"This isn't a hotel" Jasmine said about half an hour later as the taxi pulled up outside of a modern block of flats.

It was the first thing either of them had said since he'd bundled her into the car. Virgil had a million thoughts running through his mind so, desperate for some sense of control, he'd tried to think of it as a mission (that was all it was supposed to be!) and followed procedure. He'd sent a message to John detailing what had happened (okay, most of what had happened ) and that he was bringing Jasmine to the London apartment. John had sent a list back of the basic medical equipment they had there and a list of the local private hospitals. Virgil smiled ruefully at these, knowing he had little to no hope of getting her to one tonight.

"No" Virgil said instinctively helping her out of the car. "This is the apartment my father uses when he's in town on business."

Jasmine had spent the trip trying to massage feeling back into her leg but hadn't had any success. Virgil was stuck between offering to help and tying himself in knots trying to figure out how he'd manage to get her to undergo a full check once they reached the apartment. He couldn't help but notice that she seemed exhausted and he wondered if she was keeping up her ministrations as a way of keeping herself awake.

"Why didn't you stay here last time?" she asked. Virgil once again slid a hand around her shoulders and supported her as they made their way inside. She willingly accepted his help, letting him take most of her weight.

Neither of them mentioned the kiss.

"Em" Virgil stalled focusing on unlocking the door to try and buy himself time.

"Oh" Jasmine said deflating slightly. "No, that makes sense. You don't know me, why would you invite me to your actual home."

They rode the lift up to the penthouse Virgil nearly fumbling the keys as a sour taste filled his mouth. Jasmine seemed a little better prepared this time. She barely glanced at the large open plan flat. Virgil kicked the door closed behind them before depositing the keys on the marble kitchen countertop. He gently led her round to one of the deep couches and helped her to sit.

"I'll be back in a moment." She nodded tiredly in acknowledgement.

He crossed back to the kitchen an pulled out the medical kit and poured her a glass of water. When he looked over the breakfast bar, he saw she was holding her hand up and rubbing her thumb over the pads of her fingers. She didn't seem happy with the result. By the time he'd crossed back to her she'd slumped down against the cushions and had closed her eyes.

"Hey, you can't fall asleep yet, you might have a concussion."

"I don't have a concussion" she said with a half-smile. "I'm just monstrously tired, but then, that'll happen if you use up all your reserves." She leant forward as though imparting a secret, "I did know that going in."

He cracked open the box pulling out the hand scanner and a penlight.

"Why do you have one of those?" Jasmine said recoiling from him.

"This?" he held up the scanner and she nodded. "Because my brothers are completely accident prone. We have one or two in every property, just in case."

"In every property" she echoed. "Just when I start thinking you're a normal guy…"

He flashed her a quick smile before placing the scanner down and using the light to check her eyes. He could hardly tell her that they had such good medical equipment around as it had been an absolute necessity after Gordon's accident. The first time Gordon had fallen at home everyone had panicked, Gordon most of all as the lancing pain meant he couldn't get back up. He hadn't known if he'd damaged anything, he didn't know if he should stay on the floor whilst they called an ambulance, he didn't know if he should get up. Scott had only just managed to keep him from the brink of panic when Grandma had arrived with an antiquated scanner and they'd been able to determine that, although sore, he was basically okay.

The next day Jeff had bought a job lot and had made sure there was a scanner on hand everywhere and anywhere Gordon might go. They'd since become such an essential bit of kit for International Rescue that Virgil didn't even think about it anymore. But, in reality, they were expensive and not generally found in the average household. To someone who seemed as doctor adverse as Jasmine they could well symbolise everything she was afraid of.

Virgil blinked and tested her eyes again. Everything was fine. But he could have sworn that outside the warehouse her pupils were sluggish? It must have been the bad streetlighting. In her defence Jasmine said she hadn't taken a bad headshot and, other than being a little stunned to see him she'd displayed no other signs of concussion.

"Okay, looks good" he said. "I want to take a full scan of you. Make sure those ribs really are just cracked, is that okay?"

"Um" she said, suddenly hesitant. "You need me to take this top off, don't you?"

"I'll get a better scan if you do" he said gently. "I also want to see how much swelling or bruising there is. You don't need to worry though, I'm not about to try anything."

She laughed a short trill full of tension and ran a hand down her face.

"Believe it or not, I wasn't worried about that. Okay" she said more to herself than to him. "Okay, I need you to promise you're not going to freak out."

"Why would I freak out? I have seen a female body before" he said attempting some levity.

"That I don't doubt" she said her eyes flicking down to give him a quick once over. He inclined an eyebrow at the attention. "Remember how I borrowed your shirt, the last time we shared a room? Did you ever wonder why I did that?"

"Honestly? I had no idea, I thought you might have been cold."

"No" she said. "It's that, uh, a towel didn't really cover what I needed it to cover and my stuff was still soaked through and a little because you seemed really nice and I thought I could get away with it" she finished with in a rush.

Virgil sat back on his haunches and waited.

"Yeah, okay." She took a deep breath and started to pull her top up over her head. Virgil was about to reach out and stop her – that was not something to attempt with cracked ribs! – but the scarring across her stomach froze him in place.

Across the left of her abdomen was an ugly bite mark as though some huge creature had tried to bite her in half. The teeth marks stood out white against her already pale skin, stretching slightly as she pulled the top off. Virgil tore his eyes away from the old wound to ask her what had happened when he caught sight of the tops of her arms. From just below her shoulders to a few centimetres above her elbows both upper arms were covered in a series of short lines, dots and swirls all looking as though they had been hand-carved into her skin.

Jasmine clicked her fingers in front of his nose and he jumped.

"No freaking out" she reminded him. "Remember that I told you Dr Leonard saved my life?" Virgil nodded; he couldn't have made a sound then if he wanted to. "It was after this" she said patting the scar on her abdomen. "Literally a life changing moment for me, so I'm rather fond of this one. These" she indicated her arms "not so much."

Virgil took one of her arms and gently turned it over noticing that the scarring went all the way around. He thought his heart was going to stop when he recognised a symbol etched into her skin.

"What are they?" he asked, careful to keep his voice neutral.

"A by-product of where Warren and I grew up. Nana thinks we grew up in a cult and, to be honest, she's not far wrong."

Virgil studied the markings for a moment longer. Now that he'd recognised the first symbol, he was catching a few more. She appeared to be covered in short-hand but the only symbols her recognised were 'with' and 'and' and 'positive.'

He looked up and found Jasmine's eyes boring into him, he also realised she was a tightly coiled as a spring. He returned her arm to her side.

"That's not important now" he said. "Let's check these ribs out." He saw the relief wash through her like a visible wave. Taking the hand scanner he passed it over her ribs, it beeped quickly relaying what he had already suspected. The ribs Jasmine had indicated were indeed cracked, though it was hairline rather than anything more serious. He was burning with curiosity about the scars and knew he'd need to ask her sooner rather than later exactly why she had them. But for now, he tried to focus on the job. Moving slowly, he tilted her chin with his left hand and ran the scanner over the bruise on her face. It was just bruising and he breathed out in relief. Without asking for permission, he scanned the rest of her, finding nothing more serious than the cracked ribs. There would be a lot of bruising, enough to make a regular person reach for the painkillers, but then, she wasn't a normal person, was she?

Jasmine yawned suddenly, one hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"Sorry" she said. "I think I finally ran out of adrenalin."

"That's alright, you need sleep. You're better off here than lying down though." He cast his eyes over the couch and its twin before taking the cushions from the other and stacking them against the high sided arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked and Virgil was pleased to hear only a tired curiosity in her tone.

"One minute" he said moving to the bedroom and returning with a blanket and a large t-shirt. Carefully he helped her put the shirt on – which earned him a bemused look – and swing her legs up so she could rest against the cushions. "Comfy?" He asked.

"Yeah, actually" she said sounding surprised. Her eyes were half lidded now and he suspected it was taking a lot to stay awake.

"Get some sleep, I'll be here in the morning." He gave her shoulder a brief squeeze intending to retire to the bedroom but the heat emanating from her stopped him. "You feel very warm" he said.

Jasmine's eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Damn" she said throwing the blanket off. "Do you have any ice or an ice pack maybe?"

"I'll check" he said moving quickly at the urgency in her tone. "What's wrong?"

"I can't temperature regulate very well" she said. "It's part of the condition. Overheating generally isn't a problem in England but-"

"Swelling generates heat" he finished bringing back a couple of packs and cracking them. One he applied straight to her ribs, Jasmine took the other and put it under her arm.

"Guess I'm not sleeping after all" she said ruefully. "Do you have a thermometer?"

Virgil fished it out of the medical case but then had to move it quickly from Jasmine's reach.

"You need to rest" he said. "I've got this, I'll keep an eye on your temperature and make sure you don't overheat in your sleep."

"I can't ask you to do that!" she said aghast. "You need sleep too."

"I'm fine and you're not asking me to, I'm telling you that's what's going to happen. You can't deny you're dead on your feet."

"I'm sitting down, technically."

"Don't be pedantic."

The thermometer beeped showing a temperature higher than he'd like.

"Jasmine, you're exhausted and this is literally a part of my job. I said to you before that you don't need to do everything by yourself and I meant it. Let me look after you, just for tonight."

She wanted to deny it, he could see that, but exhaustion won and, after far too long, she nodded.

"Are you going to sit and watch me sleep, because that's a little creepy?" she said with just a hint of her mischievous nature coming through. But as she said it she relaxed into the cushions and let some of the tension drain away.

"I have a book, thanks, but I'll be close by if you need anything."

He expected a response, even if it was just a nod, but she was already asleep.