Standard Cover My Ass Warning: There will be some sexual content, Prudes beware.

Operation Rebel Dragon Phase Two: Day 16

Madison P.O.V.

Madison slipped away from where Ming, Ambassador Xiu Ling, and herself had been speaking. She quickly slipped into the largest group of people she could find, she wanted to get out of the ambassador's sight. Everything about him screamed predator, and everything he'd said was obviously bullshit. Then there was the fact that he hadn't brought up Ming's fiancé, who was supposed to be here. That left a number of logical conclusions, and none of them were all that good.

Once she knew that she had completely vanished into the crowds, she changed tacks. She had to keep her mind on business, and that meant finding Red Bear. The Ming situation could be handled later. Now she had to handle her tertiary mission and find her contact. She bumped into a young man around her age in a well cut suit. "Pardon me," she said, stepping around him.

He grabbed her arm, "No problem, but I would be remiss to pass up a chance to dance with a beautiful woman such as yourself." His English was lightly accented, not entirely Russian, but definitely something Eastern European.

She was just about to twist her arm out of his grasp when he spoke again. "Perhaps I could get you a drink instead, would you prefer champagne or vodka?" It was the sign.

"No thank you, I prefer a good scotch." She responded with the countersign.

"Ahh, you are a charmer aren't you? Now, how about that dance?" She allowed him to lead her on to the dance floor. He took the lead as the waltz began to play.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Charmer." He spoke in a whisper as they went through the steps.

"Same to you Red Bear." He grimaced ever so slightly, showing barely perceptible distaste as if she'd stepped on his foot.

"You Americans always give us horrible names. It's probably why things have taken so long to thaw between us." His easy going smile returned when Madison giggled slightly. "I much prefer my side's designation for me, in your language it translates to…" He paused, she was certain for drama.

"Avenger."

She had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing. "You're not exactly what I was expecting out of a Russian spy."

The song changed as the waltz ended. The beat quickened as the tango began. "And who says I'm Russian."

He spun her and brought her close again. "Everything, from your code name to your accent. The only thing I'm not sure of is whether your one of ours or one of theirs."

He dipped her, "Clever girl, don't let it go to your head though, we're all clever in this business."

Their verbal jabs ceased as the dance drew to an end. He took her hand and kissed it, pressing a microholotape into her palm as he did so. "A pleasure dancing with you Madison, I look forward to getting to know you properly soon." Then in a quieter voice, "I included the identity of Third Claw, so you can focus on the ever delightful Xiu Ming for the rest of the evening, considering who she's meeting, you'll need to."

"Das vadanya," before she could ask him anything further, he'd disappeared into the crowd. She hated when people used her own tricks against her.

With her primary mission for the evening done, Madison wandered aimlessly around the ballroom. She'd never been a fan of these sort of events. It was all too fake, but then again, she was in the business of falsehoods and facades now. But there was something more… funnily enough, the best way that she could describe it was honest. There was something about covert operations that seemed more honest than politics. Masks and falsehoods seemed more called for when you were doing it for your nation, rather than yourself.

Without Ming at her side to be intimidating, the senators started circling like sharks again. Madison was good at dealing with them, it helped that in a sense, she outranked them. The American government wasn't owned by the American people, it was an open secret. What everyone denied, but was actually true, was that America itself wasn't owned by the American people. The United States of America, government, territory, and even people, were owned by roughly ten ultra-powerful mega corporations.

America was no longer a democracy, and it hadn't been for a long time. It was an aristocracy, and Madison was under no illusions that she and almost everyone she spent time with were members. That was probably why she really hated these things. They made her think like this. They reminded her of how fake her own down to earth routine was when she talked to people like Liam or Nick.

Emma was right at home as the belle of the ball. It was probably genetic, her father was the same way. Her low cut scarlet dress and supermodel body were enough to attract every man in the room, and her intelligent and seductive personality was enough to keep them in her orbit. Nick seemed less a companion, more a bodyguard beating back the more forward of her admirers. Madison loved her roommate, but she couldn't deal with those currently in her orbit. Madison always wondered why someone who was born for politics would pursue fashion.

Of course then she'd look down at the elegant white gown that Emma had designed and made for her, a contrast to Ming's dress, and remembered just how good her friend was at her chosen trade. So she returned to her wandering. She caught sight of the ambassador, surrounded by his coterie of party members, and her mind went back to their encounter. He'd been bullshitting her, but the question was why. He was obviously trying to make China look as good as possible. Technically his job, but he wasn't taking the usual shots at America that he usually did. And then there was the whole thing with Ming's fiancé suddenly out of the picture.

Her own ruminations were interrupted by the sight of Ming striding across the ballroom. She grabbed Madison by the wrist without a word, a saucy grin on her face, and pulled her into a dark corner of the room away from the crowds. Ming pushed her against the wall and kissed her way up Madison's neck and nipped her ear.

"I need to talk to you about something very important, but they're watching me right now." Ming whispered in her ear.

Madison kept a look of aroused amusement on her face as she pressed her hands against the wall to steady herself, but her eyes darted around the room. Sure enough, there were at least six members of the Chinese delegation keeping a nonchalant eye on them, including a woman in an idiotic looking dress who hadn't been there before. Madison assumed her to be the cousin, if she really was one, that Ming had left the room to speak to. "I see them."

"I've been an agent of the Chinese government since coming to this country when I was fourteen. I've been inactive since graduating high school. The reason my uncle is suddenly so accepting of our relationship is because they want me to spy on you to get economic and industrial intelligence on RobCo." She ran her hands over Madison's body, hitting all of the spots that their watchers would expect her to.

Madison was shocked, but she couldn't decide whether she was supposed to show it or not. Either the Activity hadn't known about Ming being a Chinese Intelligence operative, or they hadn't informed her. Ming would expect her to be shocked, but their watchers wouldn't. She settled on letting her mouth form a small O, something that Ming quickly smothered with a forceful kiss. Forceful kissing was nothing new in their relationship, force was a central factor in their sex, but this was awkward. It was mechanical, not the usual act of passion, just Ming using her tongue to gag Madison.

Ming pulled away from the kiss. "I'm sorry I never told you I was an agent, but I promise you that it has nothing to do with our relationship. The woman I just met with was the first one to bring up spying on you to me."

Red Bear, Avenger's words played again in her head, Considering who she's meeting, you'll need to. He'd known who she was meeting. Russian intelligence was apparently well aware of the fact that her girlfriend was a Chinese spy. Either the Activity needed to push harder to pierce Chinese intelligence more thoroughly, or they hadn't read Madison in on a very important fact. In either case, it made her job a lot easier.

Sure, she probably should feel a sense of distrust, but considering they'd built their relationship off of a couple of well manufactured lies from the intelligence agency that she worked for, it would be hypocritical. But in the end, what difference did it make, they were spies for their respective nations, so what? They were in love with each other, and in the end, that was what mattered. Besides, it was even good for her career, a Chinese double agent, that was one hell of a catch for her first time out.

"Madison, I love you, please, please answer me." The grin stayed affixed, but there was desperation in her eyes.

Madison looked her in the eye, "Ming, you are the love of my life and nothing will ever change that."

Relief surged into Ming's gaze. "Thank you," She kissed Madison again, but unlike the last one, this one was real. There it was, the passion, the love, it was a nuclear explosion just between the two of them. Pulling away, her expression was apologetic, "Also, I'm incredibly sorry if this embarrasses you, but they're watching, and this needs to look unquestionably real." Then, before Madison could ask her what she meant, her hand slipped under Madison's dress.

For most, these would be far from ideal conditions. Many women had trouble under the perfect conditions, but for Madison, she always hit it without too much effort. She wasn't too keen about doing it in public, especially with an audience of six or more attentive viewers. But, such was the life of a covert operative, what was a little humiliation to keep the Chinese in the dark. Within a few deft movements of Ming's fingers, Madison's hips were jerking along to the rhythm Ming set. Whatever the circumstances, it amounted to the same thing, when Ming told her to, she did.

It didn't take too much, a few minutes of Ming's skilled ministrations. Then it hit her, with a surprising level of intensity considering the circumstances. Her muscles tensed, her back arched, pressing her body tighter against Ming, her hands clenched. She bit her lip hard to keep from making noise. Ming kept going as Madison's thighs tightened around her hand. She kept going after the first one passed, then whispered "again," not even stopping for a second. She must have really wanted to sell it. The second one came just as quickly as the first, and then Ming finally stopped after the third one. How in god's name she managed to keep quiet, she would probably never know, but the performance appeared to have served it's purpose, the reactions of their six watchers ranged from immature snickering to aroused awe to outright disgust.

Madison's body went limp, every muscle in her body exhausted. She melted into Ming's arms stroked Madison's hair, "Good girl…" she whispered in her ear, "Good girl." Two thoughts came through the haze and fatigue. The first one was that she was so incredibly in love with Ming.

The second one came from the colder, more logical part of her brain.

Phase Two complete.

So what do you guys think? I have big plans for most of the characters in this chapter. Operation Rebel Dragon is almost over, but there are still a couple more ops before the big kaboom. I both want to drop the bombs and I don't, I want to get to the real Fallout aspects of the story, but this pre war cold war spy stuff is fun to write.

I'm no longer sure if I'm going to do the big reveal I had planned for the next chapter, in part because I'm having a difficult time remembering exactly what it was I intended to reveal. Blame midterms.

Either way,

Read and Review people.