Chapter One

The next morning, Steve was still worried. He couldn't help it; his heart was stronger than his head when it came to Jaime – and something was wrong. He'd been invited over for breakfast, and he was surprised to be served poached eggs on toast instead of Jaime's favorite omelets. Curious as well as concerned, he searched for the furry little sausage thief who should've been curling around their ankles, purring and begging.

"Where's Buster?" he asked lightly.

"Who?"

Steve frowned as, inwardly, his gut began turning wrenching cartwheels. "Um...your kitten..." he said, eying her closely.

She shrugged and smiled, nodding toward the closed basement door. "Can't have him begging at the table; I put him downstairs so we could eat in peace," she answered simply, beaming at him.

She's a different woman now, Steve, he reminded himself, but Jaime had never minded Buster's begging before. In fact, she'd always slipped choice morsels from her plate to the kitten while she ate. She'd found the kitten a few weeks earlier, just after her release from the hospital – aftershe'd become a 'new woman'...

When they finished eating, belying her usual habit of lingering at the table to talk, she jumped up and began clearing the table, kissing Steve's cheek as she picked up his plate.

She's a different woman now.....Steve leapt up and followed her into the kitchen, so he could dry while she washed, as was their habit.

"Oh, no you don't!" she protested, tenderly caressing his cheek before handing him a mug of coffee. "You just relax now; this won't take long."

Steve nodded numbly and opened the basement door on his way into the living room. He sank into a chair and watched in stunned silence as Buster made a wide circle around the edge of the kitchen – avoiding his owner entirely – and barreled into Steve's lap without a single backward glance.

The dishes were done in quick order and she joined Steve, removing Buster from his lap and plunking him unceremoniously onto the floor so she could drape herself on the arm of his chair, one arm curled around Steve's waist.

She's a different woman.....Steve drew her closer, struggling to ignore his growing dread, needing her. Those hazel eyes had always turned him to jelly, and he nearly lost himself in the moment, almost believed that Rudy had been right after all. Still, the feeling that something was offgnawed at him until he could no longer force it away.

A different woman...

He had been so certain when he'd placed the urgent call to Oscar, summoning him to LA, but now, sitting across from both Rudy and Oscar, Steve didn't know what to say. "It's not any one thing," he began, suddenly hesitant. "The whole picture is just...wrong somehow. I mean, I've adjusted to the new Jaime – I've ridden out all the changes – but I'm telling you that this is something else. She's different than when she got out of the hospital. She's different than she was a week ago. It's like she's a completely...different person."

"Are you saying she's an impostor?" Oscar asked, leaning forward.

"Of course not; but maybe something happened on that mission," Steve suggested. He turned to Rudy. "Or could she be rejecting the bionics again?"

Oscar's worry lines deepened. "Her mission was fairly straightforward. And she exceeded our expectations in every way. There were no problems. Rudy, what do you think?"

Rudy sighed. "Like I've already told Steve, Jaime's condition is extremely changeable right now. She's still relearning who she is – I'd be worried if she wasn't changing! When I saw her four days ago, she was happy – and healthy. There were no injuries, no trauma; absolutely nothing that could trigger rejection!" His voice softened. "You may still be looking for the Jaime you grew up with, the Jaime you were about to marry -"

"That's not it at all!" Steve argued. "Oscar, you've always told me I have great instinct, right?"

"The best, Pal."

"Well, right now, that instinct is hollering! Please...if both of you could meet with her, talk to her...maybe then you'll understand."

"Of course we'll see her," Oscar confirmed. "Today, if possible. Tell her...that it's a follow-up to her assignment. We'll get this figured out; I promise."