Aftermath

Jake put his arms out reflexively as they jumped through the door from Cincinnati Ohio to the annex. Eve was right, he was never going to get used to that. The others followed him through and the door swung shut behind Ezekiel. Jenkins was waiting for them, waiting for a full report on the events that had occurred. It hadn't been an easy case this time. Not by a long shot. This had been something up Flynn's alley, not theirs. Jake didn't usually agree with Eve that they weren't ready for the big stuff, but they really hadn't been ready for this.

It was official, Jake absolutely hated vampires. These sons of bitches were mean, nasty, and hard to kill. He had a tremendous amount of respect for Flynn, considering he'd managed to kill Dracula. They'd been tracking a group of five vampires through Cincinnati. The clippings book had shown that there were an alarming amount of drained bodies popping up, so they'd taken the case. How hard could it really be to kill vampires?

Very hard actually. They were fast. It was like trying to stop a twister in its path, and growing up in Oklahoma had taught Jake that was impossible. Yet, here they were, in an abandoned construction site, trying to kill five twisters.

He was keeping an eye on Cassie. He knew the other two would be alright, Eve was a solider and Ezekiel had a knack for staying alive. Cassie on the other hand, well, she wasn't weak, not by a long shot, but he didn't know that she would be able to take on a five hundred year old vampire alone. However, as much as he wanted to throw her behind him and keep her safe, he had his own bloodsucker to deal with. He was dodging punches left and right, avoiding most of them, but a right hook caught him in the jaw with enough force to send him backwards into a pile of drywall. Jake had been in his fair share of bar fights, but this was a little more intense than a bunch of drunk cowboys.

"Jake!" He heard Cassandra, looked up through blurry eyes and drywall dust in time to see her running towards them. Saw her get grabbed by the vampire he'd been going up against. Apparently she was more capable than he thought. She'd already killed her vampire. He saw the ugly SOB grab her around the waist, pull her body tight against his, fist a hand in her hair. He saw the pale, delicate column of her neck just before the vampire bit down into her skin. His blood ran cold as her body slumped against the vampire holding her, feeding off of her.

With a surge of energy he hadn't known he possessed, Jake grabbed the stake he'd been holding and threw it at the distracted vampire. It didn't hit the heart, but it caused enough pain for the bloodsucker to drop Cassie's body, letting Even finish him off.

Jake ran to Cassandra and slid to his knees beside her, pulling her body against his. She was still breathing, but she was so damn pale. Eve picked up the Sun Stone that they'd been sent to retrieve. The vampires had been using it to create a way for them to walk in the sun without burning. "Is she okay?"

He nodded his head. "Think so, just a little weak." Jake smoothed some hair from her face as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Hey there Cassie."

"What happened?"

"You got bit." She started to panic. "Hey, easy, easy, the bite won't turn you." She started to relax in his arms a bit. Everyone agreed that it wasn't a good idea to move until Cassandra was able to walk. It didn't take long, but Jake never took his eyes off of her. Something wasn't right. She wasn't her usual self. Getting bitten had done something to her.

Back in the annex Jake's eyes carefully scanned Cassie's face, watching her. She still wasn't back to normal. She had some color back. After eating he had no doubt that her rosy complexion would come back to her face, but it was more than that. It was like her spirit had been broken. That life, that excitement that she oozed was gone. That wasn't sitting well with him. She didn't say a word to Jenkins, or anyone else. She left the room, walking back to the bedrooms that had been kept for them. He frowned, but didn't go after her. He figured she needed her space. Instead, he went to Eve's training room. He needed to hit something.

"You've been down here for two hours." Jake stopped the punching bag from swinging and looked over at Ezekiel. The thief was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed. His eyes were carefully studying Jake.

"What's your point?" Out of all the people he expected, he hadn't been ready for Jones.

"You should go talk to her."

Jake rolled his eyes. "No offense, but you're the last person I'm going to take girl advice from." Jake pulled his arm back, ready to start punching again. He still had too much pent up aggression.

"You're breaking her heart."

The stopped him in his tracks. "Excuse me?"

Ezekiel walked into the room and stood right in front of the punching bag. A good way to make sure Jake was paying attention. Did everyone around this place have to be so damn smart? "We all know you don't trust her, and I'm beginning to wonder why, mate."

Remembering the events from the first time they'd all had a mission together, Jake's anger started to rise. "She betrayed us. She's the reason Flynn got stabbed by Excalibur."

"Yeah, and then she helped us get back the crown, saved Flynn's life, and today, she saved yours." He crossed his arms and that arrogant smirk played across his lips. Jake wanted to punch it right off. "She's been doing everything she can think of to get your trust back, and even though I don't know why, she really, and I mean really likes you."

Jake dropped his arms. His shoulders slouched. Yeah, she did, and he knew that. But his trust was broken. How did you fix that? "Doesn't matter."

"Like hell it doesn't matter." Eve walked into the room now. "That girl has proven herself over and over again, and you just keep shutting her down, breaking her bit by bit." She came to stand next to Jones. Jake's temper started to rise, but he realized it wasn't because they were ganging up on him. It was because they were right…and because he realized that he was starting to trust Cassie again.

xXx

Cassandra was lying in her bed. As soon as they'd gotten back she'd spent an hour in the shower, half of that was spent crying. That vampire…it had shown her things, told her things she didn't want to know, didn't want to believe. She'd been happy, living in ignorant bliss. That vampire shattered all of that. She needed to be alone right now. She couldn't be around the others. Once she was sure she could fake happiness again she could be around them. Right now…

A knock on the door startled her. "Cassie?"

Out of all of the people it could have been, it had to be Jake. She really didn't want to be around him right now. Maybe if she didn't answer he would think she was sleeping. He knocked again, called out her name again. She didn't answer. Instead, she rolled over and faced the wall her bed was pressed against.

Jake was stubborn though. Instead of leaving, like she'd hoped, he walked in and gently shut the door. Cassie didn't take her eyes off the wall, she didn't look over at him, didn't move. But she listened. She could hear him softly walking across the floor. She heard shuffling and realized he was taking his shoes off before he slowly and carefully climbed into the bed with her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back tight against his chest. "Talk to me."

She shook her head. That the was the one thing she couldn't do. Cassandra could feel her eyes burning as tears built up and spilt down her face. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Jake turned her in his arms until she was facing him. He cupped her face, her thumbs brushing her tears away.

"You're never going to trust me." His intense eyes softened, but she couldn't stop now. She'd opened the floodgates. "I'm falling for you but it doesn't matter because you'll never trust me again. I'm dying and I'm falling for a man who could never feel the same for me." She covered her face. She was better than this. She shouldn't be this stupid. "You're just using me."

Jake tipped her head back and kissed her. But this was different than their previous kisses. There was something more in this. Cassandra braced her hands on his chest, ready to push him away. But she was so weak. She didn't have the strength to do it. The kiss wasn't intense, it wasn't needy, it wasn't to inspire arousal. It was soft, slow, sensual, passionate. The tears wouldn't stop.

He slowly pulled away and looked into her eyes. His storm blue-grey eyes burrowed deep into her. "There's just one problem with your theory." She stared up at him. What could that possibly be? "I do trust you."

She almost didn't want to believe him. He said he couldn't, not after what she did. So…why now? "What are you talking about?"

He sighed and brushed his thumb over her cheek, brushing away the remaining tears. "I didn't realize until today but…" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I do trust you. You gave your life for Flynn, risked it for me today…got hurt because of me." He dropped a kiss to her forehead. She wasn't used to this sweet, soft side of him. "How could I not trust you?"

Cassandra buried her head in his chest and let him hold her. She hadn't been expecting this. Not after what the vampire had forced into her mind. Jake stroked her back and just held her. He didn't try to cop a feel, didn't try to pull anything. He just held her in his arms, rocked her slowly. Maybe she wouldn't die with a broken heart.