Disclaimer: I don't own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.

~ Loch Ceiterein ~

Ames was lying on the couch in the foyer. Why in the foyer, why not in her own room?

Well, maybe because she had hoped Chance would see her and ask if everything was okay with her….

Ames groaned. Jeez, had she really sunk that low that she was resorting to pity now?

She bunched up one of the couch's pillows and pressed it against her face. The frustrating thing was: It had almost worked. Chance, coming from his morning walk with Carmine, had actually stopped by her side and had looked as if he was on the verge of asking her how she was feeling.

But then the damn alarm system had alerted them to a visitor and it had been Guerrero.

Now, she did feel sorry for Guerrero, really, that had been quite a revelation Peale had made and there she was thinking her biological father was a bastard. BUT couldn't he have waited with showing up a little longer? The moment Guerrero exited the elevator, everything was about him – Ilsa and Winston came crawling out of their respective offices, Chance turned away from her, towards him, even Carmine left his food to trot over and rub his head against Guerrero's leg.

Carmine, of course, was the only one able to show his relief at Guerrero's appearance openly. Everyone else tried as hard as possible to behave normally and not scare Guerrero away with an overdose of condolence: Winston did his best telling him off for some shady programs installed on his computer, Ilsa said something about his latest note of expenses needing further discussion…

Chance, however, merely nodded in a subtle gesture of greeting. The two men walked into the kitchen where – was today her lucky day or what? – they were a short time later joined by Philippa who was dropping Ash off.

Now, Philippa sitting down with Chance, that never boded well. What had Ash done this time? Apply for a spot on the cheerleader team? Ames wasn't really eavesdropping, but once her son had disappeared upstairs, Philippa spoke loud enough to be easily heard.

"He and Debbie are seeing each other regularly", she began.

"Well, she seems to be a nice girl..." Chance's voice.

"He invited her to milk shakes yesterday after school."

The mention of drinks, though non-alcoholic, caused Ames' thoughts to wander back to the ordeal at the Claypool mansion, where she had tried to set up a date for Chance with one of her friends while hiding under the back seat in Ilsa's limo. And then, unbidden, her memories moved ahead to the bar, after they had managed to nail Claypool, when she had suspected Chance had a crush on her and tried to confront him about it…

Remembering this embarrassing scene made her cringe and press the pillow harder against her face. How could she not have seen that he had been after Ilsa at that point of time?

Well, his interest in Ilsa seemed to have definitely died down by now, judging from Chance's adventure with Dr. Jessica in Syria. Unfortunately this knowledge didn't exactly make her life easier. With Ilsa out of the way, the irrational part of her brain kept telling her that she might have a chance with Chance after all. The rational part, on the other hand, told her not to listen, to enjoy what she already had with him and NOT RUIN it for a change. Together, the two drove her crazy.

If there only was a way to let Chance know about her feelings without creating infinite embarrassment and awkwardness! But Chance had commitment issues if she had ever seen any. The amount of time he had spent dancing around Ilsa spoke volumes in this regard – he had hesitated till it was too late, till Guerrero had started developing an interest and Ilsa, probably tired of all that back and forth, had reconsidered her options.

While Ames was mulling the current situation over and over, the conversation in the kitchen had taken, from Chance's point of view, a turn for the worse. "Ash knows about the technical details ever since he was four. We used to live near a market place in Hong Kong at that point of time and one day I explained to him that the animals weren't practicing leapfrogging. But getting to know a man's view on it, along with a little refresher course does seem appropriate in the given situation."

Judging from Chance's voice he was rolling his eyes while talking to her. "He's only thirteen, Philippa."

"How old were you?"

Touché.

"The circumstances were totally different."

Ames frowned. Was she imagining that or was there a hint of bitterness in Chance's voice?

"Different or not, Chance, neither you nor I can be 100% sure what these two do when nobody's looking. I'm not planning to become his warden nor a grandmother anytime soon. Talk to him." And off Philippa went. The men, however, continued their conversation.

"Don't look at me, dude, I've got a couple more years left before that topic becomes an issue."

"She's being ridiculous. Just because he's going out with a girl every now and then… "

"Well, you could practice that banana thing with him", Guerrero finally said.

Now, that comment was definitely enough for already-in-a-frustrated state Ames. She threw the pillow across the foyer, jumped off the sofa and stomped into the kitchen.

"Have you lost your mind? The banana thing? And you think that's enough? You're talking about getting very close to another human being here – that's a huge thing and you want to talk about bananas?"

Both men stared at Ames. Her hair was a mess from lying on the sofa for so long, her shirt had ridden up her stomach in an odd angle and all in all she looked a bit weird.

"Everything okay, Ames?", Chance asked, exchanging confused glances with Guerrero. Ames, however, wasn't done yet:

"It's quite telling that none of your children were planned!"

"Dude…"

Chance threw Ames a very angry look. Attacking Guerrero this way when he was already worried about his son thanks to Peale….

But Ames wasn't in the mood to take Guerrero's feelings into account. "Ash needs to learn about closeness, about letting other people through your armor… before he does anything else. And you should be the one to teach him that! But…"

At this very moment, Ash rounded the corner. "Dad? What have I done? Why did Mom want talk to you? Why are you arguing with Ames?" He looked worried and confused.

Ilsa called for Guerrero from her office. Chance looked at Ames for a long moment. Then he took a deep breath. With a brief nod he sent both of them out.

"You haven't done anything wrong. Come on, sit down. Why don't you tell me a bit about Debbie?", Ames could hear him say as they headed to Ilsa's office.