Hey there. One of my awesome reviewers mentioned that Rachel's explanation might not have been very clear. Apologies, apologies. Hopefully this interlude chapter in her POV will help clear up the blank spots. The chapter switches back and forth between present time and flashbacks, but all are still in her POV, so hopefully it shouldn't be too confusing. Let me know if you like it.

As always, lots of love for reviews and special thanks to 'GByrd' and 'Mythical Words' for reviewing so far. As anyone attempting to be a writer knows, reviews and feedback are always welcome.

Enjoy!

Rachel POV

I walked back to the house, tears blurring my vision for most of the way. It was a wonder I didn't fall off a cliff, although somewhere in the back of my mind, a little voice said that Paul would kill himself before allowing anything of the sort to happen to me. And then I shut the voice up by remembering how it had hurt when Paul had not even taken my hand, let alone held me. The voice replied that he had no idea what was going on with me. I had told no-one what had gone on in Seattle. What had happened in University. The kind of trouble that had come up. The number of times we had seen friends hospitalized, or worse, because of bad drugs. Drugs they didn't always take on their own.

We had only learned the cause of this much, much later. The drug rings that had controlled operations in our part of town had decided that testing their new cocktails and combinations were best done on subjects with no expectations. Subjects who had no pre-conceived notions of what would happen upon ingestion. In other words, subjects who had no idea they were being slipped drugs; in their drinks, in their food sometimes. There was even a case where someone had substituted medication with a different kind of pills. The DEA had become aware of the situation very quickly and even though they had their share of busts and triumphs, the cases only slowed down, never stopped. So they had gone further.

I still remember that morning's class like it was yesterday. Jason and I had both been half asleep. Me because I had pulled an all-nighter studying and Jason because he had been visiting his sister at home and had driven back very early that morning. After losing both their parents in a horrific car crash, the two of them were closer than ever. The sorrow of a double loss had bound them both tighter than most normal siblings ever would be. The professor was very peevish when he entered class and we soon found that it was because normal lessons were being suspended for the day. That perked us up. Instead, there was a Psychological Survey group that wanted to study our demographics' reaction to certain situations; this was to somehow aid the professors in some new way or the other. None of us really cared to listen to that part. All we heard was no class today because of some test we didn't need to pass.

3 weeks later, a few of us were called into the counselor's office under the pretence of discussing our futures after graduation. Instead, what we each found upon entry, was an officer of the DEA sitting with another counselor and the Dean. They had explained to us individually, that we had been hand-picked by the agency, to help them in their investigation. If we were uncomfortable, we could leave right away. If we were willing to help, we were to meet later that afternoon at a coffee-shop near campus. When I had got back to my dorm after saying I would help, I found Jason waiting for me, looking troubled. He asked if we could talk and suggested we stay outside to do it.

"Rach, there's something I need to tell you" he finally said. "Sure Jason, what's up?" I asked, nervous myself after the surreal experience in the counselor's office. "You will probably think I'm nuts, but I just got called to the counselor's office and … well… I don't know how to say this.. but" "The agency?" I interrupted. "Yes, how did… oh God, they called you too?" his face paled. "Yeah, so what do we do?" I asked him. "Well, you remember Sandra right? Michael's almost girlfriend, freshman year?" "Yeah, of course, didn't we double date once?" "That's the one. You remember how she got sick at that party? When she died the hospital called it an overdose? Well, this has something to do with it. She and Michael were friends even in high school, and while they might not have worked out as a couple, he genuinely liked her. Mike's my best friend, Rach, and they called him in as well. He hasn't forgotten Sandra, and he said he was in. For sure. "

I watched Jason's face for his emotions. He had always been easy to read. Michael had been his best friend for years, and he had known the girl Sandra in high school as well. So he could feel the helpless rage that had gripped Michael as he watched the girl buried. Knowing that she had been murdered. A lab experiment gone wrong. "But what are they talking about Jason, what kind of help? I keep expecting cameras to show up and people laughing telling us we're on some kind of candid camera show." I told him. "I'm guessing, we'll just have to show up and find out Rach."

We had gone to the coffee shop, along with Michael, and we avoided looking at any of the other tables, while grabbing a corner booth to ourselves. According to Michael, if they wanted us, they could come get us. We were not going to advertise our presence, either way. "It's not like we can go prancing up to each table asking them if they are DEA, right?" he retorted. That was when, the door opened and this young couple had come in, holding each other and laughing. They looked around, spotted our table and ambled over. "May we join you guys?" the male asked, while we looked at them quizzically. "Umm, sure?" said Jason, ever the polite one, with a truly confused expression on his face. They sat down and the girl introduced them. "Agent Ashley Shaw… and this is Agent Michael Fitzsimmons" they both smiled as they saw our jaws drop. "Just call us by our first names, we don't want any confusion now, do we?" stated Agent Fitzsimmons.

BANG! BANG!

I was startled out of my reminiscing, by Paul banging on my front door. I scowled, before walking to it, and yanking it open. I felt my features soften slightly at his anguished expression. "Rach, baby, I'm so sorry. I just… I just want to know what happened. I can't make sense of any of this. I'm trying, I reallllly reallllly am, but DEA? Secret assignments? People going missing? How… I don't know… I don't even know how to wrap my head around all this." I just watched him speak with a cold expression. When he trailed off, I knew he had sensed my unforgiving mood. "Leave me alone Paul. I need some time to myself. I don't think it's a good idea for you to spend the night tonight. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, before shutting the door. I checked in on Kaia and realized that she had fallen asleep, still in her clothes and had probably been like that for a while. I smiled softly at her sleeping figure, before going into the kitchen and making her a sandwich. Putting it in the fridge, I left her a note where she would see it if she woke up.

Going into my bedroom, I took a long hot shower and then climbed into bed, knowing my mind would lead back to that day in the coffee shop. We had talked for a long time; anyone looking over at our table would have seen nothing, but a bunch of friends chatting. Both the Michaels had been adept at keeping the conversation from dropping to depressing levels, which it could easily have done.

"Now, you guys don't need to worry. The things we need from you aren't going to put you, or your friends, in the firing line. Its mostly paying attention. Keeping your eyes and ears open. If you see, or hear anything that seems off, let us know about it. If somebody is suddenly behaving out of the ordinary. Someone who is usually broke, starts flashing a lot of cash, stuff like that." "Informants" grunted our Michael. "Sure Kid, if that's how you look at it" said the older Michael, studying the younger with a practiced eye. He nodded then, as if he liked what he saw. "You've got grit kid. I'll give you that" he added. "Would you stop calling me that?" asked Michael exasperatedly. "Its your new nickname buddy boy. I got to the planet before you did. Therefore, I get first dibs on a common name, and YOU get to have the nickname. Kid." We had all laughed at that, and it was funny how quickly we had gotten used to calling him that as well.

By now I was clutching my pillow and crying softly, the tension of the past few months getting to me. It had been easier to repress it before I had come face to face with the sister of my favorite memory. I heard scuffling under my window and then a whimper; like an animal in pain. I raised my voice to just above a whisper, knowing that would be loud enough. "Go away Paul. Just go away and leave me alone." And then I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning, when I woke up, eyes all puffy, I walked into the dining room to see Kaia sitting across a bowl of cereal with my father, both extolling the virtues of Chevrolet, the Camaro in particular. Billy was teasing her, saying that kids nowadays didn't know what classic cars really were. She retorted that old men couldn't be expected to appreciate the joys of rebuilding a car older than the rebuilder. I was glad that Billy seemed to have found the official letter, and the one from Jason, that I had left on his bed before going to sleep last night. He had accepted Kaia's presence with an equanimity that was solely his.

Jake wandered in just then, ignoring the two at the table, walking up to me and enveloping me in a huge warm hug. "I love you Rach… no matter what secrets we each have to keep." And then he turned to a wide-eyed Kaia. " Jacob Black. Billy's son, Rachel's brother, and hungry as a wolf" I noticed the twinkle in his eye at that last bit. It was good to have my little brother back. Bad jokes and all. I rolled my eyes, knowing he would want food any second. "Er Rach…" "Yeah yeah… waffles coming up." I interrupted. I turned back to the table to see him smiling back at me. "Have I told you you're my favorite sister?" "I'll make sure to mention that to Becca when I talk to her later, shall I?" I grinned. He paled. "Hell No… she's the one with those pictures. Nope Nope Nope. " I noticed Kaia watching our exchange with a wistful expression on her face. Then she shook her head and grinned mischeviously. "Would those be embarrassing pictures Mr. Jacob Black?" He looked at her warily, before replying with "Maybe, what's it to you squirt?"

I glared at him, but Kaia seemed glad that she was being included in the banter. "You mean more embarrassing than, say, pictures of you in… what was that again Rach? A sarong? No, that can't be right" she continued in a fake soft voice, as if talking to herself. "Oh yeah, a mumu, isn't that what they are called? Coconut shells and all. I have to say Mr. Black, you might have impressive muscles, but those shells were pretty strategically placed." By now, Billy and me were in splits and Kaia looked close to joining us. Jacob just stared at her in horror, before turning to me. "YOU have those?" "Let's just say that Becca and I discovered the advantage of having electronic copies that you can't possibly sniff out" I told him, emphasizing the reference to his superhuman senses. He mock-glared at the both of us and then deadpanned. "I should feed you both to the wolves. Really. But even they might not want you."

"I know one who would" I heard a low voice from the doorway. Knowing who would be there, I turned. "Paul" I nodded. He looked terrible. Worse than I felt. I remembered Jake telling me that the wolves who imprinted could always tell when their imprint was sad, or upset, or even hurt. I guess they felt those emotions as well. I knew I couldn't stay angry with him, not when all he did was worry about me. I stretched out my hand and he took it, before pulling me to him and burying his face in my hair and muttering that he was sorry. And telling me how much he loved me. I looked around him, to see that Jake and Kaia had quietly decamped from the kitchen, taking Dad with them, giving my wolf and me some much needed privacy.

I knew it was time to explain myself. It was no longer about keeping the secret. It was keeping this wolf-man-boy before me, sane. Something he woudn't have a chance at, if he didn't know the truth. "The beach" I murmured to him. "Ok" was his reply, then he took my hand and led me out the door. "Jake, Rach and I are heading to the beach" he muttered under his breath, as if Jake was standing right next to him. I rolled my eyes again, scoffing at my little brother and his fellow superheroes. It was my coping mechanism, my only way to deal with the fantasy that was their everyday reality.

I noticed that we were heading back to the same cove as the previous day, and I smiled to myself a little. We reach the same outcropping of rock, and Paul turned to me, looked me in the eye and said "Yesterday, when you said you had to talk to us, I was nervous, worried even, because there was something I didn't know about you. Something you knew, but didn't tell me. Something I couldn't keep you safe from. And it was tearing me up inside. And like an idiot, I took it out on you. I'm sorry Rach. I mean, I'm not like Jake, or even Embry, they can talk about how they feel, you know? Explain themselves. Me on the other hand, it was always easier to just act. I guess the reason I've got a short fuse is getting pretty obvious right about now isn't it?"
I just stayed quiet and watched him as he took a deep breath and then stepped forward, holding me against him, my hands splayed out against his chest. He reached up with his left hand, and wrapped my right hand in it. "I'm a do-er, not a talker Rach. If you ever have to tell me anything ever again, I swear I will listen and not be an idiot about it. You don't HAVE to tell me everything, but I would love it if you did." He paused and took a deep breath. "I love you."

And just like that, I found myself leaning up against him, my head in that perfect place below his chin, where it seemed to fit just right; telling him about everything that had happened during the last year. I didn't notice when he had moved to sit on the rock, and when he had lifted me into his lap. I didn't noticed the time that was passing. All I saw in front of my eyes was the replay of everything significant about my big secret, everything that I hadn't told him before, as it all came pouring out of my memory. When I was done I simply stayed in that position, his arms around me, as I knew they always would be, keeping me safe, as I knew he always would be.

"And that was all you guys had to do?" he asked softly. "Yeah pretty much" I replied. "So… no guns, no secret codes?" I could practically hear his smile. I punched his shoulder weakly and muttered "Its not like the movies you idiot, we just helped out. That was why I got mad when you freaked. We were like data builders. Just providing tips, or helpful hints on what might have been subjects of interest to the DEA. You know how those anonymous tiplines work?" He nodded. "Like that, except that since they had picked us out from that survey they ran, they knew our information was reliable. Now do you get it?" He just smiled, even though I could see the relief in his eyes.

"Paul?"

"Yeah baby?"

"I love you too."

A/N: Just so that everything is clear in the time-line I imagined when I thought of this, this chapter starts on Sunday afternoon and runs into Monday late morning. The next couple of chapters will make it obvious why I want the timeline this marked out.

Love and virtual cookies to all you readers. I promise to send you special wolf kisses (from your shapeshifter of choice) for reviews. Now go right ahead and push that button. You know you want to!