A/N: Hi everyone, thanks again for the positive feedback, I really appreciate it! This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I hope you enjoy it!

Brenda sifted through her closet for what must have been the fourth time that night. She ran her hand across all of her clothes, sighing in frustration.

She had absolutely nothing to wear. Her entire wardrobe consisted of work out attire and business suits, neither of which were appropriate for tonight.

Brenda was meeting her friend Ellie for drinks at a local bar in less than an hour. Ellie had been one of her good friends back at Georgetown, and she hadn't had much time in the past few months for friends.

Brenda's new assignment had taken priority over every other aspect in her life. The messages on her answering machine had been piling up for weeks.

She really should call her mother back.

Brenda glanced at the clock, noticing that her hour had somehow diminished to a mere thirty minutes.

Brenda slipped on a simple black dress, lathered on a lipstick with a reddish tint, and attempted to savor the curls that had formed in her hair.

She kept a close eye on her phone as she continued to get ready. Her partner Cole had a tendency to call her right when she was in the midst of doing something social.

Which was almost never.

Brenda wasn't exactly the easiest person to be friends with, and after she graduated from school, her circle of friends grew smaller and smaller as time passed.

She wasn't complaining though, in fact she rather liked it. She didn't like half of her friends anyway.

Ellie was one person that she could actually stomach, so Brenda made it a point to keep in touch with her, and vice versa.

Brenda abandoned all attempts to save her hair, deciding to just go as she was. She swapped out her giant black bag for a smaller, dark green clutch with jeweled embellishments.

She took a heavy stack of files out of her bag, deciding to take them with her in the car. That way, of Cole happened to call her, the information would be sitting in the parking lot, instead of in her apartment all the way across town.

She was starting to understand the term "workaholic". But her job, it was different than most people's was. The national security of the United States depended on her to do her job, and to do it correctly.

How many people could say that?

Brenda grabbed her clutch, slipping her beeper from the kitchen counter into it as she left. Her cell phone was simply too big for that purse.

They really needed to start making those dam cell phones smaller.

Brenda arrived at the bar ten minutes late, something that Ellie was used to. Brenda skimmed the area, finally zoning in on where Ellie was sitting.

Brenda walked over to the bar, taking the empty seat next to her friend.

" Hi, hi, so sorry I'm late." said Brenda, sighing as she sat down. "I couldn't find anything to wear, and then my phone wouldn't fit in my purse, you know how it is."

"Please, you're only ten minutes late." Ellie said as she took a sip of her martini. "That's practically on time for you."

Brenda nodded, amused by her friends antics. "Excuse me." said Brenda, beckoning the bartender over to her direction. "Yes can I get a glass of merlot please? Preferably a big one."

The bartender nodded, walking away to fetch her drink.

" Here" said Ellie, handing Brenda her martini glass. "Have some hard liquor while you wait. "

Brenda took a sip of the drink, handing it back to her when she was done. " So how have you been? I haven't seen you in ages." said Brenda

She twiddled her thumbs as she spoke. She really wanted her glass of wine.

"Oh you know, fine. I basically work for a slave-driver, but what's so bad about that?" asked Ellie

Ellie had studied law at Georgetown, and she was a junior associate for one of the top law firms in D.C.

" I'm pretty much second chair in every case, but at least I'm actually going to court, unlike some of our other classmates. I talked to Alex the other day, and do you know what he said?"

The bartender interrupted Ellie's though, delivering Brenda's drink to her. " Here you go." said the bartender, placing her glass on a napkin before leaving.

Brenda took a sip of her wine as she continued her conversation with Ellis. " Alex Turner? What did he have to say?" asked Brenda with a look of disgust on her face.

" He told me that he has settled in almost every case that's been handed to him. Settled. What a pussy. "said Ellie, taking another sip of her almost empty martini.

" He never was one for bravery. "said Brenda, taking an even bigger sip from her glass.

" I'm dominating this conversation. What about you? How's your job at the state department?" asked Ellie

Brenda dreaded this question like no other. She hated it when people asked her about work, because she couldn't exactly tell them what was really going on.

" It's fine, it keeps me busy, you know how it is. Do you want another drink? " asked Brenda, noticing that her drink was empty, taking the opportunity to change the subject.

" Yes, but first I am going to go to the ladies." said Ellie, getting up from her seat. While I'm gone, go talk to that guy over to the left. He's been checking you out since you got here. " said Ellie, sauntering off to the bathroom.

"If you're gone when I get back, promise me you'll call tomorrow!" said Ellie from across the room.

Brenda glanced over in the direction that Ellie had pointed out.

Brenda rolled her eyes in disgust as she was met with a familiar face.

Cole Daniels chuckled as he walked over to where Brenda was sitting. " Having fun?" asked Cole, taking the seat that Ellie was sitting in not moments ago.

" What on earth are you doing here?" asked Brenda, annoyed that her partner had crashed her night out with the only friend that she had left.

"I've taken up stalking as a hobby." said Cole with a smug smile on his face. Brenda glared up at from her glass as she took a sip of wine. " No, I was just here with one of my friends, and I saw you. Thought I might as well stick around."

" Why?" asked Brenda

" Brenda, I have friends, it's not like I sit at home all night." said Cole as he motioned for the bartender to get him a refill.

"No." said Brenda, setting down her glass of wine in frustration. "Why would you stick around just to see me?

" I don't know, because we're friends."

Brenda scoffed at his response. " We are not friends. We are partners, that's all. "

"You're right, we're partners. " said Cole, with a defeated look on his face. He smiled as he spoke again. " Who happen to be friends."

Brenda took a sip of her wine, as she glanced around the bar, looking for Ellie. She spotted her at a table, surrounded by three older looking men. She must have gotten distracted on her way to the bathroom.

" I don't think your friend is coming back anytime soon. " said Cole, noticing Brenda's wandering eye.

Brenda shot him a curious look, wondering how he could possibly now what she was doing.

" Brenda." said Cole, noting her confusion. " I work in the CIA, I know how to read people. " whispered Cole

" And here I was thinking you worked at the local strip joint. You sure act like it. " muttered Brenda.

" And what exactly does that mean? " asked Cole

"I see the way you look at the women in our office." said Brenda. " Honestly, I don't know why they all fawn over you."

" They fawn over me?" asked Cole, with a giant smile on his face. He was clearly impressed with himself.

Brenda rolled her eyes at his response. She was about to retaliate when the sound of Cole's cell phone went off.

Cole sighed, digging the phone out of his pocket. "Daniels. " answered Cole, shooting Brenda an apologetic look.

"You have something on Perry?" asked Cole.

Brenda tried not to listen to his phone call, but her head shot up when she heard the name Perry.

" Yeah, well that's better than nothing. Thanks, I'm on the way. " said Cole. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get her." said Daniels

Cole hung up the phone, took one last sip of his drink, and grabbed his coat.

"Come one, we're leaving. " said Cole, motioning for him to follow.

" Where are we going? Did they pick something up on the wiretap?" asked Brenda

" They got something, not sure what though. We'll find out when we get to the office. You have your car? I didn't drive here. " said Cole

" Yes, but I can't leave with you. People will think we're sleeping together. " said Brenda, refusing to get up from her seat.

" Okay, well you go explain to everyone exactly how we know each other, I'll be in the car." said Cole.

Cole walked away from her, practically daring her not to follow him. Brenda sighed in frustration. " Honestly, I don't know what people see in him. " said Brenda to herself, taking one last sip of her wine.

She grabbed her coat and keys, heading out to her car. Ellie was still at the table with those three men, but spotted Brenda as she walked out. Ellie waved suggestively, shooting Brenda a knowing look.

Brenda just smiled at her, making a note inside her head to call her the next day. She arrived to her car to find Cole already sitting in the passenger seat.

Brenda rolled her eyes as she opened her car door and got in.

" You should really learn to lock your doors. " said Cole, as he took a look around Brenda's tiny sedan.

" I'll keep that in mind. " said Brenda, annoyed at his audacity to violate her privacy by just casually getting in her car.

Brenda and Cole walked through the dark hallways of the CIA headquarters in Langley. It was almost midnight, and the offices were completely deserted, save for the few people who had been observing Perry for the night.

Originally, only Cole, Brenda, Andrew, and Buckley Evans were knowledgeable about the finer details of this case. In order to increase surveillance, Cole thought that it would be a good idea to bring in some other people on the case. They didn't know exactly what they were looking for, but at least they were looking.

Mark Laurie had called Cole and told him that he was about to leave for the night, but there was something that he might be interested in.

" So, what are we looking for? " asked Brenda as they opened the door to the media room.

" I have no idea. " sighed Cole. " Mark said there was something we might be interested in, didn't say what though. "

Brenda sighed as she sat down on the chair next to Cole.

Cole took a glance at Mark's notes, when something jumped out at him. He pressed play, when an image came up on the projector screen across from them.

They had sent an agent to observe Perry's earlier in the day, just to see if anyone decided to drop by after work. Lucky for them, someone did.

"Who is that woman going into his house?" asked Brenda. " Have we seen her before?"

" I don't think so. " said Cole " I can't make out her face though, can you?" asked Cole, squinting towards the image.

It was dark out, and the woman was face was angled slightly away fom

"I can't see his face either. Oh, I really should get some glasses. "said Brenda, frustrated at her terrible eyesight. " Wait, do you see that car? Can you zoom in and get the plate?" asked Brenda

Cole pressed a button on the keyboard, zooming in on the car that was parked a couple feet away from the person walking towards Perry's house.

"Got it." said Cole, writing down the letters and number that made up the plate. "I'll run these through, you keep watching and see what happens when he goes inside." said Cole

When Cole left, Brenda pressed play once more. The man walked up to Perry's house and rang the doorbell, but Brenda couldn't make out what Perry's reaction to the man was.

She watched it about seven times before Cole returned, who had a perplexed look on his face.

" Did you get a name to go with the plate?" asked Brenda

"Yeah, I did. " said Cole, staring at the piece of paper he was holding. " You'll never guess who it belongs to though. "

Brenda took the piece of paper from his hand, practically gasping at the name and photo that she saw.

" This says Michelle Williamson." said Brenda, staring intently at the piece of paper in her hand.

" It does." said Cole, taking a seat next to Brenda

" What was she doing at Gordon Perry's house? You think they're working together?" asked Brenda

"Possibly. I don't know, maybe we're jumping to conclusions." Cole put his hand to his forehead, rubbing it in frustration.

" I don't believe in those." Brenda leaned tiredly back in her chair. There was no way she was getting out of the office anytime soon.

"Coincidences?" asked Cole. " Yeah, neither do I. Okay, this is what we're going to do. We're going to look into this a bit more. I don't want to bother Andrew or Buckley until we have something more concrete, okay?

Brenda nodded in response to Cole's orders. " I'll look through his phone records, see if they've had any more contact." said Brenda

"Good. I'll keep watching the video, see if I can figure out what's going on here. "

Cole watched the video over and over again, trying to pick up on anything that might clue them into what was going on. So far he had found nothing. Michelle had gotten out of her car, casually walked up to Gordan's house, and was invited in.

It looked like it was nothing new to them.

Brenda sifted through the phone records of both Gordan and Michelle, and noticed that they had phoned each other quite a bit over the past few months.

"Cole. I think we have a problem." said Brenda, putting down the records.

" I know." sighed Cole. " They're working together."

" We have two moles." Brenda said, leaning back in her chair in frustration.

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone has a marvelous holiday, whatever it is you're celebrating! :)

Alison