[center][color=teal][h2]Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey[/h2][/color][/center]

[color=teal]"Because this was the last thing you wanted!"[/color] Frustration coursed through Jess as it did through Roxy. She took a trembling breath, trying to calm the uncharacteristic anger. Roxy was mad enough at herself, and Jess wasn't going to add fuel to the fire. Once she'd checked that nobody had overheard, she continued, tone softening. [color=teal]"For either of us. Look, the emotions... I don't blame you. Nobody would. As for the bubble, we're working on that. It's just as much my responsibility as it is yours. Once we know each other better..."[/color]

She fell silent. Once they knew each other better, that monster would be able to use each one against the other much more easily, that was what would happen.

[color=teal]"... The shield will be stronger, and about this, we'll be able to figure something out together,"[/color] she finished, the conviction in her voice wavering at the last part. To her own ears, it sounded more like a question than a statement. [color=teal]"There's got to be something."[/color]

That feeling of powerlessness wasn't all Roxy's. If only there was something she could say, or more importantly do, to help the one who'd given everything to help her.