Joss could hardly believe that she made it. Following an intuition, she had armed herself with a list of local military stores when luck was on her side at the third try.

"Yes, a guy who matches your description has been here yesterday. If I remember correctly, he bought ammunition for two precision rifles. His cap was pulled low over his face, but I´m pretty sure it was him", Tawny, the owner, let her know.

With a pounding heart, Joss had asked to watch the material of the security camera when in fact it was John on the screen.

Buoyed by a burgeoning feeling of hope, she had researched for places that probably weren´t subject too strict personal controls when she got back to her car. After four hours of fruitless driving around, however, it was a renewed sense of disillusionment at ending up in yet another dead end that made her close her eyes in a helpless gesture.

"Talk to me, John, where are you hiding?", she asked into the silence when suddenly an idea arose.

"Where would I hide if I were you?", she asked changing perspectives.

Trying to put herself in the position of the person whose world consisted primarily of black and white, good and evil, as well as preference and inferiority, it eventually hit her.

Reaching for her cell phone on impulse, Joss changed her search parameters. It only took a few seconds until the desired result made her heart to skip another beat.

"Please still be there", she begged, before speeding towards the only place that, according to her theory, could represent a safe shelter in this region.

Surveying the closed motel from her car 15 minutes later, the venue didn't appear as if it would have seen any guests in a long while.

The perfect hide away, she concluded.

Unsure whether he had already noticed her, the drawn curtains continued to indicate no sign of life. With a purposeful step, Joss took the stairs to the row of ten rooms, which were most likely divided by simple plasterboard only.

The middle room, since attackers work their way from the outside in and so there is time for a countermeasure if noticed early enough, she remembered the golden rule of strategic hiding not only job wise. Furthermore, the tactic was a standard procedure in Army circles, as she knew from her time in the unit.

Hovering her hand over the old wooden door, she took a deep breath before knocking. As expected, everything remained silent inside. Repeating the process with a certain impatience, it was the abrupt opening; the gun barrel she suddenly looked into, which made her smile.

"And I thought you were just going to leave me standing out here", Joss couldn't help but smirk at the perplexed face of her counterpart.

"What are you doing here?", John asked, obviously not happy that she ignored his request as he lowered the gun.

"I thought I'd stop by and let you know that I solved your little scavenger hunt."

Not giving him the chance to answer, she pushed past him into the room that rent wise wouldn't have been worth five dollars.

"If you found me, it won't be long before they will find me too. It´s better for you to go right now", he urged her.

"Who exactly are they?"

"People you shouldn't mess with if you and your son want to survive."

Joss took a deep breath.

"Can you please stop talking in riddles and tell me what's going on instead?", she now asked in a more impatient tone.

Noticing a hesitation in his reaction, he eventually seemed to make up his mind.

"Mercenary. I had tangled with them during my Army time as they indiscriminately kidnapped women and children for ransom in the Afghanistan. Disguised as a renegade I had gained knowledge of their internal structure and became closer to some leaders over time. Stupidly my cover was blown at some point. Since that day I´m on their hit list. I don't know how they managed to find me here, but somehow they did. The only way to end this is if either they or I are eliminated. That's why I'm asking you to leave. If you help me they will hunt you and your son too."

Allowing John's words to sink in for a moment, Joss shook his head.

"That's crazy. Are you seriously asking me to leave you here alone, knowing that you're about to be massacred by a horde of mercenaries?"

"It should only be about 5-6 of them. At least that's the troop size they usually operate with."

"Very funny. Forget it, John. I'm not leaving."

"And what do you want to impress them with? Your pistol? I don't think I need to tell you that these guys are going to be a little better equipped."

"Who says I'm not?"

Lifting the right leg of her pants, she presented another handgun.

"This isn't a game, Joss", it was a warning tone in his voice that made her pause.

"I'm well aware of that, but what shall I do? Should I leave you to your fate while you have saved my life more than once? Should I forget about you on my way home and pretend you never existed? Or should I act like I don't know you and get back to business as usual, when I get summoned here to stare in your dead eyes?"

Unable to suppress a tremble in her voice at the last part of the question, she thought to see a stirring in his expression.

"Why are you so damn stubborn?", he asked fixing his glance, which suddenly felt like it penetrated her soul, on her.

"I could ask you the same thing."

For a moment there was a tense silence as she suddenly had to hold back tears.

"I won't go, John", she added with an emphasis that left no doubt about her statement.

"Why?"

It was nothing more than a simple question; a single word that plunged her world into renewed emotional chaos. While everything that had been seethed inside her for some time already, now rushed to the surface with an intensity that was far beyond control.

Recognizing how John took another step towards her, she tried to gulp her overwhelming thoughts.

"Why, Joss?", he asked, his eyes locked on hers.

Feeling his warm breath on her face, it seemed impossible to release the words that shouldn't be.

"Because…", she began a sentence that she didn't know how to finish.

"Because…"

Feeling the speed of her pounding heart rushing through her whole body, it was his unexpected kiss; his hand gently cupping her cheek, that suddenly made her world stand still. Unsure of what was happening -if this was in nothing more than a pipe dream- her fingers dug into the back of his neck in an involuntary reaction.

The feeling of his lips on hers; a sensation that felt as surreal as it felt right, made her block out the world around her for a moment. Connected by a kiss that seemed to be an expression of emotions which had been suppressed for far too long, she wasn´t ready to let go of what she was afraid to be an illusion just yet.

Joss couldn't tell for sure how much time had passed when John pulled away from her. Fixing his eyes on hers again, he gently stroked her cheek.

"Looks like we have another problem if we are going to survive this", he stated with a raised eyebrow.

Unable to suppress a laugh at his typical demeanor, Joss had to admit that it was one of his traits that caught her attention right from the start.

"At least we now have a reason to stay alive", she replied in kind.

It only took a split second for her to notice a change in his gaze; a slight moment when the former soldier took control again.

"We don´t have much time. The squad will be here soon. I have prepared a warm welcome for them in the suite. Since I don't expect to be able to change your mind about my offer to leave, you should familiarize yourself with the circumstances."

Joss nodded.

"Okay, so Let's go. Show me how to welcome these guys in style so we can move on to our other problem soon", she agreed, before they headed to one of the outbuildings.