The thing about working with the CIA, they really know how to treat their agents. Especially when you're considered a specialist for very 'specific' assignments.

A good paycheck at the end of every week, a fully paid off apartment, and pretty damn good medical insurance. It's almost worth the life or death missions all over the US and various other countries.

But if I'm completely honest, one of the things I liked best about coming back from a mission for the government, was coming home to Jodie every time.

It really made life worth going through to wake up to seeing her laying next to me every morning. After everything we have to go through on a regular basis, it was the little things the two of us cherished above everything else.

The mission to Rio had gone off without a hitch. Reacquiring the captured agent that had gone missing a couple weeks prior and getting back to the states took two solid days. After going through a four hour long debrief, I was finally able to head back home where I belonged.

X

The CIA headquarters was busy on a near constant basis, there was always something going on that required the agency for one thing or another. Though that didn't stop various agents from going home after a long day.

Or in JD's case, a long two days.

The psionic yawned into his hand, duffel bag slung over his shoulder as he rode the elevator down to the main floor of the HQ. After the mission, then the flight back to the US from Brazil, then a four hour debriefing with the higher-ups after that, he was more than ready to head home and catch up on sleep.

A soft ding signaled the lift's arrival to the ground floor, JD rolled his neck from side to side as the doors slid open with a soft whisper. Taking a step and coming to a stop when he nearly bumped into Ryan Clayton.

"JD, welcome back." he said with an easy smile. "Heard everything went well down in Rio."

"It did. Troy wasn't beat up too badly, and the intel he had will put a wrench in the cartel's plans in the area for a while." the psionic replied.

Despite how they had met, and after a long period of adjustment, the both he and Jodie had managed to form an awkward friendship with him. JD still didn't trust him, but he was at the very least willing to work with him while he and Jodie were at the CIA. His better half agreeing with him.

Ryan nodded, "Good to hear. Jodie and I finished our mission the other day."

"How was the embassy?" JD asked, curious about how their night had faired.

"Very well. Jodie and Aiden got the intel without trouble and we were in and out, no trouble at all." replied the older agent. "She said she couldn't wait for you to get home, she might have something planned."

The psionic chuckled, "Well, Jodie doesn't do surprises too often. Wonder what she's got up her sleeve?"

"You're asking the wrong guy. Good luck with that one." said Ryan.

JD shrugged and headed for the entrance, "Catch you later, 'Seacrest'!" he called over his shoulder. Smirking when he heard the the disgruntled groan from the man behind him after hearing the name he'd been calling him since before the academy.

Stepping out into the warm night air, he headed into the agency parking lot and got into the dark-blue Ford Explorer that was waiting for him. Tossing his back into the backseat as he jumped behind the wheel and started it up. Pulling out into the mildly busy street and heading toward home.

The apartment he shared with Jodie was about five miles away from the CIA. It was 'oddly conveinient' in his opinion, but considering all of the time and effort that had been put into the two of them, it wasn't all that surprising the agency would keep two of its biggest assest close to home.

But knowing did little to ease the paranoia of working with the government.

JD may not have been one of those doomsday preping, conspiracy theorizing wack-jobs. But he had seen more than enough movies to know that the folks on capital hill with the least amount of plausable deniablility had the higher chance of stabbing someone in the back for one reason or another.

For the most part, however, he simply just kept his wits about him incase something could happen...and prayed that nothing did.

Coming up on the apartment building, the psionic turned down into the parking garage and pulled into the marked parking space for his car. Cutting the engine, he stepped out and locked it up before stepping onto the elevator and hitting the switch for the ninth floor.

Riding it up, he stepped out into the lavish hallway and approached the door to apartment 22. Taking his keys out and unlocking the door before stepping inside.

The smell of something spicy and delicious hit his nose almost immediately, his stomach taking that moment to remind him that he hadn't had much to eat in the last day in a half making it even more mouth watering.

"Jodie? I'm home!" he called out, dropping his bag by the door.

Jodie poked her head around the wall leading into the kitchen, Her hair done up in a long ponytail with two strands of her dark hair framing her pretty face. "Welcome back," she said before coming out into the open.

JD was struck silent when he saw his girlfriend approaching him wearing an beautiful, dark-red dress that went all the way down to her feet. The neckline cutting down just below her breasts making it look as sexy as it was elegant.

"Uh...wow." was all that he could manage, doing his best to keep his tongue from rolling out of his mouth at seeing such a sight before him.

Jodie smiled when she stood infront of him, satisfied with the reaction as she stood on the tips of her toes and kissed him. "I'm glad you like it. I figured that I would do something special since we haven't seen much of each other in the last week and a half."

The psionic nodded in agreement, smiling widely as he put his arms around her tiny waist. "You look amazing, babe. It was definitely worth coming home to."

"Good." she replied taking a step back, "Why don't you go shower and get changed, dinner will be ready in a few more minutes." with that she disappeared back into the kitchen, the light flap of her dress across the floor the last sign of her.

Shaking his head, smile still firmly in place, JD kicked his boots off and headed across the apartment and into the large bathroom next to the equally large bedroom the couple shared together.

Stripping and stepping into the warm spray. One of the things that had changed since they moved into their new home was that Jodie had tried her hand at cooking. The first few attempts had nearly resulted in the fire department being called, but she got better and was a very quick study, now she could make almost anything from scratch.

Though they did order take out a good deal of the time, whenever Jodie cooked was something the psionic both cherished and looked forward too when she was in the mood.

Turning off the shower, he dried off before wrapping a towel around his waist before venturing into the bedroom. His ears perking up when he heard a romantic song now being played from the stereo system near the entertainment center.

"Ahh, so that's you're play." he thought grinning. JD wasn't the only one who could get romantic when the situation called for it. Jodie was pretty good at the spontanious romance as well.

And after not seeing much of each other for almost two weeks with their hectic, and at times conflicting schedules, this was something they both definitely needed.

Getting dressed in a pair of black pants and a white dress shirt, deciding to keeping his feet bare as he went out to the small dining room where Jodie was just finishing up. "Hello gorgeous." he said coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist again.

"Hey there handsome." she said back, leaning into his embrace with her hands resting on his.

"What's on the menu tonight?" JD asked, placing a kiss on her cheek before looking down at the plates she had finished setting on the table.

Jodie untangled herself from his arms and smiled at him, "Asian Beef, something I haven't tried yet. Figured we could go with something new."

They took their seats and got comfortable, "It smells good." the psionic took a bite from the dish, pausing to savor the various spices that had been included. "...damn, Jodie. Top notch." he said before digging into the dinner.

"I went a little off the reservation with the recipe." said Jodie while she ate her own. "Figured a little added flavor wouldn't hurt."

They ate in relative silence, making small talk back and forth about what they had been up to. JD talked about Rio, how beautiful the city looked and how warm the weather was. Jodie talked about the embassy gala and the various important people that she mingled with while on her own mission.

When dinner was over, the plates were put away in the kitchen sink and the couple moved to the living room. JD sitting on the couch and pulling Jodie into his lap as they continued their conversations.

"We have got to have some vacation days coming to us, I say we go somewhere sunny. Maybe Hawaii?" he asked while raising his eyebrows knowingly.

Jodie raised her own in question, "Is this a ploy to see me in a bikini everyday?"

The psionic shook his head, "No...clothing can be optional." the brunette smacked him on the arm. "In all seriousness, we deserve a little time off. The CIA's got a tight enough leash on us, we deserve some time to cut loose and have fun."

"That would be nice." Jodie said, laying her head on his shoulder and cuddling as close as she could. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." JD replied, tightening his grip around her and kissing the top of her head. "This really was needed, how long did you have all this planned?"

She leaned away and adjusted her position so that she was straddling his lap. "Since I got back from the embassy. When I got word that you got back from Brazil I started putting things together, though I got lucky on the timing."

"And here I thought I was the romantic." the psionic commented casually.

"Can't let you set the bar all the time. Besides, which one of the two of us can cook again?" Jodie asked rhetorically.

JD rolled his eyes, "Alright, alright master chef. No need to poke fun at my lack of culinary skills." they laughed lightly together before they shared a kiss, then another until soon they were locked together in a heated makeout session.

Rolling to the side, Jodie laying across the couch with JD on top of her. His lips trailing down her neck, sucking gently on her collarbone and ellicting a throaty moan from the woman below him.

Her hands coming up and making quick work of opening his shirt, running her fingers over his chest and around to his back as he lowered the straps of her dress and kissing along her shoulders.

"I...I think w-we need to...move this to the bedroom..." Jodie managed to say through her gasps while JD went lower and started pleasurably attacking her breasts.

"If you insist..." the psionic mumbled into her skin, standing quickly and pulling her up into his arms. Her dress hiked up around her waist allowing her legs to wrap around his lower back for leverage. Their lips finding each other's again while JD navigated them through the apartment and into their bedroom.

Laying Jodie on the bed, JD took the sides of her dress and pulled down. The red satin sliding down her small frame, exposing more of her figure to his gaze until he slipped the garment off her small feet.

Now in nothing but a pair of grey cotton panties, Jodie sat up on her knees and pulled the psionic's shirt the rest of the way off before pulling him down ontop of her again. Bringing his lips back to hers as she worked on getting his pants off next.

"A little eager tonight?" JD couldn't help but ask. His response was his lover flipping them over so that she was now on top.

"Are you complaining?" she asked in return, grinning down at him.

The rest of their clothes were shed quickly, and for the rest of the night the young couple spent it in each other's arms making love to one another.

Neither of them aware that the next day would have several surprises that either of them were expecting.

X

There were trees around him in every direction. Only, unlike regular trees, these ones looked blackened and dead. The grass and foliage on the ground below was grey and lifeless, not a sound could be heard in any direction.

The forest was for all purposes...dead.

Turning slowly in every direction, JD couldn't get his barings. Having no idea where to go or what to do. Movement out of the corner of his eye had him turning the other direction, seeing something disappear among the dead trees.

He tried to run after whatever it was, but his movements were slow, sluggish, almost as if he were trying to run along the ocean floor surrounded by water.

Weaving amongst the blackened trunks, JD searched for whatever he had seen. Seeing more movement on his left and turning to head that way. Whatever it was wasn't affected by whatever was slowing him down, always keeping ahead of him and just out of his visual range.

But he kept pushing after it. Something deep within told him that it was important for him to catch up, his instinct pulling him forward through the forest.

After what felt like forever, he reached a clearing. What he had been chasing all this time right in the center...but he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

Standing alone in the center of the clearing, was a woman. A head of short brown hair covering her head wearing light-blue hospital scrubs, a golden heart locket around her neck that glinted in the faded light around them.

The closer he got to the woman, he was able to see that her arms and legs were bound in chains that were attached to the ground.

At his approach, the woman looked up slowly, her eyes catching JD's.

His movements haulted when he saw them. Dull, listless, the eyes of a broken soul that had all but given up on the world. It hurt to see such eyes, but he could not look away.

"Who...Who are you?" he asked. His voice confused at what he was seeing.

The woman opened her mouth, but nothing came out save for a soft croaking noise. Almost like her vocal cords had trouble functioning.

"...P...lea...se..." she pushed out despite her trouble speaking. "S...a...ve...he...r..."

It may have been hard to understand, but JD made out the words as best he could. "Save who?"

She reached up slowly, the chains around her wrist rattling with her movement as she touched the locket around her neck. "...Sa...ve...h...er..."

In the next instant, the unknown woman burst into ashes. The chains going with her as a bright flash of light filled JD's vision...

X

Eyes snapping open and a sharp inhale brought the psionic back to the world. After making sure that he was really awake, he sat up slowly and immedately took notice that he was alone in bed.

The clock on his nightstand read 9:37AM, so Jodie was most likely awake and moving about. She was always the earlier riser between the two of them.

Pushing the last tendrils of the strange dream to the back of his mind, JD stretched his arms and back a moment before getting out of bed. Pulling on a pair of basketball shorts from his dresser and heading for the kitchen where the sounds and smells of food could be sensed.

Coming around the corner, the psionic was greeted with the sight of Jodie standing at the stove. Her back to him wearing one of his t-shirts that barely touched her knees with her hair all messed up from the night before.

He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms as he simply watched her silently. The young woman happily humming to herself as she went about her business.

Moments like these were what JD liked the most. Seeing Jodie so happy and carefree always made him smile and feel content. To him, she was perfect, right down to the little things. Her laugh, her smile, the crinkle in her nose when she was angry, and she always had this aura around her that he couldn't help but be drawn to from the time they were kids to now.

And he wanted nothing more than to see her happy for the rest of their lives.

"You just going to stand there starring at me all morning? Or are you going to join me for breakfest?" JD blinked, coming out of his thoughts and finding Jodie facing him with two warm plates waiting on the counter.

"Can't fault a guy for enjoying the sight of his sexy girlfriend." was his reply as he closed the distance between them and sweapt her up in a deep kiss. "And I can't help but have a bit of an appitite after the night we had." he added playfully when they pulled apart.

Jodie rolled her eyes and smiled, "Well then, we better dig in while it's still warm."

Breakfest had been quick for the couple, afterward they ended up heading back to bed and just laying curled up together under the sheets. Enjoying the quiet as the morning slowly drifted into the afternoon.

"You know we will have to get up eventually." JD said, lazily running his hand through Jodie's hair.

The brunette hummed into his chest, but made no effort to actually say anything, perfectly content with where they were at the moment. And the psionic was more than happy to agree as he pulled her a little closer and settled into a half-asleep state.

One that was broken when the loud ring of his cell phone shattered their little aura of peace.

"Someone had better be dead!" JD ranted in his mind as Jodie sat up allowing him to reach for his phone to see who was calling. "The hell does Ryan want?" he groaned before answering. "Vattic here."

'JD, sorry to bug you so early but we got a situation. You and Jodie need to come in.' said the older agent on the other end.

"You do realize that we both just got back from separate assignments, right?" the psionic asked back, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "One of which you were on yourself."

'This comes from the top, I'm just a messenger.' Ryan replied, 'I can't tell you much over the phone, since this isn't a secured line, but I can say that this is top priority. Both of you were asked for specifically.'

Turning to Jodie who was giving him a questioning look, JD made the fingers of his free hand to a gun and put it to his head, then pulling the imaginary trigger. "When do we have to be there?" he asked, knowing they were pretty much being ordered.

'The sooner the better, see you and Jodie when you arrive.' the call ended there. The psionic tossed his phone unceremoniously onto the bed and rubbed his face.

"Let me guess, the CIA needs us?" Jodie asked, already knowing the answer as JD nodded. "Dammit. We can't even get one day."

"The bastards seriously owe us vacation time for all this bullshit." the psionic growled into his palms. Breathing out another sigh, he looked to his lover and gave a humorless smile, "Well, shall we get this damn crazy train rolling again?"

Jodie nodded with a sigh of her own, "Better get ready then." she said standing and heading for the bathroom. "I'm grabbing a shower," stripping off JD's shirt, exposing her bare backside to him before sending him a smirk over her shoulder, "Wanna join me? Save time?"

She disappeared into the next room, and JD had a feeling 'saving time' would be the last thing they would be doing in the next few minutes. Shaking his head so that he could think straight again, the psionic got out of bed for the second time.

Picking up his phone and putting it back on the nightstand, pausing for a moment to pull the top drawer open and reaching into the far back to take out what he had hidden there.

Taking his hand out to reveal a small, black velvet box. Opening the lid to show the sparkling diamond ring set inside. A warm smile filling his face as he looked it over for what felt like the thousandth time.

"...Soon." he thought confidently, closing the lid of the box and putting it back in its hiding place before heading to the bathroom to join Jodie.