Jessica read just a few pages before she dozed off. Suddenly, she was back in her house. Her droid had her by the throat, but she wasn't able to pull away this time. As she struggled, the droid drove her to her knees, then flat onto her back. She kicked and punched, hurting only herself with each blow. Just as she began to black out, the droid was thrown away from her. She coughed and gasped for air. As the spots in her vision cleared, she saw her savior. It was John. He knelt beside her, on one knee. His hand went to her neck.

"Jessica, are you okay?"

She tried to answer, but only coughed.

"Jessica? Jessica..."

Where was that knocking sound coming from? She slowly woke and realized she had been dreaming. John's voice called to her through the door. She got up and opened it slightly.

"You okay in here," he asked.

"Yeah, sorry... I fell asleep."

John nodded. "I talked to the Captain. When you didn't come back out I thought you might have gone to sleep, since you said you had trouble last night. I didn't wanna wake you."

"That's okay. Any news?"

John tilted his head toward the living area and started walking. Jessica followed him to the sofa and they both sat.

"Where's Dorian," she asked.

"Charging... Rudy found something. It's a single line of programming. Almost unnoticeable. It creates a back door into the rest of the programming, allowing modification to basic functions and commands. Basically,-"

"It allows you to hack a droid and make it do whatever you want."

"Right."

"So, what now?"

"Rudy will backtrace it. He has to be able to link it back to your boss so we can arrest him and make the charges stick."

"Do you think he can do it?"

"I'd say it depends on how well he covered his tracks, but Rudy is really good."

"Okay. So, how long do you think it will take him?"

"No idea. The tech stuff isn't my field... but, food supplies are coming in time for lunch."

Jessica sat back into the sofa, looking slightly defeated. "I guess that's some good news."

"Hey, the back door into the programming is really good news. We found something. Now we just need to link it."

"I know," she said with a sigh. "I just want to get back to my life."

"That's understandable," John said as he looked away.

"I'm sorry," Jessica said. "I'm sure you'd rather be out in the field, instead of babysitting me."

"Well, you're right. I would rather be out investigating, but... this is part of the job. You needed protection."

Jessica turned sideways, sitting with her legs tucked in close to her side as she leaned her elbow on the back of the sofa.

"What made you want to be a cop," she asked.

"My dad was a cop... and he loved his job. I think part of me always wanted to follow in his footsteps."

"Is he retired now?"

"Uh... No. He was killed."

"I'm sorry."

John shook his head as if to let her know it was okay. They were quiet for a moment, the silence just a bit awkward, until John spoke.

"Did you sleep better this time?"

"Not really... nightmares."

"What about?"

"My house droid attacking me. I'm not able to get away in the dream."

"But you did get away. That's just a nightmare."

"Still feels real."

"Yeah, nightmares can do that."

Jessica stared at him for a moment as he looked off in the distance. "What's your nightmare?"

"What makes you think I'm having nightmares?"

"You're having trouble sleeping, too... and I just get the feeling that you understand what I'm talking about."

John sighed. "It's kind of a long story."

"If you don't wanna talk about it, I understand... but I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Jessica smiled. "I'm kind of a captive audience."

John gave her a small smile. He really didn't want to talk about it, but he figured he could tell her a little of what happened.

"Well, the condensed version, we had a team together to do a bust. When we got there, they were ready for us, and we got ambushed. My partner was hit bad. I tried to get him out, but we got hit by an explosive."

"Oh my God," Jessica whispered.

"I lost my partner."

"I'm sorry... but you came out ok, right?"

"Yeah... Not really."

"Well, you look okay to me."

"The explosive hit my thigh. I lost my right leg. I was in a coma for over a year." Jessica's eyes went down to his leg, and he answered her silent question. "It's a synthetic."

"How long ago was that?"

"A couple of years ago."

"So, Dorian is your first partner since that happened?"

"Well, not if you count the MX."

Jessica smiled. "About that MX. Did you really push him out of your car?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Because he wouldn't shut up?"

"Yep."

"That can't be it. I mean, I've gotten really annoyed at my droids, but not to the point of wanting to push them out of a moving vehicle."

John smiled, but it faded. "Truth is... I don't like the MX's. They're programmed to follow protocol and assess a situation logically. Well, one MX thought that the logical thing would be to leave my dying partner behind because the lives of the many outweighed the one... but I wasn't leaving my partner."

"It left you?"

"Yeah. I was trying to get my partner out when the explosive hit me."

"That's why you've been so understanding with me. You don't really trust droids either, do you?"

"Not when it comes down to something that needs an emotional human response, no."

"But you trust Dorian," she said.

"He's different. He feels compassion. I've seen it."

"Yeah, I think I'm starting to get that. Even the way he talks... it's more human than any other droid model."

Jessica seemed to be lost in thought for a few minutes.

"Well," John said, "I haven't talked about myself this much since I got out of my coma."

Jessica smiled. "Thanks for sharing all that with me. It's nice to know more about the man who has my life in his hands."

"So, what about you? What do you have to share?"

"Oh, no... up until yesterday, my life was very average. Nothing really interesting."

"Really? The woman who's got more print books than I've seen in years? Doesn't like the idea of a smart house? In this day and age, that makes you a rare individual."

"I just live my life and try to enjoy it. Sometimes I think technology gets in the way of that."

John laughed.

"What's funny," Jessica asked.

"I was on a date a few weeks ago, and the woman spent all night on her phone."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not."

"That is so rude... and a little unbelievable."

"How is it unbelievable?"

"Well," she said with a slight blush, "you're far more interesting than any phone call I'd get."

John chuckled. "Now, that's unbelievable."

"Maybe, but it's true."

The two decided to watch a little television. She told John to find something that interested him. She was so tired that she was hoping she would doze off again. The food supplies eventually came. When they heard the knock on the door, John told Jessica to go into her room, just for precaution. They ate lunch, both of them very hungry, and then returned to the couch.

Jessica lay on her side with her legs slightly curled, and her head resting on the arm of the sofa. During a commercial, John turned to her to find her asleep. He couldn't help but smile, but he shook his head. Was she flirting with him before? He couldn't deny that he found her attractive. She was his type: brunette, smart. But she was his assignment. This was a job. He got up and went to her room, and grabbed a blanket from the unmade bed. He brought it back to the sofa and gently laid it over her, then he sat in the chair so he wouldn't disturb her. The television continued to play, but he found himself watching her instead.

Eventually, the television caught his attention again. A half hour passed before Jessica sat up with a gasp. John's head turned to her and he saw her eyes quickly taking in her surroundings.

"You okay," he asked.

"Yeah," she said as she rubbed her forhead. "Nightmare." She leaned back and closed her eyes. "These things can't haunt me forever, can they?"

"I hope not... for both our sakes."

Jessica looked at him, then down at her covered body.

"Thanks for the blanket," she said.

John shrugged his shoulders. "The way you were all curled up, you looked like you might be cold."

Four days passed with no more news. Jessica spent time talking to both John and Dorian, when they were awake together. She had gotten more comfortable with the droid, and she was actually beginning to like him. She hadn't dreamt the night before. Her exhausted body finally gave in to more than a couple of hours of sleep, and she woke up feeling better. John still struggled. Though the dreams weren't as vivid, and he was able to fall back to sleep, they were still coming, and Jessica had returned to them. Somewhere in his mind, he was afraid of not being able to protect her. That was the only explanation he saw for her dying in his arms the last two nights.

It was a little over an hour since Jessica had gone to bed for the night. John was still up. He decided to use his time to work on older case reports that never quite got finished. As he worked at the computer, he heard Jessica call for him, and she sounded distressed. He drew his gun from his holster and went quickly to her room. He threw the door open and held up his gun, prepared to shoot. All he saw was Jessica, asleep in her bed, her face scrunched slightly. She was having a nightmare. He put his gun back into his holster as he walked toward her, and she called out his name again.

"Jessica, wake up." John reached out, shaking her shoulder.

She woke with a short scream, sitting straight up.

"It's okay," John said. "You're okay. Just dreaming."

Jessica breathed heavily. "Thank you for waking me."

"Kind of hard not to... you called for me."

"I did?"

"Yeah. Wanna talk about it?"

Jessica sighed, and John sat on the edge of the bed. "It's the damned droid," she said. "It's always that droid with its hands around my throat. I can't get away, and I wake up in a panic. At least, my first night here. The next day, I had one where you actually saved me. That was when you woke me up after you talked to the captain."

"I remember."

"Well, that's how they've been going, and it's actually made the nightmares a bit easier to deal with, because I'm rescued before I wake up... but this one..."

John saw her eyes watering. "What was different?"

"I could see you... but you couldn't get to me. I don't know why. It was like you were right there. You could see me, but you couldn't help me... and I was dying. I was trying to call out for you, but I couldn't. I couldn't breathe."

Jessica covered her face with her hands. John put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You're okay."

She shook her head, still in her hands, and John knew she was crying. He pulled her against him and rubbed his hand over her back.

"It was a nightmare," John said. "You're fine."

"It felt so real," she said as she let her arms wrap around him. "And after not dreaming at all last night... I was really hoping this would be over."

John pulled her back and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "Maybe this is what you need. You've been holding it all in."

"Maybe." They sat there a moment, John cradling her face in his hands. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome."

Before John could even think about what he was doing, he touched his lips lightly to hers. When he felt the pressure of her kissing back, he parted his lips slightly and the kiss deepened. Her hands rested on his arms as they kissed. It was when she moved her hands to his face that he pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be sorry. Please, don't be sorry." Her reply was breathy, almost a whisper.

"I can't," he said as he stood and backed toward the door. "I'm working. I can't let anything interfere with keeping you safe."

Jessica nodded and looked away. "I understand."

"Do you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you understand I really do want to kiss you?"

Jessica glanced at him again. "Do you?"

"Very much... but I can't. Right now, you're the job. That has to come first."

"What about... after the job?"

"After the job? Maybe I'll take you on a proper date."

Jessica smiled. "I'd like that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

John smiled, big and bright. "Get some sleep," he said as he left the room, closing the door behind him.