Paradigm Shift [On-going]

Breakthrough

Dean was in a low place. He'd experienced a brief high when Jasmine was at the house but since she left the black cloud had descended once again. It had been two weeks since she left without any warning and every attempt at contacting her had failed. Now he found himself at the performance centre helping Seth set up for his seminar and he was working on autopilot. He and Roman had come along to Seth's seminar because technically they were still The Shield even though they all had individual classes scheduled for the week. He and Roman made themselves scarse once people started to arrive but they were watching everything from a side room called the observation room. The room had a two way mirror that you could see out of but not into. It was where WWE talent were scouted by bosses to see if they were ready to be called up to the main roster.

"Do you think she will come?" Dean's only focus was on the double doors of the entrance.

"I'm not sure" Roman answered. "She said she would when I mentioned the seminars, but that was before everything happened."

Dean got his answer a few minutes later when Jasmine made her way inside the performance centre. She headed straight to the changing area befote reappearing shortly after. Seth noticed her but didn't approach her, instead he turned to look into the large mirror that Dean and Roman were sat behind. Dean attempted to pick up on her emotions, but there were too many people in one room.

"Who's the jock?" Dean asked

Roman followed Dean's eyeline. A blonde guy with a buzz haircut and baseball jacket was talking to Jasmine, and it was obvious by how enthusiastic he was that he liked her. Before Roman could answer, Seth began his class. A few hours later, they stopped for lunch and Seth headed straight to the observation room.

"If you want to talk to her now would be the time" Seth stated as he moved to sit next to Dean. "I saw her go out the fire exit door"

Dean stood up and rushed towards the fire exit beside the changing rooms. He pushed the door and saw Jasmine sat in a chair. The small area used to be the smoking area, before a newer, bigger one had been built.

She looked up as the door opened and sighed as Dean approached her. "I was hoping no one would come out here."

"Seth saw you" Dean explained

Jasmine opened the lid to her chicken salad and Dean watched her as she struggled to open the sachet of salad dressing

"You want me to help you with that?" Dean asked

Jasmine passed him the sachet and Dean tore it open before handing it back to her.

"So did you want something or are you just here to watch me eat?...again" Jasmine asked

"I want to know why you left the house that morning" Dean replied

"I found your vampire leaflet, and I did a little research" Jasmine explained. "I came across this interesting article about a missing person called Ken Nyle. Apparently he vanished 30 years ago and nobody knows what happened to him"

Dean ran his hands down his face. "It was Dr. Nyle's idea not to tell you what he was. He didn't think you would let him treat you if you knew"

"He's right. I wouldn't" Jasmine confirmed.

"Why didn't you just wait for us to come back? We could have explained" Dean asked

"I found your blood fridge in the hideout and your stash in the kitchen drinks fridge" Jasmine explained "and it made me think...has it been there the whole time or had you hid it while I'd been there"

"It had been there the whole time" Dean confirmed

"Just like I thought" Jasmine laughed bitterly. "that's why I left Dean because the whole time I was at your house, every time I hung out at your hotel I was being lied to. The three of you were hiding something from me and I shouldn't of had to find out the truth the way I did. The three of you should've told me."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next day Jasmine didn't turn up for the second day of Seth's seminar, but she arrived for the first day of Dean's. Yet again, the jock was very keen to talk to her and when Dean informed everyone that they had to pair up it annoyed Dean a lot more than it should of when they teamed together. They ate lunch together too and as Dean watched from the observation room; he wondered what the jock said that made Jasmine laugh so much.

"What is this guy's name?" Dean asked Seth as he nodded towards where Jasmine were sitting

"Chad or something" Seth answered. "I think he's got the hots for Jazz."

Dean glared at him, and if looks could kill, Seth would be on the floor. Deceased. Dean was in a terrible mood for the rest of the day, and how he got through the second half of his seminar without ripping Chad's head off his shoulders was a mystery.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The first day of Roman's seminar followed two days later and Jasmine arrived just like she had before. Chad wasn't in attendance for once, so at lunchtime Seth decided to go and talk to her. She didn't look shocked when  Seth stepped outside.

"I was wondering when one of you would come out here" Jasmine said

"Will you come back to the house after the class ends?" Seth asked

"Why?" Jasmine questioned

"We hate that things have turned out like this" Seth replied. "We miss you"

Jasmine sighed "Fine...I'll come"

Jasmine followed them back to the house and Dean could feel that she was uncomfortable and in pain.

"So what do we need to do in order to get back to the way we were?" Seth asked.

Jasmine pinched the skin on the bridge of her nose. "When we first met, I wondered why you cared so much about me. I'm just a PC recruit. I'm disposable, yet you actively pursued a friendship with me. Now I know why...it is my blood that attracted you"

"Do you really think that little of yourself?" Roman asked.

"Do you really think that little of us?" Dean added "Don't you think if that was all we wanted we would've just took it straight away?"

"It's not about what I think of myself. It's about weather or not you were drawn to me or my, blood" Jasmine answered

"Sure your blood is appealing but so are many people's. However we don't befriend everyone" Dean reasoned

"I had a vision of you before we even met" Seth revealed "You were hanging out with us, laughing, joking around, we were friends and I wanted that. So when I met you I pursued a friendship and that's all there was too it"

"Dean and I were actually reluctant to get close to you but Seth insisted" Roman explained

"So what do you want from me?" Jasmine asked

"The same thing I always wanted. Your friendship" Seth answered

After their discussion in the living room, Dean led Jasmine to the pool area so they could talk in private.