This follows up "New World, Still Hiding", although I hope that you can read this without reading that. Like that story, this one is a (new series) Tomorrow People/Earth: Final Conflict crossover. It occurs at the end of/after "The Joining", the first season finale of Earth: Final Conflict. It contains spoilers for the ending of "The Joining", and references to "Old Flame" and "If you could read my mind". It's probably very alternate-universe from the way the series is heading, and no, I have no idea how they're going to resove next season.
Drowning. He was drowning. He could feel himself dissolve in the water. He was dead.
Yet, he was still there. He wasn't quite sure how, but he was. He could make out two shadowy forms nearby, but not quite enough to tell what species they were. He got the impression that he was seeing them, somehow. His eyes had been closed, but he was seeing them!
A third presence intruded. He couldn't exactly see what the presence, but it seemed to be made up of lots of light, totally unlike the Taelons. _Ha'gel?_ he wondered.
"Hello?" the presence asked. It wasn't Ha'gel. He got the distinct impression of a human being, not an alien. He could have sworn that he was hearing a British accent.
The presence came closer. "Can you hear me?" it asked again.
"I can," he responded simply.
"Who are you? What are you?" the presence asked. Curiosity flowed from it.
Boone decided to answer the presence. "My name is William Boone. I'm the North American Companion's Head of Security and Interspecies Relations. Who are you, and where are we?"
"I'm Jade," the presence said, a bit timidly. Boone couldn't tell if this was because she knew who he was, or because she was afraid for some other reason. "I don't know precisely where we are. I was relaxing, and suddenly this blazing presence appeared in my mind. Next thing I knew, I was here."
"Jade, don't be afraid," Boone said, attempting to reassure the nervous presence. "I won't hurt you. Are you a psychic?"
Silence ensued for a while, and then Jade responded. "Sort of. I can't read minds or anything. Not like Katya Petrenko."
"You met her?" Boone asked. Then he realized that she most likely hadn't. Katya was well-known in her own circles.
"Briefly. Before she died. She knew what I was, and offered me a message of hope."
Boone nodded, unable to come up with any words.
"I'm sorry. It's just that you're with the Companions, and I can't risk them finding me. I'm no threat to them."
"I don't think you are, not unless you've been wandering around where you're not supposed to," Boone replied, attempting to reassure the nervous presence.
"We- I- can't even hear them," Jade replied. "But I've heard so much- that they killed Katya- and I don't want to die because I can sometimes do what other people can't."
Boone mulled that over, understanding Jade's feelings. "Someone was invading their Commonality. They were afraid."
"It wasn't one of us!" Jade exclaimed. "As I said, we can't hear them at all. There have been enough people after- oops."
"There are more of you?" Boone asked.
"My mouth has always run ahead of me," Jade's voice sounded rueful. "Yes, there are a few more of us. No, I'm not going to tell you how many."
"I can see why you're scared, but you don't need to be. If you can't hear them, they probably have no idea you're there."
"But if they discover us, like some people have done, they won't exploit us, they'll kill us off!" Jade's 'voice' rose in panic.
The woman was worried, he was sure of that as if he were meeting her face-to-face. "I don't think you're a security risk to the Companions, Jade," he said as gently as possible.
"I sincerely hope not," she replied.
Something occurred to him. "Jade, are you a resistance sympathizer?"
"No," Jade said. "I've listened to them, and to the Companions, and I don't know if either side is right. Some of us are in the Liberation, though. I don't believe they're right- I'm not too sure about the Companions' motives, but I don't think they're as bad as the Liberation makes them out to be. And the Liberation movement is somewhat responsible for the virus that shut down your building and a lot of others a while back. I didn't like them very much because of that."
Boone almost revealed his secret, but realized that Jade could possibly be like Elise- a trap by someone not totally convinced of his allegiance to the Taelons. "I didn't like it much, either."
"I can see why," Jade said, now sounding amused. Her attention seemed to shift away. "I need to go now. You're fading, anyway."
Boone didn't feel like he was fading away. "Jade, before you go...."
"Yes?" The entity seemed to stop on its way to disappearing.
"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe."
Jade was silent for a minute, and then replied. "I know. I know. Somehow I know you will."
Then her presence disappeared, and Boone didn't remember anything more.
-end