2007 Toronto, ON, Canada

Natalie stood in the doorway and scanned the ROM's conference room searching for Nick. When two people moved to take their seats, she was able to finally spot him sitting in the back. She threaded cautiously through the neatly arranged rows of chairs and claimed a seat along the back wall. Nick, gallant as ever, had risen to help her, a large smile on his face as he gave her cheek a chaste kiss. She sat down at the same time he did.

"I'm really glad you decided to come."

"As if I'd ever miss an opportunity to be with you. Speaking of which," Natalie continued as she glared at Nick, "this is earlier than I expected for your periodic visit." She scrutinized him closely. Lately, she had been thinking of him and had been pleasantly surprised by the message that morning that he would be in town and wanted her company to listen to a scientific seminar before taking her to dinner. However, she was also worried because Nick had barely given any details in the message and practically no time to prepare. "I thought you were in Paris with Janette. Did something happen?"

"With Janette?" Nick quizzically asked. "No, she's fine. We were in a remote area and a few days ago returned to Paris. A message finally caught up with me, requesting I come to this talk."

That information made Natalie even more concerned, and she felt her heart rate increase. She remembered answering so many questions to the Enforcers and to the police when Nick had left years ago, but she thought all that had been settled. Perhaps, she thought, someone had figured something out and this was a trap. "This request was for you … personally?"

"Well, actually, to the entity that holds and administers my collections. This presenter had made a formal request for one of the objects listed in the catalogue." Nick picked up a packet that had been resting on the seat next to him, though he actually hadn't read all of it; he intended to get what he needed by talking with the man himself. "He was told a representative would come and hear him, then make a final decision on the inquiry."

Natalie relaxed; no one here was specifically searching for Nick. "And since that decision would actually be yours …."

Nick smiled. "I decided to come myself. And if I was going to be in town, I didn't want to miss spending some time with you."

"Thanks," Natalie whispered as she tilted to playfully push her shoulder into his. "So," she said while realigning herself, "what piece does he want and why?"

Nick shrugged. "He wants to do some chemical test or something, looking for traces of anything, he's not quite sure what, exactly."

Natalie had the distinct impression that Nick seemed to be deliberately avoiding her question. "That's strange. On what piece?" She wiggled out of her lightweight jacket. "This is a history museum, so probably not any of your fine art paintings or sculptures." She draped her jacket over the back of the seat. "So some artifact from ancient human history," she reasoned. "Is it for that little Paleolithic figurine you have?"

"No," Nick hesitantly responded. "Something a little closer to modern times."

"What?" She watched as Nick squirmed.

"A cup."

"A cup?" Natalie scrunched her forehead in thought, trying to recall the various pieces he had shown her over the years. "Cup?" She let out a harsh breath of air when she realized which piece he meant; no wonder the meeting was here at the ROM and Nick didn't want to outright say. "You mean that cup - your Maya cup."

"Nat-"

"Nick, you told me you were done with that."

"It's not like that."

Natalie shook her head in disbelief. She remembered a few years ago when Nick had said he had gotten a second Maya cup, that he had the actual one that had been stolen from the ROM. She recalled the phone conversation, his barely contained excitement that the broken pieces had been saved and reassembled, and her shock that LaCroix had done that, and then his next call that he would soon be trying the ritual. Natalie also couldn't forget when Nick just showed up at her door, discouraged and dejected that the process hadn't worked. She had comforted him, and he had said it was finished: he had tried that ritual, and now there was nothing left but to turn towards other potential modern cures. "You promised me, Nick," she harshly whispered. "You promised yourself."

"I don't know why you think I'm back at that. I'm not."

"Then why are you here? You could have just approved the request and still be in Paris. Instead, you're here."

Nick looked around the room, which was beginning to fill with other audience members. "So what do you think of the Crystal addition to the building?"

"I think you're trying to change the subject, Nick. Why?"

Nick returned his gaze to Natalie. "The request was part of coming, but also because of you." He scanned around the room again, seeing more people entering. "I sensed you, a need from you," he cautiously answered, knowing how she felt about his connection to her. "There was this low-level pulsation for a while then an intense burst from you, and at the exact same time this request to be in Toronto …." Nick didn't know how to fully explain the shock such a coincidence seemed to be, and he definitely wasn't going to say how convenient the request was in explaining to Janette why he immediately had to leave for Toronto. "I don't know," he uncertainly stated. "What I felt was like an obsessive urge or pull that couldn't be ignored; I just had to physically come here. I thought you might be in distress or need me, but you didn't contact me." Nick nervously shifted in his seat. "I worried you might not want me to know or to help. I asked you here to see if you would even meet me, and maybe talk about what was going on over dinner."

Natalie uncomfortably fidgeted. Nick had told her before about this vague link he had with her. As had been explained during her recovery after she had encouraged Nick to bite her, their minds had touched and a connection had been forged. The mental bond wasn't consistent, or reciprocal, and sometimes she felt Nick picked up things that weren't really there. Nick had responded by saying it might be things she wasn't consciously aware of but were there nevertheless. "Nick, I don't know what to tell you, except that I will never push you away and I'm fine." Natalie put her hand upon his; she knew he could be very sensitive to rejection and abandonment, and sometimes feared the worse in situations, which explained what he had said to her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Natalie shrugged. "A little stressed at work, but that's normal."

Nick's brows furrowed in concern. "Because I did sense something," he emphatically stated.

Natalie patted his hand reassuringly and wondered if Nick had created such a reason to justify coming here in person to meet this Maya researcher who was so interested in the jade cup. She knew the mind could be very powerful in its influence on the body and actions. Natalie decided to broach the subject she knew Nick tried hard to avoid. "Speaking of the mind and urges …."

Nick let out a heavy sigh as he slightly slumped and leaned his head onto the back of the chair. Staring at the ceiling, he said, "I kinda like the Crystal, especially the asymmetry of it."

"Nick," Natalie began, ignoring his diversionary tactic, "I really think we should look again into psychosomatic treatments as a cure."

"I imagine you don't get a full appreciation of the play of light through the structure unless you see it during the day, which isn't much of an option for me."

"I know we had tried hypnosis, and that didn't quite work," Natalie persisted in her conversation.

Nick rolled his head to face her. "I did what you asked and met with him. He didn't know what he was doing."

"And then you hypnotized him."

Nick grinned at the memory. "Guess I just had better technique than he did."

"But I'm still convinced that is a viable option we haven't exhausted yet."

Nick returned to staring at the ceiling. "Though with all the slanted walls of the new addition, it's hard to display objects, which does seem counter to the function of a museum."

"The mind is very powerful, Nick," Natalie continued, undeterred by his evasion. "Belief does have an effect on the body - you've seen that for yourself. You can't deny that."

Nick sat upright and leaned in closer to Natalie. "Yeah," he whispered to her, "and I also saw a person who wasn't whole. Nat, I don't want to be like Ellen was."

Natalie was going to respond, but more people had come into the room, and the ones standing and conversing had taken their seats, all good indicators that the presentation would begin soon. She resigned herself to postponing this conversation again.