Strangers

Chapter One

The knock on his open office door was so quiet, Oscar almost didn't hear it. Jaime stood in the doorway, looking tentative and frightened. Oscar realized that, to her, he was a virtual stranger. When an operation had failed to restore her memory, Jaime had undergone a type of hypnosis using sodium pentothal. It had been highly successful, with almost all of her memory returning in about 72 hours.

There had been several blank spots, though. She'd known nothing about her bionics or her connection to and work for the OSI. She'd discovered the bionics herself, by accident, and Steve had given her a full explanation, but for Jaime, the OSI remained uncharted territory. She knew Oscar was the Director, that he was Steve's boss and he'd been the one to ok her becoming bionic. The rest, they'd decided, could wait.

That was why Oscar was so surprised to see her in the office - without Steve. Jaime was thoroughly intimidated by a man of Oscar's stature within the government and, beyond a simple introduction, they hadn't had occasion to talk since before the failed surgery, two months earlier.

"Mr. Goldman...?" she ventured, still in the doorway.

Oscar rose from his desk with a warm and (he hoped) reassuring smile. "Come on in," he told her. "And I was always 'Oscar' to you before; 'Oscar' is still fine." He showed her to one of the cushy chairs by the window and Jaime sat down. It tugged hard on Oscar's heartstrings that she looked absolutely scared to death. "Can I get you some coffee?" he offered.

"Ok. Thank you."

Oscar wondered if she still drank it with cocoa, then went ahead and added a scoop to her mug. When he handed it to her, she took a good, long drink and he recognized that she looked and acted like she'd barely slept.

Jaime looked up at him and finally managed a smile. "How'd you know I like my coffee with - oh. Never mind. Sometimes I forget that when I don't remember someone, they still might know me."

"What can I do for you, Jaime?" he asked, taking a seat across from hers.

"I'm sorry about just barging in like this. I probably should've made an appointment, but -"

"Jaime, my door is always open to you, day or night. Remember that, ok?"

"Thank you." She took a deep breath. "Mr. Goldman - Oscar - Steve went to the hardware store yesterday, right after dinner, and he never came back. I figured he'd run into an old friend, or maybe had car trouble, but he never came home at all last night. I - I didn't know what to do..."

Oscar was gravely alarmed, but tried not to frighten Jaime further. "You did exactly the right thing, coming to me."

"Do you think the men who tried to take me from the hospital could've gotten Steve?"

"Two of them are locked up, but it's possible there were more," he acknowledged. "Whatever's happened, I will get him back, Jaime."

"Did I...work for you, too?"

"Actually, you did. Do you remember that?"

Jaime shook her head. "Educated guess." She looked intently at Oscar's face and into his eyes and decided that - yes - she trusted him. "I wanna help you find Steve."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"I've been out of the hospital for over three weeks. My bionics are back up to full strength, and I've learned a lot about how to use them. And -"

"No, Jaime."

"I'm sorry," she said, suddenly finding her full voice, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I am gonna look for Steve, even if I have to do it on my own. Wouldn't it be more efficient, not to mention safer, to let me do it on your team?"

Oscar sighed; some things never changed. "I'll make you a deal. Rudy just happens to be in the building, in his lab downstairs. You let him check you over while I get the rest of the teams going on this. Then if - and only if - Rudy ok's it, you and I will team up and join the search."

"You want me to work...with you?"

"I trained you the first time, with Steve's help. Do we have a deal?"

"We've got a deal, Oscar."

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"You may as well let me come in," Jaime called to Rudy and Oscar from her seat at Callahan's desk, "Because I can hear you either way."

"Good to know she's got the old spunk back," Rudy chuckled.

"Jaime," Oscar said, smiling and motioning gallantly, "would you care to join us?" He waited until she was seated to continue. "Well, Doctor, how is our extremely headstrong patient?"

"I checked her out thoroughly; her body and bionics are in A-1 condition," Rudy answered.

"Can she handle this?"

"I'd say what she lacks in remembered experience, she more than makes up for in determination," he looked at Jaime, "and stubborn-ness."

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"I've got teams checking all of this group's known residences," Oscar told Jaime as the big grey car pulled into traffic.

"So it is the same people who almost got me?"

"Very likely, yes. We're also checking for any word on the foreign market of...bionics up for sale."

"Ok." Jaime swallowed hard. She was determined to help Steve, but picturing him in pieces was more than she could bear. They'd begun to grow much closer in the three weeks she'd been staying in his guest room. "Oscar, we'll find him before it comes to that, right?"

"We'll certainly do our best. Right now, you and I are going to pay a visit to the men who grabbed you. It could get pretty rough -"

"Just tell me what you need me to do."

Oscar glanced in Jaime's direction. Would she be able to pull off what he was about to ask her to do?

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