Alex stares at Sophie. It should make her uncomfortable but it doesn't. She can see what Alex wants. She wants that too. But she waits. Alex is different this time. She's not going to be slow. She's not going to be gentle. She pulls hard on Sophie's top, ripping it up and off her head before tearing her own clothes away. Her hands are everywhere, pulling, pushing, twisting. Sophie gasps. This is what Alex promised. It's what she wants. She grabs back, pulling Alex down hard onto her. Alex finds her mouth, her kiss is demanding. Sophie moans, letting her in, letting her have anything she wants.

Sophie feels as if her body is on fire. Alex' mouth is on her breast, her fingernails drag along her inner thigh. Sophie pushes up with her hips, silently begging. Her eyes are squeezed closed, her breath is ragged. She's never needed anyone as bad as she needs Alex right now.

Alex begins to rub herself against Sophie's leg. The sensation drives Sophie crazy. She grabs at Alex' hips pulling her down harder and arching herself up.

Alex finally takes pity on the desperate woman writhing underneath her. She roughly shoves her fingers into Sophie at the same time she bites down on Sophie's neck. Sophie screams, her pleasure mixing with pain until she can't tell which is which.

The two women are moving together now, Sophie pushing up into Alex as Alex holds her back down. Sophie's breath comes with whimpers, practically begging for release. "Oh God Alex. Yes. Just one more. Just one more…" she cries out. She can feel nothing but pressure as it builds inside of her, she's ready to explode in ecstasy. She grabs at Alex, wanting to pull her tighter. Her hands grasp at

Nothing.

Sophie comes awake with a start. Her body is on fire, her hand still in the air reaching for the woman who isn't there. "Damn it to bloody hell!" she swears as she pounds the bed with her fist.

This isn't the first time she's had this dream. It always ends the same. Complete and utter frustration. Thoughts of Alex haunt her. It's not like Sophie has never had one or two night stands before. She's had fun and then moved on. No one has ever gotten to her like this. She closes her eyes and touches herself while visions of Alex dance behind her eyelids. She gets the release she needs but there's no satisfaction. With a sigh she rolls out of bed and to the shower.

Boston:

It's been three months since New York. Alex has been cleared of all charges. She's still in New York but not back with the FBI, serving a suspension while she insists that the terrorist bomber is still out there, planning his next job. She hasn't tried to contact Sophie and Sophie hasn't tried to contact her.

Hardison, of course, keeps track, updating the team frequently on Alex and the inner workings of the FBI. A lawyer and FBI training drop out, Elias Harper took the blame for the bombing before throwing himself to his death, just minutes before his next bomb killed a group of FBI agents, including the director of the agency. Only Alex Parrish is convinced that Harper wasn't working alone.

Sophie is sitting in Nate's living room/Leverage office, nursing a cuppa. She's still rattled by her erotic dream, lost in her thoughts.

"Sophie!" she startles back to awareness. Nate is glaring at her.

"I'm sorry" she apologizes to Nate who has been trying to get her attention. "I was just thinking about…um…"

Nate waves his hand, dismissing her and her lie.

"What I was trying to say is that this guy Turner, he's been bilking the retirement fund for.." He is rudely interrupted by Hardison who enters the room loudly.

"Hey. Guess who's on TV?" He announces.

Nate swears under his breath but Hardison ignores him.

"Alex that's who!"

Sophie sits up straighter, suddenly paying full attention. "What? Why?"

"Dunno yet" Hardison says. "She's testifying about something. In Congress. Here. I'll put it up."

As the picture comes to life on the big screen, Sophie catches her breath. She hasn't seen Alex since she disappeared from her hotel room months ago. Now here she is, larger than life, right in front of Sophie's eyes. In her memories, Alex is beautiful with her long black hair and deep dark eyes. And that delicious milk chocolate skin. But this Alex in front of her now, she's breathtaking with her hair done and full make up. And a confidence that Sophie only had glimpses of on their weekend together.

New York:

The kiss starts soft and sweet. Sophie knows it's wrong. She just explained it all to Alex. But now here she is kissing her again. And Sophie doesn't want to tell her no. Alex is so soft and so gentle. Her hands are cradling Sophie's head, cupping her ears. Sophie wraps her arms around Alex' neck and pulls her closer.

Just as Sophie begins to melt into her, Alex mumbles something and pulls away. Sophie looks at her with surprise. Alex gives her a bit of a smile. "Just a kiss. That's what we agreed on." Sophie nods, understanding the game now.

"Ok. If that's the way you're going to play it. It's my turn."

"And what do you get if you win?" Alex asks.

Sophie pretends to think for a second. "How about everything you promised me last night?"

Alex laughs. "You're pretty confident then?"

"You're good Alex. Very good. But now it's time to learn."

"Really?" Alex asks with another laugh. "You think you're that good?"

Sophie gives her a smile. "No, I know I'm that good. It's my thing. Reading people. It's what I do." She looks hard into Alex' eyes.

"Well, first of all, there's a darkness in you. It's heavy. It weighs you down. It consumes you. Whatever it is, it's why you went into law enforcement. You think that by doing good you can cancel out the bad. But it doesn't work that way does it? You need to let it go. But you can't. Which is why, two, you're here now. It makes you an easy target. Your past. No matter now strong you are, how strong you think you are, it's always going to bring you down. We're all victims of our past, it's what makes us who we are, but until you can leave it in the past, it will always be your weakness. Three, you know all of this. It's why you work so hard, always trying to prove yourself, willing to do whatever it takes to show how strong you are, to always be the best. But you aren't. Not really. You're needy and empty inside. Which leads me to four, you'll do anything to try and make a connection with someone. You just don't know how. So you use sex. You don't have friends. Or lovers. You have conquests and affairs. You live for the moment because there may never be another moment to live for. And all of this, five, makes you a dangerous woman. As dangerous as I am because I will use you and you will use me back and when we can't con each other anymore, we'll leave and never look back."

Alex smiles sadly. "We're quite the pair aren't we?"

Sophie nods. "Yes. But I don't want to talk about that."

"What do you want to talk about then?" Alex asks, knowing Sophie's game.

"I don't want to talk at all" Sophie says suggestively.

"I thought this was a bad idea? That we shouldn't?"

Sophie leans close. Just before her lips touch Alex', she whispers "that's what makes it so fun."

Boston

Sophie and the rest of the team sit, stunned by what Alex is saying. She testifies that she now believes that Elias Harper worked alone. That he was fully responsible for both bombings. That she was wrong to continue to pursue a terrorist threat.

Parker has her mouth hanging open. "What? I don't understand? How can she say that? We know that's wrong. She knows that's wrong."

Nate shakes his head. "Yeah she knows it. She's lying. She's been shut out. No one believes her anymore."

"But we believe her" Parker protests.

"Yeah but we haven't been able to help, not since she's been cleared. We're still looking. She's still looking. But she has to get back inside. She needs to be reinstated. To have access to FBI resources."

"So she's not giving up? We're not giving up?" Parker tries to clarify.

"Hell no we're not giving up" Hardison says as he starts pounding on his keyboard. "I'm sending her an encrypted message right now. She'll have access to things that even I can't get to. Not yet anyway. We'll get this bastard."

Sophie is uncharacteristically quiet through the whole thing. Nate watches her as she rubs a small scar on her collar bone.

New York

Sophie drops back to the bed, completely spent. Alex lies sprawled across her. "Oh my God Alex!" she mutters panting heavily.

Alex nuzzles her neck. "It was good wasn't it?"

Sophie laughs. "Good is not the word I would use. You really are amazing you know that? I could get used to…" She pauses, realizing what she's saying, what she's thinking. She pushes herself to sitting and Alex sits up as well.

"I know Sophie. Everything you said before. It was all true. We can't be this. I…I like you too. A lot. But you were right. We can't do this again. We never should have. I won't be here in the morning. I appreciate everything you've done for me." She gets a small smile. "And I do mean everything."

Sophie smiles too, knowing exactly what Alex means.

Alex notices a trickle of blood on the base of Sophie's neck. She gently touches it with her finger, reminding Sophie how she got the cut.

"Why?" she asks. "Why did you bite me?"

Alex doesn't answer her question, she only says "I'll get something to clean that" as she climbs off the bed and disappears into the bathroom.

Sophie gently touches the wound and is surprised to find a good amount of blood on her finger.

Alex returns with a wet towel and gently dabs at the cut. When the bleeding stops, she leans in and gently brushes it with her lips.

"Will it leave a scar?" Sophie asks

Alex finally answers her. "I hope so."

Sophie doesn't understand. "Why?" she asks again.

Alex gently kisses the mark again then looks into Sophie's eyes. "Because I don't want you ever to forget me."

Sophie smiles sadly. "I won't ever forget you Alex. Believe me. I won't ever forget. Now come here."

She pulls Alex to her and gently kisses her. She lets her fingers drift down Alex' side. She finds a breast and gently caresses it. "I don't want you to forget me either" she whispers.

Boston

"Sophie! A word. Now!" Nate snaps.

With a sigh Sophie lets her fingers fall away from Alex' mark and follows Nate into the next room. Nate turns on her.

"Call her Sophie."

"What?" Sophie doesn't understand. "Who? Why would I call her?"

Nate stares hard at her. "You're off your game Soph. You have been for a while. You're hurting the team. We can't work like this, always worrying about whether you're going to be present or go off on one of your little daydreams."

Sophie is offended. "I have never done anything that's less than professional. I would never do anything to put any one of you in danger. I'm fine. And this is none of your business!"

Nate sighs. "This is my business Sophie. And you need to figure this out. You and Alex."

Sophie gets indignant, her voice louder. "This has nothing to do with Alex. I'm just concerned about her, about the terrorists. That's all!"

Nate matches her volume now. "The hell it doesn't!" He makes a point to stare at the mark on her neck. "I know Sophie. I know what you did. You need to settle this. And if that means talking to her, getting it out of your system, then DO IT!"

Sophie's eyes narrow. Her voice lowers to a threatening tone. "Is that what this is about? Because we had sex? This isn't about Alex. This is about you. You're jealous? You're jealous because I slept with someone else?"

"Of course not!" he counters, "I don't give a shit about who you fuck. You can fuck whoever you want. You're going to do whatever you want anyway, regardless of what it does to us. What it does to the team!"

"And that's all you care about isn't it?" Sophie is loud again. "The team. Not me. Not anyone. Well fuck you Nate! I don't need this!" She storms out, slamming the door behind her.

In the living room, Hardison, Eliot and Parker are sitting quietly. The boys won't look at her, Parker's eyes are wide and teary. She grabs her coat and purse and leaves without a word.

Down in her car, Sophie is suddenly drained of all energy. She feels the tears start and presses her knuckles into her eyes trying to keep from crying. She is startled by the buzz of her cell phone. Reluctantly, she picks it up. On the display is a text from Hardison. No words. Only a number. 10 digits.