The next morning, Troy and Gabriella were at CIA headquarters by 9:00. It hadn't taken much convincing on Gabriella's part to get Troy to take her with him, considering their "discussion" the night before. Troy had still seemed a bit hesitant, but inside she knew he was glad she was with him.

As they walked through the large silver doors to the CIA building, Gabriella wasn't surprised to see the place buzzing like a beehive. There were people everywhere; computers were beeping, elevators were dinging, and people were chattering here and there. Gabriella just took Troy's hand and stuck close so she wouldn't get lost in the crowd. Troy led the way down the familiar hall to the research room. As they walked into the recognizable room they had spent so much time in on the last case, Gabriella smiled as she saw Audrey Wilson's smiling face.

"Troy, Gabriella, it's wonderful to see you again. I had a feeling I would." Audrey said giving them both a quick hug.

"What can I help you with this time?" she said, sitting back down at her computer.

"Well, Tyler, Alex, Sam and I got a new case, on Monte Malzahn. We need to find out as much as possible about him." Troy explained, pulling up a chair for Gabriella and him.

"Tyler, Alex, and Sam should be here soon." Gabriella commented, while Audrey was typing away at the computer. They sat there watching Audrey as she typed and clicked away at the computer. While they were sitting there, Alex, Sam and Tyler walked in.

"Hey guys. Sorry we're late. There's some bad traffic out on State Street." Sam explained, as the three of them pulled up chairs.

"Well, you're just in time, we're just getting started." Troy said.

For the space of the next two hours, they learned about all of Monte Malzahn's background information and many of the different crimes he'd done. But for the last forty five minutes, they hadn't been able to find anything useful. So everyone was kind of doing their own thing while Audrey was on the computer. Tyler had taken to pacing the floor, Alex was fiddling with his keys, and Sam was staring out into space, lost in his own thoughts. Troy was reading a magazine that he had found in a desk drawer while also acting as a pillow for Gabriella's head, who had dozed off for the past 15 minutes.

"I found something!" Audrey exclaimed triumphantly. Everyone jumped at her sudden outburst, and gathered around her chair.

"Malzahn's most recent crime was murdering a tourist near a river. Apparently Malzahn was found not far from the dead man, and he was carrying a bag of……." Audrey stared at the screen in disbelief.

"…..rocks. That's strange. It doesn't say where he was found, or why he had rocks with him." Audrey said, scanning the screen.

Troy sighed. "Well that's a start. At least we have something. Maybe there's something more to the "rocks" than we think. Maybe he needs them for something." They all nodded in agreement, and then decided to all go get some lunch.

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For the remainder of the afternoon, they continued searching, but came up with nothing more useful than what they had found. Tyler, Alex and Sam left at 5:00, claiming they had some paper work to finish. Once 5:30 came around the clock, Gabriella decided she needed to get home to make dinner.

"Yeah, now that I think about it I'm a little hungry myself." Troy said, stretching his arms and legs.

"Well, you guys go on ahead. I think we've done what we can here. I'll see you guys tomorrow I imagine?" Audrey said while filling out some papers.

"You can count on it. Thanks a million Audrey." Troy said, helping Gabriella with her jacket.

"Yes, thanks some much for all you do Audrey." Gabriella said, giving her a hug goodbye. Troy then opened the door for her, and they walked out to the car hand in hand.

Fifteen minutes later, Troy and Gabriella were walking through their garage door. Gabriella immediately started working on dinner, seeming how Troy kept complaining on how hungry he was. Troy meanwhile, settled down with the newspaper in the living room.

Troy was interrupted reading the sports section when he heard the phone ring in the other room. Gabriella soon came in calling his name.

"Troy, the phone is for you." Gabriella said holding it out for him. Troy took it and said hello.

"Hey Troy, it Alex. Sorry to bother you, but we found some information on Malzahn and we thought you might want it. I would drive over and bring it to you, but Sam is gone with the car."

"No problem man. I can come and get it. You guys are close enough that I can just walk right over. I'll be there in 5 minutes." Troy said standing up and setting his paper aside.

"Okay, thanks Troy. We'll be waiting for you." Troy hung up the phone and went into the kitchen while putting on his jacket.

"I need to go over to Alex's place and pick something up. I'm just going to walk since it's so close. I won't be longer than a half an hour." Troy said walking over to Gabriella who was stirring what looked like soup on the stove.

"Okay, but hurry, I don't want dinner to get cold." She said, putting some spices into the soup.

"Don't worry, I won't be." Troy said showing off a charming smile. He leaned down and kissed Gabriella gently, then walked out of the kitchen and out the front door. The air was fresh and clean, and Troy welcomed the chance to be outside.

He reached Alex's apartment complex quickly and knocked on the door. Alex immediately opened it for him. Tyler was also there, sitting at a table looking over some papers.

Troy's visit didn't take long. Alex explained the papers to him and then Troy was on his way.

As Troy walked down the sidewalk, he noticed to men leaning against a building just outside an alley way, staring at him. He quickly walked past them, but it wasn't long before he felt to grubby hands on his shoulders. He was roughly pushed into an alley, and all Troy would say later that he remembered was being hitting everywhere possible.

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It was 7:45 and Troy still wasn't home. He had been gone for almost an hour and a half. Gabriella was pacing the living room floor, frantic and worried beyond belief. Where could he be? Gabriella knew that he had forgotten his cell phone, because she had tried calling him, but she found it ringing in the bedroom.

Gabriella had had enough waiting. She walked over to the phone and dialed Alex's number.

"Hello?"

"Alex? It's me Gabriella." She said, trying to sound calm.

"Oh hi, what's the matter, you sound worried." Alex said.

"I am, Troy's not home yet. Please tell me that he's still at your place." Gabriella said, in complete hysterics.

"No he's not here. He left about an hour ago." Alex said, just as worried now.

"Alex, where could he be? What if he's been in an accident or something? Oh Alex!" Gabriella cried, tears coming down her face.

"Calm down Gabriella. Everything's going to be just fine. We'll find him. I'll send Sam over to your house, and Tyler and I will go out searching for him. Everything's going to be okay. Lock all your doors and windows just for precautions. Don't let anyone in but Sam. Okay?" Alex asked gently.

Gabriella whimpered, "Okay. Thank you Alex."

"No problem, we'll find him, don't worry. Now you watch for Sam, he'll be there any minute."

"I will bye." Gabriella hung up the phone with a shaky hand then locked the windows and doors. By that time, Sam was already walking up her door steps. When Gabriella opened the door, she felt a rush of relief come over her.

"Oh Sam, I'm so glad you're here." She said flinging her arms around him. Sam let her cry on his shoulder, knowing what she must be going through right now. When Gabriella had seemed to gain control over her tears, she somehow fell asleep on the couch, exhausted from the emotional strain she was having. So Sam called Alex to see if they had had any luck so far.

"No, none so far, but we'll keep looking, he has to turn up somewhere. Is Gabi okay?" Alex asked concerned for her.

Sam looked over at the sleeping form of Gabriella. "Yeah, she's doing better."

"Good, well I'll call soon to update you. Talk to you later." Alex said.

"K, later man." Sam hung up his cell and continued reading the newspaper.

About an hour later Gabriella started stirring on the couch. She sat up and stretched, then her face fell, remembering the current problem.

Suddenly Sam phone starting ringing. He quickly answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sam, we found him. He was lying in an alley. He looks pretty beat up. I'm assuming he was mugged when he was walking home. You probably shouldn't tell Gabriella that, it would just make her worry more. He's unconscious right now, but I'm pretty sure we can bring him around on the way there."

"That's great. We'll be waiting." Sam hung up his phone and turned to look at an anxious Gabriella.

"They found him. They'll be here in a few minutes." Sam said, happily. Gabriella sighed with relief.

"We should probably heat up his dinner and get some hot water and a towel. He's got a few scratches." Sam said a little hesitantly. But Gabriella didn't push him further, but did as he said without question.

Ten long minutes later, Alex and Tyler burst through the door with Troy's arms around their shoulders, keeping him steady, though he was walking by himself.

Gabriella cried in shock at how dreadful he looked. His face was all scratched up and bruised, along with a slightly black eye. His jacket was missing and his shirt was torn in several different spots. He was covered in dirt and blood. And he seemed to wince when he bent forward a little, from all the punches in the stomach he had taken. Gabriella rushed over to him. Troy saw her with weary eyes and gratefully took her in his arms, with Alex and Tyler still standing there in case his legs couldn't hold him any longer.

Gabriella cried into his shoulder, wrapping herself tighter around him. Troy was so weak he couldn't do much but hold her. Soon Gabriella felt his weight leaning down on her, but Alex and Tyler rushed to her rescue. They quickly took hold of him and Gabriella led the way to the bedroom. They laid him gently on the bed. Sam walked in with a bowl of hot water and a rag; in addition he carried a bowl of reheated soup. He set them on the night stand.

"We'll let you take over from here Gabriella. If there's anything you need, call us up." Alex said gently. Gabriella left Troy's side and walked over to the three of them. She gathered them together and hugged them all tightly, kissing each of their cheeks.

"Thank you so much. You don't know what you have done for me." She said letting them go and following them out the door.

"We'd do anything for our little sister." Tyler said warmly, squeezing her shoulder. She smiled after them as they walked through the front door and out to their cars.

Gabriella quickly ran back to Troy and started cleaning up his face. She slowly dabbed at his face with the hot rag. He winced as she did it, his eyes closed. Tears started silently running down her face, as she thought at how lucky she was that he was alive.

Once his face was clean, Troy was more alert, so Gabriella helped him eat the soup she had made. Her spirits lifted when he ate the whole bowl. By this time, Troy was strong enough to sit up. Gabriella helped him take off his now ruined shirt and walk to the bathroom so he could take a shower. When she heard the water turn on, she made the bed, and got into her own pajamas, realizing now how tired she was. She pushed herself to go and finish cleaning the kitchen, then ate a bowl of soup herself. She then walked back to the bedroom and lay down on the bed, sighing. Her eye lids were starting to feel like lead when she heard the shower turn off.

Minutes later, Troy walked out of the bathroom smelling much better, looking much cleaner, and feeling much stronger. He noticed Gabriella's eyes were closed when he saw her fragile figure lying on the bed. He walked over to her and lay down next to her. He stroked her cheek with his finger, making her eyes flitter open. She smiled up at him when she felt that he was feeling much better. Troy smiled back.

"Feeling better, Mr. Bolton? Is there anything I can get you?" Gabriella asked, unsuccessfully hiding the sleepiness in her voice. She started to get up, but Troy took her hand and pulled her back down.

"There is only one thing you can do for me." Troy said softly. His mouth then crashed down on hers, but in a tender way as well. Gabriella smiled into the kiss, glad to have her husband back. She wrapped her arms around his waist, as he pulled her on top of him, his hands lost in her smooth hair.

Troy pulled back, needing to breathe. Then he gently laid Gabriella down on the bed and gazed at her lovingly.

"You know, for a while, I was afraid I wouldn't see you again." Troy said delicately. He was stroking her cheek once more, amazed at how smooth her skin was.

"I was worried that I might have been a widow after only 1 month of marriage." Gabriella said, cuddling up to his steel chest. Troy kissed the top of her head, his lips lingering for a moment.

"Well, you can't get rid of me that easily." Troy said, smiling down at her. Gabriella reached up and kissed him once more, then snuggled down in his protective arms and fell asleep.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!

(a/n: okay, there's that one. I'm glad some of you enjoyed the last chapter. I'm really liking this story so far. Tell me, have I had not enough action/adventure, or not enough romance, or does there need to be more of either of them? Please share your thoughts; it's what keeps me going. Please read and review! Thanks.)