"That's a nasty looking knot you have there, I'd have it looked at if I were you," she suggested.

"Thanks Andrea, but I feel fine."

Rita was coming up the aisle and decided to stop and chat. "Hey you two."

"Hey Rita," Andrea replied. "Nice job on the bust, you and Michael make quite the team."

Rita grinned. "Thanks, glad someone else thinks so too! Ouch Nahla, that looks like it has to hurt." She commented when she turned her attention from Andrea to the younger op.

"It's fine." Nahla ground out.

"I was just trying to tell her I think she should have someone take a look at it," Andrea said to Rita.

"She's right, Nahla. You really should have it checked out."

"Forget it, I said."

Andrea and Rita exchanged a look. They both knew why Nahla was refusing medical attention, and his name was Dr. Jamison. Cocking her head, Andrea hoped Rita would take her signal to follow.

"What are you up to?" Rita asked once they were out of earshot.

"I don't know about you, but I'm sick of tipsy-toeing around those two. They at least need to get together and talk, but I have a feeling it's going to take a little help. You with me?"

Rita chortled. "Oh yea."

The twosome walked back to where Jace was seated. "Hey Jace."

"Ladies," he replied, barely glancing up from his laptop.

"We hate to bother you, but I think there's an operative up front that could use some medical attention."

"Why weren't they brought to me earlier?"

"Because it didn't appear necessary. Will you come take a look?"

Jace sighed. "Yeah, let me grab my bag."

The two women gave a conspirators wink as the good doctor followed them back down the aisle. Rita gave a thumb gesture to a seat to their left, letting Jace know where the patient was. Seeing that he understood, she and Andrea kept on going to find their seats.

"So what seems to be the .. problem?" Jace asked, his voice trailing off as he noticed it was Nahla.

Nahla heard and recognized his voice but made no effort to open her eyes. "No problem, other than I'd like to be left alone long enough to catch a little shut-eye."

"So you weren't injured?"

Finally opening her eyes since it was apparent he was going to take the hint and just go away, "It'll take more than a little bump on the noggin' to send me running to the doctor."

"You hit your head? What, the last conk wasn't enough? Hoping to lose your memory for good this time so you could go running back to your Italian stud?!"

"Go to hell, Jace." Nahla growled, turning her face away from, hoping he'd take the hint this time.

Her action allowed him to finally see where she had caught her temple on the spigot. Unbeknownst to her, the area was covered by an ugly purple bruise. Jace immediately grabbed the penlight out of his bag and sat down in the empty seat beside her. "Nahla, open your eyes and look at me."

"Go away."

Instinct didn't have to tell him that she was going to fight him tooth and nail so he decided to take the bull by the horns. Grasping her chin, he made her turn her head towards him. The minute she opened her eyes, he flashed the penlight in her right eye.

"What the hell??" She sputtered, retching back out of his grasp.

"I need to know if you've damaged your eye. That bruise could be bleeding or putting pressure on your retina. That could cause you to lose vision in your right eye. Now will you sit still or do I need to call for reinforcements?"

Her eyes sparked with barely suppressed fury, but she remained still. She watched him pull some gadget out of his bag that resembled a magnifying glass, and then use it to examine the inside of her eye. It meant that he had to lean in extremely close.

'Damn him,' Nahla thought to herself. It was so totally unfair to have him this close and yet so far away. She really wasn't as angry as she probably appeared, but it hid the fear churning in her stomach very well.

Truth be known, Jace was experiencing similar feelings. While he still wanted to throttle her, he was sorely tempted to lean in just a little closer and kiss her within an inch of her life. This was the closest he'd been to her in weeks and he'd missed her terribly.

"So will I live?" Nahla asked when he had remained quiet for too long.

"Well it doesn't appear you've done any damage to your eye." He replied, then noticing the odd look on her face, "what?"

"She's already giving you jewelry?"

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Jace. The silver chain you're wearing, is it from Janet?"

"Jealous?"

Nahla snorted, "Yeah right."

Jace saw straight through her defenses. Still not sure where she stood with what's-his-name, it was clear to him that she still had feelings for him. "Well, funny enough, I'm surprised you don't recognize it."

"Why would I?"

Taking the chain in hand, he pulled it up to show her the two pendants suspended from it. "Look familiar?" But before she could respond, he stood and returned to his seat at the back.

Completely stumped, it was several minutes before Nahla managed to drag her chin off the floor. What was he doing wearing her necklace?? Well, it had been hers until she'd returned it to him. Did this mean they still had a chance??

As utter exhaustion, both physical and mental, set in, Nahla finally drifted off to sleep. She didn't awaken until the pilot announced they were cleared to land. As the operatives quietly disembarked, Nahla waited until Jace passed her by to catch his attention.

"Is there any chance we can go somewhere and talk?" She asked quietly.

He didn't say anything for a moment. "I'd like that."

Nahla nodded, trying not to smile. "Good. I have to go and check everyone's equipment and then I could really use a shower and good night's rest. Can I stop by your office tomorrow?"

"All right," he agreed, standing there looking at her for a moment before turning and walking down the aisle to exit the plane.


The following afternoon, Nahla steadily made her way down to Medlab. She couldn't remember the last time she was this scared. Taking a deep breath, she raised a hand and knocked lightly on the office door. A muffled "come in" came from within. 'This is it,' she thought.

Her quiet "hello" caught him a little off-guard, he'd been waiting on pins and needles all day for her to come by. "Hi," he replied just as softly. "I thought maybe you had changed your mind."

Nahla shook her head, "No, flash mission in the Orient went live. I had to prep it and it took longer than anticipated. I apologize if I kept you waiting."

"It's ok." Jace replied as he stood and removed his white lab coat. Beneath it he wore a favorite shirt of hers. It was short-sleeved, ribbed and v-neck; and it allowed her necklace and pendant to be viewed openly. "Why don't we take a walk outside? I'd rather not do this here."

"Sure," Nahla agreed.

In order to attract the least amount of attention, they left Section through an infrequently used set of passageways. Emerging out into the later afternoon sunshine, Jace quietly led Nahla down a couple of blocks to a nearby park. "Shall we sit?" he asked as they approached a park bench.

"Ok," Nahla replied, taking a seat while Jace chose to stand.

Several moments passed by without either of them saying anything. "So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" Jace finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Will you answer a question for me?"

Jace paused. "If I can."

"Why did you bring Janet to CLHQ that night?"

"Honestly?"

Nahla tilted her head up to shoot him a look that said 'no, I want you to lie'. She watched as he sighed and moved to sit next to her on the bench, clasping his hands and bracing his lower arms on the tops of his thighs.

"I wanted to get back at you, plain and simple." He replied. "I was so angry that you could hurt me like that, and the only way I could see to make myself feel better was to do the same to you."

"Jace, you have to believe me when I say I would never intentionally hurt you. I was so confused and so scared. I couldn't remember anything, and here was this very kind, and I'll admit good-looking, gentleman helping me."

"What about before you lost your memory? Did you want him?" Jace asked quietly.

"Absolutely not!" Nahla said firmly. She then reached over and tipped his chin to make him look at her. "He may have caught my attention, but somebody else already held my heart. Gino had no chance of taking that away."

When he didn't immediately reply, she released his chin and returned her hands to her lap. "I understand if you need time. Even if you feel the need to.look around. But do you suppose you could find it in your heart to give me another chance?" she asked.

She heard his sigh, it didn't sound promising. Against her wishes, she could feel the tears begin to build. "I don't know," he whispered. "I'd like to say that I could just forget the whole thing. But the picture of you two together keeps repeating in my head."

Nahla nodded. "Well, I guess that's it then," she said, standing up. "I guess if you change your mind, you know where I am." And with that she turned to leave.

"Wait, please." He called out, catching up to her after a few paces.

She stopped but didn't turn around. "I don't think we have anything else to say to one another."

"Yes, we do," he said just before he turned her around and crushed his mouth against hers. She didn't fight him, but neither did she return his kiss. "Do you still love me?" he asked a moment later.

Her tear-filled eyes rose to meet his as she nodded, "Yes." She whispered.

"Do I love you?" He asked, willing her to see in his eyes what he still felt in his heart.

"I hope so."

His hands came up to frame her face. "Then believe it. I may not be able to forget, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let my pride stop me from trying. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me for striking back like I did?"

Cupping her hands over his, she turned her head to first kiss his left palm, then his right. "We've both done a lot of damage, but I'm willing to start anew if you are."

A smile slowly lighted up his facial features. "I'd like that."

"Me too," Nahla responded, leaning in to give him two quick kisses before wrapping her arms about his neck and holding on to him like she'd wanted to for the past couple of weeks.

His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her as close as he could. Closing his eyes, he thanked God for bringing this creature into the hell they called life. After several long moments passed he started to pull back, lightly kissing the juncture of her shoulder and neck and then
progressing his way along her neck and jaw until he reached her mouth.

Nahla beat him to the punch as she fused their mouths together. Her fingers lost themselves in his hair as his remained around her waist to hold her close. For those few precious moments, nothing existed but the two of them.

It was a shame reality had to come crashing in. Literally. The couple was knocked to the side as something ran into them. They broke apart to see a little old lady amble past them pushing her cart. "Damn kids," she muttered. "Get out of the middle of the path and find a room!"

Looking at one other, they dissolved into peels of laughter, forced to hold on to one another in order to remain upright. As it settled down, Jace wrapped an arm about Nahla's waist and led her out of the park.

"Where we going?" She asked, wrapping both arms around his waist and snuggling close to his side as they walked.

"Does it matter?"

Nahla smiled brightly. "Nope, not as long as I have you by my side. I love you."

Jace leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "Love you."

******

Avillion arrived home late that evening to find a message waiting for her. Hitting play, the sound of Nahla's voice followed her into the kitchen.

*beep* Avi? Hey, it's Nahla. Listen, I was wondering, would you be interested in giving someone horseback riding lessons? Give me a ring ... toodles ... *beep*

The End

This story ©copyright Nahla, July 20, 2001