A/N: I actually wanted to have this posted before last Friday, but I got caught up in my hockey tournament, so that didn't happen. Then I was recovering for most of the week (blisters on my ankles from my skates, a bruised rub...at least that's what it felt like, and a bruised knee). If anyone cares, the women's team I played on got last place and the men's team I played on got last place. Woot! It doesn't matter...all the money goes to MS research. The games were just for fun (in my mind)...all 8 of them in 3 days.

Anywho, I saw "The Ugly Truth" today and I gotta say: Gerry definitely needs to wear more form fitting shirts. I wanna see those muscles!

*clears throat* Uh, yeah....enjoy!

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Within ten minutes, the two were standing in front of a small garden with rows and rows of different types of vegetables and fruits. Colleen looked down the rows as she slowly walked the length of the garden. Nim marched right on into the garden to squat down by a row of small plants, picking out weeds and dead leaves.

"How long're you gonna be?" Colleen asked, walking back to where she knew Nim walked in to the garden.

"About fifteen minutes or so. Why?" Nim asked, looking up to see only the top of the oceanographer's head.

"I was just going to walk around the area a little bit until you were done." Colleen replied.

"Oh. Well, if you want, there's a waterfall off to the east." Nim stated. When she didn't hear a response, she assumed Colleen was trying to figure out where east was. "It's off to the right." She stood and pointed in the direction.

Colleen nodded a little sheepishly. "I'll be somewhere between here and there then while you finish up." She mumbled, then headed off towards the waterfall.

While walking away from the garden towards the waterfall, Colleen looked around at the surroundings, taking in the trees and underbrush. Within minutes, she was standing next to a small pool of rippling water.

"Wow." She breathed as she surveyed the area.

The waterfall Nim referred to was ever present and the main focal point of the area. The waterfall started far beyond Colleen's sight, but from what she could see, it split into two parts. One side was a straight down drop like any other waterfall. The other side flowed down in a series of twists and turns, creating a slide. Colleen rose an eyebrow, then slowly grinned.

"Now that looks like fun." She said aloud.

She walked over to the pool's edge and squatted down. Glancing into the water, she was able to see the bottom very clearly. Colleen sat down along the edge and dipped her feet into the water. She was surprised that it was a warmer temperature than what she was expecting; she thought it was going to be cool, but it felt like water that was left out in the sun for a few hours...like the ocean around the island.

While she soaked her feet, she took in the rest of her surroundings, which were made up mostly of trees and shrubbery.

Nim finished up with weeding the garden, then headed towards the waterfall and slide. She saw Colleen sitting on the edge, seemingly lost in her own world. She noticed that the oceanographer was staring off to the slide.

"Looks like fun, doesn't it?" She asked, making Colleen jump in surprise.

Colleen almost slid off the embankment and into the pool when Nim came up behind her. She turned her torso around to look at the girl with a startled expression.

"Indeed it does." She agreed.

"Well, it is." Nim said plainly. "We should go down it!"

Colleen pulled her feet out of the water and stood up with a small smile.

"Not this time, but some time soon. And rest assured, the first time I go down that," she pointed to the slide, "you will be here to witness more rare, very real, smiles." Colleen grinned.

Nim grinned as well, then frowned suddenly.

"What do you mean rare smiles?" She asked innocently.

Colleen stopped grinning, then crossed her arms over her chest. "In my field, I don't really have time to enjoy the finer, simpler things in life. Some times, I get so wrapped up in my work in my lab, I don't see the sun or moon for days on end." She sighed. "Some times being a scientist sucks."

"Jack seems happy about it." Nim countered.

"Yeah, well, look at where you guys live." Colleen extended her arms and moved in a circle to get her point across. "I get to stare at the same white walls day in and day out...maybe with the occasional educational poster if I'm lucky."

"This is quite a change then, huh?" Nim asked.

"Yes. It is. And it's a good one." Colleen smirked, looking back at the girl and lowering her arms.

Nim chuckled. "I'm done in the garden, so we can head back to the house now. See what Jack is up to."

Colleen nodded absently and followed Nim back through the forest to the house. Upon reaching the clearing to the front of the house, Colleen was once again struck by the size and craftsmanship of the home. She paused and stared before quickly coming back to her senses and continuing to follow Nim and Selkie, who seemed to come out of nowhere, up the stairs and into the house. Nim went over to a fish tank that was against the wall perpendicular to the couch and fed the creatures in it. Colleen stood near the door and observed.

Jack was mumbling to himself as he looked down the microscope, then wrote notes on the paper lying to the right of it. Colleen grinned to herself as she watched him work...she couldn't help but notice, through his T-shirt, the muscles in his back move as he shifted from looking down the 'scope to writing. Out of the corner of her eye, Colleen saw Nim looking at her, so she shifted her gaze to the girl and saw her grinning mischievously.

He had yet to notice that the two of them were back.

"I could use something to drink. Do you want anything, Colleen?" Nim asked, breaking the silence, making Jack turn to look at them.

"Uh, sure. Water?" she replied.

Nim nodded, then looked over to Jack. "You want anything?"

"I'm fine, Nim, thanks." He said with a half grin.

Nodding once again, Nim left the room to go the to the kitchen. She smiled widely as she went.

Once she left, Colleen looked back to Jack, who was looking right back at her. She ducked her head momentarily to take a deep breath before looking back up, grinning at the man sitting across the room from her. He grinned back. Neither one of them knew what to say.

"So...what are you so adamantly staring at there?" Colleen asked awkwardly, pointing to the microscope beyond him.

"Oh, yeah." Jack said, turning back to the desk. "Just taking some notes on Protozoa Nim."

Colleen walked over to the desk and stood to his right, in front of the notes he took, looking down at them. "Protozoa Nim? After…?"

"After Nim, yes. I'm still trying to make sure that it really is a new species, but I'm getting very close." He said, looking up at her with a grin.

Colleen returned the grin easily, then looked back at Jack's notes and sketches. "May I took a look?" She asked, glancing up at the man next to her.

"Of course." Jack said, spinning his chair to the left and vacating it. He spun it towards Colleen, holding onto the back and motioning for her to sit.

Grinning, and ducking her head as a slight blush reached her cheeks, she turned and sat in the chair. Spinning herself towards the microscope, she glanced at Jack's notes, then took a look into the 'scope. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jack take off his glasses and set them on the table next to some sample jars.

After adjusting the fine adjustment knob, Colleen was able to clearly see the unicellular organisms. "Oh, wow." She gasped. "I've never seen anything like this."

"So, you think it could be a new species?" Jack asked, moving from her left side to her right to look over his own notes.

Colleen looked up from microscope to smirk at jack. "Nothing's impossible." She said softly.

They looked at each other for a moment longer, smiling. Nim was near the couch when she looked up to see the scene. Grinning inwardly, she stomped her feet a little harder to announce her arrival. Both adults dropped their smiles and whipped their heads in her direction. Nim walked over to Colleen and handed her a cup filled with water. After a soft "Thank you," Colleen took a long gulp of the cold liquid, while Nim left the room again and up the stairs to her room.

Turning back to the desk, Colleen looked for a spot to place the cup, but wasn't sure what were notes and what was scrap paper. Seeing her concern, Jack smirked and stepped in. He gently took the cup out of her hands and placed it in a small, cleared spot above his notebook. Nodding, Colleen turned her attention back to the microscope.

Several moments passed before she looked at Jack's notes, then back to the 'scope, frowning. Her head swiveled back and forth a few more times.

"Not to, uh, muck with your research here, but may I make a slight change to your sketch?" She asked, eyes down the 'scope.

"Yeah, go for it. I'm no artist by any means. Feel free to change what you want." He said, leaning his elbows on the table next to her.

Looking up, Colleen was slightly shocked that he would let her help. Most scientists she knew and worked with wouldn't let someone else get within one hundred feet of their research, afraid that their findings would get stolen.

Noticing her shocked look, Jack picked up a pencil, smirking, and handed it to her. Colleen took the pencil gingerly and adjusted her grip, preparing to sketch.

Jack, for his part, moved his arms out of her way. His left rested on the back of the chair, while his right hand supported himself as he leaned towards the workspace, not realizing how close he was leaning to the woman next to him.

Colleen glanced into the microscope, focusing on one specimen. She looked at Jack's sketch and erased the sides of the organism he drew.

"The sides on it are more curved than straight." She muttered more to herself than Jack. She took another glance in the 'scope, then focused on the sketch. "And there are some spots near the top of its "head"." She continued and used her left hand to use air quotes around 'head' since it was hard to tell if they actually had heads or not.

"Ahh, I knew something didn't look right." Jack also muttered, staring at her improved sketch. "You're very good...at sketches...for a scientist."

Colleen looked up from the 'scope. She let out a snort. "I'm not good, just...a perfectionist when it comes to research sketches. Never know when someone might need to look at your stuff." She paused and looked up, staring at a spot on the wall, not really seeing it. "I guess I started doing it my second year of college. I would spend so much time on my sketches that I was almost always the last one to hand in work. My professors learned fairly quickly that I might even stay after class for a while until I got them right." A slow smile formed on her lips.

Jack slowly smirked as he watched the scientist next to him. She was certainly dedicated to her work...and he appreciated that. For some currently unknown reason, he found himself wanting to know more about the woman behind the scientist.

Colleen shook her head to bring herself back to the present. She was aware of Jack's gaze, but chose not to acknowledge it. Keeping her gaze lowered, to hide yet another blush (this one of embarrassment), Colleen turned her attention back to the sketches.

"Would you like me to fix these up a bit for you?" She asked softly, pointing to the sketchpad with the eraser end of the pencil in her hand.

"Sure. Whatever you can draw is certainly better than mine." Jack replied, grateful for the assistance in his god-awful drawings.

Turning the chair to the left, Colleen got up and spun it back around for Jack. Much in the same as he did for her. She walked around the chair, picked up the pencil and tucked it behind her right ear. Picking up her cup of water, she took a sip before picking up the sketchpad with her free hand. She took both over to the couch. Setting the cup on the small table next to her camera, she brought her feet up onto the couch in front of her to prop up the sketchpad. Taking the pencil out from behind her ear, she set to work on the sketches.

Jack had watched her every move as he slowly sat back in his chair a little flabbergasted by the scientific personality that took over the woman when she was comfortable.

"Don't you need the microscope?" He asked, spinning his chair to face her.

"Nope. Photographic memory." Colleen replied, not looking up from the pad. "Comes in handy sometimes. Other times, not so much...especially when trying to think of words instead of pictures. Didn't help me with some tests in school."

Jack chuckled, then turned his attention back to the microscope as silence reigned over the two scientists.

Within a few minutes, Nim came back down the stairs with the latest Alex Rover book tucked under her arm and Fred on her shoulder. She saw that her father had his nose, once again, down the microscope and Colleen was concentrating hard on the sketchpad on her lap. Not wanting to disturb the obvious scientific research both were doing, Nim took up residence on the couch next to Colleen, where she could discretely look over her shoulder to see what she was doing. Seeing that she was sketching, Nim turned her focus to Alex Rover's adventure with a small grin on her face.

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A/N: Well, what do you think?

I almost titled this chapter "She Blinded Me with Science" 'cause I thought it was hilarious! (Or maybe that was because of the wine I had...)