The Germs? (OPEN)

Jessica walked into the sweet shop cowering away from anyone who looked at her, true she didn't look normal but did they really have to stare so badly? Looking at the floor as she moved into the shop, her hand sanitiser in her firm grip Jessica looked over the sweets that lay on the display moving her finger over the packet and trying not to scream when she brought it away. THE GERMS!

Trying not to freak out Jessica bit her lip and walked to the other side of the shop but soon her hand began to burn and she squeaks getting the hand sanitiser and pumping half the bottle onto her hands. Squeaking again as a person walked into her she ran into a corner of the shop and cried, not liking being outside at all.

Gene stepped into the shop, and spotted a lady who looked quite different from what he saw last time.

"Hey! Tigger!" Gene waved, and he was puzzled when he did not get a response.

He tapped Tigger on the shoulder, and smiled.

"Hey, remember me? That guy you met at the graveyard who was playing sad songs?" And when he got another look of confusion, he laughed.

"Fine. Eeyore. Remember?" Gene was rather surprised she wasn't in a tiger get-up, and was clutching onto a hand sanitizer like her lifeline.

Jessica squeaked and held out her hand sanitiser like a weapon when she was tapped on the shoulder, she seemed to shrink up, her head resting on her chest as she tried to hide her face from the person who was attacking her, squeaking again when she realised who it was Jessica lowered the hand sanitiser and whispered:

"You met my sister, Jess, I'm Jessie..."

Biting her lip she held out the hand with the hand sanitiser in and squeezed some onto the man's hand before shaking it lightly.

"You know that there are millions of germs on your hands even after using this?"

Jessica sighed.

"Wait, you have a twin?" Gene asked in confusion.

"Uhhh... You want to help me out here?" Gene scratched his head, and he widened his eyes as a sanitizer was used on his hands.

"Whoa... You can't help it. There are millions of germs around. You can't kill em all." Gene said matter-of-factly.

"Lay off the sanitizer for a while. Using it too often will destroy skin cells and harm yourself instead." Gene reasoned.

Jessica shook her head and clung to her hand sanitiser, looking in horror ar Gene as if he was going to try and take it away from her, moving back into the corner she shrunk up against it and held out the hand sanitizer like it was going to protect her.

"No. I don't have a twin. I have three sisters."

She whispered.

"NO!"

Jessica cried hugging herself.

"NEVER!"

She began to cry.

"MY HAND SANITISER!"

"Alright! Alright! I won't take the sanitizer!" Gene cooed and he tilted his head.

"You have three twin sisters? Where are they?" Gene asked.

"You'd be better off with a Hazmat suit. The person wearing it inside is 100% sanitized and germ free." He joked.

Jessica frowned a little bit and placed the sanitizer back in her pocket, thinking that he wasn't going to take it away and if Jess liked him then that was good enough for her. Moving out of the corner so that she was in the light a little more she flinched away as a person almost brushed up against her.

"I told you I don't have twins I have sisters! They aren't here right now...well...they are."

She tapped her head and then she gasped.

"Oh my Merlin! I can't believe I never thought of that! How much are those suits?"

"So are they here or are they not?" Gene asked, confused.

Gene's memories flashed back to all the chemical weapons he had in his private army, and remembered his stockpile of Hazmat equipment.

"Uhh... I could get you one for free. I know where to get one." Gene said.

Jessica felt a twitch run through her but she suppressed her sister Jess who was trying to get through there was no way she was ready to stop being in control just yet...she oh so rarely got to be in charge because she was the weakest.

"Yes they're here."

With an internal scream Jessie was ripped away and Jess replaced her.

"GENIEEEEEEEE!"

She squeaked and hugged him close to her.

"Did those suits ever star in a Disney film?"

"Uhh!" Gene cried out as he was hugged.

"Oh... I get it now." Gene said quietly, and ruffled her hair like an old friend.

"The Hazmat suits stared in cartoons, but only during wartime or horror films. Those are not fun equipment, Jessie." Gene pointed out.

"You can't wear the tails and whiskers while wearing it and it is insanely warm inside." Gene explained, having won one last time.

Jess pouted and poked Genie on the forehead as he ruffled her hair, hugging him still she was glad to see her friend again and she hoped her sister hadn't annoyed him with her Germy nonsense.

"Silly Genie I'm Jess. Not Jessie."

She giggled before looking wide eyed around the sweet shop running over to a large display of chocolate frogs and taking one out of it's wrapper and eating it while still in the shop.

"Yummyful!!! You have one Genie!"

Jess picked one up and practically threw it at Genie.

"I hope my sister wasn't too boring Jessie always talks about the germies..."

"Oh no, your sister seemed scared, but she was a pleasant person. I'll get the Hazmat suit next time. Tell her for me okay?" Gene smiled and looked around, slightly embarassed when he opened a box of chocolate without paying.

"She's my sister." He told the appalled salesgirl and gave her a bag of Galleons before she started squawking.

"Next time, Jess. Remember to pay for the chocolate before you nom. For now, you can take anything. And I'll pay for you. As a friend." Gene smiled, and took a bite out of the chocolate he was offered.

Jess knew that she had done something she shouldn't as soon as Genie looked around at the salesperson it was like her daddy used to look at her when she had done something wrong and she didn't like it.

"I-I-I'm sorry Genie!! Jess didn't know!!"

She cried and hung her head not caring about the stares she was getting from people.

"You're my brother? I've never had a brother before."

Jess stuck her hands in her pocket and dulled brooding like a small child.

"Ica took my tigger outfit away."

"It is okay. Here!" Gene took out the puppet and it started singing Lion King's theme song, and after a while the shop stopped staring at her, and he took her to the bench outside.

"Whose Ica?" Gene asked, comforting her. He then ran to the Ice Cream parlour and brought her some ice cream and chocolate milk.

"I can always buy you a new one." Gene smiled.

"I called you my sister because it would save you from getting scolded. I'm a professor in the school. Kind of respected, so they won't dare to call my friend all sorts of nasty things."

Jess laughed loudly as she heard Genie singing the Lion King theme song with Mr. Muffin to calm her down and like last time she gave Mr. Muffin a big hug before letting herself be taken outside.

"You're funny Mr. Genie!!! I wish I was as funny as you!"

Sitting at the bench she gasped when he returned with ice cream and she began to tuck into the treat getting the melted cream all over her face before dipping at her chocolate milk.

"Ica is my other sister. She's mean. I don't like her muchly."

Jess smiled again and rooted around her pocket pulling out a keyring she had found with Genie from Aladdin on.

"For you."

Gene took out his hankerchief and tapped her shoulder. When she turned to face him, he wiped her mouth clean, and then watched as she commented on Ica.

"I have to say, my encounters with her were unpleasant. Thank you, Jess." Gene hooked the keychain to his wallet, and smiled.

"Say, I got a movie marathon soon. All disney films. You want to join in?" Gene smiled, predicting her unfortunate lack of friends, and wanting to cheer her up, he started playing the tune of Ratatouille on his ocarina.

Jess smiled and giggled as Gene wiped the ice cream from around her mouth, she was happy to have found a real friend at last and she missed him a lot when he wasn't around, hanging her head as she was scolded by Ica for even thinking that she was mean, she was the protector and by all definition she was the best sister.

"You're welcome Genie."

She giggled and lay down on the bench, her face pressed against the wooden slats.

"Huh?"

She asked, getting excited.

"You're inviting me over...to your house?!"

"I was referring to... Nevermind." Gene waved off her question.

"Oh? So her ladyship does not want to come to my house?" Gene smiled, and laughed.

"Yes, I am inviting you to my house. After the wedding of course, and when my wife is around." Gene smiled, his eye momentarily sparkling when he recalled the looks of his wife.

"You know, whenever your in the area, just drop by, and tell them that Gene Christopher Downie is your brother and tell them to send the bill to me. Just take good care of yourself, okay?" Gene smiled, and pat her on the shoulder, and took out a box of chocolate and took a nibble off one bar before giving the rest to her.

"They're Swiss chocolate. From my hometown." Gene smiled.

Jessica sat bolt upright and began to jump in her seat, giggling and having to supress the urge to hug Genie into submission she nodded her head wildly, but stopped when he said that she didn't want to come to his house and Jess gasped shaking her head:

"No no no Genie! I want to come to your house very much! I get to meet Mrs. Genie. Will she like me? Maybe I can have TWO friends!? OHhhhhhh another friend yay!!!"

Jess smiled and hugged her knees to her chest, she didn't think that she had ever been this happy and even Ica seemed to be a little less grumpy than she usually was, even she, had to admit that sometimes it got a little lonely.

"I have a brother now...that's nice. A big brother to protect me..."

She trailed off and fell quiet, thinking about something, about a time in a place full of white walls and all you could hear were the sounds of screams, four screams perfectly matching together, all of them from her.

"That's good! I'm sure Aimee will like you a lot!" Gene smiled, and gave her a small hug, his hand momentarily going over his chest and feeling that knife stroke that Ica gave to her.

"Anyway, hang on..." Gene got up and ran to the ice cream parlour again, coming back with more ice cream.

"Here..." Gene smiled, but inwardly worried whether her new split personalities friend here, would be a danger to Aimee. If he was dead, so be it. But Aimee... Ica...

Gene sighed and stared up at the skies.

Jess looked at Genie and she smiled happily she was glad that she could have another friend because she liked spending time with this one a lot, but, then when Genie left to go and get more ice cream she noticed that something was different with him. She wondered what it was, and as she waited for him to come back Jess stared at the floor and slowly shifted out of focus as Jessica stepped to the front.

"Thanks, but I never really liked ice cream."

She smiled sadly but ate some of it anyway.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to be my friend you know, I know you must think I'm nuts...and I am but...I can't even say I'm not dangerous."

When Gene came back, he thought he saw a different Jess, or rather, a rather normal and non-hyper one now.

"Ahh... If we have Jess, Jessie and Ica, you must be Jessica." Gene said, nodding.

"I just want to get this message across. You are not a bad person. Heck, even when Ica slashed me across the chest, she was not a bad person. I mean... Whoa, true, your acts by your different personalities are considered insane to some people, but it is perfectly alright to me. I've seen worse. OH yes. I've seen worse." Gene smiled and nodded.

"No. You listen here. You few ARE going to be my friend. Yes, even Ica. And I'm gonna support you few every step of the way. I am going to help you all. And that is final!" Gene said forcefully, before relaxing his expression and taking a bite out of his ice cream.

Jessica smiled softly and nodded her head, she very rarely got to come out of her shell and she was happy that for a while she could at least seem like the normal person she was before she had this done to her, she was just a normal 19 year old girl who didn't deserve what had happened, but happened it did and she had to deal with it.

"I am Jessica yes. You don't have to be so nice I know I'm a freak."

Biting her lip she lay her head on her knees and looked up at Gene.

"That means a lot to me Gene, thank you, normally people don't get to see this side of me, I'm kind of last on the list..."

Playing with her hair she whispered:

"But Im glad you got to see what I used to be like."

"Ahh... Would you mind telling me what happened to you before? Maybe I can help you." Gene smiled,

"Seriously, I'll treat you like a sister. Hell, I'll even bring you into the family if you allow it. But the whole problem is, do you want a job? I can arrange it, you know? For the four of you. You all can work for me, even Ica for the Siberian army. I think all of you are nice people, just that you all are misunderstood." Gene smiled, and took a sip out of his milk.

Jessica bit her lip and shook her head, she didn't want to think about that time, she wasn't ready to go back and relive it, not just yet and she wondered if she would be ready at all to go back to those memories, those years that were lost from her. Hugging her knees closer to her she buried her face in them and sighed softly.

"I dont want to talk about it, sorry, but those memories still bring up an awful lot of pain."

Tilting her head to one side a grin broke out across her face and she blushed lightly:

"Work? I've always...wanted to work. I don't think it would be worth it though Gene. Normally my personalities are quite erratic, I don't stay the same for long enough to work."