Jack automatically reached for the phone and hit his speed dial number one.

"Hello?"

"Tru, it's Jack."

He heard her hesitate and try to force herself to wake up. It was only 5:47 in the morning and he knew she had worked the grave shift at the morgue. He hated himself for the relief he felt when he heard her voice.

"Yeah?" she said at last.

"We need to talk."

"So talk, Jack." She was irritated and he felt more at ease. He knew how to handle defensive Tru. He sat up raking his fingers through his already disheveled hair.

He opened his mouth and then something occurred to him. "You didn't rewind, did you?"

There was a long silence. "Did you?" she asked at last.

Jack let out a long breath. "Yes."

"How? Why didn't I?"

Jack squeezed the bridge of his nose and tried to figure out what was going on, the only problem was he had no idea and she was the only one who could help, unfortunately according the laws he believed in, the laws of life, she has to die at 7:03 that night.

"Can I see you?"

"Where?"

"I'll come by." He hung up the phone and headed for the shower.

Tru had called Davis who was still at the morgue.

"Do you think it's a good idea for him to be there with you alone?"

"I can take care of myself, Davis. Plus, I sincerely doubt he's going to come over here to kill me." She took a sip of her coffee. "If he rewound and I didn't, I need to know why." Tru recalled the dream she had been having when Jack's phone call and woken her. She had been in his arms and it was like it was meant to be. She tried to think of Jensen.

"I don't like this, Tru."

"You and me both. But what choice do I have?"

Davis muttered something. "Just be careful, all right, Tru."

"Girl scout's honor."

"Call me later?" he asked.

"You got it." She hung up the phone and stopped when she saw her reflection. She tossed the phone on the bed and ran to the shower.

Jack paced outside of Tru's building struggling with his ability to go up there and do his job. Finally he grabbed the door and yanked it open. Once he was outside her door he knocked quietly.

It opened a minute later. Tru was towel drying her hair and wearing a robe.

"Sorry, I thought I would have a little more time." She opened the door wider and allowed him access. He entered and she closed the door behind him.

Jack stared at soft appearance. She was wrapped in a cream colored terry cloth robe with her wet, wavy tendrils pouring down her shoulders. His eyes dropped to her neck where the robe's neckline plunged into depths that had disturbed his dreams too many nights.

"If it wasn't important I would've happily given you more time." For his own benefit more than hers. Seeing her this way…focus, he had to focus.

"What happened yesterday? Why did you rewind? More importantly why didn't I?"

"Someone died."

Tru tossed the towel onto a nearby stool. "I figured that much out."

Jack stared at her; he remembered her dying body and Harrison's quiet sobs. "And they asked for my help." What was he doing? This wasn't his plan. He was supposed to make sure she died again, it was his job, and it was his purpose for being.

"Yeah, but when this happened before, my day still rewound."

He should turn around and walk away. If he did nothing he events would be the same. If he walked away, the events of the day would've stayed the same. She wouldn't know any better. And yet he stood here in front of her wanting to tell her not to walk out of her front door today. Just today she needed to stay inside, watch television and order in food.

"Jack?" Tru was staring at him with a cocked eye brow.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"What's with you?" She sat down on her couch and he followed her lead and sat down on the far end. "You're acting weird."

"Where's Jensen today?"

"He's visiting family in Los Angeles, why?"

Jack couldn't believe his dumb luck. He had still been looking for a way out, to protect her and Jensen was out of town. He shook his head and closed his eyes, squeezing the bridge of his nose again.

"Jack?" Tru leaned toward him. "Are you okay?"

"Not even close," he muttered. He stood up. "I don't know what I'm doing here." He headed for the door.

Tru jumped up after him. "Jack, you can't just…I need to know what happened." She grabbed his arm and halted his hasty exit. "I never seen you like this, you look…"

His gaze hardened as if he was trying to hide whatever she saw and she let the sentence trail off into the silence. Her hand was still gripping his bare forearm. He wanted nothing more than to tear himself away from her and storm out of her apartment and flee, but she was holding him there with her grip and her eyes.

"Tru, just do me a favor and be careful today," Jack whispered moving away from her.

Tru tightened her grip on him. "Wait a second. Does this have to do with me?"

"I have to go."

"Jack, why are you here?" Her voice was quiet and less insistent. Almost as if she didn't really want him to answer the question.

"Tell Harrison to come to you."

"Jack, what happened yesterday?"

His eyes fell from her face to the floor. He saw her bare feet and the robe had slipped a little and he could see her thigh. She was so beautiful. He felt his will power to do his job slipping away.

"You died at 7:03 p.m. You were hit by a truck," he relented. His gaze sprang back to hers, his eyes hardened and his expression shifted into something unreadable. "Don't do it again," he growled.

Tru stared at him not letting him go. He had surrendered to her force and he stayed right where she held him.

Tru felt like he had just slugged her. She couldn't breathe and all she could see was Jack and the fact that he was saving her life, even though he had spent the better part of a year trying to keep her from doing just that.

"What about the balance?" She had to know why he was saving her. It didn't make sense.

"I don't know what the right answer is, Tru. Your day didn't rewind, mine did and you asked me…" he trailed off.

"For help?" she questioned.

"No, you asked me if this is how it was going to end." He sighed. "Personally I watched you die once already today, I don't need to see it again." Finally he stepped away from her and Tru dropped her hand.

"Why today?" she asked.

His brow furrowed.

"Why did you break your rules today?"

"Because that was not how it was supposed to end." He turned to leave.

"Jack," she whispered. She stepped forward and when he turned he nearly ran into her. She put her hand on his shoulder, leaned in and brushed her lips against his so lightly it felt like a dream. She pulled back and he turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

Tru flinched. Her entire body shook with the knowledge of everything that had just happened and it wasn't even eight o'clock yet. She couldn't seem to move. Her feet were rooted there and she couldn't seem to take her eyes away from the door.

Jack burst in as suddenly as he had exited and wrapped his arms around Tru, pressing his lips to hers. Tru's response was immediate. Her arms twirled around his neck and her fingers dove into the hair at the nape of his neck. He pushed her back against the wall and pressed his body against hers. Tru could feel the tie of her belt losing between the friction of their bodies; part of her begged for it to come undone and another part of her screamed at her to push him away.

"Jack," she gasped. It was her dream. She had felt this, seen this in her dream. And it did feel right. He had saved her life today by telling her that she died, he had changed whether he had wanted to or not.

"Tru," he murmured in response, his kisses trailing over her jaw and down her neck. "Why doesn't this feel wrong?" he muttered in between kisses.

"I don't know," she said breathlessly. She felt his hands cup her breast through her robe and she moaned just as he recaptured her lips. His fingers lingered over the belt of her robe and Tru reached between them and put her hand over his encouraging him to untie it.

The phone rang and it barely registered with either of them until Harrison's voice came over the answering machine.

"Tru, it's your bro." He sounded upset. "I could really use a pick-me-up, let's meet for dinner before your shift tonight at the diner. I'm buyin'." The line went dead and neither Jack or Tru moved.

As if they had just realized what they were doing they both stepped away from each other, straightening their clothes and backing away from each other.

"I should go." Jack left, closing the door quietly behind him.

Tru sat silently pulling the knot in her belt tighter. She glanced at her clock it was 7:01. She went to look out the window where she saw Jack crossing the street. He didn't see the truck.

Tru's heart jumped into her throat and she tore out of her apartment and went flying into the street where traffic had desisted. She knelt down next to him. She urged him silently to ask for help, for the day to rewind. She was supposed to die, not him.

"Jack," she whimpered.

Then it happened like it always did, Jack's eyes opened and he said with a certain urgency. "Tru, not like this."

Tru's extremely short day rewound and she woke up to the phone ringing.

She answered, "Jack?"

To be continued...