way too much this week, all because of me...” Nona began but Kurt cut her off.

“You know she would gladly do it all over again if she had to and you would do it for her.” Nona dropped her head a little in shame.

“I hope I would be that brave but now she needs me to lead,” She seemed to gain a little more confidence as she went on. “Legend please have your people start combing the city, checking with their contacts, anything we can do to find him. I’m gonna get our team together, fill them in, and then we’ll join you in the search. But before I do that, Kurt could you go get Taylor from school and bring her back here? If things do start getting out of control, I don’t want her being held at school. I’ll stay with Jordan.”

“Of course. I’ll go right now,” He grabbed his keys off the table and started to head out before Nona stopped him.

“You might want to change your shirt…” He glanced down at his fitted white tee and saw smudges of blood all over the front; definitely not a good look when walking into a school.

“Right.” He sprinted back down the hall to change.

“Speaking of kids,” Legend pulled her to him in an embrace. She eyed him warily until he pulled his phone out. “Ours sent us this.” He pressed play on a video message and Hendrix popped up dressed in full Disney regalia, complete with Mouseketeer ears.

“Say ‘Hi mommy and daddy’!” A voice off screen directed him. Nona recognized it as her dad’s.

“Hi mommy, daddy!”

“Say ‘we miss you but grandpa’s buying me lots of candy’!”

“Miss you but grandpa buy me candy!”

“Say ‘we love you and we’ll see you in another week’!”

“Love you! See you in week!” He repeated and then blew them a wet kiss through the screen. Nona wiped her eyes as the screen went black. How she loved that little one! She needed to neutralize this threat to their family before her son came home. Kurt came back into the room, just finishing the last button on his oxford when he noticed Nona’s tears.

“What happened?” Legend waved him off, “Happy tears” he explained quickly. “Go get the girl.”

Once Kurt left, Legend announced he needed to go too. He couldn’t just sit and wait for news of the search. Nona reminded him that the objective was to bring CLU back ALIVE. He agreed begrudgingly before dropping a kiss on her forehead, staring deep into her eyes.

“When this is over, we need to talk,” he stated firmly, then he was gone.

Nona sighed, heading down the hall towards Jordan’s room. She was exhausted too but nowhere near the same level as her poor sister. The burns on her arms itched a little but were preferable to the alternative. She slipped into the room and towards the bed. When she reached it, she gently lifted the blanket off her sister’s shoulder, shocked to see the miles of gauze wrapped carefully around her back and torso.

“What have I done?” She whispered.

Quickly tucking the blanket back around her, lest her sister catch a chill, Nona toed off her boots and climbed gently into bed beside her. She settled on her side so she could face Jordan as she slept. She reached out and pushed an errant strand of hair away from her sister’s face but she didn’t stir. Encouraged, Nona moved closer until their foreheads were touching and Jordan’s hands were clutched in her own. She relished the contact, finding comfort in her sister’s slightly warmer than usual skin.

“Don’t worry, we’ll fix this together. You sleep now and I’ll be here when you wake up.” She reassured Jordan in a quiet whisper, then closed her eyes to take some rest herself knowing things would soon be chaotic again and everyone would be relying on them to fix it.