Really trying not to go so long between updates this time :)

M shifted uncomfortably in the chair, drifting in and out of sleep herself, while she waited for Jack to wake. As soon as he began to stir, she out of her chair, sitting on the edge of the sofa beside him.

"Jack...Jack, can you hear me?" she asked quietly

Jack thrashed about slightly, mumbling something about James and M, he kept repeating her name as if she were in some sort of mortal danger.

"Jack!" she said, lightly patting his cheek "It's ok, I'm right here, open your eyes"

Before she knew what was happening, Jack suddenly sat up, grabbed her wrists and pinned her down on the sofa. His eyes were almost wild and she could see the mixture of fear and anger on his face as he hovered over her. Her own training kicked in, and she resisted the overwhelming urge to struggle against him, fearing that he may unintentionally harm them both. Instead, she began to speak slowly and quietly, hoping that she could calm him before he did any real damage.

"Jack" she said quietly "It's me, M"

"M?" he replied, looking down at her with a rather confused expression which quickly turned to a look of relief, followed by one of embarrassment as he released her wrists and sat up.

M lay completely still for a few minutes to be sure that he was fully awake and aware of the fact that, at the moment, neither one of them appeared to be in any sort of danger. Once she was absolutely sure he was fully awake, she sat up and gently put her hand on his shoulder.

"Jack, Are you alright?" she asked, as he sat beside her with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands

"I could have killed you," he finally said as he reached out and rested his hand on her knee

"It wasn't your fault. You had no idea where you were or who I was" she replied as she leaned over and gently turned his face so that he was looking at her.

Jack reached over and took her small hand in his as he gently brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss to her palm. As he held her hand to his face, she could feel a tear slide down his cheek, and immediately pulled him to her, his head resting on her chest and held him close.

"It's alright now Jack. You're here and you're safe," she said as she gently stroked the back of his head.

"Where's James?" he asked after a few moments

"Where's James!" she said in a slightly annoyed tone "Someone drugs you, you end up unconscious on my sofa, you nearly kill me and all you can day is where's James!"

"YEAH, WHERE'S JAMES? He was with me, or at least I think he was with me before I blacked out"

M pulled away angrily, rose from the sofa and began to pace around the sitting room.

"007 isn't here at the moment, and I'm fine, thank you for asking!" she snapped

"Well where is he?"

"Where so you think? He is out looking for whoever did this to you. Now if you will excuse me, I am going up to grab shower and get dressed," she said with a slight crack in her voice as she turned and headed toward the door

Jack rose and quickly crossed the room, catching up to her just as she reached the door, where he slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him, holding her gently but firmly.

"I'm sorry M. Are you alright? "He whispered in her ear as he lightly kissed her neck "I've missed you"

"I could tell by the numerous phone calls and lengthy e mails you've sent since you were here last," she snapped sarcastically

"Well it's not like I was off playing tiddlywinks with manhole covers. I was away on a complicated mission. I told you that it would be difficult to communicate for a while"

"All you had to do was send a message that said," I'm ok" or was that too much to ask?" she replied as she turned in his arms and buried her head in his shoulder, "I was worried about you. I thought that you had changed your mind about us and..."

"Hey" he said softly as he tilted her chin up "I have changed my mind about a lot of things, but not about you, so when this lead came up and everything started pointing in your direction, all I could think about was getting to you" he said as he leaned down and captured her lips in a deep kiss

"And yet you chose to contact James first" she said as she broke the kiss

"Damn it Olivia, I knew he could keep you safe until I got here!"He snapped

"Don't you dare use that tone with me!" she retorted angrily, "If you had information about the safety and security of this country, you should have followed protocol and contacted me, NOT one of my agents!"

"For your information, it was not about the safety and security of your precious country, it was about YOU...Your safety...your security!"

"What?" she asked, with a rather stunned look on her face

"Yeah, that's right. Whoever made the threats made them against YOU personally. I called James to have him look after you until I could get here so we could work together and keep you safe." he replied angrily

M pulled away from him and walked across the room to the window trying to digest what Jack had just told her.

"Come away from that window!" shouted Jack as he pulled her back and yanked the curtains shut

"What the hell did you do that for?" she snapped

"The last thing we need is for you to make it easy for whoever it is by standing in front of the window! You may as well just stand on the front step with a giant bull's eye plastered to your head!"

"Jack! You are overreacting! For your information, these windows are triple pane, bullet proof glass which is coated with a special film that lets me see out, but no one can see in, so unless "they" have a rocket launcher or x-ray vision, I should be fairly safe" she replied as she came to stand in front of him

"I'm sorry M" he grumbled sheepishly "I suppose that it is possible that I might be overreacting just a bit,"

"You don't say," she replied with a nervous laugh as she wrapped her arms around him "I'm just really glad you're here," she said hugging him tightly

"Come sit with me," he said gently guiding her toward the sofa, where he put his arm around her as she curled up beside him.

"You do realize that I could have you shot for using my real name," she said as she playfully slapped his arm before resting her head against his shoulder

"Well it got your attention didn't it?"

"I suppose, but in all seriousness, what exactly are the threats you've been receiving?"

"They're not really threats per se. To be honest, at first, I thought it was you being "ratty" as you put it because I have been neglecting you, but whoever it is knows about us, they know what we do, they know that we're both friends of James, they knew about that damn ball or whatever you call it I took you to, you're routine right down to when you leave in the morning and when you come back, hell they even know what you have for lunch" he replied with a worried tone as he tightened his grip on her

"What made you think it was me sending the threats?" she asked quietly

"They appeared to come from your private email address, but when they began to get really odd, I had one of my guys trace the signal and found that it was being bounced all over the world thru multiple servers"

"So in essence, I've been hacked"

"It would appear so"

"How is it that you were drugged but James wasn't?" she asked through a small yawn

"I had a drink or two before he arrived, so they must have been watching. By the time James arrived, I must have appeared to be three sheets to the wind. James knows me well enough to have known that something was wrong so he must have brought me here"

"Well then it looks as though we're stuck here, at least until James returns and we can get to the bottom of this," she said as she snuggled closer

"Darn!...I mean darn, what an imposition" he replied with a grin as he leaned down and kissed her.

"Don't look so excited. We have a lot of work ahead of us" she said in a serious tone

"Or we could just lock the door and let James work this one out on his own" he replied with a wink

"Jack! If I didn't know better I would almost say that you were behind this whole thing!"

"Nope, can't take credit for this one although, I have to say if it didn't scare the hell out of me, it is a brilliant plan to get you alone" he said with a laugh

"Seriously Jack, we need some sort of plan"

"Right now, my PLAN is to take you upstairs and go to bed."

"Is that really a wise decision?" she replied with a mischievous grin

"If you remember from my last visit we determined that, although this is a very nice sofa, it really is not in our best interest to spend an entire evening here," he said with a grin as he stood and helped he to her feet

"But what about James?"

"M" he said in a mock serious tone "We have also already determined that your precious 007 is more than adept at letting himself into your flat anytime he likes. "

"You have a point there" she replied with a laugh as he began leading her to the stairs "But what if he arrives while we..."

"Sweetheart, all I really want to do right now is curl up beside you, hold you in my arms and keep you safe. If, by some chance, James arrives while we are asleep, let us hope that after the last time he interrupted us, he will have the good sense to find some way to make his presence known other than bursting into your bedroom" Jack replied with a smirk

"Don't count on it" she said under her breath as they headed up the stairs

TO BE CONTINUED...