Later That Night…..

"So," she said, toasting her partner, "to another mission complete….even if it was a mini-mission!" she mocked.

Her partner settled back and looked at her. There was plenty of affection between the two and even though he had once hinted at something more, they had never taken that step. Sure, there were times when the sexual tension in the air between them threatened to explode, but they often felt it would ruin the close relationship they already had. She had claimed sex would complicate too much, but he felt they could at least have given it a try. He chuckled at that last thought, which brought her attention back to him from the waitress who had just given them the check.

"Ok, so spill. You said you were going to talk to me about something that would change our lives," she smiled. "Didn't go and fall in love with somebody again, did you?" she teased.

Her partner smiled and leaned forward. "Not quite. I was approached by someone who would like both of us to come work for him and it could mean….everything….." he whispered, awed for a moment by all the money the representative had offered. He knew Alison came from money, but he had fought his way up from poverty from a very young age. He was comfortable now with his MI-6 salary, but it was nothing compared to what he had been offered! "No more mini-missions guarding royals like today, but doing honest to god field work and covert ops, like we love. I hate to see our talent wasted like it is!" he said, frowning, setting his glass down on the table a little harder than he intended.

Jaye's eyes sparkled. "Silly, I was there with you when they met with us about joining that new anti-terrorist group. Have you decided? I wouldn't want to go without you! Nobody knows how to understand me like you," she teased.

He frowned. "No, it's not that. It's another type of offer. More on a private sector."

Jaye leaned forward and settled her hand on her partner's. "Mike, you'd better tell me what you're talking about if it's not the Americans. Who is this person?"

"We've complained about how they're not using our talent lately, how we need to get back out there and do what we love. This will give us the opportunity! We would travel the world and not have to worry about anything ever again. Forget the Americans' offer! They're doomed to failure anyway. Are they really going to let a bunch of foreigners in and let us boss them around? You know how they are! Look," he said, leaning forward, holding her hand tight, his voice more intent, "we've talked about getting out before and going solo. This would just be a step in that direction. With the amount of money we've been promised, we could do this for a few years and then get ourselves settled. What do you say, Ali?"

Jaye squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable. "Who are these people, Mike? They obviously have you worked up and convinced, but I'd like to meet them for myself. Something doesn't seem right about this, I feel it in my gut."

Her partner released her hand, settling back, and frowned at her. "Look, whether you go or not, I've already decided. I love you, Ali, but you've had everything handed to you since you were a kid." He held up his hand to stop her protest. "Yes, I know how you've worked your way up in your MI-6 career, but I'm not talking about that. We're talking about some serious money here. Something I want to do. Can you put aside your gut for a minute and just think about it?" He threw some money down on the table and helped Jaye out of her seat.

Outside of the restaurant, they began to walk back to her apartment.

Jaye frowned. "Mike, who are these people?" she whispered, a feeling of dread overcoming her. She knew he had been unhappy with MI-6 for awhile, and they had discussed starting their own business in the private sector. He had refused to use her family's money, saying if they did, they would own the agency and he didn't want that. She could understand his reasoning. Her family had owned her for 18 years of her life until she had finally put her foot down. She wasn't willing to be in their debt again.

"They're a newly formed organization. They go by the name of Cobra."

Jaye gasped and pulled her hand out of her partner's. "Are you shitting me? That is the organization that the Americans want to fight! That's their biggest threat! Not to mention…."she trailed off, not wanting to mention her family's company. "That was the symbol on the suspect's gadget today! He was going to try to kidnap a royal! You want to work for someone like that?"

He stared at her, an unrecognizable gleam in his eye. "Does it really matter anymore who is on what side? A job is a job. We've done plenty of missions before that can't be any worse than what that Cobra agent was going to do! Don't give me the British patriotism act…you know as well as I do that we are paid to follow orders. However, Cobra will pay us three times as much without all the restrictions!"

Jaye felt a tear trickle down her cheek. How could she not see this coming? She knew he had been unhappy for awhile, but never in her heart did she think he would go over to the "other side."

"I can't go with you," she said sadly. "I wish you would stay with me. Why not go to the Americans and get a fresh new start? It doesn't sound that bad and they promised us that we would be head of the covert ops unit out there as well!" she pleaded.

He stared at her coldly. "I've made my choice and there's no going back. My first order was to recruit you. If you were to say no…." he produced a gun.

She looked at him in horror. "What the hell are you doing?"

He looked at her sadly. "I want you with me. However, if you refuse, I can't leave you to tell the others where I've gone. I love you, Alison, but I have my orders."

He pointed the gun and instinct kicked in. She kicked out and caught him in the knee, making him buckle for a moment. It was long enough for her to knock the gun out of his hand and follow up with a blow to the head. Unfortunately, he had always been physically stronger than she and while this stunned him, it did not knock him out. She turned and ran. Hearing a shot behind her, she felt a burn in her arm, but didn't stop until she was far out of his sight.