Huge thanks to anmodo for betaing this chapter and thanks to everyone that has reviewed.

Chapter 2

Danny watched Alex as she drummed the steering wheel to the beat of the music. There had been silence since they had started driving. It was not as if they had a shortage of conversation – Danny was bursting with questions he wanted to ask Alex but he was unsure how to go about. Usually, he could act so confidently around women, but there was something about Alex that made him hold back. Something told him there was something special about Alex so he tried to think of a conversation that wouldn't cause tension.

"Were did you get the car from?" Danny asked.

"Got the basic model shipped from Europe, then I tuned it and did the rest myself." Alex said as she looked at Danny's amazed expression. "A few years back, I had a lot of time of time on my hands." Alex added as she briefly closed her eyes as she thought of the event that gave birth to the idea of the car. An event that she still bore the scars from, emotionally and physically, an event that still plagued her dreams. She clenched her jaw as she thought why would a guy like Danny want to date her? She was damaged goods. She was screwed up. Before they had entered her life, she was happy and carefree, but they had changed all that.

Danny watched Alex as she tensed up and wondered what had happened to her. Maybe she had demons in her past like he did. He hesitated for a moment before continuing the conversation.

"I've been trying to work out your accent. There's some New York overtones there, but I can't work out the rest."

"Guess!" Alex said playfully, as she smiled and pulled into the parking lot of the Italian restaurant.

"Maine?"

"Sorry wrong answer. Please try again," Alex sang.

"New Hampshire?"

"No" Alex said as she continued to grin.

Danny paused but he couldn't help grinning. "But it's New England right?" Danny asked.

"Try old England."

Danny frowned.

Alex laughed at Danny's confused expression. He looked so cute when he was confused. "Like 3000 miles east."

"So you're from England" Danny said with a smile. "You're British."

"Is that a problem?" Alex asked.

"No – should there be?" Danny asked

Alex pulled into the café's parking lot. She smiled at Danny as she tried to relax. She wanted to do everything she could to no screw this dinner up. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She'd been on tons of dates before now and this wasn't even a real date. She was just thanking Danny for being a gentleman and changing the car's tire. Then why was she so nervous?

Danny held open the door for her as they stepped out of the wind and the rain. The warmth of the café was a welcome relief from the bitter cold wind. But despite the freezing temperatures, Danny hardly felt it. He had forgotten he was soaked to the skin until Alex mentioned it. But it didn't matter since being with Alex seemed to warm his soul. Never a believer in love at first sight, he was beginning to question that belief. He'd always felt there had been something missing from his life and maybe Alex was that part of the jigsaw. But he didn't know how to make this or any relationship work. Maybe Alex wouldn't ask about his past. Maybe he could eventually trust her enough to talk about his past.

Following her to a table, he couldn't help but to stare at her curvaceous body. She made a simple pair of jeans and t-shirt look so sexy. He had dated model-types before now and they could ever make clothes look the way she made them look. Barely noticing that they had reached the table, he was lost in his own thoughts thinking how lucky he was to be having dinner with a girl like Alex. He felt again as though it was love a first sight, but maybe he was getting ahead of himself. Yet there was something about Alex that told him that maybe he should give love a chance. Maybe he should let someone into his life.

"Earth to Danny," Alex said as she snapped her fingers in front of his face. "What do you want to drink?" she asked as she motioned to the waitress.

Danny felt himself tense up because he hated this part. The women he dated always looked suspicious when he didn't drink. Hesitating, he tried to think of a way to ask for a non-alcoholic drink without looking suspicious.

Alex looked at Danny and wondered why such a simple question would cause him such tension so she tried to take the pressure off. "I'm driving, so I'm having coffee. But if you want a beer or whatever, go for it."

Danny felt himself instantly relax. "I'll have a coffee as well." He paused, "so when you're driving, you don' drink at all?"

"Yeah – I don't think it's fair. I mean you are in control of one and half ton of metal that can do speeds of 140 mph. It's a lethal weapon. We both carry guns… a car is just as lethal as a gun. It's irresponsible and selfish to drink and drive." She paused, "Sorry for my rant but I feel kind of passionate about that. Trust me, I didn't always responsibly drink. I had my wild teenage years; I was pretty wild at University. But the sad thing is that underage drinking is the norm in the UK and because of the drinking age, it's younger than when most US kids underage drink."

Feeling more and more at ease because of her attitude towards alcohol, he felt a surge of courage and felt compelled to tell her that he didn't drink. He never felt that way before so early in relationship – always thinking it would scare a woman away. "I don't drink" Danny found himself saying.

"Good for you" Alex said as she smiled at the nervous-looking Danny. "I don't drink much. Sure I have may have a glass of wine with a meal or go down to bar with friends. But anyway, enough about me. I want to hear more about you. Standard questions: likes, dislikes?" Alex said deliberately avoiding the past. If you don't what people to question you about your past, never ask anyone else about his past.

The conversation carried on late into the night, just having an easy conversation about everything and anything, but always avoiding the subject of the past. When they left, Danny quickly paid the bill before Alex could protest. He walked her to her car and watched the taillights disappear into the night. He smiled thinking that the night had been amazing. Tonight had been the start of a new beginning for Danny Taylor – he hoped.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The man sat up quickly and looked around. He felt cold sweat on his back. Looking around again, he was still in his apartment in New York. But yet the dream had felt so real. He hadn't a flashback in years, but now they had been coming frequently. Sometimes they ended with gunfire, other times they ended with the bitter cold wind and snow falling around them but, most of the time, they ended with him covered in her blood.

He switched on his bedside lamp and tried to push the images of the flashback out of his mind, but he couldn't. His mind returned to where it always did after these flashbacks. What could he have done differently that night? She was so young. She was still a kid doing a job that most adults couldn't of done. She shouldn't have even been there; she should have been in her home country doing what normal teenagers did. But no she was a foot soldier in the fight against communism. He thought back to that fateful time.

He walked out onto the floor of the apartment. He needed to get away from those weasels. He approached the figure reading some documents with a flashlight in her mouth.

"You know that's bad for your eyes." He said as he handed her a mug of coffee.

She looked up relieved to see him and not one of the others. "You know that's not scientifically proven." She said with a smirk, taking a swig of coffee. "Thanks for this."

He smiled because she really did amaze him. Despite everything, she always could find a smile. "What you reading?" He asked.

"Mary Hall's 'life' aka my life when I cross the wall." She sighed and looked over at him. She didn't want him to see how scared she was. How much she hated going over the wall as fresh meat for her 'comrades'. She hated the sick people she had to associate with over the wall. But she couldn't tell anyone this – the over side of the wall it would get her killed, this side of the wall it would make her a target. But this new guy was different. He treated her with respect. He treated her like she was his daughter, probably because his wife had just given birth to a baby girl

He looked over at the grey wall adorned with graffiti—a wall that separated the west from east, democracy from communism. An ideology that placed the world in a new order, an ideology that turned to allies to enemies, a war that prudential to wipe out every living thing on the planet, a threat that was now diminishing. He thought of his baby girl and looked across at her; he hoped that his daughter would never be forced to do the job that this kid was so bravely doing. He wanted to tell her not to go, but knew she had to. He wanted to protect her as if she was his daughter. He hugged his coat around his body as watched his warm breath form icy clouds as it met the cold air. "Do you know why this war is called 'Cold?'"? He asked with a smile.

She turned and looked at him. "I'm guessing it has something to do with temperature." She said with a smirk. "Believe me Berlin and Moscow have nothing on Siberia. But Chelyabiosk-65, one of the nuke cities, I didn't sleep because it was so cold – thought I would die in my sleep if I slept there."

"I know you thought they could based it some place a little warmer like the south Pacific." He joked, but his expression soon turned serious as he remembered the fact that she had been deep into the Soviet Union. "You've been to Siberia?"

"Yeah a few times, the KGB-" She stopped unable to continue, unable to tell him how much the KGB terrified her. How she didn't sleep, how on the rare occasions she did sleep she had a gun under her pillow. How she was so scared that she threw up every night. How she wanted to meet someone that would understand her, someone that she could be with and forget any of this ever happened. She returned her glaze to her new legend knowing that if she hesitated for a second the op would be blown.

He felt tears falling down his face as he remembered the last time he had seen her alive. The op had gone to hell and she had been shot. He closed his eyes and tried to pull the image of her bullet-ridden body out of his mind. How he had left her body there in that cold abandoned warehouse. They may have had to drag him away from her but he should have fought them. He should have brought her body home so at least her parents would have had closure. She was one of the reasons why he was still in missing persons. The first missing person's case he had worked was with her. She hadn't deserved to die; she hadn't even deserved to be there. Maybe that was why he was so protective over his team – because he had already lost one of them. She would have made such a prefect addition to his present team, unlike Elena. She had the sensitive personality needed to work missing persons, yet she was as tough as the boys. But the KGB had changed all of that. He turned off the lamp and tried to get a few more hours of sleep, but he knew wouldn't sleep now.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Danny sat at his desk smiling because he couldn't get last night out of his mind. It had only been dinner, but it had been better than all of his recent relationships put together. He didn't think he had scratched the surface with Alex, but what he had seen, he liked. Alex was the kind of girl that he dreamed of. She was intelligent, beautiful, had a great sense of humour and a sparkly personality.

"So who's the lucky lady?" Sam said as she approached the grinning Danny.

Danny turned unable to wipe the smile from his face. "I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't kiss and tell."

"So who is she this time?" Elena sneered, "Model, stripper… does she have two brain cells to rub together?"

Danny stared at Elena, not even her snipe little remarks could put a damper on his day. He refused to acknowledge the bait, but he so wanted to reply with the remark, 'are you describing yourself?' But then he would lower himself to her level. "She's not a model or stripper. She can speak three different languages that I know of so I'm guessing she has more than two brain cells to rub together." Danny replied sarcastically.

Sam watched Elena and Danny eyeballing each other and quickly thought of something to distract them. She personally didn't mind Elena – but she understood why Danny and Martin didn't really get along with her. "Hey I'm going to get some coffee. Do you guys want some?"

"I'll come with you." Danny said as he stood and followed Sam out.

"You shouldn't let her get to you like that." Sam said as she poured them both a mug of coffee.

"I didn't." Danny growled.

"Yes, you did because you are now biting my head off."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take it out on you." Danny replied as he sat down. "Its just, well Elena was right. I do usually date women like that. It's just because, well, they don't ask too many questions. They are happy with short-term relationships or maybe they're not, I don't know. Sam, I want a real relationship. Why can't I hold one down? There has to be something wrong with me."

Sam sat down, shocked by the honesty of Danny's confession. Danny was always so private about himself and his past. She always thought he was happy with his short-term relationships, she always thought of him as a bit of a ladies man. But how wrong had she been?

"There's nothing wrong with you. You're a good person with a heart of gold; don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Slowly starting to smile, Danny shook his head. Sam was a true friend. They had been friends since she had joined the FBI. They had such an easy relationship. It almost felt like they where siblings. "I guess we better head back before Jack puts our photos up on the whiteboard."

"So this new girl—who is she and what's she like?" Sam joked as they walked towards the office.

Danny laughed, "You know I don't kiss and tell."

Later that day, after hours of mind numbing paperwork Danny twirled his cell phone between his fingers. He tried to summon the courage to phone Alex. He didn't know why he was so nervous about phoning her – he never usually was. But there was something different about her; the way they clicked or was it the energy between or maybe it was both. He didn't know but he did know that he wanted to get to know her better. He dialled her number with trembling fingers trying to think of what to say.

Hearing her cell phone ring, she grabbed it and looked at the caller ID – Danny. She felt her heart rate increase – Danny was calling her. Danny was amazing – he was cute, he was funny, intelligent, didn't ask about her past and he was an old-fashioned gentleman. In the short time she had spend with him, he had always held open doors for her, walked her to the car, paid the bill, the list could go on. But then also, she couldn't quite read him. There was something there that remained a mystery to her. She took a deep breath and connected the call. "Hello."

"Hey Alex. It's Danny." He paused, "I don't know if you remember me from last night, but-. Umm" Danny suddenly found himself lost for words.

Alex felt herself smiling. He sounded so cute when he was nervous. "Last night…" she paused, "of course I remember you, Danny."

Leaning against the wall, Danny tried not to grin like a Cheshire cat but knew he was fighting a losing battle. "Umm this Saturday, I was wondering if- well- would you would like to have lunch with, I mean I understand if you don't-"

"I would love to!" Alex said cutting him off, but at the same time she tried to gain control of her emotions. She was 32 for Christ's stake – then why did she feel like she was fourteen year old on her first proper date?

"You would!" Danny trying not to sound too surprised. He felt like he was walking on air, he grinned as he arranged the lunch with Alex. He didn't think he had ever been in a relationship that hadn't involved sex or at least a kiss on the first date. Maybe that was where he was going wrong. But the difference between this relationship and previous ones was that he really wanted to get to know her. With Alex, the tension and excitement of the first kiss, the first night together was still there. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with him, maybe it was just that he had never found the right person, maybe Alex was that person.