09/08/2009 19:40:00

Disclaimer: Twilight and the characters aren't mine; I just like messing around with them.

Edward Cullen

I couldn't just sit and not say anything; Carlisle must have gone off the deep end. How the hell did he expect me to be able to work with her? Isabella was gorgeous; there was no denying that. There was something about her that mesmerized me. Her face was unmistakably Italian-not overly beautiful, but she possessed this beauty like no other.

"Edward Masen," I managed to choke out, this was getting ridiculous. I was a grown 27-year-old man who had dealt with a mob of very anger drug dealers, an ambush of big guys with machine guns and even managed to run through a field filled with mine bombs. This shouldn't be a problem.

"Isabella," Carlisle began before she quickly interrupted him.

"Please call me Bella." She smiled warmly.

Carlisle grinned, "Bella, Edward is your new partner. You two will be working together in the field: crime investigations and undercover operatives. Now I know that you two just met each other, but you two have been ordered to go undercover on a high-security case and I want you," Carlisle glanced over at me, "to Bella conducting it. As far as I know Masen, you're the best damn agent in this agency and from your reports Ms. Swan, you too, have an exemplary record."

Looking over at Isabella, a tint of pink surfaced her cheeks. Carlisle stood up picking up what appeared to be two personnel files.

"Those are the background information you will need for this mission, I am giving you two, two days, 48 hours, to read and memorize every single detail, no matter how small it may be. In those files you will learn about the person you will be impersonating, about the people you will come into contact with and the ultimate mission. Learn and memorize, pack your belongings, you fly out at 0800 Thursday. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," we both said in unison.

"You are dismissed." Carlisle sat back down, waving his hand towards the door and resumed looking through the numerous case files that covered his desk.

I opened the door first, letting her go first; as she passed I got a whiff of her scent. Strawberries and something else, I couldn't quite recognize it, it smelled exotic…just like her. It was a familiar smell yet so distant.

Angela was at her desk typing away, "Bella, would you like me to call Laurence? He can be here within 10 minutes."

Before Isabella opened her mouth I answered for her, "That won't be necessary Angela. I'll be escorting Isabella home."

"You are?" Isabella asked, a single brow rose in surprise.

"Of course, partner." I smirked.

We walked in silence to the squad room where Emmett and Jasper were right where I had left them.

"So what did he bust you for this time?" Emmett quipped right when I turned the corner.

"Bella," Jasper said looking between the both of us, "did you find the Director's office?"

"Yes, I did. Thanks."

Emmett and Jasper weren't stupid, they were federal agents, and they can put two and two together. The two of them just stared at me with quizzical expressions, waiting for me to give them an explanation.

"Guys, meet my new partner." I made a grand gesture with me hands motioning towards Isabella.

I looked over to see their expressions, Emmett simply got up from his desk walking up to Isabella and giving her a bone crushing hug, "Welcome to this utterly impaired family Bella."

"Thank.... you. Can't. Breathe," Isabella's voice was muffled. Emmett immediately let go.

"Sorry," Emmett said giving a sheepish grin.

Jasper, smiling broadly, stood up from his desk, leaning over it and stuck is hand out, Isabella, matching his own smile, reached over and shook his hand, "Welcome Bella."

"So did Carlisle give you guys your first assignment yet?" Jasper asked sitting down as Emmett returned back to his desk and resumed typing his reports.

"Yeah, some undercover operative. We fly out to Paris in two days." I groaned thinking about all the information waiting to be read in the large file. Tossing it on my desk, I looked over and saw Isabella standing in the middle of the squad room, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh, right. You need a desk…" She smiled at me, glad that I caught on.

I walked over to the desk in front of me, Graham's old desk. No one sat there since his death, but if Isabella was going to be my new partner, it was time to move on and accept her. Just as Graham had.

"Sit here." Graham ordered, "This will be your new desk. Now listen pretty boy, I don't take crap from anyone. The agency wants to give me a new partner. Fine, but that doesn't warrant that we be buddy buddy. Got it kid. We conduct investigations, solve cases, and work hard." I wasn't going to lie, the guy intimated me from the moment we shook hands. According to my old Director over in Chicago, Graham had just lost his partner and wasn't too keen on the idea of having a new one."

It took laborious time and vigorous effort for him to finally accept that we were now partners. The first two months were hell until the time when we were working on the double-homicide Sullivan brother's case. We were called to follow a lead, which turned out to be an ambush of some very angry mobsters. We ducked behind a truck, pulling out our weapons and began firing at the enemies.

As guns were being fired, a bullet hit the metal pole behind us ricocheted and hit my shoulder. One of the gang members noticing what happened took advantage of our distraction. Graham turned to examine the wound when I saw him aiming his sig at Graham's head. Even with the excruciating pain in my right shoulder, I managed to push Graham's head, the bullet barely missing him. Graham looked at me with disbelief, but then smiled at me with gratitude. Finally after the backup came in and arrested all of the remaining mobsters, Graham took me to the hospital.

Every since that day, Graham started treating me like a partner. We became equals and there was no other partnership like ours, we were damn well mutually.

Then that fateful day, he suppressed a shudder that racked his body at the sight of his partner. Graham dead, his best friend, his partner. A single bullet plunging through his heart, blood splattering all over Edwards clothes. The thought of Graham gasping for air, then all too soon he laid there motionless on the wet cement, blood pooling…

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard Isabella's voice calling my name, "Edward? Are you listening?"

"Sorry, you were saying?" I quickly replied, wondering how long had I zoned out.

She looked concerned, but it quickly vanished when I gave her a reassuring smile, "I was saying thank you. Also, I was wondering if you could drop me off at my place. I have yet seen it, and I am in a desperate need of shower and I am definitely sleep deprived at this moment. I can start to feel the jet lag closing in."

I looked at her more carefully this time; there were signs of bags under her eyes, "Of course. Let me just get my things."

We waved goodbye to Emmett and Jasper, and took the elevator down to the garage. As we were walking to my car, I looked over in her direction and was suddenly struck with an idea to make some conversation "Do you want to play 20 questions?"

Isabella turned her head looking at me in confusion, "20 questions?"

"You never heard of it?" I asked, her silence answering my question. "It's this game where you ask a person a question and then the person asking has to answer."

"Okay, ask away."

"What's your full name, Isa-bella," I asked dragging out her name.

"Isabella Marie Swan, but call me Bella. Yours?"

"Edward Anthony Masen. No, I like Isabella better."

She stopped walking and turned to face me, arms crossed, "I said call me Bella."

"No." I could be just as stubborn.

"Masen," she growled at me.

"Swan." My voice matching her own, neither one of us wanting to break down. We stood like that for a few moments, her brown doe eyes boring into mine.

Deciding that it was time to break the stillness, "I only asked one question and we're arguing already. Working with you sure is going to be a hell of an adventure."

Her demeanor broke and a coy smile graced her lips, "You haven't seen anything yet. Partner."

I asked her wide-ranging questions that terribly lacked creativity but for some odd reason I hung on to every word she uttered. I nearly barked with laughter when she confessed that she was an uninteresting person, and when I said that she was the complete opposite, I was awarded with a rosy blush.

We had reached the car and opened her door for her in effort to show her that chivalry was not dead.

"Do you want to go get some food before we head over to your place?" I asked as I pulled out of the parking garage.

"I'm not that hungry." She responded, but a grumbling sound erupting from her stomach gave her away.

"Not hungry?" I smirked, "I know this really great sushi place, that is if you like sushi?"

She began to laugh; I stared at her, wondering what was so funny.

"It's just, every time I go to a new country and people learn that I am from Italy. They automatically assume that I only want to eat Italian food and insist on taking me to some so-called 'great Italian place,' without ever bothering to ask if that's fine with me. I'm just surprised you did not suggest that."

Chuckling at her mini rant, I decided to yank her chain," Well, if you ever change your mind, I do know this great Italian place."

I was granted with a punch to my right shoulder.

Bella Swan

Once we reached the restaurant and saw how packed it was, I suggested we just order take out and go over to my place. There we could look over the details of our upcoming assignments.

"Yeah," Edward approved. "That sounds like a better, more efficient plan."

"That's what I thought. Besides I really would like to change out of the clothes. A red-eye flight really drags you out and the jet lag and 7 hour time zone difference doesn't add any consolation."

"Seven hour difference. Nine hour flight. A red-eye flight. God, what time did you fly out of Rome?"

"Around midnight, Rome's time. Seven a.m. eastern." I answered, trying to suppress a yawn, but it did not go unnoticed by Edward.

"You must be exhausted. No wonder the thought of going to a restaurant was an unappealing idea," his tone sounding guilty.

We finally reached my apartment building. It had a modern, yet historical exterior. It felt warm with a homey feel to it. I didn't hassle waiting for Edward to unbuckle his own seatbelt; I opened the door and rushed to the main entrance.

Inside was even more stunning, the main lobby was top notch contemporary with a marble floors and gorgeous loveseats in the far corners. I had to hand it to the CIA, they knew their way around the apartment hunting. Edward finally caught up with me and smirked in my direction.

"I take it you like it." I simply nodded and walked the distance to the front desk, relishing in the sound of my heels clattering against the smooth marble.

"Hello, welcome to the Parkview Avenue." A brunette who looked appeared to be college student greeted me in a friendly voice and cheerful smile.

"Hello. I am Bella Swan and I'm here to check in to my new apartment." I matched her tone because I really was in a cheerful mood. The feeling of living in a place like this helped me forget the exhaustion I felt.

"Oh, you mean Isabella Swan." The brunette, whose nametag read Amara, corrected.

"Yes," I sighed softly and heard Edward's low chuckle from behind me. "That's me."

"Alright, you're apartment number is 108." She turned around and opened a drawer and pulled out a key handing it to me.

"The elevator is to the left and around the corner," Amara pointed out for me.
"Aren't there any papers that need to be signed?" I asked.

"Most of them have already been signed, there are a few that need your signature of course. They will be brought up to you tomorrow morning if you'd like and the rent has been paid for the rest of this month and the next. "

"Yes, tomorrow will be fine. Grazie." I didn't even bother to correct myself; I was in a hurry to see the place I would be calling home now.

I practically knocked a bellboy over as I turned the corner in attempt to reach my new apartment quicker. I kept apologizing profusely, in Italian of course. Poor kid looked so confused and just shuffled away. I hit the elevator button and nearly ran into another bellboy as I got in.

The elevator doors slid shut and I hit my floor's button, tapping my foot impatiently. I did not have to look at Edward to see the crooked smile plastered on his face. He was laughing loudly, clutching his sides. I turned my head to see him wiping away tears from his eyes, yet the amusement still dancing those emerald eyes.

"What's so funny?" I said, annoyed at the grin on his face.

"You." His response earning him another punch in the shoulder, only this time on his left.

I stepped off the elevator and read the sign that pointed to the direction of my number. Once I reached the door that had those glossy three digits I pulled the key out of my pocket. Turning the key, then the doorknob, the door swiftly opened and revealed my new home.

I walked in not bothering to close the door, knowing that Edward would do it. I was stunned and impressed. It was luxurious and modest all at the same time.

I smiled when I noticed my luggage in the far corner of the living room and smiled even wider when I saw the kitchen to the left. It was perfect.

"Wish the CIA provided a place like this when I joined the agency." Edward joked.

I walked in and my eyes immediately took in the huge balcony, I rushed over and slid the glass door and stepped in the cool night, breathing it all in. The view was breathtaking and I was glad to see a small table for two was placed to the side. It would be perfect in the mornings and nights like this. The incredible view that overlooked the entire DC district combined with the fresh autumn breeze instantly relaxed me.

"I'm seriously thinking about selling my apartment and moving here." Edward's voice bringing me back.

"Where do you live?" I asked, instead of answering, he pointed to a tall white apartment building a few blocks away, but easily visibly from where we were standing.

"You're not that far from here," I mused.

"I guess the CIA didn't want there to be a huge distance between the two of us, which was smart on their part. Jasper and Emmett live about eight miles from each other and it annoys them."

"Why?"

"Well, them being partners and all. They don't like being to far, because if anything were to happen they'd want the other to be near. Damn agency didn't think about that until…" Edward trailed off.

"Until what?" I asked, when he didn't answer I looked back at him to see a grim look on his face.

"Until what, Edward?" I asked again.

"It's nothing. Come on, let's order some dinner and start tackling this assignment.
I did not push the topic, but made a mental note to ask Edward about it preferably sooner rather than later.

We ordered our dinner and within thirty minutes it arrived, in the meantime I managed to shower and unpack a few of the essential things.

I walked back into the living room and plopped down on the opposite side of Edward, loving the way the softness of the cushions. I reached for the folder that sat on the coffee table, but was stopped when Edward's hand reached out, stopping me from grabbing it.

"I am not doing any work until I get some food in me." I would have laughed but thought otherwise since he seemed pretty serious.

"Fine."

We ate in silence, occasionally asking to pass something over. It wasn't an awkward silence. In fact, it was surprisingly comfortable. When all the food was wiped clean from the plastic plates and the Styrofoam cups were empty; we began to work.

I opened the folder on my lap and watched as Edward did the same. I skimmed through the mission details.

"Looks like the usual," Edward spoke, "Gathering information, finding evidence, the whole shabam."

I nodded in response; it appeared to be like any other undercover operation.

Until I reached a certain line, I gasped as I read it. I looked up at Edward to see if he had reached that part, yet. The shit-eating grin that donned on his face gave him away.

"I guess this means we are married, sweet pea." You could tell he was loving this, he turned the page and that stupid smug looked returned. "Oh look here, they even provided us with wedding bands." He was holding a small bag that held a plain wedding band in it. I mimicked his action and to my horror I saw a similar, but smaller wedding band in a bag just like Edward's taped to the page. I yanked it off and held it in front on my face.

"In my honest opinion, I would have preferred a huge rock for you, don't you agree love?" Oh he was definitely enjoying this.

I flipped the page back and looked down just in case to see if there was some mistake. But I was greeted with the same old text at the bottom of the page.

Name: Mrs. Chloe Dereveux

Status: Married to Dr. Pierre Dereveux

Sorry it took me so long to update this, I just have been so busy. But that's no excuse.

Thank you for all those reviews, I loved them. They really influence a writer's writing, especially when there is positive feedback. Thanks loves.