Slight delay in updating, so a nice long chapter to make up for it - enjoy :-)

"Harrison, no!" Avery was the first to react when the latest arrival lunged forward, intent on separating his sister from the man he had hated for over a year, too blinded by anger to see the state Tru was in – that she was in fact clinging to her supposed enemy quite tightly.

"Avery stay out of this." Harrison snapped, attempting to break free from her iron grip on his arm. "You don't know him, you don't know what he's capable of!"

"Maybe not." Avery conceded, trying desperately to divert Harrison's attention long enough for Jack to separate himself from Tru, hoping that he might calm down if the pair weren't so closely entwined. "But Tru wants him here and since this is her place I think she has the right to decide."

"Are you nuts?" Harrison asked her, finally turning away from the tableaux in front of him to stare at the med student in disbelief. "It's all some act. He's probably got her brainwashed or Hypnotised or something."

"Hypnotised?" Jack questioned from the bed where he had managed to get Tru off his lap and sitting just beside him, though he placed his hand on her back out of Harrison's view, discreetly reassuring her of his presence. "Who do you think I am, Paul McKenna?"

"I think you're Satan's butt monkey." Harrison retorted, though as suspected he did seem marginally calmer at seeing the distance between he and Tru re-established. "Now why doesn't someone answer my question and tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Avery shrugged helplessly as he looked at her, almost as in the dark as he was about this whole situation, more so if you took into account she had no idea what the big deal was about Jack's being there. Turning his eyes back to the bed, Harrison noted with some curiosity the almost anxious look on Jack's face as he gazed at Tru, clearly unwilling to speak unless she wanted him to. Part of him wanted to cheer that his sister seemed to have found a way of keeping Jack well behaved, while the part that took in her tear stained face and drawn expression, couldn't help but be consumed by a gut wrenching worry. Whatever was going on, it had to be bad if she was getting sympathy from Jack of all people…though if he tired hard enough Harrison was sure he could find a way to make it all Jack's fault.

"Tru…" he prompted gently, realising for the first time that she hadn't uttered a word since his arrival. "Tru what's going on?"

"Just leave it Harry." Tru whispered hoarsely, staring at her hands as she twisted them in her lap. "Please."

"You know I can't do that Tru." Harrison told her quietly, dropping to a crouch in front of her and trying to look into her eyes as Jack tactfully shuffled over, giving them a little more space. "You're my sister, it's my job to look out for you, just like you look out for me."

It must have been the pleading tone of his voice that broke Tru's resolve, and with a shaky breath, she nodded her head. "Can you just give me a minute?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself. "I want to get changed."

"Sure." Harrison agreed, rising to his feet, though he did not move from his position, instead looking down at Jack with a pointed frown.

"Do you want me to leave you guys to talk?" Jack asked Tru quietly, more for Harrison's benefit than anything as he stood to go with the others.

"No," she replied, her voice still shaking. She could almost feel Harrison's reproachful glare, but she ignored it for now. If she was going to do this then she was going to need the support of her…well…whatever the hell Jack was to her, "please stay."

Jack nodded and gave her a small, encouraging smile as he left the room, closely followed by Avery. Harrison lingered a moment or two longer than the others, a contemplative expression on his face as he studied his sister, but he too eventually turned at headed to the kitchen.

Tru moved mechanically around her room as she looked for clothes – something comfortable and baggy – trying to figure out how she was going to do this. Though she knew it was likely impossible, she'd had every intention of keeping what had happened to herself, and oddly, she'd trusted Jack to keep her confidence. But she knew Harry well enough to realise that there was no way he was going to let her off with a watered down version of events. He would want to know exactly what had happened, and why in the hell Jack was involved in any way, shape or form.

She sighed as she pulled on a shapeless pair of pyjama pants, silently begging any higher power that would listen to give her the strength for what she was about to do, and padded towards the kitchen. She stopped however, before she would have come into sight of the three dotted around the room, studying them unnoticed.

Harrison was sat at the island; his chin resting in his palm as the fingers of his other hand beat a discordant rhythm on the counter. His gaze was fixed firmly on Jack, his eyes narrowed with both suspicion and annoyance. Jack seemed perfectly aware, yet entirely unfazed by the almost palpable loathing being directed his way as he casually leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his amused smirk out in full force. Usually that smirk irritated the hell out of Tru, but now she welcomed it for the only sense of normality it offered in a world that had turned inside out.

Avery sat next to Harrison, her head flicking between the other two like she were watching a tennis match, just waiting to see which man would break eye contact first. As such she was the first to notice Tru, reaching out to touch Harrison's arm to grab his attention. Her brother raised an eyebrow when he saw she was still dressed in what he now recognised as one of Jack's shirts, but wisely refrained from comment.

Tru smiled weakly as she walked over to them, sitting on the opposite side of the island, feeling every eye fixed on her with varying degrees of concern, each person waiting until she was ready. "Today was a rewind day," she began with a sigh, deciding that the beginning was as good a place as any to start. Avery opened her mouth to ask what the hell Tru was on about, but closed it with an audible snap when Jack shook his head and Harrison threw her an 'I'll tell you later' look. "There was this guy…Ronnie Ashworth…"

"He's dead right?"

Jack turned at the sound of the familiar voice just as he was closing the door to Tru's apartment building behind him. After telling her story to her best friend and her brother, Jack standing in the background the whole time, ready to offer whatever support he could, Tru had agreed to a therapeutic evening of girly movies and Hagen Daaz with Avery. The very idea sounding like torture to Jack, he had decided to take the opportunity to head back to his own apartment to grab a shower and change of clothes. He'd been pleasantly surprised when Tru had glanced away from the television screen as he'd told her his plans, a hopeful look on her face as she'd asked whether he would be coming back. He'd been only too happy to agree that he would.

He wasn't especially shocked to see that Harrison had not gone home as he had claimed earlier, but had hung around and was now staring fixedly at the sight of this afternoon's traffic accident. "Yeah," he nodded, equally as gratified in telling Harrison the news as he had been telling Tru hours ago, "he's dead. I went and saw the body to make sure."

"I half wish he wasn't…or that the day would rewind so I could kill him myself." Harrison said tightly, not looking away from the road, mostly so he wouldn't have to see Jack and think about just who he was talking to. He could accept that he had helped Tru after finding her…just about…and he was trying to understand that she still wanted him around even after everything he had done, that his very presence seemed to offer her some form of security…but it was hard. How did you wipe out a year of hating someone just because they've not acted like an asshole in the last few hours?

"I know the feeling." Jack replied ruefully.

"Why are you being like this?" Harrison burst out suddenly, irrationally angered by the understanding in Jack's tone. "Why are you helping? Why do you even care what happens to Tru? You guys are on different sides remember!"

"Just because we're on different sides, that doesn't make me a completely heartless jackass." Jack spoke calmly, using a great deal of effort to resist loosing his temper. He was getting a little sick of having his motives questioned today. Was it so hard to believe that he truly never had any personal grudge against Tru? He was just doing his job dammit; it hadn't even been his choice. Hell, if she weren't his natural enemy he could even…he cut off that particular thought before it could develop - best not to go there. "I wouldn't have wished that on anyone, and I would help anybody in her position."

"Yeah, right." Harrison sneered "If that were the case, why didn't you stop this from happening in the first place?"

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked, his brow creased in bafflement "I didn't know this was gonna happen."

"You see the victim's day," Harrison clarified slowly, as if to a small child, enjoying being in the position of explaining something to Jack when it was so often the other way around, "I bet he did this to some other girl on day one, but today, Tru took her place." Horror and guilt filtered over Jack's face as Harrison continued, realisation sinking in. He felt very nauseous all of a sudden. "You knew Tru would try and save him, but you didn't even warn her."

"I…I thought she'd know." Jack muttered, though he was talking more to himself than Harrison "I figured she'd have checked his background…I didn't think…"

"That's right," Harrison spat "you didn't. You want someone to blame for all this, take a look in the mirror."

His piece said, Harrison turned on his heal and stalked off, leaving Jack alone once more. He'd expected to feel some sense of satisfaction at having found someone to hold accountable, someone who was still alive, someone he could take the anger out on…but instead he just felt hollow.

Jack tried to rub away the dull ache at the bridge of his nose sometime later. Coming home to his sparsely furnished apartment to find the light on his answering machine blinking at him, telling him that he had a message from Richard waiting tended to have that effect on him.

"Jack, It's Richard." As if anyone else called him. "You didn't show up to our meeting and since I know the day went our way, you'll understand I'm somewhat curious as to why. Call me when you get this message, I'll be in my office until ten."

It was short and not particularly sweet, as was Richard's style, but today Jack couldn't help but analyse for any subtext hidden in the inconsequential words. The day had gone their way in that Ashworth was dead as a dodo, but Jack would hardly have called it successful. Did Richard really have no idea what had transpired? Or did he already know what had happened to his daughter? Was Richard just bating him, waiting for him to come so he could reprimand him for his blunder? Why hadn't he just called his cell?

Jack was of course fairly certain that Richard would blame him, much as Harrison had done…as he now did himself. He had tried not to let Harrison's words seep into his mind, but as he was well aware from his own past manipulation of others, once an idea was planted, it would soon take root and there was little to nothing you could do to stop it from taking over your whole way of thinking.

Remorse wasn't a sensation Jack was particularly used to. He had once told Tru that a short memory was the key to a happy life, but it was more than that to him; it was a defence mechanism, a survival instinct. He never let himself dwell on the less pleasant aspects of his work or even he, a man who prided himself on having nothing and no one to care about and thus having nothing to loose to his calling, would undoubtedly go insane. As such, what he was feeling now was raw and burning, and it was eating him up inside. He was in no mood to have another load of guilt dumped on top of that which he was already trying to repress.

A glance at the clock told him it was quarter past ten already, and knowing Richard like he did, he had little doubt that the man would stick to his schedule like clockwork. That thought in mind, he picked up the phone and deliberately dialled the number to Richard's office rather than his cell, letting out an involuntary sigh of relief when he was connected to the answering machine.

"Richard, it's Jack." He began with the standard greeting he had for his employer – not quite formal, but not particularly friendly either. That wasn't a word he would ever imagine using to describe Richard Davies. "Sorry I missed you. Something came up today…I'll fill you in next time I rewind."

Jack ended the call as abruptly as it had begun. If Richard did know what had happened, then there was little point in Jack telling him about it all over again, especially when his own involvement was hardly likely to impress. If he didn't know…well, a message on his answering machine was hardly the way a man should hear such a thing about his own daughter.

With a weary sigh, Jack ran his hands through his hair and wondered when exactly he'd grown a conscience. Finding no answer, or at least none he liked, he headed for the shower. With any luck he'd be able to wash away the feeling of antipathy this whole day seemed to have left on him. It hadn't worked for Tru though, so he didn't like his chances.

"Hey 'death'." Avery called from the couch when she heard the apartment door open, a teasing smile on her face as Jack emerged, his expression a cross between amused and irritated.

"Please don't call me that." He asked in the most saccharine voice he could muster.

"Why not?" Avery grinned, "It's who you are isn't it?"

"No," Jack breathed, throwing his jacket over a nearby chair and slumping onto the couch next to her, "but I really don't feel like going over the job description again today."

Avery patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I guess it can't be an easy job, it would be kind of thankless." When he quirked an eyebrow in surprise at her understanding, she smirked. "Don't get me wrong, if you show up one day trying to make sure I go somewhere at a particular time, I'm running very fast in the other direction, but from what I've seen today…the way you've been with Tru…well, I don't think you can be all bad."

Jack stared at her in disbelief, but quickly recovered. "Y'know, now you've said that, I might tell you the opposite so you'll really be running in the right direction."

"Ah, but now I'll know that you're bluffing, and I'll go exactly where you're telling me." Avery retorted.

Jack opened his mouth to make a come back, but instead shook his head with a small chuckle. "We could go on like this all night."

"True." Avery nodded. "What?" she asked when she noticed Jack looking at her bemusedly.

"You seem to be taking this whole rewind thing in your stride." He noted.

Avery shrugged. "Actually it explains a lot. I always used to wonder how Tru would know what happened in class even though she wasn't there – like little details of what we talked about. Now I know."

"Where is she anyway?" Jack asked, reminded of why he had come back and that he hadn't actually seen her since his return.

"She went back to bed." Avery explained, standing up and grabbing her bag from the floor. "And now you're here, that's exactly where I'm going. Take care of her for me."

"I will." Jack agreed, seeing her to the door. "I guess I'll see you around."

"See you Jack." She called over her shoulder, raising her hand in farewell.

Jack smiled, waiting until she turned the corner of the hall before closing the door behind her. He understood how Tru could think so much of the girl; she was smart and down to earth. She said what she thought and made no excuses for it – and she earned bonus points with him simply by not going off the deep end over his 'job'. He liked to think that under different circumstances they could actually have been friends.

He peeked his head into Tru's bedroom on his way back through the apartment, seeing that she was still dead to the world, then collapsed onto the couch suddenly feeling completely devoid of energy. He wasn't aware of his actions as he shifted onto his side, pulling a cushion under his head. His eyelids slid closed, and within moments he was sound asleep.

There were cracks in her ceiling. Little tiny cracks that could barely be seen from her position on the bed, and Tru just lay and stared at them, her bladder burning for her to get up. Her mind kept playing over and over the events that occurred the night before. Tears burned in her eyes again, and she pressed the heels of her hands into them, trying to stop them from falling. It didn't work. She let out a choked sob, and then gave into the pain that was eating at her mind, her heart, and her soul.

A short while later, her tear ducts empty, she forced herself to get out of bed to use the bathroom. When she saw herself in the mirror, she gasped. Her face was red from where she had rubbed her cheeks, her eyes swollen and bruised from crying, but worst was the pain that reflected from those eyes. Pain that was so deep, it cut to the very core of her being.

"I can't stand this." She mumbled, quickly leaving the bathroom, automatically searching for that which would bring her some relief.

She found him in the living room, sleeping.

He had one arm thrown over his eyes, one leg bent, and the other propped up on the arm of the couch. She absently noted that he had changed clothes and was curious as to how many nice button down shirts he owned, and wondered why she had only just noticed that he never seemed to wear the same thing twice…unless it was a rewind day.

She looked up at the window behind where Jack slept, the hazy orange of early morning sunlight shining through the curtains, and guessed that it must only be a little past dawn. She rubbed her face wearily, then carefully scrunched up next to him in the little room that he had left, her head on his chest, her right arm holding her against his body. Her mind flickered briefly to his reaction when he awoke, but it disappeared as her eyes drifted shut and sleep claimed her once more.

TBC...