Joey stood outside Ned's door, staring at the floor. His hand was raised to knock, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to make a sound since Cleo had dropped him back at his place.
No, his parents' house. He wouldn't be living here for much longer.
Guilt gnawed at his stomach, and his hands were shaking. How in the big blue sky was he supposed to explain this to Ned? "Oh, by the way, I've been acting as Achilles' sidekick for the past few months, don't worry about it"?
No way that would go over well. Unfortunately, he couldn't stand here forever.
Just as he took the hundredth breath to psyche himself up to knock, Ned opened the door and took a surprised step back.
"You're back," he said, looking at Joey strangely. "Did something happen?" His face quickly twisted into a frown as Joey lowered his hand and took a breath to start explaining.
"We need to talk," he said quietly. Ned stepped aside and waved toward the bed. Joey trudged over and sat down, his head falling naturally into his hands.
"What happened?" Ned asked, sitting in his computer chair and wheeling across from Joey.
"I..." Why couldn't he say anything? Words clogged up in his throat and choked away before a single sound could be formed.
"Joey?" Ned asked, leaning forward to force eye contact. "You're starting to worry me."
Oh, Ned. If only he knew just how worried he was about to be.
"I screwed up, Ned." Somehow, Joey managed to force out those hoarse words. More followed, trickling through like water through a drippy faucet. "We're moving at the end of next week. And...I don't think it's a good thing. I got mixed up in something really bad. I...I don't know how to tell you any of this."
Tears welled up in his eyes. His hands felt so shaky, they'd be vibrating if his head wasn't holding them in place.
"Joey?" Ned asked, kneeling down and putting a hand on his shoulder. "How did you get mixed up with something bad?"
Joey cursed himself for making Ned feel so concerned. He was supposed to be the older one. The one who took care of his younger brother. Instead, here was his little brother being strong for him. How long would he stay strong once he knew everything?
"You know Achilles?" Joey asked, taking deep breaths to steady himself. A few sobs choked out in the silence as Ned frowned in confusion.
"Who doesn't know Achilles?"
"There's others too..."
"Right. Lightning, Jumper, Prime...I can't remember all of them right now, but he's got a team."
"I..."
Sobs choked out his next words. Why couldn't he say anything? Why couldn't he say it?
He could blame the sudden nature of it all. Just a few hours ago, there hadn't been any kind of problem. Then Cleo. But it wasn't really her fault. They'd stumbled into something too big for any of them. And now Ned, the last person Joey wanted to hurt, was getting dragged into it.
"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," Ned said gently. "How can I help?"
That made it worse. Joey steeled himself and took another deep breath, then started talking again.
"I don't know that you can. But...Cleo and I - I mentioned her to you - we got stuck in something dangerous. And...he wants you too, Ned. I don't know why. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to get dragged into anything."
His words faded again. Why was this so hard?
Ned sat there silently, staring at the floor in thought. Joey didn't know how long they sat there before he found the courage to speak again.
"I'm Jumper, Ned."
"What?" Ned's confusion was obvious. Joey soldiered on, determined to at least make sure Ned heard it from him.
"When I had my accident...last year now, I guess. When I was in the hospital, someone spoke to me. They offered me a Miracle. I can jump super high, and I don't get hurt from falls or anything. You can punch me all you want and I'll barely feel it. And I got mixed up with Achilles for a while. He was like a kid, y'know? I just couldn't leave him alone. And then there was Lightning. We're friends, kinda. As much as you can be when you're like us.
"And when Paris and the Phalanx started causing trouble, I felt like I had to keep helping. If I didn't do something and someone got hurt, I...I'd feel guilty about it. I've been trying to distance myself from everything now that the Legion's expanding, but then I met Cleo. She...she has powers like us. Crazy powers. She knows what's going to happen before it happens. She can create portals. Anyway, she came to me today asking me to help her track down whoever killed Scattershot.
"So we went somewhere we weren't supposed to. And...we found him. I think. I think he killed Scattershot, and Phantasma, and he might kill us. He said we're going to live down there with him, and you have to come with us. I don't know what he wants exactly, but we have to do as he says. He said to bring you. So..."
Joey couldn't take it any more. He fell off the bed onto his knees and curled up, holding his legs tightly.
Maybe it would all be a bad dream when he woke up.
It was all too soon that Ned put a hand on his shoulder and dashed that hope.
"Then let's go." Joey looked up at him. Ned was looking away, an unreadable expression on his face.
"I'm sorry, Ned," Joey whispered.
"It's okay. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, didn't I?" Ned forced a smile, even though he had to be scared too, and Joey felt awful all over again. He took Ned's hand and they both stood up.
Joey took a few shaky breaths as a portal opened up next to them. Ned looked startled, but Joey just let out a rueful chuckle.
"Of course she was watching us," he said, rubbing his eyes on his sweater. Even if she'd already watched him bawl his eyes out, he at least wanted to look presentable when he got back to the Underwing.
Ned looked at him anxiously, and Joey led the way through the portal.
