After three weeks, Mike was finally able to take Jessica home. He had been out of the hospital for a few days, his hand sewn up with several stitches, though he still missed a couple fingers. Other than that, he looked good as new now. His wounds had healed well, and he had only a small brace on his ankle where there was still a fracture healing.

"Hey there good lookin," he greeted her with a smile. She scowled at him, "Don't even joke about it, Michael." He raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, okay. You look good though, really," he told her sincerely, "As usual," he added flirtatiously. He had already noticed the scars forming on her forehead and side of her face when he had visited her before, but they had faded significantly now, though they were still visible.

When they got home, Mike opened the door for her and helped her out. She leaned against him as he took her inside. She could move fine now, but she was sore from not having used her legs much in the hospital. She sat down on the couch with a dramatic sigh, and he sat next to her, turning toward her. He looked her closely up and down, his head inches from hers.

Jessica merely looked down, away from him, as if she had something to hide. She took a deep breath and sat back on the couch, crossing her legs elegantly, though somehow tiredly as well. "Bring me a drink, Mike?" she looked up at him with a half hearted smile. He nodded and receded into the kitchen. "Two Mike's Hard, coming right up," he called from the kitchen. Of course he had a Mike's Hard.

"I was thinking water, Mike," Jessica replied with attitude in her voice. "Oh. Yeah. That's what I meant," Mike said quietly with a smile—he had no problems admitting his mistakes, though usually with a smile or joke. He brought her a glass and sat it down on the coffee table, then sat down facing her again, smiling at her as she drank. She removed the glass from her lips and looked at him quizzically, judgingly.

"You seem…" he tilted his head, looking for the word, "Older now…" He squeezed her hips firmly, leaning his lips into her neck close to her ear, "It's sexy," he clarified in a confident whisper.

She gave a slight scoff, "I'd say we all gained a few years of maturity up there, if nothing else," she muttered with a hint of sarcasm. "Being almost eaten by a supernatural monster makes things… different." She stared straight ahead of her, "Puts things in perspective…" her voice trailed off.

"Hey," Mike leaned in front of her face, stroked a hand through her hair, "We're all back now, safe and sound."

"Not all of us…" Jessica murmured. Mike hung his head in defeat.

"Are we even… the same people?" she asked absent-mindedly, more thinking out loud than anything.

Mike looked up at her, "Hey. Of course we are. I'm still me," he placed his hands on her upper stomach, drifting upward, "And you're still you," he leaned closer to her, pushing her down on her back.

"No Mike…" Jessica protested, swiping his hands away and crossing her arms, though there was a tiny hint of… regret? Mike sat up, dared not push Jessica, as usual. "Come on, Jess, it's been three weeks…" he muttered, rubbing his arm absently.

She looked at him, "Well I'm sorry if I'm not in the mood, Michael," she said with attitude, lifting her hands in surrender. "I just need some time to get over being dragged through the woods by a monster, is all."

"Hey, guess who came after the man-eating monster—with the unstoppable arsenal of a shotgun and a lantern?" Mike pointed out, with a small smile. Jessica leaned on his chest, giving a quiet, pleased laugh, "Well… that was very… sexy of you," she whispered in an alluring voice herself, tracing circles on his thin undershirt with her nails. Mike made a low noise of pleasure. She leaned up to kiss his lips lightly. He smiled his warm, charming smile when she pulled away. In the moment that she was taken from him, all he was thinking was he had to get her back—it didn't matter how—he just had to get her back; he didn't have time for anything else. But that didn't mean that he wouldn't enjoy every bit of the perks that it got him after the fact.

"I think it's time for a reward, huh?" he whispered lowly in her ear. She smiled at how incredibly sexy he was, but turned away, scooting a few inches away on the couch. "Stop it, Michael," she warned, though in a quieter voice than usual. Mike's eyebrows furrowed. He finally realized something was wrong. "Jess, what's wrong?" he asked, wrapping a hand around her waist.

She crossed her arms and looked away from him. He reached out and gently took her hands, uncrossing them and pulling them toward him slowly, as if trying to unravel her inside and out. Her hands were rough and calloused, and there were scars running down the underside of her arms.

"It's just physical proof that I can never be the same person…" she muttered quietly. Mike pushed her hair back from her forehead, and stroked the small scar there, an odd reaction to Jessica. She shrugged his hand away frustratedly.

Mike gave a quiet chuckle, to which she spun her head around to look at him, eyes narrowed. "See, that's the thing with girls like you. You're beautiful and sexy and you have all the natural gifts, yeah, but… that's not all you are," he said with alarming clarity. He slipped an arm around her waist again, and slowly pulled her toward him. She was too dumbstruck at what he was saying to protest. "You see, I have had some… experience in this area," he raised his eyebrows, pointing out what she already knew, "And you all think guys don't notice. But we do. We're just too simple-minded to complain," he admitted with a shrug. "Do you think I don't see through you, Jess, you think I don't know how you use your looks to get all the things you want?" every word he said was in a loving tone, with a smile. He brushed a piece of long, blond hair behind her ear, "But you have no reason to be so insecure. You're… beautiful inside, too." He slid his hand under her shirt to find the scars hidden there, tracing them softly with his finger. "And now you can show the rest of the world too."

She stared at him the whole time with the same one eyebrow raised expression. She should've been mad at him for having the audacity to say those things to her… But she wasn't. She… needed his words. Because everything he'd said was true, she realized. And she needed him.

She suddenly shrugged out of her shirt as Mike watched approvingly. It was rare for her to be so straight forward. She threw herself onto his lips and he immediately wrapped his arms around her, loving her now more than ever. "And hey. I don't want to hear anything about your scars, okay?" he reminded her with raised eyebrows, lifting his three-fingered hand. "Hey, at least maybe you'll get discount manicures." He stopped trying to figure out whether some of the things she said were jokes or not anymore, and just played along, hoping they were, "Oh girl, you know how I love that acrylic pink nail polish."

She giggled seductively, lowering her head in approval of his sense of humor. He shoved her pants off and his hands began to explore every new inch of skin, every scratch and scar on her smooth legs. He moved his fingers up her body slowly, his touch incredibly appealing, causing noises to escape Jessica's mouth as he smiled against her neck. As much as she was always in control, she had to admit (though only to herself, never to him) he was good. Very good.

She pulled his shirt over his head and began kissing his strong chest, noticing the scratches on his chest as well. She didn't think she'd like scars, but they were the marking of his devotion to her, and nothing else could have been sexier. He pushed her down on the couch and she smiled alluringly up at him as he took command of her, just as she liked.

As he began unfastening her bra, he smirked, "Ohhhh hell yeah…"