DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jessie, Alexis owns Bryce. I only own the plot.

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          The Kiss
     written by: Nix C.
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THE MEDIVAL TIMES-


"Brynne!!!!!!!!" a fire haired maiden screamed as she was pursued by
Mallgoth's soldiers. Even though she was a swift runner,
Lady Jessica Bannon found it difficult to run up a steep hill in a
long flowing dress. She feared for her life, but had a greater fear
for the life of her protector, Brynne Crensaw.

They had been captured by the evil Lord Mallgoth's men for they wanted
her for the thone, and Brynne had stolen a great
amount of gold from Mallgoth's treasury. Brynne rescued Jessica from
the dungeon as she was being forced to marry Mallgoth
the following morning. She secretly fell in love with her dark haired
rescuer.

"You'll never escape us ! Give up now and we won't hurt you!!!!!" a
soldier hissed angrily as they continued to pursue her.

Jessica was extremely tired yet she was determined to escape, she just
hoped Brynne was able to escape as well as he
distracted the guards so she could make a run for it. "I'll never give
up!" she yelled fiestily as she increased her pace.

Meanwhile Brynne managed to kill the two guards as headed off towards
the direction Jessica ran. He was stabbed on his
right arm yet he could not let her die. Staggering forward, Brynne
used all his strenght to follow Jessica, hoping she had
escaped the two men after her.

His first impression of her was the typical helpless maiden but she
was far from typical. She had a dangerous fire in her emerald
green eyes and that's what he liked about her. All the other girls he
had known seemed weak compared to her. She wasn't
afraid to speak her mind and reveal her emotions, no matter what
circumstnce.

Brynne suddenly heard a lou bloodcurling shriek. His heart beat
increased as something in him snapped as he feared what he
might see beyond the hill. Brynne increased his pace and was consumed
with a mixture of fear and nervousness.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he cried out in fury as the the face
of Jessica flashed before his eyes. She was dead at
the bottom of the hill. Her eyes were open and her cheek was stained
with fresh warm blood. "YOU BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!!"

Brynne mommentarily forgot his injury as he was filled with hatred in
anger. He lashed out, sword blazoned and ready to shed
blood and life. The soldiers loked surprised and alarmed as Brynne
ended their lives with one vengeanced filled blow after
another. Finally he collapsed on his knees, weeping next to the body
of the dead Lady Jessica who's beauty still remained
untouched and pure.

Brynne closed her eyes and softly carressed her still warm cheeks. He
brushed a lock of her crimson hair away from her pale
face. A tear touched her cheek and Brynne bent down and softly kissed
her rosy lips, one last time.

PRESENT DAY-

Jessica Anne Bannon woke up with cold sweat streaming down from her
temples. She panted as she strained to see the clock
through the darkness. She had that dream again, she was falling, and
falling and it never seemed to end. She has been having
that nightmare as far as she can remember. Jessica wiped her forehead
with her left hand and took a deep breath to calm
herself.

A figure beside shifted positions. "JESS," a voiced groaned sleepily.
"Go back to sleep!"

"Sorry," she muttered as she she plopped her head onto the soft pillow
and quickly fell back to sleep again.

*BRING!!!!!!!!!!!*

The alarm clock went off and Jessie peeked at it. *Shit,* she thought
as she dragged herself out of bed and into the shower.
Jessie stripped her nightgown off and stepped into the steaming hot
shower.

Jacob had left her apartment without a word, again. Sometimes she
didn't know why she put up with it. It was like he was
ashamed to be with her in front of his peers. Jessie smiled as she
thought what Jacob's facial expression would be when he
found out she was the head of the cryptology sector at VIRTEK systems.
She was unfortunately not allowed to reveal her
position in work, as far as everyone knew, she was just a lowly system
programmer.

Jessie turned the water off and put on her terry cloth robe and rubbed
her wet auburn hair against a white towel, then wrapped
it around her head. She walked to her closet and got out a thin white
sweater and brown flared velvet pants. She laid her
clothes on the bed and then combed her long hair. Ten minutes later
she was dressed and ready to go to work.

Bryce Crenshaw yawned as he closed his eyes and then opened them again
to continue his work. He was talking to a buyer
through the Internet, his voice disguised of course.

"Go to the VIRTEK crytology center," the voice told him.

"And do what?" he asked curiously.

"I was just gettng to that, may I continue???"

"Oh please," Bryce grinned as he bit into a red juicy apple.

"VIRTEK is developing a new decoding microship which surpasses the
current one out in the market. we are hiring you to get
it. How much do you require???"

"Well it depends..." Bryce told him slowly.

"On what ??"

"How bad you want it.," replied Bryce as he clicked on the download
button for the information transffer of VIRTEK Systems
and technology. He knew the general information on the company yet
needed at least two days to decide on how to get the
chip.

"Okay we'll give you 20 million American dollors," the voice said
hesitantly.

"Well, I seem to have another buyer on the other line..."Bryce lied as
he looked over the information he had recieved.

"No! Okay, we'll pay 30 million dollars!!!!"

"I will make contact once the package in secured, untill then, do not
make any contact." Bryce disconnected the line and
scrolled down the dossier of VIRTEK's head of cryptology, Dr. Jessica
Bannon.

Jessie entered a 10-story, brick building in the middle of downtown
New York, afterall, who would think a multi-million dollar
project was being housed so openly. She headed to a particular
elevator when suddenly something hit her and she dropped all
her books as papers.

"Shit!" she hissed angrily as her papers were sprawled on the ground.

"I'm so sorry," a man apologized as he helped her collect the papers.

"I think you've helped me enough," Jessie snapped as she prepared to
give the clumsy man a piece of her mind. She looked up
frowning when she saw a man around 23 yearsold, with dark brown hair
and blue eyes, he had pale skin, and wore silver
brimmed glasses. "Ah..." was all she could get out.

Bryce was about to swipe a paper when he saw her face. She looked so
strangely familiar that he just stopped. He stared into
her emerald green eyes, and hers into his. He finally asked, "Do I
know you ?"

Jessie was locked in a strange bond when she looked upon the face of
that man. "I have the strangest feeling of déjà vu, do I
know you???"

He grinned hapily at her. "I just asked you that question." Bryce
watched her as she laughed softly and ran her fingers through
her long fiery hair.

"I don't think so," Jessie smiled forgetting her angerness and instead
felt awfully fluttery. "I'm Jessica Bannon."

*Jessica Bannon,* Bryce quietly said in his mind. "Bryce Crenshaw,
pleased to meet your acquaintance," he offered his hand
and she shook it. Her skin against his sent a small electric shock
throughout his entire body. *She is the head of the cryptology
department!* a tiny voice suddenly screamed in his thoughts.

"So what brings you here ?" she asked him casually.

"Uh, I'm working for an advirtising firm," Bryce lied. "And you?"

"I'm a programmer for VIRTEK, we unimportant folk are based here!"
Jessie grinned as she wondered if she would ever meet Bryce Crenshaw
again.

"Well, nice meeting you," Bryce smiled as he turned around and left
Jessie standing there with all her papers. He felt annoyingly
frustrated with himself. Once outside, he went to an abandoned corner
squeezed his eyes shut angrily and pounded his fists
against the brick wall.

*I can't steal the chip from her, * he thought. *I just
can't!!!!!!!!!!* From the momment he first saw her face in the
building, he
immediately knew he couldn't do it. What a mess he got himself into.

"SHIT!!!!!!!" he cursed openly as people walking on the street gave
him strange looks. Bryce punched the wall hard and cringed as his
knuckles bled.

"Ohmygod are you okay??" Jessie suddenly appeared next him with a very
worried expression on her face. "What happened
to you??????"

"I ah, punched the wall," Bryce said sheepishly. "What are you doing
out here?? Don't you have work or something?"

"I was out to get some coffee then I see you here in the alley
bleeding! I couldn't just leave you here!" Jessie protested as she
helped him up. "Come on hothead, there's a clinic nearby, they'll
dress the wounds."

"Hey that stings!" Bryce yelped as the doctor gave him an injection.

"Oh you big baby," Jessie grinned at him as she watched the nurse wrap
his hand with gauze.

"Ouch, are we done already? I feel fine honestly!" Bryce cried out as
the doctor sighed.

"Alright Mr. Crenshaw, you can go, just don't use that hand too much,"
the doctor chuckled softly as Bryce and Jessie stood up to leave.

"Why did you punch that wall anyways??" Jessie asked Bryce curiously.

He was silent for a momment before answering," Well I couldn't believe
I was such a clutz to the prettiest girl I have ever met."Then he
grinned widely as Jessie gave him a-yeah-right-look.

"Well I have got to get to work," Jessie told Bryce as they walked
back to the brick building. "Will you get together for coffee later? I
mean if you want that is..."

Bryce remained silent for a momment then responded," I'll be glad too!"

"Okay, I'll meet you putside the building after work," Jessie told him
as they entered the building.

Bryce watched Jessie enter the elevator and disappear from his sight.
He felt his temporary happiness flutter away as reality soon hit him.
What was he going to do??? He had to make up his mind whether to take
the job or not.

Bryce walked out of the building and onto the street where he headed
for Jessie's apartment. He had gotten her address through the dossier
he was provided with. His thoughts floated once more to a strange
dream he had been having since a kid.He always saw these sad green
eyes then a bloodcurling scream that followed, then he'd wake up. It
was the same over, and over again.

He entered her building and proceeced to room 714 and picked the lock
rather easily. The door creaked open and Bryce took a cautious peek
inside.

It was a modest looking apartment. with a roth iron bed, white lace
sheets, and white wicker furninture. She had a huge cork board to
which was posted schedules and reminders. Bryce moved to a shelf and
picked up a photograph of Jessie and a light brown haired man. They
were in the beach, although the mood was serious, they looked like a
bethrothed couple who didn't wanna be with each other, instead of
happy couple who were supposed to be in love.

He sat down on a chair and turned her lap top on. Bryce grinned as he
looked at Jessie's screensaver which was the cartoon Jonny Bravo. He
searched through her files and saw a filename under Alphaomega.

"Hmm, Alpha Omega, begining and the end," Bryce murmered softly. He
double clicked on the icon and sighed to to discover that the file was
not found. *She must have saved it on a disk,* he thought to himself.


Jessie looked at the clock, it was 4:55 pm, and she couldn't wait for
5:00 to hit. She sighed tiredly as she stared at the computer screen
blankly. *Argh! I can't do this!!!!* she thought desperately to herself.

"Bannon, thinking of that guy you met earlier??" teased Mishelle
Jenks, a one of her co-workers.

"Shelle!" grinned Jessie. "I'm engaged to Jacob in case you've
forgotten!"

"So why are you thinking about this guy and not dear Jacob??" Mishelle
countered her. "I don't blame ya though, Jacob is an ass sometimes. No
make that all the time!"

"Don't be so mean," Jessie laughed. "I don't know, there's just
something familiar about him, I dunno, I feel like I've known this guy
for ages...."

"Hehe, maybe your soulmates," Mishelle grinned mischieviously.

"Haha, thats soo funny," Jessie retorted sarcastically. Although
somewhere in the back of her mind, she kept thinking of Bryce,
strangely, what if it was supposed to be them, and not her and
Jacob???? *Argh, snap out of it Bannon!You are just gonna have coffee
with this guy later and that is that!*

"Shelle what time is it??" she asked Mishelle for about the millionth
time.

"Jess! That is about the millionth time you've asked me that!!!!!!!!"
Mishelle cried out exasperately.

"Well???" Jessie repeated her question.

"Its 5:00 pm sharp," Mishelle answered as Jessie stood up from her
chair and grabbed her jacket and bag in the speed of light."Woa, looks
like she's meeting someone important, and I have a feeling it ain't
Jacob."

Jessie ran out of the office and impatiently tapped her foot as the
elevator moved to the ground floor. Once the doors opened she ran out
of the building and stopped to cath her breath and look for Bryce.

"A little breatheless??" a voice suddenly spoke behind her.

"Yeah, you could say that," Jessie smiled. "So where do you wanna have
that coffee?"

"I know this quaint place by Old East St, and Broadway," Bryce replied
as they began walking to the coffee house.

"Wow, what a...dark place," Jessie commented as they entered the
coffee house. She grinned happily at him as he pulled back the chair
for her to sit in. "My how courteus of you."

Bryce smiled lightly, "My mother always made me do that to all my
aunties, and believe me, I pulled chairs for a lot of them!"He sat
across from her and watched the sun hit her red locks.

"Ah, so you do this out of habit ?" Jessie teased she looked at a menu
on the table. "So what do you do??"

He already had an answer all planned out and answered her," I'm a
graphic designer for Myers and Thompson Advertising, its not that
great of a job, not the most exciting anyways."

Jessie smiled as she watched Bryce grin sheepishly,obviously
embarrassed. "There's nothing wrong with that !!!" she said
comfortingly. "I'm just a lowly computer programmer!"

It was Bryce's turn to smile as he new that she had lied as well. He
decided to keep up their game, he fed her lies and in turn she gave
him lies as well. She had told him that she was from Maine, when he
knew she was actually from Venenzuela. He had told her that he had a
twin brother named Travis who lived in Europe, which was of course not
true.

"So what are you doing at work?" Bryce asked curoiusly, hoping she
would trust him and finally tell him the the truth.

"Well nothing fancy, just developing new children's software," replied
Jessie as she sipped some of her mocha latte. "Can I ask you
something??"

"Sure anything at all !" Bryce answered her promptly as he warmed his
hands on the steaming coffee mug.

"Why are you lying to me? "Jessie asked softly.

Bryce was surprised as he said, "Excuse me??"

Jessie's expression turned more serious. "Bryce I really really really
like you, but you didn't have to lie to me about your job. I checked
Myers and Thompson and they had no one working for them with the name
Bryce Crenshaw. Who are you anyways?"

Bryce face turned cold as a rain began crashing down from the sky and
immense dark clouds lit up in bolts of lightning. He got up and ran
out of the coffee house into the streets and he ran and ran without
looking back.

"Bryce! Wait Please!!!!!!" Jessie cried out as she ran out after him
but could not catch up. "Please, don't leave me...."

*It was a mistake,* he thought angrily. *I should have never even
taken this job!!!* Bryce was soaking wet in the rain but he
didn't care, he was too frustrated to care about his health.

"Why did I have to meet her??" Bryce screamed into the empty night. He
broke down and wept softly on the isolated street,still wondering how
life could be so cruel that he had to hurt the one he loved. "I am
fortune's fool !!!!!!" He pounded his fists onto the pavement and
blood started to mix with the water.

He stood up again and tasted the pain, but it still wasn't great
enough to take his mind of Jessie and what he had to do. He should
never see her again. Bryce ran back to his apartment to quit from the
job.

He entered his dark room and lit some candles to brighten it up. Bryce
took his drenched clothes off and changed into dry jeans and a long
sleeved shirt. He turned his laptop on and connected to the internet. 

Clicking on the email icon he began typing his letter of termination.
Midway, Bryce stopped. *I can't do this....* He got up and threw
himself ontop of his bed. Closing his eyes Bryce tried to fall asleep
but he kept thinking of her.

"ARGH!!!!" he screamed in frustration as he looked at the downloaded
information once again. Bryce couldn't take it anymore, he ran out of
the apartment and back into the rain.

Jessie was looking out her apartment window sadly. Jacob was working
overtime again and she had spent the last hour crying to herself. Her
eyes were all red and puffy She had a terrible suffocating feeling
inside her as she felt she'd never see him again.*Why was she in love
with Bryce anyways??? She had Jacob,* she thought grimly.

"Jacob is a bastard," she finally told herself. *Bannon stop living a
fantasy, Bryce is something special, more than you'll ever have with
Jacob.*

Tears flowed down from her cheeks as she quietly began sobbing
again,suddenly she stopped. Her eyes locked onto another pair of eyes.
*Could it really be you my love? Am I dreaming??*

Outside in the pouring rain, soaked to the bone, Bryce Crenshaw stood
there, watching her. For a few minutes they just stood there,
unmoving. Then he ran up through the fire escape up to her window.

"I...." Jessie began softly.

Bryce put a finger on her lips to quiet her. "Shh, don't say anything,
lets just forget everything, just for now..."

Before Jessie could answer, Bryce pulled her close into a passionate
kiss that felt so familiar and right. It would be a kiss that
would last them for a lifetime.

Bryce could feel her moist skin against his own. He saw the rise and
fall of her chest under the crisp white sheets. *Was this real??* he
asked himself as he looked at her still figure. He knew she was
involved with another man but that was the least of his concerns right
now.

"Bry," Jessie softly said as she turned her head to face him.

"Yeah ?" he asked quietly as he smiled at her.

"I lied too," she muttered. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have gone off
on you like that whenI was lying too! I'm not really a programmer I'm
the head of the cryptology area of VIRTEK, my work is so classified I
don't even exist! I..I...."

"Shh, just forget it," Bryce said comforting her. "Its okay, you had
the right to say what you need to say." H closed his eyes briefly as
she continued to speak.

"I have a finace," she added. "Oh God how could I be so stupid! I
think I love you Bryce, from the momment I first saw you, I knew..."

"Me too Jess, me too," he murmered as he hugged her tightly, he never
wanted to let go.

"Shit! " Jessie suddenly sat upright in worriedness. "You gotta go...."

"Is it Jacob?" Bryce asked as he got up from the bed and began to put
his clothes back on.

"Yeah...how did you know??" Jessie asked suspiciously.

"Look, I can't explain everything now but I will never harm you, you
have got to believe that," Bryce told her as he was fully dressed and
slipped his shoes on. "Please remember I love and I always will."

"I love you too," Jessie said softly as she got up hugged Bryce
tightly again. Tears began streaming down her face. "If anything
happens, please don't leave me.."

Bryce felt his own eyes well as he himself had a strange uneasy
feeling, like something was gonna happen to them, that there was a
chance he may never see her again. "Nothing will ever make me leave
you Jess, I'll always be here watching."

"I love you," she whispered one more time as he left the way he came,
back into the rain, into the unknown darkness.

All clad in black, a lone figure entered the highly protected lab. The
room was pitch dark as he moved silently to the computer terminal and
hooked up his small laptop onto it. The masked intruder punched a few
codes into the laptop to access the system of the desktop computer.
After a few seconds of trying, he got in and duplicated all the files
on its hard disk then proceeded with the diskettes. 

He finally mamaged to save everything on two zip disks after 15
minutes then terminated the connection. *Easy enough,* he thought to
himself as he carefully placed the laptop into a black knapsack and
quietly left the way he came.

Bryce took off the hot ski mask and then whispered softly, "I'm sorry
Jess." He turned and left the building, back to his apartment to
locate the program for the microchip decoder.

Jessie stormed out of her apartment and slammed the door hard as she
then sped quickly into the elevator. She had another fight with Jacob
again. *Why do I put up with this loser???* she asked her self tiredly. 

She walked onto the streets in her black pants, a white tight shirt,
and a brown wool coat. The sky was still dark and chilly as she
checked her watch to see that it was 3:30 am. She hoped that Mishelle
was still awake and walked towards her friend's apartment for some
guidance and advice.

Suddenly two men grabbed her, one by the neck, and the other by her
sides. Jessie struggled to break free from their grasps but was
unsuccessful, they were simply to strong combined. They pushed her
into a black van then everything went black.

"Sir, we have her," a voice said out loud.

Preston Mallgoth smiled evilly as his plan was going perfectly as
hoped. He had to make some slight changes as he had doubts on the
productivity of his hired thief for he hasn't heard anything from him.
So, he had the good doctor taken now, he could get what he wanted for
nothing at all. 

He had his own computer expert trace the thief's phone line and now he
knew precisely where the little imp lived. Now, all was left was too
take care of the dirty business.

"Prepare the welcome Reeves,"Mallgoth instructed his men. "We have a
guest about to arrive and we want to make Dr. Bannon as comfortable as
possible right? And you know where to find our little thief. Take 5
men and be done with him."

His men nodded and left the room to leave Mallgoth sipping his cold
brandy in pleasure.

Bryce stared at his laptop screen as he scanned through all the files
he duplicated from Jessie's computer and disks, It was only halfway
done and he sat there with his conscience bugging him. *She trusted
you Crenshaw,* the voice inside him screamed, *and you used her! Don't
you love her???*

"I do," he said angrily. He would never hurt her, yet why was he doing
this then?? Bryce tried to push away all his emotions and concentrated
on his work. He had to find that program and get his money.

Finally the scanner located the file. Bryce sighed in relief as the
computer loaded it onto the screen. He read intently as pages of
description and information flashed before his eyes. 

Suddenly bullets were flying through his door and Bryce dove onto the
wooden floor. He dodged the speeding killer rocks as he grabbed his
knapsack from the desk and crawled quickly to the fire escape. 

He heard the door knocked open as he opened the window and got himself
into the outiside and ran as quickly as he could down the narrow
steps. Bryce heard loud curses as the men could not find him. 

Once he stepped onto the street, Bryce bolted to the mall, where he
would be safe in the crowd.

Bryce panted as he entered the crowded mall and looked desperately
around for a phone line to tap into. He took an elevator to the 3rd
floor and hoped the bothroom phone was available and know one was
inside. 

He had to find out who sent those men to kill him, and why of course.
Only one thing pooped into his mind as a resonable explanation would
be that his buyer had a change of mind, what the question is what made
him change his mind?

The door creaked open as he peeked in to see if anyone was inside.
Luckily the bathroom was deserted so  Bryce rushed in and took his
laptop from his knap sack and placed it on a table, then quickly
disconnected the phone line from the phone and placed it on his pc
card modem. He quickly got online and began the process of retracing
the number of his buyer. 

He punched in a ton of codes when a small icon popped out, indicating
he had email. Doubble clicking on the icon, a letter flashed out and
Bryce saw it was from the buyer.

"Dear thief, the deal's off, I've found a better way off getting what
I want, next time be quicker," Bryce read out quietly. Now he knew it
was definately the buyer who sent those men after him, but what could
have changed his mind???

Suddenly, his panic button went off. Jessie. He had a dreadful feeling
that Jessie was in very very serious danger. He took a cellular phone
from his bag and dialed her number.

"Pick up, pick up!!" Bryce muttered worriedly to himself. After ten
seconds, no one still answered. He was absolutely sure that bastard
had Jessie. Bryce's eyes gleamed dangerously as he thought what might
happen to her. He'd kill all them if they even touched a hair on her
head. Suddenly, he had another another strange feeling of deja vu, but
not the same as when he first met her, but a darker one, something
deathly.

He ended the call and turned his attention back to the laptop. He had
the most up to date tracing system, he got the original program from
the CIA program files, and made some modifications to improve it. A
small red light began flashing on the screen indicating that the
source has been located. 

*So, you think you got all the bases covered huh?* Bryce thought
grimly. *Watch out I know where you live and I'm not leaving until I
get what I you took from me* His expression was cold and heartless as
he prepared a plan to get her back, this time he wasn't going to loose
her.

" Good evening Dr. Bannon, I'm prefusely apologize for the way my men
handled you," a charming man in his early forties told Jessie
smoothely as she was thrust into a expensively furnished room.

"Who are you??" Jessie asked him angrily.

"Oh forgive me! "the man laughed softly. "My name is Preston, Preston
Mallgoth. I'm indeed sorry again we had to resort to such barberic
methods but we ran into some complications with my other employee...uh
Dr Bannon???" 

Jessie stared out blankly into the fire place as the name Mallgoth
echoed in her ears. It had sounded so familiar, she knew the name so
well, but she didn't know why....

"Are you feeling well Dr. Bannon?" Mallgoth asked her curiously.

"Uh yeah," Jessie answered him startledly as she snapped back from her
thoughts. "Hey, what do you want with me anyways????" she hissed.

"Please have a seat doctor," Mallgoth said as Jessie slowly took a
seat on a chair across from the enigmatic man. "I need to acquire a
certain microchip from your employer. If you cooperate you will be
rewarded handsomely, but if you refuse you will have to give the chip
anyways because if not, it will cost your life."

"Is that a threat?" Jessie asked him testingly.

"No, call that a warning," Mallgoth smiled. "And so my dear what will
your answer be?" 

"DO I have much of a choice??" Jessie asked him bleekly.

"Not really," he chuckled as Jessie had a horrible sense of doom
hovering over her.