"I've got to be honest, I really didn't think you'd come back..." I tell him bluntly while I throw my gun back into it's safe place in the drawer once I have my breath back. After the way he saved me back in the car park, my instincts say I can trust him as well as I did in the old times. "I wasn't even sure you'd clean up my mess."

"I'm here aren't I? And don't worry. I've cleared everything." Jack reassures me, standing back up now that I'm stable.

"Thank you." I say sincerely. I wouldn't show it but that was something that had really been worrying me. "Nobody... saw did they?"

He hesitates before answering and I hold my breath without realising. "Not as far as I know but there may have been someone."

"What do you mean 'may'?" I asks slowly.

He looks back out the window now that it's open the car park can be seen from it. "I think I saw someone running when I was finishing up but it was too dark to really tell. Honestly in a place like this I was surprised I hadn't seen anyone till then."

"They are spies, Jack. Are you sure you didn't just miss anyone else?" I ask warily and his gaze that had been so set on the car park suddenly shifts back to me and he stares me in the eye.

"I'm sure." He's confident in his words but for some reason I can't seem to believe him.

"So what about that one person?"

His jaw tightens. "I don't know. Just be wary, Wil." My breath silently catches when he uses that nickname because it's one I haven't heard in a long time. I hated it because it sounded like a boys name but Jack always loved it and teased me endlessly until one day that name stuck. What I would give now to hear it a thousand times more. "If they're stupid enough to breathe a word, I'll take care of it. For now, just be really careful. You know, keep low."

"Like you?" I blurt out before I can stop myself.

"Yes. Like me."

"Maybe I don't want to be like you. If anyone here does find out about what went down this evening, I'll be in a lot of trouble." I raise an eyebrow, daring him to respond.

"Then get caught. That's your choice." He shrugs coldly and begins to walk back over to the window. I panic thinking he's going to leave and then I really didn't know when I'd see him again but before I even call out to him, he suddenly stops and looks to the ground, sighing heavily. "Look, it's not just E.I.O. that'll be after you if they find out. D.A.R.E. will be as well now. You killed two of their men, for goodness sake! You need to be careful, Wil." He uses the nickname again but this time realises. "Sorry, I mean Willow. It's not as simple as fessing up, if you want to live that is."

I gasp quietly. "Really?"

He hadn't been looking at me when he walked away but when he picks up on the vulnerability in my voice I notice that he can't help but turn back to face me again. His face is lit up again and I drink in his features, afraid that if he leaves I'll forget how he looks once again.

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have tried to see you." He mutters through a sigh.

I shake my head. "No, I'm glad you did." I tell him quietly. This was as good a chance as ever to tell him my true feelings.

"Why?" His face is twisted into a frown that cries disbelief. At first I don't know whether to tell him the truth or not but could it really hurt either of us. I try to stand up seeing as he's only a few steps away and although it hurts badly I manage it. He notices my pain and when I reach him he holds me up in his firm grasp by my arms. A touch I had really missed.

"Because I've missed you." I whisper, unable to raise my voice. I keep my head down so he can't see my face and I hear him gulp in response because we're so close. My confession was big. Neither of us had ever technically broken our engagement though it may have been an unavoidable consequence of him leaving. Maybe he assumed I'd moved on. Especially considering that note he'd left me. I expect a negative response from him but when he doesn't say anything and instead snakes his arms around my body to pull me close, I have to put all my energy into not sobbing my heart out.

He hugs me tight and I feel him relax. It was even quieter than my whisper and I don't think he meant for me to hear but I could've sworn he mutters something along the lines of ,"I've missed you too."

"Jack, please don't leave again." I beg but his response this time is as expected.

He pulls away from me rather harshly and I stumble on my feet a little, my ankle blowing up with pain once again. I whimper this time, getting a little better at controlling the pain. Jack notices however and realises what the problem is this time. "I can't. Look at all the damage I've caused in the next to no time I've been here already." He looks down to my ankle and shakes his head at himself.

"Why did you leave me in the first place, J?" I cry out which causes me to stumble again. Jack rushes to catch me again but he only gingerly takes hold of my elbow to steady me. I had used to nickname on purpose because I wanted it to strike the same nerve it had within me and by the looks of it, it had.

I notice his throat constrict as he gulps. "I said already!" He exclaims! "It was to protect you!"

"Having you with me is good enough, it's been so hard without you!" I whimper, sobs begin to wrack my body. Jack always had a weakness for my emotions and wanting to solve my problems but right now I couldn't help but cry.

"You think it's been a breeze without you in my life?" He retorts back with a hurt look etched into his features. He looks over me as if it's been a lifetime since he'd last seen me. It certainly felt like it. "I've missed you more than anything but I have responsibilities, Wil." He uses the nickname with spite and it hits a deeper nerve. "Neither of us would be safe if I left with you, we'd just constantly be on the run."

"I don't care!"

"I do." He snaps over me and then all the tension in his body suddenly disintegrates. "If I'm going to be with you, I want us to be happy."

"As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy!"

"I wouldn't." He admits honestly and I'm stunned into silence.

"Really?"

"I'd just be plagued with the thought of the life I should be giving you with what we have." He shrugs. "I've seen a few other men from D.A.R.E do what you're asking and it always ended up bad, Willow. I can't bring that kind of consequence on you." I see his gaze fall on my ankle again. "Like I said, I've hurt you enough already."

I just nod accepting that. I couldn't force him to stay if that was going to make him unhappy, what kind of person would that make me.

"I'm sorry." He apologises sincerely and this time I shrug my shoulders.

"Don't be. We met through this line of work and this is something I should've expected." I say numbly because now I really can't feel anything. "I'm just so frustrated I wasted these last three years pining for you."

He freezes. "Really?"

"What did you think I'd do?!" I exclaim but with amusement. For a guy with a higher IQ than mine, he was so clueless. "Run off into he sunset with my next partner? Well you'll be glad to know there was no new partner. I was demoted to the lowest rank possible, filing papers and sorting petty crimes."

"All I can say is sorry. I thought... I- I guess I don't know what I thought anymore. All I do know is that if I hadn't joined them, you would've been killed."

"And for that I am grateful." I squeeze his arm lightly. "It just ended up being the day where you died instead."

Jack gives me a concerned look. "What?"

"Sure, you're here and breathing but my Jack is long gone." I say gently.

He then actually nods. "That might just be true. I'll always have a place for you in my heart, Wil. But we just can't be together like that anymore."

"Is this us officially breaking up then?" I sniffle, still refusing to really look up to him again. All my words are just coming out in a monotone and it sounds like there's no feeling to them when really I'm exploding from emotion inside.

He takes a long breath. "I-I guess so."

I pull away from his touch on my arm and conceal a wince as I rely on my bad ankle as best as I can. "Took you long enough." Is what I spitefully mutter in response but really I'm on the verge of a full on mental breakdown. This was the one option I really hadn't expected to happen. The one where he really was leaving for good. "I'ts weird, I always imagined us together forever." I add before cringing. It was such a school girl thing to say.

"There's just no reason for us to be together anymore." He says like it's the most simple thing in the world and I feel a stab in my chest. His words hurt but they also suddenly drag me back to reality because they aren't exactly true. I think I still love him but he obviously didn't return those feelings anymore.

That's not what mattered though because there was something else, just as strong, that we shared.

A life we both created.

That little girl who has no idea what a loving parent truly was because neither I or Jack have been there for her. This whole thing has opened up my eyes and made me realise I need to return and be a mother to her. But what if I could do better? What if I could bring her father back too? If not for me, for her?

It's worth a shot.

"Jack I have to tell you something." I manage to mutter after taking a few breaths. Telling him the truth would either make or further break everything.