Amy and Jake. What happened at the end of Flashpoint.

Chapter 1

The first time Amy saw Jake after their long break, was, well, confusing. Chasing down and destabilizing J. Rutherford Pierce had been her most challenging feat yet, and that was saying something! Amy was part of the most powerful and influential family in the world. The Cahill family had a terrible secret, one that involved 39 ingredients to a master serum; a serum that would grant the beholder incredible strength, vitality, intelligence, cunning and leadership. It came with a price however, it was lethal and not to be trifled with. Amy had very nearly died from taking the serum and if it had not been for Jake risking his own life to save hers, she would be at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean right now. She owed so much to Jake. She loved him and she had told him that, but she had also told him to leave her and never look back. Being a part of this family had a way of making its members crazy or dead. Taking out Pierce had been a monumental task. It had taken a toll on both of them. Once the pandemonium died down, Amy and Dan had quit the family, handing control of the Cahill business over to Ian and Cara-a natural team quite up to the challenge. Amy and Dan had earned as much rest as they wanted. Jake had taken a year off from his studies too. Amy had hoped she would be able to see Jake a few times that year, but he had called not long after her return to Attleboro to say he would be off line and off the grid for a while. He had decided to spend some time with his world-renowned archeologist father, Dr. Mark Rosenbloom, on a dig in Indonesia.

That worked out since Ian and Cara had needed her and Dan's help with another criminal mastermind-their grandfather. But all of that was behind them now. Amy was looking at her final year of high school, Dan was just starting high school as a 15-year-old and for the first time in a long time, it looked like their lives would be normal, well, at least as normal as Cahill lives could be.

Make no mistake, very few days went by where Amy didn't think of Jake. He was in many ways the Yin to her Yang. She was so use to being in charge, forced by the family to make larger-than-life decisions; life-changing decisions. She wasn't naturally decisive, but circumstance had thrust her into that position.

By contrast, Jake was a natural leader. He radiated governance every time she was around him. The fact that he was so decisive was one of the most attractive things about him, although, everything about Jake was attractive. His sculpted face and strong jawline, his olive complexion and green eyes, his thick wavy brown hair and tall frame accentuated by well-defined muscles. He was hard to ignore, no matter who you were!

She had tried to ignore him at first, in fact, she had hated him for a time. He had turned her and her brother Dan into Interpol when they first met. It had taken months to win her trust and eventual affection.

She still remembered the first time he said he loved her. They had been in the midst of stopping the doomsday device and had crammed into a small closet to hide. He had kissed her then. She thought she might fly right out of her shoes, or at the very least, fall over. She had returned the statement-and meant it. She loved Jake; she still did.

It was nearing the holidays. She and Dan had three glorious weeks off from school and Amy was planning on curling up in the library with Saladin and reading to her hearts content, after, of course, sending in college admission applications. She was planning on applying to several Ivy League universities, but she really only wanted to attend one of them.

Dan was planning on some epic gaming with Atticus now that Att was home in Cambridge for the holidays. Amy had wanted to ask if Jake was planning on coming home too, but just couldn't quite make herself ask Dan. She had his number and he had hers; if he wanted to see her, he could call her up himself.

Ian was always at the Mansion now, being the head of the Cahill family and she had gotten used to seeing him around. Ian came casually into the library and stood in front of Amy that morning. He had one hip popped and stood with his arms crossed, staring with a smirk on his face.

"What is it Ian?" Amy said looking up from her laptop. Her application to Brown pulled up and half-filled in.

"I think you had better answer the door. I'm fairly certain our latest guest isn't here to see me."

Amy put down her laptop and frowned at Ian, "Who is it?" Ian gave her a wan smile, turned and left the room.

Right then, the front door sounded. Amy got up, slowly left the library, walked down the magnificent curved staircase and made her way across the marble entry to the front door.

She opened it.

"Hi Amy" said Jake, looking at her through his sunglasses, a small smile cracking at the left of his mouth. He was every bit as gorgeous as she remembered.

"Jake, hi." Amy temporarily froze. She couldn't think straight. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She could feel her face flushing. She finally said, "Come in. I didn't know you were coming."

"I didn't know I was either. Not until this morning. Att mentioned getting together with Dan, and I figured I should take the chance to come see you. How are you?" Jake said.

Amy looked him up and down, she knew he would notice her doing this, but she didn't care. It had been 6 months since she had last spoken with him and even longer since she had seen him. She missed him.

With a sigh and a smile, she said slowly, "I'm fine." She gave him a sad sort of smile. She was fine, by all accounts, but they had a lot to work through. He knew it too.

"Do you want to take a drive with me?" Jake asked as he inclined his head toward the Mercedes sitting in the circle drive.

Her smile turned into a genuine, "Yes, very much."

Half an hour later, they were turning onto I-95 headed into the heart of Boston. They drove along in silence for a while, Amy looking out the window at the snow-covered blanket on the ground. Even a great city could be transformed into a thing of elegance with some snow.

Jake kept eyeing Amy while he drove. His right hand hooked over the top of the steering wheel. The sun was so bright coming off of the snow and Amy kept squinting against the brightness. Jake popped the overhead bin and withdrew an extra pair of sunglasses.

"Here, these will help," he said.

Amy turned and looked at his offering and at his face. He was grinning a kind smile at her. She couldn't see his eyes, but she had a feeling they were kind behind the glasses. Jake did care for her.

Taking them, she said "thanks."

"So, how have you been? Atticus filled me in a little on your trouble with…your grandfather. How are you holding up?"

Amy did not want to talk about this with Jake. It wasn't a matter of hurt or anguish, although, that was there. No, this was more a desire to distance her trouble from Jake. He had experienced so much of that during their time together.

"I'm doing alright. It has just confirmed for me however that even with Ian at the helm, I can never truly step away from the Cahill family. Mr. Macintyre told me as much last year. He said I was born into this and it was my job to rise to the challenge."

Jake sat in silence while watching Amy talk. He felt so much for her. He knew she didn't ask for this life, but yet, she was thrust into it and did a masterful job of handling all that was given to her. It was one of the many reasons he was so attracted to her. It was time he came clean.

"Amy, I didn't just come to see you on a whim today."

This caught her attention.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Jake sighed. "After the Pierce incident, I needed some time away, some time to think. I told you that my father asked me to accompany him on a dig…well, that wasn't exactly true."

Jake continued, "I reached out to dad, told him that I needed some time to think and be away from life for a while. He didn't ask me the reason, but he knew." Jake looked at Amy for a long moment. He was drinking in her now familiar features. Her light brown hair had gotten longer, her peach colored skin was so flawless and her lips... He had missed this face. He had seen it behind his eye lids as he fell asleep every night in Indonesia.

"I needed time to sort out what I felt for you Amy."

Amy's head began to spin. Was he really starting with this heavy of a topic so soon? Was she ready to hear this? Was this the start of the 'I respect-you-so-much-but-can't-live-with-you discussion? Amy said nothing, but stared at Jake as he continued.

"You kept pushing me away during the hunt for the antidote, and I knew it was a way to protect me. I kept telling myself that it would be the exact thing I'd do to protect you if our roles were reversed."

"I was ready to die for you Amy." Jake looked over at her and slipped his right hand into her left.

Her heart swelled. She had to blink back tears. Jake went on,

"I realized that this is your life all the time. The trouble with the Vespers and then with Pierce-they're just the next pieces on the chess board of a Cahill's life."

Jake looked back to the road. He also removed his hand back to the steering wheel.

Amy held her breath. What was he getting at? Why leave the mansion if he was just going to break up with her? What an awkward ride home if he was breaking up before they ever got to Boston!

"So, I asked my father if I could join him at his dig. I've spent the last 6 months thinking a lot about you Amy. A lonely dig site out in the middle of Indonesia gives a guy a lot of time to think."

Jake smiled. There it was again, that perfect toothpaste-commercial smile he had.

Amy smiled too. "What did you decide? Did you drive all the way over to the mansion this morning just to end things with me? This seems like a long way to come if you're doing that."

Jake took the exit onto Boylston St and they began to snake their way toward Harvard Square.

Jake took his sunglasses off to properly look at Amy.

"In those 6 months, I made more mistakes on the dig than I care to admit. My father finally had enough of me and sent me home last week. He said my mind was somewhere else."

Amy smiled at him, her heart swelling.

"I love you Amy Cahill. I needed some time to figure out how much, but it is pretty clear to me that Cahill or not, I don't want to be with anyone else."

Amy reached over and kissed Jake on the cheek. She let her kiss linger as the warmth of his cheek spread through her lips. This was the best news she had ever heard.

"Oh Jake, I feel the same!"

The traffic drew to a crawl and Jake and Amy reached over for their first real kiss in almost a year. Amy savored every moment. It was only when the car behind them honked that they broke apart.

With a smile, Amy asked "Where are you taking me exactly?"

"I thought we might take a walk around Harvard. This is home for me after all. It's pretty and I like the snow. Plus, I start classes again next month. I decided to restart at semester." Jake looked for Amy's reaction.

She was shocked. What about taking that year off? He still had a full semester to himself.

"Why?" Amy asked.

"Are you disappointed?" Jake asked with mild alarm on his face.

"No, no, no, I- just- I- mean…" she trailed off.

"I'm just surprised is all." She finished lamely.

"Well, Att was getting tired of the oppressive Pacific heat and no internet, plus, he wants to finish college this year." Jake looked over at Amy, smiling. "And, it would give me an excuse to see you as often as I can." Jake said.

They found a parking garage and he wound their way up to the top before finding a spot. They got out, Jake walking around to Amy's side of the car.

Her head was trying to process all that he had said. It made sense, but it was so sudden it seemed. She shut her door and turned to find Jake standing very close to her. He took a step closer so they were sharing the same air. My god, he was so breathtaking. With his glasses off, she could see him studying every feature of her face with an intensity she'd only seen on him a few other times.

"I've missed you Amy." Jake voiced.

Amy found her arms snaking up around his neck of their own volition. She took in his familiar scent and was instantly comforted by it.

Even though it was cold out, Amy didn't feel it. Jake reached up and brushed a few strands of her hair away from her face. He brought his lips down to hers and they stood in the cold parking garage savoring this long-withheld moment.

After they had walked all over campus in the cold, they found Jake's favorite café and both of them huddled together over a small bistro table. To an outside observer, they were just the next love-struck college couple in the place. Their heads mere inches from each other and their eyes glued on each other. They played with each other's hands across the tiny table. Nuclear war could have happened in the café and Jake and Amy would never have noticed; they had each other and that was enough.

"You know, for having spent as much time together as we have, I still don't know a lot about you, Jake", Amy teased.

"Oh, like what?" Jake said looking out the top of his eyelids at her and making her melt a little.

"Well, for starters, I just found out Harvard is home for you." Amy said, snaking her left hand up his right.

Jake loved her touch, in fact, it drove him mad. He gave a little involuntary shudder and met her eyes. "Where did you think I was going to college? I would have thought it was fairly obvious."

"Well, I don't know, there are so many famous universities in Boston and each one of them is more impressive than the last. My father went to MIT, and his father went to Boston College. There's Tufts and Northeastern. I don't think Harvard is a given if you're from Boston. My mother and grandmother both went to Brown. I know it's not in Boston, but it's not that far away either." Amy said, withdrawing her hand from his and taking a sip of her cappuccino.

"I see what you mean," Jake said sitting back in his chair. "All the Rosenblooms have gone to Harvard. We're a legacy family in fact. So many generations now it's pretty much assumed Atticus and I will attend. Even my mother and step-mother had Harvard degrees. In fact, this is where my dad met Astrid."

Jake picked up his coffee and held it in both hands. His eyes unfocused as he thought of his step-mother. Her death had been particularly hard on him. He had known her his entire life and it was her influence on him that had made him the academic scholar he was. He missed her greatly. Amy reminded him a bit of Astrid. Maybe that's what initially drew him to Amy, of course, once he had gotten over being so angry at her and Dan for stealing 'Il Millione' down in the bowels of the Colosseum. Amy had that same love of learning and reverence for literature and antiquities. Astrid had taught him so much. He knew she must be smiling down on him from wherever she was. Amy was just the sort of girlfriend she would have wanted for him. And his father-hadn't his father referred to Amy as 'a nerd with an adventurous side?' adding that she was exactly Jake's type? He had been embarrassed by the conversation, but his father was right. Amy was the girl of his dreams. Now, he only had to convince his father that Amy wasn't bad news. He had wanted Jake to stay away from anything having to do with the Cahills. He suspected they had some connection to Astrid's death, an in a very remote way, they did. Damian Vesper had poisoned Astrid. Well, Jake could help his father relax now that Damian had been killed by the very machine he built to kill all of humanity. He knew he had a future heart-to-heart with his father coming, he just didn't know when.

"You know, we don't live too far from here. Why don't you come with me and we can eat something. I don't know about you, but this latte isn't going to fill me up," Jake rose, reaching out for Amy's hand.

"It's like you read my mind," Amy said rising and grasping Jake's hand. Together they set off for the Rosenbloom manor.