Gabriella stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes bloodshot, and her face already paler than before. She turned the sink on and splashed her face with a pool of water. The General was nice enough to offer Gabriella some alone time in her bathroom to adjust to the news. The bathroom was right inside the office, so it wasn't enough really good enough for any real alone time. She was still grateful, besides that fact.

"Gabriella, is everything okay?" Gabriella heard from outside the door, recognizing the voice as her boss. She nodded to herself in the mirror and sighed. Alex would've wanted her to stay strong, not cry herself until she could no longer breathe. She stepped out of the bathroom after cleaning herself up and sat down on the chair. She felt a jolt of pain through her body when she looked next to her, the empty chair flooding memories of Alex in her brain.

"I know you're hurting. I am too dear." Gabriella awoke from her trance and looked over at the General, seated in front of her. "I'm allowing you to take some time off to deal with the loss. It's very devastating to carry on with your mission when you just lost your partner."

"No." Gabriella answered, and the General looked confused.

"What do you mean no? You can't go through this now, you know the side effects this will bring. You are not ready, sweetie." Gabriella wanted to throw up this very moment. Could she quit with the nice act? She never cared for anyone besides herself, and Gabriella was very aware she didn't care about Alex's death. She seemed unphased.

"Alex would've wanted me to do it. So I will, for him. I can handle it." Gabriellas voice became gradually larger. She needed to finish what her and Alex started. He would want her to be strong and act as if he was still there, she knew that. After all, she wasn't going to allow anything to interfere with her job.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. You and Alex were very close."

"And I'm going to finish this for him. I won't let you down, I promise." Gabriella spoke as she stood up, not bothering to hear her boss finish. She walked out the door and back to the training room. She let a few tears fall down her cheek and quickly wiped them off, hoping no one would notice she's been crying. This wasn't a very smart idea to complete the mission, she knew that. But she couldn't get rid of the feeling that it had to be done. Any normal person would be emotionally wrecked, probably going into depression. Gabriella would've been that person in high school, but not now, not anymore.


"Gabriella, take it easy, you're gonna knock my hand off!" Taylor pulled her hands away and threw the boxing squares on the floor. She looked at Gabriella who was jumping in place, sweat dripping down her forehead. "Are you okay?"

Gabriella slowed down, trying to get her breathing back to normal. She sighed and threw her gloves on the floor, plopping down next to them. Taylor knelt down in front of her, concern written on her face.

"What's wrong Gabi?" Taylor asked and Gabriella sighed.

"It's Alex."

"Did something happen?" Taylor sat down pretzel style next to Gabriella and handed her a water bottle that was in her bag. Gabriella smiled and grabbed it from her, pouring it over her face. Taylor gasped when the water splashed on her body, and looked at Gabriella, more concerned.

Gabriella shook the water off her face and pushed her wet bangs aside. "He's dead." Gabriella stood up, not making any facial expressions. Taylor covered her mouth with her hand and stood up next to Gabriella.

"Oh my god..Gabriella i'm so sorr-"

"Can we just not talk about it? We have to train." Gabriella cut her off and walked over to two boys as they fought.

"Gabriella, you can't train now! Your partn-Alex just died! You shouldn't be doing this!" Taylor ran in front of Gabriella, putting her hand on Gabriellas shoulder.

"He would've wanted me too. So please, let's just continue." Gabriella pushed Taylors hand away and kept walking until she reached the men. The man that was pinning the other down looked up at Gabriella and grinned widely. He stood up, releasing the grasp on the man.

"You still wanna fight?" Gabriella asked. She needed to get out all her anger.


"So tell me Montez, why were you wet? Did you fall into a lake on your way here?"

"Yes, cause there's so many lakes around." Gabriella responded, rolling her eyes. Her hair was dry now, back to her usual curls. Her bangs somehow managed to dry straight, and Gabriella let them fall back into place. She finished putting on her gloves and smiled when he was ready and in position.

"So how hard do you want it?" He asked, a smirk across his face. What a pervert. She grunted and punched him right in the face with all her strength. He stumbled backwards, clutching his jaw. He moved it to make sure he was alright and looked back at Gabriella, stunned. "What the hell was that for?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were such a pussy, Bolton." Gabriella grinned, putting her hands up in defense. He just ignored her and did the same, but it was obvious he was still in shock. Well, he deserved it, that bastard.

She swung at his face, but he backed his head away, about an inch away from her hand. Her emotions were full of hatred and disgust as she fought him. Normally she would just dislike him in a way, but after everything that happened that day, she was angrier at him. She kind of scared herself.

"Will you chill? This isn't a real fight Gabriella. It's just training."

"Training my ass." She mumbled to herself and threw her leg up at his penis, causing him to fall to the ground in pain. He rolled on the floor, gripping onto his area tightly. She knelt down next to him, pulling his chin toward her face.

"That's for what you did." She spat and slapped him across the face. "And that's for being an asshole." She smirked and stood up, exiting the gym for the day. She felt better after releasing her anger, but she still had a guilt feeling in her stomach when she saw him in pain on the floor. Was she actually feeling guilty for someone she despised?


When Gabriella returned home after a long day she jumped onto the bed and covered her face with her pillow. She screamed loudly into it and threw it at the wall. Moments later she started crying profusely into her hands, allowing her tears to seep through the cracks in her fingers. She slightly jumped when she heard her phone ringing one of Alex's favorite songs. She quickly answered the call, not having the strength to listen any longer. She would have to change it later.

"Hello?" Gabriella spoke into the phone, trying her best not to sound broken.

"Hey, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Are you okay?"

Gabriella smiled into the phone at her best friends worry. Taylor always cared for Gabriella, and she was proud to call her a best friend.

"I'm fine. Just a little shaken up. Do you mind coming over? I don't want to be alone right now." It was true, she was afraid of being alone. Normally Alex would spend the night, nothing really serious, just sleeping. They would spend every waking moment together, but she still had a hard time thinking of him as more of a brother, even if he thought of her as a lover. It didn't matter now..He was gone.

"I'll be right there."

"Thanks." And with that, Gabriella ended the call and threw her phone to the end of the bed. It didn't seem real at the moment. Just yesterday she was hanging out with Alex without any worries, and now he was dead, leaving her alone in the world.

About ten minutes later Taylor showed up with a pint of chocolate ice cream in her hand and a DVD in the other.

"Taylor, I wasn't dumped. Someone died." Gabriella told her as they sat down on the couch in the living room. Gabriella lived in a one bedroom apartment, completed with a kitchen, living room, and her room. She loved it here.

"I'm well aware of that." Taylor smiled and put the ice cream on the couch in between them. She handed a spoon to Gabriella and she gratefully accepted it. "Do you know when his funeral is?.."

Gabriella shook her head and scooped some ice cream into her mouth. "That's the thing. Caruso isn't planning a funeral for him. She doesn't want anyone knowing. So she's going to tell people that he was transferred to another facility."

Taylor looked shocked. "That's awful! He's a human!"

Gabriella sighed and wiped away the tear that fell. "I know..She doesn't want to jeopardize any assignments people have. They might be worried or something.."

"That woman has no heart, I swear." Gabriella just nodded and continued melting ice cream in her mouth. "Do you mind if I ask...what happened to him?"

"He was shot down in front of a jewelry store...It's kind of ironic...A spy being shot by a normal man. Not even a threat."

"What was he doing at a jewelry store?" Taylor asked and Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. Her best theory was that he was buying something for her. Their 3 year anniversary of being partners was coming up in a month, and he told her he was getting her something expensive. She kept blaming herself, one of the things she was good at.

"Lets just talk about something else. I don't want to be upset anymore."

Taylor smiled comfortingly and set her spoon down in the ice cream as Gabriella continued to pick at the chocolate. "So tell me what was going on with Troy today? I saw you beat the shit out of him."

Gabriella laughed at the memory and looked Taylor dead in the eye. "He deserved it."

Taylor giggled and nodded. "I know he's a real cocky son of a bitch, but why do you hate him so much? You never really told me why. I just heard a few things from Chad."

Gabriella groaned at the name she mentioned. Chad was Troys best friend, also Taylors partner. Well, more like lifelong partners. When she came here he was one of the people that took an interest in her. Instantly they started going out, and they've been pretty inseparable ever since. Chad used to be Gabriellas good friend as well, but when she stopped speaking to Troy, they drifted.

"What things?"

"Well..." After a moment of thinking Gabriella nudged Taylor to continue. "He told me that you caught Troy doing something, and you never spoke to him again."

"Hm...That sums it up perfectly."

"Care to elaborate?"

Gabriella shook her head and Taylor groaned. "Okay, fine. It started when I came here at 17. I was new and very young. I was partnered with Troy for three years and we had a pretty strong bond. I admit, I fell for him. It was a really bad idea, because I knew Troy was a player. He tried to get with all of the new bimbo spies that were clueless. So I didn't tell him I liked him. Which only made our friendship worse. I always acted weird around him, and he noticed. One day we talked...we kissed...and I thought I was in love. But then I caught him making out with some girl at his house. I promised myself that I would never get mixed up in anything like that ever again and do this for myself. That's when Alex came, and I broke my promise. We became partners and yeah.."

Taylor grabbed Gabriellas hand and held it tightly. "You didn't deserve any of that Gabi."

"I know.."


The next morning Gabriella walked into the gym once again, fully awake and prepared to train. She just wasn't sure who she was going to train with. It's not like she had many options. Most were paired. Except well, Troy. He just paired up with any girl in his sight. Pig.

"Gabi!" Taylor came running at her, smiling brightly.

Gabriella shot her a confused glance and walked closer, holding onto her bag. "What's going on? Why are you so happy?" Gabriella asked when they both met up.

"Chad said he would train with Troy, so that leaves us to work together." Taylor smiled, trying to catch her breath. Gabriella smiled back excitedly and jumped up and down like a little kid.

"Thank god!" She squealed and they both exchanged giggles. Gabriella walked with Taylor to an empty spot, and she looked over at Troy and Chad. Troy was staring at her, a small smile appearing on his face. Gabriella grunted and looked away from Troy to Taylor.

"You in the mood for yoga?" Gabriella asked and Taylor laughed.

"Are you serious? We aren't supposed to do yoga here. This is for training." No duh.

"I know...but lets live a little. I need to release some stress, not anger at the moment. Please!" Gabriella pleaded, getting down on her knees. She put her hands together and begged the woman in front of her. Taylor rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Fine, but if we get yelled at, i'm blaming you." Yay!

"Will you pay attention, Troy?" Chad asked him, trying to get his attention. Troy just stared away from Chad, moving his hands around like an idiot. He was in his own world. "Troy!" Chad punched Troy hard on the arm and Troy quickly looked at him, angry.

"What the hell?" Troy said, holding onto his arm.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Troy responded and got back into position to fight. Obviously he was looking at something, he just didn't want to get into it with Chad again. Troy was staring at the beauty across the room as she did the most amazing things with her body. Her hair was pulled up once again, letting him see more of her smooth olive skin. Her back was facing him, so he only got a view of her nicely shaped ass, which could make any man go wild. Especially in those spandex shorts of hers.

"There you go again. Will you snap out of it!" Troy groaned, unaware that he was staring again. He apologized and sat down on the floor to stretch out his muscles.

"Troy, were you looking at Gabriella?"

Troy quickly looked at Chad and shook his head. "No, why would I look at her?" He asked nervously.

"Cut with the shit, I saw you staring at her."

"You saw wrong. I would never look at her. She's a bitch."

"A bitch you still like."

Troy rolled his eyes and brought his hand across his chest to crack it. He left it there for a few seconds before doing it with the other. "I don't like her anymore. That was a long time ago." Gabriella has changed a lot since the first time Troy saw her. At first he thought she was pretty, cute, all those simple words. Now she made him go crazy. She was the most beautiful thing he's ever saw. Like a goddess was appearing in front of him.

"Why don't you just tell her the truth?"

"You don't think I tried? She never let me finish. It's too late for that."

"It's never too late."


Gabriella knocked on the door and stepped inside when she heard the Generals voice. She looked surprised when she walked in and saw Troy sitting down in Alex's usual place. That made her blood boil to a point where she could rip his head off.

"You wanted to see me?" Gabriella asked, walking closer to the woman, but away from Troy.

"Yes, sit down Montez." Gabriella groaned and sat down next to Troy. He winked and she faked like she was gagging. The General turned toward them and she quickly sat up straight, a smile on her face. "Troy, as you know, Gabriella's partner Alex is no longer working with us." Gabriella cringed at her words and Troy seemed to notice her becoming uneasy. She was told not to tell anyone, but she had to tell Taylor. Taylor promised to keep it a secret. And she obviously believed her.

"So that leaves Gabriella partner-less. And since you don't have a full-time partner, I suggest you both work together on her next big mission."

Gabriella choked on the air when the General finished speaking. She turned to look at Troy who had his mouth opened and she looked back at the General. "Can't I just work alone?" Gabriella asked, disappointment in her voice. Troy just sat there, still shocked.

"I'm afraid not. This is a job for two."

"But I do-"

"This isn't up for discussion. You don't have a choice if you still want to do this mission."

Gabriella nodded and slowly left the room, with Troy following behind.

"Gabriella-"

"You listen here, Bolton. We may be partners now, but that does not mean we are going to get along. I still want nothing to do with you. This is fully professional. Understand?" With that Gabriella walked back to the gym, leaving Troy standing there alone and startled. That went well.