The Colonel was sitting in his office, holding a cigar to his lips. He puffed out a breath of smoke, watching as it drifted into the air. He had taken a like into smoking after the war broke out; he found it calming and heart lifting. It was distracting, and he needed whatever distraction he could get to forget about his..

"Sir!" The Colonel swiveled around on his chair to see Jack standing at the doorway, holding a relatively big object in his hands.

"I have the Hologram!" He watched as the young man approached him, holding out the Hologram to him. It was almost identical to the men's, grey and black with buttons on flat surfaces of the device. Slowly the Colonel reached out to take the Hologram. Taking it into his hands he immediately felt that it was slightly lighter than their's. Because it is smaller. He thought to himself. The screen was concealed with a lid which he flipped open. Suddenly the room was illuminated with a blue glow. Maps of rooms, streets, traps floated in front of him, certain places highlighted in red and yellow. For the first time in a while the Colonel was truly smiling.

"You have done a great thing, Jack!" he said, looking through all the data.

"You may have just brought the very thing that could help us finish this war!" He looked up from the Hologram and nodded his thanks.

"You may go now Jack, you will receive a reward in the morning."

Ara crept through the alleyway, back to her position as the guard. She went through the evening she just shared with Jake. Jack. She told herself fiercely. He was so different to the blond haired boy she used to know. He was more muscular, more manly compared to her memories. All the years of fighting must have toughened him up. Ara mounted the stairs, two at a time being careful not to make too much sound. Once again she stood at the balcony where she was standing no more than ten minutes ago. Taking a deep breath, Ara continued to wonder about the man she had encountered. Why did he need the Hologram? Why didn't she try to stop him? Why didn't she kill him like she should have? It is illegal to go over each others' borders, yet she had invited him to break that law again. She had invited him to meet her back at the house that had used to be her holiday home the next night. Ara put her head in her hands and stayed like that for the rest of her shift.

Jack closed the door silently behind him. He was back in his room where his bed stood welcoming him in. Walking over to it, he pulled of his shirt over his face and threw it to the side. Just in his jeans he crawled into bed and pulled the bed sheets over his half naked body and lay there, waiting for sleep to come. But it would not. He willed his eyes to get droopy but they would not obey. Ara. The name just popped into his head, just out of nowhere it just appeared. He liked the sound of that name. Ara. It was a strong sounding name, suiting the owner very well. He remembered when they were climbing trees in the park, they must have been about eight or so, and he fell down from the tree, and while he was sobbing Ara -or Aria he knew her as back then- kept calm and helped him bandage up his knee. He had always respected her after that, knowing that if he were to fail in something she would always be there to pick him up again. He sighed at the memory, he still had a scar on his knee from that day. He traced it now over his jeans. Jack looked up at the ceiling, thinking about the morning, thinking about what he just did, thinking about her.. He shook his head; he has to keep his head clear in order to survive. Turning onto his side he stared into the crack in the wall until, finally, he fell asleep.