Disclaimer: I don't own A.T.O.M. and never will. Unfortunately. But I do own the idea of this fic and the new characters I introduced.

A/N: Ok, a chapter next to last…

Hostage.

Chapter Ten.

"Sophie, wake up! Wake up!"

With a groan Sophie pried her eyes open.

'What the hell...?' she thought, displeased at being woken up in the middle of the night.

Janus did not go to bed with her that evening. He said he had some important affairs to do, and Sophie left him without any further questions. They had been together for about seven months now. It was already January, but Janus still hadn't found out about Sophie's little secret. And he still hadn't told her what she so desperately wanted to hear from him.

"Sophie, wake up!" Lee sounded clearly alarmed, "I'm sorry, but you have to leave, now!"

Dead silence fell. Sophie's eyes went wide open at that moment. Did she hear him clearly? Did he just..?

The girl quickly sat up and looked at Lee.

"Wha... What are you talking about? Janus, I..." she stopped abruptly, having noticed Lee's face. He looked tired, worn out, worried and alarmed. Concern was shining in his eyes. Concern for her well-being.

"What happened?" Sophie asked in a grim tone, consumed by the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

"Sophie, listen to me carefully," Janus began, doing his best to keep his voice even, "You're going to pack your things now very quickly, get dressed and meet me in the hall. I will explain everything to you later. Do you understand?"

If the first part of his utterance made her scared and confused, the last question made her mad.

"I DON'T, but I'll do as you say," she answered in a slightly annoyed voice, doing her best to control her nerves, as she was somewhere between 'very mad' and 'very panicking'.

Lee nodded and left, while Sophie did as she had been told: she packed her things in a relatively small bag, got dressed and went down to the hall.

Janus was already there. He looked a little bit more confident now, though. But still Sophie knew that something was terribly wrong. She also noticed that he had his hardlight suit on.

"Sophie, come here," he told her. She approached him carefully, not really sure what to expect from him.

"Janus, what happened?"

He only took both of her hands, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. Sophie had already gotten used to that kind of transportation. Lee had used his suit to transport them quite often.

However, she was confused when they had reappeared somewhere on the fresh air and definitely far away from the mountains.

As Lee let go of her, Sophie looked around. To her utter surprise they were standing on the roof of one of the Landmark City University buildings.

beginning of the melody

Sophie stepped away towards the edge of the roof. It was snowing. For a long time now. The ground, all buildings, cars and everything else was covered in snow. The light of the street lamps reflected on its whiteness making night seem more like a day. A light wind blew all the time. Apart form it, everything else was silent.

Sophie suddenly had a very strange feeling. All the panic and fear she had felt were now gone, replaced with something else… Sorrow. She realized where she was. She realized what HE had just done. He brought her back. Back to the very same roof Krista had lead her to all those months ago. To the very roof where she had been knocked out and unintentionally kidnapped. To the very roof, where everything had started. He brought her back here. That could only mean one thing: he had no further use of her, neither did he have any feelings for her at all.

All the events that had happened in the past several months - all the happy moments they shared, all the love and passion and joy, - everything flashed in Sophie's mind. She felt a lump in her throat, her eyes began to burn. She turned around and silently stared at Lee. His eyes were full of sorrow too now.

"Why?.." was all Sophie managed to whisper at first. Gradually she gained control over her voice again and continued a little louder now: "Why did you bring me here?"

"I…" Lee did not know how to explain it to her, "Sophie, there is much you don't know about my past. There are some things I have done… I cannot say I'm proud of them. And now… Now is a payback time."

Sophie looked at him, confused. What was he trying to tell her?

"I don't understand…" she whispered.

Lee sighed.

"There are people… Who do not want me to live. And those people would do anything to get to me. They are dangerous. More dangerous than you could ever imagine. And in order to get to me, they will hurt those who are precious to me," Lee looked up at Sophie, "I can't let this happen."

Sophie's eyes widened. Precious...? Was he saying that she was… precious to him? Sophie felt her heart clench. She should be happy, she thought. That's what she wanted to hear from him for a very long time now. But not like this… The girl shut her eyes tightly, tears starting to run down her face.

There was a silence.

"Sophie, you have to…" Lee hesitated to continue. He couldn't. He felt he couldn't go on, for he knew that the next words he said would shatter her heart. But he had to. For her own good, he had to hurt her now, before anything bad happened to her. He just had to.

"You have to stay away from me."

He said those words in the harshest tone he could manage in that situation. But he couldn't bear looking at her, he couldn't bear seeing her hurt and heart-broken. Especially since he was to be blamed for that. So he turned away, facing her with his back. Then he started to walk away slowly, doing all his best to keep himself from turning back, running to her, embracing and comforting her, saying that he had never meant it, that it was just an act...

"You have to stay away from me…"

Sophie's eyes flew wide open. She suddenly felt as if her heart had been sliced through by the sharpest of the weapons. She had anticipated the worst, yes, but she didn't know it would hurt so much.

Like in a slow motion, she watched him walk away. And suddenly something broke in her. No. She couldn't… She just couldn't let him go!

And she ran after him, tears now freely streaming down her face.

"No!"

She threw her arms around him, embracing his waist from behind and pressing against his back, clinging to him as if to her dear life. She was now crying openly, sobbing against him, tears running down her face as never before in her life.

"No! Please, don't go!" she sobbed, "I… I can't… I won't make it without you… I love you… Don't you get it?! I love you!"

Her voice broke down at that point.

Lee did not expect any of this. He was walking away, bitterly regretting what he had just done, when he heard her footsteps against the snow, and a moment later felt her cling to him tightly from behind, and it seemed as if nothing in the world would make her let go of him.

She was crying, shaking violently against him.

Her words… Lee seemed to have frozen in a spot at her words. Of course, she had told him that she loved him before, but now… But now it was completely different.

'She said as if she is willing to give up anything for me… Anything in the world…'

The idea affected the man deeply. His eyes widened, and he too felt a lump in the throat.

And so they stood there like that for what seemed like eternity. Finally, Lee broke down too. He couldn't take it anymore. He turned around and embraced her tightly, as if too clinging to the most important thing in his life.

"I'm sorry…" he whispered in a shaky voice, "I'm so sorry… Please, forgive me…"

And Sophie cried. She cried as if she was crying out all the pain she had ever felt in her life. And he just stood there, doing his best to comfort her.

Some time later, Sophie finally calmed down and looked up at Lee. Her eyes asked him a silent question, searching his eyes for an answer.

"Janus..?" Sophie finally managed to speak. He looked down at her with his mismatched eyes. His expression was clear now, with no traces of fear, sorrow or regret. He was serious, and what he was about to say would be of great importance.

"Listen to me, Sophie," he started, "I have never told you anything about myself, but a long time ago I… messed up with the people who should never have been messed up with. Now, they're after me. They have found out that I lied to them, and they want a payback. As long as I have someone dear to me around, both me and this person – you, in particular, - will be in grave danger."

Sophie looked alarmed now. But before she could interrupt, he cupped her face with both of his hands and continued:

"Sophie, I can take care of that problem. I'll deal with it in a due time. I promise you. Then I'll return, and we'll see each other again," he said quietly, meaning every word of it. The girl nodded softly, forcing a sad smile on her face.

Lee let go of her, and was about to leave, when Sophie stopped him once again, gently holding to his wrist. He looked around at her.

Sophie hesitated for a moment, then she took the emerald pendent off her neck, the one that Lee had bought her when they had gone to the town together for the first time.

"Here," she said, laying the pendent in his hand, "I want you to take it and keep it until your comeback. I want you to promise me… That you'll return to me, that we'll see each other again, no matter what happens."

Sophie's voice was strong and determined now. They looked into each others' eyes for a moment. Then Lee smiled.

"I promise," he said. And taking the pendent, he leaned to Sophie and kissed her.

The kiss did not last long. Through her closed eyelids, Sophie saw a flash of bright light. He was gone. She could now feel only the chilling winter night air on her lips.

She opened her eyes slowly and stared at the spot Lee had been in a few moments ago. She smiled sadly, but her heart was tightly clenched. It was as if Sophie knew it was the last time she had seen him.

A/N: Reviews anyone? Hehe…