*11*

They sat about the kitchen table for an hour or so, talking about far less distasteful subjects. The connection between the two men ? Graywolf's Uncle Zach having worked with Tomas in the CIA ? coming to light and making Tomas' willingness to reveal classified information to them easier for Alyx to understand. Gray had known the man for about 20 years at this point and both of the older men's career choices had been instrumental in Gray's decision to study law and go into CIA himself. It was just a small part of who he was, but to Alyx, a valuable part. She stayed quiet for the most part, allowing the two men the time to get reacquainted, share stories and news about their families and lives.

She was laughing merrily at one of the more embarrassing tales of Gray's youth, her partner blustering and blushing, Tomas' eyes twinkling with mischief, when Alyx's cell phone went off, startling her. Removing the slim device from her pocket she answered it with a sprightly, "Silver." It took mere seconds for her smile to fade. Getting to her feet she stepped out of the room to gain some small measure of privacy for the call.

Gray saw her pale and knew whatever had happened was bad. Excusing himself, he followed her back out to the living room where she stood with one had rubbing her cheek and looking just about as upset as he had ever seen her. His first thought, based on her reaction, was that something must have happened to Fawkes, which inspired a major battle of mixed emotions within him. He pushed it all aside, until he actually knew what was going on; there was little point in speculating, or enjoying the potential of Fawkes being off the playing field, since he full well knew how devastating news of that nature would be to her.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." She paused, listening. "She'll have to deal. She knows my priorities on this matter." At this pause irritation crawled across he features. She caught Gray's concerned look as well as his emotions and turned away from him. "Damn it, she has most of the data already and I'll transfer the details later. No, I will not stay away."

The anger and frustration that tinged her words made Gray move closer and rest a hand on her shoulder. "Sil?"

She raised a finger, a shorthand request for him to wait. "I'll be there by this evening.... Yes. Of course." She snapped the phone shut and slumped down for a second before straightening. "Gray, I have a bit of a situation..."

"Miss Silver, is there anything I can help with?" Tomas made his presence known.

"Only if you're willing to drive Gray back to D.C.," she stated, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"If necessary, of course," Tomas told her truthfully.

"Sil, what the hell is going on?" Gray wasn't about to go anywhere without finding out what that phone call was about.

"I've a bit of an emergency with... that special project of mine. I... I have to go," Alyx stammered with more than a trace of discomfort for having to deceive him. "Tomas, thank you for your help and hospitality. I owe you a favor."

Tomas shook his head. "No, my dear, you don't. This is something I should have dealt with years ago; perhaps my conscience will finally be eased on the matter." He escorted her back to the mudroom and helped her put her coat on while a stunned Gray watched. It wasn't until she was outside and moving to the back of the Hummer to remove Gray's bags that he realized she really was leaving. Leaving him behind.

"Sil, what the hell? You're just going to run off and leave me here?" Gray couldn't decide whether to be angry, insulted or hurt and ended up being all three at once.

She froze, her jaw clenching. "The job, Gray. Last I checked there was a job to be done and you are perfectly capable of handling some research on your own. You have far more and far friendlier contacts than I do in D.C. You can try Duke Montgomery in IAD, use my name, he should talk to you."

"Alyx, I don't know... anything obviously, but some project would not make you this upset. The mission is being handled. Keller is swamped with bodyguards and the city crawling with agents on the lookout for Lee, or whoever. If Cavanaugh can deal with you taking off, she can deal with both of us doing so." Shifting quickly he stepped beside her and set a hand over the one she had on the handle of his bag. "I'm sorry for allowing my distrust of Fawkes to spill over on to you. I was wrong about that." When she did nothing, said nothing, he tried a different tack. "You said you trusted me, don't you think its about time you trusted me with this."

"Damn it, Gray, it's not that simple. You have no understanding of whats involved. And I'm still not sure you should." Alyx turned slightly, fighting the conflicting emotions running through her, fighting the pull of two necessities, two loyalties that she felt still needed to be separate. "I don't want to fight about this, don't have time to, I need to go." Though her temper was quickly rising she kept it reined in. "Gray..." Was the only warning she gave.

He shook his head. "Sil there is no way you can drive several hours hurt like you are." When she glared, her eyes flashing with barely restrained anger, he gently removed her hand from the bag and returned it to its place in the cargo area. "You said you'd be ... wherever by dinner. That's a five, six-hour drive. You didn't manage the plane flight without problems. Besides, Cavanaugh would have my hide if I allowed you to go off on your own."

Alyx wanted to scream with frustration even though she knew he was right. "Hell," she cursed softly. "All right, but you have to promise me you will tell no one ? and I do mean no one."

"Sil, just tell me what's going on." With gentle hands he got her away from the rear of the vehicle and shut the cargo door.

"Just promise me, Gray, or I swear I'll leave your ass sitting right here." Alyx was adamant; there was no way she'd take him along, even if she did need the help, unless he made this promise.

"All right. All right. I promise I won't tell a soul about... whatever this is," he snapped out in exasperation. "Satisfied?" Oh yeah, he was more than a little ticked off at this point. Too many secrets from someone who proclaimed trust, who proclaimed friendship, who he was supposed to keep safe. How the hell was he supposed to do that if she kept him in the dark about things that were important to her?

She eyed him, debating seriously telling him to sod off. Six hours with him in a bad mood was going to be enough of a strain. She knew when they arrived he was going to go thermonuclear on her and she wasn't quite sure she wanted, or could deal with it. Not on top of everything else.

"Just drive. I'll explain what I can, the rest will have to wait 'til we arrive." She turned away from him to see Tomas come bounding around the corner of the house lugging a thermos and a picnic basket.

"Take these. I have the feeling you don't want to stop unless necessary." He handed the items to her, which she accepted with no small amount of surprise.

"Tomas, you've done more than enough already." Here she was being about as rude as possible after he'd put himself to great risk to help them and now... and now he was being kind just because.

"This? This is nothing. Some bread, meat and cheese to hold you over 'til you arrive. Oh, and some coffee." He reached around her and opened the door for her. "Go, my dear. Gray will return the items later." He lowered his voice to a whisper so only she would hear. "Some things are far more important than saving the world."

"Tomas, how?" she asked, eyeing the man warily, wondering exactly what he knew and how he had come about the information.

"I told you I've kept up on things. And no, I don't know, but I, among others, have suspicions about that special project' of yours, so be very careful." Tomas gave her a small nod at the questioning look in her eyes, and he was dismayed when she turned slightly paler than she already was. For a moment he regretted mentioning his hunch to her, but knew that this, if the suspicions that had been following her name were true, was something she needed to know. There would be far more than just her at risk if that truth were to be revealed to certain people.

"Thank you." She slid into the passenger seat and set the basket and thermos at her feet then turned back to Tomas. "Some secrets have to be kept secret, Tomas, and I'll do anything to keep this one. Understand?"

The threat was obvious, though it seemed to not be aimed directly at him. "Perfectly. Perhaps some misinformation? From a trusted source?"

Alyx hid her surprise far better this time and reached out to set her hand upon his. This time she got that head full of information and wasn't shocked by it; was even prepared for it. He did indeed know far more than he was telling her, but she also knew he was firmly on her side. He had learned, much as she had known for some time, there were several factions in the government with very different motives when it came to living weapons such as herself and Darien. Cavanaugh and her superiors were firmly on the good side in the matter, but there were others. Others like those in the CIA who'd hired Marcus Heilburg and kidnapped her daughter who were on the bad side and saw them as nothing but tools to be studied, used and thrown away when broken. Others like those Jess must have been associated with, others like the SWRB who tried, and failed, to use Darien to their advantage before having things blow up in their faces ? literally. In fact, the loss of one facility barely slowed them down and they'd already rebuilt much of the work now that the new director was in place.

Tomas seemed to understand what was going on and was using it to his advantage by relaying the potential dangers via this far more subtle method that would leave no trail. "Only if it can be done in safety. I don't need any others at risk because of me." She released his hand and gave him a wry smile. "I've too much responsibility to shoulder as it is."

"My dear, I promise you I have not forgotten subtlety or how to watch my own ass." He was relieved to see her smile at his comment. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder he then stood and shut the door to see Graywolf standing at the driver's side, waiting.

"Xavier, take good care of her, and think about what I said." The reminder caused Gray's jaw to tighten for a moment. "I'll speak to you in a few weeks."

"Yes, you will," Gray agreed. "And I will think about it." He didn't wait for any response and climbed into the Hummer and started the engine. He didn't even give Tomas a polite wave as Alyx did when they backed out of the driveway. They remained silent until back on the main road heading towards the highway. "Where to, Sil?"

"North. Rhode Island," Alyx told him and waited for the questions to come, but he was silent. "Try to avoid toll roads where you can, but other than that just make the best time you are able to."

It wasn't until they were on the highway, heading north that Gray was finally able to settle a few stray and confused thoughts enough to speak. "This is your commute? Twice or more a week? Why not fly?"

Alyx was more than a little relieved that his first question was one she felt safe in answering. "Flying leaves too obvious a trail. Too many pieces of data that can connect back to me," she explained in a soft voice. "I've been very careful, but apparently not careful enough."

"And you've kept this a big secret, why exactly?" Gray was careful to keep his voice neutral, trying to keep the anger from rising yet again.

She sighed. "You'll see for yourself soon enough." His fingers tightened on the steering wheel until the knuckles turned white, evidence that her avoidance of his question was less than satisfactory. "Gray, if I explain all now, it'll make this a very long and uncomfortable ride for both of us. I know you're angry, again, and confused, but I am not in the mood for a six-hour argument over this. You talked me into letting you come. To help," she amended. "Don't make me regret that."

The tone of her voice convinced him that she meant every word. "Fine."

It was the last word spoken for several hours.

Since making their way through the awful New York rush hour traffic things had been going fairly smooth. It was a good thing Graywolf had insisted on a pit stop before tackling the Jersey Tunnel as they got caught in there for almost an hour. Alyx hadn't wanted to take a break, her mind focused on getting home, but he'd seen all the signs of her back getting ready to cramp up and had gently reminded her she was not at 100 percent.

He'd been forced to spend 10 minutes cajoling her out of the vehicle even after they had pulled into the rest area, and then even more to convince her to do some stretches. The half an hour they spent was well worth it, in his opinion as her mood improved dramatically, especially after they dug in to the picnic basket to find far more than the little meat and cheese Tomas had claimed to have packed up hurriedly. It was a veritable feast, and with the addition of the coffee dang near heaven for the two of them.

Alyx, however, gave him a distinct reminder of her hurry, when he found himself fumbling for the keys; the Hummer seemingly started itself. Gray realized that she could have taken off at any time and wondered how he kept managing to forget the all the little things she could do.

And the thought had indeed crossed her mind to take off while he stood next to her locked door trying to get her out of the vehicle, all the while her back screaming in agreement with Gray. It was only through sheer stubbornness that she'd remained sitting as long as she had. Once on the road again she called Mikey to let him know that were running a bit late and only avoided another disagreement about her heading home, by hanging up on him.

The drive had given Gray time to mull Tomas' words and the memory of what had transpired a few years ago between himself and Shari. Gray had come to the tentative conclusion that he might... just might be in the wrong. That he was seeing more in the relationship because she was female, his partner, and a friend. Though the friend part had snuck up on him so slowly he hadn't noticed until now. His irritation had waned and a tentative need to explain things to her was making itself known. "Sil..."

Her phone ringing interrupted him. Alyx snapped it open, expecting it to be Mike, and so was rather surprised to hear Darien's tinny voice coming out of the small speaker.

"We've got info and need to share. Where do ya wanna meet? Your place in D.C.?" Darien asked right off the bat.

"Crap," Alyx muttered under her breath. Not that she'd forgotten the two men or the need to exchange info, but her mind had definitely been focused on other things for the last few hours. "Uh, there was a bit of a snag. Can you meet us in Newport?"

"The house? Is everything okay?" The concern in his voice was clear and unmistakable.

"'Okay' is debatable, but it was nothing unexpected. I just need to be there." Alyx was careful to avoid direct mention of the situation.

She could hear Darien relaying the information to Bobby and his muffled, "Not a prob."

"You heard the loud-mouth, I'm sure," Darien commented over the top of Bobby's, "Hey!" of indignation. "We're heading back towards Lincoln now, anything else we should check into while here?"

"Darien, they burned down the records building. There is no other source." The audible sound of Darien sucking in a breath in reaction was not surprising.

Neither was Bobby's proclamation of "Shit," once Darien had passed the rather shocking news.

"Just grab your gear and go. Use the special account and do your best to cover your trail." She closed her eyes and sighed. "Sorry, force of habit."

Darien managed a chuckle. "You know me. If you don't keep pounding in the instructions I'll never remember them. It'll be a few hours at best."

"I know. Just call with the flight info and someone will meet you. Time doesn't matter, you know that." There wasn't much else to say. "Watch your backs."

"Always." His voice dropped to a raw-sounding emotion laden whisper. "He'll be fine, Chele." Making it plain he'd figured out the cause of her distress and the sudden need to run home, mission or no.

"I know," Her voice was nearly as choked, "but I still have to be there."

Bobby's voice was suddenly perfectly clear, having either taken the phone from Darien or had him hold it up to his ear. "Kid, on this occasion I agree. Let the other mooks worry about Keller. We have our own leads to follow. Right?"

"Yes, Bobby, and Cavanaugh is reasonably up to date. We can pretty much ignore Franklin's orders at this point." She sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly. "We have some major stunners to lay on you."

"Same here, kid. We'll try and be there by morning." The phone was shifted and then Darien's voice returned.

"You gonna make it?"

"Have to. No choice in that. See you when you get in." Alyx knew she had to get off the phone just based on the waves of emotion coming off of Gray. Just hearing her side of the conversation had been enough to take his improved mood and drop it right back down to the basement.

Darien had other ideas. "How'd Gray handle you taking off?"

"He didn't, Dare, he's driving," Alyx told him in a tiny voice.

"Oh. Well, that should make things interesting, anyway," Darien commented in about as dry a voice as he could manage.

"Very. Now get moving. We still have a lot of work to do even with this side trip." At least she'd been able to smile a bit due to his quite observant commentary.

"Yes, ma'am. See you." The phone went silenct seconds later. Alyx closed hers and turned to face Gray.

"Special account?" It wasn't what he wanted to ask first, but since it was a good bet he didn't want to hear the answers to the others, yet, it was the safest place to start.

Alyx rubbed her eyes for a moment. "Yes, I set it up for... personal trips, and both Darien and Bobby have access to it. The money has no direct connection back to any of us and isn't likely to be watched." True enough, once her memory had been returned she'd reconnected with that money and moved it to a new account run through several dummy corporations and eventually back to Michele and not Alyx.

Gray shook his head. "What money?"

Alyx decided to tiptoe about this one. She told him the truth, just not all of it. "It's from my last job for the Agency, before I became ill. The mission was unique and I received some funds from an outside source."

The answer was only partially satisfactory, but Gray had the feeling she'd tell him no more right now. "How long has he known?" His voice was soft as he tried to keep his emotions in check, but the hurt must have been audible, because she visibly flinched.

"Always. All the top personnel at the Agency know," she replied, feeling defeated. He was just plain refusing to understand the situation, and that was her fault for not being willing to tell him, for trying to keep the two halves of her life as separate as possible. "Gray, it was different..."

"Bullshit," he snapped. "Who else knows? Cavanaugh? Morris? Let me guess little Tommy Brooks in data retrieval. Everyone but me."

"Pull over," Alyx stated flatly, her face a pale mask.

"Sil..."

"Pull over, now, or I will do it for you." To prove her point she jerked the wheel to the side with her mind, causing Gray to yelp in surprise and hurriedly straighten the vehicle.

"Damn it, Sil... All right, all right, I'll do it." He immediately followed through by changing lanes and slowing down once on the rougher surface of the breakdown lane.

She flung the door open and was out of the car before it had come to a complete stop. She walked a few steps into the dirty snow that covered the dead grass and stood there shaking. Maybe, waiting until the mission was over was a mistake; maybe the time to dissolve this ... this so-called partnership was now.

Gray yanked on the emergency brake, turned off the engine, and slid across the seat to exit out the passenger side. He watched her for a long moment, glowering at her. It seemed like he was the only one who didn't know what the hell was happening and it hurt. "What is your problem, now?"

"My problem? Last I checked you were chewing my ass off for something that is none of your business." Her voice was cold, colder even than the air about them that turned their words into a fog that drifted away on the slight breeze. He recognized the tone, had heard it used on perps just before she gave them a taste of what she was really capable of, and knew he was treading on very thin ice with her.

"Yet it is Fawkes' business?" Flew out of his mouth before he could stop it.

"Yes, seeing as he is, shall we say, intimately involved in the situation." That scored a direct hit and Gray's look darkened noticeably. "For pity's sake Xavier do I go digging into your personal life? Do I presume to be guardian of your every move off-duty? Do I attempt to dictate who you can or can't see? Or what you can or can't do?"

She was right and he knew it, but he seemed unable to admit it even to himself. "Not the same," he argued in a tone far more appropriate to that of a petulant child denied a treat.

"Fine," she spat. "Then explain how it's different. Why I don't rate a personal life? Cause I'm a fricking lab rat? Cause I had shit done to me I neither asked for nor wanted? Cause the government all but owns me?" she hissed out the words, letting her anger and frustration over the entire situation find some much needed release. "I have enough people looking over my shoulder without adding another one."

"Sil?" Gray was more than a bit confused, he'd never seen her this upset, never realized she felt this out of control of her life. It had never crossed his mind that there might be a price she paid beyond the headaches and exhaustion her abilities sometimes caused. "I didn't realize..."

"Of course not. You were too busy being the partner you thought I wanted in between bouts of getting mooney-eyed at me. Of course, I was too damn thick-headed to notice you'd gone and convinced yourself you were in love with me." He blushed slightly in embarrassment, but that didn't prevent her from continuing. "You're not, by the way, no more than you were in love with any of your other partners, and if you'd take the time to see me as a person, instead of as some fragile doll of a girl to be put on a pedestal, you'd know this for yourself." She didn't bother to lessen the blow. She'd long since passed the point where politeness might have been possible. She wanted to shock him, wanted to hit him upside the head with the proverbial brick, wanted him to actually see the truth, finally.

Gray didn't know what to say and so just stood there staring at her. The sun was going down and the already chilly temps dropping even further, though the chill coming off of her was far deeper, an impeding ice-age created glacier about to roll right across him without a single thought or care.

Alyx closed her eyes and slumped. "Damn it, Gray, I do care. That's why I'm so upset."

"Sil... Alyx, I... I'm sorry. I'm supposed to help, not be a hindrance, but I can't change the way I feel." His voice was soft but firm, not willing to alter his perspective just yet.

"And I'm not asking you to. Hell, I swear you're worse than Darien ever was." She threw up her hands in exasperation and stalked over to him. "Can't change how you feel, huh? Then show me. Stop bottling it in and give it to me in all its unadorned glory."

For a second Gray's heart leapt into his throat, pounding at record speed at her words. She wanted to... with him ... here, at the side of the road? "Alyx, I'm not sure what exactly you mean," he all but stuttered out in confusion.

With a soft growl she grabbed one of his hands. "I have little interest in freezing my ass off in the snow, fool." She took a deep breath and softened her tone. "Just show me."

Now he understood and he suddenly found himself afraid. He'd always been careful to use the lessons taught to him by his grandfather and to keep his mind carefully controlled and quiet when around her. Knowing what she was, that other minds could and did intrude on hers no matter what, he made sure his was not one of them, or at least impinged the smallest amount possible. It was no wonder she hadn't taken overt notice of his feelings about her, he'd been very careful to keep them tightly locked away, not wanting to risk the distraction they could potentially cause. And now she wanted him to throw the door wide and let her experience everything he'd kept trapped inside for long months?

Looking into her eyes, he knew that she wasn't going to back down. He nodded, wrapped his hand about her tiny one, and let go his hold.

Alyx relaxed almost completely, her body going as boneless as possible while still remaining upright. This was a never an easy thing to do and would probably leave her with a headache for hours after, but, at this point, she could see no other way to resolve this. Better to get it out in the open, give him the chance to express himself in this most primitive and very visceral way, than to leave it locked up longer and tear them further apart. Yes, doing this might end any chance of them continuing on, but it would be ended with honesty between them instead of the deception that lay there now.

The emotions washed across her and through her and while he did care, did love her, it was far from even the newly awakened feelings Maxwell Garret had held for her so very long ago. In fact, far more of Gray's tangled emotional state seemed to involve protecting, guarding, and isolating her from those that might hurt her. In and odd way it reminded her of Bobby. There was a part of Gray that did not yet see her as a person, could not see that her talents meant little more than to make her different from the rest of society, that she wanted nothing more than to be seen for who she was. That she wanted to be remembered as Clark Kent and not Superman.

As the flood slowed to a trickle she released his hand and refocused on his face. He looked wary, as if afraid she was going to laugh at him, or revile him for his honest feelings. "Thank you, Xavier." When the tension between them failed to ease she gave him a hint of a smile. "What?"

It took him a moment to find his voice; he'd just poured his heart out to her and all she could say was thank you?' "Your turn. Show me."

She considered for a moment, it might be the best way, the only way for him to understand. "All right. Relax as much as you can, I don't want to hurt you more than necessary."

That caused a surprise surge of fear, though he knew she meant hurting by inserting the information too fast, or by forcing past his unconscious defenses. Yet, part of him was also afraid of what she was about to show him. He did what he could, but was still shocked at her gentle intrusion. It felt like he was being bathed in the heat of the noonday springtime sun. A warmth that penetrated, but did not burn. Everything she felt for him was tangled up in it, the care, the need, the love, as well as the hurt and anger his actions of the last few days had created. He had known there were depths to her that he'd yet to see, but this astounded him.

When she released him he looked at her with such hope in his eyes only to be met with a weary sadness. "Alyx, you can't tell me you don't feel the same I do."

"No, I can't, but that's the point." When it was obvious he was unable to comprehend, she sighed. "One more. I'm getting one hell of a headache."

"What do you..." His sentence cut off, as he was flooded with new information. If the previous experience had been a comforting warmth this... this was the fiery interior of an exploding star. It was brilliant, powerful, and all consuming. The mixture was a roiling confusion of every emotion imaginable as well as a few he couldn't put a name to, that perhaps only existed for her with her unique abilities. Layered over it all was this astonishing sense of peace; a sense of peace that had been sadly missing from her previous emotional show-and-tell, a peace that had also been missing from his feelings for her.

*This, tsosie-shush-yahz, is how I feel for Darien.*

The whisper of words through his mind shocked him out of the connection, and he found himself leaning back against the hood of the Hummer panting for air. His was head pounding due to the sudden parting. "Shit," he mumbled, finding it difficult to speak.

She was at his side a moment later, her head not in nearly as much pain. "Easy, alah. The worst of it will pass in a minute or two."

He nodded and gulped in air, berating himself for such a stupid move. "Tsidi, I... I can't say I understand, but I will say I understand better. Something like that you can't fight, can you?"

"No, or rather not for long." She leaned against the car and tipped her head up to see the first faint stars against the indigo sky. "He and I had some weird connection from almost the first moment we met - a side effect of my powers and poor control back then. It still took me months before I was willing to admit it to myself." Tipping her head down she kicked at the lumps of dirty snow near her feet. "Gray, you need to really look at your feelings for me. Do you even see me, or just the idealized image? I know your upbringing is influencing you, distorting how you see me. I'm no seer, no holy woman to be revered. I'm a person who carries 10 times the burden everyone else does, yet with the same simple hopes and dreams. I don't want the glory, I'd much rather have quiet evening with a good book and to be a complete nonentity for my remaining days. But that does not look to be my lot in life," she said, chagrined.

"You're right, to a degree anyway. I do see you as something special, but shouldn't I? You are special and for far more than just your gifts." Gray's tone was almost plaintive, trying to sway her.

"Ah, but what would I be without them? Nothing but a 40 year old housewife who lives only for her children." Alyx knew he wouldn't believe those words even though they were the complete truth.

Gray burst out laughing at the mere thought of her ever being something so mundane. "Ah, tsidi, what an image."

Alyx allowed herself a small smile while she still could. His would fade soon enough as he discovered her facetious-seeming words were just one step this side of reality. "Gray..." She shook her head, wanting to say so many things, but knowing they were pointless until after they'd arrived and he'd had a chance to... to discover exactly what her special project was. "Are you still in? Still want to help me?"

"Yes," he answered without hesitation and with all the conviction he could muster.

"Then can we go? I'm freezing out here." As if to emphasize her point she visibly shivered.

He wasn't all that surprised that she was cold now that her anger had burned off, since she was clad only in her T-shirt and sweater, her jacket still in the vehicle.

"Aoo-alah. You cold is never a fun experience." He draped an arm about her shoulder and she leaned into him for a moment, wanting things back to normal between them.

"How's your headache?" she asked, with her face still pressed against his side.

"Well enough." He gently pushed her upright and maneuvered her until he was able to open the passenger door. "Until this mission is complete I will back you in anything. After that... we'll figure it out. All right?"

She nodded and let him slip across the seat, into the driver's position, then settled herself carefully in the passenger's side. Her head competing for her attention with her back. "I've never asked for more, Xavier."

The engine started with a roar, very nearly drowning out her words. As Gray pulled back out onto the highway the sun completed its descent and full darkness settled in for the long night to come.