PART 2
Nadia had a restless night, she had spent the night going through in her head what she was going to say to Jack as she got to work in the morning. When she had finally fallen asleep, she had been awoken by a nightmare where she was forced to be a bridesmaid in Jack and Rachel's wedding and when she had tried to object, no sound had come from her throat.
Morning had been better as Lauren had made pancakes as she always did when she was nervous about something. Today, she would be returning to the Los Angeles branch of the CIA for the first time since her pardon was negotiated. She would be working as a informant from now on, alongside her former husband and his pregnant girlfriend, Nadia's half sister Sydney.
"Do you think that I look like okay? I have changed clothes at least four times this morning?" Lauren asked with a slight panic in her voice as she modeled her wardrobe to Nadia. The older woman was clad in a white business suit and her hair was swept back in a tight bun. Lauren was most definitely aiming to look both innocent and a professional.
"I think you look fine, it's not the clothes that people will be judging. Just be yourself and make them fall in love with you all over again. Now lets get going, or we'll be late." Nadia said in an encouraging tone and motioned to the front door.
The girls left with an amicable silence, both wrapped up in their own world. Lauren wanted to make sure she came off as a professional and not like a convicted criminal. Nadia on the other hand was polishing her speech to Jack in her mind.
--
"You are so smart, Mr. Bristow. I would have never thought about that possibly." Rachel said in a flirtatious voice while sitting on the edge of his desk, studying something he was doing with the computer.
That was the sight that greeted Nadia when she made her way to the office. Rachel crossing and uncrossing her miniskirt clad legs on his desk and touching Jack's shoulder as a way to attract the older mans full attention. Nadia had to give it to Jack, who to his credit wasn't paying much attention to her and looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Count to ten and breathe in and out. She is just showing Jack why he will never get together with her. She is too easy for his taste and besides he already has you. Why would a man trade a class act like you for a cheap knock-off like Rachel?" Lauren whispered and squeezed the other woman's hand in a reassuring gesture.
"You're right, she's just making a fool of herself. Lets go get some coffee before the briefing starts." Nadia replied and made herself walk away from the spectacle Rachel was making.
--
Nadia was studying Jack carefully as Dixon was giving them an update regarding a case Sydney and Vaughn had been working on for some time now. He was listening to Dixon intently and secretly looked at Nadia a few seconds at a time before redirecting his gaze to the director. Nadia, who was sitting next to Lauren on the other side of the room, was quite happy that Rachel was not sitting next to Jack, but instead was sitting between Sydney and Marshall.
"Then on to the reason why I asked Ms. Reed to join us this morning. As we all know, she used to co-head the North-American branch of the Covenant and her contacts and knowledge are valuable to us from now one." Dixon said gesturing to Lauren and gave a small, very Dixon-like smile.
"This is Vincent Daivari, currently number six in the FBI's 10 most wanted." Dixon said while a picture of a man in his thirties appeared on to the screen they were all looking at. The man was short and gangly with dark, cold eyes.
"Isn't he wanted for selling both weapons and nuclear secrets to Al-Qaeda and is believed to have supplied the material to the suicide bombers that killed 20 in a hotel filled with American tourists in Amman, Jordan?" Vaughn asked while flipping through the file that he had been presented a few moments beforehand.
"That's the one. He is extremely dangerous and we need him alive. By capturing Daivari, we would be able to stop similar bombings in the Asia Minor he has been planning, especially since the president is scheduled to meet Jordan's King Abdullah in Aqaba later this month. I think everyone in this room realizes that a lot is at stake at the summit, Jordan has possibly the best change to get the fighting parties at the conference table and negotiate a peace treaty in the coming months," said Dixon diverting back to his serious tone and all hints of a smile had disappeared.
"I believe this is were I come in! I have had business dealings with Daivari in the past and I gained his trust during that time. At the request of Dixon, I made some inquireries and learned that he is in the market for a bomb maker who can cause the most amount of damage imaginable," Lauren said speaking up for the first time during the briefing. She felt the people around her eyeing her intently and she could have sworn she saw a glint of disbelief in Sydney's eyes. She didn't blame her in the least, Lauren was sure that if the roles were reversed, she wouldn't believe her either.
"So, I'm sending Rachel, Jack, Lauren and Nadia to Amman to handle this. This is deep cover, but I'm confidant there will be no problems." Dixon replied with glances to the three agents and one reformed criminal who would be participating in the mission.
"Lauren, you go in first to re-establish your contact with Daivari. Then, As we've learned, he will only work with married people as he believes they have to most to lose, Jack and Rachel you go in as a couple of happy, newlywed bomb makers. Nadia, I want you to provide backup and continue as Lauren's case officer during this mission. Okay people, let's go to work." Dixon finished and indicated that everyone should go start the preparations.
Nadia was sure Dixon had said something after giving Rachel and her man an assignment to act like newlyweds, but in her blind rage she didn't pay attention to anything else following that. If Lauren hadn't been sitting next to her and slightly stepping on her toes, she would have done something drastic, like starting a WWE-style chick smack down with Rachel in the middle of the room.
"Nadia, can I talk to you for a moment?" Dixon requested and walked to his office waiting her to follow him. She did as he asked and seethed her way to her boss's office.
"I want you to make sure Ms. Reed follows the rules of her pardon to a tee and that's why I'm sending you as a backup rather than an undercover agent. Also I want to know that can you handle working alongside Rachel and Jack? I have suspected there is something personal going on between you and Jack Bristow for a while now and your reaction today confirmed those beliefs." Dixon said studying her with concern. He didn't want this mission to go awry just because his agents couldn't keep their personal feelings in check.
Nadia didn't know how to answer him for a moment. She wanted to reassure her boss that she was nothing if not a professional, but couldn't guarantee that the first time she saw Rachel was pimping herself to Jack that she wasn't going to punch her in the mouth.
"I can handle it, you don't need to worry about it. I would like it if you didn't share this information to anyone. My personal relationship with Jack won't affect my work and it doesn't need to be the main gossip topic in the office," Nadia replied with steely determination. She hoped Dixon would take her at face value and agree to keep this a secret.
"I see no reason to start spreading rumors about my agents, so I won't tell anyone what I may or may not know about your dating life. As long as you two keep a low profile while at work, it doesn't concern me what you do at off-hours." Dixon said with a smile she wanted to believe was a sign of acceptance and approval.
She nodded gratefully at Dixon and left the office to find Jack and talk to him before the mission started. Instead she stumbled to the weirdest sight of them all; Lauren and Sydney talking and neither looking angry, teary or upset. She had to close her eyes and open them to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Nope, the two definitely were talking.
She didn't want to interrupt the conversation; it would be nice if her sister and roommate could at least be civil towards each other. She wasn't deluding herself into thinking that they would ever be bosom buddies, but cordial was better than snide remarks and open hostility.
Deep in thought, Nadia didn't notice a man's figure following her as she made her way to the ladies bathroom to fix her make-up before talking to Jack. She was in one heated movement pulled into the bathroom and pushed against the door while a familiar pair of lips attached themselves on to hers.
Jack had watched her today and found it harder and harder to keep a cool distance between them at work. She looked amazing and he had to admit to himself that no woman since Irina had affected him in the same way. It surprised him that Irina didn't have that strong of a hold in his heart anymore and he was free to love his former wife's daughter without guilt where Irina was concerned.
"I missed you and my bed has never felt as empty and cold as it did this morning. I'm not going to let you go," Jack said in between kissing her lips and neck.
"You will never have to miss me. I'm sorry that I started giving you ultimatums, I don't want to push you into doing something you're not ready for. You will tell Sydney when you are ready," Nadia said stopping the passionate kiss for a moment and taking his eyes hostage for a moment.
Their moment was interrupted by the combined ringing of their cell phones. This better be good, Nadia signed and answered. It was Marshall, asking her to come to get her gizmos for the assignment. Jack apparently had a similar type of phone call, but not from Marshall but Rachel as she could hear her phony laugh on the other line.
That bitch was going down. Nadia made a mental promise, anyone who interrupted her alone time with Jack was in jeopardy of bodily harm, but she would personally pull every hair out of Rachel's bleached head if she stuck her oversized nose in her and Jack's relationship.
To be continued…
Next chapter: Mission starts and Jack tries to keep the peace.
