Gina took a deep breath. She was going to do it. She had gotten into the elevator and pressed the PH button. In a matter of seconds she would meet Oliver. She watched the numbers of the elevator rise up counting the floors as she tried to calm her pounding heart. What if he wasn't home? What if he was? What if he was old? What if he was her age? What if he was ugly? What if he was good looking? She prayed for her age and good looking but she didn't know how she would handle it if that was the case.

The elevator doors opened and she stepped out. There were two hallways one to the left with a sign stating PH 6-10 and the one to the right pointing PH1-5. She took a deep breath and stepped towards the right. She passed PH1 which occupied the whole length of the hallway she turned towards the left around a corner to head for the upper numbers. She walked into a hard chest.

"Whoah," a familiar voice and familiar arms came around her. "Gina?" Mouse asked pulling back with a puzzled look which quickly turned into a smile. "You came up to see me?"

"Uh..." Gina glanced down the hallway behind him to her destination. "Yeah."

"Are you okay?" he asked with a light laugh taking her by both elbows and looked over her face.

She hated how he seemed to now be able to almost read her. "Yeah, just, uh, you knocked the wind out of me," she said clutching her heart which was still pounding in her chest. From being caught.

"Sorry, I should have been paying more attention to where I was walking."

"Me, too," she said running a hand lightly across his muscular chest to wipe away the damage she may have caused to its perfection. "Sorry," she said letting her hand rest in one place near his heart.

"What's wrong?" he asked setting down his usual black bag on the beautiful beige carpet that was obviously ten times the quality of carpeting on her floor.

"Nothing," she said staring at his chest which was not a good idea since she was so attracted to it but it was better than falling into his eyes. She would melt in them and she knew that he would see the truth. She wasn't there to see him but another guy. "I...uh...I just wanted to see you."

"You could have called me I would have come down," he said putting a hand to her cheek lightly.

She took a deep breath caught in her lie and at the same time her feelings swirling around her as he touched her. She felt guilty. She would do anything to be with Mouse but she needed to clear up her feelings for Oliver. She looked down the hall. He followed her gaze.

"I guess I can no longer avoid you seeing my place, huh?" he asked looking at her and sighed.

She looked at him relieved he thought she was looking for his apartment. Not Oliver's. Well why would he? He didn't know about Oliver. "Well, you've seen mine. In fact, you practically live there."

"Yours is so much nicer," he protested. She laughed lightly shaking her head as she looked up at the small crystal chandeliers that were every few feet down the hallway.

"Alright, I warned you," he said pulling out a set of keys out of his pocket. He bent down and scooped up his bag.

"I'm sorry," she said noticing his camera bag. He looked at her puzzled.

"You were going out," she explained gesturing to the bag.

He shrugged. "It's a nice day so I thought I'd just go around town and take some pictures," he shrugged again. "I'm not working."

"Don't let me stop you," she said glancing again down the hall. If Mouse left the building she could still meet his neighbor and get some answers.

"It's no big deal. Really," he said putting an arm around her and led her back down the hallway towards Oliver.

They paused slightly in front of PH4. She looked at the door the number on the door causing her to jump slightly. She hoped he hadn't felt it but she suspected he had as he hesitated looking at her thoughtfully for more than a second before taking some more steps down the hall to PH5.

He put the keys in the doorknob and opened the door holding it open and gestured her in with a long arm. She nodded to him and stepped in and gasped. "Yeah, sorry," he said setting the bag down on the bare hardwood floor and set his keys on a side table.

The place was gorgeous. The hardwoods gleamed up at her as they'd been waxed on a regular basis. There was hardly any furniture in the room, a lonely white couch and an even lonelier white arm chair. Several moving boxes scattered the open apartment. The back wall was all glass letting sunlight fill the room. The light white curtains swayed slightly at the wind coming through the slits in the open upper windows. She smelled the subtle smell of fresh paint.

To her left was a beautiful open gourmet kitchen. Stainless steel appliances shone brightly as if they were still in a show room. The granite countertops sparkled. The only indication the kitchen was ever used was a roll of paper towels left half hazard at the end of one counter which Mouse quickly went over to and set it in its proper place in a roller underneath the upper maple cabinets. She laughed lightly at first and then a little louder.

"What?" He asked with a slight smile.

"It's just..." She looked around the room again.

"Pathetic?"

"No! Just...so...so not you," she said honestly. She had known that Mouse had lived on the Penthouse floor and she assumed that he came from money as she was sure he didn't make enough as a photographer to pay for it; especially not a place like this. It was too rich, too wealthy, and bare, and empty. So not him.

He looked around his eyes taking in the room and then looked at her. He walked over purposefully to her and held out his hand.

"What?"

"Come on," he said grabbing her hand. He pulled her through the bare living room and to the right. He opened a door on the far wall and pushed her through it. Closing the door behind him she looked at him puzzled as he took her through yet another bare room, this one looked like a study or library with all the bookcases. Again, it hardly looked like he lived there except for a few books thrown in no particular order on the shelves and a few half opened moving boxes. He opened another door. This one led into another large living room or she suspected more likely a family room. And this one looked more lived in. She smiled. The sofa was big, black, very plush, and extremely comfortable looking. She could see him lying on it to watch the huge flat panel TV that hung over the huge marble surround fireplace.

"Better?" He asked watching her face.

"A bit," she said nodding.

"Okay, then, how about this?" he asked taking her hand again and took her down another elegant hallway and opened a double door to the right.

Now this room was definitely him.

"A studio?" she asked looking around at all the cameras on tripods. The room was huge. Bigger than her whole apartment! There was a stage in the far right corner of the room with hanging theatre lights. At the far left of the room were photographs hanging like laundry on long strings from one end of the room to the other.

"Well, it is what I do," he said leaning on the doorjamb.

He watched her walked across the studio to the photos. She stepped in front of them one by one taking each one in."They're beautiful," she finally said when she reached the end.

He hung his head slightly. "Thank you," he said with an embarrassed smile.

"May I?" she asked gesturing to a door with a red light hanging over it. The light was not on.

He nodded. She opened the door and she poked her head in. Her hand reached for the light switch and she turned it on. Pale red lights filled the room. She smelled the heavy stench of chemicals. And then she spotted them in the far corner of the room stacked on a large metal bookcase.

"It's a darkroom," he said behind her in her ear softly.

"I gathered that," she said with a light smile looking up at him.

He reached for the light and shut it off pulling her out of the darkroom and back into the studio.

"So, this is where you hide yourself when you're not at my place," she said looking around.

He shrugged. "Sometimes. We've got a bigger studio downtown for business purposes. This is just ...my hobby room."

"Nice hobby room," she said with a smile.

"Next?" he asked holding a hand out.

"Sure. Lead the way."

He took her down the hallway further passing other doors and making turns. She didn't know how he didn't get lost and he finally opened another set of double doors.

This was a large bedroom. The carpet was pale blue which was a nice match to his grey eyes. The room was sun-filled with the back wall being full of French doors leading to a balcony. "May I?" She asked walking anxiously over to them.

"Yeah, sure," he said following her and then stopped to help her open the door she was struggling to open.

She stepped out onto the balcony and smiled. She looked at the city spread out before them. She leaned on the railing and he stepped behind her placing one arm on the railing and one on her shoulder. She looked at him gazing at the city with a slight smile on his face and a light in his eye. "And you want to hang out at my place?"

He was quiet a moment and then muttered "The view is so much nicer."

"What? You're crazy. My view sucks compared to this," she said stepping away from the railing and walked past him to walk further down the balcony.

Mouse leaned against the railing looking out at the city. She clearly heard him and clearly misunderstood what he meant. He looked at her as she happily checked out his deck furniture and then sat down sinking into one of the chairs.

"Okay, we are so spending more time up here," she said with a happy sigh closing her eyes as the sun caressed her skin.

He smiled and walked towards her. "You're welcome anytime," he said sinking down into one of the chairs next to her.

"How do you live in this huge place all by yourself?" she asked after several minutes of comfortable silence.

"You asked why I spend so much time down at your place," he said quietly his eyes not opening from his submission to the sun.

"Ah. Yeah. I guess I'd get lonely too in a big place like this all to my self.... Well, maybe after six months or so..."

"I didn't know what to do with myself when I first moved in. It was stupid to buy such a big place but Corbin encouraged me. He thought it'd make a great place for parties."

"You? Parties?" she asked with a chuckle lifting a hand to block the sun from her eyes as she peered at him. He kept his eyes closed and he looked gorgeous against the sun baking his already slightly tanned skin.

He smiled understanding the joke. "It was his idea. Business, you know," he said opening one eye to look over at her.

"Now, I can see Corbin living in a place like this."

"Not me?"

"You..."

"Go ahead, I'm a big boy I can take it."

"Sorry, but you just don't look like the rich, bachelor pad, party giving type."

"And what type do I look like?" he asked looking over at her with both eyes.

"The kind that sits on my couch all day; drinking beer and eating all my chips."

He chuckled lightly closing his eyes. "Yeah, well, I guess that's more my style."

"So, why?"

"Why what?" he asked opening his eyes again.

"Why the rooftop mansion?"

He squirmed in his chair a bit. "I don't know...sense of accomplishment I guess."

"You are an awesome photographer, Mouse. You don't need a big mansion to prove that to yourself."

"Maybe I do," he said quietly.

She sat upright in her chair and moved over to his chair sitting on the edge. "Mouse," she said with a sigh putting a hand on his arm. He winced if almost in pain.

"What?" She asked gently.

"Nothing," he said looking away.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" she said gently. He looked over at her with pain in his eyes. She was startled by the look and then his eyes softened with a slight shake of his head. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I know."

"Why...don't you?"

He took a deep breath. He looked out at the city. "There...are...just...some things...I'm just...not ready to talk about...to anyone. Can you understand that?" he asked lifting his hand from her shoulder and stroked her cheek gently.

She nodded looking to his eyes. Because she couldn't talk to him about how she felt about him or how she felt about Oliver. "Mouse?"

He took his hand away from her cheek dropping it in his lap almost...apologetically. "Yeah?"

"Do you...do you... know your neighbors?"

He frowned. "Um, not really, why?"

She looked away and over the railing at the trees below. "Just wondering.

He nodded. He knew what she meant. If he knew Oliver. Himself. He felt her hesitate briefly in front of PH4. What Gina didn't know was that he owned PH4 and PH5. They had been merged together into the "mansion" she referred to. Little did she know she was actually in PH4 right now; where her letters ended up and where his were sent. He couldn't bring up the courage to tell her the truth. The wind blew her hair lightly and she shivered against the cool air. He reached up and stroked a bit of her hair behind her ear. She looked at him puzzled. He pulled himself up clearing his throat against the feelings that were threatening to pour out. "Let's get in; it's getting cold."

"Yeah," she said agreeing as she rubbed her arms but she wasn't sure if the chills were from the wind or from him touching her.

She followed him inside and watched as he closed the doors to the balcony.

She looked around his room. There wasn't much too it. Light maple dressers, a huge bed at the end of the room which she tried to avoid walking near. She went over to his dresser stopping when she saw a photo of herself slipped in the corner of the mirror. She pulled it out to look it over. She was touched that he had a picture of her. She would love to have a picture of him but he was the one always behind a camera and she couldn't seem to find the nerve to ask him for a picture of himself. She winced at the photo. She looked awful. It was the night of the fire, she remembered. She was huddled up in her own arms against crossed herself for warmth, an irritated look on her face as she blew up at her tangled rat's nest of a head of hair.

He took it from her sliding it back in its place.

"Why would you keep that? I look horrible!"

He spun from where he was walking and stared at her in disbelief. "What?"

"I look awful. I know you took better pictures that night. Where are they?"

"I have other pictures," he said with a slight nod.

"So, why do you have that one up?" she said gesturing to it.

"I like it."

"You're delusional."

He walked towards her with a smile. "Didn't someone just say that I was...what was it again? Oh yeah, an awesome photographer."

"That was before I saw that."

"That is one of my best work.".

"Would you please get rid of it?" she asked eyeing it. He took it out of its place and tucked it in a drawer in his dresser. "I meant throw it away."

"When I'm dead then you can throw it away."

"Stubborn ass."

"Damn straight."

"So, where are the other pictures you took that night?"

"You want to see?" he asked surprised.

"Absolutely. I want to see what other horrible shots you have of me."

"They're not horrible. You look great."

"Please," she said with a roll of the eyes.

"Yeah. Ok. See for yourself," he said with a shrug. "Have a seat," he gestured to the bed as he walked past it and opened another door in the corner of the room. She eyed the bed and then shook her head and followed him instead.

She found herself in a room filled with file cabinets. "What is this place?'

"Storage," he muttered looking through a drawer.

"You couldn't put that picture in here?" she asked looking around the room. The cabinets filled every wall of the room, the center of the room creating its own rows.

"Absolutely not," he said pulling out a large box and nodded with his head back towards the bedroom. She went back to the bedroom and he led her over to the bed. He sat down on it and opened it up.

"You can't open a moving box but you have a file cabinet room?"

He shrugged. "If I don't need it right now, it's in the boxes. I tend to always need my pictures. I use them to critique myself. See what I can do better next time, what kind of light to use, what camera lens to use, that sort of thing. Ah, here we go, " he said pulling out a small box of photos and handed it to her. He got up. "Do you want a drink?" he asked moving towards another door.

"Coke?" she asked looking up from a photo of a little girl with tears down her cheeks.

He nodded and left the room.

Gina flipped slowly through the photos becoming more and more moved by each and every one of his photos. He truly was an awesome photographer. He showed the chaos of that night. The fear in people's eyes, the annoyance in others, the confusion in animals and children. She reached pictures of herself. She admitted that they had turned out rather well considering she was in her pajamas, and with no makeup. She remembered when he had taken the last ones; with her in his jacket and she a huge smile on her face. She blushed at the sight of blush on her cheeks in the photos. She could tell from looking at it how taken she was by him even then.

"Did you find them?" he asked coming back into the room with two glasses of soda.

She dropped the photos back in the box and rubbed her cheeks quickly hoping to get rid of the blush. She took a glass from him and drank in deep gulps.

"Thirsty?" he asked just starting to raise his glass for his first sip.

"Uh, yeah," she said looking for a place to set her glass down on his nightstand without ruining its glossy shine.

"My mother would be shocked but..." he opened a drawer below her hand and pulled out a coaster dropping it carelessly on the table and then pulled out another and did the same setting his glass down. "don't ruin my rep she still thinks I put rings on furniture," he reached into the box picking up the photos that she didn't seem to get back in the box right so he couldn't find them. He looked them over thoughtfully.

"Okay, put them away," she said not containing her blushing and reached out for the pictures. He looked at her and pulled his arm out of her reach and continued to look at them."Mouse."

"Huh?" He asked.

She was going to put them away again but she watched his face. She could tell he was looking them over critically. Not over her but of his work."They're really great."

He looked up at her and then back at the photos. He sighed. "Yeah, thanks," he said putting them back in the box and then reached for his drink. He took several large gulps.

"It's easy when I have a good model," he said with a smile.

"Please," She said rolling her eyes. She leaned back against the pillows on his bed. She had to admit she was pretty comfortable there considering it was his room and his bed.

"So...uh...any plans for the day?" he asked taking another drink.

"Not really," she said with a shrug.

"I was going to go down to the park to take some pics. Do you want to go with me? Take a walk?"

She was hoping to go see Oliver but seeing that as a lost cause for the day she agreed.

They made it through his beautiful mansion. She would have to help him get it in at least some livable condition; at least in the front rooms, she thought as she saw they closed the door behind them. She couldn't help but glance at the door of PH4 when they walked by it. Mouse didn't notice, she thought gratefully, as he had a determine look about him as he walked down the hall with his black camera bag thrown over his shoulder.

They went down the elevator and out the lobby doors to the crazy street of the city. It was a beautiful cool autumn day. Gina took a deep breath of fresh air. Suddenly two loud bangs exploded in the air and Mouse pushed her hard into the side of the building blocking her with his body. His breath was hard and heavy against her. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest. "Mouse," she said trying to stay calm as his body shook against hers. He pressed his cheek next to hers. His lips brushed her ear. "Car backfired," she said gently. He nodded his hands going around her waist and squeezed her tight.

"Thanks for trying to save me," she said as she knew what he thought. It was the city after all. It wasn't unheard of for gunshots to be heard in the middle of the day although they didn't tend to be in this particular neighborhood.

"Are you okay?" She asked putting a hand to his arm.

He pulled away. His face was pale. His eyes wide. He didn't look at her but looked far away as if he were looking at something else. "Mouse?" she asked concerned. She shook his shoulder. "Mouse?" she said again more urgently. He blinked and then looked at her.

"God, are you okay?" he asked her concern filling his eyes.

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "A car backfired," she repeated uncertain if he had heard her the first time. He nodded taking her hand and led her towards the park.

They walked hand in hand quietly to the park. She was concerned about him. They had their silences before and they had always been comfortable. And she was comfortable with him, his hand in hers. But the hard look in his eyes as he walked worried her.

"Mouse?"

"Huh?" he asked looking over at her as if snapping out of a dream.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine," he said setting his camera bag down on a bench.

"You don't look fine."

"No?" he asked unzipping the bag

"You look like something's...bothering you."

"Nope," he said pulling out the camera. He turned to her. "I'm fine. Really," he said and kissed her cheek. He walked away camera in hand and went off searching for things to take pictures of.

She sat on the bench and watched him. It just didn't seem like him. He looked frustrated as he squatted on a rock and aimed to take a picture of a bridge over a creek.

She sat watching him for a good fifteen minutes before he pulled the camera away from his eye and moved over to a large rock and sat down. She walked over to him from the bench she had been sitting at and climbed up on the rock with him. She looked at his face which was still paler than she'd ever seen it. She didn't know what to do for him or what was bothering him. She put a hand lightly on his back to offer some kind of comfort. He jumped slightly and looked over at her as if he hadn't heard her come and sit by him. He blinked again like he was pulling himself out of a dream. He looked away and looked at the creek. He cleared his throat. "Light's all wrong over here," he said scrambling to his feet throwing his bag over his shoulder. "There's a garden on the other side..." he trailed off as he climbed back down the rock.

She sat watching him cross the large grass center of the park. He didn't bother to look back and she doubted he'd notice if she followed or not. She rubbed a hand over her face. She wasn't sure how to talk to him. There was something seriously wrong with him. He'd always been pretty open with her before. Why he wouldn't talk to her about whatever was suddenly wrong was beyond her. She got up and followed him allowing him his distance.

She brushed a tear off her cheek she didn't notice had appeared. She watched him sit down on a bench, the camera hanging loosely in his hands as he stared off into the distance not noticing the beautiful rose garden in front of him or noticing that she was even not by his side. She was at a loss what to do. She felt a pressure in her pocket as she took another step forward. She reached her hand in her pocket and adjusted her cell phone. She pulled it out of her pocket looking at it. She looked back at Mouse. He was still staring into nothing. She clicked back into her recently dialed numbers and pressed the send button when she reached Anna's name.

"Hello?" Anna answered.

"Anna," Gina said.

"Hey, Gina! What's up?"

"Hey, um, is Wolf with you?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Could I...Could I talk to him for a sec?"

"Um...sure. I guess. Hold on," Anna said hesitantly.

"Hello?" Wolf asked after a few seconds.

"Wolf?"

"Yeah, Gina, what's up?"

"It's Mouse."

"What about him? Is he okay?" Wolf asked concerned.

"That's the thing. I don't think he is."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. He won't talk to me and he's all pale and staring into space."

"Gina, what happened?" he asked his voice rising slightly.

"I don't know he's been acting weird since we left the apartment."

"Well, what happened just before you left?"

"Um..." Gina asked trying to think. "Well, a car backfired and he sort of freaked out. Like it was a gunshot or something," she explained. Wolf muttered something Gina couldn't hear. "What?" she asked shaking the cell phone to try hear him better.

"I'll call Corbin. Where are you?"

"Corbin?"

"He needs to talk to Corbin, okay? Where are you?"

"The big park down the road from..."

"I know where it is. Stall him. Keep him there. I'll get Corbin."

"Okay."

"Hey," Gina said coming to sit next to Mouse.

Mouse looked over at her and blinked. "Hey."

"You okay?" she asked looking him over.

"Yeah," He said running a hand through his hair.

"Are you sure? Mouse, if you need to talk about something..."

"I'm fine, Gina, please stop asking," he said annoyed and got up he went through the roses with his camera.

A few minutes later she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Wolf and Corbin. At Corbin's feet was a slobbering German Shepard.

"An excuse to be here," Corbin said gesturing to the dog. "Where is he?" Corbin asked looking around.

"In the rose garden," Gina said gesturing to it.

"Thanks, Wolf," Corbin said looking at him before taking off.

Wolf sighed and sat down next to her. "Thanks for calling."

"You've known him for a long time, huh?"

"Too long," Wolf said.

"It's great that you've been friends so long."

"Yeah. We've never lost touch.... even during the war..."

"What war?"

"Iraq."

"What are you talking about? Were you in the war?"

"No. Mouse was. Well, he covered it. That's why he quit."

"He quit the news because of the war?"

"Yeah, it was too much for him to digest; the bombings, the body parts everywhere. That's why he has problems sleeping. Thought you knew."

"No, I didn't know."

"It messes him up sometimes. That car backfire...it must have triggered something."

"Oh, God," Gina said looking out to the rose garden where she saw Mouse and Corbin talking. Mouse was squatted down petting the dog but she could see his mouth moving slightly. Corbin squatted down next to him and sat on the ground.

"Don't tell him I told you," Wolf said quietly. "He doesn't like to talk about it. Corbin can get to him. I think Mouse thinks that he's the only one that could understand. He was in the unit Mouse was covering."

"Oh," Gina said looking away from Mouse and Corbin to look off in the distance. Why wouldn't he talk to her about it? She would understand. Or try to. She would do anything for him.

"He'll tell you when he's ready," Wolf said putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I won't say anything," Gina said.

"You're good for him, Gina. I'm glad he found you."

"He's a good friend."

"And that's all?" Wolf asked.

Gina blushed. "I...that's all he wants."

"Come on, you don't honestly believe that."

"Well..."

"Look, Gina, I've know him a long time..." Wolf shook his head. "He doesn't always...express his feelings."

"You think he...feels more?"

Wolf nodded. "My opinion, Corbin's, Doyle's, Anna's. But who are we to say? Have you talked to him about it?"

"He hasn't said anything."

"I meant about how you feel."

"I'll kill Anna."

Wolf smiled. "She means well. I won't say anything to Mouse. That's between the two of you. But between the two of us, I think you two are being idiots."

"Thanks."

"So, my advice is just as Anna's. Jump him," Wolf said with a big smile and put around her shoulders.

"No! God! You and Anna are just the same."

"And so are you and Mouse," he said patting her on the knee. "I better get out of here before he sees me and realize we masterminded this."

"Ok. Thanks, Wolf."

"It's going to be alright," he said kissing her cheek quickly and then got up and left.