"Please, Jack," she asked simply, her crystal blue eyes filling with tears as they watched him from across the room.
He sighed, hoping she wouldn't start to cry. He hated when women cried; it was his deepest weakness, and she had to know it by now. They had been working together for eight years, and there had definitely been plenty of tears shed in that time, especially the year before. He had held her when it happened, after the funeral, and God only knew how many times after that, but she had never asked for anything more from him – until now.
"Hammond'll kill me," he replied weakly, already knowing he would submit sooner or later.
She took a step closer, a single tear dripping out of the corner of her eye and falling unnoticed to his carpeted floor. "He's not in charge anymore, Jack. You are," she implored, purposefully using his name again, asking for his help as a friend and not her superior officer.
He knew why she had come to him, despite the fact he was the only one they knew capable of doing what she asked. She knew he couldn't say no to her, his closest friend and confidant, one of the few people in the universe he trusted without reservation. And he loved her, he truly did, even if it was just a friendly love, which was good for him, for her heart had been otherwise entangled for some time now.
Against his better judgment, he moved closer and shook his head. He knew her tactics, how she ticked, and yet he still caved under the intense pressure of her gaze. She had come to his house, where there were no security cameras and no one to suspect, and she definitely knew what she requested was completely against regulations. Hell, she must have written half of the regulation book she recited it so well. But what she asked went well beyond anything else, including those rules she held so dear.
Taking a deep breath, he held out his arms to her and whispered, "Come here." She fell into his arms and released the sobs she had been holding back.
"Please, Jack," she repeated, this time from the comfort of his arms.
He sighed again and nodded. "Okay, okay," he replied finally. "I'll help you." He smiled and looked down at her, grateful that the tears were beginning to dry up, slowly being replaced by a look of utter hopefulness. "And hey, if we get caught, we can just go back in time and prevent that, too."
She laughed a little in his embrace and nodded, but her thoughts were completely elsewhere, on the mission he had just agreed to.