Janice got out of the shower and wrapped her robe around her
body after drying off. She hadn't
realized how cold she was until after she got into the steaming hot water. It was tough being here when she wanted to
be there, but it was something she was just going to have to live with. The hardest thing was watching them take off
in the helicopter and go on the chase, and she had to pick up on the life she
had made here. It sucked. Sucked to a degree she had not known life
could. She thought she had put it
behind her, that desire to let Nightshade get out and have fun, but she had
been fooling herself. It was never
going to be gone. Somehow she was just
going to have to learn to deal with it.
Maybe she should quit teaching and go into private security. Maybe.
She wandered out of the bathroom. Leslie, the teacher she was sharing the room with, was waiting
for her. Great. This is what she didn't need. More questions. The police heard a credible story. Everything was just fine.
You wouldn't be able to tell that Alicia and Zack were anything but
terrified parents. Cole and the rest
had stayed back. Leslie was sweet, but
she liked to interrogate the hell out of someone. She liked knowing every little detail. Janice had almost shot her a couple of times during her first few
months of teaching when Leslie tried to pry out why she had moved to Seattle
and what her past life was like.
"Are you feeling all right?" Leslie asked her, looking
sympathetic.
"Better now," Janice answered. "I really want to get some sleep though," she added quickly to
stave off any further questioning. It
was true though. She was really looking
forward to about ten hours of sack-time.
She should feel pretty good about herself in any case. She'd managed to keep up with a multitude of
the genetically engineered against a group of mercenaries. Not good enough, she thought sadly.
Leslie caught the brief flash of sadness, and jumped on it,
her eyes bright as she scented some good gossip. "Janice? If you need to
talk, I'm right here."
"I'm just really tired," Janice reiterated, hoping Leslie
would leave. She was going to have to
go back to Virginia for a few days now.
She needed all her strength to face that ordeal. It wasn't going to be easy, but Kevin
deserved that respect.
They both heard a strange noise outside. Leslie was confused, but Janice placed it
right away. Her heartbeat immediately
leaped. A helicopter. No, don't get any hopes up, she ordered
herself. That's not your world
anymore. You won't ever be invited
back. You ruined it for Kevin's
sake. It was your choice, and you took
it. Live with it. They were on the first story, so she was
expecting to hear it get further away in just a second. Instead it came even closer.
They both looked up with surprise as a man dropped beside
the window. It was unlocked, and he
came straight in. Leslie was too
terrified to scream as the extremely well armed man strode directly to Janice
without even sparing a glance at Leslie.
Janice was just wondering why Cole hadn't left yet. He was supposed to have taken off already to
find the buyer. Rational thought ended
roughly half a second after he got close to her.
Cole wasn't sure for certain why he was really there. He'd just finally told them he needed two
minutes to do something, and despite the crude comments about getting it done
that fast that had been popped off by Xander, they had headed into the right
direction. Now here he was and here she
was, and oh hell, why even try and fight it anymore?
He grabbed Janice by the back of the neck and pulled her to
him, his lips meeting hers squarely.
For a second Janice wasn't sure if this was real or if she was already
in bed dreaming, but his mouth against hers, his hand on her neck, and the wild
blaze of passion that contact had ignited felt pretty damn real to her. She felt totally paralyzed from the neck
down, unable to even make her arms wrap around him. Holy Mother of God.
He finally pulled back from her, his eyes saying more than
words could. There was the slightest
smile on his lips, and then he was gone.
Janice could only stand there numbly as he slipped back through the
window, and was up the rope ladder suspended from the helicopter in the blink
of an eye. She sat down heavily. It would have been nice if there were a
chair where she chose to sit, but there wasn't, so she was on the floor.
"Not a single word," she said firmly to Leslie, holding up a
finger in warning. It was hard to get
her breath back. "Not a single fucking
word!"