**** Part Four ****

"Where'd you hear that name?" he asked as he turned and left the bathroom.

"You've been talking in your sleep the past few nights, having nightmares. Don't you remember?" Nahla replied, standing up and following him.

Jace didn't say anything for a few minutes as he chose a shirt out of the closet, then a pair of socks from the dresser and put them on. Grabbing his shoes from the floor of the closet, he proceeded towards the staircase, hoping she would take the hint and drop the subject.

He should've known better as he heard her footsteps directly behind him. "So who is she?"

Stopping midway down the stairs, he turned around to look up at her. "Just someone from my past, that's all you need to know." Then he continued on down.

"Must've been someone important the way you were carrying on in your sleep," Nahla said.

"It doesn't matter now Nahla, now drop it, please." Jace replied, becoming agitated.

"You want me to drop this?" she asked after catching up to him in the den, then shoving her arm in front of his face.

"What happened to your arm?"

"You happened. Your nightmares happened. You were holding me so tight I thought you were gonna break a rib. And you kept calling me Claire."

"Damn," Jace muttered, sinking to sit down on the ottoman, lacing his shoes.

"Now what's going on??" Nahla asked again.

Jace didn't really hear her, lost in the memories of his family's death. Recalling his father's shout at seeing the buck, hearing the crunch of metal when they hit the tree, waking up blind from the explosion. The months upon months of rehabilitation and therapy that followed.

Suddenly the walls seemed to be closing in and he had to get out. His brain didn't even register Nahla's shout of alarm when he suddenly stood and ran out of the cabin, running as if the demons of hell were on his heels. Jace didn't care where he was going, he only knew he had to keep going.

A stitch in his side finally slowed him down and brought him to a stop. Breathing heavily, Jace leaned over with his hands braced above his knees, struggling to stay in control of his emotions. He prayed that Nahla wouldn't follow him; he didn't want her to see him like this . weak.

Back at the cabin, Nahla was frantic with worry. Should she follow? Should she call someone for help? Deciding that finding Jace was top priority, she ran upstairs and threw on the first clothes she could find, totally uncaring of her appearance. Common sense and Section training told her to throw bottled water, a blanket, cell phone and lastly a gun into a knapsack. There was no telling how long it would take to find him.

Once he regained his breath, Jace took note of his surroundings. The gurgle of a nearby stream drew his attention, and he headed in that direction. After quenching his thirst, he sat back in the tall grass.

The silence allowed the memories to come at Jace from all directions. He tried to keep them at bay, but it was a losing battle. With an incoherent sob, Jace gave in to his emotions and finally wept at the tragic loss of his family so many years ago.

**** Part Five ****

Through the haze of pain, Jace heard Nahla approach, first hearing her voice then her footsteps. He sat up, trying to pull himself together. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nahla drop to her knees beside him. He prayed she wouldn't touch him, for he would surely break again. Yet he needed her touch, needed it desperately.

"Jace?" came her anguished whisper. "Please, tell me what's going on."

She could tell he had been crying, his eyes were completely bloodshot, his nose red as Rudolph's. But after fearing never finding him, he looked absolutely beautiful in her eyes.

He finally turned to look at her, afraid of what he would see reflected in her green eyes. Expecting to see loathing, he was completely taken aback to find nothing but love radiating back at him. Finding strength in that, he slowly began to tell her of that horrible spring day 15 year ago.

Nahla interrupted only once, when she drew him to his feet and led him to a nearby tree trunk. Sitting down first and using the tree as a backrest, she had Jace sit in the vee of her legs, resting back against her. She then wrapped her arms about him as tight as she could, lending what support she could while he told his tale.

Jace cried yet again as his mind replayed the details. He, his parents, brother, and sister-in-law had been on the way back from a play in a neighboring city. The buck had seemingly come out of nowhere, startling his father who had been driving.

The initial impact had knocked Jace unconscious. He had been the first to awake, and since Claire had been sitting closest to him, he had pulled her out of the wreck first. Medical help had been slow in coming; it had seemed like hours waiting for it. Blinded by the initial blast, there had been fear that Jace had lost his sight for good, but it had only been temporary.

The burns had been more extensive and had required several reconstructive surgeries in addition to rehabilitation. There were several times he would have given up had it not been for Claire. They had been each other's source of strength during the first few months.

Much to Jace's dismay, he and Claire began to grow apart as time went on. After a year had passed she was barely speaking with him, determined to forget the incident had ever happened. Preferring to ignore it and move on.

Jace was unable to do the same. He couldn't simply put the accident out of his mind. In fact, it was the accident that had led him to become a doctor in the first place. It had given him a purpose in life.

Tears were streaming down Nahla's cheeks as Jace finished his tale. "I don't know how you did it." She whispered.

Jace tilted his head back to look at her. "Do what?"

"Find the strength to go on, to survive an experience like that. I think your father, and mother, would be extremely proud of how far you've come."

To her complete surprise, Jace wretched himself from her embrace. "That's a lie!"

He watched Nahla's jaw drop in utter disbelief. "What would make you say such a thing!?"

"Look at me Nahla! I'm sitting here babbling and carrying on like a baby! A real man would be able to suck it up!"

"Who in the world told you that load of crap?!" Nahla exclaimed, moving to stand next to him. "Your father??"

Jace was torn between defending his father's honor and trying to avoid a fight that was sure to ensue if this discussion went any further.

"You don't understand. My father was ex-military. Men were supposed to be the backbone of the family, they weren't crying babies." Jace said. The expression he saw on her face told him she was debating whether or not to say what was on her mind. "Go ahead, spit it out."

"No disrespect to your father, Jace, but he was wrong. I'm not saying that he didn't love you and want what was best for you, but there's absolutely *NOTHING* wrong with a man crying."

Jace remained quiet for a moment, letting it all sink in before he said something he would later regret. True, she didn't seem to be repulsed in the least by his tears. "You don't find me weak?" he asked with a whisper, laying himself wide open.

"Never," Nahla replied, moving to stand in front of him then wrapping her arms about his waist and leaning into him. "All these months you have been a rock for me and asked nothing in return. Let me be your rock now."

'Was it that simple?' Jace asked himself. With his parents he never thought of it as a two-way street, each looking out for each other. But he now saw the error in his judgment. Wrapping his arms about Nahla, he held her as close as possible. "Thank you." He whispered.

Her arms tightened, "Always."

**** Part Six/end ****

They stood there for untold minutes, not saying a word, just simply being. Jace was the first to notice the chill in the evening air. "What do you say we get back to the cabin and roast marshmallows in the fireplace?" he asked.

"Well ." Nahla began.

Jace became concerned, that tone didn't sound good. "What?"

"I don't know about you, but I have absolutely *no* idea where we are."

Jace groaned. "That makes two of us."

"Well, at least I did think to grab some water and a blanket before chasing after you."

"No offense sweetie," he replied, lightly kissing her forehead, "but even the combination of body heat and a blanket won't be enough to fight off the cold. It's too early in the season."

Nahla sighed and then reared her head back as a thought struck her. "The phone! I can call Walter, maybe he can help!"

Jace chuckled. "I wondered who you were talking to when I heard you approach."

Nahla grinned as she dialed, "Thinking I'd begun talking to trees?"

"Y-ello!"

"Hey Walter."

Jace watched several emotions cross her features, guessing that Walter was probably grilling her for information. She tried several times to interject something, but apparently he wasn't letting her get a word in edgewise. Jace motioned for her to pass him the phone, but she shook her head.

Deciding that enough was enough; Jace plucked the phone from her hand, laid a finger on the #5 key and held it down for several seconds, hoping the loud annoying tone would shut Walter up for a moment. Releasing the key, he brought the phone to his ear. "Do I have your attention now, Walter?"

When Walter began firing questions at him, he simply hit the #5 key again, repeating the process. "Now will you shut up for a minute, or do I have to do that again??"

Walter kept quiet.

"Thank you. Now we can either sit here all night and play twenty questions, or you can try and help Nahla and I find our way back to the cabin before we freeze our asses off out here."

He flashed a grin and a wink at Nahla when he heard her hoot of laughter from beside him.

Aided by the light of full moon, since Nahla had forgotten to grab a flashlight, and with Walter and Birkoff's help, Jace and Nahla eventually made their way back to the cabin. Thankfully it was a Section-issued safe house and therefore its' location was stored in One's computer mainframe.

Several hours later, Birkoff was still seated at his Comm terminal. Monitoring missions taking place on the other side of the globe tended to make for some all-nighters. He nearly spewed his coffee when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Geez Walter! Give a man a heart attack why don't you!!"

"Sorry, amigo."

"What are you doing here? It's 3 in the morning."

"Couldn't sleep. I know we talked to Jace and Nahla, but it's still buggin' me. There are surveillance cameras in the cabin, right?" Walter asked.

Birkoff shook his head, "No way Walter, I'm not pulling surveillance at this hour."

"Why not?? Come on amigo, just for a sec, I just want to be sure they're all right."

Birkoff's face turned a bright shade of red. "But what if they're..?"

Walter's laugh echoed through the mostly empty center of Section One. "No fears my man, trust me."

"I don't know ."

"Seymour." Walter growled.

"Ok, ok. Just don't call me Seymour!" He replied testily, quickly pulling surveillance on the cabin. Switching from camera to camera, they finally located the couple in the living room, snuggled up and sound asleep in an oversized sleeping bag in front of the dying embers of a fire.

"Ok, you got your answer. Now go away, I got work to do." Birkoff griped, shooing the older op away.

"Yea, sure amigo. Thanks." Walter said, clapping a hand on the younger ops shoulder. "Enjoy your video games!" he called out over his shoulder, whistling a tune as he swankered out of Section.

The End