Disclaimer: I do not own Blindspot. More like it's the other way around… I've come to realize that THEY own ME. :)

A/N: I know, I know, it's been almost as long as last time since I updated this story. MONTHS. Still the same reason – plugging away at my book. I'm so excited to release those characters out into the world. Anyway, once again I promise to try harder not to make you guys wait for updates on both this story and Too Perfect. The second half of season three has definitely made my two current fics, both set so far behind where the show is now, feel calm and happy and simple. A nice escape.

This chapter is set in 106, which I used to think was angsty… but even that feels "Jellery" compared to 310 a few weeks back, and the few episodes since then. Generally I prefer to add in my own scenes in this story, but because they were so unfriendly to each other in most of 106, and I'm disinclined to write more unfriendliness after seeing so much lately, I moved through this episode pretty quickly. So 106 won't get multiple chapters, like the others have so far (thus the reason this is chapter 45 and it's only episode 106!). I could at least give it a cuter ending. :) Anyway, hope you enjoy it, innocent angst and all.

She laid in bed for a very long time before she even felt sleepy. She couldn't get her mind to stop spinning over what had happened with Kurt just a little while ago, right there in her living room. It had happened so fast, and then suddenly he was gone.

Going over and over it in her mind, she tried to break it down into smaller parts. He'd come in to check her new place, he'd said. To reassure himself. Emotions had run high for both of them, as it seemed like they did so often. She could still see him standing there in front of her, staring at her intensely, and she imagined that the way she'd stared back at him had probably been just as intense. He'd crossed the room as though he was going to the door, but then he had turned around. It had been clear that there was something on his mind.

That was when he'd acknowledged that he'd had unfair expectations of her. In one way, it was a relief to her that he could see that now, after she'd carried the guilt of not being able to be the Taylor he remembered. She had tried, and failed, to explain how it felt, and she was glad that he had finally understood. Even though it had only been a few days that she'd felt the weight of them, those days filled almost her entire memory. To her, it was almost her whole life.

But he hadn't stopped there, seeming determined to shoulder all of the blame himself. He'd even apologized for letting "them" take her, all those years ago. She'd known that he blamed himself for what happened that night, but seeing the pain on his face was something different. Even though she had been the victim, at that moment she had needed to console him.

Although she'd told him that it wasn't his fault, it didn't seem like he had believed her. The way his voice caught when he said that he'd been told all his life that it wasn't his fault, and the look on his face made it clear to her that this was going to be something that he might never be talked out of. After all, in a way she had been the lucky one. Sure, she'd lost her entire life, but he'd had twenty-five years to blame himself. It was hard to say which alternative was better – no past, or a lifetime of guilt?

She had no idea if it was even possible to reverse the damage that that would have done to him. Considering that she had no concept of how long it would feel to go through even one year, the idea of twenty-five years was simply inconceivable to her.

If she had to identify when the change in him had occurred, thinking back, it was after she'd taken his hand and put it over her own heart. It was the same reassurance that he'd given her back at the FBI, and it had calmed her down at least enough to breathe. She hoped that it would do the same for him. The more she learned about herself, about him, and about their pasts, the more it made sense. She was who she was in large part because of him, and their interwoven lives.

Maybe it was too much too fast, she thought.

Except that things between them had been intense ever since she'd met him. It had only been a few days, but it wasn't as though this was the first heavy moment that they'd shared. Far from it.

There was a difference this time, however. All of the other times when emotions had run high between them, she had been the one breaking down, or close to it, and he had been the one to pull her back. This time, he had been the one barely holding on – or he had looked like it – and she'd been the one to reassure him. And maybe that was what had scared him. Jane couldn't say for certain that that was it, but one of the few things that she knew well already was that it was scary not to be in control of your own emotions.

"You… You're my starting point."

She didn't regret the words, she just wished that she'd known the effect that they would have had on him. Not that she knew what she would have done differently but…

Maybe if I'd said it differently.

She wondered if there was a way that she could have expressed what she was feeling that wouldn't have made him run. It was impossible to say, of course.

The next second he had said good night and was moving toward the door with surprising speed. He'd been spooked – she had watched it happen. She just wasn't quite sure why. Not remembering anything about personal interactions from before, she didn't really know what to make of any of it. All she knew was that she felt unsettled. She'd been trying to be reassuring, but it didn't seem to have worked.

Then again, his behavior shouldn't have surprised her. He was the lead agent on her case – it was his job to unravel the mess that she had found herself in. And yet at the same time, he was a part of the mystery. That had to be confusing to him.

So far, he was the only person who could tell her anything about her past. He couldn't fill in the gaping hole of the missing twenty-five years, but at least he could tell her something about herself. Even having that much of her life back was a relief. It wasn't enough, of course, but it was something. Which was why it made sense that he was her starting point.

She had been in a constant state of agitation for as long as she could remember, but now she felt even more uncertain that usual, having no actual experience to draw from. And so she stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours before her eyelids even began to feel heavy. If only she could quiet her thoughts, she'd have a chance at sleeping.

What felt like only minutes later, she was jolted awake. Now she was disoriented, and her heart was beating wildly.

What just happened?

It had felt so very real, but it had been a dream. Was there a connection between her tangled thoughts of Kurt before she'd fallen asleep and her dream that had been so intimate? Did she want there to be a connection?

"You think it's Weller?" she asked Dr. Borden later, at the FBI.

"You said it, not me."

As if she didn't have enough to think about, now she had this to analyze. It could have been anyone in her dream. It could have been someone she'd known before. It could have been no one, simply a made up person, a figment of her very confused imagination. Or… it could have been him.

But how could something that was only a dream feel that real? If I didn't know for sure that it was a dream, I would have sworn that it actually happened last night, then and there.

Maybe it had been real, something from her past, and maybe it hadn't. That was the worst part. The fact that she couldn't distinguish between a dream and a memory was maddening. She'd had little enough certainty before, and now she had even less. Never mind the fact that she didn't know which she wanted it to be…

For a split second the night before, she had wondered if Kurt was going to kiss her, and she hadn't even been sure how she felt about that. This… well, this was far beyond a kiss.

But you don't hate the idea that it could have been him, the voice in her head mused. She refused to answer the voice, not knowing one way or the other what to think.

Suffice it to say that today she was even more confused than she'd been the day before, though she hadn't thought that that was possible. She'd been so preoccupied that morning with thinking about the previous night and her dream, that she hadn't even thought ahead to what it would be like to see him, and whether it would be awkward.

That question was quickly answered as soon as he walked into the locker room.

It was awkward. Very awkward.

However, strangely enough, it wasn't awkward in the way that she would have expected.

After an exchange of uncomfortable greetings from each of them, he immediately proceeded to correct her holster position. Unlike the night before, there was no warmth in his voice, and she was certain that her surprise showed on her face. Yes, Dr. Borden had told her that morning that maybe she should try to keep her interactions with him to a professional context, but what had caused the sudden change in him? The only thing that she could think of was that she had been right, he had indeed been spooked by whatever had happened between them the night before.

Considering you want clearer boundaries, it may be a good thing that he's laying off the puppy dog eyes, she told herself. Of course, it would have been nice if he hadn't felt like he had to be such a jerk about it.

"You ready?" he asked her gruffly. They were about to head out to investigate the lead they'd just gotten on their latest tattoo case, and hopefully pick up the hacker who had designed Trakzer, an app that could track any government vehicle. She'd been standing off to the side of the screens room, trying to keep a low profile and stay out of the way while he'd been in Mayfair's office for what looked like a tense conversation. After their last interaction about something as simple as her holster position, keeping to herself seemed like an attractive option.

"Oh, yeah," she replied, turning to look at him as he glanced at her quickly, appearing to assess her for anything else she might be doing wrong. His accusatory glare made her feel as though she should defend herself, and the look in his eyes faded only when he seemed to be satisfied that her gear was all worn correctly.

She couldn't help but think that what he was doing wasn't fair. She wasn't an FBI agent, she hadn't received their extensive training, and she had only a few days' worth of memories. But fair or not, considering the mood that he was clearly still in, it might be better not to be confrontational this time.

I wanted boundaries, but I don't think is what I meant, she thought. Boundaries don't have to mean hostility, do they? She would have to discuss the difference with Dr. Borden, and see if there was something that she was interpreting. It didn't seem like the two had to go together, but then again, what did she know? When it came down to it, almost nothing.

She consoled herself with the small comfort that he was treating the entire team with a frosty reserve, not just her. He was clearly focused on the mission, which was, of course, as it should be. Since he wasn't any nicer to anyone else on the team, she decided that maybe she shouldn't take it personally. It still stung, of course, when she compared the night before with her current reality, but at the same time, that had been overwhelming in a different way. No matter how she tried to think about it, it all felt like too much.

As usual, she found herself seated next to Kurt in the SUV. As they made their way to the building where the hacker allegedly lived, her thoughts flashed back to the night before, and once again, she was overpowered by the intimacy of her dream. Even though she didn't know who it had been, at that moment it was easiest to fill it in with him. For obvious reasons, this felt wildly inappropriate – and yet… also confusingly right at the same time. It was a relief to push those thoughts back out of her head and focus on what was going on around her.

When they arrived on the scene and got ready to move in, she was surprised when Kurt said that he wanted her following just behind him. Reade and Zapata followed behind her as they went up the stairs, as they had been instructed. On one hand, she was glad not to have been told to stay in the car, and she supposed that she should count have counted that as progress. On the other hand, she wasn't sure if he kept her close because he had faith in her despite whatever was going on between them, or because he didn't have faith in her and wanted to keep an eye on her.

This need to second guess every thought she had was exhausting, but she couldn't seem to stop.

The day didn't get easier when they brought Ana Montes in for questioning, either. The girl refused to talk to Zapata, and even though she knew that she probably shouldn't, she couldn't resist the urge to try to get through to her. Kurt wasn't going to be happy with her, but then again, Kurt wasn't happy with her anyway. If she could help them get answers, then Kurt being a little extra annoyed was worth it.

At first, Ana was just as cold with Jane as she had been with Zapata. But then something happened. Somehow, Jane got through to her, and for a few minutes, Ana was actually talking to her. It felt good to know that her instinct – that she could connect with this girl – had been right. Of course, the girl closed up again quickly, and that was when Jane heard footsteps behind her.

Glancing over at Kurt as he walked in, the split second look on his face said it all. She was going to hear about the fact that she'd let herself into the interrogation room, even though she had managed to get Ana talking. It was only a matter of time.

It took longer than she'd expected for him to confront her – a few hours, it turned out. What information they were able to get from Ana helped them form a plan to get control of Trakzer back, and that took precedence. Reade and Zapata were put in place as utility workers, prepared to extract Sean Palmer from his fortified smart house, and Patterson was getting the video link of the house's interior up for them to monitor. That left Jane and Kurt alone in the surveillance van, and Jane knew that it was only a matter of time.

The whole time they'd been in the van together, Kurt had been just as brusque with her as he'd been all day, if not more so. In a way, she wished that he'd just get it over with so that she could stop anticipating how and when and where the rebuke was going to come. And then, as soon as Reade and Zapata reported that they were in place, and while they were still waiting for the op to start, Kurt started the conversation.

It didn't take long for him to get to the root of the problem, even though he started by telling her she shouldn't have been talking to Ana. Of course, his frustration with her wasn't about Ana and she knew it, though she wondered if he did.

"In this job, you have to remain objective," he insisted.

"Really? Is that what you've done with me?" she replied without hesitation. "Stayed objective?" They stared at each other hard for a few seconds, fire in both of their eyes.

"I'm working on it," he grumbled, turning away.

Is it really impossible for objective and compassionate to overlap? she wondered. Is this how it's going to be going forward?

The thought was disheartening. She liked to think that those first few days when he'd actually shown her surprising amounts of kindness hadn't been the only sympathy she was going to get from him.

Maybe he doesn't know how to do this any better than you do, she wondered.

Of course, that could be just an excuse, an 'out' she was giving him.

Or you could be giving him the benefit of the doubt because right now you're doing exactly what you just did with Ana, a voice in her head suggested. You're showing him empathy and compassion. You understand better than anyone how much this whole thing has affected him, after all. You have no concept of twenty-five years of course, but you can see how hard this has been for him as well. It's crazy to think about, but maybe your lack of memories means you can handle all this better than he can.

Maybe, she conceded. She'd been half listening to Patterson, who'd just gotten the video feed working, and now she turned her attention to the case. There would be time for all this later. All of the empty, silent time at her safe house.

The team got Trakzer offline, and breathed a sigh of relief that they and other government agents were safe again. Ana hadn't known that her software had gone to criminals, so she wasn't in any real trouble. Jane had made one more attempt to connect with the young girl before she'd left, and that attempt was met with hesitation, to put it nicely. And then Ana was gone, and Jane was left to her thoughts.

Unfortunately, her ability to give Kurt the benefit of the doubt didn't help her feel better when he pulled her aside almost immediately after Ana left and scolded her for once again showing Ana compassion.

She certainly hadn't meant to tell him anything about the way she was feeling, but apparently she couldn't hold it in. To her surprise, when she vocalized the reason she was trying to engage Ana, the words she heard coming out of her mouth also described herself.

"She is completely alone in this world, and she needs something in her life other than her work."

She could see that Kurt was just as surprised as she was. This was another point where suddenly, something in him changed. For the first time that day, there was a hint of kindness in his eyes.

"Jane… Jane, if you ever want to come and have a drink with the team—"

Up until today, this was probably something that she would have embraced wholeheartedly, but now… she reacted without letting him finish his sentence, not even wanting to hear the rest of it. It was a nice gesture, but it wouldn't help. Not the way things stood anymore.

"No, I... It's a little hard to relax when everybody at the table has been staring at photos of your tattooed body, all day."

He suggested that she could hang out with Sarah, but that didn't seem any better to her. No, his sister was enough a part of the whole mess to make Jane uncomfortable, at least just then, and at the same time not enough a part of it. What it came down to, as far as Jane was concerned, was that she just couldn't win.

Now he was looking at her – and maybe really seeing her for the first time that day. In a way, that was a relief. It was just a shame he couldn't have been more concerned about her that morning, instead of being so… "objective," or whatever he wanted to call it, all day long. Now everything was just… a mess, and she no longer felt like she had anyone to turn to. She'd had him for that before, and now all of a sudden, he'd become a different person.

I don't know what I want. From him or myself or anyone else, she lamented.

"I need room to breathe," she told him. It was the only way she could explain it. It was the truth, and yet… putting space between them didn't feel right either. Nothing did.

She wasn't scheduled to see Dr. Borden again that day, but somehow she found herself outside his office, in the familiar waiting area. The door was open, and he looked up when he saw her. "Jane," he said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh, no. Nothing," she assured him quickly, turning to go. She really didn't know why she'd ended up down this way.

"You look like something's on your mind. Did you want to talk about it? I'm happy to be a sounding board, if you like."

When he put it that way, it did sound like a good idea… And besides, she had no one else to talk to.

With a shrug and a slight nod, she turned back towards his door and walked in slowly. Dr. Borden stood up from behind his desk and walked across the room to close the door behind her, then joined her in the sitting area in the middle of the room.

She tried to explain things to Dr. Borden, even though it was all tangled up in her head.

"Setting boundaries is challenging," he observed.

That may be the understatement of the year, she thought.

She had to double check that Dr. Borden hadn't said anything to Kurt about their earlier conversation, just for her own piece of mind, but Borden assured her that he had not. The timing was simply too coincidental – the fact that he was pushing her away had to be his reaction to what had happened the night before, just as her confusion was.

"He's pushing me away," she told Borden.

"And that upsets you?" he asked in reply.

Now that she thought about it, she saw what should have been obvious. She'd been walking around all day with an unsettled feeling, but hadn't actually realized that the fact that he was pushing her away had upset her. Now that she did, she wasn't quite sure what to do with it.

"Perhaps Agent Weller is feeling the same need for boundaries," Borden suggested.

However, before she could form a response to his suggestion, they were interrupted by a loud pounding on the door. Only a second later it slid open on its own, revealing Kurt.

Or perhaps not, Jane thought, amazed that he had just burst into Dr. Borden's office, and wondering how he had managed to appear at exactly the second they were talking about him. But there was no time to wonder about that.

"Sorry to interrupt. Patterson needs to see us right now."

"Oh, ok," Jane replied, glancing at Dr. Borden. He simply smiled at her evenly, his face revealing no feeling either way about what was going on.

"We can pick this up again later, if you like," he offered. "Or I'll just see you next time."

"Okay, uh, thanks," she told him unsurely, slightly thrown off by Kurt's sudden appearance and the way he was watching her intently as he waited her for her to follow him. She was on her feet now, walking towards him in the doorway. His expression was still just as intense as it had been when the door had opened. He stepped out of the way as she exited, and they started down the hall together towards Patterson's lab. The tension between them was obvious.

"Sorry," he mumbled gruffly, not specifying exactly what he was sorry for. His eyes stayed forward, not even glancing at her once – it was clear that he much more than just a little bit uncomfortable.

"That's okay," she mumbled back, her body language matching his – stiff and uncomfortable, but glancing at him anyway.

They walked the rest of the way to Patterson's lab in silence, neither knowing what they wanted to say, if anything, and instead choosing to say nothing.

When they found out from Patterson that Ana was in danger, tensions ran even higher. Even so, somehow that seemed to thaw the chill between the two of them slightly. While there were still no extra words exchanged between them, when they had located Reade and Zapata and the team had quickly suited up and headed for the teenager's apartment, things felt more normal.

On her few trips into the field with the team, there had always been tension. Their work was important, and lives were usually at stake, so tension was normal. This tension felt like the other times, and the familiarity of it actually helped to smooth things out between the two of them. There was more normal work tension, and less personal tension, and it was a relief.

There was no one at Ana's apartment. Whatever they'd been doing there, they'd finished doing it and moved on. However, Ana had left them the VIN number of the truck that the criminals who'd taken her were tracking, so the team set off in pursuit.

By this point, Jane had almost forgotten her discomfort with Kurt. When they loaded into the SUV, she climbed into the closest available door, and was unfazed when she ended up in the back seat beside him. At that moment she was far more worried about Ana and what the drug runners would do to her than she was about any awkwardness.

While en route, Patterson had notified them that the missing vehicle was full of weapons, and that contact with the drivers had been lost. Things were looking worse and worse as they raced to get there in time. Jane, who was not yet experienced in this type of situation, was now sick with worry for the young girl with whom she'd identified so strongly. She didn't care if Kurt reprimanded her for it again, there was simply nothing she could do at that moment to stop herself from feeling twisted up inside over it.

How does he does this? she wondered. And not just a few times. How do any of them do this on a regular basis?

She could feel him watching her, but she refused to look at him. Who knew what kind of look he'd be giving her, or what sort of comment he might make.

He'd been trying not to stare at her, but the tension was coming off of her in waves, and it was obvious that she was upset. He thought back to the night before, and then to that morning – the whole day, really, and wondered how he could have been so insensitive. He hadn't been trying to hurt her, of course, but after the previous night… it was just all too much. Emotions were his weakness, and always had been, and something that he tried to avoid dealing with whenever he could. But with Jane… it was different. She was an even bigger weakness for him than his emotions were. Somehow she managed to find everything inside him that he wanted to hide and bring it to the surface, and he simply didn't know what to do about it.

Looking away, he felt his eyes drawn back to her almost immediately. He glanced at her again only to find her looking even sicker with worry, then forced his eyes toward the front window, willing Zapata to drive faster.

"It's alright," he told her reassuringly, "We're going to find her."

Jane was surprised by the lack of the hard edge to his voice that had been there ever since that morning. All day long, anything he'd said to her had felt like a rebuke, even when the words weren't actually correcting her. Now, suddenly, that was gone. Yes, there was tension in his voice, but it was as though the Kurt from yesterday afternoon had suddenly reappeared. While she would have been relieved in other circumstances, at that moment she felt anything but relief. Really, Kurt had become the last thing on her mind. At that moment, all she could think about was finding Ana before it was too late.

"I know you think I'm too invested…" she began, feeling the need to defend herself.

"We're all invested now. Let's get her safe."

He wasn't looking at her anymore, and yet somehow Jane felt as if he was finally seeing her for the first time that day. They didn't speak again for the rest of the ride, but something was different. The air in the SUV was tense because time was of the essence, but still, it wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been earlier. Maybe later, that would be a relief.

One blown up SUV, one shootout and one massive explosion of a truck full of weapons later, the team had managed to get themselves and Ana safely back to the FBI. Between the firefight and the very large explosion, the drug runners were all dead. Ana would end up in protective custody, which she wasn't thrilled about, but Jane had assured her that it wasn't "that bad."

Before she went on her way, however, Ana gave the team an unexpected lead – a hint about another one of Jane's tattoos. Indeed, the steganography on her shoulder landed them right back in Patterson's lab, though they still didn't know what it meant. This was frustrating, but they consoled themselves with the fact that they had already saved the world – or at least the city – once that day, and that they would try again tomorrow.

Jane and Kurt approached the elevator at the same time, from two different directions, and she moved around him to give him plenty of space as he pushed the button. After everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, she had no idea what to expect from him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he wanted to say something.

He was gathering his courage to ask her the last question he had ever thought he would utter. More than anything else, he didn't want to say the words, but he knew that he owed it to her. After all, it should be her choice. This wasn't about him, no matter how he felt himself being ripped apart by the idea of it. It was time to bite the bullet.

"Do you want a new lead agent?"

"What?" she asked quickly, wondering if her face betrayed the worry she suddenly felt. As awkward as things were with Kurt, she couldn't imagine working with a complete stranger.

This was the first time they'd spoken one on one since he'd mumbled "Sorry," and nothing more, in the hallway hours earlier. It felt like days ago.

"On your case," he clarified quickly. "Back in the surveillance van, you said…" He paused, having to force himself to say the rest. "…I wasn't objective." Those last three words were the hardest to spit out because he knew that she'd been right, and yet he'd already fought against Mayfair for suggesting the same thing. He didn't want her to have a new lead agent, because how in the world would he ever sleep at night again, knowing that someone else was being trusted with her safety? The thought chilled him to the bone. But if it was what she wanted… well then he would just have to deal with it somehow, he supposed.

"So I can step down," he explained, watching her reaction carefully. "Mayfair can assign you a new lead agent." As the words came out of his mouth, every one of them felt wrong. Surely, he wasn't saying these things… and yet, he was. No one would take that position from him, but if she asked him to, he would give it up.

While he waited for her answer, time suddenly slowed to an agonizing crawl.

"I shouldn't have said that," she replied evenly, looking up at him. "I was upset."

Kurt looked down, then out into the space in front of him, but not at her, as he admitted, "You might be right." Their eyes met again for a second before he added, "Maybe there's too much baggage between us."

She paused for a few seconds, which to Kurt felt like years. Now it was her turn to look at the elevator door instead of at him as she spoke. "Or maybe, the baggage is what makes you the right guy for the job," she suggested, looking up at him only at the end. "Who else is more invested?" They held eye contact now, and she noticed his expression soften. His mouth twitched for a second, and though he didn't actually have a smile on his face, there was a hint of one in his eyes.

Today had been somewhat hellish, and yet at that moment, she could finally breathe again. Watching him, she felt her mouth twitch as well, though she wasn't quite smiling either.

They stepped into the elevator side by side, still with plenty of space between them. "Do you want me to give you a lift home?" he asked.

"Uh, my security detail is downstairs," she replied. As glad as she was that things seemed to be better between them, she didn't want to push it.

"It's no big deal," he assured her. "It is on my way home."

She wanted to say yes, she really did… And yet, today had been so confusing, so emotionally exhausting, and she just felt like she needed to ease back into things between them more slowly, and not jump headfirst back to where they had been.

He swore that she wanted to say yes. Her expression was torn, and if he wasn't mistaken, she looked sad.

"Better not," she replied, holding eye contact with him as the elevator door closed.

He nodded, neither smiling nor frowning, just the same intense expression that had been on his face through their whole conversation. Even though she'd declined, he felt better – lighter even – than he had all day. Still relieved that she hadn't asked for a new lead agent, there was a rational part of him that appreciated that she didn't want to bring things immediately back to the brink of… well, of whatever they'd been at the brink of last night. It had just been too intense… too fast.

At the same time, of course, he wanted nothing more than to be able to do something for her. To do more for her. After all, he'd spent his life looking for her, and now that she was here, he could finally make up for the past.

Relax, he told himself as they rode the elevator in silence. It all worked out. And it's not like she's going anywhere.

That was the thing that still amazed him. Ever since Patterson had confirmed that she was Taylor Shaw, he had to constantly fight the nagging feeling that she would simply have vanished into thin air the next time he went to look for her. The fact that she wasn't a figment of his imagination, that she showed up where he expected her to be, over and over… well, it was a relief every single time. Maybe it always would be.

When they got off the elevator, they saw Jane's security detail there waiting for her, acknowledging her with a nod but remaining still against the far wall until they had a sign from her. Stepping to the side of the elevator doors, Kurt turned to face her and she stopped in surprise.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. He wasn't even sure why he did it, other than he usually asked her so often, it was second nature. Besides, he knew he hadn't been very nice to her that day, and it seemed like the least he could do was to remind her that he did care about her. Clearly, being objective wasn't going to work, but now he could see that that was alright.

She looked surprised, he noticed. The faintest of smiles appeared on her face, and she nodded. "Today was rough," she admitted, "I'm sorry, I just—"

"Jane, you don't have to apologize. What you're going through, it's overwhelming."

She nodded, chuckling slightly. "Yeah, it is. And I don't know how to…" Her smile faded and she looked away with a sigh.

"Hey, it's okay," he told her quietly. He had the urge to reach out to her to reassure her with a hand on her arm or shoulder, but considering the day they had had and the fact that they were both still trying to find balance, he managed to resist that urge. Instead he looked at her sincerely, waiting for her to look up at him again. "One step at a time. We're not going to stop until we figure it out, remember? I said it before, and I'll say it again. After all, I looked for you for twenty-five years."

When she looked back up, there was the Kurt she had known up until that morning – sincere, intense, kind, and most of all, very much not objective. She couldn't help but smile, just a little, despite how exhausted she suddenly felt. For a few seconds, neither of them moved. They simply watched each other.

"And no, it's not going to take that long. But however long it takes, we're going to get the answers. Alright?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," she replied in the same tone. "Thanks. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night. Get some sleep," he told her. "See you tomorrow."

He was glad to see her smile widen then. It was still small, but it was there. An actual smile. Suddenly he felt like he'd won a very important prize – he always felt that way when he made her smile. She looked at him for another second, then turned and walked towards her detail, nodding at them as they followed her out through the doors.

Standing to watch her go, he found himself smiling too. Just a little.

Just enough.