Jessica and Gunnar sat in the kitchen the next morning waiting for Ivan to finish work in his office, when Adam suddenly marched in, looking for something for breakfast. He dug through the cabinets, throwing a few things on the counter. He went to turn on a stove burner, touching the cooktop, burning his hand.

"F*ck!," he shouted.

"Good morning," Gunnar said as if nothing had happened.

Jessica repressed (barely) a giggle.

"F*ck, that hurt! Why the hell haven't

you turned the cooker off?"

Gunnar sat down and poured himself a drink. Then another. And another. Adam suddenly turned his attention to Jessica.

"Do you know where the car keys are? I need to have this looked at."

She reached into one of the drawers and handed him the keys.

"What do you think you're doing? I can't drive with a burnt hand. You'll have to take me."

'Ah, shit,' she thought.

"How can I trust you won't try anything with me? I'll only go if Khalid can come along."

"Just hurry the f*ck up and get me to the doctor!," he bellowed.

Jessica rounded up Khalid and they piled into the van. The ride was silent until they pulled into the parking lot. Jessica didn't really want to pay the doctor a visit, but she figured it would be better than sitting in the van for god knows how long. They made their way up to the building and found Dr. Kohlberg's office. They took Adam in immediately.

"This looks bad. What did reverend Fjeldsted say?"

"He's a frigging idiot," Adam said with contempt.

'He's only an idiot for believing in you,' Jessica thought with sourness.

"He may be weird, but he's a good boy. His life sure as sh*t hasn't been easy. Everything went wrong from the start. His mother died giving birth to him. He lived with his father and sister. Until they took him away...," the doctor droned on.

'... Sh*t...,' Jessica thought, 'just what this a*shole needs: dirt on Ivan to harass him with.'

"Ivan? They took Ivan away?"

"No, nobody took Ivan away. The father was taken away. Henning."

"Why?"

"He was f*cking those kids black and blue. They could hardly walk."

Adam had a surprised look on his face.

"Shut up and fix this."

"Pardon my forthrightness. I've learned it's best to tell it like it is. You're best served by being told the truth."

'Only if you're entitled to it and it's not someone's personal tragedy,' Jessica mentally reprimanded the doctor.

Adam then took his leave. Before she left, Jessica turned around, giving the doctor a death stare.

"Dr. Kohlberg, are you aware of how unprofessional what you just told that man was? He had no right to be told anything about Ivan's past, and now he's going to be an a*hole about it. So thank you for making all of our lives a little harder just now," she sternly told him.

He gave her a dazed look and had nothing further to say. She then caught up with the others at the van and they drove back to the church.

"Adam?," they heard Ivan call.

"What's this I hear? The cooker bit you?"

"Gunnar forgot to turn it off,"

"Take a seat. I'd like to talk to you. Do you know why all this is happening? Why all these birds are in the tree? And the cooker. Why did you burn yourself all of the sudden? I think someone is trying to tell you that you shouldn't go near the cooker. You can't bake a cake without a cooker.

I think Satan is testing us."

"By not letting me bake the cake?"

"He's trying to fight us. He's testing your strength to withstand him. He's always doing it to me. Look at your hand," Ivan tried to reason.

"You're a complete moron. Nobody is doing anything. Gunnar just forgot to turn it off."

"He always makes sure to turn it off."

"That fat pig is always hammered!"

"Hey, fat and drunk! So many accusations, but there may be an explanation. You should know that he was the best Danish tennis player in his youth. He won all his matches... but then a ball was mistakenly called to be out. Gunnar lost and everything went downhill."

Jess just stood by the car observing their conversation. She didn't know what not to believe and what to accept as the truth. Ivan may not lie out of malice, but nevertheless he had lied about several things.

"What about Khalid? This was in his coat pocket," Adam said, taking out a wad of cash that was his.

'When did that happen?,' Jessica wondered.

"What are you saying?"

"Those two haven't changed. You're a joke."

"Let's forbid people to wear hats."

"It's a balaclava during summer.

"Khalid is from a hot climate."

"Here's f*cking 17,000 in cash!"

"You're reaching, Adam. Khalid is saving to buy new clothes. You didn't know."

'Ivan, for god's sake show some open mindedness!,' Jessica thought frantically.

Then, everything happened so fast she didn't have time to react. Adam was punching Ivan to the ground and giving him swift kicks in the stomach. He delivered hit after hit to his head, blood pouring out of his nose and mouth. Jessica flew into fight mode; she ran up to Adam and hopped on his back, trying to punch him, but he easily pushed her backwards away from them. His blows became harder to Ivan's face, and finally, Jessica had enough.

She got a dark look in her eyes and with all her strength rammed her head into Adam's abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. He went straight to the ground with a loud groan. Jessica then rushed to Ivan, who at that point was close to unconscious. She gave Adam a scathing look.

"Get away from us, and if you come back I'll call the cops and you'll finish your rehab in prison! You should have stayed there anyway!"

Adam's jaw started twitching; he gave her a look of hate and stomped off toward the auditorium.

She held Ivan close against her, lightly grabbing his face to get a better look at it.

"Ivan?"

His eyes kept closing and fluttering open.

"Ivan?!," she said a little louder.

His nose was clearly broken, and he possibly had a fractured jaw. His eyes finally lightly opened and stayed open.

"Ivan, are you okay?," she asked softly.

"I- I'm okay. I need to get Dr. Kohlberg, though. My nose feels like someone took a sledgehammer to it."

"Of course, dear. Let's get you into the car."

'We're on to pet names now?,' he thought. Not that he minded.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she helped him stand up. He tried not to put too much weight on her, but she insisted it was fine. They shuffled into the van and Jessica drove to the hospital for a second time that day, except this time she was happy to make the trip for the person she was helping. They arrived at the doctor's office, where they sat in silence for a few moments.

"Ivan... Please tell me you're starting to see that Adam is a lost cause. He's assaulted me and just beat you to a pulp. How many more mishaps will it take for you to make him leave?," she asked him.

Ivan sighed, knowing no matter what he said it wouldn't be a good enough reason to keep him around. But there was something about Adam that seemed like he needed Ivan more than any of them.

"I know things have been rough, Jess. But he needs me as you all did when you came to the church. He may have a rougher background, but I can't deny him help for things he couldn't control," he tried to reason with her.

"Ivan, Adam became a nazi of his own free will. He decided to be a representative of something evil that causes nothing but destruction and chaos. He's made it clear he doesn't want to change. You're working hard for nothing. I know you don't want to hear it, but are you really willing to endanger all of us to prove that he's not evil?"

Ivan knew she was right. But he didn't want to give up. He could see that under all of Adam's hostility, he was a good man. He hoped...

Shortly after their conversation, Dr. Kohlberg had Ivan hop up on the examination table and lightly felt around his face.

"A broken nose, no doubt. You also have a couple hairline cracks in your jaw. The nose, we can put a brace on, the jaw, we can put in a sling and it'll heal fairly quickly, just don't work it too much. You'll have some bruising and sore muscles for a few days. Take some ibuprofen and it'll help with the pain."

The doctor turned around to make notes, and Jessica walked over to Ivan to help him stand. Once the doctor fastened the nose brace and the sling on his jaw, they rode back to Ivan's apartment. Ivan insisted on going back to the church, but Jessica wouldn't have it.

"We're going home and you're going to relax. You just got your ass handed to you and you're in no condition to be at the church taking care of that miscreant."

As soon as they pulled into the parking lot close to Ivan's building, Jessica went around to the passenger side and helped Ivan out of the van. He leaned on her for support as they made their way up the stairs and to his door. Jessica pushed the door in and they both crashed on the couch.

Once Ivan was comfortable, Jessica made him dinner and gave him his medication. They didn't say much to each other through the night, until Jessica helped him into bed. She helped him to take his shirt off. Once his chest was exposed, she could clearly see more bruises forming. She couldn't help herself, and pulled him in for a hug, pressing his face into the nape of her neck. The light, fresh smell of her soft skin comforting him after the long day he had.

'Oh, the things I want to do to you, Jess... Especially now that you're trying to play nurse for me,' he thought.

He wanted to touch her; feel her. He ached to feel her soft lips on his again.

"I thought for certain he was going to beat you to death. I was terrified," she confessed to him.

"Believe me, it felt like I was on death's door once he was done. But then you knocked him flat on the ground. Why?"

'Because I love you, Ivan.'

"Well, I... I... It's like I said before; you've done so much for me, I want to return the favor. And I wasn't about to let that hulking brute just beat you. I care about you, Ivan."

Ivan was very touched, but he was too tired to rightfully show it.

"And I care about you, kæreste."

'Sweetheart,' Jessica translated.

She leaned down and gave Ivan a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Ivan. Wake me if you need anything."

"Goodnight, Jess. I'll tap on the wall if I need help with anything."

"Very good. I'll see you in the morning."

Ivan laid awake for hours thinking about how Jessica could have gotten beaten herself in order to protect him from Adam. He felt his affection for her grow exponentially after her stunt today. And it was the last thing he thought of before drifting off to sleep.

It was several weeks later, and Ivan was finally able to get his nose brace and sling off. Jessica was sitting on his desk helping him take it off with gentle hands while he sat in his office chair. Once it was off, he stood up and came close to her face.

"Thank you, Jess, for being my angel these last few weeks. It helped a lot. I'd like to show you just how much I appreciate it."

He stood between her knees and put his hands on her upper arms and pulled her in for a kiss.

She was wearing that lovely pink dress he loved so much.

"Ivan...," Jessica said breathlessly.

"Jess... I think I lo-"

Suddenly he was jolted awake from tossing in his bed, his broken nose being pressed into his pillow. He let out a yelp, and Jessica came running into the room.

"Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Do you need ibuprofen?," she fired off a round of questions.

"Jess, Jess, I'm fine, I just rolled over onto my nose, and also yes, ibuprofen would be fantastic."

She couldn't help but notice his appearance... Hair disheveled, a light sheen of sweat, a slightly flustered look. She knew that look all too well from when she had it the other morning. She couldn't help but let out an (almost) untraceable smirk.

Ivan didn't like that look... He had just had a dream about making out with his ward, and she knew it. She knew it, and she wasn't the least bit bothered by it.

Jessica retreated to the kitchen and began to make some very strong coffee for them, not being able to repress a hushed giggle.

'Jeez, Jessica, get your mind out of the gutter! The man's injured in bed, it's not the time to be a giggly teenager,' she chastised herself.

She poured coffee for both of them, and brought Ivan's cup to him. She went to sit on the edge of his bed as she sipped on her cup.

"So... You're going back today, aren't you?," she asked.

"Yes."

"And you're not going to make Adam leave are you?"

"No."

Jessica sighed heavily.

"Why, Ivan?! WHY? He's assaulted both of us and does nothing but pick on the others. He's not even attempting to halfass his tasks anymore. What's the point?"

"Because I know I can reach him if I have a little more time with him. I'm a priest, I can't give up on someone spiritually, no matter who they are."

"I get that, but this guy has made it very well known he's going to cause trouble for all of us as long as he's there, and we have to be his victims. You're really willing to put up with violence and harassment until he's free?"

"Yes. I don't expect you to understand, Jess. It's not your burden to bare."

"Alright, fine. But I'm not leaving your side even for an instant anymore as long as he's staying at the church. It's protection for both of us. Agreed?"

"Yes. I concur. Now that's settled, let's get dressed and head over to the rectory."

"To see what fresh hell awaits us for the day," she mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing...," Jessica said with a slightly annoyed tone.

'Please let us all get through the next month smoothly and without being murdered,' Jessica thought to herself, then went to get dressed.