A/n: I'd like to thank y'all, my wonderful readers for your patience. I have sat down several times to write a chapter three (or more) chapters away from this one to work, only to realize that these were necessary to get through first. It's been a bumpy few months.

Also, huge thanks are owed to loss4words who dropped everything to 6,000 or so words over the course of two chapters this morning.

It's been requested that I do a recap. It was too long to put here, so I dropped it onto my rarely used blog, Katsfics on blogspot. (I tried to do the link thing where you insert parenthesis instead of "." but ff seems to have gotten wise to that.)

If you were all good little girls and boys last year maybe I'll get some bonus material posted over there soon.


Bella

28 June 2010 SpecInt Headquarters, MD

I was dog tired and covered in sweat. We were both short of breath, but still circling each other. I watched carefully looking for her next move. Her right arm twitched and I prepared to block left. Then, she kicked me. I blocked her, earning a grunt as she spun back away from me before coming back in.

Alice very nearly took me to the floor with a kick that looped behind my knee. I barely managed to shift my weight backwards and pull away. While she was off balance I kicked her in the stomach with my already lifted leg. The moment my foot connected with her padded stomach she went down.

"Well done, Bella!" Jasper cheered.

"Hey!" Alice protested. He stepped behind her and whisked her up and onto her feet. She giggled.

My heart clenched, and I wanted to leave. They were being affectionate again, and now that Rosalie and Emmett had decided to make their courtship official I was surrounded by disgustingly sweet people every day.

Edward and I kept as much distance from each other as we possibly could. He handed all of my non-RV training over to the others. I was disappointed and relieved. I had difficulty trusting everyone, but mostly him. I actually shielded myself in the shower.

He was very professional whenever we had to work together. I stopped taking his sandwich at lunch. We took turns attending Saturday brunch. I'd slept in his room once more. As much as I liked the Cullen house, and having access to a pool and a real kitchen over the weekends, sleeping in Edward's room was awkward. It smelled like him, and I always felt a bit like I was invading his privacy by being there.

"I'm just going to go get cleaned up," I excused myself and headed for the shower. I really had to stop thinking about Edward.

Unfortunately, he was waiting for me outside the locker room when I finished. He looked good, too. I mentally kicked myself again for noticing. It was stupid, and I felt like an idiot for thinking about it. He wasn't interested. If he had been, then that kiss weeks before would have meant something. He would have made a move.

"Change of plans," he announced.

I gave him a questioning look.

"I've had a piss poor morning, and we're taking a field trip."

"Okay," I said.

He led me to his car. Edward wasn't driving a Volvo any longer. He'd upgraded to a Porsche 911 Carrera. I wasn't a car girl but even I knew that it was impressive.

We both hesitated at the passenger door. It was like he couldn't decide whether or not to open the door. I finally reached out and grabbed the handle. He nodded to himself and moved around to his side.

We drove in silence to an office building. He parked, turned to me, and held up a Cross pen.

"Your assignment is to leave this pen on Irina's desk, and take one of her business cards."

"Irina? As in CIA Irina?"

"Her non official cover - or NOC - is in sales for IM Software. The job keeps her 'out of town 'most of the time, so she's rarely in the office."

I nodded.

"If you get past security, I'll let you drive back to the office."

I really wanted to drive the car.

"I'm not supposed to drive, Edward. You know that. They took my license back in Georgia."

"I have a friend." He grinned at me and handed over a driver's license. I took a close look at it, and found all of my information but it was for Maryland.

"Is this real?" I asked.

"Real enough."

"You'll let me drive your car with this?"

"If you can get that pen on Irina's desk."

"What's the catch?"

"Are you chicken, Swan?"

He looked perfectly serious.

"There has to be some issue with getting in there, or you wouldn't offer to let me drive the car," I said.

"Well, security is kind of tight," he confessed. "They've had an industrial espionage scare recently."

I nodded. That was the catch.

"If I get caught?"

"I'll have to call Irina to get you out of there before the police are called and return her pen in person. Which wouldn't be ideal since she's at Langley today."

"Understood. Any recommendations as to how I should do this?"

"No, this is a critical thinking exercise. If I told you how to do it I'd be defeating to point of the exercise."

He slipped a pin into my hand.

"What's this?"

"A bug, so I'll know when you get in trouble."

"You're pretty confident that I'm failing, aren't you?"

"No one's gotten in yet."

"How many times have you tried?"

"We've used this particular office as a training ground for a few years, as long as this has been Irina's NOC. I couldn't get in."

I smiled at him, rolled up my skirt a bit, unbuttoned the top button of my blouse, and got out of the car. I was going to drive the Porsche.

I checked the company directory on my way into the building. IM software was on the 6th floor. I pulled a random name off of the list without even pausing. The security guard glanced up at me as I walked through the lobby. I studied the elevators quickly, it looked like a key card was necessary to get on one.

"Hi," I addressed the guard.

"Morning," he grunted.

"I'm here to see Drew Freeman with IM software, can I just go up, or…?"

"Name?"

"Isabell Johnson, I'm a sales rep." I extended my hand, the guard didn't shake it. I leaned a bit closer to him while he tapped keys on his workstation.

"Miss Johnson, you're not on the list of expected visitors."

"Oh, I wouldn't be. I just got the job two days ago." I caught a reflection of the screen he was looking at in his glasses. I just so happened to read the name Phillip Henderson. "I'm taking over for Phil Henderson."

He relaxed minutely. I had him.

"What happened to Phil?"

I leaned in even closer, fully aware that if he glanced down he'd be looking right down my shirt. "They're considering him for a big promotion. I don't think he knows about it yet." I smiled conspiratorially.

The guard smiled and then looked down at my chest. He froze for a moment. I looked down and acted surprised to see that my cleavage was on full display. I stood and adjusted my shirt.

"Sorry," I said, sounding embarrassed.

He blushed, "No, that's fine. Let me call Mr. Freeman."

"Thanks," I said.

He punched a few buttons on the phone in front of him and waited a moment. "Mr. Freeman? This is Adam downstairs. I have a new rep for CMD solutions here to see you." He paused. I held my breath. "No, she says Phil is getting promoted. Yeah… yeah… okay." He hung up the phone and directed his attention back at me. "He's sending an intern down for you. Please put your cell phone in the basket." He set a plastic basket on the counter between us. I fished out my phone and dropped it in.

I smiled and stepped toward the elevators but he stopped me.

"I'm really sorry but I have to search your purse."

Crap.

If he looked at my ID, I was screwed.

"Oh, no problem." I smiled again. If I acted suspicious, then I was going to get caught. I handed over my purse.

He carefully took it from me. He was uncomfortable.

"It must be interesting seeing what people carry in their handbags," I said.

"Honestly, it's a bit uncomfortable," he responded.

"Really?" I asked, pretending to be dismayed. "I think you find out a lot about a person by what they carry around. It's kind of intimate."

He blushed a very deep red. I smiled.

"It's fine," I said and placed my hand on the counter close to his, not quite touching.

He pulled a couple of items out, including my wallet, but didn't really open anything. The elevator dinged open behind him and he quickly tucked everything back, and handed me my purse.

"Thank you, Miss Johnson," he said.

"Thanks," I responded. The intern was waiting for me, holding the door open with one very white, very thin hand. Everything about the kid was skinny. I slipped into the elevator next to him and stood slightly closer than necessary. "Good morning!"

In the interest of full disclosure I was doing an impression of my high school frenemy, Jessica. I'd used this particular tactic on multiple occasions to get information. The trick was to be likable, somewhat sexy, and yet still marginally forgettable. It would work so long as I dealt with men. Women didn't respond well to the Jessica character. They tended to be more accepting of someone whom they viewed as slightly less attractive than themselves, yet still in their league. It was about bonding with them. Guys were so much easier.

The kid made a noise that sounded something like "Hello" and swiped his card on the control panel next to the buttons. Then he pressed six. I relaxed a bit. I'd been worried that I hadn't read the directory correctly since I was trying to appear inconspicuous.

"You're an intern?"

"Ye-a-ah," he replied quietly and slowly, like he wasn't used to talking to anyone.

"Do you think you'll get a job here at the end of your internship?" I tried to make small talk but he wasn't giving me anything to work with.

"Maybe."

I restrained myself from sighing. I needed to get him comfortable enough that I could grab his card just in case I needed it to get into Irina's office.

"So, you're in college?"

"No."

I nodded, and gave him a tight lipped smile. This was not going to work.

I smacked my lips a little and then made to smell my breath. I grimaced. "Do you have a mint or some gum?"

"Um, I think so…" He started patting his pockets. The doors opened as he pulled out a small package of sugar free gum and handed me a piece. "Here," he said.

We stepped forward off of the elevator together and I 'tripped' snatching his card off his belt while he was occupied rescuing me and giving me gum. I slid the card into my pocket, unwrapped the gum and popped it in my mouth.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

We awkwardly stood just outside the elevator for a moment. I needed to get away from him so that when he realized he'd lost his ID, he wouldn't blame me for it.

"Mr. Freeman's office?"

"Oh, it's over there." He directed me towards a corner office on the far side of the room.

"Thanks again." I waved and walked off toward the office. He quickly caught up with me.

"I'm supposed to stay with you," he said.

I didn't know what I was going to do. I needed to lose him, and find Irina's office. I had no idea what I was supposed to be selling. I couldn't go in and talk to this Freeman guy, because he knew what I was supposed to be there for and I didn't.

Edward

I'd expected the bug to stop working when she reached the elevator, and it did. The problem being that it should have started transmitting again when she got out of it. It didn't. I panicked.

I couldn't follow her up. Quite frankly, I was shocked that she'd gotten past the lobby. Tanya hadn't been able to get that far. The security guard shut her down fast. Bella on the other hand instinctively knew how to work the guard. I could only assume that she'd be able to manipulate the intern they'd sent down to her as well. I didn't know what she planned on doing once she got up on the floor. She'd need to gain access to Irina's office, and that would prove difficult.

I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, I wanted to pace, but pacing the parking lot would draw attention.

It turned out that I was worried needlessly. Twenty long minutes of playing games on my phone later and she walked out the front door. She was grinning from ear to ear. I'd expected her to fail. Everyone failed this particular test, but there was Bella Swan, clearly triumphant emerging from the building.

She opened my door, threw Irina's card at me and started tapping her foot. I checked the card. It wasn't a trick, somehow she'd made her way into Irina's office. I knew because these were different than the ones she handed out. The cards on her desk had her number at Langley listed as her cell. The one in my hand was one of those.

"Okay, how?" I asked.

"Get out of the car, Cullen."

"How did you do it?"

"A lady never gives up her secrets."

"Ladies give up their secrets all the time. How did you get in there, Swan?"

"A bet is a bet, now kindly vacate the driver's seat and let me drive."

"Fine." I sighed and handed over her new fake drivers license. It wasn't that Bella was a bad driver, it was just that the Porsche was mine, and it's hard to hand over the keys to anyone. I extracted myself from the car and got into the passenger seat while she was busy re-adjusting her seat and mirrors.

The drive back to SpecInt wasn't bad. Bella had always been a fairly conscientious driver. The fact that it wasn't even lunchtime helped as well. There were fewer people on the road. Still, she kept turning to look at me and laughing since I was gripping my pants so tightly that my knuckles were white.

"Honestly, Cullen, I'm going maybe two miles over the speed limit," she laughed.

We'd started doing that lately, calling each other by our last names. It wasn't unlike being stabbed in the heart on a daily basis. We were so far away from a relationship that we weren't even bothering with first names anymore. It was all "Cullen" and "Swan" and formality. I was avoiding her.

My stepmother on the other hand was pulling Bella in closer. This was evidenced by the fact that my room at Carlisle and Esme's house carried the faint scent of Bella on the sheets. I could have washed them, and I probably should have but that was as close as I was getting to her. I would change them before her weekend, so that she would be none the wiser, but I really was a sick sick man.

Esme had asked if there was any way that we could reconcile enough to do brunch together. I really didn't know how Bella would feel about that or if she'd want more space. I wanted to let her have whatever time she needed, but I really wanted to drop the formality, let her know that I still loved her, and ask her to marry me and have a bunch of kids. I didn't see that happening anytime in the near future.

"Can I drive her on the track?" Bella asked after we checked in at the guard shack.

"You're asking if you can take my baby out on the defensive driving course?"

She bit her lip and hesitated, "I wouldn't have to run the course, just the track."

"You want to drive fast, don't you?"

"It's a Carrera," she said as if that explained everything.

I just stared at her.

"She's made for racing. You've neglected her. She wants someone to make her go fast," she whispered seductively. I found myself nodding, because that's what I did when Bella Swan talked to me in that voice. It was a conditioned response, caused by a lack of blood flow to my brain.

That was how I found myself teaching Bella evasive maneuvers in a car I'd never let anyone else drive. She caught on fast just like she did with most things we were trying to teach her. I was fairly certain that she was going to be a better spy than I was.


End Note:

Thank you all for reading. I appreciate those of you who have stuck around and your thoughts and prayers. Things seem to be looking up at the moment.