An Overdue Thank You: I would just like to thank my awesome beta, Anna, for putting up with me while I sent her bits and pieces. You're the best!

~~~

That night, she went exploring. She didn't like being in unfamiliar territory, even if that "territory" was Old MacDonald's farm. She found her motorcycle in a makeshift garage, alongside a tractor.

Next to the garage were the stables. She entered cautiously, looking around. Immediately, she was confronted by a pair of large brown eyes and a long muzzle poking out over the stall door. The horse whickered and nuzzled her shoulder. She laughed and petted it, stroking the horse's sleek mane while its tail swished from side to side.

The horse was a beautiful palomino, golden with a white mane and tail. Jondy had always had a knack with animals, but her favorites were cats and horses. And this one certainly was a beauty. A label taped on the front of the stall read, "Sunshine." Well, that was definitely appropriate.

Suddenly, she heard a noise behind her and turned, her hand still buried in Sunshine's mane. Zack -- Adam -- was standing there, looking sheepish. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I thought I heard someone down here."

"It's okay. I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither."

He walked up to Sunshine's stall and stood beside Jondy, looking at the mare. "She likes you," he remarked, smiling.

"Well, I like her, too," she replied with a smile.

He absently reached out to pet Sunshine. His hand brushed hers, sending a jolt of electricity through her body. She jerked her hand back, causing a surprised whinny from Sunshine, who was adoring the attention. Backing up, she stammered, "I should probably be heading back to bed." And with that, she fled.

Now why did you act like that? she scolded herself. Then she sighed. Because I don't want anything happening between us. Like it or not, he still had Zack's physical characteristics, if not his mental ones, and he was gorgeous.

No. He is not hot, he is not gorgeous, and you do not want him.

Right. Maybe if she told herself that enough times, she'd actually start to believe it.

Meanwhile, Adam was having internal conflicts of his own.

What did I do wrong? he asked himself. He had obviously done something, or she wouldn't have run off like that.

Maybe…He yawned. Maybe… But he was too tired to think rationally. Maybe I'd better go to sleep. So he did.

He dreamt about Janie. Except she wasn't Janie. She was someone else, someone he used to know. He saw himself dancing with her… kissing her… making love to her…

It didn't make any sense. Did it really happen, or did he just want it to happen? He didn't know. Finally, he decided his unconsciousness had created this fantasy just to torture him. And it was working. God, was it working.

~*~

Jondy woke up -- wait, when was she sleeping? She thought back, and realized that Mary's dinner must have contained more tryptophan than she had initially thought. Between that and not eating the day before, her body had decided it was time to sleep and catch up on the energy it had lost, minimal though it was.

She sat up and stretched. A slight frown creased her forehead as the events of yesterday came flooding back. Finding Zack. Finding out Zack wasn't Zack. Calling Logan. Getting stuck here. Oh yeah, things were just great.

She stood up and walked over to the window, drawing back the curtains. The sun was well on its course of ascension, making her believe it was somewhere around eleven o'clock. Far below, she could see Buddy and Zack chopping wood. No. Not Zack. Adam. She had to remember that, or she might let something slip.

She changed clothes, pulling some fresh ones from her backpack and throwing the dirty clothes on the floor. She made the bed, then looked at the clothes still lying despondently on a heap on the floor. Quickly, she shoved the pile under the bed and headed downstairs. She'd deal with the problem of laundry later.

"Well, hello, dearie!" Mary greeted her cheerfully.

"Hi, Mary," she replied, smiling. Now that she'd had some sleep, she could better deal with cheerful people.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you."

Somehow, before she realized what was happening, she found herself sitting at a table with a plate of pancakes in front of her. "Um…thank you?"

"You're welcome, dearie," Mary replied, still jovial, bustling about the kitchen.

As Jondy ate, she watched the two men work. Za--Adam's strokes with the ax were smooth and practiced. She watched his muscles flex as he swung. He was really -- But she didn't allow herself to complete the thought. He stopped for a moment, smiling at something Buddy said and saying something back, before resuming his labor.

She looked up, and caught Mary staring at her, an odd look on her face. "What?"

Mary just shook her head and smiled. "Nothing, dear."

But Jondy knew exactly what that look meant.

Oh, great. Now she thinks I have the hots for him. That's just peachy.

As soon as she had helped Mary clean up in the kitchen, she slipped into her jacket and walked outside.

"Hey, guys," she said with a smile.

Buddy smiled back at her. "Why, hello, Janie! And how are you doing this fine afternoon?"

"I'm doing just great, thank you. And yourself?"

Oh, God. She was starting to catch the cheerfulness vibe, and it was seriously scaring her.

"Well, I'm doin' just fine." More smiles.

Buddy and Adam went back to their work. But a few minutes later, she heard Buddy grunt in pain. "What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"It's nothin'," he assured her. "Just my arthritis actin' up."

"Why don't you go inside?" she suggested. "I can take it from here."

He seemed a little hesitant to let such a delicate girl like herself do any hard labor, but finally he agreed and went inside.

As Jondy bent over to pick up the ax, Adam cautioned, "Watch out, it's heavy."

She picked it up and swung it experimentally a few times. Smiling at Adam's shock, she joked, "Are you kidding? It's nothing." She lifted the ax over her head and swung down. The ax hit the wood with a solid thunk and stayed there, deeply embedded and nearly cracking the wood in half.

Jondy frowned at it. She had been trying to split the wood all the way through. She looked up to find Zack staring at her. No, not Zack. Adam. Adam, who had never had military training, never been outside of…nowhere, and never eaten Chinese food for breakfast. "What?" she asked, trying to smile. "Haven't you ever seen a girl lift an ax before?"

And she had been doing so well, too.

~*~