Peter lent a hand where he could, but he was truly thankful for Serena's copany as the guards descended upon them. As terrifying as it was to see her decimate them with the asp he had stolen from one of the guards, he had to admit being more than a little turned on.

As they ran down the hall after taking care of another group, he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"The database." He told her. "There's no point leaving if we don't destroy it."

"Fine, go a head." Serena sighed, following him through a door. On the other side was a computer on a desk, and a warehouse full of items.

"Right, I just need a minute to find anything relating to us." He told her. "In the meantime, this is the evidence locker. You should find the swords..."

"Evidence Locker? She asked him. He just nodded.

"I don't know who, but this bunch of jokers are obviously a government agency of some description."He told her.

Serena just nodded and went to the shelves. She had seen the same tabloids as everyone else, and had heard the horror stories of what they got up to. Of course, she never figured she'd end up in one of those stories, suspected of being a terrorist. Peter continued to work as she found two swords on the shelves.

"Alright, this is them." She told him.

"Great, then take..."

"I don't know which one it is." Serena replied honestly.

"Draw them." Peter told her. Serena did so, finding that both swords drew without the slightest resistance. She just stood holding them for a moment.

"Now what?" She asked him. Peter rolled up his shirt.

"Cut me." He told her. Serena just stared at him. "According to the legend, Kasamune will only cut what its mistress wants it to. If that's true, then the real sword won't cut me."

"But..."

"You're the blessed warrior, I believe that." He interrupted her. "Now, do it!"

Serena rested the first, cold edge against his skin. Such was the sharpness of the blade that he didn't even feel it as she dragged it across, creating a little half-inch nick on his skin. She just tossed it aside and prepared the other sword. She did the same again reluctantly, not really wanting to injure Peter, but was disappointed as this blade too drew blood.

"Neither of them." She sighed. "This was all for nothing."

"Not for nothing." Peter said with a smile. "In thirty seconds, the virus I uploaded will delete the entire database here."

"You say what now?" Serena asked him.

"It will delete any reference to us." He replied, offering her a hand. "Come on, let's go!"

Serena took up one of the swords, and took Peter by the hand, dragging him through the door. She followed his directions, which were spookily accurate as they made their way through the compound.

They found themselves on a heli-pad as they finally got outside, blinking in the daytime sun to adjust to natural light. It was then that they realised their predicament. The place they were kept on was actually a disused oil rig. They could see nothing but sea all around them.

"Great, this is just great!" Serena muttered. "We're screwed!"

"Not quite." Peter told her. "We're about twelve miles North of the coast."

"You're not seriously suggesting..."

"Do you want to stay here?" He asked her. "This way, we have a chance, albeit a slim one."

Serena considered her options before nodding. If what Kirk had said was true, then they would never leave this place alive. Peter just took her by the hand as they approached the railing.

"Are you afraid of heights?" He asked her.

"Not really." Serena replied.

"Well...great." He replied as she started to clamber over the railing. He on the other hand was genuinely terrified of heights. Well, more accurately, heights didn't bother him, nor the thought of falling as neither of those led to any real risk of injury or death, it was the sudden stop at the end that he was scared of. Serena just looked to him, her warm, green eyes that he had often dreamed of since meeting her pleading with him to come with her.

Steeling himself, he got over the railing to the other side, but still found himself frozed to the spot. He clutched the railing with all his strength, his knuckled turning white with the exertion. Serena noticed this.

"Peter?" She asked him.

"Yeah, what?" He asked. Without warning, Serena pressed her lips to his.

He went limp as he felt it. It was something he had barely dared to dream about in his wildest fantasies, but she had actually kissed him. Before he could open his eyes though, he ended up hitting water.

They both came to the surface, in time to see the oil rig starting to sink. Serena just looked to Peter.

"I figured we could do with a distraction." He told her.

"Great, now which way's the coast?" She asked him. Peter pointed the way, at which Serena started swimming. Peter just followed dutifully.

It took a long time to reach the coast, but they finally did. Serena and Peter pulled themselves up a ladder onto a jetty, looking out over the unidentified city they were in.

"Alright, so where in the hell are we?" Serena asked him.

A local passed them, before muttering something in his native tongue and shaking his head in disbelief. Peter just sighed.

"I think we're in Copenhagen." He told her.

"Sweden?" She shrieked.

"Hell, it's better than the oil rig." He told her. He nodded towards a pay phone. "Look, we need to regroup. I'll make a call."

"With what?" Serena called after him. "Unless you didn't notice, we've got no equipment, no contact, no money..."

Just then, he smiled as he made the call.

"Reverse charges to the US." He told the operator. "Number..."

Serena slumped down on a nearby bench, once again feeling completely stupid in Peter's presence. It would never have occurred to her to make a reverse-charge call home. She would likely still be languishing in a cell if ti wasn't for Peter. She just watched him finishing the call, hanging up and smiling at her.

"Three blocks north there's a motel." He told her. "Hayley booked us a room."

"You mean..."

"Unless you want to steal clothes first." He suggested. Serena just sighed. There were a lot of things she hated about this trip. So far she had been beaten, stabbed, electrocuted, accused of terrorism by her own government, but most of all, one thing that the trip had opened her eyes to was how guarded and sheltered she really had been.

Back on the farm, her training for her duty as the Yellow Samurai had taken up most of her life. She had read newspapers, but it wasn't her primary focus. Some of the things Peter knew and did as a matter of habit genuinely baffled her. In truth, although she didn't have contact with her sister to talk about it, the fact was that at times, she lashed out at him in frustration. Frustration born out of the fact that he made her feel something she never had. She felt stupid.

She went with Peter to a nearby street, all the time sticking close to him. It was a situation she was not used to being in, relying on others, but she was well and truly in his world now, and it scared her shitless to be reliant on someone else.

He was a skinny, ninety pound nerd, with glasses that looked like they could block radiation, but her life depended on him right now. He seemed to know every step to make, every turn to take, and she had no option but to just follow. Her mother had always taught her to be strong, but right now she felt weaker than ever in his presence. She had no idea how Peter could do the things he did with his mind, but right now, all she could offer was a set of knuckles that knew what they were doing if he needed them. It didn't feel good to know that she was the dumb muscle.

"Here." He told her, taking her into a motel. He walked up to the receptionist, past the housekeeper, who was far from happy about the water-logged footprints they left on entering. "Jason Scott-Lee and Trini Scot-Lee."

"Ah, your booking's right here." The receptionist said, not even looking up as she handed them a key. Peter caught a glimpse and saw she was viewing a youtube video. "Third floor, fourth door on the right."

"Is there room service?" He asked her. She just shook her head.

"There's a take-away menu on the desk." She told him. "Just call it in."

They made their way to the elevator, and rode it up, getting to their room. Serena looked thoroughly relieved as she got there.

"So, we have the option of pizza or...pizza." He told her, checking out the menu.

"Just get one with everything on it." She said, looking to the bed longingly. "I could resort to cannibalism soon."

"Well the closest they have is bacon." He said with a forced laugh. Serena never responded though, she never did when he made a joke. Hearing a voice on the other end, he just made the order, an 18" pie with everything.

By the time he turned back into the room, Serena was crashed out on the bed, stripped to the waist, face down and snoring loudly. He couldn't help smiling, finding it more than a little cute and adorable. She was the badass warrior, he was tech support. That was drilled into him before the mission even began, but he couldn't help finding her beautiful, even though she currently was making sounds that would rival a broken chainsaw.

Later, neither of them knew how much later, there was a knock on the door. Serena saw Peter laying next to her and freaked out, snatching up the sheets. She wrapped herself up as he looked somewhat stunned on the floor.

"What the hell?" She asked.

"Pizza." He stated. "It'll be the pizza..."

Serena stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Peter couldn't even really remember lying down with her, but he knew he had to have ended up there given what had happened. He went to the door, opening it.

"Sorry, I don't have..."

"It's alright, you paid online." The pizza boy told him. "Enjoy the pizza Mr. Collins."

He put the box down and gently knocked the door to the bathroom.

"Serena..."

"Go away!" She roared.

"The Pizza's here!" He called back. There was a little pause, before she answered.

"Close your eyes." She sighed. Peter did as he was told. He always would for her. Serena went in and put on her underwear, but paused as the smell of the pizza overtook her. She went to the desk and nudged Peter.

He went completely red as he saw her in her underwear, but forced his way through it. She was smiling, and to him that was better than any drug on the planet.

"Come on, it's pizza!" Serena told him as she picked up a slice.

In the morning, there was a knock on the door. Peter didn't really know what had happened, all he knew was that they had asked for a bottle of tequila and an empty bottle was sitting not far from them. It was troubling, because he remembered everything, literally everything! He went to the door, finding a kid there in a polo shirt bearing the logo of the motel. He was carrying a parcel.

"Urgent delivery." He muttered, sounding put-out by the task. Peter just took it from him and sent the boy on his way. He opened the parcel, finding a laptop in it, and started to boot it up.

He watched the screen for what felt like hours before it asked him for the password. He typed in the one he had been given by Hayley, and it opened up. He looked at the screen incredulously.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding!" He muttered. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Serena was standing behind him, wrapped only in sheets. He really wished she wouldn't do that, he had accepted that there would never be anything between them, but seeing her almost naked kind of gave him some somewhat less than admirable thoughts.

"What is it?" She asked him.

"Hayley's ensured our fingerprints won't set off any alarms when we head to the US." He told her a little nervously.

"The US?" Serena asked, turning the laptop to face her. She could barely contain her anger as she waw what the latest communication said, her entire face and neck turned red, just one of the little things that Peter had noticed and loved, but was also terrified of.

"Serena..."

"EBay." She snorted. "Fucking E-Bay!"

Serena...

"Peter, I've been attacked by ghosts, accused of terrorism, stabbed, beaten...and no Hayley says the sword..."

"She obviously didn't know." Peter said as comfortingly as he could, stroking her shoulders. He recoiled his hands quickly as Serena looked around.

"It's been five minutes' walk fro the Shiba House the whole time!" She roared. "What the hell kind of name is Farquis Bulkmeyer?"

"The name of someone we have to treat nicely if we;re to get it." He reminded her. Serena just nodded.

"I am so going to be st for favours for the next lifetime when we're done." She replied. "So..."

"Our plane tickets are here." He told her, showing them to Serena. "As are our passports, and a couple of outfits..."

"Fine, just...go online and confirm our booking." Serena told him. As Peter did what he was told, and Serena started to change, he couldn't help smiling. She hadn't told him to leave the room as she changed, and she hadn't said a word about the fact they had woken up in each others' arms. He was starting to believe in the impossible.