When Jack woke up, he only slightly opened up his eyes, seeing the white linen of the bedclothes in front of him. He closed his eyes again, trying to find out where he was, before he'd stir.
It had become a ritual, throughout the past months. To confirm it to himself, where he was, before showing any kind of reaction. Telling himself I'm in Mexico, at the Salzar ranch. Once you open your eyes, focus.
The ritual had changed recently, when he's started to tell himself you're back home. Hell is over. He realized that he really needed to focus, especially after waking up. It hadn't only happened once that he had woken up in L.A., groping for his gun, almost mixing his real life and his undercover life.

Today was no difference. Eyes closed he lay there, telling himself you're in DC. Your flight leaves at twelve. This is your last workday at CTU, you drug addicted piece of sum. A positive affirmation looked different. But sometimes, it was better to face the harsh reality.

He opened up his eyes and startled. Damnit, he wasn't lying here in bed alone!

Feverishly he tried to think back to yesterday evening – he remembered that Audrey had come here, that they had talked… but at one point, the memories of the evening faded into this usual blur, after taking drugs.

She lay right in front of him, covered by one of the sheets. Her shoulders and her arms were naked. He could see her contours through the sheer fabric…. It didn't look like she was wearing anything.

He slowly sat up and looked around. Some of her clothes lay at the coffee table, at the other side of the room, together with his grey t-shirt. He found her bra and his jeans on the floor, next to the bed.
He looked down to her.
The fact that he didn't remember anything frightened him. What if he had been rude to her, or hadn't treated her well? There were some bad memories in the back of his head, from the past months – of having sex while being on a drug trip.
He watched her from head to toe.
The expression on her face wasn't that bad. She almost looked happy, sleeping here.

She would have left, if he had treated her badly, wouldn't she? That was the only way how he could calm down his racing thoughts again.

Trying not to make the mattress move, he lay down again, facing her. She was still asleep. The blond hair covered half her face, and spread all over the pillows and the bed.
She looked gorgeous, he had to admit.

He looked at his wristwatch. It was close to 8 a.m. He had probably woken up because his body demanded another fix.
But he didn't want to move now.
Spellbound, he lay there, watching her. He remembered nothing. Not one thing after sitting down on the couch, next to her. On the coffee table he had found four bottles of beer. So it couldn't really be the alcohol, what caused the blackout. It could only be heroin.

Most likely, she'd remember the past night, when she'd wake up.

A few inches of space parted him from her.
He didn't dare get closer.
What if she'd regret the past night? What if she opened up her eyes and started to scream, realizing where she was, and that she was here with him?
He hoped that she wouldn't, but he couldn't be sure.

After lying there for a few minutes, he could take the tension no more.
"Audrey", he silently whispered. Once more, a little louder. It was Friday… after all, he didn't want he to be late for work on top of all that.
The tension was almost killing him – awaiting her reaction.

She opened up her eyes.
Spellbound he stared at her.

She looked around a little, remembering where she was, and then her eyes came back to him again. "Hey.", she softly said, "good morning"

"Good morning" He was relieved to see a shy smile on her face, as she pulled the sheet around her and cuddled into it. It was embarrassing to admit that he didn't remember anything of the past night.
As he was still searching for the right words to tell her, she already sensed that something was wrong.

"Are you alright?", she asked, sliding one of her hands out from underneath the sheets and grabbing his hand. "Need another shot?", she nodded her head at the bedside table.

Looking past her head, he saw his 'equipment' there… god, had he really done this in front of her?

She saw the shock in in his eyes. "Jack?", she silently asked, "everything okay?"

He turned back, looking into her eyes. "I…", he began, and kept on stammering, "I… I don't… I don't remember anything. Of last night." It was the greatest embarrassment to admit this, even greater than doing drugs and letting her watch. Had he slept with her? Most likely, yes, judging from where their clothes lay. Had it been good? No idea. Had he even been able to get it up? Well, sometimes the drugs interfered with that…

She started to laugh. "Hi, my name is Audrey", she joked, "I'm your one night stand, nice to meet you."

He closed his eyes and buried his face in the pillow, also laughing. Damnit, he was glad that she was in such a good mood. Okay, so most likely he had been able to get it up. And that she was still here probably meant that it hadn't been too bad for her.

He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes for a moment. "Nice to meet you, Audrey.", he said, joking back. He yawned deeply and then turned back to her again. "I only remember getting us a second round of beer…", he started, "That's the last thing."

She watched him from head to toe. He lay there, a few inches away, afraid of getting any closer to her. He obviously didn't know what to do now.
But she didn't know that either.
"So… what's the standard procedure for waking up next to a stranger?", she silently asked.

He shrugged. "I have no idea. I guess the last time that this happened to me is… quite some time in the past."

She cuddled into the blankets, slipping a little bit closer to him. "Then you have the lead, Jack. Never happened to me before."

He had known it from the first second on, that she was a classy lady, and not comparable to any other average woman. He was tearing her down… down to his level, wasn't he?
"I'm not a stranger to you, am I?", he began, "You remember last night, don't you?"

She silently nodded.
Hesitatingly she stretched out her hand and lay it at his naked torso. "Maybe I have to remind you, then", she said, with a mischievous grin on her face.

Spellbound, he watched her sliding closer. He wondered how it would be to kiss her. In the middle of that thought, her lips already met his.
No, he didn't remember.
But it was wonderful to experience it now. Sober. Being able to memorize it for the future.

She slid one of her legs from underneath her sheet and under the blanket that the lower half of his body was covered with, letting her toes stroke over his skin. Soon, her hand followed, finding his thigh. She started at his knee, slowly letting her hand run higher, on the inside of his thigh, feeling his arousal, as she moved her whole body closer to his, still not letting her lips lose contact with his.

He felt how slowly more and more of her skin touched his, until she finally lay on top of him. She was so skinny that he almost didn't feel her weight on him, as she teasingly moved her body, letting her nipples run over the skin on his chest.
He didn't even realize how she'd done that, but suddenly he was inside her and they both started to move, geared to each other like they'd done this a thousand times before.

After a while, she broke away from the kiss, sitting up, riding him wildly, until they both climaxed.

Out of breath, she sat there, on top of him, feeling the pulse throbbing in her stomach and between her legs. He was still inside her. When she opened up her eyes and brushed her hair back, she found him lying there, looking at her with a seductive glance in his eyes, implicitly telling her that he was ready to go for another round.

She just smiled as an answer and let him grab her, pulling her down, rolling over, to take possession of her this time.

.

.