A/N-Sorry it's taken me so long to update, guys!! I just got back from Boston a few days ago and since then have been working to catch up on everything else. Sadly, finals take precedence over my beloved fandom. Well, here's the next chapter, my lovely reviewers!!

Alec gently pushed Rachel's head off his lap and guided it to a couch pillow. He stood and covered her with a thin woolen blanket before stiffly stretching and walking quietly to the kitchen.

He wasn't sure what exactly had gotten into him. An hour ago he'd have soon as slit Rachel's throat before letting her cry on his shoulder. The old, reliable Alec Rocher that he knew wouldn't have even thought about caring for her mental wellbeing. He wouldn't have cared about her dead boyfriend albeit he would have brought it up as much as possible just to cause her pain. Alec liked to think he was a passionate sadist like Jackson. Everybody in this line of work had to be. For the number of people he'd killed, families he'd broken up, lives he'd ruined, yes. It was just simply necessary.

But now he found himself worrying. He had to figure out what the hell was wrong with him and why, when Rachel had started to cry, he'd felt a flicker of compassion. That wasn't normal.

He shook his head. He needed a distraction. Anything. He glanced at the full bottle of Kahlua on the counter and after brief contemplation shook his head. No, he needed to keep a clear mind. He bit his lip as his phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"It's me." Jackson. Of course.

"What do you want?"

There was a dilated pause. "That was out of line, Rocher. What's with the attitude?"

Alec hadn't realized he'd been so short. He sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just…I'm trying to figure things out at the moment."

"Things…like what? Would they have to do with a certain someone who's currently living in your apartment?"

Alec groaned inwardly. That's all he needed, to tell his boss about his love life. Love life? Where the hell did that come from? "Yeah. I…I don't even know."

"Alec, this is coming from a friend, not from your boss. So bear with me for a minute. Okay?"

"Got it."

"You're obviously attracted to her physically, you've got to give yourself that. Am I right?"

Alec smirked. "Yeah. How'd you guess?"

Jackson snorted. "My job is eighty-five percent of reading off people's looks, but a blind man could sense the tension between you two. She's not that hard to look at."

For a moment, Alec felt an unusual flicker of something he took to be, hard as it was to admit, jealousy. Forget flicker. That was a full voltage. "Now you're the one out of line, Rippner. You have your girl."

Jackson laughed. "Territorial much?"

Alec remained sullenly silent, so Jackson pressed forward. "It's fine, I'm just kidding. You know that. And I guess it was out of line. I'd be pissed should anybody say that about Lisa."

He cleared his throat. Change the subject. "How are things with her, anyway? She wasn't too happy, I could see, when I took Rachel away."

He heard the hint of a smirk in Jackson's voice. "She's just fine. We…uh…talked. It's all good."

Alec sighed. "So what should I do about my little…problem?"

There was a pregnant pause, after which Jackson exhaled noisily. "Alec, when I found you, you were young, innocent, immature. You were a Floridian nobody with a malleable mind."

"Gee, thanks," Alec grumbled.

"Let me finish. We worked on you. Now look. You're one of the most anonymously famous men in the world. You have everything you could ever have dreamed of."

"That's that thing, though," Alec groaned. "I'm not sure what I ever dreamed of."

"Sometimes, Alec, I wish I were in your shoes," Jackson said. "There's a hell of a lot I'd pay good money to forget."

Alec grunted as well. "So, what do you propose I do? What was your point?"

"My point was this: have your fun with the girl until you figure out exactly what you're feeling. You don't want to waste valuable time puttering around in emotions. As for the job, complete it as soon as possible. If you blow this off, Rocher, the clientele will be pissed and I can't promise you any lasting protection."

"Got it." Alec moved on. "So I'll ask again: what's going on with you and Lisa?"

Jackson tsked. "You're a nosey little son of a bitch, aren't you? Well, in answer, I guess you could say that what's going on in my case is exactly what you have, but going both ways."

"Definite lust but uncertain love?"

"Yup." A lethargic break. "Make that call."

"Will do."
"Oh, and we need to meet, all four of us."

"Four-"

"You, me, Leese, Rachel. At five?"

"Sure. What for?"

"It's time we established some ground rules. I'm afraid our little captives are getting a bit too free of will."

Alec hung up and instantly dialed Frederick Nolan's home phone number.

"Redford? What's the latest?"

Alec couldn't even attempt to hide his smirk. "No, Mr. Nolan, this is not who you think it is." He could hear Nolan's breath stop all together. He enjoyed that particular aspect of the job, that bonus that allowed him to inhibit fear in others.

"Who is this?"

"That's for me to know and for you never to find out."

And the games begin.