AN #1 This is still Madison's friend. In Madison's copy of Unwritten there is no chapter 16. I thought I was missing several paragraphs of Chapter 16 of Unwritten. It turns out my copy of chapter 16 is just damaged What Madison had decided to do. Was have me post this notice about chapter 16. And then move on and update the rest of the story starting from chapter 17. As I was going to copy chapter 17. I noticed that I have two chapter 16's. But they are different. So, I'm going to post both chapter 16's here. So, when you notice the two headings for chapter 16 just ignore the second one & keep reading.

Chpt. 16 TPOV:

"I thought you said they were still meeting on the balcony at night?" Gail whispers as I walk into the main kitchen.

She surprised me by coming home late last night and we spent all night making up for her time away; it was hard getting up this morning but even if Mr. Grey can't go running he'll be up early. We settled for a quick shower together before heading into Mr. Grey's apartment to meet him. Gail was in the kitchen first, I think a little eager to see how the place looked in her absence.

"They do."

"Look."

Gail gestures to the great room; when I round the corner I see what. Never did I expect to find Mr. Grey and Ana…cuddled together on the couch sleeping. Neither of them sleep well; I think that's one of the things that they bond over at night when the rest of us are sleeping. I'm not sure what happened last night that brought them inside instead of going on the balcony, but it seems like the couch might be more comfortable because they both have never fallen asleep together…at least that I know of.

"Is Mr. Grey still seeing….whatever her name is?" Gail asks.

"No, it's been well over….gosh probably at least a month or two since he's seen her."

"Hmmmm."

"Hmmmm what?"

"That's a long time, especially for him."

"It is."

"Do you think it has something to do with Ana?"

"I don't know. I asked him about her though."

"Jason!" she hisses.

"Her father trusted me with her, I needed to know what was going on."

"And?"

"I don't think either of them know. He told me he cares about her which is obvious to anyone around them."

"Do you think she feels the same way?"

"I think so, sometimes she lets her guard down and you can tell she cares for Mr. Grey. Other times though…"

"She's still afraid."

"Yeah."

"You have to get these guys Jason."

"We will. One way or another, they will pay for what they did to her."

Chpt. 16 APOV:

I wake up, for the first time in a long time actually feeling refreshed…like I slept rather than just tossed and turned. It only takes me a moment to realize where I'm sleeping; I blush at the realization that I essentially used Christian as a pillow. I slowly ease myself from his chest, careful not to wake him and head back into the apartment knowing that Teddy will be awake soon.

"Gail!" I gasp in surprise when I see her in the kitchen. "When did you get back?"

"Late last night," she greets me with a hug and even though I didn't get to know her very well before she had to leave, I'm glad she's back. "You look….so much better Ana. Oh, not that you didn't-"

"Yes I did," I giggle. "But thank you. I feel much better, the bruises are pretty much all healed. How is your sister?"

"Much better, thank you for asking. I love my nieces and nephews dearly but I was ready to come home."

"I'm sure you were," just as I say that I hear Teddy making noises in his crib. "I'll be right back."

"Can I...do you mind if I come in with you? Taylor's been telling me how big Teddy got and I'm dying to see the little guy-"

"Sure."

Gail and I head into the bedroom where I find Teddy lying on his stomach kind of "talking" to the toy that is strapped to his crib. I change his diaper and dress him for the day before heading back into the kitchen to make his bottle.

"Did you want to hold him?" I ask seeing that Gail's eyes haven't left Teddy since we walked into his room.

"If you don't mind, I'd love to," she reaches out for him almost immediately.

As I turn back to make his bottle, I realize how much has changed in the couple of weeks since I've been here. When Dr. Grace first came to check on me, even though I told Taylor it wasn't necessary, I was so nervous about leaving Teddy with Gail. I know I'd still be that way if we were anywhere but at the apartment, but being here….I feel safe. Something I haven't felt since in a very long time; I know it's not just because this place has more security than Fort Knox but also because I trust Gail, Taylor and Christian.

"Ana?" Taylor comes into the kitchen just as I finish making Teddy's bottle. "Mr. Grey would like you to talk to you over breakfast if you're free."

"Oh? Um, sure," I say surprised.

"He mentioned something about the project you helped him with yesterday," Taylor explains.

"Oh right, we never got to talk about that," after the call with Barney and Welch I had completely forgotten about the marketing issue I worked on.

I take Teddy from Gail and head out to the dining room where Christian is sitting with a cup of coffee reading the newspaper.

"Morning Ana," he looks up as I approach the table.

"Morning," I blush remembering how not that long ago I woke up using him as a pillow. I still can't believe I fell asleep during the movie like that. I take the seat across from Christian, keeping Teddy on my lap where he starts waving his hands around.

"I realized we never got to talk about the marketing project yesterday after the call. I don't know if you were able to or had enough time to…figure out what the issue was-"

"I did," I interrupt. "I'm sorry it took me longer than I expected to, but I was able to determine what the issue was and then spent some time into fixing it."

"Fixing it?"

"So the issue was that someone, my guess is a jaded former employee of the company you acquired, marked the site as spam. That stopped the company from appearing on any search engines. For example, if someone typed in solar powered battery chargers into google, your new company wouldn't appear because google would have taken it out of the search responses since it was marked as spam."

"So that's why the visits to the website dropped after the acquisition," he realizes.

"That's my guess and based upon the acquisition date and the date it was marked as spam, it fits."

"And you were able to fix this?"

"I went through all the search engines and notified each one that the site was marked as spam in error and was not in fact spam. The major search engines expected to have the issue resolved by this morning while a couple of the smaller ones said it could take until the end of today to get the site back in the que."

"You did all that yesterday while Teddy was with me?"

"It took longer than I expected actually, once I found just how in depth this person went with the search engines. If it were just the major ones that everyone knew I would have had it fixed a lot earlier, but going through the hundreds of smaller sites took longer than I expected."

"You want a job?"

"It wasn't a huge deal," I giggle and shake my head. "The issue was pretty quick to identify, it was just fixing it that took a little longer than I expected."

"No, I'm serious," he looks right at me. "Do you want a job with GEH? I'm firing my marketing director today; I've had my doubts about him for some time now and yesterday was the final straw. Say the word and the job is yours."

"Christian," I gasp in surprise. "I…it's an amazing offer, it truly is….one that a year ago I would have jumped at."

"But?"

"I can't," I say sadly. "There's no way I could right now. Not with Teddy and…them still after me. I couldn't risk-"

"No, I'm not asking you to put yourself or Teddy at risk!"

"I don't understand then," I admit. "I can't work for GEH; I can't leave Teddy with someone – I wouldn't trust anyone to watch him. I can't take him with me to work besides any time I leave the apartment I risk someone seeing us…I can't-"

"Ana," he reaches out and grabs my hand to distract me. "Relax; I wouldn't put you and Teddy at risk. Work for me, as my new marketing director, but work from here."

"From here?"

"I have a bunch of spare bedrooms upstairs, I'll convert one to an office for you. GEH will provide everything you need to do your job remotely. Many positions in GEH are done remotely; with today's technology being in the office isn't necessary."

"I…wow…."

"Think about it, you don't need to decide now. The guy is getting fired today whether or not you decide to take the position; I've had it with him. We can disperse his responsibilities to his staff until you make a decision."

"His staff?"

"It's not a very large department, but he has several marketing and advertising specialists that he oversees. Essentially this position handles things at the higher level; preparing for acquisitions, GEH's overall branding and marketing, that sort of thing. The marketing staff than carry out what he needs to happen, so for example contacting those smaller companies you mentioned could be handled by other staff while you then attend to other things."

"And this could all be done remotely?" Am I really considering this? This would have been my dream job a year ago…

"Yes, absolutely. In the past we've had the marketing director visit potential acquisition companies with us on site, but it's not necessary."

"I don't know."

"You don't need to decide now Ana. And if this isn't something you're interested in-"

"I'm interested, Christian. Before….all of this, I would have jumped at the chance to work for a company like GEH. To be able to work with each incoming company's marketing needs and find a way to change the branding over to fit with GEH…it would have been perfect."

"So what's holding you back now?"

"Everything's different now," I kiss Teddy on the top of his head. "I have Teddy now; I don't know how I could possibly work a full time job with him. But at the same time I can't, I won't, hire someone to watch him. I wouldn't trust anyone. And what happens if he finds us? What happens if we need to go on the run again? I'd leave GEH high and dry; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I screwed you like that."

"First off, Braxton will NEVER get to you. You will NOT have to go into hiding again," he says it so firmly I almost believe him. "As for Teddy, work when you can. If you can't work 40 hours a week then so be it. I don't care if you work 10 hours a week! You accomplished more in a handful of hours yesterday than the fu…stupid guy I have working in that position did. He told me it was going to take weeks to solve; you did it in a matter of hours."

"Because you had Teddy," I point out. "It would have probably have taken me twice as long if he were with me."

"Then it takes twice as long," he shrugs. "Very few things in the marketing department need to happen under very tight deadlines with very little notice. The hours could be flexible Ana; it doesn't have to happen between nine and five. If it means working on a project after Teddy is in bed for the night, then so be it."

"I don't know."

"Look, don't feel obligated to accept the job. If it's too much, or just not the right time, it's fine to tell me no. Accepting, or not accepting the job, won't have any impact on the work that Barney, Welch, Taylor and Sawyer are all doing-"

"I didn't think that," I assure him quickly. "It never even occurred to me."

"Your safety, both of your safety, is top the top priority Ana; it always will be. If I need to hire an assistant marketing director to provide additional support until…all of this blows over I can easily do that. Ana, I saw the way your face lit up when you were talking about the whole situation with me yesterday morning. It was….as if everything else got pushed to the side and you were able to just be you for a little while. And fu-…I mean, you're damn good at what you do Ana. You're so focused on everyone else; on Teddy, on your dad and on those bastards, that you rarely think about yourself. I just want to give you something Ana."

"Christian…"

What the hell do I say to that? Is it selfish that I want to take the job? That I want to say I'll figure it all out somehow and just do it? I'm so afraid though that if I do I'll let Christian down because if the time comes that I need to leave, I'll do it without thinking twice. I won't give GEH a second thought because Teddy will be my priority.

"Breakfast is ready," Gail comes in carry two plates and surprises me by putting one in front of me.

"Gail, you didn't have to cook for me!" I exclaim.

"I was already making one omelet and everything was already out," she assures me. "Besides, Jason told me you cooked him and Mr. Grey breakfast every morning while I was gone."

"It wasn't-"

"Exactly," she smiles before heading back out of the room.

"Just think about it Ana," Christian says quietly. "No pressure, no need to give me an answer by a certain time and if you decide that it's just not for you then no hard feelings. It won't change anything if you decline the offer, I promise you that."

"Thank you Christian," I sigh. "I don't even know if I said that to you yet, but thank you. The offer is truly amazing and one I could have only dreamt about. I'd like to take some time and think about it; maybe…maybe I can figure something out."

"Whatever you need Ana."

We eat our breakfast and make small talk; surprisingly there's no awkwardness or pressure about the discussion we just had. Like many things with Christian, he sort of shuts that door and opens another. Just like our nightly talks on the balcony, or falling asleep together last night or…

"Mr. Grey, your mother is on her way up," Taylor announces.

"My mother?"

"Her new assigned code was used sir."

"I thought she said she was going to stop by today to check your ankle?" I remind him.

"Fu…I forgot," he sighs.

"Christian, Ana," Dr. Grace arrives only moments later.

"Mom," Christian immediately stands when she enters the room and kisses her on the cheek.

"Ana, how are you dear? How is Teddy?"

"We're good Grace, thank you for asking."

"How was our patient yesterday? Did he give you a hard time?"

"Not at all," I laugh.

"Really? You weren't crawling at the walls trying to get out of your room son?"

"Ha, would you believe I took a nap?"

"What?!"

"He did," I agree.

"Son, I can't remember the last time you took a nap."

"Well, in my defense some little guy fell asleep with me and I couldn't move much or else he was going to wake up."

"Oh….OH!"

"Ana was kind enough to help me with a crisis GEH was dealing with, so since I couldn't do much anyway," he glares at Grace. "I offered to watch Teddy while Ana worked in my office."

"I'll leave you two to chat," I grab Teddy and our dishes to take them to the kitchen and then head into the apartment.

I place Teddy in his excersaucer, not really sure what to do. Now that Gail is back, I don't want to step on her toes. I was only covering for her while she's was away and now she's back…

"Ana," Gail comes back into the apartment. "Do you have a moment?"

"Sure," I take the bar stool at the counter and she sits next to me.

"I couldn't help but overhear Mr. Grey's…conversation with you about GEH," she begins. "I wasn't eavesdropping or anything I assure you-"

"I wouldn't think that Gail," I assure her. "It's not like we were in a closed room talking."

"You may not want it, but I wanted to put it out there anyway," she takes a deep breath. "If you wanted to accept Mr. Grey's offer, I'm happy to watch little Teddy for you while you worked from here-"

"Gail, I couldn't ask you to do that! Not on top of everything you already do here!"

"Ana, when I first started here I told Mr. Grey he didn't need a full time house manager. You've been covering for me for the last two weeks, I'm sure you know that this isn't a full time job. But Mr. Grey insisted he wanted a person to live in here so that meals could be handled around his work schedule and should business or family gatherings need to occur here. So I accepted the position; most days I have free time throughout the day that I could easily use to keep an eye on that sweet child for you."

"Gail-"

"Ana, I know you're worried about Teddy and God knows do you have every right to be. But, unless I'm wrong, it sounded like you were pretty interested in Mr. Grey's offer. After what you've been through, you deserve something for you. I'd love to help you get that."

"I don't know what to say," her offer truly amazes me. "You've all done so much for me already, I can't ask you to do anything else."

"You're not asking dear, we're offering."

"Why?" the word comes out before I mean it to.

"Why?"

"None of you know me…"

"Because Ana, you've been through a hell that no one ever should go through," she puts her hand on mine. "Because you're doing an amazing job with that little boy despite everything you've been through. Because you make Mr. Grey happy-"

"I don't-"

"You do," she smiles. "You may not realize it, but that man cares a great deal about you and this little guy."

"I don't know what to say."

"Like Mr. Grey told you, there's no pressure and no hard feelings if you decide not to take me up on the offer. I just wanted to let you know that I'm more than willing and able to take care of little Teddy for a few hours each day while you work between his nap times. Taylor said he still takes two naps a day; I can watch him when he's awake in between and while he's sleeping get some stuff done around here."

"Gail, it's an incredible offer…"

"I've had many jobs over the years some of which included nanny responsibilities so if you're worried about-"

"God no, Gail," I interrupt quickly. "Gail the moment I walked into your home with Jason you welcomed me with open arms. You had somehow arranged for Teddy to have everything he needed when we arrived; things I hadn't even thought we needed. Any hesitation I have has absolutely nothing to do with you, I swear."

"If I may ask, what is your hesitation?"

"I don't know," I sigh.

"My offer stands for as long as you need it to," she says before getting up. "I need to go check on what groceries we need and plan something for dinner."

"Thank you Gail."

I wish I could talk to someone about this though I have no idea what I would say. I want to talk to my dad, to hear what he would think but he's been radio silent for the last two days. This happens once a week or so when he's between burner phones so I try not to worry too much about it. I want so badly to say yes to Christian…and to Gail's kind offer. But my reasons for wanting to say yes are entirely selfish; I want to do this for me, I want the type of job Christian is offering, I want a few hours a day when I don't have to entirely focus on Braxton and his men finding us. I want what I had for those couple of hours yesterday.

"You okay Ana?" Jason comes into the apartment a few hours later. Teddy is sound asleep in his crib for his nap and I'm sitting on the couch with a kindle in my hand; I've been trying to read this book since I laid Teddy down and I'm pretty sure I'm still on the same page.

"Just thinking."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"Christian offered me a job," I blurt out.

"Oh?"

"He's going to fire his marketing director and wants me to take the job. He even said I could work from here, entirely remotely so I wouldn't have to leave the apartment. And he offered to work around Teddy's schedule, letting me work when he's sleeping or even less than 40 hours. Gail offered to keep an eye on Teddy too for me."

"Does the job not interest you?"

"Gosh no Jason," I immediately answer. "It's the opposite really. A year ago, I would have jumped at the opportunity; it truly would have been my dream job."

"So what's the problem?"

"I feel like…the reasons I want the job are entirely selfish."

"Of course they are," he surprises me by saying. "You want the job for you."

"It seems wrong."

"Having this job on your resume would open further doors in the future correct?" I nod in agreement. "Mr. Grey pays all of his employees well, so I'm sure he's offering you a generous compensation plan that's fair for the position?"

"We hadn't discussed it yet."

"I can assure you it would be generous which would give you an opportunity to save for the future and Teddy's needs."

"True," especially since I essentially ruined credit when I had to leave.

"It's not selfish to think about a future beyond this nightmare Ana," he assures me. "It's not selfish to accept your dream job even when things are crazy."

"Do you think it's safe? Honestly, would doing this put Teddy at any more of a risk?"

"No," his response is firm and quick. "Mr. Grey wouldn't have suggested it if it would, I promise you that. There's things we would need to work out, but I'm sure Mr. Grey already has a plan for that-"

"Like?"

"Your pay for example," he starts. "It would have to be under the table; you couldn't be listed as an employee or even as a contractor for GEH. Your benefits…you either wouldn't be entitled to them or he would have to arrange for it to be under an alias. It would probably be best to just work under an alias altogether; so coworkers and such know you as a different name. Every employee is under an NDA but I wouldn't chance it."

"No, that makes sense."

"I think as long as we plan it out and cover all of our bases thoroughly, I don't see this putting you or Teddy at risk."

"You're sure?"

"The IT set up here is just as tight as it is at GEH itself, no one can break the firewall that Barney installed. But even if they could, if you work under an alias they're not going to see Ana Steele sending emails from Escala."

"That makes sense."

"If I thought doing this would put you or Teddy at risk I would say so right away Ana. You can trust me; if you want to accept Mr. Grey's offer, you'll be safe."

"Do you think I should accept it?"

"I think if this would still be your dream job if you took out everything else going on, then you should accept it. There's nothing wrong with wanting something for yourself."

"Thank you Jason."

"Anytime."

"Ana, Mr. Grey is asking for you," Gail says. "He's in his office."

Crap, I hope he's not going to ask if made a decision yet.

"Go ahead, we'll keep an ear out for Teddy," Jason says.

I leave the monitor with Jason and Gail before heading to Christian's office. I have no idea what I'm going to say, but part of me is really leaning towards saying yes.

"Christian?"

"Ana come in," he says without glancing up from his computer screen. His ankle is propped up on a chair to the side of his computer while he types on a keyboard resting on his lap. "Sorry, I needed to finish typing an email before I lost my train of thought."

"No problem."

"I wanted to know if you were busy for the next hour or so?"

"Busy? No," I can't help but chuckle at the notion.

"Good, I want to take you somewhere-"

"I don't know Christian."

"We won't leave the building," he assures me.

"You want to take me somewhere but not leave the building?"

"Yup. I've spoken with Taylor and there's no security risk but Sawyer will be with us. I spoke with Gail as well, she can keep an eye on Teddy up here with Jason or they both can accompany us if you'd prefer."

"You talked to Jason and Gail already?"

"I wanted to make sure security wise it possible before I suggested it to you."

"What are we doing?"

"It's a surprise," he says. "You just need to wear comfy clothes, but not jeans, and a pair of sneakers."

"Um….okay."

"You let Gail and Taylor know if you'd like them to come along with Teddy or stay up here with him. If you want to bring him just grab diapers and whatever else he might need but we should only be an hour or so."