A/N: This chapter covers a 2-year period.

One more chapter & epilogue. Busy.

OM

Stuart Residence
Arlington, VA

June

Mike Stuart was neither stupid nor naïve. He understood exactly what was going on in his wife's head. Sarah was bored and a bored Sarah was a curious Sarah and curiosity was the last thing Mike Stuart needed in his life.

He had announced his candidacy for Governor and had assembled a staff and they were well into campaigning. He'd started late and would require a lot of money and 'face time' with voters to win the election.

"Sarah, we're going to begin an aggressive series of fundraisers and I'll need you in attendance. I'll give you a schedule and you can decide which you'll want to go to and which you'll want to skip. I don't mean to dump the family responsibilities on you but you've never been in a political campaign before and the pace is brutal and I'll be hard-pressed for time to handle the family money and stuff. Can I count on you?"

It was like magic. Her smile lit the room and he knew he was definitely going to get lucky tonight. Goodbye boredom, hello, mission-oriented Sarah.

He had no idea of the monster he'd created and in the months ahead he'd look back on this brief conversation with shock and sometimes regret but it marked a definite turning point in their relationship. Lisa had never given much thought to an election, just showing up for the photo ops and disappearing back to the apartment and later, the house, when she was no longer needed. Sarah became an active campaigner and sometimes a pain in the ass but the polls showed she was more of an asset than a liability.

Until photographs and mission reports of her activities in the CIA were mailed to her husband along with a suggestion that he withdraw from the primary election and public life or everyone in the country would know that his wife was a CIA whore and an assassin.

Stuart Residence
Arlington, VA
August

"Tell me that these are fakes, Sarah, please!"

"They're not. Those were from sealed and secret files. I did what I had to do to accomplish my assignments. I'm not proud of what I had to do but I am proud that I eliminated threats to my country. Do you want a divorce, Mike? I should have told you – "

"No, you shouldn't have told me. These are classified files. You're my wife, Sarah, and I'll be damned if some – no, I don't want a divorce. Why would you even suggest such a thing?"

"It would protect the family and once the divorce was final, you could run for the Senate or – "

"You don't think much of me, do you, Agent Walker?

That stung. He sounded just like someone else she'd loved and she was going to run from him, just like she had the other man.

"I love you. I could never love a coward. Stay the course. I'll talk to some people and see if they can trace a chain of custody. I'll make a public statement to the press and ask for understanding."

"No. I'll make inquiries. You just keep on doing whatever it is you have scheduled. I need to make a call. Don't worry, sweetheart, I'll handle this."

Chateau Almandine
Outside Paris, France

His cell vibrated and clattered to the floor. Hannah woke up enough to reach down and retrieve it and hand it to her husband who was wrapped around her, his face buried in her neck.

"Chuck – your cell. Wake up, honey, and take the call. And take you hand out of my nightgown until you're able to concentrate on what you're doing and not multitasking."

"Windsor. Who's calling." There was a long period of silence as Chuck listened to the caller. He grew very angry and then calmed down and asked the caller to scan the documents in question and send them to him at his email address. Since Chuck didn't give out his address, she assumed it was Circus business and reluctantly left their warm bed and went to make coffee.

As he watched her leave their bedroom, the light from the hall illuminated her form beneath the silk nightgown, and he felt a wave of love and desire flow through him but he tamped the desire down until later; there was no way he could suppress what he felt for Hannah.

"Mike, I'm going to do things that you won't want to be associated with, that you'll be able to swear under oath that you had no knowledge of. I'll take care of it. You see to your family and your election. If I come over there, I'll want to stay in the mansion, y'know, for comparative purposes to our Chateau." It was a joke between them.

He called General Beckman and explained the situation and 'suggested' that the Combine launch an investigation of its own – unless they were responsible for the documents in the first place.

"Mike Stuart is a valuable friend of the intelligence community. We will be very thorough in ferreting out the individuals who obtained and released the documents." Beckman was as serious about this as anything. If they could find and disseminate classified files on an agent, they were all at risk. Everyone had 'skeletons in their spy closets'.

Chuck made some more calls and issued instructions and soon Stuart's opponent started receiving emails, phone calls and letters. There were no threats implied, simply statements of intent. An operative slipped into his campaign headquarters and his home. The operative planted several devices throughout his office and home and on his phones and viruses on his personal computer and within hours the analysts at Circus Information Systems were chortling at the information that was being funneled to them.

There were more emails and letters sent, videos of the candidate's dalliances with underage boys and girls as well as simple suggestions. 'Remove yourself from public life or face humiliation and possible imprisonment'.

Within weeks, Stuart suddenly found himself without an opponent of any standing and he won by a landslide in November. He and his family moved into the governor's mansion shortly after the inauguration in January.

Sarah Walker took an indefinite leave of absence from the Central Intelligence Agency and assumed the role of 'First Lady' with all the energy she'd invested in her spy job.

The Windsor family suffered a pair of tragedies. Jacques Dubois passed away from complications of Parkinson's Disease, surrounded by his family and friends.

A few months later, Henri suffered a massive coronary and died.

Both were buried in the Legion Cemetery as tradition allowed - Comrades in life and death.

6 months later

At the family breakfast, a ritual that occurred less and less frequently as the 'kids' developed outside interests and Chuck got more and more involved in running the corporations, Yve dropped a bomb on her parents.

"Mom, Daddy, I've been accepted by George Washington University and I want to go. I want to study International Relations and join Daddy's firm some day. He's not getting any younger and I think – no, I know – that I want to fill his shoes when you two finally decide to retire."

Chuck felt a sense of loss that transformed itself into a fierce sense of pride. His slight nod of approval sent her heart soaring and her tall and lithe dancer's frame into his lap, hugging him and laughing in delight. She'd matured both emotionally and physically and she knew exactly what she wanted to be 'when she grew up'. She wanted to be like her father and grandfather.

Hannah smiled at the display of affection that was rarely seen between those two. Yve had always stood apart, a little aloof, but she'd worked her butt off mastering all the martial arts skills she could persuade Uncle Hugo or any of the security staff to teach her. She didn't like guns. She'd leave the shooting to Paul and Sophia. No. She preferred a hands-on approach to solving problems but seemed to mirror her father's preference for negotiated settlements backed by a willingness to get physical.

Su-Fi felt nothing at all about her sister's announcement but she was jealous of the moment of intimacy the two shared when Yve hugged Chuck and he hugged her back, pressing a kiss into her long black hair. She'd never grown close to her 'sister'. They were of different clans and traditions. She and Paul were family. Yve had become a 'sister' by circumstance.

Hannah spent as much time as possible with Yve during their last summer together before she headed off to America and the university. She'd badgered Chuck into contacting Michael Stuart and asking that he 'look out' for her should she need anything.

Stuart was both honored and flattered that Charles Windsor entrusted him with looking out for his daughter. He made arrangements for Sarah and Megan, now a high school senior, to meet her at the airport in DC and see to it that she got situated and then offer an invitation to spend any holidays with them. He owed Windsor and would do everything to ensure his daughter was well looked after.

He understood why Yve was instructed to use her mother's maiden name in all dealings with outsiders. It was a wise precaution.

With Yve gone, Hannah lost her 'shopping buddy' and so she tried to recruit Su-Fi but was disappointed when her daughter simply said, "I have clothes and shoes enough, Mother. I have no need to 'shop' when I have everything I need in life right here."

Hannah was at loose ends until John Casey mentioned that he was having potential security problems with the networks he used with his fledgling Merc Force, officially known as the Militia. He'd been 'released' from the NSA in order to take over organizing and eventually commanding the Militia with Hugo Panzer handling the day-to-day operations.

She immediately offered her services and Casey jumped at the chance. He remembered her background and Chuck's comment that she was 'better with computers than I am'. That was recommendation enough.

By the time Thanksgiving rolled around, the Militia was fully manned and equipped. Keeping Stuart's comments about asymmetrical warfare in mind, the organization expanded until it included a company of helicopters for airlift capabilities, three full companies of infantry, a Roll-on Roll-off car carrier that carried the Militia's troops, aircraft and assault craft. Hannah Nguyen became the group's Communications and Technology coordinator.

"You've done what?" Casey stood in front of Chuck's desk in his Chateau office. He felt like a 2nd Lieutenant again. Hannah simply snickered and told Casey to 'get lost for a while, John. I'll handle this' and he hurried out, wishing he was a fly on the wall for the upcoming confrontation.

"Chuck, I'm bored. With Ellie busy at her hospital and Su-Fi with her nose in a book or doing whatever it is she does with the security people, I'm bored. John mentioned security issues with his network and I offered to help. Well, I saw other opportunities and neither Casey or Hugo were up to it, so I did it. It's a done deal, Chuck."

"Hannah, I will not have you running all over the world in a damned commo van while the Militia does its thing. Your place is here, at my side, in our home. What about – "

"I want to do this, Chuck. I am going to do this. You have your job, your responsibilities, and now I have mine. This is important to me. Please don't be difficult. I'll have 400 men and women watching out for me. Nothing will happen to me."

Chuck spent Christmas alone with Su-Fi. The Militia had their first engagement scheduled and Chuck had kissed his wife goodbye on the dock at Loire watched her sail off into harm's way.

Su-Fi regularly chatted with Yve via Skype Webcam and kept her up to date on the family happenings. She seemed to get along a lot better with Yve when she was 3,000 miles away than when she was home.

"So, Sophie, where are the parents? I wanted to wish them a Merry Christmas."

"Mother is off with the Militia and Jzhuck is in his office probably finishing off a bottle of brandy. He is not happy with Mother. She should be here with him but instead he is alone. How goes 'the great hunt'?"

"I have found him. Now I must let him catch me, Su-Fi. I'm spending the holidays with him and his parents at their home in Arlington. They are nice but not nearly as friendly now that they know that their son and I are seeing each other. His mother is scary, Su-Fi, but his father is much like Daddy."

"So, are you going to bring him home to meet us this summer or will you have another boyfriend by then? You are coming home to Almandine for the summer, aren't you, Yve? Jzhuck misses you and you must be in need of new clothes and shoes by then."

The power died and Su-Fi ran to find her father as klaxon horns sounded security alert. She could see security forces scurrying across the grounds and hear the sound of small arms fire.

The Chateau was under attack!