"Whoa!" said Alyssa, as she flipped the pages of Jake's contract. "This is… thorough."

"I know," said David, and took a sip of his bourbon as he paced around in his office.

"So are you going to do it?" she asked, looking up at her former boss with curiosity.

David shrugged, looking torn. "I don't know yet. Jake certainly knows how to play hardball, I'll give him that."

"He must have something juicy on Leo Burgen if you're even considering this."

David nodded. He had omitted the last page that listed David's "reward" which was Leo Burgen's B-613 file. He didn't want Alyssa finding out about B-613, so he just told her he was promised dirt.

He also felt disturbed, but not surprised that Jake had delved into his personal history enough to know Abby was his weakness.

Meanwhile, Alyssa read some more and let out a low whistle. "He lists some possible… kinks in here, if you're interested," she said, and shook the pages at him.

"Hell no."

"Might be fun."

"Again, hell no."

She smirked and leaned back. "You must really miss Ging, hugh?"

"You know her name's Abby. And yes."

Alyssa crinkled her nose as she looked down through the list again. "Ugh, what's—"

"No idea."

And how do you—"

"Again, no idea."

Alyssa laid the papers down. "So, what exactly would you agree to, if you signed it? Does he get like, a free pass to do whatever he wants?"

David's face suddenly colored. "Not whatever he wants. He gets to do the basics whenever he wants but—"

"That literally tells me nothing!" interrupted Alyssa, exasperated with David vagueness. "Elaborate on "basics" please."

"I'm old enough to be your dad!"

"But you're talking like a timid, little virgin right now," she said. "Seriously! I want some deets!"

"Deets?"

"Details!" said Alyssa impatiently. "Come on! I've seen him in the papers with Olivia. Jake Ballard's sexy as—"

"Okay!" said David, holding up his hands in defeat. "I don't know why you're making me say it, it's right there," he said, pointing to the contract in Alyssa's hand. "You read it yourself."

"But you have to say it," said Alyssa, suddenly looking serious. "David, right now this contract is just an idea, and it's going to stay an idea until you sign it. Then it becomes reality. I don't care how much you want to break up Ging and Leo. I really don't think you're prepared to do the things in this contract. You need to say them out loud. You need to hear yourself say what you're going to agree to."

Looking like a chastised child, David sat down across from Alyssa and didn't meet her eyes.

"We'll have to kiss," he said quietly. "He also gets to sleep in my bed with me. He gets to be affectionate with me me as long as he wants, whenever he wants. But there won't be sex in the contract. He states that he would prefer it, but he also says sex isn't completely essential, and if I can't do it, then there are other ways he can take care of that."

"So basically, Jake can get as touchy-feely as he wants, but no sex?"

"Correct."

"Unless you want it."

"Which I won't. Ever."

Alyssa handed the contract back to David. "He probably thought sex would be too much to ask," she said. "But hey, if you decide to do this, you could do a lot worse than Jake Ballard."

"Well, I'm not into men so I wouldn't know."

"Do you really know that for sure?" Alyssa asked. "What if this ends up going on for a while and you, you know, start liking him? You start missing him when he isn't around, and feeling happy when he is around. That doesn't mean you're suddenly into guys in general, it just means you're into him. That kind of stuff happens a lot more than you might think."

"And you know all of this how, exactly?" asked David skeptically.

"I took a sexuality course in college as a free elective."

"Ah," said David in mock deference. "Forgive me for questioning such an expert."

"Don't be an ass," retorted Alyssa. "I'm just trying to give you honest advice. And another thing," she said. "How do you know Jake's even good for the dirt on Leo?"

"Trust me. He can get it."

"Is Ging really worth all this?"

David looked over at Alyssa as if she were crazy. "Of course she is! I love her. I miss her. I wouldn't even consider doing this if it wasn't for her."

Alyssa sighed. "I just don't think you're being smart about this," she said. "Maybe Ging is happy with Leo. And maybe instead of signing your soul away, you go out, have a good time, go on dates, be slutty. Stuff normal, well-adjusted people do after breaking up."

"This," Alyssa said, holding up the contract, "is a deal with the Devil. If you think you have to do something like this to get her back, then maybe you and Ging should stay broken up."

"You're giving me a lot of mixed messages here," said David flatly. "First you say it might be fun, then you say it's a bad idea, then you say I might end up liking him, and now you're back on "it's a bad idea!" again. Make up your mind!"

Alyssa sighed and slumped back in her chair. "That's because I'm trying to give you a bunch of different perspectives! This whole thing is weird, freaky, odd, deceptive, and shady. But it's also kind of adorable in a very twisted way, so I don't know either!"

"Burgen is a slimeball," said David. "I know Abby. If Leo's done something violent or evil in the past, and I swear on my dog's grave he has, she'll jump ship quick. If I sign the contract and manage to get through this, then I know I'll get Abby back."

Alyssa however, didn't look convinced, and she stood up to leave.

"Look," she said. "I know you're not my boss anymore, but I always thought you were pretty cool… for an old dude. I wouldn't have passed the Bar if it wasn't for you. So I don't want you to do something that's going to get you hurt. Or turn you into a bad guy."

"I'm doing this to protect Abby."

"Uh, no," said Alyssa and she plopped herself back down across from David. "That's the biggest load of BS I've ever heard. You're doing this because you're super jealous. You're a good guy, and I don't want you to turn into a bad one. Jealousy does that, you know. It turns you bad."

"I'm sorry I asked your advice in the first place, because all you did was make me even more conflicted," said David bitterly, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I shouldn't have dragged you away from your job for this crap. Why don't you go, and I'll figure this out on my own."

Alyssa crossed her arms and remained seated. "No," she said stubbornly, and pulled out her phone.

David looked up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find something on Leo for you. Problem solved."

David chuckled. "Alyssa, what Jake has access to is something Google could never even hope of finding."

"Oh yeah?" said Alyssa, and she shoved her phone in David's face. "Because this looks pretty juicy to me."

Frowning, David took Alyssa's phone and read. He handed her phone back after a few moments, suddenly looking gloomy. "I can't use this," he said. "But I appreciate it."

"What?! This is crazy-good dirt! Why the heck can't you use it?!"

"Because I have a strong feeling Abby already knows about this."

David walked through the door of Stephen's old office and Jake glanced up from his desk.

"I read through your contract," said David, and he lightly tossed a folder onto the desk.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "So what did you think?" he asked.

"First of all, you have no idea how to properly draw up a contract, so I created a new version with corrections, as well as what I will and won't do if I even get near the thought of signing this thing."

Jake opened the folder. It took him a few minutes to briefly read through David's corrections.

David fidgeted nervously, wondering if his corrections would anger Jake and set him off. He always felt the younger man was a ticking time bomb right under the surface.

When Jake was finished, he simply nodded, much to David's relief.

"It's doable," Jake said. "So you're sure you're not into anything on the list I had in the original?"

"No," David said swiftly.

"Are you sure? Because—"

"I'm very sure."

Jake shrugged "Okay. I was just curious. Some people are into the funny stuff, but I didn't watch you long enough to know if you were or not."

David just silently stood there with an indignant scowl on his face.

"Well, it looks like this is good to go then," said Jake, and he tapped the folder. "Good work on the rewrite, Rosen."

David folded his arms and lowered his voice. "So how do I know you're good for the file?" he asked quietly. "Doesn't Charlie have them now?"

"Don't worry about the file, I can get it no problem," said Jake confidently. "But I have you until I get Olivia back. Got it?"

"Yeah."

Jake pulled out a pen but David stepped back, suddenly looking scared. "I need to sleep on it," he said, eying the contract nervously.

Tension suddenly flooded the space between them. "And just how long do you plan on sleeping, Rosen?" said Jake quietly, and David recognized the dangerous irritation in Jake's voice. Jake leaned forward and lowered his voice. "I'm barely holding myself together here," he hissed. "I can't wait forever while you flip-flop around!"

David held up his hands, hoping the little gesture of surrender would diffuse Jake's temper. "Give me one day," he said. "I'll be back here tomorrow with my answer," he promised. "I won't wait any longer than that, I swear."

The anger gradually dissipate from Jake's expression as he leaned back in his chair. "Fine," he conceded begrudgingly. "One day."

David left Jake's office and when he opened up the door to leave Pope and Associates, he came face-to-face with Abby.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Looking puzzled.

David glowered. "What are you doing here?" he countered.

His attitude touched a nerve with Abby. "Not that it's any of your business, but Liv is my friend, and I like to visit my friends," she said, and strode past David.

"Just like how you came to my office three weeks ago? Desperate for info on those four arrested senators because the press was, how did you say, 'Eating you alive'?" David asked skeptically.

Abby spun around. "Excuse me?"

"Or," continued David. "Were you really pressing me for info because your boyfriend headed the election campaigns for two of those jailbird senators?"

Abby clenched her fists. "Who do you think you are?" she said, practically growling.

"Someone who will no longer be played like a fool."

"You don't need me to do that," countered Abby. "You were a walking, incompetent joke before the President handed you the Attorney General position."

"Oh don't even think—"

"We're trying to get work done."

David and Abby both stopped and turned towards the sound of Quinn's voice. Huck, Quinn, and Jake were standing a few feet away, quietly watching the argument.

"If you two want to spend all day verbally attacking each other, take it outside," said Quinn, and she turned and left the room.

Huck went over to Abby. "Olivia's not here right now, but I'll let her know you stopped by."

"Thank you, Huck," said Abby, and then turned back to David. The two stared daggers at each other for a few seconds, before David broke away, and walked right back into Jake's office. He yanked the contract towards him, grabbed a pen, and pressed down hard as he signed. He then turned and wordlessly strode out of Pope and Associates.

Abby watched him leave. She waited a few minutes, not wanting to run into him on the way down, before she left as well.

Jake went back into his office and studied the contract. He couldn't help but smile when he saw David's neat, bold signature. But then he felt someone standing in the doorway and he quickly shut the folder.

"What was Rosen doing in here?" Huck asked.

"He forgot something," said Jake. When he sensed Huck was still standing there, he looked up. "Can I help you?"

Huck studied Jake for a few moments before saying a quiet, "No."

Jake put the folder in his desk drawer and locked it. "Before you go, I need you to tell Liv when she gets back that I had to leave early today," he said. "Personal reasons."