Making a decision that he knew his instincts were telling him was correct, Allen raised a finger for Hannah to hold on a bit as he exited the room and went to his boss' desk to find out if Hannah had been cleared as a person of interest. He got the all clear within five minutes and was told to release her on her own recognizance. It was all he needed to know and hear. Hannah was an addict but she had absolutely nothing to do with the Scorpio case and therefore was free to go; much to both her and Allen's relief. He didn't even tell Ryan of his decision as he knew his hotheaded rookie partner would never understand. Allen escorted Hannah out to his car and that is when he told her.

"I'm taking you back to my place. It's safe, clean, and you can stay for as long as you need."

"What? Are you serious? I-I can't possibly impose on you like that, Allen. You've already done so much for me." Hannah said in shock as they drove toward the apartment complex not far from the SMU campus.

"It's not imposing. It's the least I could do. I feel very protective of you and you can't go back to your house that you once lived in with Chris and there's no way in hell, I'm letting you go back to the warehouse. There's nothing for you there now that Randall is behind bars." Allen said with a serious tone.

    Hannah knew he was right. She had nowhere to go. As they got to his apartment complex and parked the car, Allen took Hannah's backpack from the backseat and she followed him into the elevator. The building had 8 floors and Allen lived on the 5th; his place was a one bedroom apartment with a balcony and a spacious bedroom and kitchen. Though he was renting it, he had saved more than enough over the years to not be worrying about monthly payments and such. His apartment was on the corner and from the balcony one could see the SMU campus. It was a beautiful view. Hannah got herself settled in and wandered around the apartment.

"Hannah, I'm going to put your bag into the bedroom. You can have the bed." Allen said kindly.

"What? Oh no no, I can sleep on the couch. It looks very comfortable. I already feel like I'm imposing on you just by being here. I'm not going to take away your bedroom too." She said shaking her head.

"No really, I insist."

"Please Allen, the couch is totally fine; see?" She sat down on it and crossed her legs Indian-style underneath herself as Allen smiled. She sure drove a hard bargain and it was one of the many things he liked about her. 

"Alright, but I will make you some hot tea and I won't take no for an answer." He said and she smiled nodding at him. She had such a beautiful smile, it lit up her face when it reached her eyes.

    As Allen went into the kitchen to turn on the kettle on the stove, Hannah got comfortable on the couch. It really was a soft place to sit and sleep; it made her think of the cot in the warehouse where she had spent the better part of the last two years and the difference between the two. Allen's couch felt like she was sitting on a cloud as opposed to block of concrete with springs sticking into her ribs. As she got comfortable, she yawned and realized she could hardly keep her eyes open.

    Allen came back into the living room with tea and some toast with hummus which she took eagerly and they had a snack together quietly. After she was done with the tea and food, she lay down on the couch and before Allen could even say a word, was out like a light. He looked down at her with sadness and brought a blanket from the linen closet to cover her; he tucked her in, turned off the light, and went into his bedroom. There after getting undressed and climbing into bed, he couldn't sleep for hours as he thought of the woman sleeping peacefully in his living room. Eventually, the long day caught up with him and he fell asleep.

    The next day he was up at 7am and very quietly got ready for work. He was going to go in early and see how much he could get done. Writing Hannah a note and leaving it on the coffee table near the sofa, he told her he would be back soon and to help herself to anything and everything that was in the kitchen and fridge. He then quietly left the apartment. When Hannah woke up a few hours later, she saw the note immediately and smiled. She got up and stretched as she was totally stiff from sleeping in the same position all night long.

    After making herself eggs and coffee, she wandered around the apartment looking at Allen's bookshelves filled with different novels and such. It turned out that they had very similar tastes in books and in music. At the house, she collected a lot of different autobiographies and was pleasantly surprised to see the same books in his possession. It also seemed like he had a small spoon collection. She smiled at herself in irony as she looked at the knickknacks perfectly sorted out and placed with care everywhere.

    The reason that the spoons caught her attention was because for the longest time she had heard that people with chronic illnesses were called 'spoonies'. It was based on an article written by a woman explaining to her friend what it was like to be chronically ill using spoons and the term stuck; not just with M.E. patients but those with illnesses such as Lyme, Fibromyalgia, and ALS. And here Allen had different small spoons made out of a variety of different materials like metal, wood, silver, and even unconventional materials like rusted alloy. It seemed like everything was connected somehow.

    After going through the whole apartment and familiarizing herself with it and all of the chochkies that made the place a quaint home, Hannah took the autobiography of Walter Cronkite out on the balcony with her and sat in the chair that was out there and started reading the book. It was one she didn't have and she became so engrossed in it that she never heard Allen come in from work as the day passed quickly by. It was the first book she had picked up in forever. He tapped lightly on the glass as to not frighten her. She looked up with a smile; she had gotten through 3/4th of the book by that time and it was very enlightening for her.

"Hi there. How's the book?" Allen asked Hannah with a smile.

"It's really good. We actually have a lot of books in common but this one I don't have so I'm glad to have started reading it. How was your day?" Hannah replied returning the smile.

"Busy, crazy, typical agent day. Lots of paperwork and putting a big case together. In other words, glad to be home and away from the headache."

"Sounds like it. I have no idea how you manage to do it all and still stay sane."

"Well to be perfectly honest, I learned a long time ago that I have to leave work at work. As soon as my shift is over and I enter the elevator, I leave that part of my thoughts at my desk. Unless it's a huge deal like the Scorpio case, I try not to bring my work home with me or I'd never get any peace whatsoever. Speaking of peace, would you like to come grocery shopping with me? It's been a while since I've cooked anything."

"Sure sounds like fun. I used to love to cook. Let me just take a shower and change, I feel like I've lived in these clothes for years." She said with a shudder.

    Allen gave her a clean towel and off she went into the shower. In the meantime, he had an idea. He took all of her clothing from the backpack and carried it downstairs to the complex's laundry room. He tossed everything into one of the empty washing machines and put it on the strongest cycle. Everything would be washed by the time they returned from their outing. He told her what he did when she stepped out of the shower, drying her hair with a towel. She was very grateful for that and thanked him again and again.

    They left the house soon after and drove to the local Whole Foods store. There they got a shopping cart and walked from one aisle to another as they shared recipes they loved cooking. Allen told her about his amazing lobster bisque that his mother taught him how to make with lobster, crawfish, and mussels. Meanwhile, Hannah told Allen about a cooking class she had taken once in college and how she loved buying cookbooks and then taking the dishes in there apart and making things from scratch using the same ingredients. She said her most famous dish was stuffed peppers. When she explained how she made them and that she used wine and jalapeno, Allen was all but salivating.

    She laughed at his expression as they decided that they were going to make both of their famous dishes that night and bought all of the ingredients for that. The cart was filled to capacity when they headed for the checkout counter. After paying and loading the bags back into Allen's Ford Explorer, they headed back to his apartment. Sure enough her clothing was washed and she took them out of the washing machine and hung them out to dry so they wouldn't shrink in the dryer while Allen carried the bags inside.

    Afterwards, they unloaded the shopping bags and started making dinner. Allen turned on some music and they chatted as they made their respective dishes and showed each other the steps. It felt a lot like they were roommates and were getting along nicely. He entertained her with stories of his college days and how much of a clown he was. They didn't touch the hard subjects as both needed a respite from life. They were just living in the moment, enjoying each other's company, and cooking delicious food. Dinner turned out well and they even had enough for leftovers so that Allen could take to work the next day. 

    Days turned to weeks and they got into a routine of doing things and felt very comfortable with each other. One day, Allen offered to drive Hannah to her house and get more clothing for herself. She took him up on the offer and they drove to Plano one afternoon during the week when she knew Chris wouldn't be home. She swapped out the clothing she had had with her and took a shower. She felt like a stranger in her own home; that it was like she was taking a shower at a friend's house then somewhere she used to live.

    She swapped out the backpack for a small suitcase on wheels and a purse as she packed more clothing and toiletries that would fit her new lifestyle. She looked at the backpack long and hard; Hannah knew she would never use it again. Somehow her intuition told her that that part of her life was over for good. She tossed her last batch of warehouse clothes into the back of the closet and then left the house with Allen in tow. Allen's apartment had become more of home for her then the house she shared once with Chris ever was.

    What neither of them knew was that Ryan had been following them from Allen's apartment. He happened to drive by there and saw Hannah and Allen get into Allen's car and decided to follow them. As he drove and realized what was going on, he was seething with rage. Allen was putting the whole case in jeopardy by sneaking around with that stupid meth addict. In Ryan's mind; once an addict, always an addict. That's all he had ever known and didn't care to think about the circumstances that brought a person there.

    Ryan didn't sleep the whole night and as morning drew closer; his anger grew until it was like a dark cloak around his whole person. He was determined to give Allen a piece of his mind the next morning. He cornered Allen in the locker room at work when they were alone.

"What's your problem? Let me pass Ryan." Allen said surprised trying to out-maneuver Ryan to get out of the locker room.

"My problem? You're the one putting the whole case in jeopardy!" Ryan said through clenched teeth.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I saw you man! You and that meth head leaving your apartment! You took her home and then back to your place! Don't play dumb with me! The whole case will go down the toilet if you don't wake the hell up!" Ryan got up into Allen's face as the latter's eyes narrowed.

"You followed me? Who the hell do you think you are? What I do in my private time is none of your business! Hannah was cleared of all charges and she isn't even part of the case!"

"So what if she was cleared of all charges? What if she has to testify and they say that the lead agent on the case had his bean waxed by her! How the hell would that look? Wake up and stop messing with that meth slut!" Ryan finished and then angrily shoved Allen backwards.

    There was a deafening silence as without warning Allen hauled back and punched Ryan in the face sending him flying to the floor. Ryan recovered fairly quickly though he was still on the floor and absolutely stunned as his head was spinning. He knew at the very least he had a split lip but wouldn't be at all surprised if his jaw was broken. Allen stood over him, his eyes spitting fire.

"You're a disgraceful piece of shit to the human race, Ryan Dresden! Your holier-than-thou attitude makes me sick! Not everything on this earth is black and white. You became an agent because your pal in high school overdosed on drugs! Big fucking deal! You have no idea what it's like to be an addict, to live with one, or see someone struggling every single day with their problem. Not everyone is born an addict and not everyone chooses wisely because their life is wonderful!"

As Ryan slowly got off the floor, wobbling a bit; Allen got into his face and continued though quieter this time.

"Somewhere along the way you decided to be judge, jury, and executioner to Hannah Peters. You don't know anything about her or the life she's led! You don't have the right to play God with people based on stereotypes and other people's decisions. I'm not stupid enough to jeopardize this case and wouldn't go near Hannah unless I knew she wasn't going to be in anyway involved when this thing hits trial. I've been working on bringing down this cartel before you even finished your motherfucking SAT's!"

    Then Allen backed off and just before he stormed out of the locker room, he had one final thing to say to Ryan.

"If you come after Hannah or ever touch me again, the end of your career as an agent will be the least of your worries. I will end you!"

    Ryan stood there absolutely stunned not knowing what the hell just happened. The only thing that he did know was that his head hurt like a bitch. He sat down on a bench and put his head in his hands. Allen's words rang in his ears. His hotheaded attitude had totally backfired on him. Now what? He walked out of the locker room after washing his hands, his face while dabbing at the bruised and bloody lip with a piece of paper towel and looked around; Allen was nowhere to be found.

    Meanwhile, their boss had heard the argument in the locker room and saw Allen storm out. The latter went for a walk to cool off and called his boss to tell him he couldn't concentrate and was going to take the rest of the afternoon off. He didn't tell him why but his boss realized it had something to do with the ruckus in the locker room and Ryan exiting the place looking shaken with the bruised split lip. Allen parked his car at the apartment complex and went for a walk through the SMU campus just to clear his head and calm down.

    Back at Allen's apartment, Hannah was pacing back and forth. Without warning, the withdrawal symptoms from the meth started to hit her about an hour earlier. She was sweating and babbling incoherently to herself. She thought she saw Shanel in the corner looking at her and she was telling her to stay away and that she wasn't real. She backed away into the wall and was shaking from head to toe. This is the way Allen found her when he entered the apartment.

"Hannah? Hannah! Are you alright?" He quickly walked over to her asking in a concerned voice.

"Sh-she's here. I didn't kill her. She's dead.....she's dead. Go away! Away!" Hannah babbled shaking and twitching.

    Allen immediately realized she was feeling the withdrawal symptoms and tried to calm her down. But the more soothing his voice became, the more warped Hannah's thoughts were as she teetered on the edge of sanity. She felt as if Shanel had invaded her body and was making her feel the same things she was feeling the night she OD'd. She looked at Allen and to her horror, his face transformed into that of Shanel and she was trying to choke her. Her voice had a macabre timbre to it and Hannah started to scream.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Hannah! Hannah! Stop, please!" Allen was scared out of his wits when Hannah started fighting him, clawing at him.

"FUCK YOU!!! FUCK YOU!!! FU-FUCK YOU!!!" She yelled spraying spittle. Allen was shocked and then the stress of that day just got to him and he erupted back at her.

"I CAN FUCK YOU HARDER!!!"

    As soon as he yelled, he instantly regretted it as Hannah's face went into shock and she collapsed to the floor, weeping. He grabbed her in his arms before she fully crumbled and hurt herself. He held her close as she shook and sobbed; his heart turning over and bleeding as he felt her pain as if it was his own.