She waited until they got to the car before Perez said, "We should get her DNA."

Strahm tried not to frown. Of course, his partner was savvy, but also she remembered the mugshots and Amanda was right there in front of her, so he'd suspected she'd figure it out. He played coy, just for a moment.

"We don't need her DNA. We have plenty of the suspect's. Besides, this is no longer an active investigation, so we don't need to separate out the victim's blood from the perpetrator in order to catch him. He's dead."

Perez shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I want her DNA to run against our database. Surely you noticed that she looks quite a lot like a certain Jigsaw apprentice who is believed to be deceased. Maybe somehow, she faked her death. We need to get Jake and the parents away from her. No telling what she might do if it is really Amanda Young, and she thinks the game is over."

Strahm sighed. "I don't have to run the DNA. It's her. It's Amanda Young."

Perez looked at her partner. Strahm was the straightest of straight arrows. To many it might be annoying, but to Perez, she found it endearing. So she was in absolute shock that her straight-arrow, justice-seeking colleague knew the woman they'd just interviewed was formerly Jigsaw's apprentice, and seemed completely unconcerned about it.

"When did you first realize it? When you saw the pictures at the house, or just now, like me?" Surely he hadn't known it all along, right?

Strahm turned and looked at her evenly. "I knew it from the moment that I found her at the Gideon plant and let her go. She wasn't hard to trace when she moved to New York. I even crashed her wedding."

Now Perez was completely floored. She began to wonder, crazily, if somehow he himself had been partially recruited by John Kramer at some point. "Why? Why did you let her go?" She was slient, then spoke her worst fear aloud. "Kramer got to you too, didn't he?"

Strahm looked at her wryly. "I hope you're not suggesting that I'm an unseen apprentice of Jigsaw, because if you are, I'm pretty sure I'll be offended after all the years we've been partners. Besides...If I was, why would I bring you along, knowing you might be able to recognize Amanda Park as Amanda Young?"

He had a point, and her tension eased. She knew him. She knew deep down that whatever his reasons for letting her escape, it was not because of her stupid fear that he was somehow a Jigsaw apprentice, and so she decided a little moment of levity would break the tension. "Because you've secretly fallen in love with me and are hoping to recruit me into it as well?"

Strahm looked at her sharply and let out a choked laugh. "Okay, now I KNOW that you're joking. Don't get me wrong, you're an attractive young woman, but I would never date a partner, even if single and you've met Lauren. She's gorgrous and I've already married up. Neither you NOR John Kramer would be able to make me screw that up.'

Strahm started the car so the engine would warm back up from the upstate trip and they could turn on the heater before he said, "Here's the real reason I let her go. Hoffman was leading me into a trap. When I got to the plant, he'd seen to the deaths of everyone else there except for me and Amanda, and he was working on making sure she was dead before I showed up. He became aware of my presence so he abandoned killing her for a moment since I was armed, she wasn't, and I was an active threat. He was waiting to ambush me and she tipped me off. He got a shot off at her and she took it. She took a bullet for me, even though it was non-fatal. And that showed me where he was and that's how I was able to kill him. So that was one thing, at the time, that I owed her for."

Perez was shaking her head. "But still, the nerve gas house...And what about the traps? And what about the Denlons?"

He held up a hand. "Ok. Lets do what we always do, every case we work together. We're going to start from the beginning and talk about what we know about her, and her involvement with the case. Sound fair? After that, if we decide to go back in guns-blazing we will."

Perez was silent for a moment, and nodded.

Strahm answered her earlier questions by ticking off on his fingers. "She was directly involved in the nerve gas house. We have her on tape. But she never directly or physically murdered anyone in the house Not even Xavier when he was threatening her and Daniel. He confessed to killing Xavier himself to protect both of them. She let things happen, but we're assuming that she was involved in the construction of the traps and could have done something to prevent them. Kramer was still somewhat mobile at the time, and he and Hoffman could have constructed them themselves. If that was the case, then she couldn't have stopped them from doing what they did. Yes, she didn't admit her true role, but again, she didn't directly murder anyone. Kramer did. He designed and had those traps constructed, and based on Hoffman's fingerprints on some of the other traps, Hoffman likely constructed what Kramer designed.

"She also went out of her way to keep Matthews' son alive and get him out of that house. While in no way an excuse, the rest of the people there were not fine, upstanding citizens themselves. They didn't deserve what happened, but Amanda didn't directly make them do any of it, or force them into the traps that murdered them. Neither did Kramer, but again, he designed them and likely was involved in building them. We don't know if she was or not."

He raised another finger. "Also, we both theorized that Amanda's involvement was more due to Stockholm Syndrome, or because after so many years of being treated like dogshit, that when a man finally came into her life that showed her respect and treated her like a human being, even one with a twisted code like Kramer had, that in her mental state, she clung to him and did things that were not very moral because she wanted to please her "father," and make him happy."

A third finger went up. "As for the other traps, we don't have her prints anywhere at all on Kerry's trap. Yes, she duped Matthews, but she did not kill him, the trap Hoffman constructed, that had his fingerprints all over it, was the one that crushed his head. Art Blank, Daniel Rigg, we don't have her prints anywhere near that crime scene, just Hoffman's, and assuming she was involved just because she was another Jigsaw apprentice wouldn't hold up in a court of law."

A fourth finger. "She did not murder either of the Denlons. Hoffman did. We have his fingerprints all over the gun that ballistics matched to the bullets we pulled from Kramer and Jeff Denlon. Kramer's death directly led to the death of Lynn Denlon. So all three of those murders are directly tied to Hoffman, not Amanda."

He sighed and his hand completely opened. "Her prints were not on Kerry's trap. Again, it had Hoffman's fingerprints on it. We theorized that and unseen apprentice was helping Amanda, not knowing it was Hoffman himself at the time. It could have easily been Hoffman working on it alone, nothing ties Amanda to the crime scene of Kerry. Why would Hoffman kill her? Because she was basically the lead investigator on the Jigsaw case at that point, and we know from his attempt to get Amanda to murder Lynn that he wanted out. Kerry would have been another thread that he would have also wanted out of the way to keep his association with Kramer from ever being discovered. It makes sense he clipped that thread, hoping Amanda would take the fall."

"In fact," Strahm added, "We have the letter, with Hoffman's fingerprints on it, which told Amanda to shoot Lynn or he'd tell Kramer that Amanda indirectly killed his child. We both can theorize what would have happened if she had done what Hoffman had told her to. Jeff was there by that point, he would have seen Amanda shoot Lynn, or at least seen the gun in Amanda's hand, and killed her, and then you know he wouldn't have shown Kramer any mercy. Remember that message you played that said I was going to shoot an innocent man? It's my belief that the man it said I was going to kill was Denlon, because if things hadn't gone down the way they had, he'd have likely had a loaded gun, would not have understood I was FBI, and I'd have been forced to shoot him in self-defense."

Strahm shook his head, the plan had almost been perfect. Amanda had been the only wild car he hadn't figured on. "No, Hoffman wanted everyone dead, and if it had gone down the way he hoped and I was the last man alive in that room, I'm positive he had something waiting for me as well. The only reason things turned out the way they did was because of Amanda. I don't know what truly made her refuse to do what that note said, but at the end of the day, she refused, and it's the reason both her and I are alive today."

Perez was silent. "Still...Doesn't it bother you? I mean, what you've told me makes sense, but...Still, she was involved...Deeply. We don't have hardly any evidence tying her to crime scenes, but she was in that inner circle, and you're right, she considered Kramer a father. Based on what we know of her real dad, she still might."

Strahm snorted, looked at the temperature gauge, and turned on the car's heater full blast. "Of course it does. Trust me, Lindsey, I questioned that initial decision to let her go constantly. It's why I followed her movements. And that's the thing. I didn't just let her go and shrug my shoulders. I tracked her down to New York immediately after she left Chicago. If she'd done so much as jaywalk I'd have hauled her ass in so fast her head would have spun. But she didn't. She cleaned up her act and married a good man...There's so many goddamn gray areas. I KNOW she was more involved than we know. I KNOW it probably was not just mere Stockholm Syndrome, but I've examined the evidence over and over, and the only games we know she was directly involved in, she did not murder anyone participating in them with her."

He looked at her. "And even beyond all of that, I met with the lead prosecutor involved in the case, and spoke to others. Even if we went in there now and hauled her out in cuffs, to a man, they all said they wouldn't take her to trial, because there was so little evidence showing she directly murdered anyone. The lead prosecutor told me he'd get her to plead to a couple of misdemeanors and give her probation. So even they don't want to touch her."

Perez was impressed that her partner, while bending his usual ethics, had still gone that far to ease his reservations with allowing her to go free.

Strahm said, "They just didn't feel a sympathetic, or even an unsympathetic jury would convict her of anything major, because they figured that once the jury watched the interview she did with Detective Tapp after the trap she survived, they'd theorize, like we did, that a lot of what she did was due to her mental state, and she wasn't acting maliciously, she was just trying to impress the sicko that finally treated her nice. They definitely thought that if she testified, under cross, that she'd hurt their cases more than she helped them."

He smiled at her. "This wasn't a spur of the moment decision, I can tell you. And even after doing it, I've kept tabs on her. Aside from being a bit more visible in the news than I'd have liked her to be, everything she's done since I released her has been completely straight arrow. And one of the times I went to take a piss in Jack Park's mansion...I'll admit it...I scoped out the basement and I can assure you, she doesn't have a workshop hiding down there. She's been on T.V., but she certainly didn't expect to get on a cruise ship that sank. The captain diving overboard has added more fuel to the story too, which hasn't helped."

He had solid points for all of it. Still, it wasn't just her they needed to think about. "What about her husband? How much of it does he know?"

Strahm looked at her evenly. "Every goddamned thing. Why do you think we got pulled from Baltimore to lead the investigation? Jack Park made the call, but he did it at his son's behest, primarily because he knew that I'm well familiar with who she was, and I've helped her in the past, and he trusts me. And she trusts me too, and based on her history, that definitely isn't something she gives lightly now. Her trust."

Perez was completely shocked, and the first thought that crossed her mind was to wonder how Amanda Young, former Jigsaw apprentice, former doormat, former junkie, had managed to not only attract the eye of, but marry, a billionaire's son, especially one that knew of her past activities. And then she felt like a bitch because she knew much of her shock came down to the fact that the mansion-living Jake Park had made an honest woman of a chick that had come from a trailer and spent part of adulthood with a needle in her arm, and she wasn't sure what he'd seen in the woman in that case file that had made him want to help her clean up and marry her, and that was rude.

Especially, Perez thought, because she'd come so far. Even bedraggled after her ordeal, Amanda's choice of contacts, Perez assumed, that changed her eye color, and her black hair and leftover summer tan offered no hints at all of where she came from. She could be placed in a bikini and dropped on a beach in the Riviera right now and she'd blend right in, even after being beaten and otherwise assaulted. She certainly paired well with her long-haired hubby at first glance. Acting like a marriage should have been impossible because of their different childhoods, Perez realized, was the height of rudeness.

So that answered the question about Jake, but what about..."Do you think the inlaws know?"

Strahm laughed, "THAT, I would say, is a definite no. I'm sure she's given them some heavily-sanitized details, but no, I don't think she'd told them even half as much about herself as she's told Jake. But interestingly enough, after seeing the way they fuss over her, I think even they'd end up forgiving her. Probably just call it her wannabe serial killer phase, or something like that. 'Remember when amanda was a serial killer? How last season THAT was.' I can almost picture it."

He looked at Perez again. "So, now that we've discussed everything we know, if you'd like to go back in there and place that recently-shipwrecked, recently-kidnapped, beaten, and raped woman who was almost stabbed to death a couple of hours ago in cuffs and bring her out here, I won't stop you. But I'm kind of hoping that even though I've moved up a rank, you still see eye-to-eye with your now occasional partner." he winked at her.

Perez winked back. She said, "If she ever DOES get arrested, she'd definitely better make sure her legal team calls you as a character witness."

Strahm laughed at that. "In a way, I'm kind of proud of myself, I'll admit it. I gave her a chance to prove herself and she has, in spades. She married a great guy and it's obvious from the way they are around each other that she married HIM, and not his name. She's a fighter now, and he lets her be one. And you know what? We've been in the hospital rooms of other cases with endings similar to this, and in every one, I've wondered whether they'll make it after we leave. This one...I definitely know they're going to be fine, and recover."

Perez nodded. "She had a few breakdowns but overall, she was so matter-of-fact about it that it was quite a surprise. It was like she was describing a day out at the mall. And the fact that she...Let him do the worst of it to her because she calculated that it might lower his defenses and that he might let her out of the room...She definitely remembers a few things of her time with Jigsaw. I don't know how she could do all that and make it seem...I don't know, like she deserved some of it."

Strahm said, "It affected her. Not terribly, but it affected her, but...I kind of get the feeling from her that she just feels it's normal. Like if you bluntly asked her she'd bluntly say, "Yes, I was kidnapped and raped and beaten for a weekend, but you know, I used to be Jigsaw's apprentice so what can I expect? When life hands you lemons..."

He sighed and the pair fell silent for a moment. "I have lived by a strict code for a long time, and while I'm getting better with it, I'll probably always still doubt if it was completely the right call. But I feel like it was, at this point, a good one. We've read her history over and over. The woman got shit on by life from day one, and it's taken her almost 37 years to finally reach clover. All I did was let her go from Gideon and watch her. The rest was all up to her, and she's earned it in spades, in my book. I think she's finally going to get to spend the rest of her life happy, and based on what she's done to lift herself from the way she was...She deserves THAT."

"I'm sold," Perez said with a smile. "Lets get out of here. New York cold isn't the same as Boston cold. I miss it."

Strahm put the car in gear and they pulled out of the parking lot. As they got to a stoplight, Perez had one more question. "I wonder how the lab misidentified the fingerprints on that body that was found with Amanda Young? I mean now that everyone believes that she's dead, only a handful of people like you and me that have spent countless hours looking at her photos would ever recognize her past the black hair and new eye color. Talk about a lucky break for her. She doesn't even really have to change her name."

Strahm turned his head to the right and arched a brow. "Yeah, it was a very lucky break for her, I agree." He kept staring at her until the light changed. Finally, he said, "Do you really want to know?"

Perez smiled, and shook her head. "I've done enough investigating on Jigsaw to last a lifetime. Amanda Young is dead. The woman in the hispital bed that we just interviewed? She's not Amanda Young. If you want my personal opinion, Peter, I would say...Case closed."

Strahm smiled at his partner and inched the car forward into the traffic. In the opinion of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Amanda Young was dead and buried.

They were silent for a few moments before Perez said, "So, you think things will quiet down for her?"

Strahm snorted. "I hope so. First the ship, then kidnapping. I'll admit, it made my heartbeat quicken when I realized it was her on that ship. She's handled it well, and you...We worked that case for years and you didn't actually realize it was her until you saw her up close, so the hair color and the contacts are working."

Perez said, "Well, you're still not out of the woods yet." And when Strahm glanced at her and arched a brow, she said, "She's a quasi-socialite now. If she and her husband make some big donation and get on T.V. because it led to the research that cured cancer, she'll be in the public eye again."

Strahm groaned. "I really hope that doesn't happen because it would be a shame after everything she's gone through that I might have to shoot her because she can't keep away from cameras."

And when Perez looked at him with wide eyes, Strahm said, "Joke. It was a joke. I can tell jokes too, you know. I'm aware, you've been partnered with the Thomas Gibson of "Criminal Minds" all of this time, and so suddenly finding yourself next to "Dharma and Greg" Thomas Gibson is a shock to the system."

She smiled. "You do humor well. You should definitely keep it in your repertoire. Oh, and there's something else you should do..."

"No." Strahm's answer was definitive.

"Look, you remember that week-long trip you took camping with Lauren and Alexis? Well, she and I were talking and..."

Strahm repeated, "No."

"Hey, she said she really liked the stubbled look that you grew after not shaving for a week and so she asked me to..."

"I knew it was a mistake to introduce you to my wife," Strahm muttered, shaking his head. "I used to be able to get away from the ideas she had that I didn't like by escaping to the office. Now she's recruited you into the fold and I'm never going to get any peace."

Perez was silent a moment. "Not a moustache. Erickson looked decent with a moustache, but it's not for everyone and Lauren and I agree that it wouldn't be a good fit for your face. But the stubbled look, on the other hand..."

And as she continued to highlight the positive and negatives of stubble that she and his wife had apparently coordinated through some sort of meeting that included a powerpoint presentation, Strahm sighed. It was going to be a long flight back to Boston.
They stopped at the mansion first and were allowed entrance by Giles, packing up the equipment and their clothing. Strahm appreciated the gesture of Jackson park letting them stay to the point that he wrote out a note and gave it to Giles to deliver to Park when he returned home. The packing allowed him a break from Perez' urging that he grow facial hair, and when they went to deliver the car and the borrowed equipment back to the NY branch office, she'd slipped from the talk of facial hair to an urging that he needed to stop wearing so many black suits.
They were dropped off at the airport, and sure enough, Strahm was correct, it was a long flight back to Boston.

*****************************************************************************************

Once the agents had gone, Jake and Sylvia Park had stormed into the room and were now doting on her, and Amanda admitted that even at the ripe old age of 36, she appreciated it. She missed her mother wicked bad, and her inlaws welcomed her as their own, and filled a major void. At the moment, she was describing some of the horrors she had experienced, but made no mention of the rapes, and with the remnants of her clothes bagged and tagged, the evidence was long gone.

"He broke my nose the first day, and then on the second I know he cracked ribs, but thankfully, with the realm healing I have the ability to do it knit everything back together, and he was none the wiser, thank God. If he knew I could do it, he'd have probably just made a game out of it until he was finally stopped."

"Well, calling in Agents Strahm and Perez was a wise decision," Jack said to Jake. "I'm glad that you pushed me to make contact with their superior. And the kidnapper is dead, Jake said?"

Amanda nodded. "He was trying to stab me with a knife, and when he wouldn't drop it, Strahm shot him...And then Perez finally finished him off completely."

Sylvia, usually of a sunny disposition always, said, "Good. Saves the taxpayers a lot of money." She smiled at Amanda and squeezed her shoulder.

Jack said, "Absolutely. The snake. Listen...While we love having you at our home, would you like to have a few days alone in your own apartment? After this situation, it might be good for both of you to have some time alone to heal. Once you're feeling better, naturally, our door is open. I also can make sure you both have access to the finest counselors money can buy if you need extra help in coping."

Amanda smiled. "I think a few days with Dr. Park will be more than enough for a cure. At this point, all I'm feeling is relief that it's all over, and that he paid for it and I'm back here. I hate losing time to spend with all of you. He stole that from me and I can't get it back."

They chatted for another hour before Dr. Allen arrived and said if she was ready, she could leave. Amanda felt ready, so she nodded. Jack called for a second limo to take them home and so Roger could drive them back to Jake's apartment in the limo they'd come to the hospital in. They decided they would leave their other belongings at his parents, since they planned to return in mere days.

"Oh God, we don't have any clothes to put you in. I forgot to bring any when we left the house," Jake put his face in his hands.

Dr. Allen smiled and said, "She can keep the gown, if she doesn't mind a moment or two of cold? Otherwise, we might be able to find you some nurses scrubs..."

Amanda, in good spirits despite everything, said, "The gown is fine. I'll make him carry me to the car so my feet don't freeze on the concrete." She winked at Allen, who chuckled. Jack darted out the door to tell Roger to let the limo warm up. They spent some time doing check out and having Amanda sign a few forms, and finally, she was ready to go.

They insisted on wheeling her to the door in a wheelchair, and Amanda always felt it was some sort of last-minute cash crabs by hospitals. She was sure the wheel chair exit would add a thousand bucks to the bill. Jake said, "You're sure about this? I could have mom and dad run and get you some clothes..."

She looked in his eyes and smiled. "Home. I want to be home. With you. Take me home. Love me. Love on me. Love in me." He nodded and put his coat around her shoulders. After all, Jake Park was a gentleman and he knew his poor wife's ass would be exposed to the January chill otherwise.

She hugged her new mother and her new father tightly and promised they'd be right back over in a couple of days and she thanked them for suggesting this because she realized that she did need her alone time with Jake. She needed to know if they were in bed that she wouldn't shrink away from him. She didn't feel she would, but then, she hadn't expected to have hysterical fits after Frank fucked her, and she had.

After hugs were dispensed, Jake lifted her out of the chair as she giggled, and he carried her as fast as he could to the limo and holy fuck was it cold outside even with Jake's coat around her but Roger was waiting by the door and he opened it and Jake carried her and placed her inside much like Strahm had carried her when he'd taken her out of that musty mansion.

And then he'd placed her on the black leather seat and his coat had ridden up so her bare little ass had squeaked across it as she slid to the limo's left side and then Jake was inside with her and the door was shut and it was toasy warm. It felt like Roger had probably had the car running even before Jack had asked him to start it.

She was dirty. She still felt sticky, and she knew why. But unlike in the realm, after Frank, at least for now, she didn't care. It hadn't been her choice and she didn't care she wanted Jake to hold her and she snuggled her little frame next to his and laid her head on his chest facing upwards towards his. And when he'd met her eyes and pressed his lips to hers she felt that overwhelming feeling of love for him in her chest and they spent most of the drive back to their apartment with their lips pressed together and their tongues exploring each other's mouths.

Roger took them right to their level. Jake carried her again, and once again she giggled and Roger followed. Amanda knew why. When they were in the interior she saw the guilt in his face and she let Jake set her on the floor. "Stop it," she told Roger before he even had a chance to open his mouth.

He looked at her and smiled, but it was sad. Amanda spoke, "I already told Jake the same thing. We were unprepared for this. Fuck, I've always considered myself very aware of my surroundings and yet he completely got the drop on me. Without knowning in advance what he intended to do, there's nothing we could have done to prevent it. All that matters is that it's over. I don't blame you, or Jake. I solely blame the man that took me. And that man his dead. And before he died I basically burned his dick off."

She smiled maliciously and Roger wasn't creeped out at all. In fact, he smiled with her. Before becoming a limo driver, Roger had driven vehicles in Afghanistan and sometimes you did what you needed to do to survive. It was obvious Amanda knew how to do that too. Amanda continued, "I appreciate you wanting to apologize, but it's not necessary. I know you're a driver but you're also my friend and you still are because it's not your fault it happened and I'm not a snooty bitch, okay?" This time her smile was just a friendly one, and Roger nodded.

He told them to call if they needed anything and they both promised they would. They entered the main floor of the apartment building and Amanda held the back of her gown together until Jake got their door open. And then he surprised her and made her giggle by carrying her across the threshold before setting her back on her feet. They stood together after the door closed and Amanda pressed her head to Jake's arm. "Home sweet home. And it really looks very sweet right now."

Amanda's first order of business was to give Jake another kiss. Then she went to the thermostat and cranked the heat in the apartment to a balmy 75 degrees. Since they were here, she was going to keep to her usual attire of shorts, tank, and bare feet and so she wanted it nice and toasty.

"Give me a few minutes," Amanda said before she went into the bathroom and stripped off the gown. She started the water running and found her actual douce bag and added in Summer's Eve.

In the end, the few minutes she requested turned into about 30 minutes. She concentrated on the douching, mildly being reminded of the ritual she'd done at the realm after her sexual experiences with the godawful Frank Morrison. But she didn't feel the obsessive urge to cleanse herself as she had in that instance. She used it twice, and that was enough. She was cleansed of him completely. If there was a glitch in the matrix, the pill she'd taken at the hospital would make sure that fucker didn't get his twisted wish. If she ever had the ability to grow a baby in her belly, it for fucking sure was going to be no one's child but Jake's.

The rest of the time she just spent washing and savoring the stream of hot water on her body. Still, she missed that big old cast iron tub. She wondered if there was a way to get one for the massive apartment? When her skin was beginning to prune, she finally stepped out and wiped herself down with her towel. She put a little blow dry into her hair and enjoyed the way the blue contacts made her eyes glint almost dangerously.

Then, although she didn't feel the urge often, she rubbed lotion all over her skin and added just a hint of perfume, brushed her teeth and put on some deodorant. Jake gave her space the whole time. In fact, he had sat on the couch and was simply waiting for her. He knew she needed this time to cleanse herself of her ordeal and by the time she got out of the bathroom, physically, she'd feel completely like her usual self again. But he heeded Strahm's advice, and had decided that whatever happened the next few days it would be at her pace.

And he should have known that Amanda's pace would be something like a runaway freight train after being with her as long as he had been. Amanda was not one to let anything fester, and she had obviously decided that now that she was washed and dried, it was time to pull off the bandage. She had come from the bathroom thought the bedroom and quietly stood in the doorway, completely nude, until he saw her out of the corner of his eye.

She looked at him with longing, and even a little desperation. "Please. Now. I need you now." Her hair shined, as did the golden tan on her body from the lotion. She looked as different as night and day from her bedraggled appearance in the hospital.

He stood and approached her. "Are you sure?" He knew she was strong. Strong as him, maybe stronger. But she'd been assaulted, fought for her life, and had been nearly killed only a few hours ago, and while he knew she was strong he wasn't entirely sure that she could bounce back so quickly...

She sprang, jumping on his upper body and wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and now that she had caught her prey, he carried her into their bedroom and laid her upon the bed. Okay, Jake thought. The first part of that question was answered, but the second part...And then she spoke.

She looked at him and said what she felt in her heart. "I don't need counseling. I don't need therapy. I don't need to talk about my feelings and I don't need drugs to numb me. I just need you. I always need you. I always want you and I know you always want me and need me too. He wasn't Frank. He wasn't anywhere close to breaking me and what he did to me took me less than 10 minutes to wash away."

He believed her. Amanda had really healed and grown by leaps and bounds in the time both before, and after, Frank Morrison's demise. She was not acting. The pain Donner tried to inflict on her had been healed, and she did desire him. As it had after Frank, the lovemaking they were about to do would cleanse and heal any subconscious remnants of her ordeal. That was just how Amanda's mind worked. She needed the demons fucked out of her.

He let Amanda slide up the bed until she rested her head on her pillow. Despite how well he knew her, he understood trauma and still found himself surprised when he saw that she was indeed already wet. It honestly made him feel like the greatest lover in Amanda's world, that he could still, after all these years, make her so wet and so wanting of him that her body seemingly "drooled" in anticipation of having him inside of her just by the sight of him naked...Sometimes even before that.

And she had the same effect on him after all these years. It was as though the realm had truly fused them together, body and soul. It made them need and crave and want only each other. He'd thought it before and he thought it again that having this beautiful woman as his one and only lover for eternity was absolutely the only pleasure he'd ever need. There were beautiful girls in the camp, and he could appraise the beauty of Kate Denson and Zarina Kassir and the others, but no woman made him as horny and hard and desperate for lovemaking as the beautful woman he'd married and who lay naked before him. The world was full of Kate's and Zarinas, but there was only one Amanda. She was his body and soul. She was perfection.

He was in no rush and he could tell Amanda was of mixed emotions. The feeling of him inside of her she craved, but he could also sense that after days without him, she wanted to make it last. So instead of climbing on top of her, he put his head between her thighs and his tongue on her clit and his fore and middle fingers inside of her and pressed them to the G-spot in the way that drive her wild.

And the effect was the same as always. She went wild. Amanda arched her back and let her toes curl and her thighs spasm and savored the feeling of his long, loose hair brushing against the soft skin inside her thighs as he used his tongue and fingers in that perfect way. He literally knew every inch of her body and every way to please and satisfy her and after several days without his touch, having it now put her lust and her senses on overload and her thighs bucked as he made her cum.

And even though she knew in that moment that she definitely would have no long-term trauma from the kidnapping, she made no effort to push him away, and let him work his magic with his tongue and fingers until he couldn't hold himself back any longer. She tasted herself on his mouth and tasted it on his tongue when he slid it into her mouth, and even though she was more than soaked, he slowly slid himself in her, inch by inch, until he was ensheathed by her completely.

And then, he kept things slow. And Amanda found herself suddenly really desiring that. She liked rough sex as much as anyone, but this time...Their first time...After...She felt warmth in her chest and savored the slow, tender way he moved his body and filled her with his love for her. She had her legs and arms wrapped around him to connect him to her as closely as possible.

It was perfectly slow, yet full of passion, and even moving slowly, and delicately, Amanda felt the lovely tingles which signaled her impending orgasm, and she felt his cock becoming rigid signaling that he was close to orgasm himself.

They were caught up in kisses. They hadn't stopped kissing in hunger since he'd slid inside of her and she pulled her mouth free of his and drew his ear to her mouth and whispered, "Together, please together. Please."

And their pace remained the same, yet their orgasms both built and when he came inside of her for the first time in days it triggered her own explosion and they both breathlessly gasped and moaned as he spasmed around him and milked the cum from his cock deeply inside of her. And she kept herself wrapped around him, holding him to her for the longest time. She was smiling. Serene. It was exactly what she'd wanted and already the musty mansion seemed like some sort of a long nightmare fading from memory.

He rolled to his back, lifting her with him and she slid to press herself to his side, and ended up smearing some of the seed he'd left in her on his thigh as she moved her body. And ever the dutiful wife, she slid further down him to lick clean the mess she made before shimmying back up to snuggle herself against him.

Jake encircled her with his arm and said, "I know the answer already, but I really need to hear it just one more time. You're really okay? I know you're strong, honey. I know it completely, but still, everything happened so recently..."

And she pulled herself up his body and cut off his words with her lips. And then she lifted her mouth away and said, "I truly am. If I thought for even a second that somewhere down the road I'd be having a breakdown in the shower over it, I'd tell you. But I really truly feel completely over it. I never once felt afraid, and that really pissed him off, I know. He was really upset that even though he was the one that had me tied up and locked up, that he was the one threatening and abusing me, that he wasn't really in control."

She sighed, and the words came much more easily than she would have expected. "His rapes were a power play. He couldn't break me with his words, he couldn't break me with his threats, and he couldn't break me with his beatings and when he finally snapped and tied me up to do what he did to me I knew it was the last thing he could do to try and break me short of killing me. And you know how my mind works and I knew I needed to play along and I know it was rape but in my mind I guess I just consider it like bad sex."

They turned on their sides to look at heach other. "Frank was worse, I know that sounds awful but it was because I felt like I willingly had to let it happen. This...I was tied up and even if I wanted to fight him off of me I couldn't. And so I just played into what he wanted and I made my mind and my resolve hard as stone because I wouldn't let him steal from me what he wanted to steal, all the while physically pretending for him that he WAS stealing it from me. And honestly, I knew even before he crossed that line that I was going to kill him if I could. After he crossed it, I was just more sure."

She let out a disgusted chuckle. "If you want to talk about regrets...That's my only real regret, that I didn't get to finish the job myself. But having Strahm snd Perez there to do it for me was the next best thing. Was that your idea?"

Jake smiled and nodded. "I knew after a few hours that we needed the FBI involved, and I know you like him and respect him and I know he's very good at what he does. I didn't want a random fed looking for you, I wanted someone who had a connection to you and he was it. I had dad make the call and he made it happen. My only question is, why didn't you try to leave for the realm? I knew after a time with no phone call or anything that you hadn't left and come back."

Amanda's eyes widened, "I tried. I tried to go back to the realm as soon as he left me alone, but I waited and I waited and nothing happened. You remember the conversation we had after the ship? My only guess is there was some sort of energy around that place. It was apparently a treatment hospital, and I'm sure there was a lot of pain there. II'm guessing it cut off the fog. I'm sure the Entity will tell us when we return."

She sighed. "Overall, not a bad day. It was nice to be carried out of the house by the big, strong, handsome, Agent Strahm. His hair isn't as perfect as yours but I like that he has it a bit longer than you would expect since he's such a clean shooter and a straight arrow. I like that it's kind of like his one concession to being rebellious."

Jake chuckled. "You mean more rebelious than releasing, and then faking the death of a former Jigsaw apprentice so she can live her life under the radar and be free to have wild sex with her much more attractive than Strahm husband?"

She giggled, "Well I suppose that also shows that Strahm has a rebelious side, now that you mention it. But I like to think that I've earned it. Among the many many reasons I love having sex with you...it's the most wonderful version of parole...Or would it be considered probation? That I've ever had the pleasure of...Doing."

Jake stroked her thigh. "Good. Because I know getting carried to that ambulance wasn't nearly as fun as me carrying you to the limo. The only reason you THINK it was more exciting was because you'd almost been murdered and he was carrying a gun."

Amanda was silent a moment. "And handcuffs. Don't forget the handcuffs. Feds have handcuffs, right?"

Jake snorted. "I knew I was forgetting something among the gifts I got you for Christmas."

Amanda smiled. "You more than made up with it by buying me enough jewelry to fill three jewelry boxes. And that lingerie that you gave me when we had our little Christmas exchange here. So much of it. I dunno...I mean, it's almost like you want to fuck me for the rest of eternity or something." She tickled him.

He tickeled back. "Maybe I do. Because I've seen now that its going to take forever before you finally have been fucked to completion."

Amanda grinned. "I'll make your balls explode long before you ever fuck me so much that I never want sex again. That reminds me. Do you know that testicles kind of pop when they're exposed to a red hot coil burner? I'm pretty sure that was the noise they made when I shoved that red-hot burner into his crotch."

Jake's face was horrified. "Jesus Christ! No I didn't know that and I'm not really sure I wanted to know. I mean the guy completely deserved it, but now I can't stop thinking about what it felt like." He automatically cupped his balls to his own testicles.

Amanda looked at him, and the icy blue contacts made her eyes look even more diabolically satisfied. And in spite of himself, the black hair and the blue eyes filled with the satisfaction of hurting her assailant so severely...Those eyes that were also filled again with lust for him...Suddenly made his own body swell with intense lust in return. She was HIS fucking femme fatale and would eliminate anyone who stood in the way of her having him and her happiness, and now he knew that included making evil asshole's balls pop with red-hot burner coils.

Her eyes were locked on him. "It was music to my ears." And it was. Even though she hadn't dealt the final blow, it was slightly more satisfying than using her blade to teach Frank Morrison what anal set felt like sans lube. She hadn't been sure in the moment that the noise was a pop, but now she was sure of it. She'd popped Kyle's testicles like they were balloons.

Jake's lust was building. Building because of how deadly she still could be. She was so dangerous. Those eyes. That shade of ice blue in her contacts made her eyes look even more diabolical than they ever had when they'd been green. She'd never hurt an innocent person ever again. She'd never ever ever threaten him or hurt him, or his family, or their friends. She'd kill herself first. But she would hurt and she would kill anyone evil. She would use her abilities to kill to vanquish evil. He was reminded of the series on Showtime that they'd started watching. "Dexter."

Amanda was far from having any sort of dark passenger, like Dexter had. She was as sane and rational as he was, he knew that now. But she would let no one or no thing break her will or steal her happiness, and much like the lead of that show used his abilities to kill to stop other evil killers, so would Amanda use the skills that remained within her to vanquish any evil that threatened their own existence, or of those she cared about. She spent years learning how to be bad, and now that she was good, she would use the powers of bad to maky anyone pay that threatened anything Amanda held dear.

She'd crossed over completey from Amanda Young to...The Bride...Beatrix Kiddo. Yeah...The reformed assasin from the "Kill Bill" films. That was who Amanda had become. She could now live her life perfectly content as a wife and dodge killers, and at the same time, at the first sense of evil, or a threat, she would instantly regain everything she knew and fight with everything she had.

And she was his. She was his forever. And fuck if he didn't love knowing that. Because having someone as beautiful and yet as so quietly lethal as she was truly was the hottest fucking thing in the world.

And then Amanda, still with that satisfying evil look in her eyes, pulled his hand from his balls and said, "We've got at least two days and while we could go eat, honestly...The only thing I'm hungry for is your cock. There's a lot of the day left. So far, our record is 10 times in a day. You think we could use every inch of available space in this apartment to make it 11? I think that if we did that, I'd know I never have to worry about being bothered by what Kyle did to me ever again. In fact, I would relish being able to fuck you over and over today while also knowing what's left of his corpse is cooling on a fucking slab because I beat him."

He met the look of evil satisfaction in her eyes with overwhelming lust in his own. And quickly, he saw the evil satisfaction transition to lust Amanda's own eyes. He said, "Think we have enough ice packs?" She nodded.

And so he rolled her over as she giggled and she threw her legs open as his cock stiffened and as he thrust himself in her she said, "This time...You don't have to be gentle."

And so he wasn't. And the rest of the day, and into the evening, and then into the night, the apartment sounded like someone had put on a playlist of porno videos in an hours-long stream. The apartment was filled with grunts, moans, screams, and the slapping of sweaty skin as they fucked everywhere in the massive apartment that they could fuck in comfortably. Not even the kitchen island had been safe.

But by God, they ended up beating their record, and after no contact for days, when they both climaxed for the final time and fell asleep naked and twisted together and exhausted, her pussy and his cock were only mildly sore. They hadn't even needed to use the ice packs.