Chapter Seven

Steve let Jaime take the lead, since she seemed to have a destination in mind. Several times, he had to force himself not to wrap a protective arm around the woman he'd loved more than any other. He'd assumed she was heading toward the river, but he was wrong. Jaime stopped just inside a grove of trees and seated herself on a large rock. As Steve jumped up next to her, his heart ached when he saw the empty, despondent look in her eyes. He waited, but she stayed silent.

"Should I guess?" he asked gently. "Rough assignment?"

"I'm...not here to work," Jaime finally told him. "Steve, I never went back to California."

"Then why -?" An awful possibility hit him. "Did Rudy find something during your physical?"

"No." Jaime turned to look at him. "Why were you at Headquarters this morning?"

"Oscar needed to see me. He asked if I'd heard from you, if you were alright."

"Really?"

Steve frowned, putting pieces together in his head. "My God...you're the woman that they -"

"...that they what?" Jaime wondered.

Great going, Steve – open mouth, insert both feet. "Never mind. We came here to talk about you, and whatever put that look in your eyes."

"Steve Austin, you know something."

He'd never lied to her before, never could, and Steve struggled to find a truthful answer that wouldn't betray a confidence.

"Steve -"

"You're still in DC because you've been seeing Oscar," he said, very quietly.

"How'd you know that?" Jaime's face paled. "Did something happen to him? Is that why they called you in?"

"No; he's ok. Look, I'll tell you what I can, but I wanna hear about you first. That's the deal – take it or leave it."

Jaime started at the beginning, and once the floodgates were open, it all spilled out: how she and Oscar had both tried to fight their growing interest, the secret meetings whenever they could manage to steal away, the way their feelings had mushroomed in intensity in such a short time and the abrupt way Oscar had broken it off the previous evening. "The Oscar who walked out of that apartment last night isn't the same man I've gotten to know this week," Jaime concluded. "Something happened; something is wrong."
"You're right," Steve conceded.

"Steve, please..."

"Do you love him?"

"It's only been a week...!"

"Which is more than enough time for Jaime Sommers to figure out what her heart is telling her. You forget how well I know you. It's none of my business, if you don't wanna tell me, but I wouldn't ask without an important reason." Steve tried to read Jaime's suddenly stoic face. "So...do you love him?"

"Yes."

Steve nodded and gave her a calm, reassuring smile. "Good." He took Jaime's hand and gently pulled her off the rock. "Let's go."

"But you haven't told me what happened to him!" Jaime protested.

"No, I haven't, because I'm taking you straight to the source. Oscar needs to make this right; he needs to tell you the truth."

- - - - - -

When Steve and Jaime returned to OSI Headquarters, they were stopped at the curb; the building was on lock-down, with flocks of penguin-suited G-men and Secret Service agents swarming everywhere. Instantly, Jaime knew. "Oscar wasn't getting fired – there was some kind of a threat!"

"Worse than that," Steve admitted. "They took an actual shot at him. But -"

"No...!"

"Jaime, he's ok, but that was yesterday. I don't know what's up with the suits."

Jaime stepped forward and started to move between the barriers, toward the building, but Steve grabbed her arm. "Let me; you'll never get past the Fed Squad."

"Watch me."

"Jaime, listen: I've got a special pass. I'll check on Oscar, find out anything I can and then get you in there somehow. In the meantime, wait here." She didn't answer, and Steve could almost see the wheels turning double-time inside her head. "Jaime -"

"What? Yeah, ok – not moving," she lied.

Steve looked at her suspiciously, but there wasn't time to argue. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He flashed the ID he'd been given that morning, entered the building, then punched his emergency code into the elevator and headed for the top floor.

There were four more "penguins" between the elevator and the door to the inner office. Steve held out the ID badge and kept on walking. Oscar was sitting behind his desk with Rudy Wells hovering over him. His shirt was partially unbuttoned and a bandage was visible on his left shoulder. The arm, itself, was in a sling.

Steve was stunned; he hadn't been gone that long. "What happened?"

"They tried again," Oscar said grimly. "I was on my way to a meeting next door, and as soon as I stepped outside -"

Rudy glanced at Steve. "I need to have a look at his X-rays. Keep an eye on him for me, make sure he stays put. As in, off his feet."

Steve nodded. "You got it." Once he and Oscar were alone, Steve closed the inner door. "Probably a good thing Jaime wasn't with you," he said softly.

"Jaime? Why would she -"

"Oscar, I know all about it. I ran into her outside, when I left here earlier. She was...pretty upset."

"Is she ok?" Oscar asked quickly.

"No – she isn't. She's worried, she's hurt and, if I know Jaime – which I do - she's madder than hell that you didn't tell her the truth."

"You told her?" Oscar groaned.

"No. That's your job. You have to talk to her; let her make up her own mind. You owe her that much."

"Where is she now?"

"Outside; she doesn't have a 'penguin pass'." Steve moved to the farthest window, the one that looked out toward the fountain and the front sidewalk. "Dammit, Jaime..." he said softly. Steve was interrupted before he could tell Oscar that Jaime wasn't where he'd left her. The echo of an explosion very nearby shook the building, and while Steve and Oscar got their bearings, the window directly behind Oscar abruptly flew open, and they were no longer alone.

- - - - - -