What a blast from the past for Jared!

Everyone stared at the girl who was wide eyed in shock. She stammered out, "Did...did you...did… did you call him Jared?" She looked at him and suddenly clapped her hand over her mouth. "It is you! What? How? I thought you were dead!"

Raymond shook his head and explained in a no nonsense manner, "Not at all. He's been Phoenix's slave for the last ten years. I just happened to find out you were connected to him. You used to be his girlfriend, right? And you moved to Paris several years ago. I thought since we were all here anyway, you might as well… reconnect."

Cynthia was still trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying. "A...slave? He...he's been….oh merde." She took a calming breath. Finally she asked, "Is he free?"

"No," was the sharp answer from Phoenix, and her hand tightened on her slave's shoulder. He flinched but otherwise didn't move, except to drop his eyes to the floor again.

Tony bit his lip and found himself saying, "I'll free him."

Now it was his turn to be stared at. He glanced around at everyone, and tried to explain in an embarrassed tone, "I mean...if Chris can do it for Sam...and it looks like he will, then I can do it for Jared. Only fair. Ma'am." He tacked on the last word, trying to be respectful.

Phoenix snapped, "You do realize you are talking about one of my best slaves, right? Why the hell would you do that?"

"Tony." Gibbs was quiet but authoritative. He was just as surprised as everyone else that Tony would try to do this. But it wasn't Dinozzo's place. "Don't do that. That's not your job. That's mine."

Dinozzo merely snapped back, "Well, you might have known him longer than me. That's true. But you haven't done the things that I have. And you are never doing them. That's something I promised myself."

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." Phoenix snarled to the bickering agents. Jared looked like he would like to sink through the floor at her tone. She shook her head, "We'll have to discuss that later. Right now, I would like to talk to Reddington. Alone."

Raymond nodded and gestured to a nearby room, "And Cynthia and Jared can talk in there, if that is alright with you, Phoenix."

The woman sighed and looked at the kneeling slave. Finally she shook her head yes, and stood up. Raymond offered her his arm, and she took it. Before they left, she told the others, "If you want to go, you can. If you want to stay and talk further about everything, you can. I am not holding you here."

Jared slowly got up and flicked his eyes on Gibbs, who gave an encouraging nod, then followed his former girlfriend with trepidation. As soon as they were alone and the door shut, he dropped to his knees and kept his eyes on the floor. Cynthia stared at him with tears misting her eyes. It had been so long. So long. And now he was here. Alive. But broken and shattered.

The silence stretched between them endlessly. Finally she whispered, "I loved the flowers."

Startled, Jared looked up at her briefly before looking away again. He blinked, struggling to remember. "The...flowers?"

"The ones you got me. To apologize to me with. They were beautiful. The flowers were...still in the car. They...gave them to me. My name was on them. I still have some of those buds. I...missed you so much."

Jared stirred uncomfortably, but asked softly, "What were we fighting about?"

Cynthia smiled and sat on the floor with Jared, laying a hand on his shoulder. She put it in her lap instead when he flinched. "It was nothing really important. I'd already forgiven you at that point. I just wanted to see how you were going to make it up. Those flowers...definitely fit the bill."

Without looking at her, Jared sucked in a breath. There had been too much stuff that had happened since that day. And all of it bad. "Did you...move on?"

"Oh Jared." She sighed and thought back on the last ten years. She scooted closer to him, tucking her feet under hers. It was strange being on the floor, but if he was more comfortable that way, then so be it. She was honest, "I did. I tried. Two years after you...left...I met a wonderful man. I married him. But we divorced. I...never forgot you. I couldn't forget you. You were my love. When we were together, if you had asked me to marry you, I'd have said yes. But you were taken from me far too soon. He understood. He tried, he really did. And I wanted to forget you...it was too painful. But in the end, it wasn't fair to him. We're still friends, and we're okay with that. But I love you. I always did."

Jared bit his lip. He couldn't deal with this. Not now. Not when he didn't know if he'd be free. Not when...he shut his thoughts off and clenched his fists a bit. He flinched again when Cynthia laid her hand on his, but she didn't move this time. "Baby? Talk to me. What's going through your mind right now?"

"Don't do this, Cynthia." Jared started to say. He stopped, but she waited for him, knowing instinctively that he would need time to form his thoughts. Finally he tried again, "You don't want me. Not like this. I'm just...broken."

Cynthia raised his chin gently to meet her eyes and told him, "Honey, if she freed you, and she just might...I'll still want you. Always."

He shook his head at that, saying, "Cyn...I...it…" he blew a breath in frustration at himself. He finally make himself say, "The last ten years have been absolute hell. I haven't been on a bed in all that time without being raped out of my mind. I haven't been allowed on furniture, and I'm scared to do it now. The last time was at my parents' house...and...I was terrified. I'm used to being beaten up. Cursed at. Strung up and flogged. Doing your bidding as soon as you ask. Going to sleep on a hard floor. I'm scared of contact. Scared of being kissed. Scared of what you're doing right now."

The woman looked at her hand on his and then looked up at him. "It's okay. I won't hurt you. I promise."

Bluntly, Jared said, "I don't love you, Cynthia."

She inhaled a deep breath, but calmly replied, "I know. I know you don't. Why would you love anyone right now? After everything? How could you? But, Jared, I'm okay with that. I'm willing to do the loving for both of us."

He remained silent. He had hoped for so long that his hope had died in him, with nothing to feed it. It was too much. It had been too long. Too hard.

Cynthia was happy to just sit with him. She didn't know everything that had happened to him, but what he had said was plenty. She looked more closely at him now. She saw the silver collar circling his neck. The scars on his wrists. Suddenly curious and wanting to know, she asked, "Can I...see?"

Jared didn't say a word but stood up and stripped his shirt off. He would have done more if Cynthia hadn't hurriedly said, "Hey stop. What are you doing?"

Confused, he still had his fingers hooked on his pants and stared at her. "Um...didn't you want me to strip?"

Now she knew. Cynthia went scarlet as she realized what had been hammered in Jared's brain. Shaking her head wildly, she exclaimed, "What? No! I only asked if I could see beyond your sleeves. Which I guess would be your shirt off. Nothing more. Nothing sexual. That's all." Her mind was blown by this. If he was willing to be naked at a simple question without even answering it...

Jared sighed but stood up tall, eyes facing forward, hands relaxed at his side. It was a practiced move, the same one he would have used even if he had stripped all the way. He only waited for her to look at him. He tried not to flinch as her fingers explored the heavy scarring on his back. Tried to tune out the gasps of shock and the sound of her breath hitching as she tried not to cry. Jared was relieved though. She didn't want him in that way. Then why did she still want him? Could it be possible she still loved him?

He tried to remember back to the way he had been before that fateful day. It was difficult. He had lost so much. He had lost his freedom. His friends and family. His brother. That humourous, carefree side to himself. When had he truly laughed last? Perhaps when he thought he had been free last time. Maybe not. He wasn't sure. It had been too long.

Cynthia went around to the back of him after taking a shocked glance at his front. He was thinner than she remembered. And now she clapped a hand over her mouth again. He was so… scarred. It was a terrible image to her eyes. She reached out hesitantly to touch a particularly deep one, and noted that now Jared didn't flinch, but held still. Obviously he had had this done too often to him. Circling around she noted the blank look on his face.

"Jared…" she started to say. She wasn't sure what to do. What to say. She wanted nothing more than to just wrap her arms around the man she loved and kiss him to make all his troubles go away. But she knew...and that killed her… that this move would be the worst thing possible. Jared hadn't known comfort by any of the usual means. If she was able to get him, she'd have to find a way to comfort him without scaring him. There must be something she could do. Even music or food or something along those lines. It'd be slow going, but worth it. He had been caged physically for a decade, but the mental cages would be harder to pull down. "Put your shirt on," she told him tiredly.

Jared instantly obeyed then dropped to his knees. Cynthia watched in despair and want to reassure him. Finally she thought a moment. Where would he have been touched the least? She'd seen Phoenix touch his hair, so that was out. Cocking her head, she had an idea. "Can you sit down?"

Confused, Jared obeyed anyway. His bare feet were in front of him as he changed position. Cynthia came and stroked them, watching carefully. He looked puzzled but didn't say anything. She continued and then picked one up and started massaging it. Now Jared was really confused, but at the same time...it actually felt good. He was still suspicious but he couldn't think of any reason Cyn would hurt him. Still, she was female, so she bore watching. But he relaxed slightly. It did feel nice. That confused him. It wasn't supposed to feel nice! Or was it? Jared was most relaxed when he was alone. No one touching in any manner. No one saying trash to him. No one's eyes running up and down his frame and it was obvious what they wanted. No one swinging a whip to slash hot pain across his back. Just alone. It was safe alone.

But Cyn… what was this? She wasn't talking. Only touching his feet. And it felt good. Was there a motive? Or was she just being nice? He didn't know anymore. He wanted to feel safe, and she was making him feel safe, somewhat. He was still wary but not in the pressing danger he constantly felt with Phoenix. Cynthia was just...Cynthia.

Finally a knock on the door and both of them were up in an instant. Dembe poked his head in and nodded. He was always a man of few words and simply stated, "They're ready for you."