Sara opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar room. She felt the weight of an arm across her and the presence of someone tucked in behind her, their breath falling on her skin. She smiled.

Arthur.

It suited him. She knew he was still sleeping by the rhythm of his breathing. She replayed their night together in her mind and felt flushed when she was finished. She had lots of experience with men, but this was different. It might have been because it was outside of work. She wasn't sure. It was definitely because it wasn't all about him. It was pretty much the opposite, in fact. Another thing she was not used to.

Brenda was going to have a hay day with this.

She felt him shift then, and she turned so that she was facing him as his eyes opened.

"Hey," he said sleepily.

"Hi," she whispered back.

"I went to bed with a 10 and woke up with a 20," he teased playfully. Sara wasted no time moving him onto his back and resting on his chest, kissing him again. His fingers were in her hair almost instantly.

"You drive me nuts, you know that?" she said in his ear.

"In a good way I hope," he commented.

She responded by kissing him deeper and more intensely. After a few moments of this, Arthur caught sight of the time.

"Shit," he said, pulling back.

"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"I have to go," he said, sitting up and sliding her off. "I'm sorry."

"Go where?"

"To work."

He hurried, knowing that if he was late, the consequences would be dire. Sara sat with the sheets pulled around her, watching him.

"Are you coming back?" she asked.

"I live here don't I?" he teased. She threw a pillow at him, and he ducked.

"I'm serious," she said.

He came over to her and bent to hold her face in his hands, looking at her seriously.

"You stay right there, and I'll be back in an hour-ish."

"Okay."

"Make yourself at home," he instructed, kissing her gently and then moving away to find his gun. Sara wondered what his job was exactly. It was on her list of questions she had to ask him when he returned.

...

Arthur was nearly too late. He knew this was not good. His hands were shaking a little as he lowered his gun. His target had started running by the time he'd pulled up, and thankfully, he managed to catch the guy, but it was too close of a call. He ran a hand over his head, exhaling hard. Abe would kill him if he missed a target. Arthur knew what he did to those who let their own selves get away. You never wanted a house call from that particular doctor.

He thought of Sara as he loaded the body into the box of his truck and drove off. His intention hadn't been to go that far that fast with her, but things had escalated quickly after their kiss on the street. He knew what she did for work, and he knew it would bother him to imagine other guys spending time with her that way. His brain was on fire. What had he done exactly? Maybe he was making a mistake.

But her eyes. Every time he looked into them, he could almost see her soul. She had a kind one, albeit a tough one on the outside. He'd never felt so connected to someone so quickly, and it scared him a little.

He finished his job and returned to his apartment to find her wearing one of his t-shirts and nothing else. She had one leg bent and resting her foot on the counter behind her as she looked over the water glass at him. Arthur stood and took all of her in, and he knew he was done for. She had him hook, line, and sinker.

"What?" she asked. He went over to her and took the glass from her hand and set it on the counter. Then he picked her up in his arms and kissed her. Even though it had been almost two hours since he'd felt her lips on his, it had felt like days. He felt her start to pull at his shirt, and he moved them back to his bed where she removed and threw it before running her hands over his skin.

It was even better than the first time.

...

"Okay," Sara said. "What is a Looper?"

She was leaning against him as he sat against the headboard. She was idly running her fingers up and down his arm that was looped around her waist.

"You really want to know?" he asked.

"Yes. Tell me."

He hesitated briefly, wondering if she would leave and never come back if she knew who he was, but there was something that told him it would be okay to tell her. So he did. He explained it all. When he was done, she looked up at him while he looked down at her.

"You must have been so lonely," she said softly.

"I was," he agreed. Having no one in 2011 was bad enough. Having no one in the future was worse. That was the only thing Abe would mention every so often, that Arthur could never close his loop. He wondered if eventually Abe would just have him killed or send him back to his original timeline. He dreaded both. He also hated the fact that Abe had this over him.

"Well, I'm here now," she declared, moving to sit up beside him and look at him. "You won't be lonely anymore."

"True," he agreed, chuckling. She sighed then.

"But I do have to go to work now," she told him. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine."

"Are you going to be okay with...with what I do?" she asked.

"I'll try to be," he said honestly.

"But you're not really," she confirmed.

"It is hard, yes," he nodded. "But I understand it's your job. It's only fair I accept yours since you accept mine."

She nodded and went to get dressed. Arthur wondered how he was going to handle this. He could already feel the jealousy creeping in. He went to say goodbye to her at the door when she turned to face him again.

"I don't have to do all of it," she told him. "I can ask for a change."

"I'm not putting any pressure on you to do anything," he advised.

"I know. It's my decision," she said.

"I do want to ask one thing," he said, reaching to tuck her hair behind her ear.

"What's that?"

"Please don't use the drops," he replied. She paused, knowing that could complicate things, but she didn't really like doing it anyway, so why not quit now when there was a good reason to?

"I won't," she promised. "But you're going to have to help me later when I'm detoxing."

"I will," he assured her. She leaned to kiss him softly before squeezing his hand and leaving him standing there like a heart sick puppy.

...

"Who is he?" Brenda demanded upon seeing Sara as she walked in for her shift.

"Who is who?" Sara asked, feigning ignorance.

"The person who put that dopey expression on your face," Brenda laughed. Then she gasped, pointing. "It was Mystery Man, wasn't it!"

Sara ducked her head and sat down at her workstation to get prepped. Brenda dropped down into her chair beside her.

"Tell me!" she ordered. "What's his name? What's he like? Oh my...you totally did it with him, didn't you?!"

"Brenda!" Sara hissed, swatting at her friend. She was blushing, though.

"You did!" Brenda cried. "Tell me everything."

"No," Sara shook her head. "You know I'm not like that."

"All right. Fine. Was he good at least?"

"Brenda!"

"I will take that scarlet flush on your neck and cheeks as a yes," Brenda said smugly, settling back into her chair and examining herself in the mirror. "He gonna be all right with you doing this job?"

"He says he will be."

"They all say that. Then they come bustin' up in here fists a flying and enraged that someone dared to touch their girl. You know it's happened more than once."

"I know," Sara nodded. She hoped Arthur would be able to control himself. Then she was thinking that maybe this was her way out of this life. But her thoughts of how she told him not to fall for her came back to mind. No, she'd get out on her own merit when it was time.

"Here," Brenda said, passing her a bottle of drops. "Your regular is here."

"Thanks," Sara said, taking the drops. She held them in her hands, looking down at them after Brenda had left. She looked around her carefully before stashing them in the drawer. It was easy to pretend to be high around other high people. She was confident she could do it. It was when she started to detox that things could get sticky. Everyone would notice that.

...

"So," Abe said, not looking at Arthur. "How's business?"

"Business is good," Arthur answered. He was sitting across from Abe in Abe's office. He watched Abe writing on a piece of paper. Some things never changed no matter how much technology got thrown at the world.

"You, uh, had a close call this morning, eh?" Abe asked, finally setting down his pen and looking at Arthur.

"You keeping tabs on me, Abe?" Arthur challenged.

"I do a check in on my crew every so often. Today happened to be your day. You want to tell me what happened?"

"Traffic," Arthur said, never breaking eye contact with Abe. The thing with this job and with Abe was that you never knew when he would suddenly do you in.

"Hmm," Abe grunted. "Traffic, huh. Wouldn't have anything to do with the girl who stayed with you last night, would it?"

Arthur bristled inside. He strongly disliked being watched.

"My personal life is none of your business," Arthur insisted.

"It becomes my business when my actual business is threatened because your personal business is getting in the way," Abe said calmly.

"I got him, didn't I? Nothing went wrong. Get off my back," Arthur growled.

"It's fine, Arthur," Abe chuckled. "No need to get so defensive. Just make sure it doesn't happen again. Consider this your first warning. You don't want to get to strike three. Trust me."

"Are we done here?" Arthur asked.

"I didn't just call you down here to give you a slap on the wrist," Abe said, leaning back into his chair. "I'm offering you a position in the Gat department, if you're interested."

"I'm good," Arthur said, standing up.

"No? Really?" Abe asked.

"I'm not particularly fond of the uniform," Arthur commented. "You brought me here to do this work, so that's what I'm going to do. Nothing more."

"Suit yourself," Abe shrugged. "You'd have a bit more control as a Gat, though."

"Would I?" Arthur challenged. "Would I really?"

Abe returned his level stare with one of his own, a smile slowly creeping on his lips.

"I knew there was a reason we brought you here," he said after a moment. "Smart and lethal. A good combination."

"See you later, Abe," Arthur said, leaving then. He didn't look back. In the beginning, Abe had given him a bit more leeway, but Arthur was feeling the noose getting tighter and tighter the longer time went on. He didn't know Abe's endgame, and he didn't want to find out. He had no idea how to get out of this, though. He never thought about it too much before because it was only ever him that would be affected. Now, there was the risk of Sara getting affected too. Arthur really did not like that thought.

...

Sara was controlling the shaking as best as she could, but it was proving difficult. She managed to get through the night without giving away that she wasn't actually high. Brenda never noticed either. Sara looked at herself in the mirror and felt dirty. She had kept her promise to Arthur and limited some of the activities she did with the men, but she couldn't stop thinking about Arthur the entire time and how he would feel knowing she was doing some things she had done. She knew how she would feel if it was the other way around.

She was surprised to see him leaning against his truck at the curb when she came out.

"You didn't have to," she started, but he simply tucked his hand around her back and guided her towards the passenger seat.

"I wanted to," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before closing the door for her. Sara tried to think of the last time anyone had been such a gentleman like that for her. She was pretty sure it was never.

"You okay?" he asked after they started driving. He noticed she was sweating.

"Just detoxing," she answered, clenching her fists. "I've got a couple of days off at least, so no one will know."

"I'm here," he promised, reaching to take her hand in his. She said nothing as she squeezed it back. She was not looking forward to this at all.

...

A few hours into it, Arthur was on the floor with her trying to tell her she was all right while she writhed and beat her fists on the floor and on him at times.

"Just give it to me!" she shrieked, trying to hit him again. "Make it stop!"

"It'll pass," he promised, holding her face gently in his hands as she cried. "It'll pass. I promise you. This will be over soon."

"Oh my God," she cried. "My head..."

"Come on," he said, pulling her up into his arms. "I can help with the headache." Sara didn't protest as he got her into the shower. He didn't even bother trying to remove her clothes or his. Arthur knew a little bit about detox headaches and how to use water to help with it. As he got it going, she rested against him, breathing in deeply and trying to work through the urges of wanting the drops. He cradled her head against his chest, feeling her start to calm a little.

"I've got you," he said, smoothing her cheek with his thumb. "I promise."

Sara felt it building in her stomach and begin to climb up her throat. She tensed.

"I'm gonna..." she tried, but couldn't finish. She twisted away from him, and he scooped her hair out of the way just in time before she started vomiting. She rested a hand against the shower wall as she heaved. The water was washing over her head, and Arthur's hand was running slow, comforting circles on her back as he kept telling her she was going to be all right.

The crazy thing was that she believed him.

...

Arthur watched her sleep. It had been a long time to get her to sleep, but she finally went out. He felt bad she was going through this, but he knew it would pass. She had told him she hadn't been using that long, so he hoped it wouldn't take as long for her to get through the withdrawal process. He looked at his watch. He had less than six hours before his first job. He knew he couldn't be late, but he also knew that he couldn't leave Sara alone. He tapped his fingers, feeling the dilemma. Then he reached for his phone.

"What the hell?" Joe's voice said groggily when he answered. "You better be dead or something cos this is way too late for a social call."

"I need a favor," Arthur said.

"This better be good."

"Are you available at 8:15?"

"Yea."

"Can you do my job for me? You can collect the silver for it," Arthur added. There was silence on the other end of the phone. Arthur pulled his back briefly to check if he'd lost the connection. "Hello? Joe?"

"I'm here. Yea, I can do that. What's going on?"

"It's personal."

"Of course it is," Joe sighed.

"It's my only one for tomorrow. I'll let Abe know I'm unavailable for a couple of days," Arthur went on.

"Okay. Hope it's worth pissing off Abe over," Joe said.

"Thanks, Joe. Good night," Arthur said, hanging up. Sara stirred, and he saw her reach her hand over to his side of the bed, searching for him. He carefully climbed in and pulled her into his arms where she instantly curled right into him.

He knew she was worth it.