He was practically running down the halls. There was a little coil of excitement in the pit of his stomach because finally, finally there was a breakthrough.

And this breakthrough was going to make the boss very, very happy.

He got to a pair of large steel doors. He stopped for a moment, catching his breath. Then he knocked on the door.

"You may come in." A deep voice announced on the small speakers next to the door. The doors suddenly opened, and he tried not to rush into the office.

"Sir, we've got great news." He spoke quickly, almost stumbling over his words.

The boss was sitting in his chair, with the chairs back to him; and then slowly turned around, his expressionbored and uninterested.

"This better be worth my time."

"She ran away. And she's alone." He said urgently.

The boss's eyes suddenly lit up, sending a shiver down his back. When the boss got that look in his eye, nothing went well for the other party. Things tended to get bloody, just like the boss liked it.

The boss stood up and walked quickly to the door way, motioning for him to follow.

He turned around suddenly, an ugly smile making its way onto his face.

"Get them ready. You know who to send."

Ben rolled out from under the car and got up off his back, grunting. He walked over to the to the tool box and reached for a rag, wiping his hands.

He had been working on cars all day. Considering the fact that his grandpa owned a repair shop and not to mention his best friend was a genius will all things that ran with a motor, Ben was inclined to pick up a thing or two.

He worked sometimes in the shop, it was something that gave him focus and kept his mind off of things. It was a great distraction.

He heard the door creak open and Ben turned around. His stomach dropped when he saw who it was.

Elena gave him a small smile and walked over to him.

"It's dark, have you been working all day?" She asked, pulling an old stool and sitting on it.

"Yeah." Ben turned around and began to put up the tools, his tone clipped.

Elena was silent for a moment. "Ben, we need to talk."

Ben held back a groan. "Haven't we talked enough?"

"No. Things have been awful between us lately. We barely speak anymore. And I can't think of a time when we had a real conversation ever since…" Elena trailed off.

Ben turned around, looking at his ex-girlfriend wearily. She was standing now, with her arms crossed with her eyes boring into him. He sighed.

"Elena I don't know what you expected. You dumped me. Several times. And besides, you never really wanted a relationship with me to begin with so I don't know where you're coming from with this whole 'missing me' thing you've got going on here." Ben said tiredly.

Elena glared at him. "Who said I never a wanted a relationship with you to begin with?" She snapped.

Ben threw her a look. "Me." He paused. "I knew about the other guys Elena."

Elena flushed and looked away. "Ben, I…" She said softly, trailing off.

"Elena look…" Ben ran his hand threw his hair roughly. He rubbed the back of his neck, tilting his head, looking back at her.

"It took me a long time to see that we're not right for each other. I wanted more than you wanted to give. And I was so set on making us work that I let all these clear warning signs go. I know that you probably care about me in your own way. But you can't have it both ways. You can't lead me on and expect me to be waiting for you every time you get bored."

Elena's eyes flashed. "I didn't see you just because I was bored Ben! I was with you because I wanted to be with you!" She raised her voice angrily, stepping closer to him.

"Then why cheat?" Ben asked softly, his eyes flashing with old hurt.

Elena opened her mouth, and then closed it. Her shoulders sagged and she stepped away from him.

"I wish… I wish I could give you a straight answer. I don't know Ben. It was a mistake and…. And I miss you." She said quietly, her voice thickening. "Could we… at least be friends?"

"I don't think so." Ben said delicately.

Elena nodded quickly, not looking at him. She turned around to walk away but when she got to the door, she stopped for a moment. She turned around and ran back to Ben and gave him a peck on the cheek, shooting him a sad smile before she turned around and walked out the door.

Ben stared after her, thinking. He felt a mix of emotions. Regret and sadness being two of them but the major one he was feeling was relief. The fact that he wasn't upset proved that he was right. He and Elena were completely wrong for each other.

He turned around and sighed, finishing cleaning up. He sniffed under his armpit and grimacing. He needed a shower. He grabbed his keys and went to the shop, flipping through his keys. The door suddenly opened.

Ben glanced up, startled. He was met with a cheeky grin and bright blue eyes. Ben rolled his own and stepped through the door.

"Thanks man." He shot him a small grin and made his way toward the back door.

"No problem. Hey Ben." Tim called out as Ben was about to turn the door knob. Ben turned back and raised a brow.

"Give my appreciation to Jackie's serious talent." Tim said with a touch of awe as he grabbed his keys and jacket as he was walking out the door.

"That new bike she revived from the dead— I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her riding it earlier this evening. Girl has some serious skill. I doubt even Kevin could get that thing running as fast as she did."

Ben turned around slowly, a knot of dread settling in the pit of his stomach. "What do you mean you saw her riding earlier? What time?" He asked sharply. Tim's brows furrowed as he tried to remember.

"Around seven I think? I don't know man, figured she went to go look around town or something. All she had with her was her jacket and that backpack she's always carrying around." Tim shrugged. His phone started ringing and Tim picked it up, waving his goodbyes to Ben and locking up.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming I'm coming. I just got off of work Mom, jeez…" Tim's voice faded as he walked away.

Ben was frozen and suddenly he felt like there was a huge weight on his chest along with the dread he was feeling. Suddenly he jerked the door open and pressed the button on the elevator. He pressed several more times; trying to make it go faster even though he knew it wouldn't.

As soon as he got down, he raced through the computer room and kitchen, making his way to the bedroom that he'd been sharing with Jackie. He skidded to a stop when he got there. He felt the blood draining from his face.

Her things were gone.

Jackie sighed, falling back into the bed, her head hitting the pillow. She closed her eyes, but knew she probably wouldn't get any sleep tonight. She hadn't gotten any sleep without Ben. And she'd tried. She'd take naps during the day- testing her sleep abilities. Seemed they were only ever present around the boy who wore too much green.

So she didn't really expect to sleep. It would be pointless.

But still.

It wouldn't hurt to try.

After an hour of tossing and turning and just not being able to shut her brain off, Jackie dragged herself out of bed and sat down on the floor in front of the small coffee table in the ridiculously small motel room. She turned on the television, which was on a stand against the wall in front of the coffee table. She turned on some soap opera and turned it down to low. She wanted to hear human voices so it didn't feel like she was alone.

She searched through her back pack and pulled out papers that were in a folder. They were copies of some of the documents that she was looking at earlier. She hadn't wanted to grab the real ones because she didn't want to take the chance that she'd lose them.

Jackie started flipping through the documents, pulling the ones that she recognized from earlier and setting them in front of her.

'This is how you research.' Jackie thought, slightly amused as she thought of Ben showing off his precious system. Thinking of Ben, Jackie felt a guilty pang throb through her.

She really hoped Ben wouldn't be too angry with her in the morning.

She just really needed her space.

When Kevin and Jackie were young and would fight, their parents always told them to walk it off. To give each other some space. And it would work, normally. By the time they got back they wouldn't be so angry- or angry at all by the time they saw each other again.

And then it just became something they did when they were angry, or when they felt something emotional. It probably wasn't very healthy, but habits are hard to break.

'I wouldn't call it running away.' Jackie mused thoughtfully. 'I'm going back tomorrow morning…'

But Jackie still felt a bit guilty. Knowing Ben, he probably thought that she had tried to run again.

Suddenly she heard a sound scratching her window. Jackie whipped her head to the window, tensing. She stared at it, waiting for something to happen. Jackie casually leaned toward her backpack, ready to pull out the fully loaded gun that she had brought.

'And this is why you never leave home unprotected.'

Jackie jumped when she saw a branch hitting the window, making the same scratching noise that she heard moments before- even though it felt like hours.

Jackie relaxed, then sighed.

It was stupid coming here without telling anyone.

Her life wasn't her own anymore and as much as she hated it, she didn't have the luxury of running off and getting her space. There were bastards out there trying to kill her and she didn't want to be the stupid girl who gets herself killed because she was too stubborn to let anyone know where she was.

Not to mention that she had no phone. 'I really need to fix that.' Jackie thought tiredly as she began putting the files away in her backpack.

She grabbed everything, slipped on her chucks and stuffed her room key in the back of her jeans and made her way to the door. She had seen a phone at the front desk and decided that she should call Ben and let him know that she didn't run out on him again.

Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she also wouldn't be taking any chances in getting her things taken from her. Call her paranoid, but she's seen the movies and read the books and she knows exactly what not to do when you're running for your life. Mostly.

As she closed the door behind her, the window popped open and a hand appeared on the ledge.

"I'm telling you not to freak out." Kevin rolled his eyes as Ben paced around the room. Gwen's eyes followed him, concerned.

"She could be dead lying in a ditch somewhere or she could be getting attacked and you're telling me not to freak out?!" Ben snapped.

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "I know my sister Ben. I'm telling you she took off for the night for some space. And while it was very stupid, she's coming back."

"We need to get her a damn phone." Ben muttered angrily. Suddenly his phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocket, about to send it to voicemail when he saw an unrecognizable number. Ben immediately picked it up.

"Where the hell are you?" Ben asked sharply. There was silence on the other end.

"Well someone's in a mood," was the wary reply.

"I'm serious Jackie. You can't just up and disappear and tell no one. It's dangerous! What if you got hurt? Or kidnapped? Or attacked? What if I couldn't find you?" Ben asked angrily, his questions shooting out quickly. More silence.

"I'm fine Ben," She replied tersely. Then Jackie's voice grew softer. "I didn't realize how worried you'd be Tennyson. I'm in some dinky motel on the east side of town. I'm not that far away."

"I'm on my way." Ben stated, leaving no room for argument. He heard Jackie make a sound of protest but Ben repeated firmly, "I'm on my way."

Jackie just sighed. "I'll have you know that I'm only agreeing because there are people out to kill me. And I'm at Zack's Love Shack on 150. Classy, I know. But it was the cheapest thing I could find." She chirped, seeming unconcerned.

"I know where that is. I'll be there soon." Ben was already grabbing his keys and making his way to the elevator.

Kevin and Gwen just looked at each other. Kevin shrugged and got up and stretched, heading toward the kitchen. Gwen rolled her eyes but there was a small smile tugging at her mouth as she followed Kevin.

"I'll be waiting." Jackie told Ben wryly. She paused. "And I know you'd find me Ben. Wherever I end up." Jackie added softly and before Ben could reply, she had hung up.

Jackie blew out a breath as she gave the phone back to the receptionist which happened to be a red headed pimple faced teenager who was giving her the death glare. She had gone over to ask to use the phone while he was playing some stupid video game and he ignored her ten fucking minutes until she grabbed the remote from his hands and tossed it on the ground, ensuring his avatar's inevitable death which had happened in less than five seconds.

She swore he was about to do everyone a favor and just kill her, but Jackie had learned the art of intimidation long before this kid and she mustered up a terrifying glare of her own- effectively shutting down any attitude he was about to give her. He silently handed her the an old fashioned phone- the kind that you had to spin to dial- while silently glaring and praying for her death, she was sure.

Jackie just shot the kid another terrifying glare (one that she had mastered as a result of being Kevin's little sister both because she had wanted to be just as terrifying as her older brother and also because she had several different ways of getting Kevin to do what she wanted as a child and when the puppy dog look didn't work – which was incredibly rare in itself- she had to create something else that would ensure her way. The look worked like a charm).

Jackie walked down the hall to her teeny, dinky motel room and froze as she saw shadows moving beneath the door. Her heart began pounding and she began a stream of curses in her mind that would make even Kevin blush.

She was so not traveling alone ever again.

Ben glanced at the time.

9:45

Almost ten minutes since he got off the phone with Jackie and despite it being a short amount of time, Ben was antsy. Jackie managed to get herself into trouble constantly and Ben didn't want her to be alone for another minute. Maybe he was being ridiculous but all that was going through Ben's mind were the explosions and bullets he and Jackie encountered the night they met.

He did not want a recap, that's for sure.

Ben finally made it to Zack's Love Shack (also rolling his eyes—Jackie just had to pick the seediest motel in town) and there were a couple of cars, but he was able to spot the motorcycle Tim claimed Jackie brought back from the dead. Knowing Jackie, it was probably true.

Ben drove towards the bike, intending on parking next to it when his stomach turned cold. The tires were slashed. Ben swore under his breath and parked the car and ran out, making his way towards the entrance.

There was a teenager at the desk, playing some video game and Ben hurried to him.

"Hey what room is the girl with the black hair in? She's got chucks on, a t-shirt, jeans, and jacket? I need to know where she is. Now." Ben stressed the last word, looking at the kid impatiently.

The kid didn't answer , his full attention on the game. Ben gave him another moment before he reached over, grabbed the kids remote and threw it against the wall. His avatar was dead almost immediately. The kid turned, furious before he got a look at Ben's face.

The kid gulped. "Uh, the scary hot brunette? She's in room 15, down the hall to the right. The room should be located on the left side of the hallway."

Ben gave the kid another glare before taking off to the hall, almost running.

When he got to the room he saw shadows under the door. He was about to knock when someone grabbed him from behind, a hand over his mouth and dragged him into a closet.

Ben immediately began struggling, about to attack when a voice hissed,

"Cool it Tenyson, I do not want to get caught."

Ben stilled and turned around, the hand coming off his mouth and the arms releasing him.

"Jackie what—"

"I don't know Tenyson. I went to call you and when I walked back I saw shadows in my room. I don't know how they know I was in there and I couldn't really leave because you were coming for me and I didn't want to go back out to the desk in case they were watching and I didn't want them to be able to use the brat up front as leverage against me. So I hid, waiting for you. And you almost blew it you dumbass." Jackie whispered.

Ben rolled his eyes, and then froze when he noticed just how close Jackie really was. She was practically pressed up against him; just a few more inches would do the trick. He swallowed hard and shifted, trying to give her some space but there were objects pressing at his back and as a reflex Ben shifted forward. Not Jackie was very much pressed up against him.

Jackie didn't seem to notice their predicament.

"We should sneak out the front. I have all my things with me, thank God. Those guys are idiots though, they shouldn't have been moving around so much if they didn't want to get caught."

"Well I think them being idiots kind of worked out in our favor so I'm not complaining."

"True." Jackie mused thoughtfully. Then she looked up at him. "Where did you park? We need to get out of here ASAP. I should come get my bike later, I don't want them to hear me take off."

Ben grimaced. "Your tires were slashed."

Jackie swore under her breath. She frowned. "I hope they don't do any more damage, I am so sick of them destroying my things." She bit out angrily. Ben hesitated, then slowly, not wanting to scare her, put his hands on her waist, pressing her too him. Until then, Ben's arms were awkwardly hanging by his sides. Jackie tensed for a moment and then relaxed in his embrace.

"I'm sorry." Ben whispered into her hair. Jackie looked up at him and smiled softly.

"It's not your fault Tenyson. But I know." Jackie sighed then started moving away from Ben and towards the door. "We need to get out, now. We'll go out front, sign out and then take off."

Ben followed her as Jackie opened the door, checking the halls. When they made sure the coast was clear, they walked up to the front desk. The teenager was fiddling with the remote Ben (and Jackie) had thrown, and had seemingly damaged. He glared at them and Jackie just shot him a look.

"I'm signing out. "

The kid tossed a pen and a clipboard at her and Jackie just rolled her eyes.

As she slid the clipboard back to him, she grabbed the kids shirt and shot him a menacing glare.

"If anyone asks, you don't know that I left and you haven't seen either of us. Got it?" She said firmly. The kid stared at her, wide eyed.

"Got it?" Jackie asked with a touch of menace as she pulled the kid even closer to her. The kid nodded his head frantically and Jackie let him go. She turned around without a second glance, Ben tailing her heels.

"What would you say if I told you that was kind of hot?" Ben asked slyly. Jackie grinned at shot him a look.

"I'd say you need to rethink your taste in women."

Ben laughed under his breath and the two of them made their way to Ben's car. As they got in, Jackie turned to him as Ben started the car.

"Wait Ben, don't drive out yet. That black SUV… That's the kind of car that's been following me around. We need to get closer. I want to check it out."

Ben looked at her incredulously. "Jackie we are literally home free, why the hell do you want to look at their car? They could come out at any moment!"

"Ben they have been two steps ahead of us this entire time, we need to get information on them. Come on. Drive over next to the car so we can make a fast getaway if needed. Please Ben. We need this."

It was the 'we' that convinced Ben.

"Fine." He sighed, frustrated. "But we do this quick." Jackie nodded quickly and didn't say a word, not wanting to change his mind in the slightest.

When Ben parked, Jackie rummaged through her back pack and brought out a long silver piece of metal. She shot him a grin. "Give me a couple of minutes, you stay parked. And keep the car running. We don't know if they'll come back."

Ben kept his eye on her as Jackie opened her door and let it stay open. She had the door open almost immediately and she climbed in. Ben glanced at the time, looked around and kept his eye on Jackie. He was agitated. They got a lucky break and he really didn't want to ruin it by having two maniacs chasing after them. It was something he really didn't want a repeat of.

Suddenly Jackie was right beside him, closing the door. She tossed her tool on the ground and grinned up at him. "Jackpot!"

There was an arm load of files she was carrying and Ben immediately put the car in drive and took off.

"Seriously, these guys are such idiots. All these files were in the freaking glove department. Who does that? I almost feel a little insulted because they are seriously undermining my sleuth and skill ability."

Jackie flipped through the files, frowning.

"Some of these files looks like they're in the same language that the files we found at my moms are. I've seen the same symbols. But some of these are in English, thank God. We'll have to take a closer look once we get back to the lab." Jackie gathered everything and put it in her backpack.

"Jackie… I was really worried about you." Ben said slowly and a little warily. He didn't want to start another fight.

"Yeah, I gathered." Jackie zipped everything up and put in in her lap. She wasn't taking any chances.

"It's fine Tenyson, I was being an idiot. I won't go out like that again. But Ben…" Jackie reached over and grabbed his right hand, since Ben was only using his left to drive. She intertwined their fingers and Ben felt his heart skip a beat.

"I wasn't running away. I just needed some space. Kevin and I talked about…. Mom…. And it was just overwhelming. I won't do it again. Not while crazy guys are out to get me anyway." Jackie squeezed his hand. "I didn't even think about you getting worried, I'm sorry."

Ben laughed softly. "As soon as I saw you again, I wasn't even angry anymore. But thank you for telling me." He looked over at her tenderly. Jackie fidgeted, she wasn't used to someone looking at her the way Ben did.

"And…" He hesitated, turning back to the road, holding her hand a little tighter. "If you ever need to talk about anything…"

"I know Ben." Jackie said softly. Jackie closed her eyes and Ben smiled.

Progress.

"It's been hours, she's not coming back." A gruff voice said. There was a grunt.

"Boss won't be happy about that." Another grunt.

"What should we do? Call it a night?" This time there was silence. Then there was an impatient sigh.

"Seriously, why couldn't you have been made with a brain? Talking to yourself sucks when your other self has nothing to say."

Two men suddenly appeared in the room Jackie had rented only hours ago. They were identical, big and beefy, looking how Jackie so lovingly put it 'spent too much time at the gym than humanly necessary.'

Their faces weren't all that memorable, in fact their faces were made to be so ordinary and normal that a normal person would have trouble describing them because they were so… generic.

At least until they opened their mouth.

"We should go up front, see if the little orange boy has any information."

One of the men walked out the door, the other following and saying nothing. As they walked down the hall and to the front desk, they heard muttering. There was a redheaded teenager at the front desk, starting at a remote. He was frowning and cursing, not looking up at them.

The two men waited patiently for the teen to finally notice them.

When he finally looked up, he paled, his eyes widening.

One of the men said politely, "My brother and I are looking for our little sister. Petite, black hair, dressed rather comfortably. There haven't been many people through here tonight, so I'm sure you've seen her."

The boy just stared at them, frozen. His eyes darted around frantically. "Uh… uh, no…. I haven't seen anyone that looks like… that…" He stuttered and gulped.

The man looked down at him sternly. "Young man, lying is very bad. Very bad indeed. I did not want to do this. I gave you a chance and you did not take this. Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." He motioned to the other man, stepping away.

His identical twin smiled, showing several rows of perfectly, pointed teeth.

"Must you always make such a mess?" The man said disapprovingly, wiping a spot of blood off his cheek with a thick finger.

There was a grunt.

"That teeny bit of information was not worth all this mess." He waved around at all the blood. There was blood on the walls, on the floor, chair, and the receptionist desk was broken. There wasn't much left of the boy's body, but what was left was in pieces.

"Come, we must go talk to the boss." The man sighed, turning away to leave. "Now."

His twin froze, his face in a puddle of blood on the floor. He stood up and scampered after the other man. The other man looked at him, making a noise of disgust.

"You are not going into the car like that, the stains were next to impossible to get out the last time. I packed extra towels in the back. You are wiping yourself down for once."

The two men walked side by side as they made their way to the black SUV, one chatting away, one making an occasional grunt.

They hadn't succeeded, and the boss wouldn't be happy about it. But there was always next time. This was the closest they'd been yet.

Progress.