Julie woke up refreshed. It had been a long while since she'd been able to sleep the way she slept last night. She was comfortable and content in her surroundings, she felt confident she would not jump in the middle of the night and nobody was after her.

She forced herself to get into the shower, years of not knowing the next time she would be able to get clean caught up with her and she still felt like she was washing some of that grime off. As she pulled on clean clothes she heard noises coming from her kitchen. Doors and drawers sounded like they were being slammed. Julie's heart began to beat, what felt like, a million beats a second. Maybe she wasn't as safe as she thought she was.

She grabbed the lamp off her nightstand and yanked the cord out from the wall. Walking on her toes she crept out of her room and towards the kitchen. She stood behind the wall and quickly glanced around into the room.

“What the hell are you doing?” Nick was standing right in front of her as she turned around the corner.

“Fuck!” Julie screeched swinging the lamp in Nick's direction. He easily grabbed it and pulled it from her hand. “Nick, did you not learn from the car incident? You can't just sneak up on a person, or appear out of no where,” She grasped her chest, her heart still felt like it was beating faster than it should be able.

Nick pulled Julie in close and kissed the top of her head. “Sorry, I just can't find coffee filters,” He moved away and continued to look around the kitchen.

“Making me coffee?” She asked with a playful smirk on her face.

Nick looked at her and blinked a few times before answering, “Sure, you can have some too.” he replied.

“Whatever, my machine, I get first cup,” She replied and pulled the coffee filters out, stuffing one in the machine. She pushed the start button and turned to look at Nick. Gone was any sign of the playful guy she was with yesterday. Today, he stood in front of her looking miffed. She looked him up and down, there was something about him today that seemed familiar, like she'd seen him this way before.

'Well of course I have,' she thought to herself. 'He was irritated with me the first time he met,' She shrugged and inhaled the aroma of the brewing coffee. “Why are we brewing coffee if we are going to a coffee shop?” She asked Nick since she suddenly remembered what they were supposed to be doing that day.

“What does it matter?” Nick snapped at her causing her to shrink back a little afraid of what he might do in his anger. The very look of him at that moment in time reminded her of the first time they met, even his outfit looked similar. She remembered he was pissed she wouldn't give him her first jump information, Kevin sent him to try to get it out of her but she only wanted to speak with Kevin. Julie eyed Nick suspiciously.

He must have noticed her look, his face relaxed some and he moved closer to her, arms outstretched. “Hey, I'm sorry babe,” he pulled her into a hug. “I just had a bad day at the office is all,” He smiled again and moved to find coffee mugs.

“What happened?” She asked curious as to what upset him that much.

Nick hesitated pouring the coffee for a brief second before he spoke. “It seems that the, well Brian, it appears he's been recruiting displaced person and other volunteers to join him.”

“Join him to do what?” Julie asked. “The only thing you've told me about what he was doing was that he was trying to change the direction of the project, but you never said what direction that is.”

Nick took a drink of his coffee and handed a cup to Julie. “We don't have the specifics, but whatever he does with Charles could change history,” Nick said nonchalantly.

“Change history?” Julie wondered.

Nick nodded but she could tell she wasn't going to get any more information out of him in what Brian would do once he got Charles besides it would alter history. Once he got Charles what would he do? Julie thought about last night, running into Kevin and Kevin acting like he was the only one in The Library. Should she tell Nick? Maybe Kevin didn't know Brian was in The Library? She was confused again. Maybe he was working with Brian? Maybe future Kevin was asking her to help his past self. She was so engrossed in her thought she did not hear Nick talking.

“Hello, Julie,” He said waving his hand in front of her face.

“I'm sorry, I was thinking about something,” she said before taking a drink of her coffee. The warm liquid felt good in her empty belly. She took another long drink before she noticed Nick looking at her expectantly. “What?”

“You are not going to share?” now it was his turn to eye her suspiciously.

She made a split second decision not to mention Kevin, yet. “I was thinking about yesterday.” It wasn't a complete lie, but when his face brightened and his playful smirk returned she knew he thought she mean what happened between him and her yesterday.

“We can pick that up later if you want,” He grinned. “Let's get moving, it should be close to the time that Charles will be there, right?”

Julie looked at the clock on the wall and nodded. They needed time to get to the coffee shop near campus and they still had to drive there from her apartment. The drive over was fairly quiet and a tad uncomfortable for Julie, she turned on her radio to break up the quiet. She pulled into the parking lot and Nick jumped out of the car and ran to her side, opening the door for her.

“Well now, chivalry isn't dead,” she comment inclining her head to him as she got out of the car. She felt Nick's hand take hold of hers as they walked towards the coffee shop. They arrived at the side of the building and Nick dropped her hand.

“You go in, I'll wait out here,” Nick said.

“What am I supposed to do in there all alone?” she asked. Really was she supposed to detain him somehow and call outside to Nick so he could come in and take him back?
Nick looked side to side, like he was expecting someone to jump out from behind a bush or the building. “Somehow, I need you to get Brian out of the building. I will then go inside and get Charles, take him somewhere safe.” He tweaked Julie's cheek with his fingers and turned her towards the entrance. “Good luck,” he said before she turned around the corner.

Julie touched her cheek where he squeezed, it felt a little sore. Maybe he didn't know how hard he pinched her? She rubbed it and pushed the door open, letting her eyes glance around the room quickly.

Her eyes fell on Mary and Patrick at the table they were at last time, but Charles and Brian were no where to be found. Julie made her way to the counter and ordered a coffee. She made her way over to the table where Mary and Patrick were. “Mind if I sit?” she asked the two as she pulled out a chair and sat down. The other two looked hesitant about her action.

“What can I do for you?” Mary asked, looking genuinely perplexed by Julie's presence.

Julie shrugged and sipped her coffee. “I was hoping to run into Brian again,” she admitted honestly.

“You won't see him here today,” Mary answered. “He went out of town to visit some family. He told us yesterday.”

“What about Charles?” Julie asked, without Brian around Charles would be easier to keep away from him.

Mary shrugged. “He was here earlier, some other guy was with him though. They left early because Charles was having a fit about the foam being wrong in his drink or something.”

“Thanks,” Julie said and stood leaving the two to work on homework or whatever else they were going to do after she left. She made her way outside and found Nick.

“What's going on?” Nick demanded.

Julie shrugged. “He's not there.” She stated simply.

“But it's time for his coffee, he sticks to a strict schedule.” Nick put his hands on his hips in frustration. His tongue flicked out of his mouth to wet his lips as he threw back his head in thought. Julie kept the tidbit about a different guy with Brian that morning, she had an idea of who it was and she wasn't prepared to involve Kevin until she knew which side he was on, and right now it didn't look good.

“Let's go back to your place,” Nick steered Julie by her shoulders back to the car. “There are some things I'd like to talk to you about.” He told her as they got into her car and started back to her apartment.

Julie surprised herself allowing Nick to seduce her again when they got back to her apartment. She dared not even admit it to herself, but thoughts of Kevin floated through her mind the entire time she and Nick had sex again. This time when he finished, instead of snuggling next to her, he rolled over and went to sleep. It left her feeling very unsatisfied. She slipped out of the bed and wandered into the living room turning the television on quietly for noise and sat down to think.

She couldn't believe how much her mind dwelled on Kevin. She had herself believing that she loved him, but what did she know about him really? And if she loved him, why was she messing around with Nick. Was she really that starved for human touch?

“Hey there you are,” Nick leaned against the wall standing there in nothing but his boxers. “the bed got cold.”

“Sorry, I wasn't tired,” She said. 'It's only just after noon,' she thought to herself. “Now that you are up, what did you want to talk about?”

“I have a proposition for you,” He sat on the couch next to her and took hold of her hand. “Join me, help me stop the volunteers.” He gazed into her eyes, holding contact. The heat from his gaze was so intense Julie found herself having to look away.

“You mean join the project to stop the rogue volunteers?” She asked looking at the television, not him something wasn't right.

“Of course,” He said, a devilish tone in his voice.

“What would that involve?” She asked looking back towards him, a huge grin on his face.

“I will need to get you a device, and I will need to fill out some paperwork, including your first jump. Insurance in case something happens,” he quickly said when she scrunched her nose up at the mention of her first jump.

“So you want to help?” Nick looked excited now, like a school boy who just received a gold star from his favorite teacher.

Julie nodded and watched as he ran back into her room and came back out dressed. “This is more than I hoped for,” He kissed her quickly before going out her front door. She followed him but by the time she opened the door he was gone. She stood watching a couple of kids play across the road, both of them running excitedly up to a man walking a dog. Julie scrunched her nose trying to get a better view of the man but he was wearing a hat pulled down covering his face.

Why did it seem like every time she looked outside she saw a man and his dog, the same dog, the same hat. It had to be the same man. Julie slammed the door and bolted it, suddenly afraid she was being followed. She could be overreacting again, she thought the man in the parking lot was after her, turned out he was just getting in his car. Maybe she just thought she saw the same man walking the same dog. She chanced it and peeked out her peephole, the man with the dog was now on her side of the road looking straight up at her door she now had a clear view of his face. No wonder the man looked familiar. She quickly threw open the door and charged out at him.

“Kevin! What are you doing here?” She stood in front of him looking him square in the eye, a baffled Kevin staring back at her.