Everybody was nervous. Filled with so much anticipation that Chris was in pain. He was constantly rubbing his temples and fielding off offers of asprin and massages from Cass, who was even more nervous than anybody else. This was grating on them all and he could do nothing to stop it.

He saw Sarah and Dave sitting in a corner somewhere, huddled over notes of some sort. Familiarity, planning, a sense of enforced calm covered their anxiety. He looked up at Cass, looked inside of her and looked up into her sapphire eyes. She wanted to be..."You can go," he said softly. "I'll be fine...."

She smirked and rubbed his cheeks with the outside of her thumbs; the heel of her hands supporting his chin. "I want to know what they're doing," she breathed . "But I'm only the pilot. They'll tell me when they're ready."

He felt the regret in her, a regret that when pushed aside, revealed... Something he'd never thought to possess. He closed his eyes and tried to hold back tears. "Thank you," he swallowed.

He saw her appraise the look on his face. "So you finally discovered my big secret," she replied, grinning. "And yes. I do."

Pulling his senses in, he pushed his fear away and put his arms around her. "You realize what this means?" he asked, softly.

She raised her eyebrows, and shook her head. "Sorry buddy. I don't have your sixth sense...or whatever..."

"I wished I had your iron will," he replied with a laugh, planting a kiss on her neck. "Cause I'm going with you."

"You are such an idiot," she growled, for a reason he was unsure of. "Do you know how dumb that sounds?"

"I don't," he replied, unable to sense her or even understand his own emotions. "It's just..."

"Just because I'm in love with you doesn't mean you all of a sudden..."

And there it was. Insult. Anger. Fire. It hurt. "Stop it," he growled. Looking her in the eyes again. Forcing her to see him. "This has NOTHING to do with protection. I don't think for a second that I have to protect you. You have more training in that kind of thing than I ever could have...."

"Then what is it, Chris? What is it?"

"Trust," he replied, fighting the shock and questions that came from her direction. The ones she verbalized just as much as the ones she didn't. "I want you to know that I trust you. Enough to throw my silly fears aside enough to put my life in your hands."

He couldn't feel the response she gave him, except for the fact that she was just...stunned. He smiled. "I told you," he murmured. "I wouldn't think myself even close to being able to protect you. You'd see me hiding behind you in a second..."

She grinned, and he felt her tension lessen. "You are definitely full of surprises, that's for sure."

He nodded, smiling. Wrapping himself in her calm. "Yeah. You'll let me know when it gets boring, right?"

"Mmhm..." She lay against him and rested her cheek on his shoulder...

"You should be careful..."

A voice. Hostile feelings emanating from the speaker. Chris raised his head from Cass's shoulder and looked up into the brown eyes of Ed Tate. "Why," Chris replied, before noticing that Cass had responded to the question at the same time.

"Cause you don't know what he's...."

"Ed!" The voice of Sloan Parker cut through the silence. Chris saw the fear in her eyes, the anger. And felt the emotions behind it. She was sick and tired after pursuing the same old argument more than once. "Stop it."

Ed turned towards Sloan, and Chris tried not to react to the emotions he felt coming from Ed. Distrust. Anger. "We don't know what they're..."

They. Chris couldn't hold himself back. "Look," he growled, spurred on by the feel of Cass's hand, tight against his shoulder. "Yes. Some of my species are dangerous. Some of us," he replied. "Have been trained to kill. But that doesn't mean that all of us are intrinsically evil." He sighed, laying against Cass. "I made a mistake, and I'm sorry for that. But I'm not stupid. I'm a scientist...a damm good one, if I do say so myself. My loyalty and love are both unquestionable. I may be impulsive, but I'm inexperienced. And..."

"He's a fraidy cat," chimed Cass. Playfulness, almost pride emanated from her. He couldn't be angry with her even if he wanted to be. "He's..."

"If I'm interrupting something, I'll leave." A new voice, tinged with an accent Chris couldn't identify broke into the discussion. Reaching deeper, amidst the laughter and the mixed emotions from everybody else in the room, Chris sensed a familiarity, an expectation of what the new person was meant to do there, though there were nerves. At a base level, Chris couldn't see the source of these nerves, but going deeper he saw that they were triggered by unfamiliarity. Of course. He mentally shook his head in understanding. The room was filled mostly with people this new person didn't know, including himself. All of a sudden, there was laughter that broke through to Chris in his sensing induced reverie. "There is somebody in Vancouver who is missing me," the stranger continued, "not to mention the business I left on my desk back home..."

"You're not going anywhere, Gilad," shouted Sarah, an excitement in her voice wrapped up in a bit of teasing. Chris sensed an ease in both Sarah's and the stranger...now Gilad's mood. "We need your expertise..."

Cass clutched at his arm, somehow reminding him of her presence, though who knows how he possibly could have forgotten her scent, as he stared intently at the reunion between the two.... friends.

"Gilad Kesher," Cass whispered into his ear . "I met him about two years ago. Really solid guy. Good on his feet. A strategist, improvisational. Didn't see him up close," she continued, her voice cloaked in what Chris felt to be explanatory tones. "But I've heard he's who the best call in when they need back up."

Chris nodded in understanding as he caught Dave Forrester's glance from across the room. He didn't have to be able to sense emotions to be able to figure out what Forrester was saying. It was time to organize.