A/N: Thank you sooo much to everyone who has read and reviewed! I'm so glad people seem to like this, thus far! TealMoon, I will definitely try to make Jason more…manly…thanks for the tip! Sorry if I've committed Bourne Blasphemy by making him sound girlish. ; D I hope you guys like this chapter. It's a little darker than others have been, but it's all part of the plan…you'll start to see more of a pattern arise, I hope. Well, this is getting pretty long, so I'll just thank everyone once more and get on with the story! Until later,

-PropernameSurname

--X--

Thing Number 5: Walking a Dog

I leaned back against the counter, gulping down several ounces of water before refilling my glass from the tap. As I wiped my face on the sleeve of my damp t-shirt, I glanced at the fridge.

The collie's accusing stare held my eyes, and I struggled for what felt like the hundredth time to know its implications. The overwhelming sense of guilt I felt when I thought about that boy was depriving me of sleep, of sanity.

I was getting snatches of memory now: the sound of the collie barking excitedly here, a glimpse of the boy's terrified face there, but conjuring up even these mere bits was so draining that I had finally opted to exhaust myself further.

It might have seemed odd to most people, but for me, the more despairing and tired I was, the harder I always ran. I got this strange sense of euphoria from fighting against the powerful pull of the tide around my ankles or opposing a relentless wind. The more nature pushed against me, the closer to breaking my mind felt, the greater my physical ability became.

Such had been the case that day. The only escape I had been able to find from my overpowering shame had been the more overpowering physical exhaustion. But as I stood there, staring at that blasted collie, the euphoria rapidly wore off and left me in a familiar ocean of despair.

I turned away from the picture, from the fear and anxiety, and banged out the front door. I hadn't yet watered Alfonce, and the Goa heat had been especially unbearable lately.

Picking up the hose, I soaked the soil that Alfonce had stretched his youthful roots through, my mind still back in the kitchen. I eventually decided he had enough water for once day and went to turn off the water, knowing drowning the poor tree in water would be just as bad as parching him.

As I bent down however, I heard a tremendous bark resound from behind me.

The next few seconds were a blur of action and fur. I wasn't able to put up a fight, seeing how my balance was off and my assailant had the element of surprise on his side, and at the end of it I discovered myself flat on my back with an extremely vivacious collie simultaneously smothering me and licking me all over.

"H-help!" My cry was somewhat muffled by the dog's fur, and the thing weighted nearly as much as I did. Someone started to laugh, and I didn't have to think very hard to figure out what was going on.

"I-I guess she likes you!"

I shoved the dog away, struggling to a sitting position. "What the heck is going on? You bought a dog?! Are you trying to kill me?"

Marie, still overcome with mirth, had dropped to the ground and was rolling on her back. "I-I didn'tbuy it you idiot! You-you should have seen your f-face-" she had exhausted her ability to articulate word\s for the time being and dissolved into another fit of laughter.

I glared at her, the dog now sniffing Alfonce wearily, as if she thought he was going to turn into something dangerous at any moment. "I had a hard time seeing anything as I was trampled to the ground by this monster you've acquired from one of your gosh awful friends…"

Marie managed to pull herself together, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes and regarding me mischievously from the ground. "You're so up-tight, Jason. Or should I say Bourne?"

The implication of her statement stung and my shoulders drooped as I realized that my latest demon was not only driving me to the edge of my patience, it was forcing me into someone I had thought I'd locked safely away. It was hard enough to make a new life for myself without the cold-blood of a killer coursing through my veins. The thought of becoming again what I had once been made me sick.

Marie, noticing the monumental affect her little jab had had on me, swept across the yard and slipped her arms around me, kissing me gently. "I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to hurt you." She rested her head on my shoulder, smiling. "You've just been so tense lately, so withdrawn."

I sighed, returning her embrace. "I know…" My voice trailed off and I closed my eyes, soaking her presence in. Marie was my light in the darkness, the force that kept me on course and on my feet. I owed my life to her, for many reasons.

The collie's impatient barking broke into our perfect world and I opened my eyes, glaring over at it. Marie looked to, laughing softly.

"I guess she doesn't like public shows of affection…"

"Yeah, well, tell her to get over it."

"I don't think she'd understand me!" Marie grinned, evoking a smile from me.

"What's her name?"

"Charlotte."

"And what's the fascinating story behind her presence here?"

Marie chuckled, rising from the ground. "One of my dear friends had to go out away for the weekend, and Charlotte here had nowhere else to go, so I said we'd take care of her."

I eyed the collie nervously. "She's staying here?"

"Yep. And you get to walk her in the mornings."

"What, first with the tree and now with a dog? Where is all my leisure time disappearing to?"

"You'll get over it." Marie grinned devilishly, handing me Charlotte's leash. "Now you two get going. And try not to kill each other." She winked and shoved me towards the road.

--X--

Over the course of the next twenty minutes, Charlotte dragged me at ninety miles per hour, crawled along the street at .000001 miles per hour, nearly yanked my arm off after seeing a squirrel dash across the road, and, on one particularly exciting stretch of path, stopped every thirty seconds to sniff at each rock we passed.

When I finally managed to drag her back into our yard, I leaned against the side of the house, trying Charlotte to the door handle, and stared up at the cloudless, overpoweringly bright blue sky breathlessly.

All at once Charlotte began barking ferociously and strained vehemently against her leash. I looked around and saw a young woman hurrying past our yard with a smaller, obviously terrified dog bounding in front of her.

I tried in vain to shut Charlotte up, but nothing worked. I felt something surface in the back of my mind, and blinked, suddenly unable to move or speak.

The barking…

Charlotte's angry growls dissolved into another dog's, and Goa melted from around me as I dropped to my knees, sweat pricking my eyes, struggling against the relentless currents of my memory…

The dog threw itself at the gate across the doorway, snarling and snapping at me as I ignored it and kept on my way.

There was blood on my hands, not my own.

Fear hung in the air.

I was indifferent to it.

Cold, mechanical, blindly obeying orders.

I was Jason Bourne, the assassin without a soul.

I turned a corner, my escape from the job site within reach-

But I stopped, raising my gun.

Something was wrong.

A boy of no more than ten years blocked my path, cowering in fear.

My index finger stiffened on the trigger-

But I didn't shoot.

A voice from a far corner of my mind was screaming at me to stop, to turn around and find another way out of the apartment.

He's not a threat, it insisted.

Of course he's a threat, Jason Bourne countered.

I blinked, as frozen as the child in front of me.

He's just a kid.

The dog's barking jump-started my mind.

It wasn't safe.

I had to get out, get away, or I'd be discovered.

He'll talk; he'll give me away!

And maybe he won't.

Jason Bourne didn't have an answer for that.

Someone banged heavily on the door of the house.

My time was up.

Heart racing with adrenaline, I shoved the gun in my jacket.

I pushed the boy aside, heaving open the window and placing a foot on the ancient fire escape, testing its sturdiness.

It held and I flew down it, leaving my pursuers, the boy, and that awful dog behind me…

The only thing the media ever knew was someone had broken in to the apartment and killed the boy's father.

They thought it was an accident.

They thought the boy had just gotten lucky.

I guess he had…

--X--

"Jason? Can you hear me?"

I moaned, a throbbing pain screaming in my head as my eyes fluttered open.

"Thank God you're awake! You had me worried."

"Marie…?" My voice was hoarse, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. "What happened?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Jason. I heard Charlotte barking and I came outside to find you collapsed on the ground. I got you inside, but you've been out of it for a good twenty minutes."

"Twenty-?" I tried to sit up but the pain in my head seared in protest, forcing me back down. "I remember Charlotte barking, but after that-" I broke off mid-sentence, suddenly remembering. The apartment, the collie, the boy-it all made sense now.

I laughed quietly, shaking my head in disbelief. For days I hadn't slept at all. Now I'd be able to put my mind at ease. Thank God for Marie's things of the day. Charlotte had ended up being the answer to my prayers.

"Jason? What is it?"

"I didn't kill him, Marie…" I grinned, the pain in my head dissolving rapidly. "I didn't kill him…"

She stared at me for a second, confused. I could tell she wanted to ask what I was talking about, but her face instead softened into a smile. "I'm glad, Jason…"

Charlotte burst into the room, leaping onto the bed and licking my face joyfully as I struggled to get away.

"Get this dog off me!" I laughed, gasping for air.

She grinned, her concern eased. "Hey, don't talk to me! You're going to have to take that up with Charlotte…"