Disclaimer: Last time I looked these characters belonged to UPN. Not used for profit; entertainment only.

A/N: This chapter re-written and re-posted 2-24-07.

Chapter 1

Picks up immediately after "Upgrade" (the last episode) leaves off, with Jake in the parking garage where he'd just killed the female clan assassin, Shinji's sister…

The sharp sound of his cell phone snapping shut was still echoing from the cement walls of the parking garage when Kyle burst through the stairwell door, gun in hand. Seeing he was too late – and that Jake hadn't needed his help, after all – he slowed, holstered his gun and continued to Jake's side. Once there, however, he hesitated, not sure how to ask what happened. Jake was just standing there, leaning silently against his car, carefully not looking at the woman's body lying right in front of him.

"When I answered Lou's call I caught her reflection in the window, running toward me," Jake said softly, his eyes still on the fallen woman. "She didn't make a sound."

"She killed five agents and another prisoner during her escape, and she would have killed you," Kyle said calmly even as he made note of the neat bullet hole dead-center just above the woman's eyes. "She would never have given up. You did what you had to do."

"I need to tell Shinji."

"His plane is still in the air. I'll have his handler break it to him when he lands, explain what happened."

"No, Kyle." Jake finally turned away from the woman, looking steadily into the hazel eyes of the man who'd become a friend. "I killed his sister; I need to tell him. Not some stranger."

Kyle returned the look for several long moments. He had an odd feeling of distortion for a moment, like looking through uneven glass. Something had changed in Jake. His eyes were flat and his face was blank. Slowly he nodded his head. "Okay, Jake. I'll get the contact number of his handler for you. He can call you as soon as he's got Shinji on the ground."

Behind him the elevator door opened, spilling out Lou, two armed agents -- and in the back, looking more than a little worried, was Dr. Diane Hughes clutching her JMD.

"Are you alright?" Lou asked as she swiftly crossed the concrete.

"I'm fine," Jake answered flatly. "I'm tired. And I'm going home. I'll give you my report in the morning." While Lou stared at him in speechless shock Jake turned back to Kyle. "Send me the number."

Then he frowned towards Dr. Hughes, and his tight control slipped slightly. "I'm fine. Stop monitoring me!" He scowled at the JMD and it crackled with static briefly before the 'battery low' warning beeped and the device went dead. Diane looked up at him in indignant surprise but he was already turning away, sliding into his car.

Lou, Kyle, and Diane stood silently watching as Jake drove away. Behind them more people emerged from the stairwell and elevator – more armed agents, people to remove the body, people to clean. After several minutes Lou spoke.

"Kyle, what just happened here? What did I just see?"

"A seasoned agent that just took down a highly skilled assassin single-handedly with a single shot," Kyle said softly, carefully.

"Dr. Hughes… How did the monitor look?"

"Um," For a moment Diane looked down at the blank screen of the modified PDA. "His levels were all normal with the exception of a single momentary spike in his heartbeat just before we heard the shot." She fidgeted with the dead PDA, pressing the power button experimentally. "Everything was normal..." she trailed off into a whisper.

She sounds like she's in shock, Kyle thought to himself. He watched her hands flutter over the dark screen, absently noting that she wore clear nail polish and there was a band-aid on her thumb.

"It's late, Dr. Hughes," he said quietly. "Why don't you go home, try to get some sleep. You'll need to check Jake in the morning."

Diane gave a hesitant, absent nod and turned back to the elevator.

Kyle turned back to Lou.

"We'll have to tell the boy," she said.

"It's covered."

She sighed and looked around the nearly-empty garage. "Call it a night, Agent Duarte. Things may be rocky in the morning and I'll need you fresh. There's nothing left here but mop-up, and someone else can handle it."

Kyle nodded and turned, moving away toward his own car. Outwardly he was calm but inside his mind was spinning. Just before he reached his car he remembered his promise and made the call to have Shinji's contact number sent to Jake's phone. Then once again deep thoughts swirled through his mind as he drove slowly out of the garage.

j+d

Diane walked into the lab and just stopped, blinking, as if she wasn't sure why she was there. She looked down at the dead JMD for a full minute before shaking her head and trying to get her thoughts together.

She gathered her things with the mindless ease of long habit – she tucked her laptop and the JMD into her padded messenger bag, locked up her files and laid the keys on the counter by the bag. Then she slipped off her lab coat, taking two tries to get it to stay on the coat tree. She draped her coat and scarf over her arm and picked up her purse, messenger bag, and keys. It was awkward to juggle everything, but her slim-fitting slacks had no pockets.

Her head was aching, and as she waited for the elevator she shifted her load trying to free a hand to rub her temple. She gave up when the elevator dinged.

Her little car was in the south garage, far from the crowd still gathered in the east section. She left without fanfare, heading home. But somewhere in the next few miles she changed her mind, and changed her route.

j+d

Jake was sitting on the edge of the loveseat in front of the TV. An old black and white movie was on the screen but the sound was muted. He was on the phone with Shinji, trying to break the news gently, trying to explain, with his tie pulled askew and his jacket and gun abandoned on the far side of the room. He was hunched forward, elbows on his knees, with one hand holding the phone to his ear and the other holding his head.

"I wish there had been another way, Shinji," he said softly. "It happened too fast. I didn't want to kill her…I didn't want this to happen."

Shinji was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke his voice was soft. "There was nothing else you could have done, Agent Foley. She despised me for being weak, but she was my sister and I loved her. But I also know she would never have stopped trying to kill you, and she would have killed anyone else who got in her way. You gave her the honorable death she would have wanted. Now, I hope, she is at peace."

"I hope so, too." Jake was having a little trouble controlling his voice. He'd spent hours with Shinji, and despite everything he'd felt and odd attachment. He'd hoped they could be friends, someday.

A soft knock caught Jake's attention and he got up, checked the peephole, and opened the door to a pale Diane Hughes. He stepped back silently, turning away but leaving the door open. She stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind her.

Shinji continued. "I harbor no ill will toward you. My sister chose her path; you did what you had to do. You gave me a new life when others would have locked me away. My life is still yours for the asking."

"All I ask is that you make the most of your new life. Good luck, Shinji. I hope that someday I'll be able to visit you as a friend."

"I would like that. Goodbye, Jake."

Jake ended the call and hesitated before he flipped the phone shut. A moment later, without warning, he hurled it across the room to smash against the bedroom door. Diane jumped, startled, as the phone flew apart but immediately turned back to Jake. He had both hands in his hair and an anguished look on his face. The control he'd held so tightly was breaking.

"Jake," she cried softly, going to him. He reached for her as the first sob tore from his throat and fell to his knees at her feet. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, cradling his head against her as he cried. Tears ran silently down her own cheeks as she gave him what she could, curling around him protectively, stroking his back, his hair, pressing kisses into the top of his head…

TBC…