The following morning Gina made breakfast for herself. She made sure to bang the pots and pans loudly but it didn't wake Jack, who was laid out on the couch in a deep slumber. When he woke later in the afternoon with a throbbing headache from both the alcohol and the memory of his and Chloe's conversation Gina was out shopping. After taking a couple of headache pills Jack slumped into one of the chairs at the kitchen table and held his head in his hands.

He knew he had to cut off all communications, even without Chloe's reassurance that this was necessary, so why was he so reluctant to do so? He itched to call Tony one last time, to say both thank you and goodbye. If things went well with the tracer then he'd never hear from them again. The thought hurt, so he went to take a shower and get cleaned up before he thought any more on the painful subject. Once clean and dressed he resolved that he wouldn't call again, he'd just have to hope that the man knew how much he appreciated the help he had given him as he had started his new life.

Still feeling depressed Jack crossed over the small landing and poked his head through the nursery door. The little cot and stuffed animals lifted his hopes slightly but the feeling was dampened by the thought of him having to leave all of this behind. Leaving the room Jack felt the floor boards creak beneath his feet through the old shabby carpet.

Smirking to himself he went in search of his tools deciding that he would fix the boards, hoping the task would help him clear his mind. As Jack started to carefully pull the battered green carpet up he was already focussed on the task ahead and nothing else.

As soon as Chloe spied Tony in his office she left her station and climbed the metal steps two at a time. Her face wore a frown although she wasn't really angry with him. She was however, annoyed with his incompetence but seen as she had expected as much she had averted any potential danger and so was feeling particularly smug with herself.

"Chloe," Tony said as he draped his jacket on the back of his chair, "what's up?"

"You didn't dump the phone."

Tony looked down at the floor, his face a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "You're right I didn't. But what if Jack gets into trouble and needs to contact us urgently?"

"If there was something that urgent he wouldn't waste time with scrambled lines he'd contact us directly!"

"I'm sorry," he said shyly, "I just couldn't do it. I felt… I felt as though I was abandoning him again."

Chloe wasn't sympathetic, and to illustrate this to him she crossed her arms across her chest defensively. "You're not the one who ordered his assassination are you?"

"No," the man grumbled.

"Then stop feeling sorry for yourself. It's a good job you are so predictable," she said as she sat down on the couch, "I changed the signal so when Jack called you last night I got the call."

"What did he say?"

Ignoring his question she continued on, "it's a good job I did too, seen as somebody tried to hack it again."

"You get into it?"

Chloe shook her head in the negative. "I got into it partially. It was weird. I managed to break into the matrix, it looks really complex from the outside but when I latched onto it all I got was useless code."

"Meaning?"

"That's just it," Chloe said looking worried and confused, "it didn't mean anything."

"Could it be a defensive tactic?"

"That's certainly a possibility," she said, "but I couldn't get into it too deeply as the phone call was brief."

"Well next time we'll get Jack to stay on the line longer," Tony said eagerly.

Chloe shook her head firmly. "And use Jack as bait? I don't think so."

"I didn't mean it like that," he said, "Its just this is the only lead we have."

"And it could mean nothing," Chloe said bluntly. "Anyway, I doubt Jack will be calling again," she added dismissively, but Tony was onto her immediately.

"What did you say to him?" He demanded angrily.

"Nothing! Jacks a smart man, he knows the risks is all."

"Yeah," Tony said dejectedly.

"You shouldn't be so glum," Chloe said brightly, "at least that's not really him buried 6 feet under his headstone," she added as she left the office.

"Not yet anyway," Tony whispered to himself as he watched Chloe climb back down the stairs, wishing he could be as confident as she was about the situation.

As Gina entered the house her hearing was immediately assaulted by the sound of hammering and then a long bout of drilling. Shaking her head she dropped her grocery bags on the table and quickly put the items away, knowing Jack wasn't aware of her presence. As she slowly pulled herself up the stairs Jack noticed her and put his hammer down to reach out a hand and gently help her step over the tools and missing floorboards.

Once inside their room Gina stared at him but said nothing.

"Creaky boards," Jack said, and Gina couldn't help but smile.

"I'm gonna take a nap," she said, the smile still on her face.

"Okay," Jack said nervously, "I'll try be quiet."

He wanted to touch her, kiss her, just show her that he was sorry but he kept his distance not wanting to hurt her further.

"Thanks," Gina replied quietly, pretending not to watch as Jack left the room, slowly closing the door behind himself.

"Shit," she whispered under her breath, deciding Jack was angry with her for the night before. She felt justified for her outburst but at the same time knew Jack wasn't entirely to blame, she had been bad tempered. Upset with herself Gina kicked off her shoes and lay down over the bed covers.

Carefully sliding on of the old boards back into place Jack fought the mist in his eyes. He realised he couldn't hurt Gina anymore than he already had and gave himself an ultimatum; he had to either tell her or leave. He knew he had to chose one, and soon.