AN: This is my first fanfic, so don't kill me if it's horrible Xo . I think its pretty good personally. :- ) , I might be one of the only American authors on this sight, so please excuse my "improper" grammar/spelling. The next chapter should be up in the next day or so because I have a lot of it planned out. Hope you enjoy!

Dedication: this story is dedicated to Chase Lowry who died on Tuesday. We loved you Chase and we miss you.

Chapter 1

-Valek's POV-

A mission. With Yelena. Alone. Wonderful. I still couldn't believe that the Commander had authorized it.

flashback

Yelena and I had just walked into the Commander's war room.

"Valek, you are late, as usual," he said with an annoyed look on his face.

I mumbled my apologies under my breath. Yelena tasted his meal, roast beef, mashed potatoes, and some kind of squash puree, and I took my seat.

"Valek, I have a mission for you," he stated rather unceremoniously. No beating around the bush with him. "I know you have had your suspicions about Brazelle's orphanage for a while now, and I want you to go find out whether they were valid or simply you being paranoid," he said with a pointed look at me.

"If I weren't paranoid, neither you nor I would be alive," I retorted.

Yelena was stalling. She was taking much too long to taste the commanders iced tea, no one needs to take two minutes to taste a mouthful of liquid, and I could tell she was listening intently. Her face drained of color when the Commander mentioned Brazelle. The Commander followed my gaze and looked thoughtfully at Yelena.

"I want you to take Yelena with you on this mission." Yelena spit out the mouthful of thoroughly-tasted iced tea in shock, which would have been extremely comical if my surprise didn't mirror her own. I nearly choked on my bite of beef. After our simultaneous coughing fit was over, the protests started.

"Are you sure that's the best-"

"I don't think that's-"

"Who would taste your food?"

"She's just a food taster, how can you trust her-"

The Commander just looked at us with an amused expression.

"Yes, I'm sure it's a good idea, I can have one of the other advisors trained in poison tasting test my food, and you said yourself you trust her. I can trust you, and you trust her, therefore, I trust her. The important part is that she knows her way around Brazelle's manor better than you do and she will be a useful asset to the mission. You leave tomorrow"

He said this with such finality in his face and voice that we had no choice but to comply.

End Flashback

We had been jogging through the forest for about five hours now and I had hardly even broken a sweat. Yelena on the other hand… I knew she would never admit defeat even if it was in the form of stopping or slowing down. I glanced over at her. The emerald of her eyes was brought out by the several hues of green in the forest. Even in her fatigue, she moved with graceful, fluid movements. She seemed so at home in the forest. So beautiful… No! Stop it Valek! I don't have time to think about that right now. I cannot even think about this while she's in such close proximity. I might do something I will regret… or not…

-Yelena's POV-

Now Valek was getting kind of creepy. He kept glancing over at me as if appraising me or something. Not that I didn't like his attention…

Every part of me was aching and my throat was burning. Finally he stopped.

"We'll make camp here tonight," he stated. I guess he's not one to socialize.

AN: Please, please, please, please, please, please review! Feedback is my intellectual food and I am starving!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters (yet) and there are no rights reserved to me whatsoever. If they were, I would be getting a massage from Valek while typing on a computer not from the dark ages.