InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "r-e-s-p-e-c-t!"

laurajones (laurajones) wrote in genome_project,
@ 2010-07-07 12:17:00

Entry tags:

july 2010, plot

Who: Laura Jones and Jacquelyn Pierce-Roswell
When: Monday night/morning (July 5th) a few hours after this
Where: The Jones household
What: Jacquelyn wakes up
Rating: Probably PG
Status: Incomplete

It had been an absurdly long night; one that Laura had a feeling she would remember for the rest of her life. She was bone-weary, but although Laura knew that it would be wisest for her to capture a few hours of sleep, she had instead brewed yet another pot of coffee, resolved to stay up until Jacquelyn stirred from her sleep. The tiny girl had been easy enough to carry up to her room (Jamie's old one), and as Laura studied her face, she began to think that the universe really did have a sense of irony. It was amazing how much sheer destructive power was encapsulated in such a small, unassuming form.

As Jacquelyn slept, Laura wrote a few first impressions in her journal, sipping down coffee when her eyes felt like they wouldn't stay open. Although it was a hot night, Laura had tucked her under a thin blanket, a shield against the cool, bay breeze that periodically blew through the window. Despite her best efforts, though, Laura did drift off to sleep a few times, intermittently dozing off, waking, and glancing over at the small form lying prone on the bed. Part of her feared this girl, this creature bred from scientific curiosity, but the other part, the part in tune with that same curiosity, was endlessly fascinated, even as the girl slept.

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pierce_roswell
2010-07-07 04:33 pm UTC (link)

The motel burns around her. Charred bodies litter the broken ground, falling to ash in the cyclone that fills her mind. They lay hands on her and ignite, the terrible scent of burning flesh filling her nostrils yet again.

There is a box of steel, and she does not want to enter it. The fires flare around her, and it is the only place to run. Jets of flame lick her skin, turning the pale flesh grey, and she is frightened, crawling into the only place left untouched by flame, desperate to escape. No luck. Ashen hands slam the lid down upon her, and her mind explodes in darkness. She screams soundlessly into the void...

A tremor rips through the sleeping body, and the girl's eyes bolt open, a primal scream tearing unbidden from her lips. Her entire body convulses, and then she curls up and is still, save for the deep breaths wracking her small frame as she sobs quietly into the blanket.

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laurajones
2010-07-07 04:50 pm UTC (link)

Yanked from her doze, Laura jolted back into consciousness at the sound of Jacquelyn's scream. The sound still jarring in her ears, she rose from her chair to bend over the poor girl's shaking body. Despite the clinical precision with which Laura had been examining Jacquelyn mere hours ago, the scream pricked deep into Laura's heart. Any mother understood a child's fear, and Laura could hear her children's cries echoing in Jacquelyn's. Thus, Laura acted on impulse, obeying her maternal instincts to reach out and touch the girl's shoulder comfortingly. "Jacquelyn?" Laura's voice was smooth and gentle. "It's all right. It was only a dream."

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pierce_roswell
2010-07-08 03:01 pm UTC (link)

As she reaches out, Laura feels an intense chill run through her veins: the air around the girl is absolutely frigid. Yet the sensation lasts for only a second, for as the woman's hand brushes against Jacquelyn's shoulder the radiant chill vanishes instantly, temperature equalizing once more. At the same moment, almost instinctively, the girl's hand lashes out, knocking Laura's hand from her shoulder.

Jacquelyn jerks upright, her red-rimmed eyes widening in wonder and shock at the sight of a new face.

"W-what did you call me?"

Her voice is a low, rich alto, yet her words are quiet and breathy, as if she was not used to speech...

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laurajones
2010-07-08 03:56 pm UTC (link)

Laura was unsurprised by the girl's movement - given the way her handlers had treated her, it stood to reason that she would shy away from physical touch. The sudden temperature shift worried her, however, and Laura made a mental note to record and look into it a little later. Laura guessed that it must have something to do with the girl's awesome powers, so she would have to look out for it later. Retracting her hand from Jacquelyn's general vicinity, Laura brushed a stray hair behind her ear and gave Jacquelyn a small smile, although smiling was the last thing she felt like doing.

She needn't have asked the others what they'd been calling her - Jacquelyn's comment made it perfectly clear that the poor girl had probably never known any other name but X-1. "I called you Jacquelyn," Laura murmured gently. "You're name is Jacquelyn Eva Pierce-Roswell, isn't it?" She gestured to herself. "Mine is Laura. Laura Jones. I'll be your..." she paused as she thought of the right word. 'Handler' would be closest, but she had no intention of treating Jacquelyn as her previous handlers had, so it wasn't exactly appropriate. "Mother" seemed too intimate, but yet... "I'll be your adopted mother while you're here."

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