"Thank you, so are you." Jarod said, noticing that the crowd had turned to watch them.

"Of course I'm not Jarod," Natasha giggled a little, stumbling a little as they danced, "Too drunk to be good at anything."

"Just relax and let it happen," Jarod told her. "90 percent of dancing is attitude."

"Mr know it all are we?" She asked in amusement, leaning her head against his shoulder as the music changed and they just did slow circles around the floor.

Jarod held her and just relaxed, glad some others were joining in now too so he didn't feel as conspicuous. She had had too much to drink and he was hoping a little bit of activity might sober her up a little. He was worried about her.

"You are a really nice guy Jarod, did you know that?" Tash asked him, sighing softly as they moved slowly.

"And you are very drunk, your judgement is not to be trusted." He smiled at her though.

Looking up at him with a grin, "Not that dunk that I don't know you are a good guy Jarod. Everyone knows you're a great, nice guy."

"We are all good guys, didn't you hear? We saved the world." He quipped, although he believed every person that worked here was a 'good guy.'

"We did!" Nat exclaimed happily at that, "We need more drinks to celebrate, and you need to drink all of this glass." She ordered him, dragging him over to the drinks and ordered two cocktails with little umbrellas in them.

"I think you probably have had enough Natasha," Jarod said gently.

"Not nearly enough. This is the first time I have been able to drink in over three months, I plan on using this chance with all I got." She grinned, pushing the drink into Jarod's hand, "Drink it."

Jarod took a small mouthful, surprised that a professional at her level might behave this way. He supposed they all deserved it though. "Cheers."

"Cheers." She grinned, drinking some of her drink. Natasha could almost see the look of disapproval on Jarod's face at her being drunk, but half of them were as drunk as her, some more so. They had all worked so hard for so long, not getting days off really, working extra hours. This was there chance to just finally let their hair down and relax.

"I am going over for another donut," Jarod said, wanting to eat more than get drunk. It wasn't often so much tempting food was on offer.

Following him, sipping on her drink, Natasha grinned at him. "Eat as many as you want, they are all just for you." He looked so sexy in those clothes, knowing he would when she picked them, Natasha couldn't help herself. Leaning in, Tash reached up and kissed him.

Jarod froze for a moment, not really sure what he should do. He kissed her back gently and then pulled away, not wanting to take advantage of her in this drunken state.

Lyle saw Jarod pull back from her and the look of hurt on her face and moved over to them with a grin, "Miss Natasha," He said smoothly, grinning evilly at Jarod, "Why don't I get you another drink, and you and I can go dance and maybe do something more exciting?" He hinted. This was a perfect opportunity to hurt Jarod in a way he really hadn't been able to hurt him before.

"Natasha," Jarod said, his voice low in warning.

Looking at Jarod, to the man offering his arm and a dazzling smile, she reached out to take his arm slowly.

"No one likes a man who doesn't even know how to kiss a woman or who has only had sex twice." Lyle smirked at Jarod.

"Please don't go Natasha," Jarod asked her in a whisper, ignoring Lyle completely. Jarod knew that Lyle was a smooth operator and that his fumbling attempts would never be able to compete with Lyle in full swing. Jarod was a man of many talents, but intimacy was not one of them. That was something that came with experience and confidence, not book learning.

Before she could have a chance, Lyle leant in and kissed her deeply, his eyes looking from the corner of his eyes at Jarod, knowing how much he would hate this.

Tasha's knees went weak as she was kissed and wrapped her arms around Lyle, not thinking about how she would feel in the morning, what this man had done and been doing to Jarod.

Jarod could see that she wasn't going to listen to him and probably the only thing he could do was warn agent Byrnes about what kind of a man Lyle really was and what danger he might pose to his female agents. "Natasha?" Jarod asked, knowing his cause was lost though. It hurt him though to see her kissing him back, to see her reaction and he wondered if he was just another guy after all, not really important to her beyond a little gratification.

Pulling back as Jarod spoke her name, she just smiled dumbly at him, "Lyle is a real good kisser Jarod." She was breathless after the kiss, awed, weak in the knees. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest and Tash couldn't help but feel like kissing that man again.

Jarod nodded and smiled tightly at her. "Thanks for the donuts," he whispered and backed away, knowing that to make a scene now would only push her closer to Lyle. Worried about her though, knowing what an animal Lyle could be. She wasn't Asian, but that didn't mean she wasn't at risk from him. Lyle was just as likely to hurt her to spite him than out of any real desire to.

Looking from Lyle to Jarod backing off, she really rather be with Jarod, no matter how good of a kisser this man was. Pulling completely from Lyle, she took a few steps moving to Jarod, only to be stopped by a tight hand on her wrist and wincing.

"We were in the middle of something Natasha." He warned her softly. "You don't just walk away from me."

"Let her go Lyle." Jarod said very softly as he saw the grip, her reaction. "Don't make a scene about this."

When the grip loosened, Tasha pulled her hand away and rubbed at the wrist. "Thanks for the kiss and the offer, I rather stay with Jarod though." She told him, moving to Jarod quickly.

"We have all night to change your mind." Lyle smiled charmingly at her.

"You heard what the lady said," Jarod said, his eyes holding Lyle's.

"I will have her before the night's end." Lyle whispered darkly to Jarod before turning and walking off back to the woman he had been chatting with earlier.

"You should stay away from him Natasha," Jarod warned her. "He is not a good man."

"Well if you were a bit more fun, I wouldn't be looking elsewhere for it." As soon as Natasha had said that though, she realised how bad it sounded. She hadn't wanted him just for fun, just to sleep with. She really liked this man, she was just to drunk to get her words out right.

"Oh, I see." Jarod said softly realising that she was just looking for a toy to play with. He was flattering himself and should have realised. "I am sure there are plenty of men here tonight that would be plenty of fun without going near Lyle."

"But I don't like any of them Jarod. I like you." Natasha whispered very softly, looking into his deep brown eyes.

She was drunk and horny. "Come on, why don't we sit down for a moment and talk?" He asked her, already leading her to a quiet corner.

Moving along with him without complaint, she sat down on a chair away from everyone else. "I really do like you Jarod, have since I first saw you." Tash whispered to him, feeling slightly embarrassed, knowing it was very unprofessional to be saying this, to someone she worked with. But since she started drinking, her professionalism had gone right out the window.

"I like you too Natasha, I really do. But nothing is going to happen. Tomorrow, day after, I will be gone and we are not likely to ever see each other again. I am not trying to spoil your fun, I just don't want to see you hurt."

"How do you know that Jarod? Have you decided to stay here yet? Because if you say yes, then most likely you will be able to work here instead. And if not, why can't something happen? Why can't we have one good night, give you something good to go back with?"

He touched her face gently. "Because you are drunk and I don't want to take advantage of you." If he was going to do that, he wanted them both to be sober, knowing fully what they were doing, no regrets.

"You wouldn't be though Jarod, I have been wanting to be with you since I first saw you. And more and more every time I spoke with you, worked with you." Nat whispered, leaning into his hand. "And if you go, I would regret not having the chance to spend a night with you, more than I would ever regret being with you."

"There is no way I can Natasha," Jarod sighed. "I am sorry." He had Lyle breathing down his back every second and he did not want something dirty and sneaky, and certainly not when she was too drunk to walk, let alone make a sound decision. He was also poison to everyone he touched or dared to love. All of their lives were ruined because of him and after what had happened with Zoe, he knew that he would never put anyone at risk like that again.

"Why?" She whispered miserably. Natasha had forgotten how horrible and humiliating it was to be turned down. She wasn't normally a woman men turned down, and yet here was a great guy she really liked, really wanted to get to know and he didn't want her.

"You know what my situation is here Tash," He said her nickname gently. He could almost feel Lyle's eyes on him without even looking to see if he was watching.

Sighing softly, she stood up. "Had to get drunk just to say I like you, should have known this would happen." Natasha whispered miserably. "Why don't you go eat your donuts Jarod? Mingle with everyone else?"

"Tash, please don't be like that." He asked her, standing up, worried she would stumble. Hurting her was the last thing he wanted, but this was never going to work and he wished she could understand that.

"Like what Jarod? I put myself out there for you to get turned down. I know these aren't the best circumstances and I understand Jarod." It didn't help how she felt though. "Go have some fun, I am going to get another drink."

"Tash, I am sorry." Jarod said softly, worried he had hurt her feelings, worried she would drink even more and do something foolish.

Taking his hand in hers gently, looking down at them, "I know you are." Tash whispered before pulling away and walking off to get something more to drink. Jarod was a good nice guy, and Natasha knew he was just doing what he thought was best.

Jarod watched her, very worried, and decided he needed to talk to Byrnes, at least warn him about Lyle, made sure Lyle was watched. He didn't think he would be stupid enough to try anything in here though.

Tash had another couple of drinks, her good mood not returning so decided to call it a night. Saying a few goodbyes, she went to say good bye to Byrnes and Jarod who were talking when she was grabbed by Lyle and pulled in close. "Let me go. I am not in the mood."

Lyle leant into her ear, "Come to my room, I will show you a good time. Nothing like that pretender could do, he is completely useless, probably doesn't even know how to get it up without some sort of help." He whispered.

Tash tried to shove him back, but he held her tightly. "Jarod is a good, wonderful and caring man. Nothing you can say will make me think ill of him." She almost snarled at the man.

Jarod stopped mid sentence, having watched her and moved over to the two of them quickly, ready to kill Lyle right on the spot if necessary.

"Don't be like that now," He whispered in her ear before bringing his lips to hers and kissed her deeply, invading her mouth.

Trying to push him away, too drunk to to fight too much, she bit down hard on his tongue, feeling the blood in her mouth from the wound, oblivious to Jarod storming over.

"You bitch!" Lyle roared, spiting the blood to the floor, his words slurred a little form the wound she had inflicted. What he wouldn't do to take the slut to his little hideout right now. He was tempted to just slap her, but knew he couldn't.

"Get your hands off her," Jarod growled as he grabbed Lyle and yanked him away.

"Remove your hands this instant," Lyle warned Jarod darkly, yanking out of his grip. "When we get back, you will be sorry." He whispered dangerously before storming off, trying not to snap and kill them both.

"Did he hurt you?" Jarod turned to her in concern, not at all worried about Lyle's threat right now.

"I can take care of myself." She told Jarod, "Good night." Natasha whispered before side stepping Jarod, stumbling just a little as she headed for the door.

Jarod followed her for a small distance until the two guards stepped forward a little warning him with a look not to test them.

"Goodnight Agent Byrnes." Natasha said to him as she saw the guards stop Jarod.

"Goodnight," Byrnes nodded, wondering what had happened, too busy talking with everyone to have seen. It was beginning to wind down now, people knowing they still had to show up for work tomorrow.

Walking out, Natasha went to the lobby and had someone call her a cab before getting in and going home. It was late, and she was drunk and passed out the minute she hit the bed, still in the purple dress she thought would impress Jarod, that hadn't really done anything. The 'you look lovely' comment would have been said even if she turned up in old jeans and a t-shirt.

Jarod fretted about her as the party wound down, talking to people and trying to keep up appearances, but he was worried and wished she hadn't left like that. There was nothing he could do though and he hated feeling so helpless. He couldn't even make a phone call.

It had been a very difficult night for Jarod, worried about Natasha, worried about what he should do if this offer proved to be legitimate. Deciding that he might as well work as toss and turn, he was up and stuck into files long before anybody put in an appearance. He hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings like that, but he didn't see what other choice he had.

Having woken early, her head pounding, Natasha decided just to get to work and dive into it, needing the distraction from last night. Walking in, seeing Jarod and two other people, she moved straight over to the coffee and poured a cup of it, sipping on it with a soft sigh.

Jarod looked up when he saw her, not knowing what he should do. Deciding though that he had to explain himself, he got up and moved over to the coffee machine. "Good morning," He said softly, mindful of the headache he assumed she had.

"What's good about it?" Natasha grumbled, squeezing her eyes shut against the bright lights. She had drunk way too much and just wished she could take the day off. More fool her though.

"Bad head?" He asked her sympathetically.

"Horrible head." She mumbled, sipping more coffee, needing more pain killers but had only just taken some.

"Give me your hand." Jarod told her gently.

Looking at Jarod strangely, Natasha slowly held her hand out to him. "Strange command Jarod."

"It was a request, not a command." He said as he started to massage it gently, manipulating certain pressure points.

Moaning softly, Tash's eyes closed as she felt the headache draining from her as Jarod did whatever the hell he was doing to her hand. Putting the coffee down, thinking she was going to drop it soon, Tash was relaxing very quickly.

"May I have your other hand?" He made sure to request rather than order. He knew only too well what it felt like to be ordered around and he guessed it wasn't just her head that was a little sensitive today.

Handing it over without any problem, Natasha shifted to relax against the coffee table, not opening her eyes yet.

Jarod could see she was enjoying it. "Have your coffee, then try some water or juice." He suggested.

"Don't stop," Tash ordered Jarod, moaning softly in the back of her throat as Jarod did the same to her other hand.

Jarod smiled. "No ma'am, wouldn't dream of it."

Opening her eyes to smile at him, completely relaxed now, her headache no longer there. "Thanks." It had done wonders, and she couldn't help but wonder what Jarod would be like at full body massages.

"You are very welcome. Juice though, promise?"

"Promise." She nodded before taking his hand. "Come talk for a minute? Somewhere more private?" She saw Lyle with one of the female agents, one of only two other agents in the room and thought they could slip out.

Jarod nodded and followed her, guessing this was going to be about last night.

Walking into the first empty room, she shut the door and looked at Jarod, "What I said last night Jarod, about liking you. It wasn't because I was drunk." She whispered. If nothing else, she wanted to clear that up with him.

"Oh," Jarod whispered, not sure how he was supposed to respond to that. "I like you very much too Tash, I didn't mean to upset you last night."

"But you don't like me in that kind of way." Natasha guessed.

Jarod looked at her for a long moment. "Truth?" He asked.

"Truth." Tash nodded, not wanting lies.

"I barely know you Natasha, but I would like to, if that counts for anything." Jarod told her. He had not expected anything to get personal here, and romance was certainly the very last thing on his mind. He couldn't afford to think about things like this.

"I guess it will have to." She smiled sadly at Jarod, never one who was very bold in this part of her life. When it came to work and friends, she was great, confident, and bold. But when it came to men she liked, she lost all of that confidence, and she had been so brave to even say anything to Jarod. "Now onto a more serious note." Tash said, getting back to things she felt safe with. "We need your decision Jarod."

"Has it been approved?" Jarod asked, not entirely sure what he was or was not agreeing to here. In the end, wondering if he really had any choice in the matter at all. If they had decided to keep him, that was going to be that after all.

"Not that I know of. As far as I know, Agent Byrnes wanted an answer from you first before he went ahead to get it approved."

"You know what it means for me if I go back." Jarod said slowly.

"I do Jarod, but we want this to be your choice. We won't force you into anything." Natasha said very seriously.

"Then I will talk to Byrnes, see what he says. But it is very dangerous to cross these people."

"I know Jarod, but we are more powerful than they could ever be, and if you say yes, we will protect you. Come on, why don't we go talk to him now. This all should be wrapped up by the end of today, so we don't have much time."

"Is he even in yet?" Jarod asked, not sure what the repercussions would be if he agreed to this. It would mean he never see Sydney or Miss Parker ever again.

Looking at her watch, Natasha nodded, "He should be Jarod."

"Then let's go talk to him." Jarod agreed, knowing what the smart thing to do was, also knowing how difficult it would be to do it.

Nodding, Natasha led him down to Byrnes' door and knocked on it before hearing the command to enter. Opening the door, she walked in. "Sir."

"Morning Agent, Jarod." Byrnes nodded, having been up all night in meetings, still in the same suit he had been wearing yesterday.

Not commenting on how he was looking, she offered Jarod a seat before sitting, "I brought Jarod to talk about what I suggested yesterday."

"Yes, what we talked about." Byrnes looked at the two of them, putting his pen down.

"Jarod is thinking about it, could you tell him the finer details so he could make his mind up?"

Byrnes nodded and took a sip of his coffee. "I am afraid it wasn't what you might have been hoping for. I was lucky to get what I got as it is." He started slowly. Here was another compromise he had been forced to swallow. He was choking on the compromises he had made in this case. Jarod should be granted their full and unconditional protection after what he had done for them, but that wasn't to be, wasn't politically expedient.

Jarod sat there listening to him, knowing that whatever offer was about to come was not at all that promising.

Looking to Jarod back to Byrnes, her face held worry on it, waiting to hear what he got. Surely though, anything they offered here had to be better than life back there.

"Basically Jarod you will be swapping one for another. If they are going to cross the Centre, virtually destroying one of their primary sources of outside consults, they want a guarantee in return that they aren't burning their bridges. In other words, they want to know that you will stay and work for us, otherwise it is lose-lose for them."

"And what are the conditions? I guess doing this as a real job, him being an agent and being paid for his time here is out of the question then?

Byrnes sighed heavily and shook his head. "I am afraid so. They are willing to grant you any reasonable request, make your life as comfortable and as happy as can possibly be." Byrnes said, hedging around it.

"But at the end of the day, I belong to them and they are not willing to risk losing me?" Jarod finished for him, he almost felt sorry for the guy, looking so pained. He believed that Byrnes had tried his best for him and that was more than anyone had ever done in his life for him.

"Would he be allowed outside? To wander like I asked for? Even if he does have to have guards with him." Natasha asked, hoping they had said yes.

"The security restrictions would have to be ironed out. Nothing is certain yet. What I do know is one, they don't trust you, and two, I will do everything in my power to fight for your rights. You will never be mistreated here and we will extend you every comfort that we reasonably can."

Tasha looked at Jarod, "You can say no Jarod. Maybe you should think about this during the day?"

Jarod looked at her and nodded. "If I go back there, things will deteriorate," he said slowly. Despite his status, he had liked it here, very much. "When do they want the decision? And what is going to happen about Lyle?"

"Kill the son-of-a-bitch." Natasha said coldly before agent Byrnes could answer. He had hurt Jarod, had been mean and cruel to him during Jarod's stay, he had tried to force her to go back to his room. She didn't like him at all.

Byrnes just looked at her and said nothing for a moment. "Why don't you finish up your work Jarod, and when you are ready, come talk to me?"

"Do you wish me to stay or go back to work Sir?" She asked as Jarod stood up

"Go ahead Jarod, I am sorry that I can't offer you anything better." He said sadly, genuinely sorry about it. The man had just done his country a great service after all. Now they were asking him to be his jailer, it wasn't fair. Byrnes was a patriot, there was no doubt about that, but even he had to question this decision and question just once again at what price they would guarantee their freedom.

"I will be back to work soon Jarod. Have a think about it, this is all your choice." She said gently. "We are not going to force you into staying her. If you don't want to, then say no. This is entirely up to you." Tash stressed to him.

Jarod nodded and got up, knowing that he only had one sensible choice. If he thought he had a reasonable chance of escape from the Centre, then he would go back because he doubted he would be getting out of here soon. The problem was though it looked like that was going to be a long stay and he wasn't sure he could survive Lyle's retribution, not to mention when the pressure to do unconscionable SIM's really started.

When Jarod was gone, Natasha turned back to face Byrnes. "I am sorry if this is causing you undue stress Sir."

"I just wanted to offer him something better than this, but they were adamant." He apologised, knowing how she felt.

"If he decides to stay, as time goes on, maybe they will trust him more and give him more freedom. For a law enforcement organisation, they don't care much about a person's right do they?"

"You know that what we do here often violates all the amendments and you signed on, so don't run the patriotic speech with me Agent Blake. Would you prefer that we let the terrorist attack go ahead? Millions might have died if that virus had been deployed. One man's rights hardly seem significant stacked up against that." He said, although he believed the rhetoric, he didn't have to like it. He had been forcing himself to swallow it all night, although it sounded hollow to his own ears right now. He knew it was right, knew they had done the right thing, knew they had, it had to be the right thing.

"That is different Sir," She snapped. "I do know what we do here and yes I signed on by my own accord. But that is over now, Jarod will help us, but he will be here by his choice as well, willingly helping us. We have no right to violate him like this, not when Lyle is gone and he has chosen to stay here and help."

"Actually agent, we do have the right," He corrected her, and then softened. "Look Natasha, I don't like this anymore than you do. We can offer him safety though and much more than what he is going back to. They don't even allow him real food there. It is not a perfect solution, but for now, it is all we have got."

Sighing, she nodded, "I know. I know we violate someone's rights everyday doing this work, it is just never right in front of us, seeing the results of treating someone that way. I don't like it. I work here, fight to save people's lives, save our country. Keep this country free and keep equality for all, and yet, here we are, keeping a man prisoner, violating his rights."

"Yes, and the alternative? Send him back there where they will do far worse? The bottom line is that we need the Centre too much, if we lose them, then we need to recoup those losses."

Looking at him, she knew they needed either Jarod or the Centre. "At least here he can do good, some real good work. He seemed to be proud of himself, so happy earlier when we finally got everything we needed. He said it's been a long while since he has been able to help people."

"Jarod is an altruist," Byrnes nodded. "We can give him a fairly full life here, with as much freedom as we can allow. It isn't a perfect solution, but he lesser of two evils I think. I do not think that is what you wanted to talk about, is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Natasha shook her head. "Permission to terminate Mr Lyle Sir?" She asked in business tone.

"You are quoting me amendment rights and you want to terminate him?" Byrnes asked in surprise. "We are not in the assassination business Agent." Byrnes told her, although that wasn't strictly true.

"One he is tormenting and hurting Jarod, and two, last night, he tried to force me to go back to his room to sleep with him. Is that the kind of person you want in this country?"

"And for that he deserves to die? No trial, no jury?" Byrnes asked her slowly.

"Look at it this way, if we don't kill him, he is going to put up a massive fight over Jarod, and get the Centre to come and try to take him back. Now you know what will happen if Centre men come here to collect him, there will be a blood bath. Where if he is dead, we can say Jarod shot him and escaped."

He looked at her as if she had completely lost the plot. "He overpowered our guards, took their guns, shot Mr Lyle and escaped while heavily restrained in the very same restraints that are escape proof?"

"Why not? The Centre wouldn't know what our security is like, they don't know it's the best in the world."

"Actually I suspect they do. Either way though, we are declaring war on them and essentially shutting them down. We pull our funding from them, then the hierarchy will fall upon itself I suspect."

"So why not get rid of one of the more dangerous men? One that poses the more risk to us and Jarod?" Natasha reasoned.

"Perhaps and accident?" He mused. Although this was going to be dangerous no matter what they did.

"An explosion in the end of this floor? We rarely use it, saying maybe Jarod tried to get out, it backfired, killed them both? So that why, they can't really blame us."

"I was thinking an auto wreck but that might work. They will want to see the bodies."

"Burnt to ashes in the explosion. We can create photo evidence maybe, send back some ashes. They can't DNA test it."

"I am due at Oversight in half an hour, I will know more when I get back." He told her, getting up and putting his jacket on.

"Yes Sir," Natasha got to her feet, "I will go and finish my work. It looks like the team will be finished by late afternoon."

"Looks like." He agreed, picking up his pile of folders for the briefing.

Thanking him, Natasha walked out the office, eager to see what Jarod's decision would be.