Link City

Mission Objective *

Chapter 19: Mission Objective

They were identical. There was no arguing that, but for some reason I knew right away that I would have no trouble telling them apart. Maybe it was the hair. Romeo's somehow always managed to hang in a neat almost shiny swoop, while Jesse's was a mess of a bedhead, sticking out in all directions. But I realized it was more than that. Though their features were the same Jesse wore them differently. The muscles around his eyes were looser, I noted.

“Hang on.”

I found the door, fumbling a bit with the chip in my hurry to get the boy out of there. Jesse had a little trouble getting to his feet after I released his cuff from the floor, but as we exited the cell he assured me that he was fine, insisting that he could walk on his own.

“One second.” He took a step to the side and I braced myself to catch him if he fell.

Moving around to the back of the cube he reached down to the corner where the plastic like substance met the metal wall. There, were the bombs. He must have pushed them through the tiny holes. They were just the correct size.

He offered them to me, but I shook my head. “You and Dustin can split them. Me, Skye, and Romeo divided up mine.”

His eyes literally lit up.

“They're okay! They're part of this?”

He sounded so relieved I couldn't help but think of how I'd felt when I saw Dustin on the floor of that cell. We emerged out into the hall. My eyes scanned for the rescued boy's twin. Out in the better lighting I noted that past the bruises he had no permanent scars, not like Romeo. Jesse smiled at Dustin, splitting the bombs with him.

“I told you!” Dustin smiled back. “I told you we'd do it.”

The three of us had began to walk back towards where Skye and Romeo were presumably still freeing prisoners.

“Jesse?”

I heard Romeo's voice, gruff, shocked. He'd emerged from a cell not too far ahead of us.

“Rome!”

I couldn't help but watch Jesse's face. The emotion there was priceless. The boys walked towards each other quickly and Romeo pulled the marginally thinner boy into a hug. The two hugged tightly. Romeo's eyes, I noted, where closed. He pressed his head into Jesse's shoulder like he couldn't believe he was real. I'd been so caught up in the touching reunion I'd only just noticed Skye. She stood a little behind Romeo, a real smile on her face, one that reached her eyes. Sure it wasn't a grin like Jesse's, but it made me happy all the same, to see her happy. Jesse's head faced straight ahead, even as Romeo clung to him, and I knew his eyes had met Skye's.

Finally Romeo released, but he gazed at his twin in such a way that I knew I would never understand. Did twins really have special connections? It seemed possible, looking at these two now. Jesse was distracted though, only half engaged in their twin bond. He was looking at Skye. She was stiff, making no move to greet him in the way his brother had. But Jesse moved to her, pulling her into a hug. He spun her around, placing her back on the ground then releasing. Skye looked almost close to tears, I turned to look at Dustin, just to stop invading their moment.