Chapter Five: Interrogations of the Playful Kind.

Jessie pulled up infront of a small, grotty looking apartment building. Her Mitsubishi Eclipse purred like a kitten as they sat there.

"Home sweet home." Xander grinned. He opened the passenger door and clambered out, Jessie following his movements with her violet eyes.

"And how do you propose to get in there without your keys?" She asked in a voice like a knife edge. Jessie flung open her door and stepped out, following him up a slope to the large front door.

Xander wordlessly bent down and retrieved a small key from underneath a dog's water bowl. "Spare."

Jessie's nostrils flared slightly and she snarled in the back of her throat. "So you're telling me that you could have come home and let yourself in with that spare key in your hand at any time? You lied to me?"

He shrugged and fitted the key into the lock, gaining access and replacing the key in its hiding place. After holding open the door for her, Xander and Jessie shuddered upward in the old elevator.

They arrived and Xander opened his door. Inside there was pandemonium. The tall windows had been boarded up; there was glass shards littering the floor, as well as old liquor bottles and microwave meal packets.

"Nice place." Jessie remarked mockingly. Her smirk was lost in the dimness of the room.

Xander rolled his eyes. "Haven't been back here for a while."

"Looks that way." Jessie muttered, running one perfectly manicured finger over a shelf. Pulling it away, she saw it had been coated in a thick layer of dust. "Ewww."

Crossing the room, Xander flipped a switch on the wall, illuminating the room. "This is just the party room. You want somethin' to eat?"

Jessie raised an eyebrow. "If you haven't been back for a while, do you really expect there to be something edible here? Where have you been anyway?"

Xander's jaw tightened. "Bora Bora."

Jessie nodded, not sure if he wanted her to continue her line of questioning or not. She settled for not. "So what have you got?"

Xander wandered away, Jessie close behind. They entered a small white kitchen, immaculately clean, apart from the dust.

"I'm kinda dominant in my kitchen." Xander confessed sheepishly.

Jessie smiled, knowing that she had just caught a glimpse of the real Xander Cage.

"Nothin' good to eat here, you wanna go out?" He asked from inside the refrigerator.

"So, Miss Miller, what about you?" Xander asked, whilst taking a huge bite from his cheeseburger.

Jessie sipped Coke through a straw innocently. "What about me?"

"Where'd you come from? Do you have siblings? What's your middle name? How many decimal places do you know PIE to?" He grinned, swallowing his mouthful.

She bit into one of her fries thoughtfully. "I come from LA; I'm an only child; my middle name is Isobel, spelt I S O B E L, and I know PIE to nine decimal places. You?"

"I come from New York, I'm an only child, I don't have a middle name and haha, I beat you, I know it to eleven decimal places."

Jessie stuck out her tongue and grinned. "Okay, my turn to pose the questions… let's see… Do you or did you have any pets? Are you an atheist, or do you believe in God? Are you always so sure of yourself? Last but not least, what happened in Bora Bora that makes you tense up whenever anyone talks about it?"

Xander stiffened, but replied regardless. "When I was seven, I had a puppy, but he died when I was 21. I'm an atheist; I'm always very sure of myself."

Jessie surveyed him scrupulously. "And Bora Bora?"

"None of your damn business." Xander snapped, effectively silencing Jessie for the rest of the meal.

When they had both finished eating, Xander rose to his feet. "We should head over to the agency."

Jessie just nodded.