Jack slumped onto the bed. Every time he tried to get answers from her, it turned into a fight. They always ended up yelling at each other and it was usually his fault. He didn't mean to start yelling at her or grab her so tightly, so why did he? He didn't even really care why she had kissed him, he just wanted to steer the conversation away from talk of the remote trigger and the "my life" he had thrown into his statement about her leaving. He could tell that she was thinking about it as well so he just threw the question about the kiss out there. He didn't think before launching into an attack on her.

He played with the ring on his left hand. Little did Irina know, their rings were connected in more ways than one. Not only were they wedding bands, his was the trigger that could make the C4 go off. He never expected to use it, he had only insisted on it for a just in case. He didn't really think she would attempt anything, but with Irina you never knew what would come next.

He let out a deep sigh. He knew he would have to find her and talk to her, but did he really want to? Sydney had told him that this was the perfect opportunity for them to sort out their differences. Maybe she was right. Tomorrow, they would get the Rambaldi artifact and be on their way. That meant he still had the rest of the day and the night to talk to her. Before he could talk to her though, he needed to figure out exactly what he wanted.

The truth was, he wanted to believe what both his wife and daughter, and apparently even Vaughn had been telling him. He just didn't know if he had it in him to believe. What if this was all a trick to hurt him again? No one had any clue what was going on inside her head, least of all him. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle another broken heart. It would kill him, literally and figuratively. He almost died the first time he had opened his heart to her; he could only imagine what would happen if he did it again.

As he sat on the bed, the forgotten breakfast getting cold, he realized something. He would give anything to be able to admit to her that he still loved her, to hear that she still loved him. Consequences be damned; he had been waiting for 20 years to hear her say she really loved, that she had to leave because she was given no other choice. Technically, she already had, but he hadn't listened and now he wanted to hear it again. He wanted to know, even if, in the end, it did turn out to be just a big game or some kind of trick.

A small part of him had always believed she had to have loved him when they were living a lie, even if her love was little. Why then did he put up such a fight when she admitted it? He was making it hard for both of them, not that things between them wouldn't be difficult considering their past. But he kept putting up defenses and blocks, keeping her at bay. If all he wanted was for her to love him, why was he being such an ass?

He knew he had to get her to talk to him and that would not be easy. She always had been very good at giving the silent treatment and he doubted that her skill had not lessened in the past years. He could follow her to the pool, but she would only ignore him. He had to do something unexpected and he knew just the thing, but he would have to hurry.

He put on his shoes, grabbed his coat and a room key and left, a smile on his face. It was going to be perfect.