"Can't sleep, huh?"

To Jane's horror, Ford was sitting down next to her. She didn't feel like talking and motioned across the room to where Benji and Skye were sleeping.

"I doubt anything could wake those two as long as they've got their Spy Who Loved Me thing going," he said with a hint of his grin, but he did lower his voice. He ran a hand through his hair, not yet used to having it so short. It was a gesture that was so much like Hanaway that Jane looked back out of the window. "I hate to say it, but that was pretty clever what you did there," he grumbled. "It wasn't nice, and it sure as hell wasn't decent, but it was damn clever."

Carter showed no reaction.

Ford sighed heavily, and decided to get to the point. "I lost someone, too, you know. She, um... she was..." He didn't find the right words. "I wanted to ask her to marry me. She died in my arms. Nothing I could do. ...Your friends told me you were with my brother when he died."

Jane turned to face him again, even though she really could hardly look at him. It was like sitting with a ghost. The darkness only enhanced that effect.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just wanna let you know that I know what it feels like. It sucks, right?" For the first time she felt his smile was genuine, and had to laugh weakly at his simplified way to put it.

"Yes, it does."

"Well." He was still smiling. "At least they weren't alone, right?"

Jane nodded thoughtfully. "How did she die? Your girlfriend."

He chuckled tiredly. "That's such a long story, I don't even know where to start."

"We don't have to talk about it."

"No, um... there was... there was a cave-in, so to say. She got buried by the debris. I got to her eventually but her injuries were too heavy."

"I'm really sorry."

"It was a long time ago."

Jane was quiet for a bit. "When... when Trevor... He got shot by an assassin during a mission. I reached him seconds later but it was already too late. I hunted her down. His killer. So that he could have peace."

"Revenge can do horrible things to you," he said, with a trace of bitterness. "But it can help immensely to get it. We might have more in common than you think." Then he laughed again. "Funny how life plays out sometimes, ain't it?"

"I wouldn't say funny, exactly."

"I mean, it could have been me in his place." Jane's look made it clear that she didn't catch his meaning. "If he'd been where I grew up, and I'd been in his place instead... who knows how things would have come."

Jane looked away again.

"He never mentioned me, did he?"

Carter shook her head. "Never. All I could find out from the lawyers was that he put you into his will only a couple of months before he died. My best guess is that he only found out about you then and hadn't gotten around to telling me yet."

"You were pretty close, huh?"

Jane nodded.

"Hm. He probably learned that he was adopted. Looked up his real family. Found the reports about the murder and the suicide. Read about the eight-year-old kid." He shrugged. "Then again, maybe I'm the adopted one. Maybe my fucked up family wasn't even my real family."

"Don't think about that. It's gonna drive you crazy."

"Damn right it will," he chuckled, and to his surprise Jane smiled too.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." He motioned her to go ahead.

"When she died... your girlfriend... did she say something to you?"

James looked as if he wasn't entirely sure if he should answer. "Yeah," he said eventually.

"Does it haunt you?"

Their eyes locked. "More than anything."

Neither of them said anything for several minutes, but this time it didn't feel awkward.

It was James who broke the silence. "You know, his alias – David Mills. He picked that himself?"

Jane looked a bit puzzled at the sudden change of topic. "Yes. Why?"

"It's from Seven. You know, the movie? Brad Pitt as Detective Mills? Brilliant flick."

"I didn't know that."

"Just trying to say, maybe he and I ain't all that different after all."

"Maybe," she agreed after a couple of seconds. By now it was easier to look at him.

"Does your offer still stand?"

"What offer?" she asked, and her eyes indicated that he had to be careful what he said now.

"You said if you were me you'd find out what you could about Trevor. And considering that your buddies didn't know him half as good as you, I don't see a lot of options. 'cause I take it we won't meet again all that soon," he added.

Jane hesitated, and looked at him thoroughly. He seemed to be serious. Then, she started talking.

/\/\/\/\

Miserably, Molly Crown opened the front door, about to get her bike out of the shed to ride to school, like some sort of wild animal. Only when she looked up from the ground, where her gaze had been stuck ever since her car had been murdered a couple of weeks ago, she noticed that the driveway was blocked – by a brand-new Mini. Black and white, and sparkling in the sun. Even the little X-Wing was happily dangling from the rear-view mirror.

Molly didn't even know how to react. Secretly convinced that she was imagining this, she stepped closer, brushed a hand over the sun-warmed hood and marvelled at the unexpected. A note was stuck beneath the wiper. She plucked it out, unfolded it, and only when she saw the neat handwriting that read Sorry it's not green, she broke into a deafening cheer.

Author's Note: As always, thank you so much for reading my story. Mange tak to Ellster for beta-reading and the extra advertising boost this time, you're the best.