Chapter One

''I am not exasperating!'' Jaime insisted, as Steve joined her for a 'cool down' (walking) lap of the track.

''Listening in on other people's conversations - when you're not working - is quite exasperating,'' he told her, laughing.

''Even when they're about me?''

''Especially then!''

Jaime grinned. ''Speaking of working...when do we start?''

''How 'bout now?'' It had been agreed that while Russ (and even Oscar) would help Jaime along once she was back in the field, her first initial instruction 'sessions' would be with Steve. With three years' of training and experience essentially 'lost' to her now, Jaime was beginning again as a brand-new recruit...albeit one with extraordinary abilities and an automatic Security Clearance of Six. The three men who'd been observing Jaime's run had headed inside to Rudy's office for a more private conference (out of Jaime's hearing range).

''Lead on, Chief!'' Jaime said happily.

''No Chiefs here; partners...remember?''

''Always.'' Together, they made their way to the lake behind National Medical and sat down in the cool, soft grass to talk. ''And...first you have to tell me about all the ways I messed up last time, huh?'' Jaime guessed.

''Never stop to dwell on your mistakes while you're in the field,'' he reminded her (echoing his words from the night all hell had broken loose). ''That -''

''That creates doubt,'' Jaime completed for him, ''and doubt can be fatal. I have a good teacher.''

Steve resisted the urge to lean over and kiss her. In spite of the casual setting, they were working now. ''That's right. And then once things have cooled down, we can think over any mistakes and learn from them. We just can't let them cripple us.'' He hated having to address her errors that from night at all...but they were missteps that couldn't afford to be repeated. ''You were incredibly brave to head into a pitch-dark building all alone, especially when no one had any idea of the scope of what we were facing. And you did absolutely the best you could under the circumstances, when you couldn't even see your own hand in front of your face.''

''I hear a 'but' coming,'' Jaime noted.

Steve nodded. ''When you use the datacom in a 'danger' situation, the first words you transmit need to be your location. Without fail. That way if you're cut off or unable to finish, other teams know where to find you.''

''I noticed that when you were using it. And every time we moved, you gave the location again.''

''That's right.'' Steve was impressed. Not only was she (still) a quick study, but even in a life-or-death crisis she'd been soaking up details like a sponge. The other 'issue' he needed to discuss with Jaime wasn't quite as easy. It wasn't even something he could teach her. She either had it...or she didn't...and at this point, Steve just wasn't sure.

''I know what you're gonna say next,'' Jaime offered.

''Oh?''

''I was wimpy in there.''

Steve frowned. ''Excuse me?''

''I got scared - and I froze. And...it was more than once.''

Steve heard the quiver in Jaime's voice and saw the way she was staring sadly out over the water. Formal training be damned, he told himself. I can teach and comfort her at the same time. She needs both...she gets both. He reached over to take her hand. Still, she couldn't or wouldn't look at him so he gently cupped her chin with his other hand and forced her to meet his gaze. If there was one thing he could ever teach her that she needed to absorb - to take to heart and never forget in her life as an operative - it was this.

''We all feel fear out there, Jaime,'' he said with a quiet intensity. ''Every single one of us. It's what we do with that fear that determines whether or not we're successful...and whether we live or die. You can let that fear sock you in the gut, steal your breath away...and paralyze you. Or you can turn it into the adrenaline needed to take action...and survive.''

Back in Rudy's office at National Medical, the phone call he'd just received from Jack Hansen had sent adrenaline coursing through Oscar's body - and like it or not, he'd have to act on it. He glanced out the window in the direction Jaime and Steve had been headed. ''Call them in,'' he said, grimacing.

Rudy put two and two together and shook his head sadly, not liking the results of the equation. ''Out of the frying pan...and into the fire,'' he murmured.