****128:

Ray held the door for them, having never seen a build, but being aware of what Tracy went through. There were still people everywhere. But there was a park across the street, and the river beyond that. Julian trundled across, stopping traffic, reaching the dry ground, he felt Ray take his daughter out of his arms, and yell in unreasonable fear as he encountered the heat of her, the shock.

"What the hell is it?" Ray yelled as he cleared the sidewalk and made it to a grove of trees.

"The current." Julian doubled over from running with Tracy's inert form.

"What do I do with her?"

"Get her into the dirt, ground her out, dirt, water, the earth. It's about all you can do." Julian got up and ran after them. Ray stumbled into the grove of trees and bent to allow Tracy to roll out of his arms and onto the ground. His numb mind only registered that the heat of her was prohibitive, unnatural. It almost seemed as if she would burn up, like a proverbial phoenix.

He stood there staring at her. "Okay, she's in the dirt? Now what? She's burning up! Is she even conscious?" He bent to touch her again and Julian grabbed his arm. He was shaking his head as he pulled Ray back.

"No, don't touch her. I don't know if you're a positive charge as well, which I think would double her charge, I don't know, but it's obvious you're not a ground." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Austin's number.

"Austin? Jules. Listen, I've got Trace, hostility build, we took her outside, she's on the ground."

Austin's voice came on, amid loud sounds from the set he was working on. "Okay, yeah, is she awake?"

"Maybe a little, Trace, can you hear me?"

"Yeah." She mumbled, but her eyes remained closed and she was doubled over into a little ball, her fingers clenching the earth.

"Yeah, she's awake."

"Is she like out straight out, or all doubled up?" Austin asked pensively, obviously having dropped whatever he was doing to answer this call.

"All doubled up." There was fear in Julian's voice now, as Tracy tried to move, moaned a bit and then doubled back up again, her fingers looking like claws, and hundreds of paparazzi were streaming toward them. Ray turned to encounter the melee, and was shouting directions, glad to finally see Jake and Leon, who had been in London, now here to direct the flow of unwanted press. Paramedics were also running toward them at high speed.

"Well, that's good, she's dealing with it, she's thinking, it'll just take time, Jules. That's about all, no permanent damage. We tried a volt meter on her once, me and Richard, and she never measured dangerously high in one of these builds. Like not bad enough to make her ground out with one of us, she wants to be able to control it herself."

"How long? Austin, we're at a park across from the Seine, and rats are on their way, a lot of rats."

"Oh." Austin clucked grimly. "Well, You, Jules, you're not too affected, go dump her in the Seine. It'll be a lot faster. Water helps her." Julian nodded and clicked off.

"Hey, Tracy, we're close to the river, let's go get wet."

She mumbled something and nodded, but didn't diminish her clenched posture, so he rolled her to a sitting position, and then pulled her upright. Hunched over, extremely protectively, shielding her from as many as he could, he urged her; half carried her toward the water. On her own, she was kicking off her shoes as they went, and then she fell to the ground and slipped her socks off. Clumsy fingers managed the clasps of her overalls and she pulled awkwardly until Julian realized what she was after, and helped her.

"You want to strip out here?"

"I need water." She mumbled as if the pain of her condition were ravaging her as they spoke.

He helped her as she rolled to one side and took off her overalls, and lay there with her underwear, and her t-shirt on, and then made the wavering effort to get up, stumble on her own power across the larger rocks to fall right into the water. At least she was on her own now, Julian thought, wondering if she would pass out and drown in the Seine. A few minutes ago, she couldn't even walk. It must be diffusing.

He watched her go, watched the stumbling progress she made, and her attempts at balance, wondered if he should help her, and then sat down on the grass where they'd been. She was walking, she was feeling better, just let her go. He wanted no pictures of him carrying her out to frolic in the waves. Not this time.

He glanced behind him and saw Ray talking to some reporters, while Jake and other security people barred anyone from getting any closer with a police ribbon, and their hands.

Julian rested his head against steepled fingers, and deposited his bent arms on his drawn up knees. Enough for one day, he'd had enough.

Tracy felt the water first with toes so burning hot, she felt like they were aflame. She kept walking, awkwardly, and the higher the water got on her ankles, and then her knees, the less incoherent she felt. Late afternoon sun and breeze hit her as her eyes cleared, and she glanced up to let her hair fall back, and her arms raise to massage her sore neck muscles. Another step, another. She was in thigh deep, it wasn't that cold, it felt good. She submerged.

The release was fast, like it was when Richard held her. She stood up and vomited in the water, a course of embarrassment washing over her, with her hands she wiped the yuck away and then gagged again. No more, she thought. No more.

I can't do this anymore.

She submerged again, letting clear water flow past her, absorb her, gift her with its healing power. This side effect of her disability was the worst, tears filled her eyes and she lowered herself to sit in the shallows, her hands wiping spasmodically over her lips, feeling the newer heat of embarrassment, and devastating chagrin. How could this have happened right now? Why did it always have to leave her this way? Unprotected, exposed? In that instant she hated herself and the current, the disability she carried with her all the time, knowing it would be her bane for the rest of her life. When would she ever be free of it?

"Hostility." She whispered to herself, knowing her father's terminology for it. "A hostility build."

A hand was there. It lifted her up. Her streaming eyes rose. It was Jake.

"Hey." She said, weakly but with as much of an attempt at a smile as she could muster.

He had his jacket off. "You are a media stir." He stated in fond annoyance, "A feeding frenzy for sharks." She glanced back to see Jules on the ground, her dad talking rapidly, paramedics....

"I'm not... going with.... I'm okay now, Jake, I'm okay, don't make me go to the hospital, okay?"

He wrapped her in his jacket and picked up her coveralls as they picked their way back over the rocky shore toward Julian. "Come on, Jules." Jake said, shaking his head. "I've got a van over here, real close." He yelled for Ray and crossed the grass quickly, half dragging Tracy, and finally picking her up and running with her.

This elicited a scream of laughter, as the bouncing jiggling feeling of running penetrated her still recovering senses. Jake was laughing now too as he tossed her into the back of the van, shoved Julian through the door and slammed it shut behind them. Darkened windows barred them from taking any more pictures. Ray got in the passenger's seat and Jake gunned the engine in time to see Leon make it to his own van.

"That was awesome!" Tracy screeched, laughing.

Ray gave her a dirty look. "Young lady, that was not awesome."

"Jake's never picked me up before." She caught his eye in the rearview mirror and they were both snorting.

"Neither have I." Her father said.

"You picked me up?"

"Yes."

That was a bit sobering. She didn't remember it. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean..."

"It's obvious you don't mean to, Trace, but you need to think about anger management classes or something." He turned to look at her. "Most of your builds right now are hostility builds, you know?"

A wave of pain lashed through her, not creating the build, but leaving behind a fresh remorse topped with embarrassment. She did have a lot of anger. The minute he said it, she recognized it. Anger. She needed to manage the anger. No more builds.

"Okay." She said. And they all laughed at her simple contrite manner.

****