Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.

"We could use duct tape instead… or cuffs…"

Guerrero didn't even bother answering Chance as he tied Philippa to a chair in Winston's office.

"Cable ties cut into flesh just as easily as a hot knife into butter, so don't pull at them unless you like bleeding wounds", he told her.

"Guerrero…." More protest from Chance.

"She would have shot you, dude, without second thought. Better safe than sorry." He turned to Philippa once more: "Nothing personal."

Throwing Chance a look that said "be careful, bro", he exited the room.

Chance tried one of his million dollar smiles, hoping to put her at ease a little. Philippa kept staring daggers at him.

"Look, I know the circumstances speak against me, but I really don't want to harm you or ... Ash." It still felt strange, saying his son's name. "All I want is that you hear me out. I didn't know Juliet had been pregnant, I only just…"

Her eyes – gray indeed – were opaque and cold as ice. He wouldn't get through to her, not this way.

"You called her JuJu… you were friends, weren't you?", he tried again.

This time his words at least had some form of detectable impact on her. "Best friends", she replied, gray eyes looking at him, deep sadness emerging in them. "Fips and JuJu. Since childhood."

"Tell me what happened." Under normal circumstances Chance would have reached out and touched her hand, but given the fact that she was tied up after having been violently brought down by Guerrero twice on her way to and from the van – she really shouldn't have struggled – he thought better of it.

"I helped delivering Ash. In a hotel room in Auckland. There were people after her, people who had moles in the police force and could get hold of hospital records." Philippa leaned back in the chair, as much away from Chance as her tied position allowed, and folded her untied legs. Her eyes were firmly fixed on a point in the distance now. "They made her an offer, months before Ash's birth. The child against her freedom and a substantial amount of money." She paused. "But JuJu was hell-bent on protecting her kid. She ran. Two days after Ash was born they found her, killed her. All I could do was grab him and run."

A meteorologist in the room would probably have detected a sudden drop of temperature after Philippa had finished her story.

Crossing his arms, Chance wordlessly studied her for a long while and as he did so, his face slowly turned hard. "You're lying", he finally said, all traces of trying to put her at ease gone from his voice.

Maybe surprised, but astonishingly composed, given her situation, she turned her face to look at him. "If I were you, I would accept this version of the story. You don't want to know the truth, trust me."

He walked over to her and tightened the cable fixers. "Tell me", he said.

Face defiant, Philippa began to speak again. "When she first found out she was pregnant, JuJu wanted to be a hero. She wanted to protect her child at all costs. These people made contact with her shortly after her pregnancy was confirmed, before she told anyone, that's how she figured out they were hacking her medical records. She went to the police and they told her they'd keep her safe. On the way to the safe house, however, she discovered that the officer who was supposed to protect her was in their pockets. She barely escaped."

Philippa turned her face away to stare at the point in the distance again. Her hands were clenching and she slightly hunched over as she continued. "This is the part you don't want to hear."

Chance just nodded at her, urged her to start, face still a stony mask.

"All those months on the run… JuJu's determination and heroism eroded… gradually at first, but after that horrible delivery in the hotel room she was broken. She couldn't go on anymore and she took up her hunters' offer. She was willing to hand over Ash." Philippa paused again. "Don't blame her. All she wanted was peace and her old life back… Well, they came to collect Ash, but they had no intention of keeping their promise. She smelt the rat in the last minute, tried to run, they shot her… I took Ash and fled." She slightly lifted one shoulder in kind of a half-shrug.

Again, Chance didn't say a word. A minute passed by. The silence in the room was stretching to eternity. Then he suddenly pushed himself off the wall. Like a tiger he crossed the short distance between him and her and gave her chair a violent shove. "You're still lying!", he hissed.

Philippa laughed bitterly, straight into his face. "She wanted to hand the boy over. That's the truth!"

Like iron claws Chance's hands closed around her wrists. "But you killed her."

She didn't need to answer. It was written all over her face – the shock, the shame … the truth.

"We were arguing", she whispered. "She wanted to take Ash and bring him to the meeting point. I was just trying to stop her… I didn't mean to pull the trigger… all I wanted to do was scare her… it was an accident."

Chance recoiled from her, back to the other end of the room, putting as much distance between them as possible. Again, silence stretched between them, this time only slightly interrupted by Philippa, trying to swallow her tears away.

"What's his real name?", Chance finally asked.

This got her attention. She looked up, stared at him, tear-streaked face but eyes opaque again. "His name is Ashley."

"Juliet would have never chosen that name. She told me she liked Maori names, was proud of her country's heritage, she would have given her son one. WHAT'S HIS REAL NAME?"

"He's my son and his name is Ashley", Philippa spat.

"No, he's not. He's mine and Juliet's and you are nothing but his mother's murderer." Chance was grasping the edge of Winston's desk, desperately trying to keep himself from acting on what he was feeling right now.

Philippa mumbled something he didn't quite get, a phrase, a sentence… it sounded familiar, but what she said next kept him from wasting too much thought on it.

"You'll never find him. He's safe from you."

Chance had to leave the room. Right outside the door, Guerrero was waiting for him. Of course he had listened in.

"I can make her talk, you know", was all he said.

Chance didn't hesitate.

"Then do it!"

He ran up the stairs leading to the roof, desperate for fresh air.