"Give me one reason why I should let you live," Jack demanded, still on his guard despite lowering his weapon. If there was one thing he could trust when it came to John Hart, it was that his former partner could not be trusted.

"I already did," John pointed out. "With all those people you've gotten killed, I wouldn't think you'd be too eager to add to your tally."

Jack wasn't in the mood for stall tactics, so he decided it was time to get to the point.

"Tell me why you're here, now," he said, cocking his pistol and aiming it directly between John's eyes, "or I'll blow your head off."

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened last time, I really am," John said earnestly. "That's why I came, to apologize for-"

"Nice try," Jack interrupted, not buying the remorseful act for a second.

"Alright, I heard about what happened with the aliens, and Eye Candy getting offed and all, and I thought I might be able to console you or-"

"Bullshit."

"Because I love you?" John tried, looking at Jack hopefully.

"John, if you don't give me a straight answer by the time I count to three, I swear I'll put a bullet in your brain. One… two… th-"

"Fine," John said hastily. "I was bored. Alright? I was fucking bored."

Jack relaxed slightly and lowered his gun, convinced that John was telling the truth, if not giving him the whole story.

"So, once you convinced me not to shoot you on sight, what was the plan?"

"Well, I thought I'd seduce you with my rakish good looks," John drawled, walking slowly toward Jack, "then we could go back to your place and have a drink," he paused, stopping only inches away from Jack's face. "Or two."

"Just one problem," Jack replied, pushing him back to a more comfortable distance as a movement behind John caught his eye. "Weevil."

John frowned in confusion. "I can't come to your place because you've got a weevil there? Shouldn't those things be in a cell or something?"

"No, weevil!" Jack repeated, pointing to the alien as it scampered into an alley. The two men rushed off in pursuit and discovered that the weevil had not chosen its escape route wisely and was trapped at a dead end, pounding at the brick wall and howling mournfully.

"Got it," John said, swiftly drawing his own gun.

"Wait!" Jack tried to say, but John was already emptying six rounds into the weevil, which fell dead to the ground.

"Damn it, John, we don't kill them. We capture them."

"Oops," John said with a shrug, holstering his weapon.

"Oops?" Jack repeated incredulously. John's blatant lack of concern for regulations, while anticipated and admittedly sexy, could also be frustrating.

"It's not like you've got the facilities for a weevil holding cell, is it?" John observed.

Unwilling to admit that John had a point, Jack let the subject drop and turned to more practical matters. "Here, help me get this body into the dumpster."

"You're just going to dump it?" John asked. "Won't the police-"

"They know when to keep their noses out of other people's business," Jack assured him. "And if there happens to be an investigation, Gwen will take care of it. From what I've heard, she's gotten pretty good at making sure these, uh, unique cases get lost in the paperwork shuffle."

"Oh, don't tell me you're still hanging around with her," John said in dismay. "That uptight, self-righteous bitch-"

"Is letting me stay at her house," Jack cut in. "And unless you want to be sleeping in a cardboard box tonight, you'd better hope she lets you stay too."

"Right," John said slowly as he digested the bit of information. "She's not still mad at me for almost killing her, is she?"


A/N: Sorry for the long hiatus, and the short chapter. More to come very soon. Thanks for the reviews, and pleeeease keep posting them!