Jane went from sleep to waking immediately, eyelids flying open and eyes already searching the room for danger. It was a trained response by now. No more for her the slow slide into wakefulness. Nope, she was ready to fight or flee as soon as her eyes opened these days. She forced herself to remain calm and slow her heat beat. Something had woken her and now she had to figure out what that was. Straining to hear she focused on the familiar sounds; a drip coming from the bathroom faucet, the hum coming from Annie's fish tank that was situated in the hall just outside her bedroom, Jo's soft snores coming from her bed in the corner. Another second ticked by and she heard a faint whimper. She slid out of bed and carefully made her way out of her dark room. "Gwen?" The whimper sounded again and she made her way into Gwen's bedroom. "It's just a dream Gwen." She whispered to her friend as she shook her gently.

Gwen woke with a start. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust and when they did she flung herself at her dark haired friend and sobbed. "I'm sorry." She mumbled into Jane's neck.

"Nothing to be sorry about." Jane tightened her grip and let her friend cry. "We all have our demons." She whispered. Gwen had comforted her on many occasions and she was glad that she could return the favor.

"That we do." Gwen pulled back and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her nightshirt. A quick glance at the clock showed that there was no point in trying to go back to sleep; Jack insisted on heading to Boston bright and early so that they arrived just in time for the city to wake. "You want to get Anwen up while I shower?" Her showers weren't very long so she'd have time to start breakfast too.

Jane nodded and slid off the bed. "Yeah I'll get little miss princess up." She knew Gwen wanted to remove all evidence of her dream so she let her be. Heading out of the room she stepped into the next one and smiled. Unlike most girls her age Anwen hated pink so her room had been done in purples and blues; the walls were blue and her bedding was purple. "Time to get up Miss Annie." She whispered as she ran her fingers down the little girls rosy cheek.

"Aunt Jane?" Anwen Williams opened her eyes at hearing Jane. "It's early." She whined.

"It is but we have to get ready for our trip remember?" Jane smiled endearingly at Annie. "So that means shower and breakfast." She sniffed the air. "Smells like your mother is making french toast."

"Fench Toast?" Anwen rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Can you help me with my hair?" She asked tiredly.

Jane nodded and lead her from the bedroom to the bathroom. Once the little girl was clean and freshly dressed for the day she sent her to her mother so that she could quickly shower and eat as well. She was just finishing her second helping for french toast when the front door swung open and Jack came waltzing in like he owned the place. "Do come in Jack." Jane snarked.

Jack smiled widely as he plopped down in Gwen's recently vacated seat and stole a bite of french toast off Annie's plate. "And good morning to you! How are my girls on this lovely morning?"

Gwen rolled her eyes and scooped the remaining french toast out of the pan and onto a plate. "Just bloody peachy Jack." She sat the plate in front of him along with a fork.

"What she said." Jane finished the last of her breakfast and started to load the dishwasher. "Rex in the car?"

"Yup." Jack shoveled his breakfast into his mouth before adding his plate to the pile going into the dishwasher. "Figured it was safer for him to wait there." He couldn't help but smirk.

Jane snorted and shook her head. "He driving or am I?" She didn't trust Jack or Gwen when it came to driving in the states. Jack might sound American but she knew he was far from it and he had been living overseas for a quite a number of years. And Gwen still hadn't managed to get the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road. So when it came to road trips either she or Rex took the wheel.

Jack stood and gathered Anwen into his arms. "It should only take us three or four hours depending on traffic so Rex can drive." He paused. "You two figure out what we're going to do with Annie while we're working?" He had no problem with the little girl traveling with them, Gwen was insistent, but it was always left up to her and Jane to make suitable arrangements for her care while they worked.

"Actually..." Gwen glanced at Jane. They had actually talked about this very subject yesterday while they enjoyed the nice quiet, sunny, Sunday.

"I have family in the city so I'm going to call and see if Ma can watch Annie." Jane wasn't certain her mother would even answer her call, since it had been years, but she was willing to try. "If that doesn't work out we have Charlie on standby."

"Ah yes good old Charlie." Jack snorted as he Annie rocked back and forth. "I should just officially put him on the payroll and list his job as jack of all trades."

Gwen smacked Jack on the arm then went to gather her already packed duffel bag. "That would be simpler yeah."

Charlie was actually Anwen's regular babysitter. Being twenty-four and fresh out of college he was more than willing to take the steady paying job that Gwen offered him. It didn't hurt that he had actually graduated college with a degree in child care and development. He had traveled with them on a handful of occasions already and seemed to be not only really good with Anwen but also with the odd and unexplainable things that seemed to happen around his employer.

Jane nodded in agreement as she gathered her own bag and began to shut everything off. "He's visiting his sister in Rhode Island so if we need him all we have to do is call and he'll be there." She knew that they should just call him and be done with it but she needed to see her mother and tell her she was in town before she heard it from someone else. She was trying to avoid her mothers wrath not incur it.