Hey everyone, this update is because of Angeloneous whose last review really made my chuckle. So I decided to be nice and update far sooner than I had intended! Anyway hope you all enjoy and please R&R.

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The sound of the door opening shattered the steely silence of the apartment; Nicky stood in the doorway, tottering on the indecision of whether she wanted this confrontation, whether she was ready for it. All her courage from earlier seemed to have evaporated as she sighed and walked into the tiny hallway.

She found him stood in the living room, looking out the window into the street below. He had not even taken his coat off and it struck Nicky how unusual this situation was; he had stuck to her instructions and done what she had asked. She clearly her throat so as not to startle him before reprimanding herself, he would have known she'd been there the instant she had opened the door.

'Um, so…how does this work?' was all that she could think to say; he turned to look at her and for the first time she could see how terrible he looked. His eyes were hollowed and pained, face pale and drawn; he moved slowly and deliberately like he was trying to prevent any unnecessary jarring.

'Jesus you look terrible' the words were out before she could stop them; Bourne merely raised an eyebrow but Nicky didn't care. She moved forward and stopped a few feet from him; concern replacing all other emotions.

'Here sit on the sofa – when was the last time you ate or slept?' She said moving to the small kitchenette to light the stove, then pulling groceries out of her refrigerator. Glad of having something to do, she set about making soup for them. It was odd, and of all the scenarios and emotions that she had expected, this certainly was not it – but Nicky felt relief, relief that it had not been David who had shown up nor had it been the two previous forms of Jason Bourne. The man in her apartment now was a new creature and previous experience should have taught her to be wary, however there was something in those eyes – he looked tired, so very tired of this perpetual struggle that was his existence…and Nicky felt she could relate.

With the soup bubbling away nicely, Nicky returned to the living room bearing two mugs of tea – an antidote she'd picked up during a posting in London. Bourne hadn't moved from his position next to the window and Nicky had to stop herself from chuckling at his evident unease.

'Jason? Really you need to sit down and relax, I'm not the one who's armed remember?' Nicky said with a small smile. Placing the steaming mugs on the small coffee table, she sat in the armchair opposite from him and switched on the lamp next to her. Bourne watched her as she moved, she rarely used his first name – it had always previously appeared to stick in her throat. He moved forward warily and sat on the sofa, picking up the mug of tea he found that was grateful of its warmth.

Nicky watched him, unsure of how to proceed; it was obvious that this was unchartered territory for him as well, so she waited patiently as he grew more accustomed to the situation. Eventually he looked up at her, his eyes examining her face as though searching for something,

'You still don't remember do you – your life as David Webb?' She asked quietly. It had always been leading up to this, but now that the moment had arrived Nicky wasn't entirely sure she was ready for the truth. Bourne had stopped staring and was now watching her closely, trying to ascertain whether it was ok to confide in her. Apparently he thought it was because he dropped his eyes to the tea in front of him and shook his head.

'Not really, I remember the training now and most of my life with Treadstone. I remember you as the operative who gave me my assignments and the monthly psych evaluations. But I don't remember you before that…I don't remember anything before Treadstone.' He looked up again to see her watching him closely; she was almost on the edge of her seat. Seeing her reaction Bourne knew he was right, Nicky Parsons had known David Webb – he wondered to what extent.

'So now what I need is you to tell me about before. Why did I join the program? How did we know each other?' Jason said watching her. Nicky didn't move for a long time, but merely sat watching him; Jason didn't force the issue though, he knew enough about her to know that he had to let her speak in her own time. Eventually she replied.

'Look, you remember maybe 5 years of your life now. I knew David Webb – that much you've figured out, but I'm not going to tell you it all now. No listen to me – ' Nicky said loudly as Bourne made to interrupt. 'Have you ever considered why you suffer from amnesia? It wasn't because you were shot – although the trauma certainly did initiate it. Your mind shut itself down because you could no longer deal with your memories, the things you had done on Treadstone's behalf.'

'You don't have the right to decide what I should and shouldn't know.' Jason snapped at her, Nicky closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

'I promise you that I won't hide anything from you, I will tell you everything I know about your life before Treadstone. But I'm not going to just relay the information and wait for you to connect the dots; you have to be ready for it – it has to be organic Jason. If you think about it, the truths that you've uncovered have been because you've remembered things and chased after them. You know I was in your past, that we knew each other before you became Jason Bourne; well you're correct, but that's all you're getting from me tonight. You still can't remember David Webb because you're not ready to.'

'And who the fuck do you think you are, to dictate the terms to me?' Bourne retorted angrily, leaning forwards. He hated that she had all the power; that he was so close to the truth and it was Nicky Parsons who now stood in his way, the one person who he never thought would. They stared at each other for a long time before Nicky replied quietly, dropping her gaze to the floor

'Because I'm the one person in the world who knows you better than you know yourself right now, and I'm the only person who you can consider a friend. Jason, has anything you've learnt about your life as an assassin pleased you? Or do you honestly wish at times that you'd stayed blissfully ignorant?' She continued when he didn't respond 'I doubt anything I have to tell you is going to please you. But I'm sure you already know that.' She said looking at him again. Bourne surveyed her with a hard expression, his jaw was set so tight that she could see the muscles twitching underneath. Her revelations were sending his mind whirling.

'Why do you care? Why not just tell me?' He eventually asked. Nicky swallowed, she seemed to be in pain.

'Because I'm not ready to have the conversation either. So we're going to have something to eat, and then you are going to rest and recuperate. I'm not going anywhere and you're going to have to trust me…Although I still don't know why you don't already. Haven't I done enough to prove that I'm not a threat?' Nicky retorted irritated, Bourne blinked at the sudden change in tone – from placating to accusing. They descended into another long period of awkward silence. It was Bourne's turn to sigh.

'I'm sorry Nicky.' Her head shot up from examining the carpet to look at him, he was watching her and she could see that he was sincere. She nodded quickly and smiled slightly.

'Right then, well you can stay here until you can get on your feet – don't suppose you're hungry?' She said walking into the kitchenette, and taking the soup from the stove. Passing a bowl of steaming soup to him, she saw a small grin appear on his face – the first one she'd ever seen on Jason Bourne – as he started to attack the soup with gusto.