Hi Mum, It's Sammy (Clone 63 - part 16)

I started to breath in and out slowly, calming myself as I walked away from the station. A few people said something at me as I went past but I just shook my head and kept going. I was in a uniform that was no longer mine, I didn't want anyone to ask about something assuming that I was still a cop.

"Jericho?" I stopped walking and looked around even though some part of me knew that was pointless. Jer was frightened, badly frightened by something. He's ... still home. I was in a taxi headed home without even a moment's pause for thought.



In the taxi, I flipped open my phone. I was about to ring Eddie to ask him to meet me at home when I felt Jer's pain. I was close enough to know that Jericho had just been punched in the stomach. I rang the station instead of Eddie. "Jared? I need police at my home. We have an intruder."

I stumbled getting out of the taxi, Jer had taken a major blow to the ribs. I paid the driver and ran toward the house. I could already hear the wail of a police siren not far away.

It took a moment for me to interpret the scene after I ran through the open door. At first, I didn't see Jericho at all. I did see...

"And you will stay out of my town." I saw Chuck move and felt the echo of his kick on Jer's body. "And you will take your perverted friends with you." I caught a glimpse of Jericho lying still on the floor, mostly hidden behind the bar. I would have been afraid he was dead, but I could still feel the pain of that last kick. Plus the pain from previous blows.

I tackled Darnell-Hobble from behind. "You freaking bastard. You are a disgrace to that uniform you wear."

"How dare you say that, you pervert."

I pulled him well away from Jericho. I wanted to touch Jer, to make sure he was going to be ok. But that was just going to have to wait until Darnell-Hobble was gone.

Fortunately, it was about then that Jared made his entrance. "What's going on?" He frowned as he took in the scene.

"I came home to find this ... " I searched for a good term but couldn't find one. "This man assaulting my spouse." I pushed Chuck toward Jared.

"You'll be pressing charges?"

"You bet we'll be pressing charges. It's unforgiveable." Jared nodded and pushed Chuck out the door.

I went to back to Jericho. "Love, why the hell were you just letting him pound you? Why didn't you fight back?"

His eyes fluttered open. "I didn't want him to notice the toddlers. He didn't hurt our babies, did he?"

"I don't think he had time but let's go see." Since cribs were in our room, I could put Jericho in bed and check the babies without leaving him alone. I lifted him carefully. Wrapping my arms around him brought home the full extent of his injuries. Nothing fatal but very painful. I feared that at least one rib was cracked. I carried him to our bed, setting him down as gently as I could.

It wasn't until I had completely let go of Jericho that I realised our touch was doing something more than usual. Energy had been flowing from me to Jer, my body was helping his recover.

Jericho reached out with one arm. "Don't go."

"Shh, love. Two seconds while I check the babies." I peeked in the cribs, both toddlers were peacefully sleeping.

I went back and pulled off Jericho's shirt, tucking him into the bed. Then I took off my shirt and nestled against Jer in bed. "The babies are fine. I'm here. Better?" I could feel energy flowing between us again, better now that more skin touched skin. Some of Jer's pain was already ebbing away.

"Better," he agreed sleepily. I nuzzled his neck contentedly and drifted off into a light doze.

When I woke, I could tell that Jer was a long way toward being healed. My stomach rumbled to let me know why I had suddenly awoken. I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could.

"No," protested Jericho.

"Just a few minutes, Jer. I have to eat. I will be as quick as I can." I went out to the kitchen and grabbed the first thing I found in the fridge. I bolted down the food then went back for seconds, whatever it was that meant I could heal Jer was also making me starve. I waited till I felt my energy levels were close to normal.

By the time I returned, Jer was lying awake on the bed. "Sammy, I had the weirdest dream. Some guy dressed as a policeman came into the house and was beating me up. Then you came in and stopped it. Funny thing, I don't even remember coming in here for a nap."

"I'm afraid that wasn't a dream. I felt your fear when it started and so I came home. You were hurt and on the floor by the time I got here." I got back into bed beside him.

"I was hurt? That's why I thought it was a dream, nothing hurts now." He blinked a few times. "Though I do ache a little, now that I think about it."

I moved over to cuddle him. "Apparently I can help you heal. I guess it's something to do with our bond." I traced a faint mark on his chest, it had been a very nasty bruise a couple of hours ago.

"With every day that passes, I realise again that we were meant to be. Sam, that you can heal because of the bond is stunning." He looked a bit reflective. "I wish I knew more bonded couples. It might help us know what to expect."

"So, we don't know everything. We may never know all the possibilities. It doesn't matter, love." It truly made no difference. I could never and would never leave Jericho no matter what new things lie in store. "You know, when you were being attack, I felt every blow. Not as much as you did but enough to know exactly what was happening. It was a scary experience, let's try not to repeat it."

"Agreed, Sam but it's not exactly as though I had done anything to provoke this. I let him in because he was in a police uniform and the next thing I know, he's shouting, punching and kicking."

"Chuck hates us. He fired me first thing today. I've been wandering around town wondering what to do about that. From hero to unemployed in a week, my head hurts."

Jericho reached over and gently stroked my cheek. "What should we do, love?"

I grabbed his hand and kissed the palm. "For the rest of today? Absolutely nothing. I'm staying close to you and the toddlers. Tomorrow, I raise 20 kinds of hell all over town about this. It should never have happened and I'm going to make a point that it should never happen again."

--

Poor Jericho was in an animator faint loop. Up - oh - thud. Again and again and again. He was the one with a headache!

Jared, you don't stand in the computer to use it.

cop car

sunset

Jer pulls great faces.