Part Three

"I died? Of what? Hold on, I was in the bedroom? With Carrie? Oh god, it wasn't a heart attack during… you know, was it? God, how humiliating, I bet that was exactly…"

"Davis," interrupted Tru, though she couldn't help a smile at his flustered state. "Relax, it wasn't that."

"Thank god," he sighed, sinking into his chair. "What was it?"

"Food poisoning," she answered promptly. "I had a chance to look you over before you asked. You were eating these weird Moroccan potato things…"

"Solanine, of course," he nodded. "Highly toxic even in small doses when inadequately prepared. I should sue the restaurant. Hold on… but I'm not getting Moroccan tonight. I was planning to order these lobster puffs…"

"Oh," she groaned, "here's where it gets complicated…"

-----

Out in the hallway, Jack leaned against the wall and carefully eavesdropped on Davis and Tru's conversation, a pensive expression on his face.

Given the preceding night's events, he had no intention of going to tell Richard what had transpired over the past two days. The question remained, however, that there were now three deaths that he was supposed to keep track of, and as far as he could tell, all three were highly circumstantial, and lacking in a general coherent pattern.

"Well, obviously I'm supposed to do something," Tru was saying, her voice strung with agitation, "and I haven't been able to get it right. It's like that time with Michael Mancuso and his daughter, I just have to figure out what it is that I'm supposed to do…"

"But what about the time you got arrested? Detective Lopez asked for your help on the rewind, causing you to relive the day a third time."

"It's different, Davis. When Detective Lopez asked, I knew exactly what I had to do to save both of them. The two deaths were interlinked. But this time there's nothing linking your death with the first ones. I still think it's more like the time when I had to figure out what exactly it was that fate wanted…"

Jack, listening intently, nodded to himself.

"You say the first rewind started when your father and Jensen died?" Davis' voice was grave and contemplative.

"Yeah, what… hold on. You better not be thinking what I - "

"Maybe you're supposed to let Jensen die."

"Damn it, Davis! We had this conversation before! I - "

"Well, maybe you have, but I haven't," Davis sounded disgruntled. Jack, out in the hallway, couldn't help a wry smile.

"I'm sorry, Davis," Tru's tone was contrite. "It's just that technically I haven't slept, like, in 40 hours. And I still have no idea what's going on."

"I wish you hadn't said that," said Jack under his breath, stifling a yawn. He wouldn't have minded some sleep himself.

"Who's there?" demanded Tru, sticking her head out the door. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Good morning, and good hearing, too." He smiled tiredly. "I've come to kill Davis. And you?"

She stared at him, for a moment looking so startled that he had to laugh. "Tru, that was a joke. Getting a little too uptight there, don't you think?"

"And just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower in your bad taste," she said as Davis joined her in the doorway, looking suspicious. "What are you doing here, Jack?"

"Same as you," he said. "Trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Let's not play games, okay? I'm tired, you're tired, no one has any idea what we're supposed to be doing, and both of us just want it to be over, one way or another. That sound about right to you?"

"I guess it makes sense," she said reluctantly.

He nodded. "At least we're making progress. God, I need some coffee. Walk and talk with me, Tru."

She cast another dubious look at him and stepped out into the hall, glancing back at Davis. "Be careful," he said, eyeing Jack mistrustfully.

"Don't worry, doc," Jack smiled as he turned and walked toward the elevators. "I'll return her in one piece."

With another glance at Davis, Tru reluctantly followed.

-----

"Let's compile our facts," Jack said as he and Tru walked away from the hot drinks vendor, each holding a paper cup of strong black coffee. "The first day, your father and Jensen die from a 'freak accident', as you like to call it, and Richard asks for your help. The second day they are fine, but Davis dies independently of that, and he asks."

"It's not…" she paused, casting another sceptical glance at him before she sighed. "It's not totally independent. If I didn't tell him his date went badly the day before, he wouldn't have gotten food poisoning."

He nodded slowly. "But on the face of it, things look pretty arbitrary."

"And that's what worries me. Am I just supposed to get Harry to fix the balcony and make sure Davis doesn't eat a bad potato? It can't be that simple."

He glanced at her with a peculiar smile. "God forbid your job be easy for once."

"That's not what I meant," she narrowed her eyes again, "I just think this can't be it, you know? Like you said yesterday, I'm not making some big, intricate plan. I can't see the connections well enough to make plans."

"I heard you talking about Michael someone earlier…"

"Michael Mancuso, yeah. It was before you came. It was the longest day – I had four rewinds."

He whistled through his teeth. "And I thought this was bad. What happened?"

"It turned out he was supposed to die - "

"Aha!"

" – so his daughter could live," she finished, shooting him a dirty look. "She needed a heart transplant. He sacrificed himself to save her."

"It took you four rewinds to figure that out?"

She couldn't help another dirty look. He merely smiled.

"Believe me," she said. "The events were pretty complicated. But my point is that… well, there was a point to everything. All the stuff that happened, they happened for a reason somewhere down the line."

"So… Davis dying, and Jensen and your dad before that. What does that suggest to you?"

"Other than the fact that fate must really hate my family and friends? Not a hell of a lot. And you?"

He shrugged, but there was a troubled expression in his eyes as he glanced up at the sky. "Tru," he said slowly. "Maybe I should tell you…"

She turned to him expectantly. "Yeah?"

He didn't speak for a long time. She stared at him, the pensive furrow of the brows, the eyes turned blue and opaque by the silvery sunlight. The look on his face somehow made her recall the night, not so long ago, out on the viewing platform of Edison tower, when he'd let go of Megan's hand and she had snarled, too late to do anything else, I wish it were you. She hadn't forgotten what he said in reply.

As she looked at him she realised, with a pang, that he was wearing the exact same expression as he did then. "Jack?" she asked tentatively, her voice coming out a lot gentler than she'd thought possible.

He lowered his eyes and tossed his coffee cup, still full to the brim, into a nearby trash can. "It's nothing," he said, striding on ahead without another look in her direction.

-----

"Two rewinds," Davis muttered to himself, typing the facts up on his computer, "Three separate victims. Day One: Richard Davies and Jensen. Day Two…"

"Writing a crime novel?"

He turned with a start, shutting off his monitor on reflex. "Oh, Carrie," he said, sighing as he turned the screen back on. "It's just you."

"Nice to see you too, Davis," she laughed as she walked into the office.

"I didn't mean…" he coloured. "I mean, I just meant…"

"It's okay," she chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I was just teasing."

"I'm helping Tru work out her… uh, rewind day," he said quickly.

"Oh," she said, looking interested. "Anything I can help with?"

"Actually, while you're here," he said. "You can tell me what you want for dinner tonight. Believe it or not, it's actually relevant. Although I guess there's a self-serving element to that, too…"

"I really don't mind," she shrugged. "I eat pretty much anything. Surprise me. Oh, except don't get - "

"Shellfish," he finished for her. "Yeah, I know. You're allergic."

"How did you know that?" she asked, smiling.

"One of the perks of having Tru around," he shrugged. "And I can also tell you that we won't be having Moroccan tonight. Or potatoes for that matter. They kill me. And I say that very literally."

"Wait," her hold on his shoulder tensed, her face suddenly drawn. "You're saying you died last night?"

"Yeah," he smiled wearily. "Been there, done that."

"Well?" she demanded. "Aren't you… worried? I can't believe you're so calm about this."

"It's under control," he patted her on the hand. "I'm staying away from potatoes today."

"And that's it? That's all you need to do?"

"I guess," he shrugged. "But there's a larger issue. Tru's not just reliving yesterday; this is a second rewind for her, and different people have died. We're trying to figure out what that means. She has three people to save, and the links between them – well, I should say me, too - are tenuous at best."

"Wow," she said quietly. "Must be hard for her."

"I know," he shook his head. "I don't know how she does it."

-----

"Does this mean I still have to fix my balcony?" Harrison sounded perplexed. "Or is that, like, not the point anymore?"

"I don't know," Tru said into her phone. "Can you fix it, just in case? It's gonna cost around a thousand dollars, and you can get the money by heading down to the tracks for race four at noon, and you're gonna bet on Four Leaf Clover to win, okay? Four Leaf Clover, don't forget. And cancel your party, I don't want to take any chances."

"Wow, this is shaping up to be a great New Year's Eve, Tru!" his voice was dripping with sarcasm. "What do you plan on doing instead? Have Jensen sit around in your apartment doing nothing for the whole day?"

"Actually, that doesn't seem like a bad idea. In fact, you can come too, help me keep an eye on him. I'll have to check on dad later and I don't wanna leave Jensen on his own."

"Tru, I was kidding. I have places to be today, people to meet, you know what I'm sayin'?"

"Please, Harry. This is important."

There was an irritated sigh on the other end. "All right," he finally said. "But you owe me one."

"Thanks," she said with relief. "You're the best."

"And you better not forget it. I accept cash and goods."

"I gave you a tip on the horses, didn't I? Go knock yourself out."

"You know, that's a good point," he sounded distinctly more cheerful at the prospect. "Thanks, sis. I'll be over in the afternoon."

When Tru hung up, she found Jack looking askance at her with a smile. "It's nice to have a sidekick who caters to your every command, isn't it?"

"He's not my sidekick," she said, sticking her hands in her pockets. "So what have we got?"

They were walking around the block, still trying to piece together the events that had happened over the past two days. The sun had climbed steadily higher in the sky, showering its clear light down on them, and ostensibly they must have looked no more than any two friends out for a morning stroll. She stole a glance at him, trying to figure out what he thought of this scenario; but as usual his face was a careful blank, shielded by his trademark sardonic smile. "I hate to say it," he said, "but I think what Davis said earlier – or what he didn't say cos you didn't give him a chance to - "

"Of course you would like to see Jensen dead," she said quietly. "If you had your way he'd be long gone by now."

"I told you there'd be repercussions," he said. "This is nothing to do with me now. Everything that happened to him happened on its own. The guy wasn't supposed to be brought back, Tru. You know it, I know it, even Davis knows it. Yet you keep trying."

"And I'll keep trying," she said coldly, "for as long as it takes. You're not stopping me."

"But what if that is your purpose? What if that's the thing that will stop your days from rewinding? Are you still gonna be sitting around after the sixtieth rewind just because you can't let your precious boyfriend go?" His eyes were scintillant in the morning light. "Sooner or later people are gonna stop asking for your help, Tru; and then what? How are you going to save him then? Start killing people yourself?"

"It won't come to that," she said, avoiding his disconcerting gaze. "Plus, if the purpose really was to stop me from saving Jensen, all fate has to do is not have someone else ask for help that day. But they're still asking, and Jensen didn't even die yesterday, and I'm stuck here on this rewind with no idea what's going on."

"A mystery for Tru Davies," he sounded like he was enjoying himself.

"What about you?" she ignored his cheerful tone. "Learn anything these couple of days that might help your case?"

There was a brief pause. "Nope," he said blithely, "nothing."

But the moment he took to contemplate the question remained, the weight of it conspicuous in the silence that fell after. She stopped walking and turned to him, narrowing her eyes again. "You sure about that?"

"Of course," he said, averting his gaze.

"Spit it out, Jack," she said impatiently. "You know something, I can hear it in your voice. What happened to you yest…?"

His cell phone rang before she had a chance to finish her sentence. "Saved by the bell," he said with a grin, fishing the phone out of his pocket and stepping away. "Excuse me."

She folded her arms over her chest, watching him walk out of earshot, his expression turning serious as he spoke into the receiver. She could still feel that incongruous pause earlier, the half-second too long for him to answer the simple question, and as she watched him she felt the certainty of it, the fact that he did know something, and that he wasn't letting her in.

-----

"Jack Harper," said Jack into the phone as he walked away from Tru, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't listening. Their gazes met, briefly; hers mistrustful, his calculating. He quickly turned away again.

"It's me."

"Carrie," he said, lowering his voice. "What's up?"

"Apparently Davis died last night, and it wasn't until Tru told him and he told me that I even found out about it. What's going on, Jack? Are you just not bothering to check in anymore? Thanks for the update!"

"Just calm down," he said irritably. "It's more complicated than that."

"Yeah, so I've heard. Double-rewind and all that. Again, thank you for bringing all this to my attention."

"Carrie, it doesn't concern you at this point," he exclaimed, careful not to raise his voice too much. "Give me a break, okay? I've been at this for forty hours straight and I'm still trying to figure things out, so excuse me for not keeping you up with every little detail."

There was a pause. "Are you gonna keep him dead?" she asked, her voice tentative.

"Who?"

"Davis, Jack. The guy who died last night. The one whose fate you're supposed to keep in line."

"I told you, it's complicated," he sighed impatiently. "Just wait, okay? I'll call you later when I figure this thing out."

"Oh, and what am I supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Keep him occupied! Go on your date!"

"Jack." Her voice sounded strained. "I hate to be asking this, but… does he have to die? I mean…"

Without realising it, his jaw slackened. "Carrie," he said slowly. "Does it really matter to you whether Davis dies or not?"

There was no answer.

"You know what," he said, suddenly feeling weary to the bone. "Just do what you want. Nothing makes any sense anymore. Something happened yesterday…" he sighed and trailed off. "Let's just say I'm having a few doubts of my own about this whole 'restoring fate' scenario. I'll call you later."

"Be careful, Jack," her voice was soft on the other end.

"Fortune favours the brave," he sighed again, flipping the phone shut and walking back toward Tru. "Hey," he said with an easy grin, "sorry. Work colleague."

"I didn't think you worked," she eyed him disdainfully. "Aren't you living on gambling proceeds these days?"

"A gentleman never divulges all his secrets," he shrugged.

"So what's stopping you?" she asked, a small smile surfacing despite the snide words. "Hey listen, I've gotta go. I'm supposed to meet Jensen in ten minutes. Don't," she added warningly when she saw his expression. "I know what you're gonna say, so just… don't. We'll have to agree to disagree on that one." For a moment a look of confusion crossed her face. "That, and… just about everything else."

He laughed. "I'll see you later, Tru."

"Yeah," she paused, looking at him. "Thanks for your help."

"Thank you," he inclined his head with a smile.

"Call me if…" she trailed off, shrugging. "I dunno. I don't know anything anymore."

"I know what you mean," he said under his breath as he watched her run off down the street.

-----

"You know," said Jensen as Tru ran up to greet him at the campus café, "the weirdest thing happened today."

"Oh yeah?" she grinned, sliding into her seat. "What's that?"

"I woke up this morning and for a moment, I seriously thought I was dying," he said, smiling quizzically. "For some reason – maybe cos it was what I was dreaming about, though I don't remember it – I had this absolutely clear image of falling through the air and knowing that I was gonna crack my skull open or something when I land. It was completely bizarre."

"That is bizarre," she laughed weakly, changing the subject. "So, um, I was hoping we could hang out today."

"Sure," he agreed happily. "I just have to go visit Avery at the clinic; she's - "

"Working an extra shift, I know," she said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not. How did you know - "

"I'm psychic," she said dryly as she took him by the hand. "Come on, let's get some food. I'm starving."

-----

"Hey guys!" Avery grinned as Jensen and Tru came in. "What's up?"

"Just dropping by to see my favourite doctor in the clinic," said Tru, and she shook her head slightly as she reached over to give the other girl a hug; it felt a little surreal to have now had the exactly same exchange three times in a row. It wasn't common, even in her line of work. "Happy New Year, guys."

"Watch the sweet talk," Jensen laughed. "I might get jealous."

"You will never have what Tru and I have," chuckled Avery. "Ours is a fated love."

At the sound of that word, Tru couldn't help darting a glance in Jensen's direction. In the early-afternoon light he was the picture of good health, his hair bright gilt, his eyes a startling shade of blue. She looked away quickly, biting her lower lip. Despite her resistance, Davis and Jack's words have burrowed into her consciousness, planting a seed of doubt in her own convictions.

"If I can't have it," he raised an eyebrow. "Can I at least watch this fated love?"

"Men," Avery shook her head and rolled her eyes as Tyler and Jensen exchanged a high-five. Tru merely wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a sudden chill creep up from the familiarity of all this.

"Come on," Jensen chuckled. "You walked right into that one… oh, ow."

Tru watched, mutely, as Avery rushed toward him, demanding, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" he said, a little sheepishly. "I think my leg just had a cramp in it or something. It's nothing."

"You don't keel over in agony over a cramp," said Avery, looking worried. "Let me check you up. We can use one of the spare exam rooms."

"No, seriously, I'm fine," he protested with an embarrassed laugh. "Help, Tru, don't let her get her hands on me."

"Hey!" Avery exclaimed, feigning indignation as she placed her hands on her hips. "This is what I get for being a good friend?"

"I wouldn't mind a woman fawning over me, man," Tyler piped up. "She might be treating you like a med school guinea pig, but dude, that's a factor I'm willing to overlook."

"It's nothing," said Jensen, straightening up and stretching his leg. "See, it's all gone now. Must be just a muscle spasm or something."

"I still think - " said Avery, looking at Tru for confirmation. "You'll back me up, right? He should get a check-up."

"Actually," Tru said, smiling, although she felt the cold fear seeping through her insides, as certain as daylight. "I think it's a muscle spasm, too. Don't worry about it…"

-----

When Carrie returned to her office, Jack was waiting for her. "Hey," he said affably from his seat on her desk. "Boyfriend still alive?"

"He's not my boyfriend," she said, closing the door behind her. "What are you doing here? Finally decided to include me in the loop?"

"No," he said. "Because there is no loop. Well," he grinned slightly, shaking his head at the choice of words. "Actually, the problem is that there's too much of a loop. Today's been dragging on."

"A double rewind," she said, sitting down next to him. "Interesting. Do you need help?"

"First I have to figure out what I need help with. Tru thinks there is a reason why we keep reliving today. Everything should happen for a specific purpose, but the deaths are only loosely linked; Davis wouldn't have died if Tru didn't draw on her knowledge of the previous day to change his plans about dinner, but that by itself doesn't mean much from a causal perspective. Which then begs the question – why did we rewind again? What's the crucial connection between Davis asking for help and Richard asking for help? With me so far?"

She looked at him. "Don't ever underestimate my intelligence, Jack."

"Should have seen that coming. You said it yesterday, too. So I've been thinking – what am I supposed to do? Usually, I have to try and undo whatever Tru's doing. Keep everything the same. But it doesn't seem to work like that this time. If fate's directing her in a specific direction, then who am I to mess with that? I'm supposed to be the one working with fate here."

"It's not like you haven't worked with her before."

"I know." For a moment he looked pensive.

"What does Richard say about this?" she asked.

"I didn't go to him," he said woodenly.

"Why not?"

"Let's just say," he glanced at her with a peculiar smile. "I'm losing my faith in the system."

"What did he do, Jack?"

He looked toward the window. "Nothing a normal person wouldn't have done in that situation. But…" he shrugged. "Maybe… I don't know. Somehow I expected… well, something else."

"I know being cryptic is your forte," she said irritably, "but give me to something to work with here, Jack. What the hell are you talking about?"

He gave her a slow, measured look. "He threatened to kill me," he said quietly. "When he realised I needed to put his death back on track."

She looked taken aback. "But he should know better than anyone that - "

"Should being the operative word. Don't you think I've had that conversation already?"

She nodded, looking as though she was still trying to absorb the information. "So… what next?" she asked, placing an arm around his shoulders.

"I don't know," he said with a heavy sigh. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do right now. What Richard did… it really makes me wonder if - "

He didn't get to finish his sentence as the office door opened. "Hey, sorry to interrupt," said Davis, sticking his head into the room, "I just figured maybe we should cancel…"

He trailed off, staring at Jack.

"Davis," Carrie said quickly, removing her arm from Jack's shoulder. "This… isn't what it seems."

"It seems like you are a mole that Jack planted here so he can find out what Tru's doing," said Davis, blankly.

"Well…" she faltered. "Yeah, that part's true; but - "

"My god," Davis said, blinking as though he were a nocturnal animal that was suddenly wrenched out into daylight. "I can't believe… it all makes sense. I can't handle this…"

"Join the club, by all means," Jack offered with a wry lift of the brow.

Davis stared at him, shaking his head mutely. It was a moment before he turned his eyes on Carrie, an expression of abject despair crossing his face.

"I can't believe I trusted you," he said, his voice a mere whisper, before he turned away and strode quickly down the hall.

"Davis," she exclaimed, chasing after him without another glance at Jack. "Davis! Wait!"

"And Jack is all alone on New Year's Eve, again," Jack murmured to himself, turning toward the window once more. As he gazed into the setting sun, the orange-gold light tinting him with gilded copper, a despondent look crossed his placid demeanour, and he buried his head in his hands.

-----

"Buffy… the Vampire Slayer," said Jensen dubiously, reading the back of a DVD case.

"I'm tellin' you, man," Harrison said, plopping himself down on Tru's couch with the remote. "Once you start watching, you never go back."

"From a really bad place?"

"Ha ha, funny," Harrison shot him a dirty look. "Seriously, dude, give Buffy a chance. If nothing else, she's hot. The rest of the girls on the shows aren't half bad, either. Witches! Lesbians! You know what I'm sayin'? Wait until you get to season three, that's when…"

"I'm sorry," said Tru as she emerged from the kitchenette with a couple of beers, "is my brother disturbing you with his obsessive stalker Buffy talk?"

"A little," laughed Jensen as she sat down next to him. "Dude, it's about a high school girl with superpowers. Isn't that…"

"Choose your words very carefully, man," warned Harrison, tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth and pressing Play on the remote.

Jensen turned to Tru with a raised eyebrow. "Is he for real?"

"It's not a good idea to cheat him out of his Buffy love," she said, laughing. "That I know. Excuse me," she added as her cell phone rang and she got up, heading out of the room. "Keep an eye on him," she said in an undertone as she passed Harrison.

"Received," he yawned, tossing another piece of popcorn into the air and trying to catch it in his mouth. It hit his forehead instead.

Shaking her head with a smile, she walked into the kitchenette. "Yeah?" she said into the phone.

"Tru, it's Davis."

"Davis, what - "

"Just listen. Turns out Carrie's in cahoots with Jack."

"What?"

-----

Meanwhile, back in the lounge, the TV screen gave an angry flicker and took on a multitude of squiggly coloured lines. "Damn it," said Harrison, looking dismayed. "I think the machine's broken."

"I'll have a look," volunteered Jensen, getting up from the couch. "I'm pretty good at fixing this kind of stuff."

"Boyfriends who fix things," Harrison said under his breath as he watched Jensen crouch down behind the TV set. "Nice work, sis."

-----

"Yeah," Davis' voice was laced with bitterness. "Apparently she's been working with him all this time. God, I feel so stupid."

"How did you find this out?" Tru demanded.

"I ran into them in her office. They looked pretty damn cosy."

"Oh, Davis," she sighed. "I'm so sorry. Where are you now?"

"In my office. Go away!" he suddenly shouted. "Oh, no, not you, Tru. I locked the door and she's trying to get in."

"Why?"

"How should I know? She keeps saying she wants to talk to me."

"Is that such a bad idea?" she asked slowly. "I mean, maybe she has information we could use. Look, Davis, I know this is a huge shock and everything, but we still haven't figured out what we're dealing with. I've resorted to swapping information with Jack; maybe this is what we're meant to do – work together. Maybe you should talk to her."

"I can't just… pretend like it's no big deal," he said quietly, after a long pause.

"Of course not," she said impatiently. "But maybe all that has to take a back seat right now."

"Maybe you're right," he sighed. "All right, I'll see what she wants. But hey, if it turns out she just wants to get in here to shoot me or something… I'm not going to be very happy tomorrow."

"Good luck."

"And..." he said hesitantly. "I know this doesn't mean much in hindsight, but... I've got to tell you, I feel so bad about it. I... I kind of told her about your powers. Last week."

"Davis," she exclaimed, exasperated. "But you said you weren't going to - "

"I know, I know," he mumbled. "But I wasn't thinking, she was just so nice and understanding and..." he trailed off, leaving only a despondent silence.

She sighed. "I understand. Not that it matters now anyway. Go. Talk to her."

"You're not mad at me?" he asked tentatively.

"Honestly? I have too many other things to worry about right now," she sighed again. "Call me if you find out anything."

When she hung up and returned to the living room, the first thing she saw was Jensen crouched behind the television. "What's going on?" she demanded. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Harrison glanced up quizzically. "Your machine is busted. He's just checkin' it out."

"Are you crazy?" she hissed. "What part of keep an eye on him don't you understand? Jensen," she said urgently as she turned toward the other man, "maybe you shouldn't - "

"Nearly done," his muffled voice could be heard from behind the TV. "Just some busted wiring, nothing major. I just need to - "

The next moment, there was a faint, inauspicious crackling, a sound almost like a zipper being torn open. Tru and Harrison dashed forward just in time to see Jensen's body suddenly seized with a series of spasms, his eyes rolling back in his head, his fingers still scrabbling across the electrical wiring.

-----

"Fine, you want to talk? We'll talk."

Carrie pitched forward when the door she'd been knocking on for the past fifteen minutes suddenly opened, revealing a dishevelled Davis behind it. He reached out instinctively, grabbing her around the waist to steady her fall. But as their eyes met, he immediately let go, striding to the other side of the office. "So what do you have to say for yourself?" he demanded, not looking at her.

"Look, I know it doesn't look good…" she began, wringing her hands.

"You're right about that."

"But you need to give me a chance, all right? Just let me explain."

"You can start by explaining how you know Jack." He glanced at her briefly, swallowing. "Are you… are you two involved?"

"God, no!" she exclaimed, looking as though she might smile at the question.

"You two looked pretty… pretty intimate back there," he said, his tone coming out abruptly accusatory.

"We're not involved!" she exclaimed. "Is that what you're worried about? We're not - "

"Why should I trust anything you say now?"

She stared at him, her expression a mixture of anxiety and baffled amusement.

"He's my brother, Davis."

-----

Author's Note: went back and corrected a factual error that Toasterlicious pointed out. Thank you very much!