Janice got out of the shower and wrapped her robe around her body after drying off

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!"