A/N: Oi, man I've been so out of it lately. I made a few changes to my previous chapters. Nothing too noticeable, just a few grammar and spelling errors. And a few missing words I didn't notice somehow. So the story line's still the same but dudes, I'm starting to think I need a Beta or something. Anyways, let's hope this chapter has less errors then the last.

Fear me, for I am the almighty beta reader! Come to fix your grammer and read the story before you! Bwahahahahaaaa!

Chapter 4

Concerns

Jo sank lower in her seat as the taxi slowed to a stop at the red light, trying to blur the sounds of the traffic around them, yet somehow at the same time remain on guard. That morning she woke up to a very pleasant sensation, one she hadn't experienced in weeks. Meg, during one of her restless dream fits, had somehow wrapped herself around the gunslinger and clung to her, possibly mistaking her for her pillow. Either way, Jo couldn't say she really minded, she sort of took comfort in the gesture, intentional or not.

For the past couple of days, Jo noticed a very discouraging pattern Meg had seem to have taken up. The red-head and the gunslinger had always been close, ever since Meg tried to give her backup after the first time they met. This was no big secret but somehow, Jo had the sneaking suspension that the younger woman was....avoiding her?

Well, not really. It wasn't like Meg left the room when ever Jo walked in. It was something smaller than that. Something more subtle. Subtle to the point that Jo was sure only she would notice it.

Recently, the red head had been....distant. Almost as if something inside the younger woman was shifting itself away from her. Given the way Meg had always been with Jo, close, clingy, and with a certain understanding of the gunslinger's works, she had come to realize a slightly disturbing shift in the younger woman's reaction to her.

Sure, Meg wasn't spending any less time with her than normal, in fact they were around each other more than usual if that was even possible. The red head actually sat though an entire "Fright night movie" marathon without taking a short break between each movie to calm down as she normally did when she attempted such things. Jo was aware of how frightened the younger woman got during these viewings but not once did Meg cling to her as she usually did. Not that she wasn't scared. Jo could see her jump and shake with fear each time the villain popped out from the corner of her eye. Those kind of reserves were the beginning of the gunslinger's suspensions.

One day Jo decided to act upon her thought. It was while they sat down for lunch, Meg sat across the table from her, still close but not touching. That seemed to be where the problem started. Not touching. Gradually the gunslinger became aware that the younger woman had stopped touching her. In fact, not once since her return from her absence had Meg consciously touched her. No holding hands, no arm glomps, hell, not even a brief brush in the hallway. It was as if she did so intentionally. It was at this point Jo decided to test her theory.

The gunslinger waited until the best possible moment before reaching over to grab the ketchup ,as if she was going to use it, and accidentally grabbing Meg's hand instead, who just so happened to be reaching for it at the same time she was. Unfortunately Meg, subtly, but still too quickly for her liking, slipped her hand out from under Jo's.

To the on-lookers in the trailer, it appeared as if their hands just bumped each other's and Meg let her use the ketchup first, but Jo felt differently.

She wasn't sure what to think of it. Though Meg might have been avoiding contact with her for some unknown reason, it didn't stop her from sleeping in the same bed they shared. Sometimes, Jo would just sleep on the couch if Meg was already asleep, or if she looked like she wanted to sleep alone for once, but since they met in the harbor there had been no such case. Oddly enough, during her sleep seemed to be the only time Meg did touch her, though most of it was accidental.

That was also another thing Jo noticed; Meg's sleeping pattern. The red-head's sleep recently had been restless. It wasn't unusual now for the younger woman to babble incoherently, or to toss and turn while dreaming. There had been a couple of occasions were Jo woke up because Meg violently kicked her or was nuzzling her neck.

This brought another issue to light. Meg wasn't exactly an early bird. Nor was she a night owl either. Yet lately you'd be lucky if you could wake her before noon. She slept like a rock in the mornings despite her restless nights. It used to be every blue moon that Jo would wake up before Meg did but now.....Well to be honest it still didn't happen very often. They just both slept in until Meg finally arose herself or someone came in to wake them.

Which brought her to the point where she was now. After waking up before Meg, savoring her unconscious affection, at around one in the afternoon, Sei had knocked on their door. Gently untangling herself so not to wake the sleeping redhead, she answered it.

She could see the older woman was surprised that she was the one answering the door for a change, but didn't comment on it. Instead Sei told her she had an emergency meeting with Bai Lan and needed someone to go with Amy to pick up some new upgrades, since it was proven last time she went shopping in that part of town that it was dangerous and taking Kyohei was just as effective as letting her go by herself in her opinion.

Not wanting to put Meg in anymore potentially dangerous situations, she volunteered. She was pretty sure Sei knew she would feel that way and used it to her advantage. A few grueling hours later, finding out the market Amy heard rumors about that sold her precious upgrades had moved to another location on the other side of town, the sun had gone down and Jo was still shopping with the little girl determined to get what she wanted, and wasn't going back without it.

The gunslinger had half a mind to just sling the computer wiz over her shoulder and tell her to suck it up so they could return back to the trailer. For some reason she didn't though, and decided to use this time to figure out what she was going to do with Meg, or if there was anything she could do, and if there was anything she really needed to fix. For all she knew, she could be looking too far into this and imagining things. It could just be a phase or something. Either way the gunslinger mulled over several possibilities and situations that could fix or have possibly led to this. Many of them weren't very pleasant.

At one point Jo briefly attempted to tell herself that Meg was just fine. She's probably just waiting around for her to come home and that everything would work itself out in time. Of course that thought didn't last very long either.

-----

Though at that moment, Jo couldn't have known how wrong that brief thought was. At that precise moment, Meg was in a full on run and desperately trying to pick up enough speed to scale the large wall coming up in front of her. Sure, she could have gone around it (if she wanted to add another three blocks to her trip) but right now she just didn't have the time.

'What on earth could that damn crazy woman want from me now?' The red-head grumbled as she pulled herself over the wall. And to think the day started off so well. Well, not really. That would've been a lie.

Waking up to an empty trailer was in itself a rude wakening. Meg was on the verge of a panic when she found a note explaining everyone's absence. After that she didn't really mind. It was almost dinner time and Kyohei's presence ensured that she wasn't alone for long. Seeing that she'd slept most of the day away worried her a little. It was just one of many things she would have to ask about later when she had the chance.

About an hour into her conversation with the young cook, her phone rang and "demanded her immediate presence." (Her words, not Meg's.) After that the red head stormed out of the trailer like hell was on her heels. She hoped Kyohei didn't mind too much. In fact, he didn't think anything of it at all. He just though the person Meg spoke with must have been Sei or Amy. As far as he knew Jo didn't like cell phones, but that was beside the point.

Huffing and puffing, Meg continued her sprint up several flights of stairs to gain access to the roof. (It was necessary to reach the meeting place.) Meg didn't understand why the woman picked such a strange place to meet. Then again it wasn't very strange for her. In fact, Meg almost expected this even in the short time she had known her.

Reaching the top, the red head kicked the door open to the roof, mainly because she didn't have the time to slow down and mess with the rusty lock that looked like it was ready to crumble anyway. The person Meg was running to meet wasn't a very patient woman. The longer she kept her waiting the longer... she dreaded to think about it.

Meg's chest began to burn just as she realized she would have to jump from rooftop to rooftop to reach her goal.

'She did this a purpose. She picked this place to make things harder for me. I just know it.' The red head would have whined but she figured she'd better save the breathe she still had left.

The jump wasn't that bad , she had to admit. Only 2 to 3 feet between each building, nothing too difficult. If only she didn't have to cover so many. Jumping over another gap, Meg tried to recall why, exactly, she always did what this crazy woman asked of her.

But then she remembered. The answer was more simple then she would have liked, but it was obvious.

Because she had too.

Then Meg began to panic. The gaps she was jumping were getting bigger.

'Almost there. Almost there.' She chanted to herself to keep moving. 'Just one more now. I'm sure of it.'

Fear found itself present in the back of her mind. The last jump between the two buildings were much bigger then the others. A good five feet she would have guessed. She would have prayed but she barely had enough air left to wheeze, let alone speak.

Crap, she didn't have time to catch her breath, and she couldn't possibly slow down. It was too late for that anyway. Her lungs burned as she pushed the last of her strength into picking up more speed. She only hoped it was enough.

She jumped!

Half way across the gap, it became apparent that it wasn't enough. She was a little short. Just before the landing, the tip of Meg's boot caught the edge of the building and sent her tumbling. Ultimately causing her to face plant on the roof's floor before skidding the rest of the way on her nose.

When she finally stopped, she made no move to get up. Ignoring the pain to her face, she tried desperately to catch her breath.

If she had more uses of her lungs she would have laughed. She made it in one piece. Her self-proclaimed victory however, was short lived. The sharp click of someone's heel against gravel made the younger woman aware that she wasn't alone, but once again she made no attempt to move, not even to see who it was. Why should she anyway?

She already knew who it was after all.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger guys. I'm just so tired. I figured I made you wait long enough for this but after I finished those stupid research papers, all I want to do is sleep. I'll see if I can finish the next chapter tomorrow. No promises.