Penelope Smith was surprised to find the girl at a rundown motel. She couldn't believe that this woman had her thrown out of that firm without so much as a look back. She met with her contractor at a coffee shop that wasn't too far from the dusty motel.

"What do I call you?"

"Becky."

"I need her taken in, she has to know something about Jesse's disappearance. Do whatever you need to get the information." Becky nodded her head and disappeared with a file on the woman. Penelope went back to the hotel and waited for her contact. As always, half of the money was deposited in Becky's account. Penelope was still upset that the brown haired maniac had her thrown out, every time Penelope and Jesse spoke about the girl it was clear that she was docile and kind, unless Jesse had been lying. No, Jesse knew better than to lie to her, he knew what she was capable of.

Yes, she was a monster but she never wanted to be that way. It was sink or swim and no matter what happened Penelope fought to survive in this cold cruel world.

Lindsay returned home late, she noticed that there were only two cars in the parking lot. One being hers and the other belonging to someone else. Normally the pimps and prostitutes cleared out of the hotel at this point. No one else occupied this dusty motel outside of her and the manager and the manager took the bus.

The curtains in her room rustled. The windows had been locked, the doors had remained closed and the air conditioning still hadn't been fixed. Lindsay thought about the crazy blue eyes of that woman. Would she be waiting in there to talk? Lindsay didn't want to talk and drove away from the motel returning back to a place she didn't want to go. She unlocked the door and turned on the lights.

"Hello, Lindsay." Damon sat on the couch and looked up at her.

"Damon? What are you doing here? Did you break out of jail?" Lindsay rushed inside and closed the door quickly. She moved around the apartment snapping all the curtains close.

"No. No I didn't."

"What are you doing here? Why are you-"

"I wanted to be honest with you-"

"Did you send her? Was it you?" Lindsay asked.

"Send who?" Damon watched as she came over and sat next to him on the couch.

"Penelope Smith."

"Penelope Smith came to you? This is not good, Lindsay. You need to leave, we need to get you out of here." Damon hopped up and rushed towards the bedroom.

"Don't worry, I threw her out." Lindsay said while following behind him.

"That is definitely bad." He began to pull clothes out of her drawer and pulled a bag from under the bed. "She'll kill you."

"What?"

"She has a terrible ego, and you probably made her angry. I have to get you away from her-"

"How do you know her?"

"I don't, I know of her and I know she's coming after you if you've done that."

"Do you know anything about Jesse?"

"I know lots of things about Jesse Tyler, and I will gladly tell you everything after we get off the plane."

"Plane? Damon, I'm not-"

"You are, if you want to live."

"Who are you?" Lindsay asked, Damon stepped from the cockpit and sat next to her.

"That's classified."

"Where are you taking me?" She asked, she was annoyed that almost every questioned she had asked him up to this point had been classified. She was beginning to regret getting on this plane, but the way were way too high up in the air to bail out now. Besides, she didn't see any parachutes anywhere on the plane, they were probably all in the cockpit.

"Defiance, Ohio. At least there I can protect you."

"I thought you didn't want to see me again because I lied." Damon saw her look out the window as she spoke, he was glad she didn't see his face. Most of the time when he thought about Lindsay he had to control his emotions. He wasn't supposed to feel anything for her, she was supposed to be a means to an end. But no, somehow he had actually started to care about her and her safety.

"I didn't say that because you lied to Jesse."

"How do you even know Jesse?"

"Jesse is wanted by the United States Government under a specialized committee. He's accused of rigging the national election."

"Jesse would never-"

"That's why he was in Defiance, Ohio."

"And that's why we are going there?"

"There's a safe house in Defiance. It's the last place Penelope would check. You should rest, you look tired." Lindsay nodded her head, he found himself getting angry at her. It felt like unjustified anger, she was once again trusting him with little to no real knowledge of anything he said. She just openly trusted him. Why would she do that?

"Why are you looking at me?" She said with her eyes closed.

"I'm not sure."

"You're weird…"

When Lindsay woke up she was in a car, how had he moved her from the plane to the car without waking her, she looked to her left and saw Damon driving. They were moving down an empty street, it was dark but she could see houses on both sides of the streets. There was music playing, classical music, she never pegged him for listening to any music at all.

"Damon…"

"Yeah." He sounded exhausted. "We're almost there." Lindsay could see him sneaking looks at her out the corner of his eye."Can I ask you something, Lindsay?"

"Sure."

"Why are you so trusting?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know anything about me?" Damon noticed that she was silent for a long time, when he turned to her she was staring down at her hands nibbling on her bottom lip. Was she that deep in thought? Had he bothered her or scared her?

"I thought we were friends, at least. But I guess now you don't want-"

"Lindsay, all I want is for you to be safe."

"My job, my life, it's all gone because of him. It's not you I distrust, you never gave me a reason to not trust you. I gave you six months of my life and I've accomplished way more with you on a personal level than with my ex-fiance. If someone doesn't give you a reason, why shouldn't you trust them?"

"I just… I need you to be careful, not everyone who seems like a friend is one."

"I know that, Damon. Are you trying to tell me we can't be friends?" Lindsay felt him stop and watched him park the car.

"Let's go in." Lindsay watched him pull her bag from the backseat, she followed him up to the house. It seemed like a standard house, it had a kitchen, two bathrooms, three bedrooms. Damon disappeared into one of the rooms in the back of the house and hadn't made a sound. Lindsay sat on the couch looking around the living room, she turned on the television and flipped through the channels. A million thoughts whirled through her mind; she thought about Jesse and Damon. She wondered if Damon was the reason Penelope was after her but soon dismissed the idea. Penelope didn't even know about Damon from what she knew. After a few more moments of unnerving silence she stood up and knocked on the door.

"What?" He opened the door, cracking it slightly, just enough for her to see that he had been asleep.

"Oh, nothing… I'm sorry… I'll just…" She turned away from the door and walked into the kitchen. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, "Yes…"

"You are slippery, Lindsay Dwyer. If you tell me where you are I will make your death short and painless."

"Well you would have to know where I am to kill me."

"Listen, Linsday. I think it's adorable that Jesse took you on as his little fake fiance. Now play time is over, Jesse is missing and you're the number one suspect. I have an investment in Jesse and if I can't find him, I'll find you and you'll tell me what you've done."

"Riddle me this, Penelope." Lindsay laughed bitterly, "If Jesse was in Defiance and I was at work in California, how could I know where he is? I didn't know he was missing until you showed up at my office begging-"

"I don't beg."

"Excuse me, you humbled yourself in my office. I don't know nor do I care where Jesse is, I'm taking an extended vacation right now. If you find him, tell him I said he owes me a lot of money." Lindsay hung up the phone, when she turned around Damon was standing there. "What?"

"You were talking to Penelope."

"She thinks I know where he is."

"You do."

"No I don't, I don't even know this secret committee you spoke about. I didn't even know why you know about Jesse and why you were using me. I thought… I don't know what I thought… thought we were friends." Lindsay sat down at the barstool near the island. "I thought it meant something and now I realize… I was a pawn… and now I'm here with you and no one knows where I am. Outside of you. A man who won't even tell me his name because it's classified. Maybe you're working for Penelope…I don't know what to think."

"Lindsay, I'm not working for Penelope. I'm not going hurt you-" He took a step forward and she jumped up off the bar stool.

"Please stay over there while I get my head together, Damon. Hell, that's not even your real name." Lindsay folded her arms across her chest. "I was better off with Jesse…" she said under her breath.

"No, you weren't. You were a pawn-"

"And what am I now? Did I move up through the ranks in whatever game they're playing."

"They? What do you mean?"

"Hollis Doyle. Penelope Smith. Jesse. Somehow they're all working together. I'm not interested in being a pawn anymore, just… can you make me disappear. I don't want to die. But I need to disappear for a while."

"Lindsay I don't think-"

"It's the least you could do. I mean, I wasted six months thinking I was building something."

"I'll have it ready by tonight." He said and turned away from. When he was alone in his bedroom he hated the feeling in the pit of his gut. He sat on the edge of the bed thinking about that disturbing look in her eyes, she seemed much more broken than Sam had described. Damon had stepped out of his room earlier when he heard her raising her voice and heard her talking down to Penelope Smith, people had been skinned alive for scuffing her shoes. There was power in her voice and malice in her tone when she spoke to Penelope, but when she spoke to him she seemed tired.

"Damon…" He looked up and jumped off the bed, he hadn't even heard her open the door or walk inside. What was wrong with him? If she had been an assassin she could have killed him by now.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, some of those things I said… you're just doing your job, whatever your job is. I still need to disappear."

"I understand Lindsay. I'll have it ready by tonight." Lindsay forced herself to smile and turned away from him, he heard her walk down the hall, a door opened and closed and he took a few steps backwards and fell onto the bed. What the hell was he doing with this girl? Why hadn't he snapped her neck? Why didn't he kill her as soon as she walked into the apartment? As he drifted off to sleep he thought about her when he was forced to assume the role of Damon Larkin and the time they shared in that room.

It made him smile, and the fact that it made him smile made him sick to his stomach.

"License, birth certificate, social security card." Damon handed her the information, his fingertips brushing against the palm of her hand, if she noticed she didn't say anything. "Money…"

"I don't need-"

"They're going to be monitoring all your transactions, any money you had you should leave it."

"I really don't feel comfortable taking money from you." Lindsay tried to push the money back into his hand but he refused.

"Don't worry, it's the least I could do."

"It was nice meeting you…"

"Huck." He said, he watched as she placed all the things in her purse. She looked slightly different with the black hair, and the blue contacts didn't fit. No, he didn't like the idea of her leaving but then again she could leave at anytime. At least this way he knew she was semi-safe. Since when did he care about anyone's safety outside of his own? He was beginning to hate feeling this way about her.

"What?"

"Huck. That's my new name."