Sorry if the last chapter just wasn't that great, but the one before was kinda hard to follow y'know? I hope this one's an improvement...or at least not a dissapointment :-) Thanks for reading xxx

When Tru's eyes opened, the world seemed little more than a blurry screen in front of her and it took several moments for her vision to focus. When it did, she startled at seeing Davis hovering over her, concern etched on his distinctive features. He hadn't noticed that she was awake yet, so rather than disturb him, she tried to turn her head to take a better look at her surroundings, but even that slight motion made her instantly dizzy, nausea welling up in her stomach as the room began to spin and she groaned loudly.

"Hey, hey," Davis chided, upon hearing her "try not to move around. I expect you'll be rather dizzy."

"No kidding D." Tru chuckled weakly, closing her eyes again in an attempt to stave off the uncomfortable swimming feeling in her head. When she was sure she could open them again without loosing what little contents she had in her stomach, she looked at him in confusion. "What the hell happened to me?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Davis muttered darkly, shifting his eyes to glare at someone standing behind her that she couldn't see. Her curiosity making her forget the effect of movement from only a few seconds ago, Tru tried to lift herself up on her elbows to see who Davis was looking at, but a gentle hand on her shoulder restrained her.

"Listen to the good doctor Tru," Jack instructed lightly as he stepped into her line of sight " just relax for once." He dropped into a crouch beside the couch where she lay; his face level with hers. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly, and she couldn't fail to miss the concern for her in his eyes as he searched her expression for an answer.

"Okay I guess," she frowned, wondering why he was asking "kind of woozy though."

"That'll be the blood loss," Davis explained from his still standing position "and probably a little shock too."

"Blood loss?" Tru queried, puzzled. She automatically looked back to Jack for an explanation, and it was only then that she noticed the dried blood that stained the front of his shirt, crinkling as he shifted. "Oh my God." She gasped, unthinkingly reaching out to assure herself he was okay, swallowing the nausea that her sudden action caused. "What happened?"

Jack gently took her searching hand in both of his. "It's not my blood Tru." He told her quietly, his expression grim.

When she just frowned, Jack nodded his head towards her legs, and Tru followed his indication, her eyes widening when she saw her jeans cut off just above her knees that, along with a good portion of her leg below that point, were wrapped in white bandages. She looked back to him, her eyes questioning, and Jack looked down at the floor, visibly gathering himself and taking a deep breath before turning his eyes, calm yet serious below his furrowed brow, back to her. "What's the last thing you remember?" he asked.

Tru strained to think, surprised that it was so hard to focus her mind, even with feeling like her head had been stuffed with cotton wool. The whole day seemed like a blur. She hadn't even realised that she had closed her eyes until she heard, rather than saw Jack telling her not to force the memories, to just let them come naturally. She was about to ask him since when he'd become a psychiatrist when a flurry of images assaulted her the instant she stopped searching for them.

She saw Jack standing next to her in a convenience store, telling her his observations about the facelessness of a man in a suit.

She saw a pale and frightened teenager being offered a seat.

She saw a young man, just a few years her junior inching his way towards the cash register.

She saw his face, that evil, sneering face.

And she saw John Bostock, lying dead amidst broken glass, staring up at her with sightless eyes.

"Oh God," she choked, tears suddenly burning the backs of her eyes as realisation hit "I froze. I saw his face and I froze. I knew it wasn't him but…I…I couldn't help it…I was just…"

She trailed off, crying silently, an awful feeling of immense guilt pulling at her. John Bostock was dead because of her, because she had let her fear consume her. Her logical mind had told her that what she had seen was impossible, that Ronnie Ashworth was dead, but in those vital few seconds, she hadn't been able to make the distinction between reality and imagination and it had cost a man his life. "It's all my fault."

"No Tru," Jack shook his head, speaking gently, yet firmly. He kept hold of her hand in one of his, but raised the other to brush her hair behind her ear, and then resting his fingers against her tearstained cheek, he softly turned her head so that she was looking directly at him. It was an incredibly tender gesture which seemed entirely natural and instinctive…and which didn't go at all unnoticed by Davis who continued to watch with increasing fascination and bewilderment.

"No." Jack repeated when he was sure he had her full attention once more "It wasn't your fault."

"But…" Tru tried to interrupt, but Jack cut her off, placing his fingers against her lips.

"No arguments Tru." He told her with another shake of his head before removing his hand. "Anyone who'd been through what you have would've reacted the same way. I'm sure that Davis," he smiled wryly, his gaze flicking briefly to the man in question "if he had any clue what the hell we were talking about, would tell you exactly the same thing. Just in case you don't want to take my word for it…since I'm evil and everything."

Tru's shoulders remained slumped, not entirely convinced, but she did give him a tentative smile. "Is that some kind of insinuation that I should tell him what's been happening the last couple of days?" she asked wearily.

"Him…or someone who actually knows what they're talking about…" Jack shrugged "whatever."

"Hey!" Davis protested, knowing he'd been insulted but not entirely certain how. Tru just shook her head, grateful that the sickness seemed to have subsided for now, and gave Jack a mildly exasperated glare.

"Play nice." She scolded, though she appreciated his usually twisted brand of humour far more than she might have done at any other time. As screwed up as everything was right now, Jack always seemed to know when to be gentle with her and when to be his usual obnoxious self – it was a gift he had, knowing just what she needed him to be even before she knew herself.

Jack just smirked. "Fine, I wont tease the animals."

While Davis huffed in indignation, Tru rolled her eyes, giving up. "Anyone got any Advil?" she asked when the gesture made her notice the pounding behind her temples.

"I'll go get you some." Davis answered quickly, backing slowly out of the room as if reluctant to leave Jack alone with one of his only real friends, fearful of what he might do without supervision. He was however, forced to look where he was going when he backed into the coat rack, getting tied up amongst the lab coats. He disentangled himself with as much dignity as he could muster, and stalked out of the room towards his office.

Tru could see from Jack's face that he was desperate to laugh at her boss and friend's lack of co-ordination, his shoulders already shaking with silent amusement, but her raised eyebrow, almost daring him to do so kept him in check. When he was sure he had himself back under control, he spoke. "Are you gonna be okay if I leave you here with Davis for a little while?" he asked.

Her fleeting amusement was gone in an instant as she took in his words. "You're leaving?" she asked, not caring if she sounded pathetic and needy. She was certainly entitled to be, and she did need him. It was actually quite frightening how badly she was starting to need him.

"I'll be back." Jack assured her hastily upon seeing her distress "I just have some stuff to do."

"Such as?" Tru pouted.

"A change of clothes for one." He shrugged; not elaborating further, and Tru could see from his carefully blank expression that she would get nothing more from him on the subject.

"I guess I'll be fine then." She told him, deflated, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. He might have made her feel better for now, but she knew without a doubt that it was only temporary, that she would soon find herself falling back into despondency.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Jack promised, reading the emotions clearly written on her face. He stood then, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her forehead, (missing her eyes widening as he did) just as Davis re-entered the room. He turned on hearing the mortician's shocked gasp and smirked at his shaken expression. He patted the shorter man on the shoulder as he walked past him out of the door. "See you later Davis."

A heavy silence filled the air of the staff lounge in his wake, and Tru bit her lip, not quite able to look her boss in the eye. She already had the feeling that this was going to be a long afternoon. "Would you do me a favour Davis?" she asked solemnly, realising that there was no way out this time, no one available to create a convenient distraction.

"Anything." Davis nodded readily, happy to do anything to help. "You know that."

"Make some coffee." She sighed, preparing herself for a painful conversation. She didn't know which she was dreading more - telling him about what had happened to her, or about her unexplainable need to have had Jack by her side ever since. "I think we're both gonna need it."

Jack's hand hesitated as it hovered over the doorknob, composing himself and his thoughts before he entered the room. He knew the overly bubbly receptionist was watching him curiously, and though she knew it was more than her job was worth to ask anything, he couldn't really blame her for her interest. He'd received more than his fair share of alternately horrified and morbidly curious stares as he'd made his way to his boss's building from the morgue. He could have taken his car he supposed and thus avoided all the unnecessary attention, but he'd needed the extra time to collect himself. It had taken more of his energy than he would have expected to maintain his carefree façade for Tru, not willing to burden her with his own panic and guilt on top of her own.

It was bad enough that she might find out from Davis just how anxious he had been when he had brought her into the morgue. He was hoping that Davis' own alarm at seeing Tru lying unconscious on one of the examination tables, her lower legs a mass of blood and glass, would have been enough of a distraction that he'd have picked up little of Jack's state of mind at the time. He just didn't feel comfortable with the idea of Tru knowing how frightened he had been by her condition, especially when, as yet, he wasn't sure what it meant for himself, let alone what it would mean to her.

As he finally pushed the door open with a heavy sigh, he absently wondered when life had become this complicated, but he already knew the answer. It had happened when he had allowed himself to start caring again.

"Jack." Richard greeted, looking up from his desk as his protégé closed the door behind him. He scanned the younger man, taking in his haggard appearance and the worn edge to his expression with only faint interest. "I take it this is a rewind day," he observed "so soon after the one you've still to fill me in on. How convenient. How's it going so far?"

Jack tilted his head as he studied the man in front of him as if for the first time, and speculated as to whether anything ever ruffled him. He had himself been called unflappable more than once, but he knew he had nothing on Richard Davies. "It's already over." He answered at last, addressing the last and least complicated statement first. "It was another one for us."

"Two in a row." Richard noted, nodding his approval. "You seem to be improving."

It was as close to a compliment as he had ever come to receiving from his mentor, yet Jack felt no satisfaction in hearing it. In fact, though he had had a win today and on his last rewind, the former had been entirely unintentional and the latter scarcely his doing, and he felt no better than he had done on any of the rewinds when Tru had quite spectacularly kicked his ass.

"Actually," he replied, his voice sounding hollow even to his own ears "it had nothing to do with me."

Richard looked at him with renewed interest then, an eyebrow raised in question, and all Jack could think was that it was a habit that his daughter had inherited. "What are you saying Jack?" he prompted in the infuriatingly cool manner that Jack had become accustomed to hearing.

"It was Tru…" Jack trailed off, trying to find some way of wording the news that wouldn't sound too unpleasant. Unfortunately, nothing came to mind. "Something happened on that last rewind-"

"If you're talking about the incident with Mr Ashworth," Richard interrupted, steepling his fingers under his chin and leaning his elbows on his desk, watching Jack intently "I already know."

"You know." Jack repeated, momentarily at a loss.

"Of course." Richard nodded, as if it should have been blatantly obvious. "Harrison told me."

"Right, Harrison." Jack nodded. He'd forgotten about Tru's brother in the confusion of the last few hours, and he winced at the reminder of the blame that had been laid at his feet. He was about to try and offer some form of apology for not having warned Tru, though he suspected it would be of little comfort, but Richard continued speaking before he had thought of anything that didn't come off as back peddling or blame shifting.

"Does what happened to Tru have something to do with your win today?" he asked.

There was a strange light behind Richard's eyes as he spoke, and for some reason he was at a loss to explain, Jack felt a shiver run down his spine at the sight of it. He had always known that his boss was a man of unwavering principle in his protection of fate, that there were very few lines he would not cross in order to ensure the balance was maintained, but the lack of any form of empathy for his daughter displayed in that moment was still unnerving.

"She froze," Jack found himself explaining. Richard always managed to do this to him, to draw the information he wanted from him against his will "I guess she had a flashback or something…by the time she snapped out of it, it was already too late. The guy was dead."

Richard seemed to consider Jack's words for several moments, and then nodded once. "Good."

Jack stared at his boss, stunned. "Good?" he asked, "What part of this is good?"

"Really Jack," Richard shook his head, his manner both patronising and disappointed "you need me to explain this to you? She's clearly traumatised and we can use this to our advantage. It certainly makes your job much easier if she's emotionally incapable of doing hers. All factors considered I think things have worked out quite nicely."

"But she's your daughter!" Jack blurted, shock most prevalent in his tone. How could he talk so dispassionately about something that had made everyone else involved seethe with impotent rage?

"I know." Richard sighed; shrugging almost dismissively and turning his attention back to the papers on his desk. "It is unfortunate, but it changes nothing."

Jack blinked, staring in disbelief at the man before him. A man he had looked up to. A man he had learned from. A man he now saw was even more twisted than he had ever been, even at his most sadistic. "You unimaginable bastard."

Richard looked up, an expression on his face somewhere between mild surprise and annoyance. "Excuse me?"

Jack hadn't even realised that he was moving until he felt the throbbing pain in his knuckles and saw Richard slumped back in his chair, his hand held up to his nose which had exploded into a beautiful scarlet fountain. He glanced between his still clenched fist and the other man's face as if what he had just done hadn't quite sunk in yet. He was jolted back to reality however, by Richard's bitter laughter.

"Oh this is just priceless." Richard sneered, his disgust evident. "After all this time I thought I'd finally found someone capable, someone who could see the imbalance and do what had to be done. Instead, this is what I end up with." He shook his head with a sigh. "I should have seen this coming after the Megan incident I suppose, but when you went through with your task I stupidly believed that maybe you were the right man for the job after all."

"I've never stopped doing my job." Jack retorted angrily, though anger at whom at this point was anybody's guess.

"Not yet." Richard admitted, "But you will. You will because you're making the same mistake I did. But unlike me, you don't have the courage of your convictions. You don't have the strength to keep doing the right thing no matter what it costs you."

Jack blanched, already knowing what Richard was implying. "I'm not…" he began weakly, only to be cut off.

"You're falling for her."

The unwavering certainty in Richard's voice sent Jack reeling, and he shook his head helplessly. He didn't like Tru. She was condescending, overconfident, and a serious bitch…but she was also a worthy opponent, and sexy as hell when she wore his shirts, and she had the most adorable expression when she first woke up that…

What the hell was he thinking?

More importantly, why had it taken him this long to realise?

Without another word, Jack stumbled out of Richard's office, harsh laughter following him, taunting him. He had to get away from here.

He had to get back to Tru.

So intent was he on making his escape that Jack never saw a very confused Harrison stepping out of the shadows where he had been hidden, listening to every word that had passed between his father and his sister's opposite, and wondering what the hell he was supposed to do with what he had heard.

Jack saw Tru before she saw him as he re-entered the morgue, freshly showered and changed, all traces of her blood washed from his skin, and he took a few moments to watch her as she conversed with Davis. He saw how she patted his arm sympathetically, probably assuring him that none of the events that had come to pass were his fault. He saw the friendly affection between the two of them, and he ached to think that he hadn't been that close to someone in so long.

But it was when, after clearing his throat to announce his presence, that Tru turned to face him with a small smile and he knew that Richard was wrong.

He wasn't falling for her.

He was already dangerously close to being head over heals.

And it scared the hell out of him.

TBC...