Sarah's phone rang. "I got it honey!" A.j. yelled. Now that the tour was over they could spend more time together, and although Sarah's place was smaller, he liked it there better than at his place.

"Thanks!" Sarah called. She was in the shower, so getting the phone would be inconvenient.

A.j. picked up one of her black cordless phones. "Sup?"

There was a hesitant moment. "…is this Sarah?"

"Nick?!" A.j. cried, surprised.

Sarah heard A.j.'s shock over the hot running water, and her eyes grew wide. She jumped out of the shower and grabbed her pink robe.

"Why do you need Sarah?" A.j. continued, asking Nick.

Sarah pranced into her front room and ripped the phone from A.j.'s hand, unexpectedly. "Thanks!" She said worried. "Hello?"

A.j. stared at her, his eyebrows crunched.

She tried to not notice his wary gaze. "…When? Ok. Let me write down the address…" she grabbed a post it and pen from next to the phone and began scribbling down Nick's address. "…Alright, I got it. I'll be there as soon as I'm dressed. Later." She hung up and faced A.j. She smiled but he didn't.

Her smile grew serious. "I've got to go." She said.

"What? Why? I thought we had the evening planned…" A.j. said, controlling his temper.

"We did, and I'm sorry baby, but something came up." She said, heading to her room to get dressed.

"With Nick?" He demanded. "What do you have to do with Nick?"

She contemplated. "It's, it's a surprise."

"Surprise?"

Sarah turned and flashed a fake smile that she hoped would pass as a real one. She had to think fast. "You're birthday is coming up, so me and Nick are planning something for you."

A.j. grinned a little, feeling sheepish. "Oh."

"Don't tell Nick that I told you though, ok?" She picked out a pair of sweats from her closet.

"Ok, I won't."

It was raining when Nick pulled his front room door open. In fact, it was pouring. Sarah stood on his doorstep, in sweats and carrying a duffel bag, water dripping from her face. She spit some of it out from her mouth. "Can I come in?" she begged.

He let her in. His house was bright and warm. "Welcome," he said. "Bring your stuff with you and follow me."

She did and she tried not to gawk too much at his huge home. He led her down stairs, which must have been a basement because she thought they were already on the bottom floor. They must have walked down about thirty steps when they got to a door, which Nick unlocked. They went in. "What do you think?" He asked.

It was a gym, a huge gym. There were also a lot of computers and other machines. "Whoa!" Sarah said surprised. "This place is so tight!"

"Get used to it," Nick said, "we're going to be here a lot."

"We are?" She asked

"Yeah, it's the practice and work room," he said, taking her things and in turn handed her a pair of boxing gloves. "And I'd like you to also show me some of those skills of yours." He smiled, which Sarah liked. His smiles were becoming more and more rare. Is that what this fight did to you?

"I'm not sure that I should," she said, strapping the gloves on. "You got me in trouble."

Nick nodded. "A.j., right?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't expect him to be there." He said, his voice deep and steady. "That's why you need a cell phone like mine."

"Well, now we have a party to plan. I told him that I had to go because we were planning a surprise birthday party for him."

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes. "Another thing I have to fit into my schedule."

"It WORKED," she reminded him. She took a jab at the punching bag that he held. "Do your partners also have to have the intelligent factor?"

He grabbed her glove right before it hit again. "Maybe. But they don't have to be better at hand-eye coordination."

She ignored him and began punching again. "What chick taught you that move?"

"Sapphire."

"She died, didn't she?" Sarah said. "I remember you telling me that."

"They've all died, I think," Nick muttered. "Sapphire…she was something special though. They were all special - don't get me wrong, but I think she was the most talented. She loved her job. She was the best at it; she lasted the longest."

Sarah stopped for a minute. "You really don't care about them, do you? We're all just playing pieces…chess pawns in this game of yours. Aren't we?"

"No." Nick insisted. "I've loved them all. Well, as friends anyway. I was devastated when I found out about Sapphire. I cried hard. And it's terrible because you can't tell anyone that you're so sad, you can't even show it for a second. You cry and cry, but as soon as you leave that tour bus, or as soon as you leave that hotel room, you have to be happy and act like there's nothing wrong, or people will know something is up. And that can cost us both of our lives. You get so miserable you wonder why you keep going, and no one knows how you feel but you."

"So why DO you keep going? Why do you keep fighting, Nick?"

"I guess…" he thought. "…I can't live without knowing that I'm not like Them. You can't turn away, it's like you become obsessed or something."

She considered. "Good enough. Hold that bag better."

Nick flashed another rare smile. "Yes, ma'am."