FEBRUARY

Serena and Kim Brown sat at the kitchen table cutting hearts out of red construction paper. Serena was intent on making her heart absolutely perfect for her daddy. Her small head tilted downward as she concentrated on her cutting. Kim took this opportunity to check on Teddy, napping peacefully in his crib.

Walking back to her daughter, she looked up suddenly and found herself peering into her husbands face as he startled her in the hallway. "Surprise!" Bob Brown smiled broadly at his wife and reached to embrace her.

"What are you doing home in the middle of the day? Everything okay?" Kim was delighted to see her husband but, as usual, worried at the change in routine.

"Everything's fine, short day today. We're starting a new training Monday so boss decided to give us a head start on the weekend." While he much preferred being out in the field over a computer training Bob was indeed thankful to be home for the next few weeks.

LATER THAT NIGHT

Charlie and Hector strolled into Brewster's, letting their eyes wander over the scene in front of them. Amidst the red heart cutouts dangling from the ceilings and the pink and silver confetti strewn on the bar, the place was packed for a Friday night. It didn't help that next weekend was Valentine's Day and all the single folk were out in force trying to find a last minute romance or at least just a date.

Charlie ordered a couple beers as they settled in at the bar and let his eyes wander over the crowd. He was uncharacteristically quiet, and as two pretty blondes walked by giving the men a once over look, he remained silent.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" Hector asked his friend, craning his neck to the left to check out the rest of the pretty blonde girls.

Charlie shrugged and looked around the busy bar, "nothing. Just tired of the same old same old I guess." His eyes rested briefly on a table in the corner as he noticed a solitary dark haired young woman diligently reading the beer stained bar menu. She looked completely out of place, yet totally at ease in her surroundings.

Hector followed Charlie's line of sight to see him eyeing a pretty brunette who was ordering several things off the menu. She stood out slight only because she was the only female in the bar not busy checking out the male population or the competition.

"Hey, guys, what's up? Where's the rest of your crew?" Danny Adams walked over to the bar and signaled for a beer. "Hey Danny, how's Echo team doing, you just get back?" Hector and Danny talked back and forth for a few minutes, and both men notice Charlie stealing glances to the corner every few minutes. Danny smacked Grey on the back and told him to go introduce himself and see if she had any friends for him and Hector. "Make sure they're cute too!" Danny called after him as Charlie walked away.

Charlie approached the table, wondering why he felt like he was 15 years old and asking a girl out for the first time. He shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts, and suddenly he was there, and the woman looked up questioningly at him.

"Hi." He waited for the rest of his sentence to come out, but it was stuck in his throat. He found himself staring at a pair of pretty brown eyes that sparkled. Fortunately as the owner of the eyes returned his greeting and smiled at him he was able to regain his composure.

"I was wondering if I could buy you a drink," he suddenly noticed she had a glass of soda in front of her on the table, "or maybe a bite to eat? I'm Charlie by the way." He gave her his best charming smile and waited for her response.

"Thanks so much, I really appreciate your offer, but…" oh, he is cute, she thought to herself, "I'm meeting a couple of friends for dinner tonight." And with that, she saw her companions walk in the doorway, so she stood up to wave them over. Charlie found he couldn't tear his eyes away from her; he decided to try his luck again. "Well, I've got a couple of pals here and we would love to buy you and your friends dinner tonight, if you'd let us."

She turned back slightly as her friends neared the table, and smiled widely at Charlie. "Well, I'm okay with that, but do your friends like blondes?" She gestured to the two tall, blonde men walking up behind her, who were apologizing left and right for being late. Charlie could not help but laugh out loud along with her, but he had a ready answer, "I don't know about Danny, but I'm sure Hector does, I'll send him over." He smiled and held her gaze for a few minutes before speaking. "Another time perhaps." He turned and walked away, before realizing he didn't even know her name.

She sat down but watched Charlie walk back to his friends, with a shy smile on her face. He was awfully cute and did try very hard, maybe she'd run into him again while she was in town. Right before she turned her attention back to her friends, he stopped and looked backwards just in time to catch her eye, he flashed a quick smile and slight nod and went on his way.

MONDAY

Jonas walked down the hallway, slowly drinking a cup of coffee and rifling his notes. Well, the morning session didn't go half bad, he thought to himself. The Colonel actually cracked a smile a few times and seemed to be on board with Presidential directive after a rough start. The Homeland Security analysts seemed to know what they were doing and Jonas knew his fellow unit members would definitely benefit in the long run from the new protocols being put in place.

"Agent Anderson, are you all ready for the next session?" Jonas asked the young lady walking into the training room with her hands full of training materials. "Yes, thank you Sgt. Blane, its your team coming in this afternoon right?" She flashed a wide smile as she continued, "I promise to go easy on them!"

On that note, Jonas' fellow team members started to file in and take their seats. Anderson and her 2 assistants started handing out manuals and user guides while the men made small talk. Mack and Bob were talking about the kids, and Hector started to fool around with the laptop in front of him.

Agent Lisa Anderson walked to the front of the room and was about to begin her introduction when a latecomer walked in hurriedly and took his seat. "Hello gentlemen, welcome to…"she drew her breath in sharply midsentence when the man looked up and met her eyes. She felt herself blush as she somehow continued speaking her memorized welcome speech. The man staring at her was the stranger from the bar, and she was right, he was definitely very cute. She managed to tear her eyes away from his smiling face and continued on with her training.

2 HOURS LATER

The men milled about and stretched their legs after being drilled on the proper protocols to follow while attempting to hack into secure websites. Lisa was by the soda machine, wrestling with a wrinkled dollar bill in an effort to get a Diet Coke, when Charlie walked up to her with a twinkle in his eye.

"Hi. Again." He could not believe his luck, the pretty brunette from the bar that he couldn't get out of his mind the whole weekend was standing directly in front of him.

"Let me help you out, that machine is temperamental." He took the bill from her hands and swiftly smoothed it out and expertly slid it inside the machine.

"Thanks so much," she replied as she hit the button for her soda. "Enjoying the class so far Sgt. Grey?" She tried to remain professional, but she found herself getting lost in his dreamy eyes. They walked back towards the classroom. "Call me Charlie. And yes, so far, its pretty interesting. You're a great teacher." He wasn't lying or just putting on the charm, she actually did make the tedious schedule go by quickly and charmed her rough and tumble students with her humor and personality.

The rest of the team started to file in after their short break, and take their seats. Charlie lingered at the door and decided to try his luck one last time. "Can I take you out for dinner tonight?" he asked sweetly. She was caught off guard and hesitated answering for the briefest moment. He took that opportunity to motion over his shoulder to the two blonde Homeland Security analysts who were chatting up a couple of female corporals in the hallway, and joked that they were doing fine on their own.

"Sure, that sounds nice. Thanks." She smiled and hoped she was doing the right thing.

They both turned and walked back into the classroom, not noticing how quiet the men had gotten.

Mack cracked on Charlie as he took his seat, "Dude, taking the teacher out, surefire way to get an A buddy boy!" Bob added, "Don't make her mad, I hate homework!"

Charlie laughed along with his friends as the second part of the day's course started.