Author's Note: Well, I'm back! It's been a while, I know (about three YEARS), but better late than never, right? I revamped this chapter, and hopefully there will be a lot more on the way. Thanks for your patience! And please review! :-)

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Christmas was coming. Jondy hated Christmas. It was all hype, anyway. A fat guy in a red suit coming down the chimney and leaving presents. It was sad, really. Especially considering the fact that the fat guy, Santa Claus or whatever, had been invented by Coca-Cola. What a thing to base a holiday on.

She shook her head, shrugging into her jacket. Whatever. Norms were weird like that. As if that wasn't bad enough, the farmer folk were having a Christmas party. Oh, joy. "Kill me now," she muttered.

"Going somewhere?" Adam asked, emerging from the doorway behind her.

She hated to admit it, but it was getting easier and easier to think of the person who stood before her now as someone completely different from her former CO and lover. They shared the same face; hell, technically, they were the same person, but they weren't. It was like they were identical twins or something.

"Just out for a walk," she said with a smile that was only partly forced. Truth was, she was getting rusty. She had found a nice little clearing a little ways down the road that was good for practicing her moves. The snow didn't bother her. Really.

Then he asked, "Mind if I join you?"

Jondy wondered if there was a polite way to say "no." Nope, there wasn't. "Sure." Oh, well. One less day of practice.

As they walked along, their boots crunched in the snow. It was the only sound to penetrate the silence that had settled around them. Jondy wasn't in the mood for small talk; apparently, neither was Adam. Then why did he ask to go with her in the first place? Was she missing something?

Finally, he did say something. "Janie, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Avoiding her gaze, he said, "I know this sounds kind of stupid, but…I don't know."

Suddenly, she had a sinking feeling that she knew what he was going to ask. "What is it?" Her voice was steady and didn't waver. Brownie point for her.

"Do I…" He took a deep breath. "Do I know you? From before, I mean."

Now he was looking at her, and his gaze was making her uncomfortable. She fought the urge to look away. "No. No, I'm sure I'd remember," she said, looking directly at him. Always make eye contact when you're lying, isn't that what they had taught her?

They stood staring at each other for a moment, their breaths coming out in fleeting puffs of air. Adam broke eye contact first. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I just… I had to ask."

Impulsively, she reached out and touched his arm. "It's okay." Damn, did she feel like a bitch now. She wondered what his reaction would have been had she told him in the truth.

"Know you? Know you? Not only have we known each other since before we could talk, but we're both genetically engineered freaks trained as soldiers. In fact, you were our CO. Everyone was always talking behind your back about what a hardass you were. But then we escaped in '09. Then you became even more of a hardass than you already were, making sure we moved at least every six months and had no friends whatsoever. Did I mention we've been sleeping together for the past year?"

Oh, yeah. That would go over well.

Jondy realized that sooner or later she was going to have to find out what Zack—Adam—remembered. No time like the present, right? No day but today. Well, here goes nothing… "You really don't remember anything about your life from before?"

He shook his head, staring straight ahead. "Sometimes I think I do, but I can't tell if it's real or just a dream."

Jondy was treading on fragile ground, but she asked the next question anyway. "Did you dream about me? Is that why you asked…"

"Yeah."

"What did you dream about me?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized the potential for embarrassment. But it was too late.

Zack—Adam—turned a deep red, staring steadfastly at the ground. Jondy was wishing she could disappear herself. Or that the ground would choose this time to open up and swallow her. Or at least for some bad guys to show up so she could kick their asses. Anything to get way, way past the awkward moment they were having now.

"Never mind," she said quickly. "I can guess. So, what else have you dreamed about?"

Zero points for subtlety, but Zack/Adam didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he was just glad for the change in topic. "Mostly just faces. And numbers."

"Numbers?" She tried not to sound overly interested, but it looked like he was in his own little world anyway.

"Yeah. It was like…everyone had a number instead of a name."

Jondy made a noncommittal noise, her mind racing. As long as Zack-as-Adam kept thinking they were just dreams, everything was fine, assuming White stayed out of the picture. But how long would it take him to realize that it was more than a little odd to be having similar dreams night after night about a strange place that seemed to be some sort of boot camp for toddlers? Considering his IQ was off the charts, not long. Well, she'd just have to cross that bridge when she came to it.

"It's probably nothing," she said finally, attempting to sound nonchalant. "The human mind"—or mostly human mind, anyway—"works in strange and mysterious ways. I wouldn't worry about it. At least you have people who care about you." She looked at her watch. "Anyway, we'd better get back. I think Buddy wanted to teach me how to milk the cow or something."

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