Jack touched the star and felt himself swell with Lucy-Anne's miraculous ability.
He sat back and sighed. When he removed his hand from Lucy-Anne's face, the newfound sun faded quickly into the background starscape of his mind, settling as if it had always been there.
“You now have more than me,” Nomad said. She did not sound jealous, or amazed. She was simply stating a fact.
Good, Jack thought. I might need it.
“We should go,” he said. He took one more look around at his almost-motionless friends. Reaper was a little further out of his seat, and Jack would have to be ready for him when he flipped back to normality. But he was confident that he could handle Reaper. He only hoped he did not have to.
Without another word to Nomad he flipped back, and she followed him moments later.
Lucy-Anne cried out, a wordless sound so filled with despair that Jack almost regretted what he had done. Nomad was there, settled in her seat again and watching them all with interest.
Reaper stood.
“What have you done?” he asked.
“Nothing yet.” Jack turned his back on the man, trying also to shut Nomad from his view. He wished it was only him and his friends here for this final moment. But that was a selfish thought, and one derived from a naive mind that could exist only in a world that was fair and reasonable.
Lucy-Anne was trying to sit up, pressing the impromptu dressings to her face with one hand and reaching for Jack with the other. Jenna and Sparky tried to hold her back.
Jenna was staring at Jack.
“What?” Sparky asked. “What is it? What did you do? You…flipped, then back again. Where've you been?”
“Nowhere but here,” Jack said.
“Oh, Jack,” Jenna said, and he was filled with admiration and love for his friend, because she knew him so well.
“What?” Sparky asked again, frustrated.
“You're too badly hurt,” Jack said to Lucy-Anne. He knelt before her and held her reaching hand between his own. She was breathing heavily through a bloodied nose, her airways cleared now, the wound in her throat covered with a wadded napkin. Jack had been able to close that wound, at least.
“Oh,” Sparky said. “So…”
“So Jack's going to do the dreaming,” Jenna said.
Lucy-Anne shook her head, then slumped against Jenna when the action made her dizzy. She groaned again. Jack held her to him, stroking her hair and enjoying the warmth of her. He'd held her like this many times before, but never would again.
“So we'll have to arrange where to meet you,” Sparky said. “And how to get out of London without them doing to us what they did to Reaper's lot.”
“I won't be meeting you anywhere,” Jack said.
“Huh?”
Jenna started crying.
“Oh, no,” Sparky said. “No mate. Absolutely not. Not after everything. No way. Not if I have to pick you up and carry you myself.”
“And I won't let you do that,” Jack said. He moved closer to Sparky and hugged him close. “There are other reasons,” he whispered in his friend's ear. He let him go and looked at Jenna. She met his gaze and wiped her eyes. He could see that she hated this, but also that she knew he was doing something important, and that she could never stop him.
He could not tell her right now, because Nomad was here. He only hoped they would work it out.
“You'd better move,” he said.
“Jack—” Jenna began, but Jack held up one hand. If they started a long good-bye, he wasn't sure he'd be able to go through with any of this.
“Just…kiss Emily for me.” He took a breath, thought of plenty more he wanted to say…and then flipped.
For one final moment before Nomad followed him through, he looked at the best friends of his life. Lucy-Anne looked wretched, but he hoped she would not bear any guilt for what was his own decision. She was damaged in many ways, but she was also a clever girl. She'd understand.