He Doesn't Talk Much - Jacksepticeye Egos Fanfic

Chapter 5 - You Saved Him

Schneep planted his hands on the desk agitatedly. "Now, Jameson," he commanded in a growling voice, "How did you find out about zhis plot?

He, JJ, and Jackie were all standing around Schneep's work desk. The office was arranged like an interrogation room, with Jameson all by himself on the outside of the desk. He felt as though he'd been framed for some terrible crime. 

First things first, Jameson assured himself. I have to decide what I'm willing to tell them. Jameson trusted Anti, but he had plenty of faith in Schneeplestein and Jackieboy Man, too. He didn't want anyone to get hurt- including Anti. 

"Someone showed up at my doorstep," Jameson began slowly. "He looked like us, but he spoke like... like a harmony all out of tune."

Jameson watched as both men on the other side of the desk tensed up. 

"Antisepticeye," Jackie muttered. 

"Obviouzly," Henrik snapped, clenching his hands into little angry fists. In his frustration, his accent grew thicker. "Who elze vould it be?"

"Anti... the man," Jameson continued, trying to act as though this were new information to him, "He had a scarf and a vest, and he said to me that he was going to kill Jacksepticeye."

"Vhat did you say?" Henrik demanded. 

"Well, I, uh..." Jameson said slowly. He hoped his hesitation was coming off as nerves rather than the stuttering of an ill-practiced liar. "I've seen Jack online, and you mentioned him when we first met," Jameson added, nodding at Schneep. The doctor nodded, eyes burning. "So, I demanded to know why he had come to tell me this."

"And?" Jackie asked. 

"He... he said something about next month. 'This time in August,' he said, Jack would be dead. Then he laughed. And walked away. He kind of... vanished down the hall."

Jackie and Henrik fell silent. Jackie nodded fervently to himself, and Henrik leaned back, crossing his arms. Both men seemed deep in thought as Jameson glanced back and forth between them. 

"Are- are the others here?" he asked. "Chase Brody... Marvin the Magnificent?"

Henrik looked up, wincing. "Chaze is... having a rough time. He is living outside ze city." Henrik scratched his head thoughtfully. "And nobody has seen Marvin for almost a year." Jackie nodded somberly in agreement. 

"How are we gonna tackle this Anti problem, doc?" the hero asked, pulling the conversation back. 

Shneeplestein shook his head. "I don't know. Ve can't kill Anti. As far as I know, zhat is impossible. If he is coming for Jack... ahh..."

Jackie looked concerned. "If he is coming for Jack, what?"

"I... I fear all we'll be able to do is damage control," Henrik finished, spitting out the words as if they stung his mouth. 

Jameson suddenly remembered his idea. He stood up with a gasp, nearly knocking the chair over behind him. "But what if you could control the damage instead?"

"How do you mean, tophat?" Jackie asked, leaning forward. 

"What if you could fake Jack's death?" Jameson explained animatedly. "Convince Anti the job is done and maybe he'll leave him alone."

"In order for that to work," Henrik began, tapping one finger against his cheekbone, "We'd have to know how Anti plans to attack."

Jameson chewed on his tongue. He knew he could ask Anti himself; they spoke every other night. But how could he explain that to Anti's enemies?

"I... I think I've seen Anti around my apartment building before," Jameson explained meekly. "I mean, I don't think this is the first time he's visited me, so to speak. Maybe, if he doesn't know I've been talking to you, I could get more information out of him."

"Zhat would be ideal," Henrik nodded. "But in ze meantime, ve need a contingency plan."

"I think you need to stay near Jack, doc," Jackie said. "You saved him last time."

"Last time?" Jameson repeated quietly. 

"I cannot be sure I'll save him again," Henrik warned, striding around his desk. Without another word, he pushed past Jameson and through the door. The two others followed on his heels, into the rest of Henrik's clinic. They entered the waiting room, where the lights were dim, shining dismally on the empty chairs. Jameson had seen the room on his way in, but his eyes still darted around curiously as Henrik pushed dismissively through a door marked Employees Only. Jameson caught himself and picked up his feet, scurrying after the doctor down a narrow hallway. They strode past three examination rooms, an operating room, and into a tiny storage space. 

"What are you looking for, doc?" Jackie asked as Jameson walked in behind him. The room was packed wall-to-wall with old filing cabinets, and smelled heavily of dust and old paper. 

"Jack's patient file," Henrik explained. "Ve svitched all ze patients to electronic files years ago, but I've kept Jack's on paper, always. It's much safer. You vant to steal his medical history? Fine! You can't hack into ze system, though. You have to come deal with Schneeplestein. Good fucking luck. Aha! Here ve are," Henrik announced, pulling a drawer open. 

"Are these all Jack's?" Jameson asked, staring apprehensively into the packed drawer.

Henrik smiled grimly and nodded. "I ran a lot of tests after Anti tried to kill Jack the first time."

"I don't understand," Jameson said, tilting his head. "Why?"

Schneeplestein and Jackie exchanged looks. 

"Anti is... not human. A part of his... being sometimes latches onto Jack, possessing him and making him do things he vould not otherwise," Henrik explained. "After our friend almost died, after Anti possessed him... vell, I had to be sure I hadn't saved ze wrong one."

"The wrong one?"

"The wrong Jack," Jackieboy Man answered sternly. 

Jameson gulped. His heart began to quicken. "How often does he do that?" Jameson asked in a small voice. His head was spinning. How much did he really know of his friend? What else was Anti keeping from him?

"It's only been really serious twice," Jackie explained. "Last Halloween, and once during a convention."

"During a convention?"

"Ve handled it. It helped zhat ze audience thought it was just for show," Henrik said brusquely. "Here, Jameson. I vant you to know vhat ve are up against."

Henrik passed Jameson a file full of photos. They were pictures of Jacksepticeye, unconscious, with a deep, gruesome cut across the center of his throat. In later photos, heavy stitches pulled the seams of the wound together like canvas pulled across the head of a drum. The last two photos showed Henrik preparing a strange liquid in a syringe, and Jack sitting up on the bed, awake. The gash had faded, seeming to have already begun healing.

"You saved him," Jameson said, looking up at Henrik and handing the photos back. 

"Damn right he did," Jackie interjected. "And we'll do it again."

Henrik shook his head slowly. "Jackie..."

"Shut up, Henrik. We can't afford to be pessimistic now," Jackie insisted. He stared at Henrik intensely for a few moments, then sighed, letting his shoulders fall. "I'll call you a ride home, Jameson."

"Much obliged," Jameson replied politely, letting Jackie slip past him and leave the storage room. 

"Go on, Jameson," Henrik huffed, sliding the folder back into place. "I need to think."

"I'll find out what Anti's doing," Jameson assured him. "I..." there, however, he froze, the next word stuck between his tongue and his teeth. The last time he had used it, it hadn't lasted long. Still, Jameson forced himself to say it aloud. 

"I... promise."