A/N: Posting the whole thing at once...

XXX

Jerking awake and sitting straight up in bed, Tru took only a second to collect herself before picking up her phone and dialing, an action she had done countless times before.

"Well, I guess you didn't manage to get rid of the calling," Jack proclaimed as he picked up his phone. "Here I was ready to give up all hope of having another rewind day."

Not exactly sure why she called him, Tru began, "Um… so, it's a rewind day." It had been her instinct to call Jack, even though technically right now they were on different sides. She wasn't supposed to be seeking him, but at the same time, part of her wondered if this time, it would be different.

If this time, he would willingly work with her, instead of against her.

"Alright, stating the obvious," Jack joked lightly. At silence on the other end, he asked, "Tru? You there?"

"Yeah, sorry," Tru replied, shaking her head.

Jack let out a slight chuckle, but was battling something fierce on the inside. He had hardly had the chance to lock his apartment door on his way out to the morgue before the day had re-winded. And now, he wasn't sure if he should let Tru know that it was Richard who killed the man whose job was to spy on him.

In the beginning, he had never expected to feel something like loyalty towards his nemeses, only to the man helping him do his job. This was something he had scoffed at numerous times, thinking that the day he chose the girl trying to play God over his role of Fate, was the day he could be legitimately called certifiable and locked up in an insane asylum for the rest of his life.

That had changed, though. She had changed it. And just by being her, too.

"I think I know who the guy is," Tru said slowly, getting up from her bed and rummaging through her closet, picking out the same clothes she had worn on the first day. "The fax…" She stopped herself before she revealed anymore.

"Yeah," Jack acknowledged, mirroring Tru's actions and getting some clothes to throw on. Their silence spoke volumes, and Jack understood what he had to do. "I'm guessing we're not meeting for coffee. See you around, Tru." He hung up before she could say anything else.

He prayed to whoever was listening that he'd be rid of this damn burden before it killed him. Or had him killed.

XXX

"Hey Davis," Tru said as she entered the morgue that afternoon. After class, she had found herself making her way towards her father's building, until she'd been standing across the street from it. It had loomed in front of her, mocking her, telling her that if she lost this one, she lost everything.

For all she knew, that was true.

"Hey Tru," Davis replied immediately, shuffling through some files. He looked up and gazed behind her suspiciously. "So… no one walked you in today?"

She shook her head. "No time. It's Day 2. Can you look up a Don Chambers for me?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Davis said, surprised. "What happened to him?"

"Shot in the heart." She looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. "I think it was by my father."

Davis whirled around in his chair. "Your father? Why would he kill somebody? Well, I know why, but I didn't think they killed people on Day 1, I thought they just made sure the dead stayed dead."

"They do. But… I don't know, I just have this feeling, you know? And the guy, Don Chambers, I think he was- is- following me.

"I can't find him anywhere," Davis informed her. "Oh, there's a body waiting for you in the other room. Troy-"

"Wilkins, I know."

"I'm guessing he didn't ask you for help yesterday?"

"No, just this one guy." Tru glanced around the room, thinking.

"Did you, uh… talk to Jack?" Davis asked tentatively.

Tru nodded. "Sort of."

"Did he tell you anything?"

"Not anything useful, no," Tru admitted. She knew that if Jack had told her father the events that took place the first day, and if her father really did have some sort of connection with Don, that he'd tell Jack everything to ensure the man still died.

"Well, he is trying to make sure this guy stays dead. Did you tell him anything you know?" At her negative headshake, Davis looked away. He waited a moment, then continued, "Tru… why are you with him? How do you know he isn't just using you? I mean you won't even speak to your father because he's working for the other side, but you get back together with Jack? What changed between you two?"

Tru sighed. "It's… complicated. Look, Davis, we had this conversation yesterday. I promise I'll explain it to you one day. Soon. But right now I've got to figure out-"

She looked out of the office's blurry window and spotted Don Chambers looking in. He caught her looking at him and made a break for it.

Tru followed after, hot on his heels. "Hey!" she called. "Hey you!"

Today, he did not turn around.

"What was that about?" Davis asked, catching up.

"That's the guy who gets killed tonight," she told him quickly. "I've gotta go. I don't think I'll be able to do the graveyard shift tonight."

"All right," Davis said, still trying to process what had just happened.

She exited the morgue, out into the bustling street, but saw no signs of Don. Her watch told her that it was nearing five o'clock, and if things kept going how they were so far, she was going to be spending most of her time up to eleven searching for this man to stop him from reaching her father's office.

Tru pulled her cell phone out from her pocket and dialed. "Hey Harry? Do you mind going to dinner without me tonight? Something's come up."

XXX

His hand hesitated as it hovered over the doorknob, contemplating whether he should turn said knob or not. The name Richard Davies, imprinted neatly on the door, challenged him, tested him.

Jack had had to revert back to his old ways to find out the name of the man following him; he'd lurked in the shadows of the morgue, and had overheard Davis and Tru's conversation. He'd also watched as Tru chased after the guy they both were trying to find, and had waited until Davis had run after them to slip out the back exit and find the runaway person himself.

He had found Don, sitting on a bench looking confused and dazed, reading over the notes he had taken, trying to make sense of things. It would have been easy for Jack to go over to him, talk to him a bit, make the snoop trust him, and lead him to his fate.

He'd left Don Chambers sitting on the bench.

And now he was standing in front of his boss's office. If he went in and informed Richard of everything that had transpired, he would most likely be praised and regain the trust of the other man. Not to mention, he wouldn't have to worry about anybody dogging his footsteps, snapping shots of his private life, taking notes about what he did from day-to-day.

But if he didn't tell him… well, Richard wouldn't realize it anyway.

Pulling his hand back as if badly burned, Jack gazed once more upon the door, and then turned to leave.

He needed more time to consider.

XXX

"Hey Harrison," Avery greeted as her friend sat across from her at the group's "usual table".

"Hey," he replied nonchalantly. "Where's Tyler?"

"Oh, his sister was having some big dinner for the family," Avery replied, shrugging. "Where's Tru?"

"Uh, she had something to do, it was kind of important…" Harrison said vaguely. His sister hadn't told him what was actually going on, but if he had to guess, it involved a dead body, a plea for help, and a rewind. And also, most likely, a smarmy bastard he liked to call Death.

"Oh," Avery said. "So it's just… you and me."

"Yeah," Harrison nodded. He glanced down at his menu, then back across the table. "So I got this new home entertainment center. You should see it, it's a thing of beauty."

"I haven't been to your place since the Christmas party," Avery said with a smile.

"Well then, you've got to check out this thing soon, in case I decide to get a smaller flat screen." Harrison sent her a winning grin.

XXX

"No luck finding him?" a voice from her left side asked, and Tru turned from her leaning position against a wall to find Jack standing before her. She was surprised he'd even seen her; she was hidden in the dark shadows of the alley in between the buildings, where the streetlamps couldn't reach her.

"Well, I'm just… taking a break." She looked away, then up at the structure she was supporting herself against; the place her dad's office was located in. "He's gonna come around here eventually," she said.

"My thoughts exactly," Jack agreed, taking the spot beside her.

"So you told him," Tru stated, looking straight ahead.

Jack faltered for a second, then answered, "No."

Baffled, Tru turned her head to scrutinize her opposite. "You didn't? Why not?"

Letting out a short laugh that wasn't completely real, Jack shook his head. "I didn't tell him. I almost did, but I didn't." Still with the smirk on his face, he shifted his body so he was facing Tru. "Why are you even asking why I didn't? We both know why." At her questioning expression, he continued, "C'mon, Tru, don't play dumb. We both feel it. It's different this time. Maybe it's because we went without a rewind for two weeks, or maybe it's just because of what we do together off-hours, but things have changed."

Taking in a breath, Tru nodded. She could feel the blood in her body pumping faster, her cheeks turning a slightly pinker color, her heart rate speeding up. It always got like this when they were this close. Looking into his shaded eyes, she suddenly longed for nothing more than to forget about the man she was trying to save, forget about the calling, and go somewhere with Jack, somewhere they could be alone. "It's all so gray, now," she said. "I don't see black and white anymore when it comes to you and me."

"You know, Tru," Jack said, his voice hushed, his face inches from hers, "I know this isn't a very 'me' thing to say, but if I had the chance to go back to the beginning when I first started working for Fate, and I had the chance to say no? I'd still have agreed just so I could see your face every day."

It was one of the sweetest things Jack had ever said to her, and Tru took advantage of the fact that they were in a dark, deserted alley to close the gap between them, pushing her lips on his, feeling the familiar adrenaline rush run through her from his touch, and reveling in it.

She'd never known a love so electrifying.

XXX

He had been starting to remove her shirt when she'd stopped him, her jacket already on the ground.

"Jack," she said, shaking her head and laughing at the situation. "We're in an alley. And it's a rewind day. Are you just trying to divert my attention?"

Shrugging and kissing her neck one more time, Jack said in a smooth voice, "It doesn't take much from me to grab your attention."

She rolled her eyes and swatted his arm, enjoying this peaceful moment during a hectic and tense day. "Don't we think a lot of our charms."

"You love my charms," Jack responded, but backed away slowly, holding up his hands.

"But if you don't want to do this right now, then you're gonna have to make up for it later."

"Mmm… I guess that's okay," Tru said with a seductive smile. When she had first sought the alley as her hiding place, she hadn't expected to be stopping she and Jack from taking things too far in public.

Jack was still stepping back, nearing the entrance of the alley, but his eyes were shimmering, as they always did. "You look good today, Tru. Dark, questionable alleys suit you," he commented, before disappearing back into the dwindling crowd. Tru knew he was probably just crossing the street and waiting there, but the sudden loss of him near her made her feel unexplainably empty.

Her thoughts could not dwell on emptiness any longer, however, because her eyes had landed on none other than Don Chambers crossing the street, his walk full of determination as he grew closer and closer to the building. She checked her watch. It was ten-twenty. Tru stepped out of the alley, watching the man enter through the automatic doors, and followed quickly behind, wishing the building was locked up for the night earlier than eleven.

She couldn't spot Don once inside, but hurried up the stairs to Richard's floor, knowing they were faster than the elevator. She shoved the door open, only to find no one in the corridor; it was after hours. Tru could hear a voice from inside her father's office, and rushed forward, opening his door with more strength than necessary.

"Yeah, I got that, Chris, but that sort of reasoning wouldn't work in this type of case," Richard was saying into his phone, and he whipped around at the sound of the door opening. Seeing Tru, he said to the person on the other line, "Uh, I've got to call you back." He hung up slowly.

"Tru…" he said carefully.

"Where is he?" Tru asked without hesitation, casting her eyes around the room. She lunged forward and checked the small closet to one side, but only found some hangers and a few odds and ends on the floor.

"Who?" Richard blinked, confused, as he stepped out from behind his desk and approached his daughter.

Tru realized then that Jack hadn't told her father the events of the previous day. She also realized that she now had to stick around for another fifteen minutes to make sure no one was killed.

"Tru, why are you here? What's going on? Did something happen?"

"No," Tru said, shaking her head, her voice hard and her eyes darkening. She tried her hardest to think of a cover that could keep her in his office. God, why did the man have to be killed here of all places?

Richard began cautiously, "Are you here to… make up?"

"No. I could never forgive you for what you did. What you've done."

"I had to do what I had to do, Tru," he pressed. "There weren't any other options."

"No other options? You killed my mother! And just so you could get rid of your power!"

"If you had had it for as long as I did, you would have done the same!"

"You lied to her! You could have told her; you two could have figured it out together! If you had really loved her, you would have done that! You made a mistake in killing her!" Tru shouted, her eyes stinging with fresh tears.

Richard's face was a mixture of defiance and pain. "There was no point! The death of one of us was the only way to get rid of it! The only mistake I made was falling in love with her."

"You can't help who you love!" Tru declared, her cheeks staining with tears. "And if you really had loved Mom, you would have killed yourself before her."

Her father was silent following that, but only for a minute. "Tru… I didn't want to kill her. But I had no choice."

"Bullshit. She was the one without a choice, since you lied to her! You lied to all of us! You made our family what it is now!"

"It's all in the past now, Tru," Richard said, his voice calm.

"'In the past?' Dad, I am living with this calling every single damn day! I hate it! I'm tired! I don't want it anymore! But you don't see me taking the easy way out!"

"Well, maybe you should consider it!" Richard suggested in a loud voice.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tru asked furiously.

"You know exactly what I-"

"I am not killing Jack," Tru stated seriously.

Richard shook his head. "One day, Tru, you are going to wake up and not be able to take the constant rewinds anymore; the lifeless bodies asking for your help; the knowledge that someone's life rests with you."

"How would you know? You made sure those people died!"

"And you are going to realize," he continued, ignoring her, "that the only way to stop it is to get rid of the one person fighting you: your opposite. And by then, you won't care if you love him or not! If it means being rid of the calling, you won't care!"

"No!" Tru yelled, finding it hard to believe she had ever addressed the man standing in front of her as her father. "I would never do that."

"How do you know Jack wouldn't?"

Tru let herself breathe for a moment. "He wouldn't do that to me."

"He is Fate, Tru. It is his job to ensure that those who die stay dead. He has no problem with killing. Think of the all the people he's let go, even those close to you. He made sure Luc and Jenson both died."

"He's different now," Tru said, trying not to let Richard's ideas creep into her mind and take over.

"What? You think you've changed him? Maybe right now it seems that way, but Tru, he's still Death, by nature. I don't want you to go through what your mother and I did."

"No."

Richard stared at his daughter. "I'll do it for you."

"What?" Tru asked, shocked, lifting her head to stare at him.

"I am not going to leave you to be killed by him one day so he doesn't have his power anymore. I'll have it taken care of. I could have it done by tomorrow. And then you don't have to worry about tampering with Fate ever again. You can live your normal life, without having to worry about someone else. You can graduate and become a doctor without any interruptions." He looked into her eyes. "I just want to help you."

Before Tru could respond, though the comment was on the tip of her tongue, the door flew open.

"Don, what are you doing here!" Richard yelled as Tru spun around to find the man whose life was supposed to be over in a matter of minutes.

Don opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish a few times, before exclaiming, "What the hell do you guys do here! What, you kill people?" His eyes were wild as they zoomed back and forth between Tru and Richard. "I knew there was somethin' weird about you when you first hired me!" he directed towards his employer.

"Hired him?" Tru questioned. "To do what? Follow me around?"

"No, to follow me around," someone behind Don answered, and Jack stepped into the office, joining the small group.

"I should report you all to the police! Or the press or somethin'!" Don exclaimed, pointing a finger towards each person in turn. "Yeah, and 'the calling' that you guys are always talkin' about? What the hell is that?"

Richard had made his way back behind his desk, and now he was closing one of the drawers. "It's nothing that concerns you," he said as he lifted a gun into the air, pointing it straight at Don. Tru knew he was aiming for his heart.

Before she knew what she was doing, she had hurtled forward and thrown herself across the desk, smacking the gun out of a surprised Richard's hand and grabbing his arm to stall him. Don took this chance of confusion to make a hasty exit.

"Jack, go after him!" Tru called as Richard shook his daughter's clutched hand off of his arm and reached for the gun, which had been thrown off to the side of the room.

Jack had already exited by the time Richard had the gun in his hand, poised and ready to fire at his successor.

He looked sadly towards Tru, who was still sprawled on top of the desk, breathing heavily. "That could have been the end," he told her.

"I'm not ready for it to be over," she said as she got back on her feet and ran out the door, leaving Richard alone in his cluttered office, grasping a cold gun and aiming at no one.

XXX

Jack followed Don down the stairs and out of the building, hoping in the back of his mind that Tru was all right. Most people were inside now, so the streets were deserted as he chased after a man who could potentially reveal he and Tru's identities to the whole world.

Buildings and parked cars blurred by as he ran, and soon he was passing houses and trees and parks. And just when he felt as if he was going to collapse from running for so long, Don stopped at the edge of a small patch of woods, the only light coming from the moon that bathed them in a milky glow.

"Hey… man," Jack said as he walked forward, panting.

Don turned quickly, pointing a gun towards Jack. His hands shook and his eyes darted back and forth. "Get away from me," he warned.

"Man, why does everyone have a gun?" Jack questioned under his breath, then said slowly in a normal voice, "I don't want to hurt you." He lifted his hands up into the air as if surrendering, and he meant it. After hearing the tail end of Tru and Richard's screaming match back at the office when he had been hidden in the shadows, waiting for Don to make a move, he'd realized that if his boss was so willing to kill him, then maybe he shouldn't keep up with his side of the calling anymore.

"Yeah right!" the scared man replied, his voice cracking. Jack took another step forward.

"I mean it! Don't come any closer!"

Jack shook his head, keeping a smile on his face. He'd been in worse situations. "Calm down. I promise I'm not going to do anything to you."

"What, should I trust you? You work for Mr. Davies, and he just tried to kill me!" Don shouted. "I've been followin' you around for days and you're always havin' weird conversations with that woman, Tru! Always talkin' about 'the calling'."

"Look, Don, if you just put the down the gun and let me explain…" Jack said, taking one more careful step forward.

"Jack!" Tru called as she ran towards the two men, but her yell was lost in the gunshot that rang out in the silence of the night. If she had checked her watch at that moment, it would have told her that it was ten-forty.

She reached Don and Jack, and fell to the ground by the latter. The other man stood, shaking worse than before, horrified at what he'd just done. "I thought he was gonna kill me," he said weakly, dropping the gun. "He said he wasn't goin' to, but…"

Tru wasn't listening to him. She slowly inched closer to Jack, noticing the gunshot wound right in the center of his heart. His face was pale, his eyes lacking their usual glitter, his smirk wiped away from pain.

"Jack…" she whispered, her eyes already blurred by tears. "See? Look what happens when we switch sides." She let her hand rest just above his hair, almost afraid to touch him, to make the fact that he was gone real. "You're not supposed to die like the others. You're Death, remember? You can't leave me here without the calling, expecting me to go on in life without you."

A chill ran up her spine, and Tru thanked God for it, because a second later Jack's head turned and he said, "Help me out, Tru," in that teasing voice only he could make her love.

XXX