Disclaimer: I'm very pleased that so many people are interested in this story because of this I decided to post Chapter two, my apologizes for its late update, life has been quite busy the last couple of weeks. I don't own any characters except OC's. Authors Note shall be at the end of this chapter. Remember to please read and review I accept and appreciate all comments, and positive or negative feed back. Enjoy!

Luke was beyond grateful for Gabriella getting him out of the office before someone barraged in and proceeded to dump more paperwork into his lap. He wanted to repay her for it and the teasing discussion of the two going onto a romantic dinner was discussed. It wasn't that they didn't enjoy going out, experiencing the stunning night life of Washington and sometimes having one to many drinks, or the idea of finally celebrating their engagement ran through Hobbs' mind, briefly of course. The offer was very tempting, but the couple having to face reality to the conclusion that it just wasn't the best time for a date. The former Joe was still concerned about the current Terrorist organization known as Cobra, even with its leader and its Second in Command locked away in a Maximum Security prison; the Organization continued to threaten the world and put millions of people in harms way; including Gabriella. For Luke that just wasn't an option. He helped with what he could at his position with the DSS and connections in Washington for the Joes and her, if it meant keeping his family alive he sacrificed the few hours of sleep he rarely had for the person he was, he wouldn't confess his worry or fear to her, it wouldn't help anyone so why bother.

Besides she was strong enough to contain things on her own if they got to out of hand. As much as Luke wanted to protect her in reality she didn't want nor need his protection. Gabriella was always out to prove herself to prove that she was capable could of getting down and dirty to fight with the boys; literally and metaphorically. That she didn't have to hide or run from a fight. She was a independent and vivacious woman who refused to accept someone using her feminism as an excuse to degrade her skills, Luke admired her just a little more for that. He was one of the very few people who had seen her at her strongest and also at her weakest, as she had seen they same with himself. They bonded through those moments, making their friendship in the beginning and their relationship further down the road. It was what attracted them to each other... and of course very strong drinks.

Upon reaching the house that the couple called home there wasn't as much talking to be done as they would have liked... Their bodies tangled together as soon as the door was slammed shut behind them. Immediately fighting rather struggling for dominance over the other seeing which of them would be the first to cave. This time around it just happened to be Gabriella and that was perfectly fine with Luke. Such loving, intimate moments were rarely expressed since neither being the sort of hopeless romantics. Nights like tonight however were always cherished, for it gave the two soldiers something to hold onto in difficult times. With Gabriella risking her life on the front lines of an ever present war and Hobbs encountering some of the worlds most dangerous criminals; having one night to spend together, being themselves, and no interruptions was more then either soldier could ask for. After what must have been hours their bodies tangled together in the soft sheets and there was silence, the only sound being the faint rhythmic breaths before they fell asleep in each others arms.

Morning came to early for Gabriella just like it always had and coming terms with reality she knew that she had to return to the Pit. Having thought it would be best if she didn't wake Luke and let him sleep. Goodbyes were always hard for her especially with the man sleeping by her side, her emotions seemed to get in the way of her judgment and that really pissed her off. Silently she tried to slip out of her fiancés strong grip with out waking him which after several unsuccessful minutes she was able to get her feet securely onto the ground. The hand that reached out to her was swatted away as it nearly dragged her back onto the bed unfortunately for him had Gabriella happened slightly faster.

"One night stand huh Gab? Just like the good old days"

The rough snicker rumbled from the bed since he happened to be already conscious as his fiancé tried to sneak away her effort was impressive to say the least. The bounty hunter watched her with each carefully delicate stride as she briskly darted across the room to gather her clothing. Multiple scars bared her skin from the years of being a soldier and being present for some of them the newest one seemed to be a small burn mark on the side of her neck. Knowing that she was leaving wasn't the best feeling in the world nothing would make him happier then to have her stay, to not return to that damn base. No matter what he said it wouldn't make a difference and fighting was the last thing that needed to take place. He just hoped it wouldn't be another six months until he saw her again or worse if she didn't came back at all. 'Don't think like that Luke...Don't.' Were the thoughts that echoed in his mind and he was right, thinking like that would only make the situation much worse.

"The only difference being I'll be coming back instead of you coming to me, and until then I don't want to be getting more injury reports from your office alright? Its bad enough I have to stitch up your twin on a regular bases, how the hell am I supposed to multi task between Marvin, or Duke?"

Was her snarky reply tossing his uniform shirt in his general direction, chuckling to herself as he caught the material before it hit his face. She worried for his safety as much as he worried for her own but it kept it well masked feeling her emotions as a weakness. Taking her time to slip into her uniform she not having enough time to shower. "You know you could always come back with me, Hawk would be thrilled to have you back." Immediately after the words left her mouth the mood changed form playful to seriousness. Nothing would make her happier then to have him say yes and to return to the life they once shared. Their eyes were locked for a split second in an almost awkward silence. Luke prayed to god that this didn't turn into an argument yet on the road it was going one wrong move and regrets would be made.

"You know what forget I said it...Stupid thing to even consider right?"

"There's a reason I haven't gone back, you know my military days are over. You just have to accept that...But I sure as hell don't want you to think that'll abandon my team, my family. I'm working this Cobra shit from Washington." Luke protested with a huff raising his eyebrows at her as he hooked an arm around her waist refusing to let her just storm away without fixing this, because he would hate himself come tonight when he was alone. "Come here." His rough hands held her cheeks as he kissed her lips proving to her that even if he refused to return to bum fuck Egypt that he still loved her more then life itself and it was enough for Gabriella to regain her composure.

"I have to go.."
"I'll see you soon."
"Sooner then you think."

Was her finale response and before Luke could get a finale word in edge wise the Joe reached up onto her toes and placed a sneaky kiss on the lips before trotting off to the waiting Humvee just outside the door. Even from where Luke was standing on the porch he could hear the commotion that erupted in the vehicle for seeing the kiss and all he could due was grin and watch her leave.

Gabriella let her head lean against the back of her seat glancing over at the snoring soldier next to her with a slightly amused snort. How the hell he could sleep so soundly on these things Flying back was always the hardest part and thankfully they'd be landing shortly. Her job came first and god sometimes she hated it, being away for months on end was hard for almost every soldier. Duke happened to fly back to the Pit with her and about ten other soldiers that were being shipped back out from personal leave. The Captain had returned from visiting Anna from her medical facility in Maryland, and even though she happened to be recovering from her past Nano mite injections, he feared that their lives would never be the same as before and that being partially his fault. But he refused to dwell on the pain stacking situation, rather instead he focused his attention on Gabriella and nudged her gently with his foot it startled her but only for a second and she turned to see him offering her a piece of his double bubble gum.

"It always helps me when I got a lot on my mind."

"Thanks."

Gabriella happily took the gum and popped it into her mouth taking a moment to try and clear her thoughts even as Duke tried to look like he wasn't concerned for her troubles even though he was. It was hard having a Fiancé that resented the Joes not that it was the exact same situation, it was similar in many ways. He had only met Hobbs once and as intimidating as all hell even as he liked him enough. Duke could definitely understand what it was like to be in a difficult relationship that required being away for months at a time. It was like that with Anna now that she recovered from all the shit the Cobra Commander had put her through. Knowing from experience that pondering over all the what ifs never helped any soldier. "You know I still expect a wedding invitation. " The Captain chuckled as he tried his best to hide his smirk.

"You and two hundred fifty other people get in line Hauser."
"I thought you had more that on the list?"
"Yeah, well we decided to down grade. Don't worry you and Ripcord are still on it."

Gabriella and Duke bantered back and forth as she playfully the wrapper at his head in a playful manner making sure that he saw her sarcastic eye roll..

"Sorry to disturb you, Captain Hauser; Major Palatino, but we seem to have a situation. We've just received word from the Pit on a possible hit... on Storm Shadows and Firefly's location that General Hawk thinks you should be informed of-..."

Echoed through Gabriella's and Duke's ear pieces causing their once playful banter to end as soon as the received the information. Each exchanged concerned looks having uneasy feelings about the tone in the pilots voice. Gabriella had had confrontations with the two in the past, Storm Shadow was one thing, but having to Firefly appear was an entirely different issue.

"Where is Storm Shadow?"

"He's in a residential part of Los Angeles...The funny thing is that the Joes have no record of him having allies or a safe-house in that part of the city but we're monitoring and sending Road-Block in with a couple other Joes to track him"

"And Firefly."

There was a short sudden pause...

"You're not going to like that answer Guppy."

"Spit it out...Where the hell is he?!" She hissed demandingly fearing the worst of where the trigger happy Cobra assassin heading and her gut twisted into a painful knot at the next sentence. Gabriella knew the answer but she had to hear the location before she would accept the truth.

" Well he and a group of Cobra Agents are inbound to the DSS Headquarters."

A/N: Well I hope everyone enjoyed I'm sorry that this is taking so long to update the story I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a happy holidays. If you have any input you'd like to add for the story don't be shy! And yes for the record Gabriella's call sign is Guppy for reasons that will be explained in a later chapter. Did I mention plot twists are on there way muhahaha.

-Shipper