Kim had been woken by the commotion, but had decided to stay out of it. For a short time, things had quieted down, except she had heard Shane walking around the hallway and then going downstairs. She had known it was Shane just from the footfalls. After living with someone that long, she could tell.

You know you're going downstairs, so why wait? Kim knew herself just as well, so she pulled herself out of bed, double-checked that Jeannie was still asleep in her crib, and left the room. Just as she reached the hall, she heard Kayla cry out Steve's name, obviously in the throes of passion.

Good little sister, she thought, sarcastically. The entire house probably just heard you. Could you possibly be any more cruel?

Once downstairs, she spotted the light on in the sitting room and headed toward it. Shane was standing by the mantle, his back to the door. Without turning, he said, "It's all right, Kim. You can come in." Kim obviously was not the only one who could identify a person by their footsteps.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked.

Shane shrugged and put both of his hands on the mantle. "He hit her and threw her against a wall. She says it was an accident."

"He did what?" Kim asked in surprise. "Is she okay?"

"Kayla's fine. Apparently, Steve had a nightmare and hit her without realizing it. But how was I supposed to know that? She was bleeding for god's sake."

Kim could picture the scene, with Shane going into overprotective mode.

Shane continued talking. "So now I'm the villain in this play."

"I don't understand," Kim said. She thought back to what she heard of the commotion and the shouting. "You did something in there, didn't you?"

"I just touched her cheek." Shane sounded exasperated. "I didn't even intend to. It just happened." He let out a deep breath. "I know I shouldn't have, but I can't pretend I don't care about her."

"You have to let go, Shane."

"Don't you think I know that?" Shane said, his voice rising. "I knew that the minute I took the mission."

"Then why aren't you?" she asked.

"I'm trying. I know she wants to be with Steve and I'm trying not to get in the way. I didn't even realize I'd touched her. I never meant to. It's just bloody hard, sometimes," he said, his voice rising, as he turned to face her. "You have no idea what it's like."

He didn't just say that? Kim asked herself. "I have no idea?" she said loudly. "I have no idea what it's like to see the person you love reject you for someone else? Did you seriously just tell me that?"

Shane looked up at the ceiling and ran his hands through his hair, signs Kim knew meant he was frustrated. But then his voice softened. "I'm sorry. I guess you do know." He looked back at her. "I'm just concerned for Kayla and Stephanie. He's not in his right mind and he's a danger to them. He hurt her tonight. He could've easily broken her nose and, next time, she may not be so lucky."

"I know you're worried," Kim said. "But Kayla can take care of herself, and she loves him." Shane shifted uncomfortably when she said that, but she continued. "Frankly, Shane, the more you get involved, the harder it might be for Steve to get better."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Put yourself in his shoes for a minute." Kim walked over to the sofa and sat down. "Steve's been tortured for most of the past year, and we don't even know the full extent of it. He gets rescued and then he find out that the woman he loves has not only moved on, but has moved on with the man responsible for the rescue. Not to mention that the man is rich and can provide Kayla with all the things that he struggled to provide. Steve has a lot of reasons to resent you."

Shane shook his head. "But I can't help that, can I?"

"No," Kim said. "But you've got plenty of resentments of your own."

"That's not true," Shane protested.

"Of course you do, Shane." Kim rolled her eyes at his obliviousness. "Steve's coming back disrupted your future with Kayla. And while you profess to be noble by gallantly getting out of the way for them, what do you at the first sign of trouble? You rush right in and interfere."

"She was hurt," he said, his voice rising once again.

Kim sighed. She did not know if anything was getting through. "I know she was hurt, but we both know that Steve would never intentionally hurt Kay. He loves her too much - and, as hard as that is for you to accept, you need to deal with it. It's going to take time and there will be some incidents before he gets better."

"Gets better?" Shane raised an eyebrow. "He's not even trying to get better. He just keeps pretending nothing happened and won't talk to you."

"And you resent that, too," Kim said. "You were doing everything to make Kayla happy and now Steve comes back, and you don't see him even trying. But that is going to take Steve some time as well. Right now, he's still weak and he's still not past his anger and guilt - at himself for allowing Lawrence to take him and leaving Kayla alone - and at you for stepping into what he sees as his place. In some ways, maybe what happened tonight will force Steve to deal with some of those feelings."

Kim paused and studied her ex-husband. Shane was listening, at least, but he hardly seemed mollified. And Kim thought she knew why.

"I also suspect you're angry at Steve's lack of gratitude, Shane," Kim said.

"That's not true." Shane shook his head violently.

Kim chuckled. "I know you too well. Deny it all you want, but you're angry that Steve isn't acting grateful toward you. Even though you haven't really told us what happened, I know you risked your life to free him, and it infuriates you that Steve is treating you like the enemy."

Shane was quiet, but after a minute, nodded slowly. "So what do I do?"

"Give Steve and Kayla a wide berth so they can work things through together. I know you've been trying to keep away - though that's probably been as much for your own reasons as for them - but I mean that you need to stay completely out of it and let them deal with things on their own. From what I've seen recently, when they're alone and with Stephanie, things are getting better, and that makes me think you've become the focal point for a lot of Steve's anger. Perhaps if you completely avoided them, showing him that you're no threat, his anger will disappear completely. Meanwhile, I'll push Steve a little harder. If he did hurt Kayla tonight, that may motivate him to work with me."

"He'd better." Shane took a deep breath and let it out. "If he doesn't get better soon, the ISA's going to put him somewhere, and I won't be able to stop them."

"Somewhere?" Kim looked at him quizzically.

Shane stuffed his hands into the pockets of his robe. "A secure hospital maybe. Someplace where he won't have a choice about treatment and they'll tie him down if he gets violent. That's what Tarrington wanted in the first place, but I convinced him to let me bring Steve here and have you and Kayla come. Now . . . ." Shane hesitated. "Now I'm not so sure that was a wise decision."

Kim tried to process that. Locking Steve up and restraining him would be the worst possible outcome. "How can they do that? It'll kill him."

"National security," Shane explained. "That's how they'd justify it. And I know it would be bad for Steve. I know that. But if he's dangerous to the people around him. . . ." Shane did not finish the thought. "He needs help. I understand that, and I'll try to keep away. Tomorrow, I'll apologize for what happened tonight, and then I'll do what I can to leave them alone. And I understand that it will take time. But you know the ISA. They're impatient and they think Steve has important information on Lawrence. You have to get him to work with you." Shane looked at her for a moment, before he walked past the couch toward the foyer and the stairs.

Kim stood up from the couch and walked over to the mantle. She shook her head, slowly, and let out a deep breath. How was she going to get Steve to open up before it was too late?