Jaime stepped out of her apartment building to a sunny morning in Washington; but it was the kind of sun that couldn't take the chill from the crisp air. She shivered slightly, and began walking toward the OSI building. She could feel their presence as opposed to seeing them, but it annoyed her nonetheless. The audacity of putting an NSB tail on her galled her to her bones. An impish smile lit her lips; two could play the game of spying....

She glanced behind her shoulder, to her sides, and without warning, took off at bionic speed. She cut through an alley, behind several buildings, and jumped up to a fire escape. She climbed quickly to the roof, and using the rooftops of several governmental facilities, Jaime leapt from one to the next, until she came to the OSI. Knowing their security measures, she chose not to use the interior stairwell, which could easily have been accessed by her from the roof; instead, Jaime scaled down to the corner window, tapping it open with her right finger. Oscar jumped up from his desk, startled.

"Jaime! What in God's name are you doing?"

She climbed in, and closed the window, blocking out the chilly air. She brushed her hands together freeing them of dirt.

"You really ought to clean the outside of these windows sometime, Oscar, you know, they're really filthy."

He pulled his glasses off his face and stared at her, "Most people come in through the door, Miss Sommers. Now, I repeat, what are you doing?"

The playfulness fell quickly away from Jaime's face, "What am I doing? What are you doing, Oscar? Keeping me locked up in this building day after day, playing executive assistant, putting an NSB tail on me - the members of which by the way, need a little refresher course - and you conveniently never mentioned that there's been a couple of attempts on your life, and that you're putting yourself out there like some kind of governmental sacrifice--"

Russ entered the office quickly, "Oscar, the NSB just told us that Jaime gave them the slip and--" He stopped when he saw Jaime, then continued, "How did you get in here without us seeing you?"

Oscar looked at the young man, his tone sharp, "Call maintenance and tell them they need to clean the outside panes of my windows...."

"Oh."

Goldman's tone softened, "Russ, I'd also like you to contact Hansen, and tell him that the next time we need the Keystone cops for a job, we'll be sure to call him...."

Russ nodded silently and closed the door as he exited. Oscar turned back to Jaime, who was standing with her hands on hips, seething. He began pacing in front of his desk.

"Jaime, I'm sorry. I didn't want to worry you--"

"--So you keep me locked up here during the day, put the NSB on my apartment at night, and you put yourself out there with a target on your head? Oscar, that's nuts."

He walked over to her, and put his hands on her shoulders, "Calm down, babe. We can't catch these guys if we don't give them a target."

She broke away from him, "That's not funny, Oscar. It's not like you don't know who they are, why don't you just--"

"--Rudy never could keep his mouth shut--"

"--I didn't give him a choice, Oscar, and he was right to tell me. Rudy's worried about you. And I have personal experience with these terrorists, and I'm telling you, they'd kill you just as soon as look at you."

He saw the fear in her eyes, and knew it was for him. Oscar moved a little closer to her.

"I want you to take it easy, Jaime. Nothing's going to happen to me, and especially not to you. We've worked out a careful plan, but in order to catch them, and put a stop to all of it, we have to catch them doing something."

Tears filled her eyes, "What I understand, Oscar, is that you're putting your life at risk."

"Hey....." He pulled her to him, and held her tightly, "come on babe, it's going to be all right. I promise you. You're worrying for nothing."

She looked up at him, "It's a lot more than nothing, Oscar. And I saw the distress in Rudy, he's deeply concerned about you."

He let go of her, and walked around to his desk chair, trying to keep his voice light, "You know Rudy, he worries when he shouldn't."

She placed her hands on his desk and leaned forward as he sat down, "He's worried about your stress level, Oscar....and frankly, so am I."

He looked up at her, smiling, "It will help lower my stress level immensely, if you'll behave, Miss Sommers."

She stood up straight, anger coming to the fore, "This isn't a joke, Oscar."

He stood up again, "Neither is your giving the slip to your own security detail, Jaime. The terrorists would be just as happy to pay you back for last year's mission, maybe more so."

"We both know I'm secondary here. They might come after me, but only after they've got you."

His voice rose with ire, "I'm sorry that you don't like it, Jaime, but you're damned well going to go along with it--"

"--And if I don't?"

The anger turned his eyes an almost black-brown, "If I have to put you under lock and key to protect you, I will--"

Rudy entered the room, "--Hey, what is going on in here? I can hear the two of you arguing down the hall...." Wells looked at Oscar, whose face was red with anger, and then he looked at Jaime, a slight warning in his voice, "I'm not sure that this kind of aggravation is really helpful in this situation."

Goldman's ferocity turned to Wells, "I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Rudy--"

"--And you don't need to be fighting battles." Wells looked at both of them, "Could we all just bring it down a notch or two and calm down?"

Jaime's guilt colored her voice, "You're right, I'm sorry." She looked at Oscar, "I just care about you, you know?"

He nodded as he let out a long sigh of air, "I know." Oscar glanced at Wells, "What's up Rudy?"

"I need to see you for about fifteen minutes in the lab."

Oscar glared at him, "I don't have time right now, Rudy."

Rudy kept his voice calm, "Fine. Make time this afternoon then." It was an order, not a request. He looked at Jaime, "Come on, Jaime, let's let Oscar get some work done. I could use your help for awhile."

Jaime understood Rudy clearly, and turned to Oscar, "I'll be downstairs if you need me. We'll finish this discussion later."

Oscar nodded, put his glasses on, and sat back down at his desk; if all went well, another attempt would be made soon, they'd catch those responsible, and he could put the whole thing behind him. But then, espionage rarely went according to plan...