The Many Faces of Tully

“Okay, as you all know, we have a little less than six months left until the battle.” We’re all in the living room and Rozen is supposed to be giving us a pep talk. “I must say I am impressed with all of your progress. Thank you Jace and Tully, for running the practices and breaking down the footage for me.”

I look at Jace across the room and he winks at me. I blush. It’s been five days since he healed from my explosion. Today is Friday and is our bimonthly group dinner night. We get a meeting beforehand this time.

“I’m most impressed with you Tully, and anyone who has gone up against you.” He looks at me and I immediately feel uncomfortable. “I do believe you’ve helped Nash become completely indestructible. I’m sure if he can survive you than he can survive this faceless enemy. You’ve proved to us that Jace can heal from death pretty much.”

I look at Jace again and he’s smiling smugly at me. Neither of us has made a move towards each other. We’re acting just the same, except for the fact we are both a little more transparent about our feelings. Like him winking at me tonight, or complimenting me yesterday. I find excuses to touch his arm or to sit right next to him. Its right around the corner, I know it.

“I know Damon and Edmund went up against you too, but I think you took them a little by surprise to really help them with their powers. But since you helped Jace and Nash so much, I want you to go up against everyone.”

I gape at him.

“What?” several of them exclaim.

“She is the most powerful person here and if you can go up against her and survive, then your powers have reached their full potential. If you can survive her, then you can survive the faceless enemy. And she needs to practice against someone who is an actual threat to her. The only thing Jace can do is heal her and Nash can only survive her explosions. Neither of them can cause her any harm. We need to see if she can survive your powers too,” Rozen explains.

What he says isn’t true. Jace can do more than heal. He still doesn’t want them to know. That part of his power is our secret, and he says he is never going to use it again on purpose. Unless it’s the only option. Jace is frowning at the floor. He’s probably thinking the same as me.

“But she’ll kill us if she explodes!” Damon complains.

“You’ve gained control of your morphing, haven’t you Tully?” Rozen asks me. I barely stop myself from frowning in disdain. He really grates my nerves.

“I’ve gained a little control of it, yes. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to morph every time instead of exploding. I have to be able to think clear enough and sometimes I just can’t think around my power,” I explain emotionlessly. It’s the only way I can hide my dislike for him.

“And she can do more than explode and morph,” Jace cuts in. He knows my powers better than anyone here. “She is telekinetic like Zazu, and she has some shielding powers like Edmund. She doesn’t quite shield herself from direct attacks but say if you grabbed her when she didn’t want you too then you would find yourself in pain somehow. For instance I grabbed her arm once and an electrical pulse ran through my hand.”

I had forgotten about that.

“Really? What else can she do?” Rozen turns to Jace now. I have a feeling Jace did this on purpose because he knows how I feel about Rozen.

“Well she has control over people’s minds like Damon sort of, but it’s different too,” he says in his scientist voice. “I know she’s erased herself from people’s memories entirely and she can speak to you through her thoughts.”

“What?” I snap at him. I can’t do that? “I’ve never done that before,” I argue him.

“Er, you have actually, I just didn’t tell you. Sort of slipped my mind until now.” He scratches his temple awkwardly.

“When did I do that?” My voice squeaks with embarrassment. What did I ever say to him through my thoughts? I didn’t tell him I was falling in love with him did I?

“You’ve done it three times. Twice on the night of your nightmare and once the other day when you exploded on me. You told me you were sorry,” he says softly.

I remember thinking ‘I’m so sorry Jace,’ right before I exploded. Did I somehow transfer my thoughts to him? Did I communicate telepathically?

“I didn’t know you heard me,” I say softly, too.

“I did. Loud and clear. As if they were my own thoughts,” he says. I’ve completely forgotten that we are surrounded by everyone until Rozen starts talking.

“Well that’s excellent. I want you to go up against some of the guys tomorrow. I want to see what happens when you are directly attacked, so you’ll go up against Gunther, Zazu, Hutsi, and Elsu. Oh and Edmund, I want you there trying to shield them from whatever she throws at them. Try not to explode Tully,” Rozen says seriously. “Let’s go eat dinner.”

Everyone gets up and starts walking towards the kitchen. I hang back though. I know Jace will notice and hang back too. Soon we are the only two left.

“What did I say to you the other times?” I demand him.

“Uh, I think you screamed at me to not follow you the first time. Scared me to death, but I’ve stopped being surprised at what you can do. It was really loud though. And then after I told you to hold your breath you said that you would,” he tells me and I sigh in relief. Nothing embarrassing. I remember thinking those thoughts towards him. I wonder if that’s all I need to do.

I’m angry at you for not telling me sooner, I think towards him. I watch a smile spread across his face.

“I’m sorry that I forgot. You distracted me both times by throwing yourself at me,” he teases me. “Can you hear my thoughts?” he asks suddenly.

“I haven’t yet, but I haven’t tried to,” I say mischievously. Are there some thoughts that you don’t want me to hear? I ask him.

He laughs. “Yes, there are actually. I’d greatly appreciate it if you wouldn’t attempt to read my mind,” he pleads me slightly.

“Fine. I won’t,” I grumble.

“Shall we go to dinner?” he asks, waving his arm out in front of him.

“We shall. What is for dinner?” I ask him.

“I think Kato made ribs and macaroni salad,” he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. He walks like that often, which I like. It makes it easier for me to resist reaching out and grabbing his hand.

“Gross.” I wrinkle my nose.

“Don’t tell me you don’t like ribs,” he says incredulously.

“Macaroni salad. If salad is in the name, then I generally don’t like it. Or casserole. Nasty stuff.”

He starts laughing as we walk into the kitchen. Some of them look up at us and I notice Edmund, Elsu and Hutsi looking at me wearily. I’ve already forgotten that I have to go up against them tomorrow.

Jace? I ask him. He turns his head and raises an eyebrow at me. I’m nervous about tomorrow.

He frowns. We walk up to the counter and start serving ourselves food. The only two spots left are at the bar. We sit on the two stools there. I’m sitting between Jace and Calchas. Jace notices them staring at me now.

“I’d say they were nervous too,” he says to me under his breath.

Will you help me? Will you play the damsel in distress again? I don’t want to hurt them.

Jace looks up at me, his eyes searching mine. He nods.

Thank you, I think as fervently as possible.

“It’s my pleasure,” he says to me, and then turns to his ribs.