Steve sat down on the couch with a contented sigh. After a nice, if unexpected, breakfast with Kayla's father, they had taken advantage of a beautiful, October day and had taken Stephanie to the park. Now that they were back home, Kayla was putting a very tired little girl down for her nap.

Maybe things are finally starting to get back to normal, Steve thought hopefully. Shane was recovering and seemed to be out of danger. Meanwhile, Kayla was back to work and seemed to be recovering from her ordeal with Cal.

Yet, Steve knew that it was mostly wishful thinking on his part. Alamain was out there somewhere, planning something. Steve had continued to press Abe for more information, but Abe could only tell him that they were "pretty sure" Alamain was holed up in his country.

Steve had even thought about contacting Tarrington directly for more information, but had decided against it. It was unlikely Tarrington would tell him anything, even if Steve used his knowledge of the toxin as leverage. And as much Steve wanted information, he didn't need to put himself back on the ISA's radar right now. Not when he was still trying to figure out how to help Shane.

As if on cue, the phone rang and interrupted Steve's thoughts. He reached for it quickly, not wanting the noise to disturb Stephanie.

"Hello."

"Hey, Steve. It's Mack."

"Mack, what's up dude?"

"Well you asked me to call if I got any information on those Special Forces soldiers you were looking for, right?"

"Yeah. What do you have for me?" Steve asked, hoping for good news of some kind.

"My buddy who owns the bar near the base told me that one of the guys was in there last night. I think he said his name was Deakins. Does that sound familiar?"

Steve tried not to sound impatient. "Yeah, dude. That's one of them."

"Okay," Mack said. "Well my buddy said this Deakins guy was talking about some big family reunion he was going to next week. I guess he said something about having a short week before he left."

Knowing he might have just gotten the break he needed, Steve asked, "Are you sure he said next week?"

"That's what my buddy said," Mack replied. "That's all I know."

"That's more than enough, man," Steve said gratefully. "I don't know who to thank you."

"Another bottle of that good stuff you sent before will do just fine."

Steve chuckled. "It will be there in a few days. Thanks again, dude."

"Sure thing. Later." Mack hung up.

Steve breathed a silent prayer of thanks for the Merchant Marines, and then reached for his wallet. He dug through it until he found the scrap of paper with the name and phone number of the wilderness resort that Jack had learned was owned by Deakins' family.

A few minutes later, Steve hung up the phone with a smile on his face. He had called the resort and booked the last cabin available. The clerk had been apologetic, explaining that most of the resort was booked for a family reunion. Steve had told her, with the utmost sincerity, that he did not mind at all.

Now, all he needed was a plane ticket. He reached for the phone, only to be stopped by the sound of Kayla's voice.

"So where are we going next weekend?"

Steve spun around and saw her leaning against the wall. Kayla had a smile on her face, but Steve could see a fire smoldering in her eyes.

"Sweetness, I . . . uh . . . didn't see you there."

"Obviously," Kayla said, as she walked towards him. "Are you going to answer my question?"

Steve sighed, knowing there was no way to avoid the coming battle. "You know I've been trying to find a way to contact the soldiers who rescued me, right?" At Kayla's nod, he continued. "Well, I figured out a way to do it. So I'm going to Georgia next week to talk to one of them."

At Steve's words, the smoldering fire in Kayla's eyes immediately broke out in open flames. "So you're just going to go by yourself. Were you even going to tell me about it?"

"Of course I was going to tell you," Steve said. "I just got the information right before I called to book the cabin at the resort. I needed to move quickly, that's all."

"Okay. . . ." Kayla sounded only slightly mollified. "But I'm not going to let you go by yourself. I'm going with you."

"Baby-" Steve started to protest.

"No, Steve," Kayla interrupted. "Have you forgotten how the ISA came after you the last time they thought you were trying to contact those soldiers? There is no way I'm letting you go alone. I'm not going to sit at home wondering if you're just going to disappear again."

Steve was silent for a moment. As much as he wanted to keep Kayla out of this, he knew she was right about going alone. If, somehow, the ISA did get wind of this, they might decide it would be better to make him disappear for awhile. If someone else was there, that would be a lot harder to accomplish.

"Okay," he finally said. "I won't go alone. But I don't want you getting involved in this. I'll see if I can get Bo to go with me."

"You don't want me involved in this?" Kayla scoffed. "I'm already involved. You're my husband. That makes me involved whether you like it or not."

"I know," Steve said. "I just don't want you in any kind of danger." He held up his hands. "I'm not saying this trip is dangerous. I don't think it is. I'm just trying to keep you out of it for your own protection."

Kayla ran a hand across her face and took a deep breath. "I know that you want to protect me, but don't you understand that trying to shut me out things like this doesn't do that? It's just makes me even more scared because I don't know the truth about what is going on." Her voice caught. "You did it with the Riverfront Raider case, remember? You kept promising that there wasn't any danger and that you had everything under control." She looked at Steve with unshed tears shining in her eyes. "I won't go through that again. I just won't"

Steve closed his eye, knowing that there were some wounds that might never fully heal. Stepping forward, he pulled Kayla to him. "All right, baby. If this is what you need to do, we'll do it together."

Kayla looked up at Steve. "Thank you," she said softly.

"No, baby . . . . Thank you." Steve smiled down at her. "Besides, I'd much rather spend a couple of days holed up in a wilderness camp with you than with Bo."

Kayla laughed and then softly stroked Steve's face. "You know, we haven't taken a trip with just the two of us in a long, long time."

Steve grinned. "I'm not sure a wilderness retreat is what I had in mind for some alone time with you, but I bet we can make the best of it."

Kayla leaned up and kissed Steve softly at first, then more deeply. "I have no doubt that we can find a way to make it work just fine." She kissed him again and then pulled away.

"Where are you going, baby?" Steve croaked, feeling his blood stir.

Kayla just smiled. "I thought maybe it was a good time for a nap. Care to join me?"

Steve glanced at the phone. Screw it. I'll make the flight reservations later. In two long strides he reached Kayla and swept her into his arms. "I'd love to join you for a nap, baby. I just hope you weren't planning on sleeping."