Author's Note: In my crazy excitement about Dead of Night coming out on Tuesday (I'm racing to the bookstore to get it as soon as school's out), I can't stop writing fanfiction! So, here's a super-short one-shot that assumedly takes place after King's Ransom. You could view it as Jake/Amy romance, or just friendship, or whatever. (Myself, I still ship Ian/Amy, but if she doesn't end up with Ian, Jakie would be my second choice.)

It all began, of course, with the kidnapping of Atticus Rosenbloom. Naturally, it took quite a toll on the boy's older brother Jake. He still kept up his stony façade, looking sullenly at the Cahill siblings as though it was all their fault for getting them into this situation. He surely didn't show any overt signs of inner pain. Amy and Dan could still see that he was hurting deep down, but for the sake of Jake's dignity, they pretended not to notice.

But it was difficult to continue to feign ignorance when the weight of his brother captured, lost, endangered, became too much for Jake to bear. Though Dan might not have noticed- seeing as he was preoccupied with conducting a video chat with those in the comm. center at the moment on the other side of the room- Amy couldn't turn a blind eye to the tears that filled Jake's when he thought she wasn't looking.

She came to sit down beside him, causing him to start. "Hey, Jake."

He looked up, and his face shifted back to the expression of annoyance that he always tried to put up, but there were too many cracks in his wall for it to be even remotely convincing. His deep voice came out thin and fragile as he tried to snap, "What?"

Amy looked at him seriously, which caused him to look uncomfortable, clearly wishing to break eye contact. "Jake, are you all right?"

"Of course," he said distantly. "I'm fine. How's the research coming?"

She blatantly ignored the question. "Listen, I know how it is to lose a brother."

"What?" said Jake. He shot a glance across the room at Dan, who was still concentrating on his video chat. "Dan's right there."

"He wasn't always. We were in China." Amy sighed, and for a moment, the old fear from those few horrible days came back to her. "We got in a fight, and he ran. At first, I thought he would come right back, and then, I realized that he wouldn't. And… I was scared."

Raw emotion leaked into her voice upon those final three words, and Jake's gaze softened slightly as she continued, her hands beginning to tremble slightly in her lap.

"We looked for him for what seemed like forever. Actually, it was just a couple of days, but it seemed so much longer. I was terrified. I… I thought, 'What if he's lost forever? What if I'm never going to see him again?' And I cried, because without Dan, I felt absolutely alone."

He still looked sympathetic, but also confused. He wasn't quite sure, she inferred, how this tied in with the current predicament.

"You're not alone, Jake," she said in a voice that was suddenly firm and resolute. Her green eyes seemed to bore into him like twin drills. "I know how you feel. You're upset, and you're concerned for Atticus, and you're scared…."

"I'm not…" he began.

"Yes, you are, Jake! You're scared! Just admit it!" she exclaimed out of frustration, so loudly that she startled Jake, Dan, and even herself. She averted her gaze to her interlaced fingers, flushing slightly. "Sorry."

Jake didn't respond for a moment. Then, calmly, he asked, "What for?"

"For yelling," said Amy quietly. "There was no reason for it."

"Oh, come on," he said with an almost teasing half-smile. "There had to be some reason for it."

Her eyes returned to his face, and he was startled by how open and honest they were. Empathetic. "I'm just tired of you pretending," she confessed, "Pretending that everything's all right, pretending that you aren't worried for your brother. Jake, I'm worried for Atticus, and I'm not even related to him…. So I know that you must be. And I wish that you would just stop trying to be the tough guy and admit it."

Jake didn't answer.

"I wasn't joking," she continued. "I know how it feels to lose a brother. I really do. It feels terrible and scary. You feel… powerless." Her voice grew stronger again, full of that same fiery determination. "But I swear, Jake, we're going to do everything we can to get Atticus back. Everything. You have my word."

He still didn't speak, though his dark eyes had gone rather wide.

Amy paused, crossing her arms. "You could at least say 'thank you.'"

"Oh." Jake looked mildly uncomfortable speaking the word. "Thanks."

"I mean it," she said. "Everything in our power."

Now, he groaned. "Oh, no, not more illegal activities."

Amy rolled her eyes and grinned. "All right, we'll try to keep it to a minimum."

"I rue the day when I got mixed up with you Cahills," he sighed.

"Believe me," she said, "I used to feel the same way. You get used to it all after a while."

This thought didn't quite seem to console him.

"And anyway," she added, "Wouldn't you do anything you could to get your brother back?"

Jake's face wrenched with grief again, and this time, he only made a halfhearted effort to hide it. "I would."

And he still looked so despondent that Amy didn't even think. She just reached over and embraced him. For a moment, he was stiff and startled, but he didn't pull away.

"So will I," she whispered.

Author's Note: Pitifully short, I know. Hope you liked it anyway. As always, please review! :)

~Lily