"Can I help you, miss?"

Jondy whirled around. She had been so distracted by the sight of Zack in this backwater, she hadn't even heard him approach. Not good. She had to keep her head in the game.

The man addressing her was stout and friendly looking, dressed in overalls and a flannel shirt. "Um…I…uh…think something's wrong…with my…motorcycle."

Well, that was brilliant.

"Well, if you'd like, we can take it out back and have a look at it," the man offered.

Jondy smiled faintly. "Thank you. I'd appreciate that."

The man held out his hand. "Name's Buddy."

She shook his hand. "Jon--Janie." His palm was callused, the sign of a man who worked for a living. She liked him instantly.

"Well, Janie, let's take your bike out back and see what we can do." He started off.

She waited until he was out of sight. Then she whispered, "I'm sorry," and proceeded to trash her motorcycle until it looked rather pathetic. She took a step back and surveyed the damage. Inoperable, but repairable, she decided.

She wheeled her bike along the path the man had designated, murmuring, "I'm sorry, baby. I'll never do it again. But I had to do something. Please forgive me."

"You do know you're talking to a motorcycle, right?" a familiar voice inquired.

She spun around to face the speaker, intending to remind him that he had talked to plenty of motorcycles in his time. She stopped when something told her that this wasn't the Zack she knew. She searched his face; there was no sign of recognition. Just a warm, open smile that even reached his eyes. Zack was neither warm nor open. So who the hell was this imposter?

"I…it's a habit of mine," she said finally. Then she changed subjects. "Um, Buddy said that he might be able to help me fix my bike." She gestured to her motorcycle, which was still looking pretty pitiful.

Zack-who-wasn't-Zack nodded. "Buddy's a good man."

"He is," she agreed. "Not many people would help a stranger off the street." Then she added, as afterthought, holding out her hand, "I'm Janie."

He shook her hand and answered, "I'm Adam."

Adam?

There was a moment of silence, then he offered, "Here, let me take that for you."

Too dazed to refuse, she let him, and followed him around back. There, they found Buddy waiting with a toolbox. He smiled. "I see you two have met each other." Looking at the motorcycle, he frowned. "Huh. It didn't look that bad before."

Jondy didn't say anything.

Buddy knelt by the bike and inspected it, occasionally muttering things like "Hm… Well, that's not too bad…" and so on. Finally, he looked up and said, "You're gonna need a new carburetor. What'd you do to this poor bike anyway?"

"I…saw a deer run into the middle of the road, and I didn't want to hit it, so I swerved and…crashed into a tree, and, well…you know the rest," she ended lamely.

They seemed to accept her story. Which was good, because she couldn't think of a better one. "Well," Buddy said finally, "can't get a new carburetor around here, we're gonna have to go into town for it. It's too late to go now, but we can go first thing in the morning. In the meantime," he continued, "you can stay here."

Stay here? In the middle of nowhere? But how could she refuse? Besides, this would give her an opportunity to find out what was going on with Zack.

"Thank you," she said at last, hoping she sounded adequately grateful.

"Do you have anything else with you?" Buddy asked kindly.

She shook her head. "Nope. Just me, my motorcycle, and I."

"All right." He turned to Not Zack. "Adam, why don't you take her inside and ask Mary to get her something to eat."

'Adam' nodded. "Follow me," he said to Jondy.

She said thank you again to Buddy and hurried to catch up with Zack/Adam's loping stride.

"So where are you from?" he asked Jondy.

"At the moment, Seattle. I move around a lot," she added as way of explanation.

They entered the house, 'Adam' graciously holding the door open for her. "Mary!" he called.

A plump, middle-aged woman came bustling out of another room. "Yes, dear?" she asked. Upon seeing Jondy, she asked, "My, who's this lovely young lady?"

Are these people for real?

"I'm Janie," she said with a smile. It was with some shock that she realized they were, in fact, for real. Hard to believe, but true.

"Her bike broke down," 'Adam' explained, "and Buddy said that she could stay here until he fixed it."

"Why, certainly," Mary said, beaming. "I'll go fix up the guestroom."

She exited the room, humming to herself, leaving 'Adam' and Jondy alone in the kitchen. There was a moment of awkward silence.

"So…" they said at the same time.

Finally, Jondy asked, "Is there a bathroom around here?"

"Around the corner to your left," he answered.

"Thanks." She stood up and walked out of the kitchen.

Owl's Note: Sort of anticlimactic, I know, but I didn't want one chapter to be bordering on novel-length. Next chapter will be awesome for people who have been PO'd at how stupid Max and Logan have been acting during the show, especially in "Some Assembly Required." Thanks for putting up with me thus far while I get through all the boring stuff. *g*