The Tomorrow Series Fanfiction: Who Will Lead Us? - Chapter 9
This is the ninth chapter in a fanfiction of The Tomorrow Series by theun4givables. This time, theun4givables herself wrote the first section of this as part of a collaboration challenge for writerverse.
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Jazz sat down in the small meeting room, his fingers itching to fix a tie he wasn’t actually wearing. Instead, he ran his fingers over his hair, smoothing it back some. Savin sat down across from him, avoiding his eyes. They hadn’t spoken to one another since their attempt to contact Jordine. Ravi sat down beside Jazz, his expression neutral. Having Ravi there made it a little easier for him to breathe, a little easier for him to focus.
“So what do we do?” Ravi asked, getting the discussion started. “We gonna wait for Jordine to explicitly tell us no or what?”
“She’ll say yes,” Jazz murmured, turning to him. He tried to sound confident and resisted the urge to clear his throat. “She knows that she’ll lose less fighting with us as opposed to fighting against Mitchel alone.”
“You can’t be so sure of that, Jazz,” Savin muttered, leaning his arms on the small table. “This is Jordine we’re talking about -- she and Mitchel have never gotten along.”
“Yes, they’ve never gotten along -- and it’s partially Mitchel’s fault that things are even so tense between Earth and Hooba in the first place, but Jordine actually cares more about the fate of Hooba than she cares about herself. You and I both know no one can say the same for Mitchel,” Jazz said, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’ll go with the option that provides her planet with the most benefit.”
Savin snorted, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “We can only hope she does,” he said, venom dripping from his voice, “but you and I both know that sometimes people don’t always do what they feel is best.”
Ravi raised an eyebrow at Savin’s comment, sitting back in his seat some. Jazz frowned and tried not to bite his lip. Tried not to wince as the weight of Savin’s words truly hit him. “This -- this is true, but we have no other choice but to wait and see if she accepts our offer.”
“Of course you want to sit and wait now,” Savin spat, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Jazz opened his mouth to respond to that, but Ravi’s spoke up beside him, cutting him off. “Gotta agree with Savin on this one, Blue,” he said quietly. “Don’t think we can exactly fuckin’ wait for Jordine to make up her mind. We gotta try and do somethin’ else while we wait, at least.”
“I can go and find other pockets of NB safe spaces,” Jazz suggested, turning to Ravi. “There are also a few other allies we could contact -- but a few of them have issues with Hooba, as well. If we teamed up with them and Jordine decides to tell us she’ll help --”
“Why not just contact the ones you know have no issues with the Hooban Empire, if you’re so sure Jordine’s going to help us?” Savin pointed out, his tone harsh. “It’s not like you haven’t made rash decisions based on a probability before.”
That time Jazz did wince. He looked over at Savin, trying to keep the tears at bay. “This isn’t like when Mitchel put the NB Laws up for a vote, Savin,” he said, managing to keep his voice steady. “You and I both know that Mitchel would have done all that he could to get those laws back into place.”
Savin laughed -- a cold, harsh sound. “Except if you had been there to vote, they wouldn’t have fucking gone through,” he hissed, getting up from the table. He didn’t say another word as he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Jazz could only stare at the door before putting his head in his hands. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head. “No, no, no, no.”
The NB laws wouldn’t have been put back into place if it weren’t for him. Savin wouldn’t have lost his wife -- his daughter if it weren’t for him. Jazz’s chest felt tight, the tears coming long before he could even stop them.
“Blue?”
Jazz jumped at Ravi’s light touch on his shoulder, snapping his head over to the other man. The tears kept coming, sobs wracking his body as he shook his head. “All my fault,” he choked out. “It’s all my fault.”
“It ain’t your fucking fault, Blue,” Ravi murmured, putting an arm around Jazz’s shoulders. “Ain’t your fault that Emperor Foraker’s a fuckin’ ass. Ain’t your fault Savin’s blamin’ you for something that’s beyond your fucking control.”
Jazz bit his lip and shook his head again. “Mitchel -- Mitchel wouldn’t fucking be Emperor if it weren’t -- if it weren’t for me,” he sobbed. “I voted for him -- voted for him instead of myself and look where that’s gotten me -- where it’s gotten you, where it’s gotten Savin.”
Ravi’s arm didn’t move from around his shoulders. In fact, Ravi just pulled Jazz closer to him, holding him tightly. Jazz couldn’t find the strength to pull away, instead burying his head in Ravi’s shoulder. “I don’t give a fuck about that, Blue,” Ravi said, his breath brushing against Jazz’s ear, causing him to shiver, “and I think Savin’s just lookin’ for someone to blame. Give him time.”
“His family’s dead because of me,” Jazz moaned. “Because I was selfish and only thought about wanting to save myself -- I didn’t think -- I should have thought -- I knew Danni was an NB. Mitchel knew Danni was an NB.” He took in a shuddering breath as he gripped Ravi’s shirt tightly. “His daughter, Ravi -- he lost his daughter. She wasn’t -- wasn’t even a year old yet -- because of me.”
Jazz managed to get his breathing under control and pulled away from Ravi. Bit his lip as the tears continued to fall. “He loved that little girl, Ravi,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. “Loved her more than -- more than me, and --”
He cut himself off, clenching his jaw as Ravi’s eyes grew wide. “W-Wait a sec, Blue,” Ravi said, his voice breaking somewhat. Ravi clenched his own Jazz. “Savin -- I thought he was married?”
Jazz winced and brushed his tears away. Even looked away from Ravi, a half-smile gracing his lips. “He was,” he answered, his voice shaking. “Only married Mari because of their daughter. But --” He couldn’t bring himself to continue.
“But what, Blue?” Ravi pressed, grabbing Jazz’s chin and forcing Jazz to look in his direction.
“We -- I love him, Ravi,” Jazz managed, tears welling up in his eyes again. “And -- and I thought he loved me, too. But -- but after everything that’s happened...”
Ravi’s expression had remained neutral up until that point, his hand falling away from Jazz’s chin. “You two were havin’ an affair,” he murmured, judgment thankfully lacking in his voice. He shook his head slightly. “It all makes fuckin’ sense now.”
Jazz could only nod his head, unable to say anything else. He turned back towards the table, resting his elbows on it as he put his face in his hands again. Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind, tried to clear any thoughts centering on feeling sorry for himself.
“I have to find a way to make this right, Ravi,” he spoke after a few minutes of silence. “I know the Resistance won’t -- won’t give him his family back, but maybe if we can get Jordine and a few other races to help us, I can give him a life worth living, again.”
Despite hoping that he would have been enough of a reason for Savin, Jazz knew his being alive wasn’t enough. Not now. Not with how Savin obviously blamed him almost more than he blamed himself for everything that had happened.
He just hoped it wasn’t too late.
* * *
Early morning the next day, Jazz was ready to set out in order to make things at least a little bit right. He stood in the parking lot of the Compound.
Alex stood next to Jazz. “Are you sure you don’t want somebody to go with you to meet this guy? He’s NBEA, after all. He could shoot you dead.”
“Riley let me go. I fucking told you about this. He offered me his contact info and promised to give what help he could when I was still on the run, remember?” Jazz muttered.
“I don’t trust this, especially not with a bullet magnet like you,” Alex said.
“Hey, Riley’s the one time I got close to an NBEA agent and wasn’t shot,” he grumbled.
Alex shrugged. “I’m just saying; don’t trust people too easily, okay?”
Jazz aimed the key at the car to unlock it when he heard another voice. “Jazz, wait!”
It was Savin. Jazz slowly turned towards the other man, feeling a painful awkwardness descend upon him. His chest started to hurt. “Hey, Savin. I gotta get going. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to -- apologize,” he said.
Jazz’s eyes widened.
“What happened may have been your fault, but I’m -- sorry for the way I acted,” Savin muttered.
“Thank you?” Jazz wasn’t sure how to feel about that apology, which just reminded him how everything was his fault. He bit his lip. “Look, I really gotta get going, okay?”
He turned away from Savin and put his hand on the car’s door handle.
“Wait!” Savin repeated, grabbing Jazz’s arm.
Jazz turned his head but didn’t take his hand off the door handle. “Savin. I really have to go. Now.”
The older man sighed, letting his hand fall to his side. “Jazz -- I really am sorry for the way I acted. Promise me you’ll be -- be careful out there.”
“I’ll be fine,” Jazz said. He almost moved to pull Savin close to him -- to kiss him, but he thought better of it, instead turning his head around again and finally opening the car’s door. He got in and began the long drive to Agent Riley’s city.
* * *
Jazz sat at a small table in Riley’s cramped safe house. The agent looked exhausted and worn, with bags under his blue eyes.
“So you managed to avoid getting shot, huh?” Riley said.
Jazz let out a small chuckle. “I wish.”
Riley smiled wryly. “Bullets just like you, hmm? At least you didn’t end up dead. That would have been unfortunate. I didn’t go risking my career and saving your life so you could have it end so soon.”
He sighed, “You’re not the first person to suggest bullets might ‘like’ me.”
“That’s because it’s evidently true,” Riley quipped.
“Like I said before, it’s not mutual,” Jazz grumbled.
“I imagine not,” Riley said. “So, tell me exactly why you are here?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Resistance,” Jazz muttered, keeping his voice low.
“I’ve heard. My, ah, coworkers don’t think much of it, but I take it you’re a part of this?” he murmured.
Jazz nodded. “I am, and we could use someone on the inside.”
Riley leaned on the table. “You want me to work undercover for your Resistance in the newly-reformed NBEA, I take it?”
“If you would be willing, yes. There’s nobody better to help Natural Borns get what safety they can than someone who knows the enemy,” Jazz said.
“Nobody knows the enemy better than the enemy itself. I will do this, but I warn you, my influence may be -- limited. Our...Esteemed Emperor is setting up policy after policy to make rebellion next to impossible,” Riley muttered
“That doesn’t fucking surprise me.”
Jazz knew this would be difficult, and he knew he was asking a lot of Agent Riley to even continue being an NBEA agent at this time. With some of the rumors of what the new NBEA was doing -- Riley’s work had to be wearing on the man.
He hoped Riley would be able to help them. The Resistance needed as many allies as possible. While Jazz was grateful the agent had agreed to give them the aid he could, what Riley said about Mitchel’s policies didn’t fill Jazz with much optimism.
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next chapter
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Jazz sat down in the small meeting room, his fingers itching to fix a tie he wasn’t actually wearing. Instead, he ran his fingers over his hair, smoothing it back some. Savin sat down across from him, avoiding his eyes. They hadn’t spoken to one another since their attempt to contact Jordine. Ravi sat down beside Jazz, his expression neutral. Having Ravi there made it a little easier for him to breathe, a little easier for him to focus.
“So what do we do?” Ravi asked, getting the discussion started. “We gonna wait for Jordine to explicitly tell us no or what?”
“She’ll say yes,” Jazz murmured, turning to him. He tried to sound confident and resisted the urge to clear his throat. “She knows that she’ll lose less fighting with us as opposed to fighting against Mitchel alone.”
“You can’t be so sure of that, Jazz,” Savin muttered, leaning his arms on the small table. “This is Jordine we’re talking about -- she and Mitchel have never gotten along.”
“Yes, they’ve never gotten along -- and it’s partially Mitchel’s fault that things are even so tense between Earth and Hooba in the first place, but Jordine actually cares more about the fate of Hooba than she cares about herself. You and I both know no one can say the same for Mitchel,” Jazz said, crossing his arms over his chest. “She’ll go with the option that provides her planet with the most benefit.”
Savin snorted, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. “We can only hope she does,” he said, venom dripping from his voice, “but you and I both know that sometimes people don’t always do what they feel is best.”
Ravi raised an eyebrow at Savin’s comment, sitting back in his seat some. Jazz frowned and tried not to bite his lip. Tried not to wince as the weight of Savin’s words truly hit him. “This -- this is true, but we have no other choice but to wait and see if she accepts our offer.”
“Of course you want to sit and wait now,” Savin spat, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Jazz opened his mouth to respond to that, but Ravi’s spoke up beside him, cutting him off. “Gotta agree with Savin on this one, Blue,” he said quietly. “Don’t think we can exactly fuckin’ wait for Jordine to make up her mind. We gotta try and do somethin’ else while we wait, at least.”
“I can go and find other pockets of NB safe spaces,” Jazz suggested, turning to Ravi. “There are also a few other allies we could contact -- but a few of them have issues with Hooba, as well. If we teamed up with them and Jordine decides to tell us she’ll help --”
“Why not just contact the ones you know have no issues with the Hooban Empire, if you’re so sure Jordine’s going to help us?” Savin pointed out, his tone harsh. “It’s not like you haven’t made rash decisions based on a probability before.”
That time Jazz did wince. He looked over at Savin, trying to keep the tears at bay. “This isn’t like when Mitchel put the NB Laws up for a vote, Savin,” he said, managing to keep his voice steady. “You and I both know that Mitchel would have done all that he could to get those laws back into place.”
Savin laughed -- a cold, harsh sound. “Except if you had been there to vote, they wouldn’t have fucking gone through,” he hissed, getting up from the table. He didn’t say another word as he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Jazz could only stare at the door before putting his head in his hands. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head. “No, no, no, no.”
The NB laws wouldn’t have been put back into place if it weren’t for him. Savin wouldn’t have lost his wife -- his daughter if it weren’t for him. Jazz’s chest felt tight, the tears coming long before he could even stop them.
“Blue?”
Jazz jumped at Ravi’s light touch on his shoulder, snapping his head over to the other man. The tears kept coming, sobs wracking his body as he shook his head. “All my fault,” he choked out. “It’s all my fault.”
“It ain’t your fucking fault, Blue,” Ravi murmured, putting an arm around Jazz’s shoulders. “Ain’t your fault that Emperor Foraker’s a fuckin’ ass. Ain’t your fault Savin’s blamin’ you for something that’s beyond your fucking control.”
Jazz bit his lip and shook his head again. “Mitchel -- Mitchel wouldn’t fucking be Emperor if it weren’t -- if it weren’t for me,” he sobbed. “I voted for him -- voted for him instead of myself and look where that’s gotten me -- where it’s gotten you, where it’s gotten Savin.”
Ravi’s arm didn’t move from around his shoulders. In fact, Ravi just pulled Jazz closer to him, holding him tightly. Jazz couldn’t find the strength to pull away, instead burying his head in Ravi’s shoulder. “I don’t give a fuck about that, Blue,” Ravi said, his breath brushing against Jazz’s ear, causing him to shiver, “and I think Savin’s just lookin’ for someone to blame. Give him time.”
“His family’s dead because of me,” Jazz moaned. “Because I was selfish and only thought about wanting to save myself -- I didn’t think -- I should have thought -- I knew Danni was an NB. Mitchel knew Danni was an NB.” He took in a shuddering breath as he gripped Ravi’s shirt tightly. “His daughter, Ravi -- he lost his daughter. She wasn’t -- wasn’t even a year old yet -- because of me.”
Jazz managed to get his breathing under control and pulled away from Ravi. Bit his lip as the tears continued to fall. “He loved that little girl, Ravi,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. He cleared his throat. “Loved her more than -- more than me, and --”
He cut himself off, clenching his jaw as Ravi’s eyes grew wide. “W-Wait a sec, Blue,” Ravi said, his voice breaking somewhat. Ravi clenched his own Jazz. “Savin -- I thought he was married?”
Jazz winced and brushed his tears away. Even looked away from Ravi, a half-smile gracing his lips. “He was,” he answered, his voice shaking. “Only married Mari because of their daughter. But --” He couldn’t bring himself to continue.
“But what, Blue?” Ravi pressed, grabbing Jazz’s chin and forcing Jazz to look in his direction.
“We -- I love him, Ravi,” Jazz managed, tears welling up in his eyes again. “And -- and I thought he loved me, too. But -- but after everything that’s happened...”
Ravi’s expression had remained neutral up until that point, his hand falling away from Jazz’s chin. “You two were havin’ an affair,” he murmured, judgment thankfully lacking in his voice. He shook his head slightly. “It all makes fuckin’ sense now.”
Jazz could only nod his head, unable to say anything else. He turned back towards the table, resting his elbows on it as he put his face in his hands again. Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind, tried to clear any thoughts centering on feeling sorry for himself.
“I have to find a way to make this right, Ravi,” he spoke after a few minutes of silence. “I know the Resistance won’t -- won’t give him his family back, but maybe if we can get Jordine and a few other races to help us, I can give him a life worth living, again.”
Despite hoping that he would have been enough of a reason for Savin, Jazz knew his being alive wasn’t enough. Not now. Not with how Savin obviously blamed him almost more than he blamed himself for everything that had happened.
He just hoped it wasn’t too late.
* * *
Early morning the next day, Jazz was ready to set out in order to make things at least a little bit right. He stood in the parking lot of the Compound.
Alex stood next to Jazz. “Are you sure you don’t want somebody to go with you to meet this guy? He’s NBEA, after all. He could shoot you dead.”
“Riley let me go. I fucking told you about this. He offered me his contact info and promised to give what help he could when I was still on the run, remember?” Jazz muttered.
“I don’t trust this, especially not with a bullet magnet like you,” Alex said.
“Hey, Riley’s the one time I got close to an NBEA agent and wasn’t shot,” he grumbled.
Alex shrugged. “I’m just saying; don’t trust people too easily, okay?”
Jazz aimed the key at the car to unlock it when he heard another voice. “Jazz, wait!”
It was Savin. Jazz slowly turned towards the other man, feeling a painful awkwardness descend upon him. His chest started to hurt. “Hey, Savin. I gotta get going. What’s up?”
“I just wanted to -- apologize,” he said.
Jazz’s eyes widened.
“What happened may have been your fault, but I’m -- sorry for the way I acted,” Savin muttered.
“Thank you?” Jazz wasn’t sure how to feel about that apology, which just reminded him how everything was his fault. He bit his lip. “Look, I really gotta get going, okay?”
He turned away from Savin and put his hand on the car’s door handle.
“Wait!” Savin repeated, grabbing Jazz’s arm.
Jazz turned his head but didn’t take his hand off the door handle. “Savin. I really have to go. Now.”
The older man sighed, letting his hand fall to his side. “Jazz -- I really am sorry for the way I acted. Promise me you’ll be -- be careful out there.”
“I’ll be fine,” Jazz said. He almost moved to pull Savin close to him -- to kiss him, but he thought better of it, instead turning his head around again and finally opening the car’s door. He got in and began the long drive to Agent Riley’s city.
* * *
Jazz sat at a small table in Riley’s cramped safe house. The agent looked exhausted and worn, with bags under his blue eyes.
“So you managed to avoid getting shot, huh?” Riley said.
Jazz let out a small chuckle. “I wish.”
Riley smiled wryly. “Bullets just like you, hmm? At least you didn’t end up dead. That would have been unfortunate. I didn’t go risking my career and saving your life so you could have it end so soon.”
He sighed, “You’re not the first person to suggest bullets might ‘like’ me.”
“That’s because it’s evidently true,” Riley quipped.
“Like I said before, it’s not mutual,” Jazz grumbled.
“I imagine not,” Riley said. “So, tell me exactly why you are here?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard of the Resistance,” Jazz muttered, keeping his voice low.
“I’ve heard. My, ah, coworkers don’t think much of it, but I take it you’re a part of this?” he murmured.
Jazz nodded. “I am, and we could use someone on the inside.”
Riley leaned on the table. “You want me to work undercover for your Resistance in the newly-reformed NBEA, I take it?”
“If you would be willing, yes. There’s nobody better to help Natural Borns get what safety they can than someone who knows the enemy,” Jazz said.
“Nobody knows the enemy better than the enemy itself. I will do this, but I warn you, my influence may be -- limited. Our...Esteemed Emperor is setting up policy after policy to make rebellion next to impossible,” Riley muttered
“That doesn’t fucking surprise me.”
Jazz knew this would be difficult, and he knew he was asking a lot of Agent Riley to even continue being an NBEA agent at this time. With some of the rumors of what the new NBEA was doing -- Riley’s work had to be wearing on the man.
He hoped Riley would be able to help them. The Resistance needed as many allies as possible. While Jazz was grateful the agent had agreed to give them the aid he could, what Riley said about Mitchel’s policies didn’t fill Jazz with much optimism.
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