The guys sat at the bar each with a beer in their hands. They looked across angrily at their women who were seated at a table clear across the restaurant.

"Who do they think they are huh. Acting like we're lucky to be with them." Kendall said taking a sip of his beer.

"I know. They're lucky to be with guys like us. We could have another girl just like that." Nick added snapping his fingers.

All of the men nodded their agreement. It was at that moment that they saw Jack Bristow enter the room.

*******

The women sat at their table diving into huge bowls of ice cream.

"Nick acts like he is such a ladies man. Please no one gave him the time of day till I came along." Katya said looking angrily at her husband sitting at the bar.

"I can't believe Weiss sided with them." Nadia said choking back tears. They all reached out to comfort her.

"Oh my God." Chase said looking towards the door.

They all looked to where she was staring and saw Irina coming through the door.

******

Jack and Irina entered the restaurant with goofy smiles plastered on their faces. Irina was wearing a red knee-length dress and Jack was dressed in a black suit with a red shirt.

"I think they've seen us." Jack whispered to Irina.

"I believe so sweetheart."

"We will never hear the end of this."

"I know."

Jack and Irina followed the hostess to their table and they ordered a bottle of the finest white wine on the menu.

They ate their meal in loving silence. One of them making a joke every once in a while. They took turns feeding each other. Once the meal was over Jack took Irina's hand in his and brought it up to his lips.

"I love you." he said looking into her eyes.

"I love you too." she said leaning across the table to kiss him.

Before their lips could meet.

"Irina. What the h*ll are you doing?!" Katya shouted angrily.

"I'm having dinner with my husband." Irina said looking angrily at Katya.

"What you're doing is fraternizing with the enemy."

"Jack is not the enemy. He hasn't done anything."

"He's a man. That's good enough. I can't believe you."

"I'm not going to apologize for spending time with my husband."

"Well make your choice now. Us or him." Nadia said coming up behind her aunt.

Irina looked over at her husband her eyes pained. Jack looked into her eyes and saw the turmoil written there. They were afraid it would come to this.

"Irina it's not a hard choice." Jack said launching into the script they had planned earlier.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Irina shot back feigning anger.

"Go join them for their little bitch session and then come back to the suite for some quality time with me."

"How dare you insinuate that that is all I want from you."

"That's all I want from you on this trip. Besides you're good at it."

Irina stood grabbing the wine glass from the table and dashed its contents in Jack's face.

"YOU BITCH!" he yelled standing to his feet.

"It's just you and your hand tonight." Irina said storming off to join the rest of the women.

"My hands been doing it longer than you baby." he yelled after her.

Jack walked over to the bar and bought a beer.

"What happened to don't slip up Bristow?" Kendall said teasingly.

"They want you to be honest and when you are they get mad." Jack said taking a sip of his drink.

"Exactly." Vaughn said in agreement.

"She acts like I'm lucky to have her. I could have any woman in this place if I wanted." Jack said nonchalantly. He was watching Irina sobbing in Katya's arms. He wanted to take her into his arms and reassure her. He had always hated it when she cried. His mind went back to the first time he had ever seen her cry.

********

Jack heard a knock on his apartment door. He arose from the sofa where he had been taking a nap to answer it. He didn't bother to put on a shirt, after all this was his apartment. He opened the door to see his girlfriend Laura standing in the door. Her hair was rumpled and she looked really upset. He pulled her into his apartment and shut the door.

"Laura, what's wrong." he said leading her over to the sofa.

"I was mugged." she said her voice cracking.

"What? When?"

"On my way back to my apartment. I was walking back from the library and this guy comes out of nowhere and pulls a gun on me. He lead me into this alley and took my purse. He told me if I screamed he would shoot me. I was so scared Jack. I was so." she broke down, tears began to stream down her face.

"It's ok sweetheart. You're ok. You're safe now, you're with me I'll protect you." he whispered gently stroking her back. Her tears rolled down his chest.

He didn't know the real reason she was upset was because she had been forced to have sex with her handler that day in order to prove her loyalty to Russia.

"Jack can I stay here with you." she pleaded as her sobs wracked her body.

"Of course sweetheart." he said stretching out on the sofa. He pulled her to his chest and pulled the blanket over them.

"I was so scared."

"I know sweetheart. I know. You have nothing to be afraid of. I'm here now, I got you." he said his own voice cracking.

"I love you." she mumbled against his chest.

"Love you too." he answered kissing the top of her head.

As Irina's breath evened out Jack swallowed trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to come. How dare someone attack his Laura. He should have been there. Why hadn't he meet her at the library and walked her home. If he had of been there this wouldn't have happened. He thought. It was at that moment that he vowed to never let anyone make her cry again and he would kill anyone who did. A lone tear streaked down his cheek.

*****

"Here's to us." Kendall said raising his beer.

"Here, here." they said in unison.

Jack took one final look at Irina and mouthed.

"I'm sorry."

Irina nodded and turned back to Katya.