Audrey didn't know how far she had run, but the ache in her legs told her that she had been at it for miles. It was starting to get dark, and she at last felt that her mind had stopped spinning. She headed out of the park back to her hotel room.

Stripping off her running clothes, she stepped into the shower, closing her eyes as the hot needles of water hit her skin. It felt good on her sore muscles. Standing under the spray, she almost forgot about her disastrous meeting with Jack. Almost.

Stepping out of the shower, she dried her hair, and pulled on a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt. Just as she was deciding whether to go downstairs to the little café or order some room service for dinner, she was startled by a knock on the door.

Figuring it was most likely her father checking in on her, she peeked through the security lens just to be sure before opening the door. Who she saw on the other side instead caused her to take a sharp breath. She stood still for a moment, and then pulled the door open slowly.

"Jack," she said as he stood in front of her.

He looked like hell. He was in the same jeans she had seen him in earlier, but had exchanged the faded shirt for a blue collared oxford. It was rumpled, as if he had found it at the bottom of some box he'd already packed. Audrey briefly wondered if it was merely a coincidence that it was her favorite color on him. She'd always thought it accented the blue of his eyes. As it was doing now.

She took in the rest of him. He looked tired, for even as his eyes were fixed on hers, she could see the exhaustion behind them. Like he'd been awake for days. And yet at the same time, there was an anxious energy about him. He was doing his best to hide it, but she knew him too well.

He hadn't looked that way that afternoon, and Audrey took some small satisfaction in the fact that perhaps she wasn't the only one affected by their earlier interaction. But what that meant, she had no idea.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"I don't think that's–" she started.

"Audrey, please," he cut her off. She saw the set of his jaw, and she knew that it was pointless to turn him away. She opened the door.

"How did you even find me?" she asked as he walked in. He hesitated for a moment, and then said,

"I called DoD."

Audrey sighed and pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose, not even bothering to ask how many people he harassed to get her location. She looked up at him.

"Why are you here, Jack?"

"You left today before I could say anything." His voice sounded like he was fighting for every inch of control.

"There's nothing left to say. I told you–"

"No!" he said forcefully, cutting her off for a second time. "There is something to say." He paused. "I owe you an explanation."

Taken aback, she closed her mouth and waited. This was new. She could see him clench his teeth several times, and then he began to speak in a measured tone as his eyes met hers.

"You think I did what I did to protect myself, but you're wrong. I did it to keep you safe. It's too dangerous to be anywhere near me, Audrey. Everyone I have ever loved or cared about has either died or been put in jeopardy because of me. Because of me. The people I work to bring down will stop at nothing to see that I fail, and they won't think twice about using people in my life against me. I can't let that happen anymore. I won't."

Audrey thought he would say more, but he was obviously waiting for her to respond.

"What are you saying, Jack? That you were worried your enemies would try to get to me?"

"Yes."

"And you decided to take matters into your own hands in order to prevent that."

"Yes."

Audrey felt her temper getting the better of her. "The only solution you could come up with was to push me away? So that I would leave? Without telling me any of this? Without trusting me?"

She could tell he was getting frustrated with her as his voice rose.

"It had nothing to do with trust. I had to protect you. It was one of the hardest decisions–"

"It wasn't your decision to make! You weren't just deciding about your own life, you were deciding about mine. About us!" Her voice was rising too.

"What would you have done if I told you? Would you have understood?"

"No, of course not. Because it's ridiculous!"

"It's not ridiculous. Goddamn it, Audrey, you're alive!"

"Without you!" she shouted, glaring at him. He glared back.

It seemed for a moment that they had reached an impasse, and she took the opportunity to steady her breathing. At last, she spoke, choosing her words carefully.

"Don't you think I understand that your job is dangerous? I, of all people, understand that. But I accepted that that's who you are. I know I didn't at first. The day that Paul died, I had no idea what was happening. I was terrified and confused. You seemed so different than the man I had fallen in love with. The things you had told me about your past life, well…I don't think I really got it until then. To see who you were when the stakes were that high, to know what you were capable of…." She trailed off for a moment, not able to finish the thought.

"But, Jack, when I lost you that day," her voice caught, "when I thought that you had died, I realized…you were it for me. I loved you so much it scared the hell out of me. And I knew in that instant that Bill told me you were gone, I was never going to love anyone like that again." By this time, tears were spilling down her cheeks, but she made no attempt to stop them. She had to get this out.

"So when you reappeared, it was like some miraculous second chance. I was terrified all over again, but I wasn't going to let it slip away this time. I was ready to try. Because I'd lived the alternative, and it was pure hell.

"But after China…everything was different. I can't even pretend to imagine what you suffered over there, but it obviously changed your mind about a lot of things. Your job. Me. The worst part was you wouldn't talk to me. You shut me out without any explanation. It seemed like you just…gave up on us." She finished, letting the words hang in the air. She noticed that he was no longer looking at her, but down at the floor.

"Jack?" she demanded. She waited for some sort of reaction from him, anything. But the only indication he had heard her at all was that the thumb of his right hand was rubbing against the tips of his other four fingers, something he did when he was nervous, unsure.

She let a few more beats go by, and when he still didn't say anything, she shook her head.

"Fine," she said in a resigned voice, and went to step past him to open the door. Now there really was nothing left for her to say.

Except as she started to walk by him, his right hand shot out, grabbing her upper right arm and holding tight. Audrey froze.

They stood that way for what seemed like forever to her, facing in opposite directions. Though she wasn't looking at him, she knew that a silent struggle was going on inside Jack, between what he wanted and what he thought was right. She could do nothing – it was his fight.

Finally, he turned his head slightly, speaking somewhere toward the back her head. His words were delivered so low she almost didn't catch them.

"You were right, earlier," he told her.

"About what?" she asked, her tone still sharp, not willing to completely let go of her anger.

"About how I pushed you away to protect myself. Audrey…I couldn't let myself love you anymore. It was too painful. If something ever happened to you, I could never…"

She softened then.

"I know, Jack. I know you were scared. So was I. And I know that you haven't had a lot of guarantees in your life. But I also know this - people rarely get what you and I had, if ever. Our connection, it was bigger than you or me alone. For me, it was worth taking a chance on."

Jack said nothing for a moment, contemplating what she'd said. At last, he spoke, saying the words she thought she'd never hear from him.

"Are you still willing to take the chance?"

The question was both everything she'd wanted to hear and everything she was afraid to face. She felt herself trembling as she turned her head as well so she could see his profile out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes."

Jack let go of her arm, and they both turned to face each other, an arm's length apart. He studied her, seeming to take in every aspect of her as his eyes swept over her face and down the length of her body. Neither one said a word. But the anger that had been between them a moment ago was gone, replaced by something else. A different tension.

Jack made the first move. His right arm reached up, and he slowly traced the backs of his fingers across her left temple and along her cheek.

Audrey stood perfectly still, knowing how much of an effort it was for him. Knowing she couldn't push him.

His fingers continued down her neck and across her shoulder. They followed the length of her arm until they closed gently around her hip.

He tugged ever so slightly, and she stepped forward, into his space. She noticed that his eyes had settled on her mouth, but still she waited. Slowly, slowly, he leaned forward, until the space between them closed to nothing, and at last pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss was tentative, chaste. He broke away and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Audrey…."

It was a plea, from somewhere deep inside him. She heard the fear in his voice, and understood that he had come as far as he could; that he needed her help.

At last she moved, bringing her hands up to frame his face. She tilted his head up, forcing him to look at her. She held his eyes with hers. She saw the guilt there, and the pain he carried with him always. But Audrey also saw something in those navy depths that she hadn't seen since he'd been taken from her. A flicker of desire. Of hope.

She rubber her thumbs tenderly against his skin.

"Hey. It's okay," she whispered. "It's okay to want this."

Something lifted in him then. She saw him inhale deeply, releasing a long breathe. And this time, when his mouth met hers, the hesitancy was gone. Instead, his lips were demanding, his tongue slipping into her mouth, finding hers. Audrey moaned; it had been so long.

When they finally pulled apart, they were both breathing hard. Her hands on his shoulders, she again pressed her forehead to his.

"I missed you," she said simply. A ghost of a smile played across his lips.

"I love you," he answered.